Whistler

OK, so up to now, the holiday was so incredible, but it was just about to get even better. Whistler is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Everywhere you look, it looks like a picture-and probably is in a painting, photo or postcard somewhere.

Skiing is without a doubt the best sport in the world. We were on slopes that made me laugh I was so scared, and by the time I finally reached the bottom I was still laughing and ready to go again. Snow on mountains is such a brilliant combination, I'm very thankful it's there and I was able to be on it!

Donna loved the snow, she's been practising to throw snowballs for months now, and finally did it for real-and took advantage of it! She threw many snowballs, tobogganed, built snowmen, road the gondolas and simply dug in the snow, and at the end of each day she'd ask for "More snow"! If it wasn't so far, and she didn't struggle so much with jet lag, we'd go again this weekend!

All in all, the whole Canada Holiday was more than fantastic, I thank our awesome God for creating it and giving us the opportunity to experience it.

Vancouver

I loved Vancouver. It is such a beautiful city, and the people were so unbelievably friendly. We stayed at a stunning hotel, the Westin Bayshore, which had the most amazing veiw. I had so much fun with my camera!

Our first day there we took a ferrie to Victoria on Vancouver Island. It was one of my favourite days of the holiday. The ferrie ride was fantastic, so different to the little chug boat I imagined it to be! We went to the Buchard Gardens, which was just so beautiful-acres and acres of perfectly done gardens. The City of Victoria is also just stunning. The buildings are gorgeous, I really could have stayed there for much longer.

I think the next day was one of Donna's favourite days: we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was so much fun. We saw everything from a sloth to piranhas to seahorses! The Beluga whales and dolphins were the best, Donna now acts like them-"jumping out of the water" and "splashing everyone", she loved it and it's made her more cute!

It snowed alot in Vancouver, which apparently hardly ever happens there, but was fine with us-it was so beautiful! I really hope to go back to Vancouver another day.

Toronto

Toronto was fantastic. We stayed with the Brilliant Barrage family, and even through their pain, illness and fatigue, they made us feel like royalty! Their home was so cosy in the well-below zero temperatures outside, and with Rusty the cat, the squirrels, the healthy homecooked meals, "Dancing with the Stars" finals and the table tennis we would swop homes in a heartbeat-if the Toronto one came with the family provided!

The Niagra falls were just awesome, the best part of Toronto for me. No words can describe them-so I'm not even going to try! And as for Niagra-on-the-Lake, the quaint town on Niagra Lake (goes without saying I suppose!) that was the cutest town I've ever seen. And then there was Maple-nut ice-cream.... it was Donna's first taste of ice-cream ever, and we've totally ruined it for her-she'll never be satisfied with another!

D'is lekker by die sea!

We went to the beach for the first time in a while yesterday. We had so much fun. I didn't think Donna could contain herself-she was a typical Vaalie, I am very sad (but proud!) to say! She swam like only she can, making all those around her think she was drowning, only to stand up laughing! She built a "snowman", threw "snowballs", made tea, dug holes, and just rolled in the sea sand. She collected shells. She would stand up on "dry land" and announce to all who were listening (and there where many!): "1...2...GO!" and run into the sea until she fell face down into the water! She did that 1 000 000 times. Then she fell asleep in the car and slept for 3 1/2 hours!

She just loved it-we'll definitely do it again soon!

The Advantage of Living on a Flight Path...

Those that don't know; we live directly under the flightpath going to Dubai International Airport. It's actually not that bad, and we got used to it quite quickly, but this week we actually had reason to enjoy staying in the path of the flying machines: it was the Dubai Airshow, and we got to see it free! It was really great, got to see many planes, never mind that I had NO idea what they were, they were fast and impressive and Donna loved it! We went up to the shopping complex and had some coffee with friends in the square and watched the show. Donna so enjoyed seeing the aerobatics. She said, "Planes drawing picture in sky!" I thought that was so cute!

I went crazy with my camera...!

Growing up...

Something so cute happened today: Donna slept for longer than usual, that I first took advantage of, but then thought I'd better go wake her as it was getting quite late. As I got closer to her bedroom door, I hear her pram... When I opened her door she had gotten out of bed, put her shoes on (wrong way round, but on none-the-less) and was pushing her pram around with 3 dolls in, that she squashed together, and was quietly playing with Harvard (our cat) for I don't know how long! What a big girl!

The picture was taken just minutes after, with the shoes still on the wrong feet!

The Horses!

We went to the Desert Palm, affectionately know as the "Hidden Jewel of Dubai" and a place that I can only describe as the KZN Midlands here in the heart of the Arabian Desert! It is an Equestrian Estate with Polo fields, stables, dressage places and places to gallop (can you tell I'm not too sure of the Equestrian lingo?!). Regardless, it is beautiful, and reminds me so much of SA (South Africa, not Saudi Arabia!) that I love to go there. I know somebody that knows somebody who lives there, thus have enough pull to enter this little Eden, I haven't been stopped yet, so am enjoying it while it lasts!

Donna was so amazing. The last time we went there was before her first birthday, and then already she seemed to have an affinity for horses. Now I know you can't tell much then, but she wasn't scared, even when one relatively big horse came up to her and sniffed her all over, she just looked wide-eyed and reached out to rub his nose-it was adorable!

This time she amazed me even more. She so enjoyed peeping into the stables and seeing the horse turn around and walk towards us and then stick its whole head out for us to rub. She shrieked with laughter each time a horse sniffed and smelt her all over again. But then we went to the horse who were grazing in a field outside... She called out for them; "Horsey, Horse-come, come!" and then when they got close would feed them with these little blades of grass that she was picking up from next to her. Her whole hand was inside the stunning animal's mouth, but they were so gentle, only eating what they herbaceously should!

We had a great time!

Living in Arabia

Living in the Middle East has been an amazing experience. I think the biggest thing has been what we've learnt about people and different people groups. Apparently there are over 180 nationalities represented here in Dubai, so in any given day you can meet people from all over the world. To give you an idea, we've made friends with South Africans (of course!), Zimbabweans, Lebanese, Brits, Scots, Swedes, Indians, Egypteans, Australians, families from Zanzibar, Denmark and Botswana, Canadians, Americans, and local Emirates! Everybody has their own uniqueness and specialities, people have different ways of expressing gratitude, haste and love, we all have our own way of doing things, and being here has taught me to accept that there are these differences. It's been a challenge, but a good one!

The locals are really the kindness, most caring people group I've come across. And I think that was the biggest eye-opener. The world has a very set view on the Muslims as a whole, but I haven't met one of those "typical" Muslims yet.

It's still hard to be away from home, I don't know if that will ever change. South Africa is just so naturally beautiful but the biggest factor is because there are so many people there that make it so difficult to leave. And I thank each one of you for that. You've made life tougher for us this side, but it's worth it!

Us in Novemer 2007

This is our first entry on our new blog, I hope it will be fun for us all!

We are doing very well. The weather is cooling down to a comfortable 35 degrees, but realise from the summer we've just gone through, it's autumn for us! We are outside very often, playing at the slide and in the sand at least once a day. We are swimming alot as always too, it's probably Donna's favourite activity, she "swims" so well, it's so much fun to watch her. Definitely her dad's child!

Donna continues to bring us so much joy, she lights up our everyday and has given unconditional love a stunning living example. The Lord has been so gracious with us as a family, blessing us beyond what we ever believed possible.