We had an American Thanksgiving at the Centre on Saturday.  We weren't able to have one on Thanksgiving since it's not a holiday here so we had to work.

We invited four girls from the Radical Journey team who are based in Bradford, England about a four hour drive from here.  Wayne and Lois Hochstetler came back from their travels on Wednesday so thay were able to join us as well.  Will's girlfriend from China is visiting so she is having her first American Thanksgiving.

We had all the traditional Thanksgiving food so we felt at home.  We even went on a traditional walk afterwards.

I am really doing a poor job of keeping up this blog.  The truth is, since we went to Scotland, we haven't done a lot outside of the LMC activities.  Since the Director and his family left on 2nd November, Ed and I have been busy with cleaning, filling in the cracks in the ceiling and walls, and painting and then when the painting is done we will shampoo all the carpets at the centre.
So most nights we are sore and tired and after a hot shower and a few ibuprofens, we aren't good for much else.

Today, Saturday, 21st November, we went with another couple from our church to visit one of the Christian Communities (aka Bruderhof) that live Southeast of London.  We had a tour of their compound where they make childrens play equipment for their main income.  They live in total community, sharing all things and owning nothing of their own.  They are a very friendly bunch.  This community has around 300.  Earlier this past summer we visited a smaller one in North East London of about 20.  They live very simply but unlike the Amish, they allow all the modern conveniences.  They have their own Dr's and dentists, and lawyers.  The community in London is largely made up of students studying in London and well as a sign making business.  As they are an Anabaptist community, we felt we needed to keep in better contact with them.  They have four communities in New York, one in Florida, and one is Austrailia.

Mennonite Mission Network and the LMC Trustees have selected our replacements and as soon as they get their visa's, they will be able to book their flights to London.  Hopefully they can arrive near the end of January so that we can have a two week overlap to help them orient to LMC life.  They are Darrell and Barbara Jantz from Duncan Oklahoma.  Barbara is the daughter of one of the past host couples, the Barges.

We can't quite believe how quickly our time here has gone and even though it has been a great and wonderful time we are anxious to get back to see our friends and family.

Hopefully we can get some more pictures posted of events happening here.

The annual Halloween party in the garage at the LMC.  Thanks to Tonya Graber for sending us some Halloween things to use for the party.

Guy Fawkes Day Celebration at Alexandra Palace.  We first went to the McKay's house (Alastair is the director of the Bridge Builders Programme at the Centre) for a traditional British meal of Bangers and Mash.  Then we walked to Aley Paly for the fireworks display along with 55,000 other people!

There was 25 minutes of constant finale type fireworks to recorded music.  The night weather was perfect.  A clear sky, stars were visible, cold but no breeze and being in the middle of so many people, I wasn't a bit cold.  Then a nice 20mins or more walk home.