We began Ryan’s celebrations in Leeds by visiting the Christmas Market. This year’s market had us walking around city centre a lot as most stalls were dotted about. We enjoyed kangaroo and ostrich burgers for lunch as well as an amazingly moist gluten free chocolate cake. 😋
Annually we choose a new ornament; this year we bought a hand carved nativity from Bethlehem olive wood. What an appropriate way to commemorate our Saviour’s birth!
After enjoying our day out, we picked up the kids on their last day of school. We came home to open presents; the kids made amazing homemade cards too! We also enjoyed Ryan’s annual sticky toffee pudding before ordering take away Chinese. 😋🥰
The next day, despite kids’ coughs, we went to the York Christmas Market. The York Christmas Market we look forward to annually because of the delicious food, beautiful architecture, and rich history. This year the weather was quite mild and the stall owners quite engaging. We enjoyed coffee at Spring Espresso and popping in and out of shops for a few Christmas purchases. We are very thankful for another of Ryan’s birthdays and this time together as a family!
Term break began last week with us visiting a pumpkin patch…a VERY muddy pumpkin patch! Living 12 years in England, this was our family’s first visit to a local pumpkin patch. Perhaps that was due to the persistent rain and mud which attempted to suck off our footwear! 😯
The tractor pull carried us to the pumpkins, but my friend and I decided to walk closer to the hedgerow on our way back. Our thinking was that the ground there would be more firm. However, eventually we just had to risk traversing the squelching terrain.
Choosing pumpkins was rather difficult considering the mud possibly camouflaging potential bad spots. However, we were blessed to find three large pumpkins (and some unusual pumpkins) to bring home to carve.
On Halloween it rained all day, yet we still managed to put up our gazebo, setup a bonfire, and welcome trick-or-treaters with a Bag of Hope. Annually we give away a bag of hope filled with a Bible story, church invites, colour sheet, sweeties, and more! This year we gave away 24, which was a lot according to our neighbours whom had five on average last year! 🤗 We invited neighbours to come around the bonfire and roast marshmallows whilst we enjoyed a chat. Our son made a few visitors jump with his fake hand. 😉🫣Eventually, though, we did get cold and wet and came inside to enjoy mummy pizza and our annual viewing of the It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. 😃
The next day we visited Temple Newsam, a local Tudor-Jacobean Manor House filled with rich and varied history. We enjoyed a semi-guided tour of the cellar for the first time.
This was promised to be a slightly eerie cellar visit (which we mistakenly thought would include historic tales) but instead actors made scary noises and jumped out at us. Therefore, this was not the eight year old and up house tour we expected, so we were very thankful when our tour of the manor tunnels came to an end. 😯🫣 Afterwards we enjoyed walking the beautiful autumnal grounds! 🍁
Another day we enjoyed an autumnal walk with a friend and visited Kirkstall Abbey. Later that day my son and I made quiche for his school food assignment.
On Bonfire Night, 5th of November, we hosted the youth (and some friends) from our local church in addition to a few of our daughter’s school friends. It was a festive affair including Ryan’s first Swedish Fire Log, our usual fire pit, smoked meat, hot cocoa, s’mores, and more! Throughout the evening the youth wrote their thankfulness on butcher paper whilst chatting, eating sweeties, and playing with glow sticks. Towards the end of the evening, we lit sparklers (even coloured ones) and one large firework fountain. 😃🤗 Then many walked to church for our weekly evening service. We are thankful for the many who helped us make Bonfire Night a memorable event for our youth!
Annually our church spends time together deepening our relationship individually with God and together with each other. This past weekend our family had the blessing of retreating at Wydale Hall with our local church family. We have only been attending Roundhay Evangelical Church since we moved to Oakwood in April. Thus this was a lovely opportunity to get to know many people whilst enjoying the beautiful location of Wydale.
Together we had morning and afternoon worship, prayer, and teaching sessions; one session was led by my husband. We were blessed to have a guest speaker who taught on the book of Daniel. In between sessions we had time to walk around the beautiful walled gardens, play games, chat, and rest. And we ate delicious food catered by Wydale!
One evening we had a talent show in which our daughter amazingly played the piano whilst singing. I sang a solo (Goodness of God) and invited our church family to sing along. Some told jokes, read poems, and performed skits. We had judges who provided encouraging feedback. Great fun during the talent show was had by all! 🥰
The youth enjoyed their guest speaker teaching on the book of Mark. They played sports together and had a glow stick walk in the woods. It was heart warming to see many youth lovingly interact with the younger children as well as conversing with older adults. 🥰
As the weekend, unfortunately, came to a close our family walked the beautiful grounds of Wydale before returning home. We look forward to next year when we plan to return again! What a fabulous beginning on our family’s 12th anniversary of living and ministering in England!
After excitedly greeting my Mom at the Manchester airport, earlier in the week, we traveled to North Wales for a family holiday! Day one, after eating at an American roadside diner unexpectedly located in Wales, we drove to the seaside town of Llandudno. We enjoyed walking and sitting seaside and the kids enjoyed the pier penny arcades.
