Catching Up To Today

Since Katie has been learning cello, she has tried learning other music than what her teacher assigns. She also had fun playing my bass.

We took Joanie's parents to Virginia Water, just adjacent to Windsor Castle, and found a great place for a family portrait.

Holly waits for us to catch up at Virginia Water.

This is the house used to shoot Downton Abbey, the popular series.
That's Joanie and her mom Helen.

Two years ago, before the series, the house used to get maybe 30 buses of
U.S. tourists a season. Now they get 300.

We took a two-day trip to Hastings. This is shopping on the high street in a nearby village called Battle. Well, Katie prefers to play games on her iPod to shopping.

Holly is outside the abbey at Battle, near Hastings, where William the Conqueror invaded England and took over in 1066.

Sunset at Bexhill, where we searched for a restaurant for dinner.
We found one eventually.

Morning at our bed and breakfast, Joanie's father Dick pours coffee for Joanie and Helen. It was a sunny morning and a pleasant breakfast.

On the way home we stopped and shopped and ate lunch at a village called Rye.
This is the city gate.

The last stop was the beach. Do the girls like the beach?

On May 5, while Joanie taught the women's retreat, Pastor Bryce Heard took my girls,
his girls, and me, to Rufford Abbey, where the girls played and ran around
and I talked with Bryce.

Sunday morning in Bryce's office at church. We had plenty of time to talk and pray.

In March and April Joanie’s parents visited us. Though we got to visit places we wouldn’t otherwise go, not being the fun types, the real fun was being together and loving one another. It didn’t have to be big fun; one of our little enjoyments was looking for the perfect custard tart. 

We visited the home used to shoot Downton Abbey, and stayed a night at a bed and breakfast in the area of Hastings, Battle, and Rye.

Things are busy right now. The family just got back from a weekend in Mansfield, where Joanie taught a women’s day retreat on Saturday and Rob taught the church there on Sunday. We got back last night, and are already preparing to fly to Siegen, Germany on Thursday. Rob will be teaching at a Brethren church in a part of Siegen called Achenbach. We will always appreciate your prayers for God to bless us and make us a blessing.