What Christmas means to me

Hope you have nice gifts.

But Christmas is not about presents,

It’s about Jesus being born.

Nothing to do with presents.

 There was a man called “Santa Claus”,

And he gave presents to poor orphans .

People took that story and turned it to Christmas with presents.

Christmas is about Jesus being born and dying for us to forgive us for our sins.

You might not understand but it is very simple.

So when Christmas comes I will be celebrating about Jesus being born. 

Excitement at Lidl

On Thursday my family and I went to Lidl.
There was a special going on.
We went to the instruments and bought a Keyboard and a acoustic guitar stand.
There was electric guitars, classical guitars, Keyboards and guitar stands.
Nearly every person had a classical guitar or keyboard in their trolley!
We dropped the stuff off at the car after we had paid for it, and went back inside to buy our groceries.

It was exciting and we were excited about Jed buying his new keyboard.

On the beach in Autumn!

On Saturday morning my family and I went to the beach, on the way we picked up our friend Nicholas.

When we got to the beach we played football, the score was 0-0.
Afterwards it took ages to build a city.

We dug two holes and thought that we could make a tunnel.
Then we had lunch(we had rolls).
 It was lots of fun!

Passport to India

Since the 5th of October we have been raising money for children to attend Bible Clubs in India. We've been following the Passport to India project by Mission India and Sonlight.

There were lots of photos and story's of people who have become Christians.

here are some of the photos:

  

This is Chris the, guy who went to India.
A kurta is what Chris is wearing.

In India  Christians are persecuted for their religion and kicked out of their village for their beliefs.

90% of the people in India are Hindu.  

About 40% of the people on earth live in India 

            God is working in the hearts of the people in India.

I am very proud to be part of this project and am so happy to help other children learn about Jesus.

My prayer for the children of India is that they would tell their parents and everyone about the good news about Jesus from a young age.

Cloud Ride

This is my latest poem:

When I fall asleep
I feel like my bed
is a cold fluffy cloud
flying over the city.

In the air I am blown
by the breeze,
I am watching the world
and everything in it.

I fly over schools
and children all look at me.
Adults are busy working,
doing everyday jobs.

Suddenly my cloud tips downward,
going as fast as a rocket.
I'm fighting against gravity,
fighting against waking up.



By Ryan van roon-Gifford    

Chaos shopping

Yesterday my family and I went Lidl's. It is the first time the store has opened in Cyprus. It was chaos!

When we got there we first took a photo of ourselves infront of the store.

Infront of the store with my Mom, Ethan and Aimee

There were so many people that we couldn't even find a trolley. We had to carry all our stuff. We passed a TV camera-man on our way into the store. We walked through the store, looking at everything they had to sell.

We bought:
Chocolate mousses (which were only 20c each!)
Booster seats for Ethan and Aimee
Hot chocolate powder
Two slabs of dark chocolate
Two bottles of lemon juice
Three boxes of All Bran Flakes

We waited over half an hour in a que to pay (which was about 25m long!) and finally it was our turn to pay. When we left the store they gave us each a rose.

Mom asked me to check if there was any food left, and I found they were giving away free food and drinks. We ate a sheftalia, a chicken wing and a sausage. I had some Cola (fake Coke), which tasted like Coke. The food tasted nicer than it looked in the store!

I am surprised that Lidl's sells so many cheap things and the quality looks quite good. Its the busiest shop I've been to!

Homemade Graphs

Last week I was learning about bar graphs. My mom had an idea that we should do one of our own graphs, so she asked some friends on Facebook to take part in a survey. We asked what  kind of transport is used to deliver post in different countries, and also what people's favourite seasons are.


My brother and I then made bar graphs to show the results of the surveys.


We sorted the responses into groups and, using tally marks, worked how many were in each group.


Here is the first survey. The question was: How is post delivered to your home?

Tally marks to show our findings

Our findings in a bar graph

 

It was very interesting to see how people get their post delivered. PO Box was used by friends who don't get post delivered to their house.

The second survey question was: What is your favourite season?

(Where someone chose 2 seasons, we counted the first one they mentioned)

Tallying up the favourite seasons

The final results in a bar graph.

It was interesting that most of the people who like winter live in countries where it gets very hot during the summer. People who like summer generally live in colder places, like the UK and Canada.


It was quite fun doing this because we were learning about bar graphs and I got to make some of my own.

