Today

Went to my favorite place in Sheffield again today. Saw a jogger.

My current favourite place in Sheffield

I (Anna) am so enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having and looking at the BBC website I am delighted to see five little suns for the forecast for the next 5 days!
Anyway, as I was saying...my current favourite place in Sheffield is...

...the Botanical gardens - they are so pretty, there are lots of different coloured plants and flowers out and all the trees are in blossom. It does also remind me of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, although the Botanical gardens have a distinct lack of joggers - just lots of picnic-ers. We went for a walk around the Botanical gardens yesterday and it was great to walk amongst the trees; to see the squirrels playing and the fat pigeon trying to waddle along and all the children running around and all the students lazying about - And there was even a birthday party there yesterday - balloons and all! Seeing as it is still April (just) there should be plenty more opportunities to visit before September (although I might have to avoid the ice-cream van if visiting starts to become a habit!)

Leaving Oz tomorrow

Well we're nearing the end of our trip to Australia - we fly back tomorrow. Daniel has changed a lot - grown out of 0-3 months clothes, can stand up supported, laughs lots, can grab and hold things, and he has learnt to sleep through the night - not bad for a 4 1/2 month old, especially one who is only meant to be 2 1/2 months old! He definitely doesn't look like a premature baby! Going to Peru in September seems more real now having spent a month out of the UK - it is just 4 full months when we get back, and by then Daniel will probably be crawling and maybe even beginning to walk - time goes so quickly!

Fun at Darling Harbour

Today we (Mark, I, my sister Chloe and Josie-Jo a friend from church) went to Darling Harbour in the centre of Sydney and had lots of fun. First we went to the aquarium and saw lots of sharks... ...and penguins (Daniel's favourite - he was fascinated.)

Then we took a walk and stumbled upon the Chinese Garden which was very beautiful. We debated whether we should go in but really glad we did because it was SOOOO much fun. You can even hire costumes to walk around the garden in, so we did...!

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for sleeping Daniel) they didn't have any for babies!

All Creatures Great and Small

(Anna) Today we went to Taronga Zoo. My Dad came too, claiming he didn’t want to miss Daniel’s outing, but really the trip was for Mark, and Daniel didn’t seem too bothered (he slept most of the day). The highlights included…
- seeing the platapus (quite a rare occasion as they often hide)
- the comodo dragon (who says dinosaurs are extinct?!)
- the seal show (they had them doing handstands, and flips and all sorts – very funny) - the flight show (birds flying everywhere like a dance)
- the gorgeous view over the harbour – they say the animals have the best view in Sydney and they’re not wrong!
There were a few other bizarre creatures there too...

On a Bicycle Made for Two

(Anna) Tried to post this on the blog the other day but the computer wasn't having any of it, so will try again now!
Last week we had a lovely holiday with my family three hours up the coast in town called Port Stevens - stayed in a gorgeous hotel overlooking a marina and the weather was lovely.
We took a ferry trip over to a place called The Tea Gardens (the explorers tried to plant tea there but it was a failure yet the name still stuck) and Mark went sea kayaking with the more adventurous whilst Mum, Daniel and I went for a stroll by the sea inlet.

The last day I got to do something slightly scarier – riding a tandem bicycle with Mark!!

Now it wasn’t the cycling that was scary, more the fact that it was with Mark and to balance the bicycle properly the stronger person has to go in front – so we’re dashing through forest and down thin paths dodging pedestrians and all I can see ahead is Mark’s back!!! Mark felt that my cries of ‘slow down!’ were due to me not trusting him (!) but I concluded that it is mere instinct – it is just not natural to be relaxed whilst you are quite possibly (or with Mark, quite probably) in danger and have no idea what is up ahead! I was however alerted to the fact that although trusting Mark is obviously still quite an issue when it comes to tandem biking, trusting God is a bit like tandem bike riding, but without the risk of running into a tree or killing someone – thankfully He is completely faithful!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Highlights of the day included...(as well as a lovely church service)...

