the big review of 2007

phew! 2007 has been a big year for us
big changes, big adventures, big growth...
...here is a small collection of our biggest highlights!

sleepless in january
on new year's day mags and phil took a short break in seattle














family in february
taking a team to the impuls gatherings in norway
meeting our gorgeous new neice (skye's cousin) kerstin in sweden















mumbai march
our lovely friends jean and francis visited from mumbai india














other big things were playing nertz at 306, andy and heather visiting from seattle and the dental trip to ecuador

expectant april
leading a week of prayer at church, seeing delirious live
and visiting oklahoma city with mal














and to top it off - finding out mags was pregnant again!

moving may
crazy packing, an amazing retreat, tearful goodbyes
we moved from america to england to join our friends in bristol and be part of a team planting new churches across the city and beyond
we spent a few happy days with eric and jill, exploring washington dc















home and holiday in june
we established home in central bristol - the ark - with fellow-returning-missionary-friends-from-sheffield neil, natalie and matthew
regardless of other things happening in britain (rain, flooding and terrorist attacks) we had a great family break in the highlands of scotland















climbing in july
the shipment of our things arrived safely
phil climbed the matterhorn of north america - the grand teton in wyoming















outdoors in august
more outdoor adventures - this time in scotland and norway















september is meant for starting
including year team bristol - a year-long training course for young adults - as well as part-time work in a local prison and the house at wick for prayer, retreat and teaching















october is for adventures
short visits to northern ireland and budapest















november is spelt j-o-s-e-p-h
nephew adam (skye's cousin) was born and then
our biggest highlight of the year - joseph's arrival!














also the one that got away - joseph and michelle's wedding

december is for chilling
we've had some really special family time and some serious festive food
it's also been a great chance to relax, read, reflect - resulting in this review!














happy new year!

grandparent time

family

are great aren't they?
we're enjoying having phil's mum and dad, richard and marion visit this weekend

amazing kids

one sleeps all night and the other sleeps all day

fantastic evening

with our pal matt rutter - thanks for the chinese!

happy 21st birthday jo!

oi

no complaining! this is two weeks of daily blogging everybody! how about some kudos!
ahem liz and joannah

happy families

here's natalie with joseph, matthew, phil, mags and skye chilling

christmas tree

oh yes, the earliest one we've ever had!

man of the people

it's been a busy november for joseph
the fan club is officially open
you know how to join...

new bib

thanks pat, pat, katy and michael for the cool outfit and bib for joseph!

tired and happy

love the boots

skye loves the boots her pal annie grace gave her

family of four

first bath

look at all that hair!

meet the grandparents

joseph met john and helen today

it's official

new baby has arrived home! and he has a name! woohoo!
joseph john taylor kelly

happy thanksgiving

we love thanksgiving!
we are really thankful for (in no particular order)
God's amazing love to us
new baby
turkey
the queen
hospitals
adventures
faithful friends














(she may not thank me for posting this, but I think it really captures mags' glow)

new baby!

we thank God for an amazing new baby boy, born today!
he arrived around 8.30pm and weighed 3.22 kg (about 7 pounds 2 ounces)
we're all doing really well and are super excited

suzie and sam

it was fun to catch up with suzie at the weekend too

we want more!

and don't we know it!
here's another pic of the beautiful baby adam

new nephew adam

phil got a treat today...
a trip to brighton to meet baby adam
(and yes, he is gorgeous!)

marianne and farid are pretty gorgeous too!

babies

massive congratulations today
to marianne and farid on the birth of baby adam
also to simon and lizzie and zac on the birth of baby grace tiggy

three special people, one special day

happy birthday olivia! happy wedding day michelle and joe!
we love you and we're sorry we can't be with you today
we pray you'll each have one really special day!

adventures

with:
1 big white van
2 year old girl
4 kitchen appliances
5 potty breaks
16 hours on the road
32 armchairs
m62 closure at saddleworth moor
600 miles of driving
not to mention:
no nervous breakdown
loads of laughter
skye driving the van on the motorway (while crawling in queues)
proper good dad/daughter bonding
finding grandparents' new house in the dark
the most beautiful sunset & sunrise
yorkshire

road trip

phil, skye and winnie the pooh went on a road trip this weekend

fun day

had a fun time at the zoo this afternoon
bonus points if you can name the animal bottom right...

also sending huge birthday love to laurence!

having fun exploring

the hungarian public transport with simon

(not so) blue danube

had a great run along st margaret's island by the danube this morning

it's amazing

who they let into these things!

in budapest

for a gathering of the european church planting network leaders

amazing wedding weekend

mal and I had the most amazing day with our friends from causeway coast vineyard today, taking our tally to two weddings in one weekend
it was one of those powerful 'God is in the house' experiences as we shared in a very special wedding ceremony, held during their worship service this morning
the couple being married told their stories of desperate brokeness and God's redemption with a video beforehand, and seeing them in leathers and tattoos and beaming with love made us cry our eyes out

jon and estelle

so exciting to see jon and estelle happily married

the olivia has landed

it's great to have her here and she got the full us diplomatic limousine treatment...

cow on a hill

late summer in england is a beautiful thing

the vikings are coming!

we pushed the norwegian longship out to welcome christian and oline today

skye sliding

fun birthday

you can probably see why!

respect for ruth

it's always fun to have new fun with old friends!

forth bridge, filthy weather

liathach

that's scottish for 'proper good mountain'