Family Farewells...

First off - sorry for the delay in getting the blog updated over the last week - we've been in England saying the first of our family farewells to Grenville's eldest sister Julie and big brother Patrick... sniff sniff.

We've had a blast though - last week started with Grenville taking the kids on a Dadz n kidz camping weekend in Henley. Beautiful spot, great fun, shame about the weather as we spent most of the time either getting rained on, thinking we were going to get rained on, or grateful that the rain was thining! Home from home...

George went off for the day in London - sampling the delights of Borough Market and then a spa day with Helen (our sister-in-law).

The rest of the week has been a blast - Monday we went strawberry picking in blazing sunshine - we even got Ollie to try one!

Tuesday we were off to London to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum... Everyone managed the train and tube travel OK and at the museum Lulu donned the pitt helmet and binoculars to become an intrepid explorer... The dinosaurs were excellent - especially the moving T-Rex. After the museum, we travelled back through Paddington - not just to see the famous bear but to pick up some fresh Krisy Kremes - y'know the gourmet doughnuts? Absolutely fantastic... unlikely to find any of those in Kathmandu :(

Wednesday we hit Coral Reef - magic pool with flumes and river rapids etc... (no photos I'm afraid as I don't have an underwater camera)

Thursday we headed off to the country to say good-bay to Grenville's sister Julie. We fed the horses and then scared sheep while flying kites in their fields! It was lovely to see her but sad to actually have to say good-bye as we are unlikely to see her before we head off.

Friday we headed off to Legoland - wow - the kids were blown away and we had a great time, all the better for going as two families with our cousins etc. The rides were great I think the favourites were the wet ones - especially the Viking barrel ride... great criac.

So it's been a great week - but tomorrow we head back to Bangor and will have to say our second family farewell... the 17th July is coming around very fast.

Commissioned

Hi guys,

First of a I'd like to say a big thank you to all of you who were able to come to our commissioning service yesterday. Wow.

We had a great time it was like a wedding or something as we got to speak to everyone and we felt truly blessed to have such a strong church family supporting us while we are away. Thanks so much.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with PCI missionary ways - George and I had to have a formal 'commissiong' where we are presented to the church are 'charged' with our mission assignment. Basically it's a big get together celebration of our faith, our church and our work ahead.

In the morning yesterday we had an informal farewell service at West where Toby told eveyone what he was doing and what he would miss about home and I was able to give a short presentation about mission and what we will be doing in Nepal... watch this space for a short video clip of the service...

In the evening we had all the Presbytery officials conducting the service and we really rocked the house... I got a chance to support the praise and we set the scene with 'Oh Happy Day' and 'Power in the Blood' it was brilliant. Charles then gave a lovely sermon on love and Ephesians and we were totally at peace knowing that our church family will hold us in their prayers.

George and I took our vows and then it was coffee and tray bakes all round after.

All in all George and I had a great time - it was such a lovely day - although I was a wreck by the end of it! Crying during the line up on the way out etc - but hey it was all good.

So thanks again to all of you who could make it.

Like a ship or a piece of art we are now on our way... commissioned and officially sent out by the church at home...

Sorrry I don't have any photos or stuff yet - I'll put them up when I get a chance.

In case we're never seen again!

Ok not be a worry mongerer or anything... but before we go we've got to sort out our will. Ordinarily I suppose this shouldn't cause too much concern, but when you're talking through scenarios such as all of us getting killed, George and I getting killed, the kids getting killed etc... it's not very nice. Especially as it comes days after we had our 'security training' where we were taught how to enter security checkpoints, get out of the car in an ambush situation and what to do when you get hooded by terrorists!

And then on the other hand we're trying to convince our families that we're only going for a few years and we'll be back before they know it.


Anyway... with all that in mind we got these photos taken by our friends Janet and Kenny. Take a look at the mini movie of their shots. These guys are great so if you like their shots take a look at www.grapephotography.com to see more of their work.

So there it is... if we go AWOL in Nepal at least you'll all have something to remember us by! Here's hoping it doesn't come to all that.

Packing

Hi guys,

Well it's almost 6 weeks until we leave... and the panic is setting in.

Right now, we're up to our eyes in packing our house. We're going to be leaving this one...

for something like this...

Fortunately UMN have found us a whole house - which is a start as we had thought we might have to get by with one or two floors of a house and if you know our kids you'll know that that would have been a bit of a challenge!

We've seen a few photos of our new house... it's not quite as bad as the above photo as it's got a small garden and a nice roof top terrace (quite Parisian - until you look closely!)

Knowing what we're moving into is helpful and has given us the impetus to clear the clutter and get ready for the move. As a result we got lots of these...

So far we're dumped loads of stuff, taken bags of clothes to the charity shops and have got a mountain of stuff for a car boot / ebay sale over the next few weeks. It is amazing how much stuff you gather especially with a young family.

We're hoping for a car boot at the weekend to clear some more and then we can tackle the kids playroom and the kitchen.

Estimated date of departure is 17th July so it's getting closer! We're off to England from the 19th to say good-bye to family and then when we get back we'll be packing for serious!

Packing however is not the end of it - when we get to the other side we are in for some careful negotiations with Nepali customs and excise who are likely to make us pay BIG for anything electrical or modern! So we would consider you prayers in this regard - although I'm sure there'll be more news nearer the time. Right now we'd ask for wisdom to know what to bring and success in getting the essentials into the country safely.

OK take it easy - please feel free to contact me before we go.