...Wind-up chicks (they weren't so great for racing though as they tended to be lopped-sided)
... Eggs - as shown by Mr Egg Head...
... Fun with Uncle Ben - there's never a dull moment with Uncle Ben around...
...Giggling with Auntie Chloe......Chloe laughing hysterically after trying to shock the hiccups out of Daniel. For the record - shocking babies when they have the hiccups doesn't work. Daniel just looked bemused as he hiccuped away...

How well do you know us? Take the test...

We found this test on Dan Cooper's blog and couldn't resist creating one ourself. See how well you know us...Enjoy!


Create your own Friend Quiz here

Australia

I thought i'd (Mark) publish a few photos of our time so far in Australia. The rest are on our flickr account.

This is the view from our bedroom window. Nice hey?

This is from a walk that Anna took yesterday. I can never be bothered with going for walks, although I am swimming in the pool, playing rugby, and most importantly (and taking a fair amount of time up) playing yard cricket with BIL (my brother in law, Ben). Unfortunately Ben has been playing for some time and developed a lot of the rules to suit him, so I regularly lose. That may also be due to the fact that he is better than me and I can't bat very well.
Me after a poor attempt of body boarding. The waves were very weak as well which didn't help. I'll try again before we go.
Ben showing me how to surf, not that I'm going to try. Body boarding was hard enough.

Where in the World?

Just in case you were wondering where this place called Peru is that we keep going on about and where that little cute brown bear who likes marmalade sandwiches comes from...
Where Peru is in South America...

And here is a map of Peru showing where we plan to move to: Arequipa (Ah-ree-key-pa) in the South of Peru (it's pointed to by the ever-so creative red arrow!)

This map is divided into the 3 main regions of Peru - the jungle, the mountains and the desert coast. Arequipa, as you can see is in the highland area at 2380 metres. Arequipa is about 14 hours bus ride from Lima, the capital (which can be found halfway up Peru on the west coast) and around 6 hours from Bolivia or Chile.

Arrival in Australia.

Well we arrived in Oz on Tuesday evening after a good flight - Daniel slept at all the right times and we managed to get some kip too which was a bonus. Jetlag seems to be delayed this year - it's day 3 and is now hitting us - we are adding to the blog now at 7.34pm to force ourselves to stay up! Daniel has been sleeping at night but waking up more often than usual, which is ok - at least he's not asking to be entertained at 3am! Daniel getting ready for his first swim in the pool

Daniel's first swim
Second swim sporting his new hat and baby sunglasses as well as his wetsuit to keep him warm in the pool - the water is 25'C but a bit chilly for him!
Look at my new hat and sunglasses!

Vision for Peru

Here is a powerpoint with our vision for Peru - it describes what we did before and some of what we expect to be doing when we return...
(If the show has already started, you can use the left of the left and right hand arrows in the bottom right hand corner to take it back to the start)

Daniel Cooing

Here are a couple more videos of Daniel being very cute...



And again...

Fun with Daddy

Just another little video of Daniel for all those Daniel fans out there - nothing too exciting - just smiling with Daddy!

Hare?!

Random passages in the Bible can be confusing and lets face it, rather odd at times, but yesterday that confusion was pushed to a new limit!

Mark gave a 'word' to one of our mission team about God doing strange and uncomfortable things but them being good things and thought of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel had the priviledge of being taken by the hair of his head and lifted up between earth and heaven (see Ezekiel 8:3).

However...replace the 'of his head' with 'by his head' and you can come to the same conclusion a certain member of our mission team did... She saw Ezekiel being carried off by a hare - I'm not sure which image is more random - being lifted up by his hair or carried off by a hare - any thoughts?!

Once again, our English language has failed us, but at least all the homophones provide us with a few laughs!

OFSTED- I don't get it!!

