Happy Christmas!

soft dough christmas ornaments

the girls have been so sick we've hardly done any of our advent activities but this one seemed possible. it was a little crazy with the dough and the paint. gwyneth ended up with more on her face than on the ornaments. as usual, it was a time for the parents to grow in patience=)

happy advent season!

well, the girls still have a bad cough and steve isn't doing so great either. we have a temporary internet situation but are still waiting for the real thing. it's been a little slow around here but we're hoping we'll all be better for the carol service on thursday night. i'll try to post some of what we've been doing over the past month but here's some pictures from our advent.

a trip to the dentist in the midst of everything else going on...

gwyneth was too sick to be seen but the dentist checked out our teeth and we were so proud of maggie. she was a trooper!! not one tear.

school update

school has been going pretty well. on fridays we try to get together with the nicholsons to have a special snack and craft. it is supposed to correspond with the letter we are working on but that doesn't always work out. "b" for bears and "a" for apples, for instance.

pumpkins!

the pumpkins finally arrived at our little tesco this week. they are not really eaten around here (read: no pumpkin pie, no pumpkin bread, no pumpkin nothin'!) we had a very exciting outing to pick out our pumpkin including riding in the toy car and enjoying the beautiful sunset. we went home and ate some apple crumble. it was no pumpkin patch adventure but it was a good memory.

our Lord's day in wrexham

steve preached on sunday morning at a church about 45 minutes from here. we spent the afternoon with the minister and his wife and cute little daughter. maggie loved feeding the ducks and we loved the fellowship!

moving

we have officially begun packing today for our move on the 23rd of october. here is a photo of our new bungalow. i think bungalow just means it's one story. we are very excited. while we have loved living in the centre of town, we are looking forward to a house with a yard, garage, etc. the house is on the same street as the nicholsons' house. well, off to pack!

update

maggie took this picture of lois and me. she took one photo and then asked us to lean forward a little bit so that she could get a better one=)
in other news, we've been having a great time with steve's parents and aunt and uncle. they left on monday and we are meeting up with them in york today. we'll stay there for a few days before we say our goodbyes. also, we put in an application on a new house yesterday and we're gearing up for the first after school Bible club to start next week.
that's all for now, folks!
off to our holiday!

what do you think?

i just took this test (that's right, nothing better to do. ) and here are the results. at least parts of it seem to fit? not so sure about the overstuffed furniture.

marcia, you are a Bohemian Classic

You have a refined sensibility and bring a sense of history and tradition into your decor. You appreciate how symmetrical arrangements and beautiful, well-crafted pieces create a solid foundation to a room. But you like to shake up this restraint with objects and accessories that express your personality and your love of other cultures. When traveling, you seek out unique objects that reflect what you love, and you use them in a sophisticated way. You want people to feel comfortable in your home, and cozy chairs, ethnic fabrics, unique pieces, and even a little touch of quirk or humor give your house a laid-back, Bohemian flair.

You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.

and not to be left out...

here is gwyneth's little routine! she has to do everything that maggie does. and then some.

maggie's morning routine

it all doesn't always happen in this order but this is maggie's basic morning routine chart. as you can see, she is not thrilled about making her bed. that one is going to take a while.

"crazy steve" and party in the park

last friday steve was able to help out with the "party in the park" in part sponsored by the youth centre where he has volunteered. they had a good turn out and he was able to make some contacts and continue relationships with adults and teens alike. "crazy steve" was also there and the 2 steves did race on the bungee course. they said it was a draw but i think my steve won. "crazy steve" and his family have been a real encouragement to us. he is employed at the youth centre and and they attend a church in another town. the best part of the night was watching maggie do the bungee course. when we got there she said, "i want to do that." now, maggie can get excited about things only to flip out in fear when she actually tries to do them. but not this time. she did the whole thing by herself. she even let the police support officer help her. i was really proud of her!

"to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth"

it seems that most children maggie's age around here will start school this fall (part-time) so i am going to do some "school" with her at home. we are excited and sobered by the responsibility. we don't know what the future holds as far as education goes. we're going to take it one year at a time. we'll keep you posted!

notable quotables

steve "maggie, do you think you'll get married when you grow up?"
maggie "yes and i'll have 2 children named molly and elizabeth!"

a few days later:
maggie "i'm going to a wedding."
steve "oh really?"
maggie "yes, i'm going to marry christopher robin."

ladies outing

we visited gwydir castle & gardens and had a cream tea down in llanrwst yesterday. the Lord gave us beautiful weather and great fellowship! it's hard to believe that we've been here for over 8 months. in some ways i feel like we've been here forever. in other ways i feel so unsure of everything and everyone. very thankful for the friendships that are beginning to form.

hike

we hiked up a hill not too far from our flat on monday night. it felt weird to not have any visitors with us. we just kept thinking "the boys would have loved this!" at the same time, it was good to just be with our little family! i was just glad to get a picture where gwyneth was actually looking at the camera.

update

it's been a busy couple of weeks to say the least. we dropped our 3rd set of visitors this month off at the airport yesterday. we LOVED having everyone here and even though we're tired, we were sad to see the boys go. they were a blessing to us and to our church. this morning we have a coffee morning at the community centre. tomorrow steve preaches in the morning at a church in llandudno and we have our evening service here in our flat. abbie and i are getting ready for our ladies outing on thursday and steve is working hard to prepare for our Bible club in august. well, that's the latest!

a new friend

adapting to the culture...

coming and going

well, lisa has come and gone and we had a great time with her! it was kind of hard to see her go but we're thankful that she could come and get a taste of our day to day lives. justin and andrew arrived yesterday and have been a lot of fun already. gwyneth has taken to andrew pretty quickly and of course maggie is enjoying all of the attention.

why not give it a try?

http://simplemom.net/5-reasons-to-line-dry-your-laundry/

llandudno

we experienced the train for the first time when we all went to llandudno on it. it was a fun and relaxing way to travel! we enjoyed some shopping and walking along the promenade. daniel did have to fight a sea gull for his sandwich but other than that, we had a great time!

plenty of mac time!

the beach