Right now I play for one of Larnaca's football clubs: A.E.K.
I am a defender it took a long time to get the kit. (They didn't have any in stock)

This is me the day before the match 

On Saturday, I played my first football match. Larnaca lions vs A.E.K.  It was a fair match. There were two matches, a younger group of both teams Larnaca lions 0 - 7  A.E.K. and the older groups of the two teams,  Larnaca lions 0 - 1 A.E.K.

Up after a goal was scored

Me and the other players on the side of the field



I was quite suprise that my friend Zak was on the other team.

My evening in India

Last night at dinner my family and I had an Indian supper,
with Indian food. We were feeling what it was like to live in India,
and ate on the floor.

We had chapatis (fried flat breads) and curried lentils
with yoghurt, which we ate with our hands.
We used candles for light because many Indians
don't have electricity.

We did this because we are participating in
passport to India. We are helping to raise money to
help Indian boys and girls attend Bible Clubs.

It was a fun experience to take a break from
using knives and forks. I liked eating with my
hands. I wonder what it is like for many
Indians who live on less than than $1 a day to eat
chapatis, rice and dal every day of their lives?  

my new poem

This is my made up poem:

I have loved football
all my life.
I rode my bike
every day when I was 6 years old
(on a 2 wheeler).
Now I play football.

Chile miners

Almost everyone know's about the Chilean miners trapped in the San Jose mine, in northern Chile.

Since the 5th of August 2010 (2 days after my birthday, and I did not know) they have been 622 meters underground in the gold and copper mine. It was about 30 degrees C down there!

17 days after the mine collapsed, the miners attached a message to a probe, telling the world they were alive.

After spending 69 days down there, they have been rescued.On Wednesday 31 of  October they sent down the rescue capsule.....one hour later the first miner, 31-year-old Florencio Avalos, was lifted out. Second came Mario Sepulveda, 39. 

The miners who were rescued are:

1. Florencio Avalos Silva, 31, video operator for the underground miner communications. 

2. Mario Sepulveda Espinace, 39, the "journalist" commentator who moderated the video broadcasts. 

3. Juan Illanes Palma, 52, served in Chilean army.

4. Carlos Mamani Solis, 23, of Bolivia, the only non-Chilean trapped.

5. Renan Avalos Silva, 29, brother of Florencio Avalos.

6. Mario Gomez Heredia, 63, the oldest of the group who sent the first report to the surface that they were alive.

7. Jimmy Sanchez Lagues, 19, the youngest.

8. Ariel Ticona Yanez, 29, became a father during the ordeal. His daughter was named Esperanza, for Hope.

9. Edison Pena Villarroel, 34, ran 10 kilometres every day in the underground mine shafts.

10. Víctor Zamora Bugueno, 33, wrote poetry underground.

11. Raul Bustos Ibanez, 40, survived the Chilean earthquake earlier this year, which destroyed his job as a mechanic. Found new job at mine, where he thought he would find more peace.

12. Claudio Yanez Lagos, 34, promised he will marry his partner of 25 years and mother of his children when he emerges. The pair have grandchildren.

13. Víctor Segovia Rojas, 48, kept a journal in the underground.

14. Jorge Galleguillos Orellana, 56, suffers high blood pressure and is one of the complicated medical cases.

15. Jose Henriquez Gonzalez, 54. The number 33 is his fate: married for 33 years, working at the mine for 33 years, and one of the 33 trapped men.

16. Samuel Avalos Acuna, 43, had been a street seller of wares and had hoped for a better life in the mine.

17. Claudio Acuna Cortes, 34, football fan who plans to greet his wife wearing his team's shirt.

18. Franklin Lobos Ramirez, 53, avid football player who received greetings from Spain's David Villa.

19. Osman Araya Araya, 30, experienced a nervous collapse underground.

20. Yonni Barrios Rojas, 50, played nurse to his comrades in the mine.

21. Alex Vega Salazar, 31 , his father is an emergency doctor and changed his name in order to help in the rescue. Family members were not supposed to be part of the rescue team.

22. Richard Villarroel Godoy, 27 

23. Daniel Herrera Campos, 27

24. José Ojeda Vidal, 46 

25. Luis Urzúa Iribarren, 54 

26. Carlos Barrios Contreras, 27 

27. Omar Reygada Rojas, 56 

28. Juan Carlos Aguilar Gaete, 49 

29. Carlos Bugueño Alfaro, 27 

30. Pedro Cortés Contreras, 25 

31. Pablo Rojas Villacorta, 45 

32. Darío Segovia Rojo, 48 

33. Esteban Rojas Carrizo, 44

I was amazed when I saw the miners wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night! It was so exciting watching each miner coming out. 

