My family and other nutcases

 The picture on the right is so amazing. This was taken after the wedding and before the reception time.  You have to understand that Ashleigh does not pose for photo's so this was completely out of character or should I say, this is actually who she is. A complete and utter nutcase. Jesse is your upright citizen who has to always look good and always projects the together guy. Jason, he always acts like that, like all the bulbs on the tree aren't burning. It was such a blessing to share this day with them and to see them embrace their little cousins.  The wedding couple and their kids in the Vestry after the wedding. Scott is an amazing young man who values his family highly, He has a real fathers heart when it comes to their family. My sister Renata listening to the speeches with Debbie on the far left looking on. It was so hot on this day I think it was definitely about 35 degrees. So proud of Renata, not sure if she took medication or had some weed but she was

The flight was approximately 3 hours to Luanda on board TAAG Airlines. Now you have to understand the joy that was in my heart at the fact that we were now in the air. Because of the stress of the situation I was suddenly hot and my heart was truly racing. I was so thankful to Jesse for staying at the airport and for taking charge when I basically melted.  My fear and trembling was by no means over as we had now the prospect of problems in Luanda to face. In my mind I could not relax and all the thoughts about possible arrest flooded my mind. We were however on the flight and that was a positive start.  Now TAAG was an interesting flight, it was clearly an older plane and my excitement of being in the air was rather dampened a bit at the realisation that this plane was old. The seats were broken and the TV's were not working. Only Jason seemed to have any form of a movie playing. The hosts and hostesses tried in vain to help out but just threw their hands in the air. The

This of you who have read my blog would have read about my arrest on a previous trip to the Meditteranean in Johannesburg. Every bone in my body was prepared to take a flight out of Cape Town and NOT Johannesburg. The prospect of not leaving Johannesburg occupied my mind for a long time so when Jesse and I sat down to plan our flights, it was going to be a flight out of Cpt. The best priced flights were on TAAG (Angolan Airlines). So we booked Debbie, Jason and myself on Taag, flying via Angola, Portugal then London.  We worked out layover times and everything panned out really well. Because Jesse and Ashleigh did not have their passports ready as yet, they were going to fly Qatar Airways the next day. A mistake which I made which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Fast Forward to the day of departure and Jesse takes us to the airport. I tell him to just drop us off and go but he insists that he wants to make sure that we go through customs. The excitement at che

I had an interesting childhood.  My earliest memories were actually that of stealing an eraser from a hardware store and then getting caught.  I never walked past that hardware store again, EVER. I have some vague memories which involved meeting my new sister.  Now that sounds strange but yes, its true.  There was a time suddenly in my early teens when my parents started fighting a lot.  The arguments were endless.  My father in the heat of arguments would throw things out the back door.  Nothing was spared, first the kettle, then pots, then plates and even the kitchen chairs, of which there were only 2, but they went.  All I could remember was the name Edith.  Edith whoever she was certainly caused a few problems in my home. I could never work out what on earth was going on but always thought whey does Edith not come and make herself known here.  So it turns out that prior to my Dad and Mom dating my dad (according to him) had a 1 night stand.  Yes they did it back then too.  T

 So the baby was born in 1998.  Jesse certainly arrived into our lives like a bomb.  He certainly was the most helpful and often when we had to leave the kids at home alone Jesse would step up to the plate as the most responsible one.  We often had to leave our kids home alone during school holidays even though all of them were under the age of 10.  Jesse would make lunch for the other 2 even though he was only 5 years old.  One thing about Jesse was that he could talk, A LOT.  Whenever we went out to the shops or anywhere for that matter, he just seem to have an endless supply of words.  One day I asked him to read all the adverts in the motoring magazine.  And so started his passion for cars.  He knew that every Tuesday, a new FREE magazine would come out and he would want to walk to the shop to check out the new stuff.  I bred a new kind of animal by doing this.  Jesse would learn all about cars this way.  He went to 3 primary schools, Star of the Sea, Sea Point Primary and R

Jason in Grade 7 at Sea Point Primary receiving an award. An Outshoorn Ostrich Farm visit  Jason is such a special son.  I have such varied memories of Jason as he has grown up.  One of the earliest ones certainly was when he was a baby, he would want mommy's milk a lot.  Whenever he would wake up at night after feeding he would cry non-stop.  One night I eventually pushed him in his pram through to the lounge and closed the door.  He cried for 2 -3 minutes solid before I fetched him.  I think that may have scarred him for life.  That was when I realized that raising kids was not for sissies. He spent his primary school life at 2 schools, viz Star of the Sea and Sea Point Primary School.  At both schools he excelled academically and by the time he got to Sea Point he was doing exceptionally well.  He often finished top of the class receiving various merit awards for his efforts.  Shamwari Game Reserve. Happiness  Being shyish in primary school certainly changed w

This whole Visa thing can be quite stressful.   Our planning for the application of our visas was rather stressful on me, I think I aged about 10 years.  When applying for our Schengen Visas a few years, most of the groundwork was done by the travel agent so all Debbie and I had to do was show up at the Embassy and present ourselves and our passports, it was that easy. This time around however,w hen we applied online they asked a lot of questions and thankfully we could get a letter from Renata stating that she will cover all our expenses.  The applications are done online and so is the payment with the Visa costing R1522 per person.  Once you've paid they send you a checklist which has to accompany your passport when you go in to do the handover of documents.  This is where my stress levels went through the roof as according to the list you had to bring a mountain of documents with you.  Everyone that's been also tells you to take a whole mountain of paperwork with you.  Deb

