32 Years Together

Today we celebrated our 32nd anniversary! At lunch time we decided to try and find a garden center a few miles from here. We know in the spring we will want to be sprucing up our yard. Not only is it a nice garden center, but there is also a good size craft shop there too. Talk about killing two birds with one stone - Ragnar enjoys looking at the gardening supplies while I love to view all the scrapbooking material. Of course there is a coffee shop there too which serves home made scones all day long. At noon they also have good old-fashioned home cooked meals - today it was roast pork, gravy, veggies and mashed potatoes. We really enjoyed our time out together, having time to reminisce our years together and how good God has been to us and our family. And I must say that we were kind of proud of ourselves too - to make it all the way there and back without getting lost, and remembering to stay on the left hand side of the road!!

While I have been trying to get our house in order this week, Ragnar has spent time working in our yard. Weeds and bushes have had lots of fun taking over this past year, so there is lots to do, but he really enjoys it. Our son and daughter-in-law gave him bulbs and a couple of garden books for his birthday. He has checked the books several times trying to figure out what some bushes are and how they should be taken care of. I know he will have lots of fun in the spring!

First Week in England

Our first week in England has been fantastic!! Friends, neighbours and coworkers have been so kind and encouraging, helping to make our transition to our new home, job and culture go quite smoothly.

Our flight left Toronto on time and arrived in Manchester a little early, bringing us to our new world in less than 7 hours. Just a few minutes later we had walked to the train station and found ourselves bouncing across to the East Coast for the next 4 hours. Friends were at the other end to welcome us and take us to our new home.

Our house is starting to feel like home - all of our boxes are unpacked. We just need to rearrange some things, find a place for others, and hang pictures etc. Being invited out to eat each day this week, (including a Faroese meal) allowed us more time for some of these details. What friendly folk!!

We already have our car (almost identical to the one we had in the Philippines) and have ventured out to the trill of driving on the left hand side of the road. Watch out pedestrians and other drivers - this will take some getting used to!!

Orientation to the campus helped us begin to understand how things function here. Timing also worked out for us to sit in on Committee meetings regarding our new position here. What better way to climax the week than to have Craig, Claire, Ellie and Rebekah come visit us for the weekend!! Switch from ‘the new kid on the block’ to ‘Grandma and Grandpa mode’ immediately for a fun filled weekend - playing games, reading stories, spoon feeding, changing nappies, going for walks and lots of cuddles. We hope this happens often!!