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

hurricane season ends

officially today
while it's been a mad year for hurricanes, for us here it's actually been quiet. no real storms landed - in fact only one came close, ophelia in september. no evacuations and no hurricane parties either!

air con

november 29th and we're still using the air conditioning!!

becks does discipleship

i noticed david beckham's football (or soccer as they call it here!) academy opened today, seems like he's looking to train paduan learners in the ways of the force

choccy

skye had her first taste of chocolate today - she loved it! uh-oh!

chilling

watched the amazing bbc video on auschwitz today

woohoo!

went out biking for the first time in two years today
john took me out to harbison forest near columbia
a great day out in a beautiful place on some fun trails
here he is logging it very nicely:

it was all going well until i managed to writhe the rear mech into the back wheel and then got so hungry i felt sick and nearly fainted!

thanksgiving

is a top hol - it's probably our fave american celebration
apprently it arose from a thank you party the first settlers had after surviving a harsh winter and the native indians gave them some food
it's always the fourth thursday in november and you don't need presents, just a big meal with special family or friends and an attitude of gratitude :)

our biggest thank you is of course to God, for the amazing gift that is skye

climbing

got some more climbing in this afternoon with some of the Year Team gang

hello spoon!

skye had her first food with a spoon today
she displayed the healthy kelly appetite and devoured every morsel!

easy week

today's the start of a twelve day break in the Year Team schedule for the thanksgiving holiday

a big kiss

with love to all my adoring fans

jets 3, panthers 30

today joe and i went to watch our first nfl game
(that's american football to a limey!!)
the carolina panthers beat the new york jets 30-3, which is probably equivalent to something like a 4-1 footie result (ish) - in other words the jets got a good kicking!

clockwise from top left
a panther at the gate
the bank of america stadium
the breathtaking sunset over charlotte (my best bit!)
joe enjoying the spectacle
the game

happy birthday gran!

wishing you a very happy and peaceful day!

climbing

out climbing for the first time in quite a while
went with jim and john to the artificial wall nearby
it's pretty good for the flatlands!

busy day in the office

skye and mags took over to chat online with auntie maggie in germany - GruB Gott!

new car

we bought a car today! woohoo! it's the sleek vdub we've been driving on loan over the past year big thanks to john for the loan and the generous deal

also a very happy birthday to amy!

sick

blah
colds all round so lying up today

whitesox

win the world series in game four

international girl

skye's uk passport arrived today, bringing her collection up to two!

ok here's

more of the girls

the key to high ratings

is to give the viewers what they want
we know you really want to see more of skye!
please do leave a note by clicking on the word 'comments' below

top ten

some people are big on lists
i tend to have seasons of things
anyway here's my top ten list of things i'm grateful for today
(in no particular order)
living near the beach
85 degree weather in late october
a loving and forgiving God
a fantastic patient wife
a beautiful giggling baby girl
carte noire coffee (thanks auntie maggie!)

showers - hot ones when it's cold and cold ones when it's hot
telephones
sunsets
good friends to work, pray and play with

it's your birthday!

a very happy birthday to big bro laurence!
loads of love to you from the american kellys!

america's pastime

reaches it's climax in the world series which starts this weekend when the houston astros and the chicago whitesox square off to find the best baseball team

if you can get past the irony of a 'world' title where teams from only one nation compete, you'll be able to enjoy baseball for the spectacle it is
besides having a great mix of skill, explosive power and tension
for the girls it has muscular guys in tights
for the guy geeks it has stats by the bucket-load: era's, rbi's, ibb's
it has hope, underdogs (including both the houston astro's and the chicago whitesox!) whacking big dogs and, of course, the accompanying heartbeak of defeat
but mostly we've come to like baseball because it's a fun backdrop to a relaxed evening out

if only

growing hair was this easy!

pictures

for the first time in about five years we have pictures on the walls!
it's a very nice and homely feeling

guess what i did today!

i went to the aquarium with chriscelle, seannah, amy, jaedan, lizzie, gareth, daisy, lucy, mummy and daddy!