I (Mark) am currently supply teaching at Firth Park community College, which is in Shiregreen and not Firth Park. Go figure! Anyway they found out last night that OFSTED are coming on Thursday and Friday, so the normal calm relaxed teachers have become beavers, going here, there, and everywhere. Meetings galore etc. I have kept saying that Ofsted should come in with 1 hours notice or less, because they would see the school for what it actually is, and not how well they perform under a false situation. Obviously the type of school will come out more or less but not completly because the kids can't change that much. I have been to schools where special measures have been avoided and while others which are better have been put under them. It seems to be a very strange system and not actually that effective in my very uninformed and uneducated opinion. All seems to be about appearance and I am not a fan of just appearing to know what your doing. Enough of my rant, and here is hoping that the inspectors realise it is pointless to inspect a supply teacher who is not an english specialist. Imagine, the inspectors saying 'Mark seemed to have a lack of subject knowledge'. I wonder why, nothing to do with my 2 Cs at english at GCSE. (if you don't believe in miracles, you should because i managed to get them o so many years ago).

Anyway my rant has ended and i now move onto a lovely year 11 class who do no work.

Being a Man

I (Mark, of course) am in discussions with Tim Blundell Jones a friend and member of church about writing a book about being a man in the 21st century. There has been many christian books about this in America, but we haven't discovered one yet in English. Our vague plan at the moment is to divide it into 12 chapters and have different men write each chapter. Our planning was put on hold until Tim got married to the lovely Jo. I will give you more details as they develop.

A Spring In My Step!

(Anna) The sunshine over the weekend and this morning has been glorious and encouraged me to get out of the house. It is also lovely that it is nearly Spring! Went for a walk around Langsett with Jayne this morning and it was lovely to see the beginnings of crocuses and daffodils they had planted in the community beginning to spring up. It definitely rises up a sense of hope within me. Mark bought me some tulips at the weekend (my favorite flowers!) and it always makes me feel lovely inside when I see the flower shops selling them again - it is another sign that Spring is well and truely on the way!

Mark has a life!

(Anna) Very surprisingly Mark actually has a life according to the survey below. He has seen 74 of the 239 films. I am personally very surprised due to the fact that I constantly complain about the suggestion of getting a video out (again). He seems obsessed with joining all the free DVD offers too (although we shall see if he cancels them on time and so if not, they are not free!)
I am very surprised. Very.

A true epic...

(Anna) So having joined facebook I can now treat you to classic circulars like the following...

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 of these 239 films, you have no life. Read on to find out if I have...(Oh, the suspense!) Once you've found out, have a go yourself - I know you're dying to find out if your life is enriched or not!

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show ( ) Grease ( ) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest ( ) Boondock Saints ( ) Fight Club (x) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story ( ) Blazing Saddles ( ) Airplane Total: 2

(x) The Princess Bride - one of the best films ever - see it! ( ) Anchorman ( ) Napoleon Dynamite ( ) Labyrinth ( ) Saw ( ) Saw II ( ) White Noise ( ) White Oleander ( ) Anger Management ( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries ( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Total so far: 3

( ) Scream (x) Scream 2 - i think i was forced to watch this - it was either this of Scary Movie 2 ( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie ( ) Scary Movie 2 ( ) Scary Movie 3 ( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie (x) American Pie 2 (x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp Total so far: 7

() Harry Potter 1 (x) Harry Potter 2 - definitely forced to watch this - 3 times in a week!! (I did get paid £6 an hour though so I guess I can't complain too much!)
( ) Harry Potter 3 (x) Harry Potter 4 ( ) Resident Evil 1 ( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer ( ) Little Black Book ( ) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch Total so far: 9

(x) Finding Nemo ( ) Finding Neverland ( ) Signs ( ) The Grinch ( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre ( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ( ) White Chicks ( ) Butterfly Effect ( ) 13 Going on 30 ( ) I, Robot ( ) Robots
Total so far: 10 - looking good

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story - oh dear what a farce! ( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events ( ) Along Came Polly (x) Deep Impact - what a disaster ( ) KingPin ( ) Never Been Kissed ( ) Meet the Parents ( ) Meet the Fockers ( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt ( ) King Kong - glad i missed that epic Total so far: 12

