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.