I met a guy many years ago in Jhb, named Peter Karadas.  He had a daughter called Ashleigh.  I loved that name so much Itold Debbie that if we ever had a daughter, I would name her Ashleigh.  Any other kids could be named by Debbie, but my daughter would be Ashleigh. I remember watching her being born, when the Dr delivered her, I just burst into tears.  Tears of joy I must add but tears nontheless.  She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, even my friend Avril said so.  All babies look like prunes to me but Ash was so beautiful.  Amazingly she had blond hair and amazing blue eyes.  She was such an easy baby, even sleeping through the night at 6 weeks of age. This undoubtedly is and always will be my favourite picture of Ashleigh.  She would often just walk around our garden mumbling away even when she couldn't speak.  She was always a shy child and a real mom and dad's girl.  This pic was taken at our friends Cathy and Warren's home in Jhb.   Throughout P

I have often wondered how different our lives could have been if we mad e small decision earlier in our lives.   Many years ago, I was faced with a decision of going into full-time ministry, the choice was East London or Johannesburg.  I spend a lot of time deliberating, praying and seeking counsel so as to make the correct decision.  God laid on my heart that Johannesburg was where I had to go.  That decision ultimately decided a course which God had designed for me. During this time in Jhb (Johannesburg), I had cemented my friendship with my now wife, Debbie.  I shudder to think how much could have changed if God had pushed the East London button.  God knew what my life required as far as a partner was concerned.  Meeting Debbie was one of the best decisions that I could have made, ever.  I mean lets just put this in perspective, I am no Painting at all.  Debs is really beautiful and she could have chosen any guy out of a million.  She ha the world at her feet and yet, she cho

I was always a very shy person growing up, but Christ brought some special people into my life since getting to know Him on a personal level.  One such special person is my wife Debbie.  I met her on the docks of Port Elizabeth where we were both volunteering on the MVS Doulos.  She had long flowing hair and the hugest smile ever coupled with the most incredibly beautiful face. The first time I saw her was love.  I knew then what 'love at first sight' meant.  well lets put it this way, I met her, she does not remember meeting me.  Two years later we met again at a YFC (Youth for Christ) camp in Magaliesberg.  I knew then that God had placed this woman in my path as she literally came to the camp for the day and I saw her amongst 1200 young people outside the tabernacle.  Again she has no recollection of this meeting,  But I stuck to my guns and continued to be as charming as ever. Debbie started working for YFC, which meant that i would get to see her more often as my gr

There are a couple of issues here regarding our trip.  Firstly the pound is ridiculous and the thought of paying  R30 for a can of Coke is absurd or R60 for a cup of coffee is crazy.  Anyway lets back peddle for a bit before i get depressed.  I am a bit of a competition junkie, ever since high school when i won my first prize which was a pencil sharpener when I was in Standard 5 (Grade 7). In matric, i won a brand new car which I gave to my dad.  It was the first brand new car he ever owned.  fast forward a few years and we won a trip to Europe on a Meditteranean Cruise followed closely by a prize to Shamwari Game Reserve for our whole family for 4 days.  2 Flat screen TV's and some jewellery and stuff and the list goes on.   In October of 2017 BP ran a competition to win 300 000 Avios points.  So hold that thought for just a moment as every time that i fill my car up I get to go into the draw.  My sister called me in December to tell me about this wedding which is happenin

Oh my shattered nerves, the urge to write something down on paper came and then suddenly by sheer accident I stumbled on this old blog of mine.  Juslaik, reading through this has made me all nostalgic, remembering an awesome time spent with my wife.  I'm thinking about how special it was to have the opportunity to travel.  When we got back from this trip, we would constantly chat to our kids (now Adults) about just how awesome it was to adventure into other countries 'overseas' nogal.  we marvelled at the history and often spoke to them about our listening to foreign accents and seeing things from a different angle.  Our young ones would retort with "Ag here we go again'  My dream after this trip was to take my kids and go 'overseas' together as a family.  now you have to understand that taking 3 grown up, fully grow  sperm cells on any trip is going to cost an arm and a leg.  This has always detered (i don't know how to spell that sorry) me and put

Every now and then I get reqally annoyed with my ' Friends " on Facebook.  I have seem to have accumulated three hundred and plenty friends, many of whom I know and a lot that I have not have words with for over 2 years, why do I keep these people around.  So let the culling begin. I digress a bit and will do my best to stay on track.  My annoyance with my Facebook people are the ones that just literally share photo's and other peoples writings and not their own.  A funny photo here and there is okay, but come on already.The last one that really got to me was the tip of the iceberg.  Person A finds an e-mail or FB post of somebody who is pissed off at the government and has plenty stories to tell of murder and mayhem in our land, about how bad the situation is and about the death and destruction that goes with it.  We are all doomed and totally just waiting to die.  Our lives are numbered and a friend of a friends mothers best friend was hurt in a houserobbing.  So we co

 Arriving in this [pictureque town in Italy was amazing.  From the time we woke up, there was a sense of relaxation in the air, not that we were not relaxed, but the truth be told we had walked far more than we had planned and were determined not to walk too much this time around.  The town was quite small with less than 1000 inhabitants scattered all around 2000 sq/km's.  Debbie and I were always the first ones off the yacht, our enthusiasm to see new things was evident as the seasoned travellers slept late.  Our first stop had to be an ice-cream shop. My cousin Shahaada advised me about the quality of ice-cream and there we wer at 9am in the morning eating ice-cream, the very thing we tell our kids not to do.  Landing on the shore of Portofino   The town square  The town square was just waking up and was quite empty so we decided  to take a walk up the mountain, the walk to the end of town should take 10 minutes up the mountain, but I had the shopping queen