the end of the road

for the little ford escort we've been driving
(or 'pink panther' as it's sometimes known)
we finally scrapped it today
so it's back to being a one car family
all that's left is the license plate (or 'tag' as they call it here)

interesting article

i read a fascinating article entitled 'why are you taking a risk?' on the uk climbing site which i found provocative beyond climbing and relevant to the realms of faith and maturity - for sure this guy has some funny influences, but try reading 'faith' for 'risks' and 'flesh' for 'ego' and 'maturity' for 'learning and growth' and it opens up an interesting conversation. funny too is how seb seems to miss the point in his comment

happy birthday john

from the girls (and phil!!)

jon senior

it's been great having jon - he's a delightful guy and a fantastic house-guest but we're losing him today, because he's moving into the big house

old friends

had a lovely conversation and ‘catch up’ with tchad today
he and andrea sound like they’re doing great and lovin’ it in mascalucia, sicily
we thank God for them (check out tchad and andrea's blog here) and for skype

sleep

skye slept for eight hours straight last night
from 11.30pm through to 7.30am
God is good and Psalm 127 is true!!

happy birthday mummy!

me and daddy love you!

skye's got a new bed

and very nice it is too!
thanks mum and dad (richard and marion!)

it's not all work work work

went sailing on the harbour with the new Year Team gang today....
....introducing Olivia and Maggie

new friends

the new Year Team group started today at st andrew's
thirteen young adults, three young (ish) leaders, one room, nine months, seven continents, many adventures, one God

jon's back

went to fetch jon senior from the airport this evening
it's great to have him back!

difficult quiz

guess who's baby this is....

simple answer!

....yep, you guessed it!
like father, like daughter! (at least in haircut)

thank you

for a fantastic last evening, katy and joe!
great food, fun people and a beautiful sunset

wedding anniversary

nine years today and still in love!
(and yes, phil had hair then)

happy 6th birthday isaac french and
happy 21st :-) birthday lucy bolster
loads of love to you both!

healing prayer

was able to book in for an extended time of healing prayer today - a special and much appreciated time in God's presence

'Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.' James 5v16 (The Message)

busy day

phew! we had the interview evening for year team 2005 - 2006
but a good day with lots exciting prospects for the year ahead!
God seems to be preparing and positioning people
bring it on

and a very happy birthday to chriscelle!

hard grit

just watched hard grit again & am pumped
mags and skye fell asleep though!
it's a great birthday present - thanks john & helen!
you can get it on dvd now, from slackjaw films
(poor website but top climbing movies)
here's seb grieve on meshuga at black rocks by john houlihan

housewarming

party tonight -
it already feels like home!

who's working out?

skye's getting stronger and likes to lift herself up

no excuse

for not communicating (or updating the blog) - we have the internet connection up and running again! thank you comcast!

new place

we're in!
massive thanks to the movers:
matt, joe, john, bryan, judd & dale
also to peter, mark & allison

guess who....

....is back in the country on a special mission?
welcome back joe!

we're out

goodbye to new street and our
s outh
o f
b road zipcode - thanks to christopher, matt, charlene & andy, mark & allison for your help with moving - we couldn't have done it without you!

hello to mount pleasant and huge thanks to the calladines for your garage and for having us to stay

welcome home jp!

batman begins

went to see batman begins at the imax tonight
as a childhood fan of the original comic books I was very impressed - the best batman movie yet
two thoughts stuck with me, how discipleship is a hot theme in movies at the mo and how the imax bills itself, not simply as a cinema (or movie theatre as they say here), but as an 'experience' (which it undoubtedly is)

cuddle time

here's a cute picture of skye with her grandfather john, 'pops' for short

rich and mim are staying

- they've found their new home.
after all, hathersage isn't all it's cracked up to be

a small american girl....

....celebrates her first fourth of july

a late day

first we were rushing over to church, later we tried to get into the baseball game, but it was standing room only by the time we got there
it fell out nicely in the end with a relaxed stroll around downtown and waterfront park

another first for skye

today was her first trip to the beach!
here she is at folly with auntie miriam and mags!

they're here......

....none other than mags' sister auntie mim and the original uncle went-boy himself! woohoo!

happy birthday part 3

to the great auntie maggie!
loads of love from phil and mags and skye

it's also the year team graduation ball today - we'll be livng it up at the swanky harbour club in downtown charleston