Chapman family Christmas

Our Christmas day was one to remember, enjoying all the things that are precious to us.

Wayman was surrounded by his girls, their men and the grandchildren.

We ate dinner outside on Christmas eve, the boys loved the dessert of brandy snaps and florentines

The girls put the babies to bed early to enjoy the evening under the fairy lights

The children did what all children do on Christmas eve and woke their parents frequently during the night, in anticipation of Christmas day.

We went to church to celebrate with our wonderful family there, then returned home to open presents together

Miss P chose not to wear her hat, it didn't match her outfit!

As we worked in the kitchen to prepare the food, Nath and Steph took responsibility for filling the profitto rolls...........

and during the day Wayman took every opportunity to let his girls know how loved they are.

The end result was more was a pyramid rather than a croquembouche but it tasted delicious!

My photos end at lunch time, because the photographer had to rest to recover from a lack of sleep and too much turkey!

Wayman had a wonderful day, and handled the bustling noisy house very well.

We have had a quieter time today and as we ponder the day we both praise God for the many blessings he has given us.

A Christmas invitation

These kings of concrete castles sit

in lonely power, purport to rule

The earth, and all the hapless throng

Who sit, and dream along

The pedagogues of science meet,

Presume to order cosmic spheres:

To know the depth, the height, the course

Of all, save one impelling Force.

In dropping names, this avant garde,

Called beautiful, adored by all,

See only self whose object, fame

Deludes and recognises not his name

But all men rule and all they dream,

And all they know and all they seek,

All they presume and all they deal

And all they are, ignore what's real.

For all that is and all to come

Was in the humblest, quietest birth

Eclipsed, when God the Son came down

And time stood still, the Meek to crown.

If you live in the hills Wayman and I would like to invite you to come and celebrate Christmas with us at our church. We meet at the Littlehampton primary school in their gym.

Christmas day we will be there at 9am for under an hour, so there is plenty of time to prepare for the mid-day meal.

Round three

Wayman started round three of his chemo yesterday. He has been extremely fortunate and has again had no major side effects. He is eating normally, and aside from sleeping this afternoon he has had a normal day. He even went Christmas shopping this morning, to buy me a surprise gift!

We are slowly decreasing his dose of dexamthazone, as he has no symptoms of the tumour. The issue of being in control of his mind has been one that he is working hard to achieve, and I am proud of the effort he is making, and the success he is having. God is good, and is helping us to live with this disease and to celebrate life.

We are looking forward to Christmas with our family, in our home here at Oakbank.

If you are praying for us, please thank God for His continued care of us. We are so aware of how much we have because he sent Jesus at Christmas.

On a practical level, I am feeling tired, and want so much to be able to enjoy the time over Christmas. I am grateful for the different skills that my daughters have, and I need to relax and allow them to do what they are so capable of doing in my kitchen.

Wayman will have an MRI in January at the half way point of his chemotherapy.

Now all we need is for the Australians to make a few runs, and life will be good!

A boy, a boat, a pond, and his Uncle

Every little boy should have a boat, a pond and an Uncle.

It makes for perfect Sunday afternoon fun. You can loose yourself in the moment.

Do you think there is anything in there Uncle Shane?

I'll just pretend I'm fishing

That's fine for you mate.........

I'm just trying to keep this tiny thing stable!

Over this way Uncle Shane!

Hang on C, at 6'5" I take up most of the room and it is bit difficult to maneuver. To make matters worse, I have to sit with my legs straight to stop us from rolling over!

I wonder why Grandpa Wayman got the smallest boat going? It is almost impossible to turn!

Well done Uncle Shane, Granny wouldn't want a hole in her reeds!

Time to finish C, now I just have to turn this confounded little thing around to bring it in!

Amazing professionals

We are very thankful for the commitment and generous nature of two Adelaide medical professionals this week.

Wayman has been troubled for some time with mouth infections, and Sunday evening it culminated in an extremely painful toothache.

We rang the dental surgery where he has been treated previously, and a young dentist who has never met us, opened the surgery to consult with us at 9.30pm. He was on holidays, but his mobile number was the one on the practice answering service. He worked to give Wayman some immediate relief, and sent us home with antibotics and an assurance that he would contact an oral surgeon the next day as the tooth needed to be removed.

The following morning he rang, again, it was his day off, with the news that he had an associate who would see us, and the surgery gave us help organising for x-rays to be taken. On Tuesday the surgeon managed to slot us into his busy consulting session, and booked Wayman into hospital as the first case on his list early Wednesday morning. By lunch time we were home, humbled by these amazing professionals who made a choice to go beyond what we often see today.

What do you read?

Wayman and I recently bought a little book case to go in our bedroom.

We have filled it with an eclectic array of books that we are expecting to read, or have recently read.

It is interesting to contemplate what it holds, but perhaps not for too long! Wayman goes for historical WW2 tomes and I seem to have a bit of everything. My current favourite Christian author is Timothy Keller but I am finding that I'm not up to reading things that require too much of me so his latest book is still waiting to be purchased.

I am reading a lot of novels that are simply light entertainment, and have devoured most of Alexander McCall Smiths' books. [except for the Sunday Philosophy Club series, they make me think too much] Recently a friend lent me some of her favourite novels and I am looking forward to reading them.

But on my side table along with my current light reading are the books that are sustaining me.

I have a copy of Spurgeons morning and evening and a modern version of Streams in the desert. Streams has been sent to us by a family who are going through a trial similar to ours. We often read it together at night and are encouraged by Gods care in difficult times. The title gives a glimpse of its contents.

Then there is my Bible. I don't read long passages, but Gods word is my rock, and He feeds me through it.

Roses, roses roses.... and a tree

The wet winter we had here has given us an amazing display in our rose garden.