My camping trip

On Thursday my family and I went to Polis near Paphos to go camping.

On Day 1 it was my Dad's birthday.

Then some friends of ours, Colin and Jane, came over for lunch and dinner.

In the afternoon we played Sequence.    

We went to the beach the next day and the waves were rough.

It was very deep as well.

We had been looking forward to this camping trip for a long time.
It was so much fun!

My first cake

On Saturday I baked my first cake, a chocolate cake. 

 First I had to sieve the flour and the sugar.    

Then I mixed it up with coca powder and added the liquid ingredients.

.

I put it in the cake dish, ready to put in the oven 

 Then I sieved some icing sugar on the top of the cake - it was too hot to put icing on and we wanted to eat it .

I cut the first slice and gave it to my baby sister, Aimee.

It was fun making the cake, and it tasted very nice. The next day we put icing on the rest of the cake.

My Mom says I make the cake better than she does.

Here is the recipe:

CHOCOLATE CAKE 

Turn oven on 180C

750ml cake flour

500ml sugar

90ml sifted cocoa powder 

10ml bi-carbonate of soda

3ml salt 

Sift these ingredients together in a large bowl and make a hollow in the centre.

Beat the following ingredients together and pour into the hollow of dry ingredients:

150ml oil

30ml vinegar

10ml vanilla essence

500ml cold water

Beat until mixed and turn into a greased oven pan. 

Bake at for 50 minutes until a testing skewer comes out clean.

Can be eaten hot or cold, iced or served with ice cream or custard.

Enjoy!!!!

  

My cousins' postcard

Yesterday I got a postcard from my cousins, Connor and Caitlin. They have just been to Disneyland USA.
I am happy that they sent me something from Disneyland.

This is the front of the postcard (a photo my Mom took).

Thank you alot Connor and Caitlin for the postcard. I really appreciate it.

Trying times ...

I love football! Actually, I love it more than cheese.
So, it is high time I joined a football club and played it.

Last Friday I went with my Dad to 'check out' the football club at the Stadium near our house.

Today I attend my first practice, a trail. What follows is an interview with my Mom after the practice.



What did you do at the practice today?
I dribbled around cones and then we had turns to play matches.

Did you find the cone activities difficult?
Ja, because I had to run at a cone and go backwards and go around it. That was difficult.

Were there any other English boys there?
No.

Did anybody speak to you?
Yes, one of the defenders spoke to me about my position, I was a forward. The goalkeeper never passed to me.

Did you like the coach?
Yes, he was nice. He didn't shout at me. (He shouted at other boys who were doing other things!)

Do you want to start playing?
Ja, I want to start, I'd really like to play football.

So, what do we have to do next?
On Friday we must go back for the practice at 3pm, and register and purchase my kit.

Right now I'm feeling quite excited. The practice was exhausting, but now that I've caught my breathe, I'm very excited.

Watch this space :)

My favourite football teams

My favourite football teams are:

Portugal football team

The Spain football team,(Iker Casillas is the best goalkeeper in the world)

                               The England football team

The Brazil football team

        

 

My favourite football players

Football is the most popular sport in the world.

My favourite players are:

Steven Gerrard

Fernando Torres

Robinho

Frank Lampard

Julio Cesar

They may not all be famous, but I like them.

Steven Gerrard from Liverpool

Fernando Torres of Spain

Brazilian player Robinho

My first football kit was a Brazilian kit, with Robinho's name on it. I didn't even know who he was. He's the best striker in the world. 

                                                    

Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard plays for Chelsea.

                                                              

.

Julio Cesar, the Brazilian goalkeeper

I love playing football myself. I think I could make a good goalkeeper.

My life

Hi. I am Ryan van Roon-Gifford.
I am 9 years old, I was born on the 3rd of August 2001 in Pretoria,South Africa.

7 months later we moved to the Sharjah, in the UAE. We lived there for nearly five years. In 2006 we moved to Cyprus and have been here for four years. (We lived in Nicosia for 1 year, and in Larnaca for three years.)

I have two brothers and a sister.Jed is my twin and Ethan is four years old. My sister, Aimee is nearly two.

On the 25th of August we came back from holiday in the UAE for four weeks.