Wales

As the wheels were turning on our way to Wales, our excitement was mounting.  We were going to be spending a few days with the sweetest little girls in Europe!!  

Craig and Claire's organization have a Guest Home on the England/Wales border which they are welcome to use, along with relatives.  What a treat!

A few fun activities - 

They did this puzzle in one night.

Walk around the Grounds

 

 

Chirk Castle

One morning Ragnar and I went to visit a castle.  It was built for protection and the history of it was very interesting.

 

Whittington Castle Ruins

We also took the girls to the ruins of another castle and enjoyed roaming the grounds with them.

 

Approaching the town of Llangollen.  

- down the canal in a horse drawn boat 

A Day at the Beach

The ocean coming into view. 

Walled city of Chester

Day out with Omma and Abbi 

On the way home - beautiful country.

Walk along the river to the aqueduct.  

Now after these recent few days with them, we are more convinced than ever that they are at the top!  You wouldn't have to twist our arms too hard to get us to do that again.  

A Few Lasts

Having people in almost every corner of every room in our home on Saturday nights the last few years has been one of our highlights of living in North Cotes.  We have really enjoyed that time of intermingling with the students.

Ragnar getting some dried Faroese fish ready for a snack.

It was sad to think that this would probably be the last one, yet we were thankful to be able to do it once more, since we did miss several week ends this year due to travel and illness.

Earlier in the day we had popped over to the Air Field, which is about a 5 min. walk from our home, where they have an annual Field Day.  It was lots of fun watching small airplanes taking off and landing.  That sound still has a special spot in our hearts, as we connect it with our only link to the outside world when we lived in our tribal station.  

 They also have a very small museum on their grounds which I didn't know was there.  

We were also thankful that we were able to work in our annual Filipino night - bringing back memories of sitting on the floor, using our fingers as forks and enjoying Filipino delicacies. Pancit, adobo, lumpia and Leche flan are among our favorites. 

Dried mangoes in a hand carved boat. 

 We loved sharing stories, showing pictures, teaching a song and having a good discussion about life in the Philippines with the 30 plus young people who came. 

We have also missed many of our Monday even meetings with the Volunteers.  Having Steve and Cathy Tibberts step in to guide the group has been wonderful.  It almost seemed like a reunion to have them over for a BBQ before we had our last study. 

 It has been really encouraging going through the book 'The Stranger' with young people from several different cultures, learning lots from different angels. 

Week Twelve

We are thankful that Ragnar's endoscopy went well.  Although earlier scans showed he has a 'sliding hernia' which is probably what has been causing some discomfort he does not have a hiatus hernia.  Another thing checked of. 

When we are cooking salmon we often think of some of the fun things we heard in markets in the Philippines like, 'This is Norwegian Salmon from Palawan,' or 'Sir, this fish is Mackerel/Salmon'. 

We do enjoy salmon from the North Atlantic though and what more could we ask for than to share the meal with two lovely young ladies who work with us on the campus?

Our church is celebrating 150 years in our building this year!  What a great reason to celebrate.  Several events and special services have been organized and this week lots of us enjoyed dinner together on Saturday evening.  Tons of blessings and things to be thankful for.

On our way home from that we stopped by the dorm for a short time.  First year students were throwing a 'Welcome Home' party for the 2nd year students who had returned from 'life in the bush'.

Dani, Manu and Peter have been like our sons this past year.  Our times with them have been very special and we have tons of wonderful memories from our times together.  Their time here is running short though, so we're enjoying a few lasts.   

Ragnar has enjoyed the weekly men's study in our church.  The last few times they have stopped by a PYO strawberry fields on their way.  Yummy, Yummy, YUMMY!