Abbi Meets Boaz

We were crossing the Atlantic earlier this winter with lots of excitement in our hearts.  Ragnar was going to meet our youngest grandson, Boaz, for the first time.  What a joy that was!! 

 Hello Abbi, I have been waiting a few months to meet you!

 Of course I could hardly wait to see him again too.  He was only one week old when we last parted, so I knew he would have grown and changed alot.  

 His first few bites of food.   

 Cuddles with Daddy.

 Mommy's precious little Mr. B.

He enjoys lots of love from his older siblings!    

 Please give that back to me Abbi.

 Good little eater!!

Just a few minutes before we said another sad good bye.  We love him so much, and really, really miss seeing him so often, but are sooooo thankful for the last 4 months of hugs, kisses, smiles and squeezes.

All Good Things Come to an End

Well I guess this blog is seeing it's final days.  

I started it back in 2008, to write about our life in Great Britain, but as those of you who have been following it know, it has included scenes from a few other countries too.  It has been an enjoyable experience and I look back with fondness on the time I spent on it.

What our street looked like this time of the year.

I am sure I will take a peek at it from time to time - just for fun - or when my memory fades and I am trying to remember an event.

Who were the Volunteers that year?

But our life in beautiful England has come to an end, and so has this blog.

Thanks to all of you who have gone on this journey with me.  I appreciate your feedback, many positive comments and the encouragement to keep it up.     

I plan to start a new blog for our life back in Asia though and would like to  keep the name 'Niclasen's Notebook' for it.  Thus I will change the name for this blog to something I considered when I was first thinking of this one - Elizabethian Essays.  

I will let you know when the new one is up and running and give you the address for it.  

(Before I end it though I can't resist sharing a few pictures of our time with our precious grandchildren here in Canada.... so there just has to be a couple more P.S. posts)

Legoland Discovery World

 We soaked in every second of our last couple of days in England - surrounded by rays of sunshine, trying not to think of that final good bye. 

 So instead of moaning the fact that we would soon be parting ways for quite some time, and thinking of how much they will change while we are apart, we decided to concentrate on all the wonderful times we have shared together these past 6 years.  A fantastic blessing we never took for granted.

We had lots of fun together at the Legoland Discovery Center.  It was great watching the girls building various projects, riding police cars and going on rides.  

Abbi was chosen as the strongest man there and the one to help get the machine started.

What a trio!!

Wow!!  Good job Lydia!!

Ellie's creative juices flowing.

Watch out - police are on their way!!

We so enjoyed making those memories to take with us.  We are so thankful for and proud of Craig, Claire, Ellie, Bekah and Lydia.

Round and round we go.

All of the family building lighthouses.

We treasure each time spent with them, during our time in Great Britain and look forward to the hellos and hugs the next time we have that anticipated blessing.

Just minutes before we went our separate ways.

Good Bye 50's

I am sure people were getting tired of me saying, "I am still in my 50's" the last few weeks.  But I knew I wouldn't be able to say it much longer, so took advantage of each opportunity.

Now those times are in the past.  I have left the 50's in the dust, and am looking forward to my journey through the 60's.  I don't really care about my age that much, but had to have fun while those days of being in my 50's lasted.   

The day I joined the 60's came the day after we left North Cotes, which gave us time to try and think through and process what we had just done.

The 1st step of moving back to the Kankanaey tribe was complete.  Our fun, busy life, tucked away by the shores of North Cotes would soon be changing to long days of language reviewing and translation in the mountains of the Philippines, via a few cold weeks in Canada.  

Was this real, or just a big long dream?

For the last several months, I have had the goal that on my 60th birthday, I would do a 5 km. run.  Since I hadn't run for years (I love to go for long walks) I started off slowly, adding to my time as the weeks and months went on.  

Ryan (our marathon runner) kept encouraging me that I could do it, and the determination in me chose to believe him.  And I am glad I did.  

Since we were no longer in North Cotes, I couldn't do the route I had practiced on, but we found a running tract around a soccer field close by.

Around noon on the 23rd, I began running around that track, with Ragnar cheering me on, and here I am at the end of 5 km.  

A lovely relaxing evening with Ragnar - enjoying a delicious meal in a quiet corner.

A few special add-ons - 

Knowing I would still be in my 50's when I left North Cotes, my friends, Jill and Carol, treated me to an early Birthday celebration.  

The 3 of us enjoyed a relaxing afternoon chatting away in a charming coffee shop in Cleethropes.  Their thoughtfulness in taking the time for that, as well as their cute gifts were really appreciated.  

Even though by then we were miles apart, my dear caring friend, Jenny, made sure my birthday was special!  

You can't get much more thoughtful - a parcel with beautiful flowers, a box of chocolates and the cutest little birthday cake I ever saw, arrived at Craig and Claire's, right on time!!

Thank you Jenny - it couldn't have been better!!

 Celebrations were even extended to another continent.  After crossing the pond a few days later, my precious grandchildren presented me with special designed towels, which they had made.  They are almost to precious to use!

 Noah recaptured a scene from last summer.  When I would go on my practice runs, he often accompanied me on his bike.  

Thanks Noah.  I know I'd never forget those special times with you, but this way I'll be reminded each time I dry my hands!! 

Thanks Selah - I love you too very, very much.  I'll smile every time I use the towel you designed for me, you precious little gem.