grandpa and his grandgirls

phil's dad richard got lots of quality time with granddaughters skye (hat) and hannah (sitting up)

we watched match of the day which is (pleasingly) back on bbc1 with gary linekar (translation: english pro soccer game-day tv highlights show)

miss congeniality

i think it'd be fair to say that skye was a big hit wherever she went!

here's mags, phil's uncle john with skye, auntie anne-marie and phil
(and skye's cousin aidan peeking over the couch!)

walking in a winter wonderland

it was a beautiful winter's day, crisp and sunny, so we went for a walk

here's daddy and skye with grandma, uncle jonathan and auntie susan

friends and family (and snow)

today we introduced skye to more friends and family (and snow)

here we are on tasker road, with the lovely lovells, and the beautiful bolsters
later we drove to phil's parents in middlesbrough

it's a toy grandad

a fun day playing with rellies
it began to snow heavily in the afternoon
nigel came over in the evening

fun day

a chilled day, went for a walk around the bolehills
later rich and i took a ride out to the fox house
i borrowed matt's orange sub 5 and night lights
oh yes a very nice bike

christmas unwrapped

skye was very helpful and opened presents for everyone

here she is with her great aunt maggie
skye was just a bit late for maggie last time! (see June 3rd 2005)

hello hannah

skye meets her cousin hannah
(giving her the customary charleston greeting of a firm ear-pull!)
happily she survived daddy driving everyone down the right-hand (wrong) side of the road at manchester airport (another charleston tradition!)

we managed to get to sheffield on the correct side of the road

later on we went to the midnight communion service at st thomas'

philadelphia

set off to england today and flew through a new city for us - philadelphia

another philadelphia is personified right here - john t - who gave us a ride to the airport this morning
he's a dear friend and a highlight of 2005 has been getting to know him

christmas

came onto the horizon today....
....we had a delicious christmas lunch for the year team at dr bill & miss susalee's home
thank you!
(then packfest 2005 started!)

healing

seems funny and small at the time, but big grace comes from seeing apparently small wounds closed
back home now
thanks to Jesus, mal, st andrew's, fount, linda, sam (and chick-fil-a) for an important three days

life is a beach

we have accommodation right on the beach with an amazing view - we awoke to this beautiful sunrise, looking east over the atlantic ocean

prayer retreat

in myrtle beach for three days of prayer ministry
it's fun to explore a new part of south carolina too

got a message from jon senior who's been granted a visa! woohoo!

mountain biking

went mountain biking today to explore the nearest trail to us
it's at marrington in goose creek which was an old plantation and is now navy property
we rode about 12 miles on (mostly) fast, flat single track through the woods
nice :)

here's the playlist

from the other night:
city of blinding lights
vertigo
elevation
gloria
i still haven't found
in a little while
you can't make it on your own
beautiful day
sunday bloody sunday
where the streets
bullet the blue
miss sarajevo
declaration
pride
one
stuck in a moment
mysterious ways
with or without you
yahweh
40

busy day

another good, full day
college christmas carol party this evening
dropped the calladines off at the airport this morning
down from 500 to 30 emails in my inbox!

a dream come u2

time
won’t leave me as I am
but time won’t take the boy out of this man

the more you know the less you feel
some pray for it others steal
the blessings are not just for the ones who kneel
(© u2 2004)

happy birthday nigel!

here's the wonderful man with his little kitten, joy

christmas wishlist

for skye
wooden high chair for home
chronicles of narnia book collection
a pickup truck
more apple mush

for mags
anne of green gables (usa dvd)
pride and prejudice (usa dvd)
waterproof rain jacket for everyday wear
warm fleece jacket for everyday wear
some of those box frame-thingies for putting on the wall
lots of tetley tea bags

for phil
(mostly climbing gear, sorry!)
harness for the wall
climbing shoes for longer expeditions
climbing helmet (bd half dome looks shiny)
ropebag (dmm deliverance looks nice)
the owl and the cragrat (climbing poetry book)
any island or speyside single malt scotch whisky (extra love for talisker!)

double blessing

a very happy birthday to lesley l and john t on your birthdays today!
it was wonderful to celebrate with you both this evening!

6 months old today

skye's doing great
she's growing hair, chatting away and even drinking from a cup!

there's a big thunderstorm here this morning
we're starting a week of 24/7 prayer today too

frosty

we had a frost here last night - it's the first we've seen one in the (nearly) two years we've been here!

this is a photo skye and i took of our neighbour's car around 8am

haircut

mags had her hair cut today for locks of love

new archbishop

ugandan born john sentamu was enthroned at york minster today

it's also world aids day today