Then we made our way to our glamping lodge complete with a nearby field of sweetly baaing sheep! Once there we enjoyed wood-fired pizza, cooking s’mores over a campfire, petting sheep, playing tag and board games, and being in the outdoors complete with all amenities. 🥰 The only hardship was the lack of central heating. 😬
Day two we were blessed once again by good weather and enjoyed Conwy Castle, glimpsed the Smallest House in Britain, ate delicious fish and chips as well as affogato, and delighted in crabbing!
Conwy Castle is one of our favourite castles as it has complete walls, incredible seaside views, and rich history. Titus and Cora enjoyed going up each complete tower but were somewhat tired afterwords. 🤗
Conwy CastleSmallest House in Britain Crabbing
Day three we drove to nearby Anglesey and enjoyed lunch outside, finding seashells, and crabbing in Cemaes Bay before visiting Beaumaris Castle seaside.
Cemaes Bay
Beaumaris (meaning beautiful marsh) Castle was the infamous castle that was never finished. After 36 years and £3 million, this castle was never completed because the money ran out and war brewed elsewhere. We enjoyed this castle for its amazing chapel, castle walls, and water moat. 😊
Beaumaris Castle – Anglesey
On our drive back to our lodge, we stopped by the longest named town in the UK. And no, I still cannot pronounce it. 😉
Day four, we returned to Leeds via Chester. This city has a rich Roman history. We walked the historic city walls, Roman amphitheatre, St. John the Baptist Church, saw Eastgate Clock, ate a delicious Chinese buffet (which we haven’t eaten in years), and visited beautiful Chester Cathedral. Inside the Cathedral we enjoyed taking in many biblical mosaics and Titus was able to drive a model train using blue tooth.
Roman Amphitheatre St. John the Baptist ChurchEastgate ClockChester city wallsChester CathedralChester Cathedral
Since my Mom is rarely with us, and has an injured foot, we feel very blessed to have seen and enjoyed God’s creation and many historic sites together. 🥰
The past two weekends we have attended two different weddings, our thirds this year with one more to come. 🥰 Each wedding involved the union of two different cultures, which made each wedding unique.
One couple was uniting the British and Dutch cultures which meant some prayers and worship songs were in the Dutch language. I enjoyed hearing Dutch spoken and seeing many believers gathered in a traditional British church building to glorify the Lord!
Their reception was at a village hall with an idyllic countryside backdrop. We welcomed the bride and groom by throwing dried flowers. Before the wedding breakfast (the first meal eaten as husband and wife) we played Dutch games in the sunshine.
Friends who owned a catering business, invited our kids to assist in the kitchen and serve the wedding guests. We are saddened this was the catering business’s last event, yet we enjoyed their delicious food…including fried meatballs and cheese. Delicious! 😋
Prior to the evening dancing, my husband and I enjoyed the creativity of the wedding speeches. The father of the bride sang multiple parities and others had videos and even a movie quiz in lieu of traditional speeches. It was very nice to chat with so many friends from the church.
Saturday was a British and Nigerian wedding. This couple we have enjoyed meeting with and discussing marriage prior to their wedding. I am also blessed to work alongside this bride as we minister to Uni students together! We have enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom multiculturally. 🥰
Whilst this wedding was hosted in a traditional British church building, this day held a British wedding and later in the day a Nigerian ceremony. Once again we enjoyed singing worship songs in various languages. And it was nostalgic from my US early Christian days, to hear prayers sung. My husband and I were invited to pray over the bride and groom during the ceremony, which was a unique privilege!
The Nigerian ceremony involved the bride dancing her way into the reception room wearing brightly coloured Nigerian attire and carrying a cup of wine. She continued to dance her way to her husband and serve him. This was a lovely sight to behold!
The Nigerian wedding meal composed of Joloff rice, red stew, soft chicken, giz-dodo, coleslaw and more were served by our teenagers and many friends. Whilst enjoying this exceptionally delicious meal, we had delightful conversation with the many internationals at our table.
In lieu of a guest book, guests were invited to paint their fingerprints as a contribution to a piece of artwork. After the cake cutting and bride and groom first dance, we hugged our goodbyes at the end of this full day of celebrations. We are very blessed to be a part of these married people’s lives and we pray the Lord’s blessings upon them.
After dropping the kids at New Day (a youth conference with an estimated 9,000 students), my husband and I drove another 30 minutes to the hamlet of Fleggburgh. We stayed three nights in a small Air B&B cottage (where we grazed our heads😬).
Each morning we read the Bible together and discussed, which is something we haven’t done together in a while. Between our lazy morning starts, slowly enjoying our cafetière and extra time in God’s Word, we rarely went out until midday. After a very busy season, this change of pace was welcomed!
The first afternoon we explored Horsey Windpump and later the beach where we saw seals less than 100 yards from shore.
