One final post at the end of an era....

So this is going to be the last blog entry for "Life as we know it".  This blog started in 2006 after we moved to Woodland Park, CO and began building our house.  Many people in Harper, where we moved from, were interested in how the building project was going.  So Ed started the blog.  As we were going to London the following year, we thought it would be fun to continue our blog throughout that experience.  We have now completed our three year term with Mennonite Mission Network and are now home.  We want to thank all of you who followed our blog and commented now and then.  It was nice to know friends and family were interested in what we were doing.  The following pictures are from our trip home.  We flew into Philadelphia where we were picked up by Ed's brother Pete and his wife Sandy.  We were able to watch the super bowl at his brother Phil and his wife Renee's house.  We could only keep our eyes open through the third quarter before giving up to head to bed.  We spent a day recovering from jet lag before heading on the train to New York City to visit Ed's sister, Sylvia.  Then back to Leola, PA where we bought a used car.  After more visiting with his sister Hilda and her husband Wes, as well as some other friends, we headed westward via other friends and the rest of our siblings.  We made it to Bluffton, OH where we stayed with Bill and Susie Swartley; then to Goshen staying with Ed's sister Mim and husband Ron.  We also got to visit with his sister Dorothy and her daughters. Then on to Chicago to spend a night with his brother Eric and his wife, Karen.  Then a drive to southern Wisconsin to stay with his sister Louise and her husband Bill.  Next was a drive to Iowa City to take out Sophie, our niece who is working at the University of Iowa.  Heading south, we ended up at my side of the family.  My sister, Rosie King, lives in rural Paola, KS.  After a night there, we drove to Wichita and had lunch with my sister Linda, her husband Pat, their son Josh and his girlfriend, Mandy.  Then a brief stop in Harper to pick up a piece of furniture which fit perfectly in our car.  Then to Garden City to spend the night with my brother, Roger and his wife Carol.  Then the next day west to Woodland Park where we are now!  So within a week, we visited with Ed's parents and all 8 of his siblings and my 3 sibs.  It was fun but we are glad to be home.  Following are pictures of our trip home through the Eastern and Midwestern USA.

We don't see cardinals in Briton so it was nice to view that outside of Ed's parents house.  Ed is waiting for the train to NYC.  At the entrance to Central Park in ManhattanA view of Manhattan from Central park.The subway of NYC.  Darker and not quite as clean as in London.Time Square!While in NYC, we had supper at Ed's neice, Laura and her husband Matt Wiens and their son Henry.The view of the city from the Empire State building.Susie Swartley in her living room.Rural PA.In Wisconsin, close to Louise's house.  They live on a dairy farm.My sister Rosie's house.  Very warm and cozy.I guess we are still in the habit of tea at four.  Ed is having a great time as you can see.  His favorite thing....working with power tools!A nice warm homecooming.We've had a lot of snow since we've been back.This looks like a 'where's Waldo' entry.Ed having fun moving snow off of our driveway.This was taken when we were in Goshen.  We hosted a high tea for all the past host couples of the LMC.  The only ones missing are the Barges who are no longer living, and one other single man who I can't remember at this writing.

On our last week in London, we took the 43 bus down to London Bridge and walked the South Bank in the evening.This is St Paul's.Here is the London Eye.For our farewell staff party, we walked from Highgate to Hampstead via the Heath to a French crepery.

Please bear with me.  I intend to add to this blog but it has been difficult to find the time!  Ed and I are now back in the U.S. and just haven't had a spare moment to to anything on the internet besides check email and respond.  We are making our way back to Colorado from the East Coast via friends and family.  We are having a wonderful time of this.  I intend to blog about our last week in London and then start on our trip home.  SEE YOU SOON!

Our last Saturday in London was spent walking around the London Bridge, Tower Bridge and St. Katherine's Dock area.  It was a rare day of sunshine in London and Ed is soaking it up.A sculpture along the Thames path walking from Tower Bridge to St Katherine's Dock area.

Sean and Judith Gardiner, good friends who also go to Wood Green Mennonite Church, took Ed and I out for some great Indian food.  When you are in London, the place to go with the most choices and best curry's is Brick Lane.  We took a walk afterwards to walk off some calories and close by is this bell foundry.  The Liberty Bell was made here.  It is still a working foundry.Another picture of the foundry.

At Church the next day, we had as our guests, Edwin and Astrid who live in Southern England (for the past four plus years), but are originally from Columbia.  They were involved with a Mennonite church in Columbia and were very involved with peace, justice, and social concerns.  Due to numerous "threats" and concerns for the safety of their two sons, they decided to leave Columbia for awhile until things settled down.  They have remained in England mostly because of their boys who are now teenagers.Chatting with good friends, Will Newcomb, Judith and Sean after church.

We are starting to say our goodbyes to the people we have come to know.  This is a Turkish family who are now citizens of the UK who manage a small cafe close to where we live.  We like to eat breakfast there, not so much for the good food but because we like these people.  Don't ask me to say or spell their names but they always have a smile and a wave for us when we walk by the window.One last visit to Spitalfields market.  Each market is unique and this one has a lot of clothing artists.  Much of the things sold here were designed and made by the people manning the booths.

And here we have what we will miss....the Monday night house meal.  This night we had homemade pizza, salad and a pavlova for dessert.Sam is enjoying his.  Sam has been living at the centre since early September.  He is a Mennonite Mission Network worker giving his time to the Bridge Builders department at the LMC.  Originally from Vermont, he graduated from Goshen College and has done VS work in Boulder, CO. prior to coming to London.

The Beginning of the End

In just three weeks we are headed back to the US as our term under the Mennonite Mission Network has come to an end.

This means sorting through our 'stuff' and deciding what to take back and what to 'take care of'.  Also lots of cleaning, clearing out files, drawers, etc.  We were able to take back a lot of warm weather clothes when we went home for Phyllis' mom's funeral, and now we have a bit more room for the rest.

However, when we came over three years ago, we were allow two pieces of checked baggage without extra charge which they were only slightly concerned about the weight.  Now we can have only one checked bag with the price of our ticket and the weight restrictions are tightly controlled.

Our other leaving tasks are to do a few more things like a photo exhibit we visit every year at the Natural History museum, another walk on Hampstead Heath, breakfast at Kenwood house, Spitalfields market, Camden Town market, Borough market, Highgate Woods, one last play,......so much to do and so little time!

We have not been good at taking the camera with us lately and so we have no pictures to share.  We have been busy at the Centre doing a lot of cleaning, painting, rug shampooing, moving furniture from one room to another, etc. that we haven't gotten out much other than to get groceries!

We did travel down to central London the other night and ate at Wagamama's, one of our favorite places, and had a walk down the south bank....another favorite activity.

Our plans are to fly into Philadelphia, get picked up by family, stay a couple days at Ed's parents, watch the Super Bowl at his brothers house (this year at a decent time of the day rather than midnight)  Then take a train to New York City where we will visit Ed's sister, Sylvia for a couple days.  Phyllis has never been to NYC, just the airports, and Ed hasn't spent much time there either.

Then a train back to PA, buy a car, and head west towards our home via friends and family along the way.  Please pray that we have decent weather to travel in as we are staying north....Bluffton, OH, Goshen, IN, Chicago, and hopefully, Wisconsin, before we head further south.

We'll take the camera out on our next outing and get some pictures in.  England has had more snow this year than in the past 30 years and it has stayed cold enough that it didn't melt for nearly two weeks.  This put a major kink into the lives of many Londoners as they are ill equiped to deal with this kind of weather.

Until the next post....