Stonehenge and Bath

Stonehenge - built between 3100-1100 BC.

Cindy Nelsen came to Birmingham by train, and then she and I decided to go explore Stonehenge and Bath. It only took a little over 2 hours to get to Stonehenge - what an phenomenal sight!! The circle was aligned with the midsummer sunrise and the midwinter sunset, and the most southerly rising and northerly setting of the moon.
It is estimated that the construction of Stonehenge required more than 30 million hours of labor. It was simply astonishing to walk around these huge stones imaging how it was designed and the work it took to build it.
Then we made our way back up to the fascinating city of Bath.
Here it is seen from a distance.
A city with lots of history and great peaceful places to take a stroll.
Avon River runs through the city.

Lots of large, beautiful gardens.

Our two favorite spots to visit were the Roman Baths and the Jane Austen center.

The Great Bath

A Roman Soldier

These incredible baths were built around the only thermal springs in Britain.

The King's Bath with the 18th Century Pump room beyond. The water is at the level it would have been at in Roman times.

The underfloor heating system of the baths.

We passed by lots of amazing buildings on our walk to the Jane Austen center.

Royal Crescent

Cindy in front of the Jane Austen Center.

We enjoyed a wee cup of tea in the Jane Austen Tearoom,

along with gluten free scones with clotted cream and jam!!

As we made our way back to Birmingham, we saw lots of beautiful scenery.

I love this fence.

A fun 2 day road trip with a wonderful friend!

Two weeks with Lydia and family

These past two weeks with my family in Birmingham have been FANTASTIC. What more could a grandma ask for than hours of cuddles with a precious little new born, and lots of time reading books, playing games, going for walks and oodles of hugs from a 2 and 4 year old?

Lydia Jane is now 3 weeks old and growing by leaps and bounds!What fun to hold her in my arms as I talk and sing to her, watching her sweet little expressions. I also enjoy just watching her breath while she is asleep in my lap. Maybe you can tell I am crazy over her!!

I call her my little Sunshine!

A good night family hug just before Ellie and Rebekah go jump in bed.

Quite a few afternoons, Ellie, Rebekah and I would go for a walk to a nearby park.

Here they are practicing saying 'cheese' without looking at the camera.

One day their other Grandma and Granddad came over for the day, and we took them to the Nature Center.

Ellie and Rebekah with their two grandmothers.

We enjoyed walking around the Nature Center, seeing a large variety of animals.

I enjoyed being woken up almost every morning with these two sweet girls calling, "Omma". After a fun time in Omma's bed of making sure I was really awake, we would go downstairs for breakfast. I think they look so sweet in their housecoats.

Feeding the ducks at the nearby duck pond.

Another park close by where there were lots of places to climb, slide and tumble down.

The girls also had lots of fun at Hickory Dickory's.

And it looks like Omma had fun too, running around with her camera in hand.

Youth Conference

The wonderful results of the recent Youth Conference, held here on the campus a couple of weeks ago, made every hour Ragnar spent helping to organize and working on the details seem worth it.

Over 150 young people from all over England, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany met for many meetings, hearing testimonies of God's grace in the many areas around the world where we are working.
Live Skype links with missionaries in Mexico, the Philippines, Mozambique and Senegal gave us a taste of life on the field.

A Skit demonstrating getting ready to move overseas.Great singing!

Saturday afternoon the participants were divided in 5 groups to get a taste of life in different countries. Of course, we were in the Philippine room. Ragnar, dressed as a tribal man from the Philippines, giving a story of what life used to be like in his village.

I overheard someone ask the person next to them, if he really was from the Philippines!!!

We had a few guessing games, time for questions and looking at the artifacts, plus a chance to taste dried mangoes and cracker nuts from the Philippines.

One of the other rooms had an 'African Market.'

They were 'selling' food, clothes and jewelry.

A couple from the Faroe Islands were able to join us. We were thankful they stayed a couple extra days and could join us for dinner the following night. Rikka has also visited us in our tribal home in the Philippines, and both of them spent time with us in our home in Nova Scotia. I think she is the only one who visited us in our homes in all 3 continents!