We unexpectedly discovered a 1940s café where we enjoyed afternoon tea and cake. Themed off of the old British telly program Dad’s Army, every corner had something unique which drew the eye.
The second afternoon we visited Great Yarmouth which left us wanting our kids to join in; this seaside is built around family entertainment. Therefore, after enjoying a Greek lunch, we moved on to Beccles to a coffee and cacao roaster as well as popping in and out of shops. We pleasantly discovered some unexpected purchases. 😉
The third day we checked out of our Air B&B to meet up with some friends for coffee who happened to also be in the area. We were blessed to fellowship together before finding a burger stand and travelling on to Eastwood Hall for one night’s accommodation and posh meal.
Eastwood Hall was a pleasant summary to our anniversary celebrations! Here we enjoyed lovely accommodations, fine dining, swimming/spa, and the next morning a full English breakfast. On route to Leeds, we stopped by Bolsover Castle (our favourite English Heritage) for a light lunch and antique shopping. My husband and I are thankful to the Lord for being refreshed and restored after many busy months!
And just like that, another school year comes to an end. Friday was a half day of high school, so I drove the kids to York to join some friends whom we were visiting.
As with most visitors, we explored some known areas such as the Shambles, market stalls, walking the city walls, and nitrogen ice cream. It is fascinating to watch the science experiment unfold before your eyes!
Yet we also explored Evensong for the first time. The sound of the choir resonated beautifully in the historic minster! I enjoyed sitting in the wooden built in seats. This Church of England choir sang some of the Psalms from the Bible, which produced a different way of engaging in worship. If you are ever in York, I highly recommend attending a service.
For dinner, one of our visitors wanted to try Nepalese food. And we did just that! The curries were delicious and a satisfying end to our day out. Despite being caught in a downpour or two, this was a lovely ending to our friends visiting and the kids’ school year.
This past week, we celebrated our son’s 14th birthday! 🥳🤗 Before school (yes, school continues in England until 21 July!😯), he opened a waterproof watch from his sister.
After school, Titus enjoyed decorating his carrot cake complete with a K-9 dog, cross, and gorilla drawing.😊 After he tucked in, we opened a few more presents and compared his recent growth spurt which now has him surpassing his mother (but, not quite his father). 🫣
Titus requested Frito Chili Pie for his birthday meal (complete with Fritos kindly brought to us from the US, since they cannot be found here) 😋and then he gladly joined his friends at youth group.
Saturday, Titus and I enjoyed a woods walk by the lake in Roundhay Park. Later that evening, he greatly enjoyed going out to eat and playing laser tag with three friends! He says this was the highlight of this year’s birthday! 🤗🥰
Sunday, we hosted our volunteer youth team for a bbq and most enjoyed playing American football; they even taught a local friend how to play! Titus enjoyed taking some friends down into our home’s WWII bunker (during that time there was a munitions plant nearby) underneath the dining floor. 😃
Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes, prayers, and cards to help Titus celebrate! 🥰
Today we drove in the English countryside to the beautiful seaside town of Whitby. We wanted to treat our American friends to a seaside day out. We began by taking photos with our by the infamous Whitby whale bones.
For lunch we enjoyed eating delicious Magpie’s and Harley’s Fish and Chips by the seaside whilst avoiding the seagulls. 😁 We also showed our friends some of the lovely gift shops. Then we climbed the 199 steps to the top of Whitby Abbey! And we were welcomed by the beautiful view! At the top, we searched for Dracula’s grave (I think the actual one is in Romania, but this is the graveside Bram Stoker claims.)
Our friends enjoyed walking around the 12th century Whitby Abbey and taking in the many splendid views; we even chatted with a fellow North American. 😉
After descending the many steps, we ensured our friends got their toes wet in the brisk seaside. For one friend, this was her first time in an ocean, which may have been a bit colder than she expected. 🤔
In the afternoon some of us enjoyed fresh seaside donuts and ice cream! 😋 Then we got back in the car for our return drive. We are thankful to have enjoyed this lovely day together seaside. 🥰
Today was our family’s tenth annual Kirkstall Festival! Kirkstall Festival is the largest volunteer run festival in England. For the first time in more than ten years it rained; yet thankfully the rain did not keep too many people away. This year the festival began latter due to cricketers, but that did not prevent us from sharing about the Lord at our stall.
For the second year in a row, we hosted a stall with a local church and volunteer students from America. It was a great joy engaging people with an interactive buzz wire. Each was offered a sweetie, chocolate, or a bracelet. We gave away about 50 bracelets explaining the three circles. We also had a spiritual survey where we asked people if they are not curious, curious, believing, or following Jesus. As a result, we also gave away information about the church and the Bible.
In between rain showers and taking turns at the stall chatting with over 100 people, we visited other stalls and chatted with many friends whom we have made through the years. Some of us tried out the amusements!
We even saw our son’s Y5 drawing (four years ago when he attend primary school) continuing to be displayed as a logo for Friends of Kirkstall Abbey. Our family and friends were shattered after this full day, but very thankful for our time sharing with so many!
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