The garden has bushes in several different areas, and they flower at different times, so I have missed some of the early ones.

I managed to get out and take some photos of the main rose garden this weekend.

Our gardener Lee has been working here for a number of years, and he told us that he hasn't seen them looking better than this!

We are very grateful for his expertise, and for having the time to fertilise, spray, and dig the beds following his instructions.

Oh yes.. just to let you know the recalcitrant tree in the back yard did eventually get it's leaves!!

Simplifying life

While living in Sydney we invested in a property in Adelaide that allowed us to visit here without imposing on our daughters and sons-in-law.

It became the place where our family gathered for the occasions of life.

We celebrated Christmas there

and birthdays

We held a baby shower

and we welcomed babies

Friends visited us there

and great-granny loved to visit and sit in her special seat by the window

We are not really beachie people but we loved this experience

But the time is right for us now to simplify our lives, and we are renting the house to others.

We are hoping they enjoy it as much as we all have

and we hope our little ones............

Will remember something of Grandpas beach

Round two

Wayman saw his oncologist today in preparation for round two of his chemotherapy.

Dr P was very pleased with his blood picture, and has increased the level of drugs that he will take for the next 5 days. The dose will increase by a third from last month. Please pray that he will continue to tolerate the regime.

He is suffering with a chest infection, which is causing him some discomfort. The secondary things are often the things that are very front of mind. Pray that the measures taken to control this will help.

We do have some points of praise. We have managed to find a solution to the cramps that have kept Wayman awake at nights. It is a real blessing to him to be able to sleep well. Praise God also for Waymans continued peace and trust in Him.

Last weekend Wayman had the delight of attending a M & B reunion here in Adelaide. He loved seeing people who worked with him in a remarkable company. The M of M & B flew in adding to the day. So many memories, and many good friends to share them with. We have followed a busy time with a few days for just the two of us. A young friend reminded me recently that we need to have time for us, and we have enjoyed the start to this week at home.

So we continue the journey, thankful for each day, and trusting Him to carry us through tomorrow.

PS Our tree in the courtyard is covered in leaves, and the roses are about to be ablaze with colour. I will post pictures soon to show my Sydney friends our beautiful SA roses!!

and the next visitor is.........

We just encouraged the hen to go home when a koala decided to visit us!

We have had a koala come by several times, and in the past he has headed for a particular stand of gums in the driveway. But this time he ventured much further.

He didn't seem to like any of the trees on offer in our yard

He eventually left by the front gate..... We didn't want to watch as he ventured out onto the road! Not hearing any screeching brakes has us hopeful that he decided not to cross the road.

PS I apologise to those of you who follow Cassie's blog, along with mine. We are in the same place, so the stories are being repeated. The difference being, she can actually write a story, so her blog is much more entertaining!

Our friendly neighbour pays a visit

Cassie had a very different start to her day yesterday. She came down to breakfast, to find she had company!

Our neighbours chook had decided to pay us a visit, and came in the back door to join Cassie for coffee! She wasn't fazed by us at all, but eventually we managed to get her outside, only to have her rush into the garage.

She tried to roost on Jontys' bike but she couldn't stay balanced

We took ages to get her to move on, and the way she was strutting, you would think she owned the place!

At last she was headed for home but I'm convinced she will be back, she seemed to be the belligerent type

Walking the tightrope

Nathan and Cassie are here for a very short visit, and Wayman is loving having time with them. Nathan is busy helping with practical things and we are very grateful for his help. Cassie is a wonderful calming influence by just being here as she continues to work in their business from our dining room table. Our only disappointment is that the weather has turned cold and wet. We can't wait for them to see our home in sunshine!

When Wayman was diagnosed with a glioma, we discovered that his drug regime was vital to helping him enjoy his life. The wonderful drugs that are available today have enabled us to keep living normally in these most unusual times. But we walk a tightrope constantly as we try to keep the dosage just right. All the medical consultants have agreed that this is the key to treating a brain tumour. Presently he is doing very well, and is enjoying being able to participate in life with purpose and good humour. This requires us to tailor his drugs to his particular situation. I am grateful for his patience as I try to play "nurse" in managing this.

A family of ducks has made it's home on our dam. It has been a nice distraction! I couldn't get very close to them so this is my attempt at a photo.

I have watched this little family for days now, and have loved to see the parents protecting and guiding the ducklings. Life continues.........

the vegie patch

With Wayman through his first round of chemotherapy and happily weeding and watering the lawns, it is time for me to show you a little corner of our garden that I love.

We inherited a vegie patch that had never been used. I have never had a vegie patch, but was keen to put this one to use. Steph pottered in it with me, trying to work out how to make it viable with the rabbits living in the creek right next to it.

So Shane built us a fence.

Cam, one of two wonderful gardeners who help us on the property was also very enthusiastic, and has the knowledge to make it work. He constructed boxes to grow the vegies in. Apparently rabbits can't climb. Jonty was a huge help at this stage, inspecting the work and giving a running commentary.

With the patch being quite large, we needed multiple boxes so Cam made smaller boxes in the shed and Wayman helped transport them on his brand new tractor!

The soil in the plot was beautiful mushroom compost, so Cam used it for the bottom layer in the boxes. [ please note that I haven't done anything yet!]

He then layered the boxes with a mixture of things that he assures me will guarantee us success!

Then came the watering system

At last it was time to plant and in Waymans' case to weed the surrounding area......

and to put stakes in for the tomatoes......

and then to apply pea straw! Could it be any easier than this???

Now I am the proud owner of a vegie patch! And I didn't have to do a thing!

There is just one snag......... the watering system isn't connected yet, so I am hand watering it everyday by carrying cans from the house.

It takes four trips.

I think the exercise is good for me.