happy thanksgiving!

Today we get to dress up as a holiday and celebrate with our international friends later on by having thanksgiving dinner together. We are thankful for so many things, especially our family and friends, both here and at home :-)

 Here are Grade 1 and Miss Estelle the easter bunny, Tom as Tommy!

 Some of the teachers, Amy as an Indian, Tommy sporting a pilgrim's bonnet

 The table runners at dinner had been made by the kids in art class - this one is Tom's

The tree of thankfulness - everyone could write things they were thankful for on the leaves, Tom wrote about half of them, he is thankful for a lot of people!

Tommy is wearing a bonnet as made by Amy, Tom dressed as Tommy for Father's day. Josh is sadly sick and we are missing the fun, but I am thankful for a morning of cuddling in bed with my little boy.

beauty in pictures

Auntie Amy from England starred on the pre-school wall of fame as one of the very first pictures Josh has ever drawn.

 Spitting image, just needed a hat!

Academy Camp

The high school students went to a leadership camp at the beautiful Shongweni Dam reserve, just a few minutes from Durban. They spent 48 hours fitting in an amazing array of activities including an assault course, abseiling, jumping into the reservoir from the dam wall, rock climbing, raft races and more...

Here are a few pictures of the kids at play and the stunning scenery:

Tommy.

the chameleon

The kids here keep finding a chameleon, they have marked his tail and so have now confirmed that it is the same one that we keep seeing. Tommy has taken some photos of him:

Student life programme

For a few weeks Tommy's Friday afternoons have involved watching kids light fires, put up tents, cook camp food and the like as part of the outdoor skills option of the student life programme. Some of the kids had their first camp out one weekend to put the skills to use. The idea of the Friday afternoons is to give them opportunity to do things they wouldn't otherwise get to do and a mixture of Academy staff and other crew are roped in to share their skills. Other students were able to learn dressmaking, vehicle mechanics and cheerleading.

Some pictures are on:
http://palmersabroad.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/student-life-program/ 
http://jacobsenjourneys.blogspot.com/2010/10/student-life-program.html

The next sessions being offered currently are cooking, photography, gardening and being a good neighbour (which is continuing to help paint a parsonage at the local church amongst other practical projects from what I understand).

shipyard blog

You can check out the progress of the shipyard phase here:

http://powerthevision.blogspot.com/

We're glad to be away right now looking at the photos, but really miss our home! Please keep praying for the shipyard work to continue well and to be completed on time so that we can move back in the new year!

want to come and help out?

Mercy Ships is in South Africa gearing up for our 2011 Field Service in Sierra Leone, and we need your help!

Our state-of-the-art hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, has sailed out of dry-dock. Teams are now hard at work completing the new generator installation. The long-term crew is eager to move back “home” and sail onto Sierra Leone for a life-changing field service.
 
We have a very unique opportunity for you—a short-term service in South Africa!  From January 8-28 we are in need of individuals ready for a physically challenging—yet highly rewarding—task. You will help us relocate the crew back on the ship, and prepare the ship for the upcoming Field Service. After two weeks of groundwork, you will get to sail for 1 week on the Africa Mercy around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa!

Can you think of a better way to kick off the new year than a three-week service trip to South Africa—and visiting one of the most beautiful countries in the world?

You would need to supply your own travel arrangements and a $200 Mercy Teams fee. Act now because spots will fill up fast for this once in a lifetime experience! Call or email Mercy Teams at (903) 939.7111 or mercyteams@mercyships.org.

working in the galley

Here is where Sarah is currently working:

 The cold prep area is at the back where Jesse and Sam are working, this is where Sarah usually works chopping salad and the like

 And this is the hot area, most of the cookers are not used as we don't have that many people to feed!

yes we saw jelly fish!

Sorry this is another blog about what the kids have been up to, the shipyard work is continuing as is teaching and cooking. On Friday the elementary school visited Ushaka Marine World. Josh was wanting to see the jellyfish, Tom the sharks and Sarah the clown fish! There was an outside dolphin show and a few sad looking penguins and lots of fish in the aquarium. Here are some pics from the day:

 Here are the grade ones and the seals (Megan, Libby, Daniel, Tom, Anna, Andre)

 We were watching the sharks, and then this enormous fish swam by!

 The octopus moved out just for us

 We have seen turtles in the ocean, but none this close!

 This is a bunch of fish! We didn't notice the brown one until someone pointed it out, it looks so much like a rock!

 Here they are - our elementary school!

making a joyful noise

This past weekend our boys were introduced to a little bit of South African culture that we would have been happy for them to miss out on. The Vuvuzela. Don't worry Ben, I'll keep my eyes open for one for our favourite football fan, I'm sure your Mum and Dad will LOVE it.

the new swimming pool...or maybe not...

Since we arrived there has been a drought in the area. We have been praying for rain. To be exact Tom has been praying 'Dear God, please let it rain so much that the ampitheatre will be full of water so that we can swim in it and so the sugar farms have enough water'. So who is for a swim?