New (but Old) Friends!!!!

Several days after Jeanne's family left we had the privilege of hosting the minister who married us and his wife. Guthrie and Barbara Veech were coming to visit with his work...more about that in a bit. His "free" part of his trip coincided with our free period between previously planned visitors. I find it amazing how we'd known them for so long but never really knew them. They are a wonderful couple and Guthrie (and Barbara) really enjoy the English country, customs and sights. visitors so they were able to come. Guthrie is now president of St. Louis Christian College and travels frequently. He comes over to England for a combination of conferences, preaching and building connections for future students at the college.
They arrived late in our driveway with a big box delivery-style van which was a bit of a surprise! For those of you not here in the UK, driving is difficult enough with small cars, but a new foreign driver being forced to drive a vehicle with no windows and as big as a tank because the rental agency gave away their reserved (and paid for) car was terrible. They took it very gracefully and arrived late, flustered but they arrived! We ended up exchanging the van (with difficulty) for a much more comfortable little car.

We were able to take a trip together to Warwick castle which we hadn't visited yet. What a fun day! The castle is more touristy than most, but we really enjoyed the falconry show and trebuchet demonstration.













We had hoped to that Guthrie would have been able to preach at our church in Bourne, but it didn't work out this time.

We really had fun hosting them both (they made it very easy).

Scotland and more of England with the Dustin's & Demientieff's

I dropped the Shaffer's off and only had to wait a few hours until the Dustin's arrived. John and Bonnie were able to recover a few days in Manthorpe before Joyce and Jordan arrived...then the whirlwind began!

The first weekend we did Canterbury, Dover Castle and Leeds Castle.





The first two are places we'd been before but wanted to take the new crew. Both Scott and I drove since we had a group of 9!

Leeds was the new stop for us. We had gone there years ago when Bryce was little and they have vastly improved the grounds. It has a beautiful garden walk up to the castle (which in itself is quite significant- where the camp David aggreement was hammered out). Then in behind the castle is an aviary and a really cool maze. We truly got lost...if not for a lady giving us the clues we might be there still!


Joyce had also heard of an activity called "Go Ape!". It is where you climb an obstacle course using ropes and clips. It is quite challenging! Scott, Joyce and the two boys went and had a great time. Madison missed the cutoff by 21 days...she wasn't happy. Only until we promised after her 10th birthday that we would bring her did she regretfully accept the situation. Below is a VIDEO clip that you can watch Scott gracefully land :-). Just click the play button- the one with a triangle and you'll be able to watch Joyce's video.


The following weekend we did our "big" 4 day trip to Scotland. and arrived late at our rented apartments. Edinburgh was a beautiful city. On the drive up there we were able to see York cathedral (fascinating foundations display below the cathedral showing Roman, Norman as well as modern foundation work).


The next day we were able to see St. Mary's Close where the medieval townspeople infamously yelled "guardy loo" when they dumped their sewage out the window. Medieval history can be quite gruesome.











The Castle was great and commanded fantastic views. Bryce decided to stuff Christina in a HUGE cannon at the top of the castle. The cannon is called Mons Meg...can you imagine size of the cannon ball and having to lift it? Some Japanese tourists got a big kick from it and snapped all sorts of pictures.










































The next day we chose to DRIVE to Inverness. We figured that you can't go to Scotland without TRYING to see the Loch Ness Monster :-) It was a very long rainy drive, but we did get to see some of the Scottish Highlands. We got to see Urquhart castle...but no monster.

















On our last morning, we discovered that we were locked IN our apartment. The key we had didn't unlock from the inside...only the outside.

We flagged down an unsuspecting pedestrian from our third floor bedroom window to come and knock on the downstairs apartment for the second key...they thought we were sleeping in! Traveling is always an adventure!





On the way home we opted to see Hadrian's wall. It is a wall that emporer Hadrian (Roman) decided to build to supposedly mark the Roman boundary. See Jeanne DOES get in some pictures!

Here is a picture of the underfloor heating system that they had for the fort at Hadrian's wall. Stone tiles laid over a corner of each of the posts to create the floor, then soldiers or slaves blew hot air to flow under the floor...what technology!




It is truly amazing how you can travel relatively short distances and see Bronze Age artifacts, Roman ruins, Medieval towns and just TONS of history! Their countryside is so varied also.

We definitely enjoyed the grass and hillside walk up to the wall and fortress.

Madison is a terrible....WOLF!

Madison got the lead role of the wolf in Ronald Dahl's "Little Red Riding Hood" and Jeanne had fun making the costume. Funny thing was that we had accidentally brought over from the US the red cape from Madison's FIRST stage performance when she was 5 years old and it was used here also! The drama was a humorous musical that was made all the more funny by Madison's dramatics. She really had fun creeping around and using her voice for speaking and solo's.
At the end of the play there was about a 45 second death scene where the wolf is shot by Miss Riding Hood as the narrator said

"the small girl smiled, one eyelid flickers,
she whips a pistol from her knickers...
she aims it at the creatures head,
and bang-bang-bang, she shoots him dead".

WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

Sports Day!

Grandma and Grandpa Dustin were able to take the train back from London to see the kids sports day and award presentation. The weather was beautiful.

The kids competed in running events where they put forth great effort, but the events that they really excelled in were held the week before. Madison won first in her grade for long jump (3rd in the combined event) and Bryce won first place in shotput for the entire school. It was fun seeing them get their awards.

Bryce the Super-Spectacular-SHOTPUTTER!

Bryce was flying home from a one-week return visit to Monticello when Jeanne's grandma passed away. He was greeted with the news at the airport that he was going to fly back to the US the next day.

So he ended up missing TWO weeks of school!

When he returned the athletics coach decided to have Bryce participate in the Shot-putting event for Regionals two days later on May 21. Bryce came home with the news that he WON! He qualified to participate in Nationals!

So June 18 Bryce went to Birmingham to compete and took 4th place (narrowly losing 3rd place). The Dustin's and Demientieff's were there to cheer him on. It was quite exciting! We are so proud of his efforts!

CONGRATULATIONS BRYCE!

Scott's parents come to visit

We are so thankful that Lawrence recovered so well from his stroke in March. They had previously planned on visiting longer. But thankfully they had vacation insurance which enabled them to change flights.

They arrived on May 21 and were whisked through customs and immigration. It was so good to see them and especially to see Lawrence looking so well.

They came home and tried to adjust from jet-lag.
But we didn't let them rest too long because a few days later we drove to Canterbury and Dover. It was vacation for the kids and Scott had a bank holiday that we decided to take advantage of the free time. We were able to see the White Cliffs and Canterbury Cathedral before overnighting at a Dover hotel.

The next day we took the chunnel across to France and drove to the beaches of Normandy. Scott's parents have traveled Europe extensively, but had never been to the Normandy beaches. Lawrence (and Scott) both enjoy World War historical sites so that made this trip extra special.

Arromanches is a spectacular beach with the man-made harbor that has parts that still exist today. The kids had a great time walking around the grounded harbor parts. The weather was so much better this time of year than when we came Christmastime.














There were a few other highlights that we all enjoyed. First, the crater holes along the cliffs...the kids really enjoyed running and sliding down the deep grass lined pits made from dropped bombs. We had a beautiful sunny day which made sitting (and playing) along the coastal cliffs all the more enjoyable.





Bryce the new Karate Kid!

The three kids climbed into a pill box

But Christina found a secret exit!

More sobering was the American cemetery. It is hard to fathom that many AMERICAN's gave their lives, but seeing the acres of white crosses gives visual understanding.

We really enjoyed the museum. We also appreciated the well maintained restrooms which seem to be lacking in most of Europe!

Other highlights of the Lawrence and Saralee's visit is our visits to Lincoln cathedral and Castle. I think these sites were Saralee's favorite. The Lincoln Cathedral is amazing, but I think Saralee really enjoyed the giftshop and surrounding medieval buildings. Across the way is the Lincoln castle which has a dismal history as a prison. The chapel was particularly frightening. They took prisoners hooded and placed them in steeply tiered cubicles to listen to a sermon. They weren't allowed to talk or see other humans. They were able to walk hooded around in circles and go to chapel...that was it. The rest of the 22 hours of their day was spent in a small, cramped, dark cell . No talking or communicating with anyone at any time. They abandoned the isolation "rehabilitation" technique when a staggering 10% of the prison population went insane. The tour guides are amazing and it made for a fantastic day...especially when we stopped at a fabulous chocolate shop on the way home.

We went and saw Peterborough Cathedral- where Catherine of Aragon is buried and where Mary Queen of Scots was buried (after she was beheaded, but before her son became King and reinstated her burial place to one of more respect in London). The cathedral is only about a mile from Scott's work!

Another day we went to Boston which is famous for its ties to the American Pilgrims. We just by chance arrived on the day of their market and found the closest possible parking spot to the town center. Then also by "chance" we arrived an hour before a concert was being given in the Boston church. As we toured the church Lawrence found a stained glass window with the image of Anne Bradstreet...a person in Lawrence's family tree! Both Saralee and Lawrence really enjoyed that day.

Back to the States...

Vivian Ruby
Deffenbaugh

November 15, 1909 –
May 8, 2008

Jeanne's Grandmother passed away May 8, 2008. She lived to be 98 and will be missed.

Our whole family was able to fly to Portland, OR for the funeral. It was wonderful to be back in the states and to be with family. For the service Madison recited the Lord's prayer and Jeanne helped prepare a slide show commemorating her life. Regretfully, we missed family Christmas in Oregon this year, but it was good to be there for the funeral.