Sweet Dusty...

Our canine family member brings such joy and humour to our household - like in this photo, where her back legs have seemingly disappeared. Dusty has a unique personality and is fiercely loyal to all of us. I'm so thankful we adopted her back in January last year. 

Such a calm, relaxed dog.

"Say cheese, you three!"

Grandpa's Birthday...

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday on the day that we headed to Belle Isle State Park. Once home from that adventure, we rested and then ate birthday cake. Later in the evening, we played board games together. It was a great time of family connection.

Belle Isle State Park...

We took Candace's parents to Belle Isle State Park on Saturday, 21st March. We enjoyed walking through the aquarium and the conservatory, which houses plants from all over the world. We then made our way to the Nature Centre. It was a great morning out on this small island located in the Detroit River between the United States and Canada.

Mbu pufferfish from Central Africa.

Ocellate river stingray from South America.

Garden eel swaying gently in the water.

Sea anemones.

Clownfish in their tank.

Eliza and Riaan check out the piranhas.

The large glasshouse housing the conservatory.

Pretty fountain scene.

Storytime in the conservatory.

The arid semi-desert region.

Our three children in the Nature Centre.

Detroit city skyline on the drive home.

Waste Management...

We love watching the rubbish trucks coming to collect our waste from our garbage bins. Most of the vehicles that serve our neighbourhood are really modern and very clean.

Making Amish Noodles...

Candace's parents visited us for several days last week. The children loved seeing their grandparents again and we made lots of fun memories. On Friday morning, they made Amish noodles with lots of eggs, flour, and hard work. The children really enjoyed it! 

Amish noodles are a simple comfort food, often cooked in chicken broth and enjoyed alongside staples such as mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans.  

Our three bakers.

Feeding the noodle mixture through the noodle/dough roller machine.

The flattened dough waiting to be cut into strips.

Thicker noodles drying...

Along with thinner noodles. So much fun!

Postcard from Overseas...

It's always exciting getting mail from overseas. Our children clustered around this baby animal postcard that arrived from Granny and Grandad. :) 

The South African Postal Service can be somewhat unreliable, so my parents ask friends and family travelling to the UK to post items to us here in the United States. This postcard took quite a while to get here, but we were thankful that it did actually arrive. 

Cycle Tour Sunday...

Sunday, 8th March, marked the Cape Town Cycle Tour, the annual 109-km route around the Cape Peninsula. For many years I cycled this event - the largest timed cycling event in the world with 35,000 entrants - and I even rode the virtual version during the Covid pandemic back in 2021. 

Nowadays, I try and go for a bike ride on Cycle Tour Sunday to commemorate the special event down in Cape Town, which my parents and brother still cycle annually. This year, the weather was gorgeous, although some of the roads were still flooded from several rounds of storms that week. I rode 1/5th of the distance, but it wasn't too bad being my first ride of 2026. :)

The swollen Rouge River in Dearborn.

14 Years of Marriage...

Candace and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, 4th March. I took the day of work for this special day. Some friends at church watched our children while we headed into Detroit and had a coffee date at the Awake Café. We then walked along the Detroit Riverfront on a very misty morning. 

Once home we watched our wedding video with the children, and a bit later in the day we all headed back into Detroit, where Candace needed to pick up an order of flour. We had fun at the amazing new park right on the river!

It was so foggy we couldn't see Windsor, Ontario, across the river.

Treacherous ice on the little ponds along the river.

Lots of beaver activity in this area...

And here's the beaver dam!

Enjoying our wedding video at home.

Gardening with Anya in the afternoon. She's doing a great job looking after her baby!

Sheets of ice drift down the Detroit River.

View of the Ambassador Bridge from the park.

A beautiful portrait of Anya.

Family selfie as a fog bank drifts down the river.

Monday Night Prayer Group...

Every second Monday we gather with friends for a prayer night and a meal. We spend time praying for a different country each time we meet, enjoying a delicious meal together. The meal is usually based on some national dish from the country for which we are praying. We prayed for Hong Kong and China at our most recent evening, and the food and prayers were amazing! :)

Our host is originally from Hong Kong. He enjoys sharing his culinary talents with us!

Stop Motion Studios...

Our children have made the most amazing Lego stop motion videos lately. I've been amazed by their endless creativity - and I am amazed what you can do these days with an app and a simple smart phone. Perhaps one day I'll share some of their videos here. :) But for now, here are a couple of photos of the behind-the-scenes action.

It's so cool to watch their little videos. :)

Food and Friends...

Last weekend was a good one. Candace and I enjoyed a lovely date night on Friday. We headed to Plymouth and had a meal in a nice restaurant there. I was really happy to find traditional fish and chips, complete with tartar sauce! 

The next day we hosted our Mercy Ships friends for dinner and some games. I cooked lasagna for supper, and Candace made amazing chocolate eclairs for dessert. It was a really good time, sharing fellowship with lots of laughter. :)

Candace and I at the restaurant in Plymouth.

With our Mercy Ships friends the following evening.

Candace made delicious chocolate eclairs for pudding. Yum!

Riaan's Lego Beacon of Minas Tirith...

Hot on the heels of Weathertop, we have another original Lego build from Riaan - the Beacon of Minas Tirith. In the movie, the beacon is lit by Pippin and culminates in a breathtaking scene as successive signal beacons, perched on high peaks, erupt in fire as the message is carried to distant Rohan.

Aragorn: "The Beacons of Minas Tirith! The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid."

"And Rohan will answer. Muster the Rohirrim!" replies King Theoden.

Pippin climbs down the precarious rocks after lighting the beacon.