The Wilby Fam: December 2008

NEWSLETTER - September, October, November 2008

The arrival of our TWINS
This is a little note to all of you special people in our lives. We write to say a HUGE thank you for all your prayers, emails, gifts and support through the birth of our twin boys, Treyson and Tryston. We had a wonderful time over the arrival of our boys, with family so near by to visit and encourage. We have been so blessed the boys are really good babies. They only cry when they are hungry or tired and we have them in a good routine. They feed every four hours (tan feels a little like a mommy dog with her puppies as she breastfeeds them together at the same time!). They have a good sleep from 10-12am (big brother Troyden sleeps then too – to give mom some “ME” time).
Both of the boys have grown so nicely and are now 3months old! Can’t believe that the time has gone so quickly WOW! They have kept up with each other in growth, Treyson 5.2kg’s ( lbs) and Tryston 5.3kg’s ( lbs), they have doubled on their birth weight. They are happy smiley babies and very similar in looks!! We had to paint Tryston’s baby finger with nail polish so we don’t get them mixed up. We as mom and dad can now tell them apart but most people think they are identical twins! Well all this to say – Tan is home with the boys and they consume most of her time but she is finding time to do her creative thing and enjoying being involved in some ministry at the church. On the whole going anywhere is a HUGE event to move the family that even making it to church on a Sunday morning on time is quite a thing! Tan has a good friend in the church (actually the nurse that helped with the delivery of the boys) who has grown to enjoy the time she gets to spend with all three Wilby boys, so Tan has some company when she needs to get the errands run! We are both very proud parents and counting our blessings of these two special little boys!

FIRST SMILES

Big Brother TROYDEN
Well well well what a sweetie pie we have here!! Troydie just loves his brothers and know that he wishes they were bigger so he could play with them. He is very loving and gentle with them it is too cute to watch how fair he is what he does to one he does to the other!
He is quite the sportsman already with really very good ball skills he is now drop kicking and throwing the ball into the air and hitting with the bat. Still working on the catching but that is coming along nicely. Balls are definitely his fave toy!
The talking is coming along nicely and we have quite a vocab. Over the past 3 months we have added WOW, church, cheese, ass (as yes), no, more and ball. This past week we played under the hose pipe in the garden and now all he can talk about is the “pipe”, “pipe”, “pipe” – so cute! He fully understands and so enjoys company of other kids. Mom is kept quite busy having to watch the twins and still run and kick the ball in the garden. In the last three months we have learned what it is to draw, paint and play with play dough!
He has nick named Tan’s folks as “BABA” and “NEE” and loves it when they come to visit – all the more attention.

He has nick named Mark's folks "PA" and "MA" and so enjoyes playing with them too. On the whole he has managed the addition of his brothers and really is quite protective and proud of them. All this said DAD is definitely his favorite and he finds it real hard to say goodbye to him.

ME AND MY DAD!!!!

ME WITH PUPPY, "DUZI" blanket and "PRESH" (dummy/pasi)

10-12 weeks old ... and so we grow

Ministries at church
Ladies “Basking in the SON”
The ladies had their quarterly meeting this past month and what a fun time. The hall was decorated like a beach with towel, umbrellas, sand, shells and deck chairs etc. 4 ladies shared how they are “Basking in the SON” and were a huge blessing in testimony to all the ladies who came. The afternoon was ended off with a competition between each table – who could make the best sun hat from the materials that were provided what a laugh. Fellowship was great round ice cream and fruit salad!
Youth Ministry
The Youth has had their final meeting for the year and the group has really grown spiritually even the friendships are stronger. We have a core group of about 15 that are regular every week and growing in the Lord. Please continue to pray for this ministry as we seek out God’s plan for new leadership for 2009.
Preaching Gods Word
We are still praising the Lord for Mark’s opportunities in this ministry. Please keep him in your prayers week by week as he studies and prepares to share God’s word with His people. We thank the Lord for growing him as he shares in the pulpit.

Kingdom’s Kids Ministry
This ministry is going great and we are finding it a wonderful time for all of us as a family. Added to the mail ministry to the “new families” and the mom’s bible study that meets twice a month we have decided to get together as families for a meal once a month. This as proved to be a huge blessing to all of us and such an encouragement for us to meet together, not to mention all the fun the kids have playing with each other.
Young Adults Bible Study
Well the study has ended for the year completing their discussions through Philippians. We will be celebrating Christmas together this coming Wednesday. Tan is cooking a “Christmassy” meal. We praise the Lord for His growth in these young peoples lives so many have grown so much this year, many are more involved in other ministries too – Thank you Lord!
@TAP (all things to all people – community center)
We have so enjoyed the use of the new coffee corner for Troydie to run and play – our mum’s bible study meets there so the kids can enjoy the outside.

On a sad note
Mark’s granny – Granny Wilby passed away on September 21st. This was a sad day but we praise the Lord for her life and the special person she was to each of the family members.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY
We celebrated out 5th wedding anniversary on Oct 4th and we praise the Lord for His blessings on us. 5years and we are now 5 in the family! We had a little giggle as the two of us were planning on going out for dinner and ended up getting ribs delivered so we could all be together to celebrate!

Christmas plans
We will be in Durban for Christmas eve and Christmas day service. The family will be with us for dinner on Christmas eve. Then we celebrate with Mark’s family on Christmas day in Pietermaritzburg and with Tan’s folks on Christmas day in the evening. Trent will be flying in to town after his Christmas day service. We will spend a few days with Tan’s folks following Christmas day until Trent returns home and then onto Port Edward (beach) with Mark’s family for 3 days break. We have planned to take our leave for the year in the middle of January and going down to Kei Mouth for 10days.

Family news
All our family is doing well and excited for the Christmas celebrations. (Mark’s sisters -) Errol and Tracy arrived last week for 6 weeks holiday with the family in Pietermaritzburg. Craig and Robyn have settled down in Pietermaritzburg and Craig is enjoying working with dad in his business from home. Tan’s family is doing fine mom and dad Eayrs working on their involvement in mission in our state and keeping themselves busy with a lot of traveling. We have had a young girl visit from the states as an intern for 3 months and her visit is going well she will be celebrating with us for Christmas. They are on a prayer road trip right now with a visiting family from the U.K. (Tan’s brother -) Trent is doing well at Florida Baptist in Johannesburg, keeping himself very busy with church life. aLooking forward to our family holiday together.

Prayer Requests
Thank you each and everyone for your special prayers, God is Good all the time.
· Our little family as it has grown from 3 to 5 – for the Lord to help us raise our children to love Him in a special way.
· Continuing to pray for financial support for a suitable vehicle for mission trips
· Christmas plans and travels – that it will be a blessed time for all!
Ministry at Durban North
· Christmas celebrations to be reminded of Christ’s Birth and the reason He came to earth so many years ago.
· Youth Ministry and the need for a leader that Mark can mentor and come alongside of.
· Our involvement in leadership at church and the responsibility that places on us as a family. Help us to lead by example as Christ would have us lead.
PRAISE THE LORD WITH US!!
· Troyden’s easy adjustment to the addition of the Twins! He just loves them!
· For our finances – we have had a challenge to make the ends meet especially with the addition of the new babies and we praise the Lord for special miracles each month. So many people have been a huge blessing to us.
· For the healthy BABIES the Lord has blessed us with – we are so enjoying them!
· For our new home – pray that we can use it for the Lord’s glory in every way, and not to miss the opportunities to share it with others.

All for our Saviour,

Mark, Tanya, Troyden, Treyson and Tryston