Christmas Celebrations...

We celebrated Christmas this year with many events leading up to the day itself. We attended (what has become a tradition for us) the Detroit Lutheran Singer's Christmas concert series (pictured here), which was lovely, and did many fun activities with the children, like decorating gingerbread cookies.

Christmas Eve started with a beautiful sunrise, and we enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, although this year we ate it at lunchtime. On Christmas Day we drove down to Indiana to celebrate with Candace's family. :)

Riaan's gingerbread cookie house.

Anya's colourful house.

Eliza had so much fun!

Colourful Christmas Eve sunrise.

Family selfie on Christmas Eve.

A delicious Christmas Eve dinner. Yum!

Distinguished Dusty...

Our sweet dog Dusty looks so distinguished when she sits with her paws crossed. :)

Winter Bonfire...

Lovely to have a bonfire on a chilly evening, with patches of ice and snow around.

Celebrating Ten Years of Life...

The 15th of December marked ten years since Candace's life was saved after a postpartum haemorrhage. We celebrated Candace with coffee and doughnuts and little acts of kindness to show her how thankful we are for her. 

The emergency occurred in the middle of a cold December night, just eight days after Riaan was born. On that day, even after they had stopped the bleeding, they seriously considered performing a hysterectomy, but ultimately decided that she was still young and healthy. If they had taken out her uterus, our two beautiful girls Eliza and Anya would not be here today. They're our little miracle children. 

You can read Candace's story in her own words here and here.

Happy Christmas 2025...

It's been a few busy days, and so this message is rather late. After having our traditional Christmas eve dinner and opening presents, we celebrated with Candace's family down in Indiana over the weekend.

Anyway, I do hope that wherever you are you had an amazing Christmas and that your New Year of 2026 is filled with joy and peace.

Candace's Birthday...

Swiftly following Riaan's birthday was Candace's special day on Tuesday, 9th December. We celebrated her with cake (made by yours truly and the girls), coffee, presents, a night-time hike, and delicious Indian food. We are so thankful for this wife and mother who brings so much to our little family. :)

Baking her cake for the special day.

Cards and presents in the morning...

Including a gag gift from me. :)

Looking at the cool card from her South African in-laws.

Building Lego together.

A night-time hike...

It was really bright with snow and low cloud reflecting the city lights.

Winter Sun Dog...

We saw a beautiful sun dog on a frosty afternoon earlier this month.