( ) A Cinderella Story ( ) The Terminal ( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie ( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber - all I can remember is the parrot! ( ) Dumber & Dumberer ( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2 ( ) Final Destination 3 ( ) Halloween ( ) The Ring ( ) The Ring 2 ( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber Total so far: 13

( ) Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle aka Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies ( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago - not as good as in theatre ( ) Ghost Ship ( ) From Hell ( ) Hellboy ( ) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam - a firm favorite ( ) The Whole Nine Yards ( ) The Whole Ten Yards Total so far: 15

( ) The Day After Tomorrow ( ) Child's Play ( ) Seed of Chucky ( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You - very good (x) Just Married - that was soooo bad. ( ) Gothika ( ) Nightmare on Elm Street( ) Sixteen Candles ( ) Remember the Titans( ) Coach Carter( ) The Grudge ( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask ( ) Son of the Mask Total so far: 18

( ) Bad Boys( ) Bad Boys 2( ) Joy Ride ( ) Lucky Number Slevin (x) Ocean's Eleven(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity (x) Bourne Supremecy ( ) Lone Star ( ) Bedazzled ( ) Predator I( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog (x) Ice Age( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown ( ) Curious George Total so far: 23

(x) Independence Day - does falling asleep in it count? ( ) Cujo ( ) A Bronx Tale ( ) Darkness Falls( ) Christine (x) ET ( ) Children of the Corn ( ) My Bosses Daughter (x) Maid in Manhattan - another Hollywood disaster
(x) War of the Worlds- what a disappointing ending ( ) Rush Hour ( ) Rush Hour 2 Total so far: 26

( ) Best Bet (x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - surprisingly funny (x) She's All That - surprisingly good
(x) Calendar Girls ( ) Sideways ( ) Mars Attacks ( ) Event Horizon( ) Ever After (x) Wizard of Oz- did anyone find else find those wheeley things in 'the return to Oz' scary?
(x) Forrest Gump ( ) Big Trouble in Little China ( ) The Terminator ( ) The Terminator 2 ( ) The Terminator 3 Total so far: 31

(x) X-Men (x) X-2 ( ) X-3 - X-2 was just too much of a let down to see the third.
( ) Spider-Man ( ) Spider-Man 2 ( ) Sky High ( ) Jeepers Creepers ( ) Jeepers Creepers 2 (x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid (x) Freaky Friday ( ) Reign of Fire ( ) The Skulls (x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2 ( ) The Hot Chick (x) Shrek (x) Shrek 2 Total so far: 39

( ) Swimfan (x) Miracle on 34th Street ( ) Old School ( ) The Notebook ( ) K-Pax ( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember ( ) Ice Castles ( ) Boogeyman ( ) The 40-Year-Old Virgin Total so far: 40

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring (x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King - I have to say (very controversally I know) that I was not very impressed by any of them. (x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 45

( ) Baseketball ( ) Hostel( ) Waiting for Guffman ( ) House of 1000 Corpses ( ) Devils Rejects ( ) Elf
( ) Highlander ( ) Mothman Prophecies( ) American History X ( ) Three
Total so Far: 45 - I have no desire to see any of the above!

( ) The Jacket ( ) Kung Fu Hustle ( ) Shaolin Soccer ( ) Night Watch (x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic - yes I did cry when Leo died. ( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail ( ) Shaun Of the Dead ( ) Willard
Total so far: 47

( ) High Tension ( ) Club Dread ( ) Hulk ( ) Dawn Of the Dead (x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (x) 28 days later ( ) Orgazmo ( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld Total so far: 50

( ) Kill Bill vol 1 ( ) Kill Bill vol 2 ( ) Mortal Kombat ( ) Wolf Creek ( ) Kingdom of Heaven ( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka The Day of The Woman ( ) The Last House on the Left ( ) Re-Animator
( ) Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness
Total so far: 50

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace ( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith ( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back ( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage ( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 50 - I am not a Star Wars fan. 'Space Balls' however, was very funny (aged 6 anyway)

(x) The Matrix (x) The Matrix Reloaded (x) The Matrix Revolutions ( ) Animatrix ( ) Evil Dead ( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police ( ) Red Dragon ( ) Silence of the Lambs ( ) Hannibal

I've seen 53 out of 239 films - so I apparently have a life! Well now you know! (wasn't that what you've always wanted to know?!)

