late christmas pressie

this morning daddy put my last christmas pressie together....
....it really is a rocking pony!

as you can see, i'm getting pretty good at balancing now!

also wishing a huge happy birthday to amy!

tasty milk

responding to fresh encouragement over christmas from susan and miriam we've been thinking about buying more stuff that's either local, organic, animal-friendly or fairly-traded - hence 'loaf'
it seems the interest and market for this kind of goods is much less developed here than it is in britain and the cost is often twice that of the usual suspects
to spread the cost our resolution has been to switch one item a week to loaf-principled goods in our grocery shopping
harris teeter organic milk (like the salted pork) is particularly good, slurp!

woohoo!

congratulations to ansley and jim who got engaged on sunday evening!

today is martin luther king day

'most Christians are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority opinion, not thermostats that transform and regulate the temperature of society'
challenging stuff

go panthers

our team take on the chicago bears in the nfl playoffs today
(translation: a quarter final cup game in american football!)

habitat for humanity

spent a happy morning digging holes and wrapping houses with the college crew at habitat for humanity

a long-expected party

well it's goodbye mulehouse
the sale of the house God gave us in Sheffield was completed today
it was a wonderful blessing to us and we thank God for special friends and times there
we pray it'll continue to be a great home for the new owners

friends

we had fun playing with friends who came over to visit today

here's elizabeth with annie grace, skye and cameron with harper

explorer

skye's now a nifty roller and loves to explore - especially under furniture if that's possible!

stories

the year team regathered today, we simply told stories of what God has been doing with each of us over the three weeks we've been apart and prayed
good times

jon senior is travelling back today too (with his mum, who's visiting for a while)

chilling

a quiet day at home

flying high

us airways were very good to us
skye got her own little first class bed both ways!

stuff

finally the shipping company came to free rich and mim from our stuff!
they collected 18 boxes to send to south carolina

cute piccie

here's the granddaughter (skye) with gran (helen) and granddad (john) at rich and mim's in sheffield

baby boom

there is a lot of babies blooming in sheffield, it's really lovely to see

here's mags with joy and skye, isaac, noah, jo with ben, jack
a special hello to isaac and jack, our gorgeous Godsons!

taylors in town

john, helen and auntie maggie came back to sheffield for the day
it was lovely to see them, they said they wanted to see us, but we know what the real attraction is....
....skye playing the spoons!
:)

happy new year

skye with her great aunt evelyn and grandma

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