Wimbledon 2007

One of our house-mates won a draw for two tickets to court number one at Wimbledon for Tuesday, day two of the two-week tennis tourniment. I had no idea how hard it is to get these tickets. People camp out all night to get tickets at the box office each day! It was a fantastic experience. The Brits know how to conduct a tennis tournament! Everything was spit-and-polish and first class in every way. The grounds are glorious!

We were able to watch 4 matches on the No. 1 court as well as parts of other matches on the 17 courts used for the event. All the big names were there, but we were not very lucky at celebrity spotting. The tennis was impressive, however. We enjoyed the traditional 'stawberries and cream' (the Brits love their cream)but no cucumber sandwiches. It was supposed to rain on and off, but we never had a drop all day. I don't know if I will ever get the chance again, but if I do, I'm going back to Wimbledon!

Here are some house pics...




All the finish work is happening such as tile, hardwood flooring, stone on the fireplace, etc. They delivered the kitchen today.

We are hoping to get back to the states in September, spending time between our new home in Woodland Park and some time in Kansas visiting my family and our friends.

This is the "down town" area of Oxford. Most of Oxford is made up of colleges through out the entire town.

Ed and I were taking a walk in a village just outside of Oxford and found this quaint little thatched roof house.

More Oxford pictures

This is a line for a graduation. I don't know of which college of Oxford but the building is beautiful.

Phils java

This is a picture of thanks to Sharon Kniss' dad, Phil who roasts his own coffee beans. Alistair McKay of the Bridge Builders staff spent three weeks at EMU doing some teaching and brought back the beans with him. Sharon is from Harrisonburg and graduated from EMU in Peace and justice studies. She is the one sitting on the bench in front of me (Phyllis) with the darker hair. On the right side of the picture is Alan and Ellie Krieder who were at the Centre to do a one day seminar. They had spent around 20 years at the Centre as directors before moving on to several other places in the U.K. totalling 30 years here. They now are in Elkhart, IN working at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Cake decorating in Oxford shop

We walked through a gallery of small shops in Oxford and came across this cake bakery. The first cake is of an Oxford graduate banquet.

The two pictures below are of Oxford grads. I am told that they take their exams with these robes on. They have to show up in their robes and caps although they can remove the caps while taking the exam. One of our Bridge Builder staff went to Oxford and told me about this.

Oxford Grads

A visit from friends & time spent in Oxford

Last Saturday we took a train to Oxford and met up with our friends, Kay and Carl Gusler from Colorado who go to our church in Colorado Springs. They had been in the UK for two weeks on vacation with three other couples. After a short tour of Oxford, which included a walk along one of the Oxford canals and lunch with one of the other couples, we went back to London. They spent two nights with us. We spent Sunday on a tour bus looking at London. It's the kind of tour where you can get on and off the bus at any time. The tickets are good for 24 hrs. It was a beautiful day and a nice relaxing way to see some of the sights. It's always so good to have friends come and visit with us.

This church is one of the oldest in the U.K. It is located in a small village near Oxford. Here we are eating lunch with Kay & Carl Gusler, Irwin & Phyllis Beck. The Becks were on their way back to Goshen after spending a year at the Lithuania Christian College.

We took a walk along the south bank of the Thames in London. These are only two of about 10 different people that were posing as statues. If you put money down they often will "act" for a minute or two. Also if you take your picture with one of them they hope for a tip.

This is a house on the edge of Oxford. You can't see it but the canal runs right under it via the stone arch that you see.

At attention

I'm not sure if he is at attention or asleep. When I look at the picture on our computer which fills the screen, his eyes look closed to me. This is in front of Buckingham Palace.

Royal Albert Hall

This is the Royal Albert Hall named after Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. It houses the UK's largest pipe organ and is the home for "The Proms".

Our crazy Colorado family

This is what will happen to your family and friends when you have them looking after the house that you are building while you are away enjoying far off lands. I think we've driven them mad! But we love 'em. Especially the weird lady in the bridal veil. Corbin and Tonya were having Emily, JJ, and Hilary up one night for a nice supper and I don't know what they put in the chili, but I hear after this shot they had a rousing game of hide and go seek. The summer has not even started!
The next few pictures are shots that Tonya has been taking and sending to us via email with the tech help of Corbin. We can't wait to get home to see the house. Progress is slow due to worker problems. Hopefully the kids can get into it by the 1st of July???

Our great room view

stained interior doors

Ceiling tongue and groove