Communication

(Mark) Communication is a funny thing. We are now people who communicate more by words on a screen than by mouth it seems. We have a blog, facebook, and I constantly text. However this is a way of us communicating to people that 10-15 years we would have lost touch with. It makes you wonder what community is now. We as Westerners see it very differently to the developing world, what I have experienced of it. For example email and texts (MSN is used like the phone) do exist but there is nothing as good as real community, face to face. This is something we clearly saw in Peru, as there is nothing greater than to invite someone into your house. Over here it is firstly you need to be friends, and that visit to someones house is a real big issue, especially for those of a more introverted nature.
All this communication improvements does mean that we will be able to communicate much better when we are in Peru, wherever we are. There is normally a internet cafe around the corner, even in the shanty towns. The only place we didn't find a computer was in the jungle, but in fairness they only had power from 7-10 at night. Made services run on time at church though, everyone came on time, which is not normal in Peru. I still remember in Lima how some people arrived for a 7.30 service at 8.45 and only heard half the sermon. Makes you think!!

Making dreams come true!

So Grandma Sue (Anna's mum) had a dream where Daniel spoke to her in his present state as a newborn. We decided to reenact the dream as told by Grandma Sue...

Sweet revenge?

So in Peru it is not rude to comment on people's weight - much to Mark's dismay. Humberto thinks it is hilarious to keep telling Mark to go on a diet, even though a recent photo of him showed an extending waistline. Anyway, I decided to teach him a lesson and sent him this photo... However, Humberto's latest come back was that we just superimposed his head on to Mark's body...
The saga continues...

More about Peru.

The Andes 400m metres up. This is a very typical landscape barren and desert like.

The Andean Condor in full flight, taken in the valle de Condor (Condor Valley , in la canon de Colca (Colca Canyon) near Arequipa.

The Cathedral in the centre of Cuzco. Every town has a large Catholic Cathedral.

Us at the most famous site in South America, so they say (who are they?) - Machu Picchu, which means 'big mountain' in Quechua, the language spoken by the descendants of he Incas. Not quite so spectacular now in name is it? The famous mountain you can see is not actually Machu Picchu but Wayan Picchu, little mountain. Machu is behind, which we never saw because it was cloudy. Next time hey? When one of our lovely readers comes out to see us.

This is a classic shot of a Lima Shanty town shack. This is actually a picture of the house of our good friends Richar and Marinella, (I've spelt those correctly by the way) and their daughters, Angie, and Anita, (or little Ana). It is very normal to add '-ita' or '-ito' on the end of people's names. ('-ita' for women and '-ito' for men). Therefore Anna was called Anita and Daniel will be called Danielito. It is a very cute way of talking, but only refers to those smaller or younger than yourself. Therefore due to my size and also social standing (as a white western male missionary i am the ultimate power, scary I know and what a responsibilty) i was never called Markito. My more preferred name was gordito, (little fatty). Doesn't sound so bad in Spanish, but does in English!

More Photos of the Lil Man.

So true!!

I love my daddy.
No really

He's smiling now.

Peru

(Mark) The Peruvian people are wonderful. They really understand about servanthood in a way that we westerners do not have a clue. Our friends Humberto and Esther have been really helping us sort things out in regards to Peru and all the possible options that we need to deal with. Peruvian bureaucracy and also unhelpful western missionaries can really make you feel your call is not exactly right but Humberto and Esther have come through for us. They have been a real example of what the majority if Peruvians seem to be like, thinking of us 1st before themselves.

Volcano Misti

This is a very faint picture of Volcano Misti the striking feature of Arequipa's horizon. This is still active, although no real threat.