As promised.

A recent photo of our house! (Taken on Sunday, December 28th.)

Christmas photos.

[This post written by Naomi]

We survived our third Christmas at the farm, and in the mobile homes!
It was so, so good to have all of us together, as last year Joel was in Uganda over Christmas and New Year.

We spent Christmas Day together, opening presents, sharing a big meal and sharing laughs.

Pamela and Hugh (Mum and Dad) with the turkey.

Joel (wearing the hat) and Davey playing SingStar.


Suzie and Steph singing.


Pamela and Suzie.

Then, on Boxing Day, as per tradition, we all headed to Pamela's parents house for a big buffet and more craic with that side of the family. We, of course, ate too much, and played our own rendition of Deal Or No Deal. After everyone had left apart from the Marcus Clan, and Pamela's parents, we decided to have a family photo shoot. Evidence can be seen below.

Suzie and Joel during our low-budget Deal Or No Deal - paper plates in stead of red boxes!



Papa during DOND. Don't think he knew what was going on!

Joel and David, thoroughly enjoying the game... on their mobile phones.


The Marcus girls.

Suzie and Joel.

Family shot. Back row: David, Hugh, Joel. Front row: Naomi, Pamela, Suzanne, Stephanie.


Marcus family with Pamela's parents.

Merry Christmas!

Rewind.

[This entry written by Naomi]

We are building a new home to live in at the moment.
It's been a long process, which is why we have been living in mobile homes for two and a half years.
It is nice enough in the summer, but right now, when it's been snowing and the winds would cut through you, it's not so fun. For example, we woke up one morning last week to find the water in the toilet bowl completely frozen. Note: this is not an outdoor toilet!

So, needless to say, everyone is eagerly anticipating the day the house is ready to be moved into.
Here are some photographs of our progress so far...

The old farmhouse that we knocked down in Spring 2008.

Goodbye 1970s decor!



Demolition


This used to be a house.


This, my friends, is what we waited two years to see!


Timber frame going up.


Back wall of what will be the kitchen.


View from above as ground floor goes up.


Getting there. (This takes us to August 2008)

I cannot find a more recent photo to put up, which is ridiculous, because all the outer blockwork has been done and the tiles on the roof are almost complete. Soon, a photo to prove this, I promise!

In the spotlight... Stephanie.

[This entry is written by Naomi]

Introducing Stephanie!

She doesn't have a strange hairpiece on, it's the hanging lamp!

Miss Stephanie Pamela Marcus was born on May 6th 1990, the fourth child to be born.
After the big move from Bangor to Ballyvaddy, Steph moved school for her final two years to do her A Levels. She absolutely thrived in this school (maybe because it was co-educational, whereas her previous one was single-sex?!), and was really sad to leave in June 2008.

Right now, she is on a Gap Year with SIM (Serving In Mission). She just completed her training in England, and is getting ready to go to Malawi in Africa, in January, for six months. After that, she is hoping to go to university to study nursing.

Steph is, hands down, the drama queen of our family. Bubbly, loud, and friendly, she can talk to anyone. A natural leader, a diva, but the most amazing, caring girl, she will listen to anyone's problems and do anything she can to help.

Stephanie feeding baby Emily (our sort-of niece - see David's upcoming profile for more details)


Naomi and Steph, taken at Naomi's graduation in October 2007.

At a friend's wedding in July 2008.

Animal lover.

Stephanie with cousin Mark.

First post.

Welcome to the Marcus Family Blog!
I have to firstly say I seriously regret not starting this blog when we first moved to live on this farm, or just before. It's been two and a half years, and if I'd been keeping this blog back then, there'd be a much more accurate and detailed account of our transition and the all-important new house being built.
However, we have no time for regrets, and I'll do my best to backdate to August 2006!

I should probably say who exactly I am in writing this. I'm Naomi, and will probably be the person doing most of the blogging. The family structure goes like this...

Pamela: Mum, age unknown. In photo - bottom left, wearing green.
Hugh: Dad, age unknown. In photo - top middle, black jacket.
Suzanne: also known as Suzie, age 24. In photo - bottom row, brown clothes.
Joel: age 22. In photo - top right, brown sweater.
Naomi: also known as Nomi, age 21. In photo - bottom row, black and purple clothes.
Stephanie: also known as Steph, age 18. In photo - bottom right, white shirt.
David: also known as Dave: age 15. In photo, top left, striped rugby shirt.

This photo is more than a year old, it was taken in October 2oo7 at my (Naomi) graduation from college. I don't think we've had a family photograph taken since then.

Coming soon - family member profiles!