Family Fun

Last week we had Jeff's brother Andrew and his son, our nephew Jonathan over to stay. We took them to dinner with Jeff and Andrew's cousins, and all their kids. Unfortunately, two second cousins had left by the time we thought to get some photos taken. But here's two of the best. It was very, very hard to get them all to sit still.

Then last weekend, we celebrated my Mum & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary with a family lunch including Mum, Dad, and everyone descended from them.Back row, L-R: Carla, Daryl with Stephen, Mum, Dad, me, Jeff, Michael.
Front row, L-R: Rebecca, Lisa, Abigail, Joshua, Samuel, Anna.

The group included Stephen, who was born on Friday just in time to join in the celebrations.

We had our Family Adventure one day late this weekend, with a fun time at Faulkner Park, a large playground not too far SOR.

Bree Tanner...

An exercise in arguing against the injustice of God's (or the Roman Catholic Church's) uncompromising justice. Showing that even evil can engender love in the hearts of Meyer's readership... or at least that's what I am reading between the lines in Amazon.com's reader comments section for The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a recently released novella by Stephenie Meyer.

As usual, Meyer has her own rationale for writing a book set in the Twilight universe and allowing Little, Brown & Co to release it less than a month before the movie of "Eclipse" is released in theatres. The Short Second Life parallels events described from Bella's perspective in Eclipse, in the same way the unfinished Midnight Sun manuscript parallels the events of the first 12 chapters of Twilight. You can read Meyer's reasoning on this book at her website (the only page there that seems to be opening at the moment). You can also check out her excerpt online:

Tomorrow, we'll all be able to read the whole thing for free at breetanner.com. Unless you want the paper copy to add to your twilight collection.
If you want to really understand Twilight, I highly recommend John Granger's Spotlight, by the way.

Family Adventure #4 Whiteman Park

We had our Family Adventure early this weekend, on Friday. This weekend is a long weekend in Perth and very, very busy. But conveniently the school gave our kids the day off so the teachers could attend a Christian Teachers' Conference. So on Friday we went to Whiteman Park, with Grandma & Grandad, and Auntie Carla, Lisa and Rebecca.

Anna gave Rebecca a little bit of assistance.
The flowers were magnificent.
Jeff took this delightful photo of the cousins at Mussel Pool. Left to right, they are: Joshua, Lisa, Abigail, Samuel, Anna, Rebecca.I was very impressed - it only took four photos to get one with all six smiling!

We walked from a lookout southeast to Mussel Pool, then back northeast to Whiteman Village, where there are several playgrounds. Dad and I then walked back west along the road to the cars, and drove back to the Village car park, bringing our picnic lunches to enjoy by the playground where they children had been playing in our absence.

Mrs Peters' birthday cake

The Seven Silly Eaters enjoyed Mrs Peters' birthday cake very much.So did our four, plus the T family six, plus another friend, L, today for lunch. That made eleven silly eaters!If you'd like to taste the cake, the author's recipe is here. I can happily report that it is very easy to make, even when one has to convert measurements to metric. (For those who would like a helping hand, 1/2pnd of butter is roughly 225g, and 325F is approximately 160C.) I hope you enjoy Mrs Peters' cake, as we did!

Jesus and James - and our children

In my personal Bible study with BSF, I have been reading John’s gospel. John 7:5 says, “even his own brothers did not believe in him.” How could it be that Jesus’ own brothers, who had lived with Jesus all their lives, did not believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be? They did not really know Jesus.

This is one problem Christian parents must overcome as we strive to bring up children who believe in Jesus. Our children, growing up in a "Christian family", may become so familiar with a simplified storybook image of Jesus, that they fail to see Jesus as He really is.

James, the eldest of Jesus’ brothers, did become a believer in Jesus Christ, a dedicated Christian. He was described by Paul as one of the "pillars of the church" (Galatians 2:9), a leader in the new Christian church based in Jerusalem. James spoke after Simon Peter at the first church council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) and made the final judgement (Acts 15:19ff). He even wrote some of the New Testament!

So what made James believe in Jesus? Paul records that “He [the risen Jesus] appeared to James” (1 Corinthians 15:7). Seeing Jesus alive after His death made all the difference. Now, James knew who Jesus was: someone with the power over death and life; God Himself!

How do we show our children who Jesus is? By telling them what the Bible says about Jesus, and helping the children to understand, so that they see Jesus as He really is. Jesus was not only the gentle Man who said, "Let the little children come to me." He was not solely one who healed the sick, lame and blind. He was much more. Our children need to know Jesus, in all His glory.

As I read through John, I am finding out that Jesus said a lot of things about Himself. Jesus' descriptions of Himself were audacious and unprecedented. (After all, this was the first time God had come as a Man to live a whole human life span on earth with His people.) There is a lot in these passages that we can talk about with our kids, even if they are young.

Jesus said that He would give those who believed in Him eternal life. In John 6:40, Jesus says, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." In John 8:51, Jesus is recorded as saying, "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." (Also see John 6:27-29, 33, 35, 47-51, 54-57.)

Jesus said that His disciples (those who hold to His teaching) would know the truth, and they would be set free from sin. (See John 8:31-32,34-36.) He also warned, as recorded in John 8:24, "if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

This warning from Jesus needs to be taken seriously by parents and others who care about our children. If our children do not know who Jesus claims to be, how can they believe He is Who He says He is? We must teach our children about Jesus: all about Jesus.

Family Adventure #3 Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary

Jeff was sick in bed this morning, but I was determined the kids would not miss out on our weekly Family Adventure. This time, rather than going up a hill or through a hill, we stuck with the low lying areas. We visited a bird sanctuary very near to the Swan River.

We mostly saw ducks on the water.Near the car park we saw a heron and an ibis.- I think! My parents would be able to identify these birds, I am sure.

We enjoyed following the path around the wetlands and the kids liked exploring the surrounding bush, although large portions were off-limits to exploring adventurers, to protect the birds and their homes.

We stopped to take some family photos. I got a few very nice pics of Joshua, who hasn't been one for posing much recently. We admired scenery.The Autumn (Fall) colours reminded me that it is Spring for my friends in the USA, and you won't see colours like these for another six months.All in all, it was a delightful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday.

Seven Silly Eaters read by Grandad

While I was in the USA, I caught up with Kellie "argsmommy" from Blue House Academy. (Amy took me and her kids to meet Kellie. Amy blogged about the meeting here. Kellie blogged about it, with far more artistic photos than Amy or I took, here.)

Kellie very kindly gave me a present for my whole family: a copy of her family's favourite book, Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marla Frazee.
Thanks very much, Kellie. My kids all like this very funny story of a family who all want to eat different foods, but end up finding one food that they can all enjoy.This morning I read it to Abi and Sam, and then when Sam was down for his afternoon nap, Abi asked Grandad to read it to her again. I love the benefits of having grandparents over to visit!

Isn't that last photo a corker?

Now, we just need to try the recipe!

Me and My 5 Year Old

Abigail turns 5

We celebrated Abi turning five on Sunday. On Tuesday, her real birthday, she received our family's traditional 5th birthday gift: a brand new bike.

Being 5 comes with quite a few privileges in our family. Abi can now use a metal knife as well as an adult sized fork, and she can also play with the little Lego in the small games room. The only problem with the last privilege is that our Small Games Room is now our Guest Room. So Abi enjoyed building her Lego gift in the lounge room instead.

Appreciating the cake:
Enjoying the cake:
A new present:
Riding her brand new bike, wearing brand new clothes, with a brand new handbag: