Final Countdown

We're in the last 24 hours of our time here in the UK as we fly out of Heathrow around 7pm on Saturday. Things are getting a bit tense in our house as we struggle with the packing and making sure that we're within our weight allowance, thankful we have just over 100Kgs allowance to return with which is a blessing.

Photo Update

Here's a quick update on what we've been up to in the last few days. On Monday we had a great Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (no photos to post!), we all had fun and were very stuffed afterwards.

On Tuesday Dad, Grandad and Joel went on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, a real boys day out. We had a lot of fun and hopefully will repeat the event next time we're home, so that Eli can join us.

Hectic!

Life has been very hectic since leaving the Lakes. We had an excellent Sunday with Holy Trinity at Gee Cross, and it was a pleasure staying overnight with Norma! After giving our Powerpoint presentation in the morning service we had a shared lunch in the church hall which was a great opportunity to meet people and to renew old acquaintances. Straight after lunch we shot off to Sheffield to stay with Roger, George, Yas' & Theo which was brilliant. Sadly it was a real flying visit as we had to get home on the Monday afternoon as we had a commitment on the Tue morning.

Our Week In The Lakes

We've had a fantastic week in the Lakes, staying at Santon Bridge near Wast Water. This was a short break sandwiched in between our visits to St.Mary's Cheadle and Holy Trinity Gee Cross. We really enjoyed having some time and space just to ourselves. 

Right Text

Below is the text which should have accompanied the post below:

We arrived in Cheadle on Saturday afternoon and just had time to settle the boys down before we were off to the Upper Room in Cheadle to speak at an evening meeting which was part of the Stockport ‘Big Deal’. The evening was excellent and despite a slight technical glitch with the laptop and data projector the presentation went well. We had a lot of positive feedback and were encouraged by the response. It was also great to see some old friends such as John & Helen.

Mission Education Update

We've had a busy time giving our powerpoint presentation, having spoken on Saturday evening at St. Mary's Cheadle and again at the 11.15 service on Sunday morning. We were also interviewed in the 9.30 service, so we were really pleased to be in the Lake district for a week after that before speaking at Gee Cross next Sunday.

The Boys have been an absolute credit to us as they cope with so many new and different people almost daily, they've also carried on in their routines brilliantly which makes our lives much easier. We know many of you are praying for Joel & Eli in this respect and we know that God is faithfully answering these prayers.

Below are some photos of our time in then Lakes so far.

Down On The Farm

Joel went to the farm this morning with his Godparents and by the look of it he's had a lot of fun! The reason Joel is frowning in one of the pictures is that he heard another tractor and was waiting to see it.

"Avast Me Hearties"

Joel was at the Weald playgroup this morning and really enjoyed himself there. This is a real blessing for us as it allows us to get some stuff done without having to drag him around with us. Eli remains 'under the weather', we're sure he's got hay fever but will keep an eye on him. Please pray against hay fever as he already has a lactose intolerance and suffers eczema quite badly so he really doesn't need any further allergies.

Photo Update

A quick photographic update as we're too lazy to write too much!

We've also updated Finnie's In Focus so feel free to take a look at that Blog too.

Eli enjoying the garden but getting a bit bunged up as he appears to have hay fever.

Weekend In Wimbledon

Our Mission Education has begun in earnest with the weekend being spent in Wimbledon. We had a great time with Susan and catching up with old friends from Queen's Road Church. We also met up with John & Sophie who served on the Frontier Year Project who were also hosting our friends Nikki & Rian who recently moved to the UK from SA. Joel especially enjoyed seeing Nikki & Rian as he got to play with his friend Sean.

On Saturday afternoon we gatecrashed Catherine's 40th Birthday party (she's Susan's youngest), one of the activities they'd laid on was African drumming which Joel really enjoyed.

Eli's Dedication

On Sunday we had Eli dedicated at St. George's Weald. We decided to have the dedication in the UK rather than SA as family are here and we want them to be involved in Eli's life. The service was excellent and was followed by a massive lunch which several good friends joined us for. Many thanks to Lisa for putting so much effort into a magnificent spread!