Why this happened I’m not sure . . . but we managed to let the day go by yesterday without mentioning that it was Mom’s birthday! Sheesh! The cousins’ picture was actually taken at her party.
And, just for the fun of it, we had Eton Mess this year instead of a cake. (I’ve posted a rather vague recipe over at the Fortnightly Purse just in case you were feeling like you ought to make one yourself.)
Either way, Happy Birthday to a world champion Nana!
Left to right: Knox (M) , Jemima (M), Belphoebe (M), Rory (W), Hero (M), Lucy (W), Ameera (W), Lina (J), Judah (M), Daphne (J), Seamus (W), Chloe (J), and Titus (J). And ages, in the same order! 11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1.
Our kids and grand-kids are always going to be growing up in a world that is at war with the faith. This is nothing new even if some of the fads and fashions are different from those of the previous generation. I see similarities between the 1960′s, when I was a kid, and whatever we are calling this decade that we are living in now. In the late 60′s everyone was wearing short, shorter, and shortest skirts. And we won’t even discuss the 70′s and its idiocies.
The world has a powerful charm, and Christian women, young and old, must be wary of its deadening effects. Hebrews 5:14 says that “strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” In other words, if we want to be mature, we have to be using good sense to sort out what is good and what is evil. And as we do this, we are exercising, getting fit, ceasing to be bottle fed, and being Continue reading ‘So your daughter wants a tattoo.’
. . . but just in case anyone needed a visual aid about how our move back to the States went, this is generally how it looked:
Note the various people holding their collective breaths. The screamers. The hair blowing straight back and turning gray at the roots. The sort of shocked horror and also the obvious question mark that is in almost all of our minds about why we ever stepped into this crazy ride. And then look at Mr. Calm there in the back left – making dry gestures at the camera. That’s how we got into it.
It was fitting that this picture was taken in our last week in England. It sums it all up.
We had to go to Legoland in our last week. Of all things. And that was because we had promised our children for months that if they all got their math facts in the correct times we would take them to Legoland at Windsor. And they did it. And so in the last week, when I should have been packing and selling things and scrubbing walls and generally being productive . . . I was off at Legoland being the designated adult that took children on the pukey rides . . . because it was a debt of honor that we couldn’t leave England without paying.
Loads of fun though. I highly reccomend Legoland. Do they have them in the States? I would have thought Legos were an American thing . . . but whatever the case, Legoland at Windsor is a festive little trip.
Favorite comment from the trip: We were going through Loki’s Labyrinth in the Viking Land section. And, because the kids have all seen the Minoan exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford a number of times, I said something clever like, “Let’s hope there’s not a minotaur in the center.” At which point my 11 year old son pops off and says in a terribly patronizing way, “There won’t be Mom. This is Danish, not Greek.”
Yesterday was my niece Brooke’s wedding, and it was a delightful couple of days of celebration. Flashback: On my first visit to Oxford to see the Merkles, I asked Brooke to come along with me since Doug would be at a pastors’ conference. One night (Brooke and I shared a room in the Merkle cottage) when neither of us could sleep for being on Moscow time, I asked Brooke what she was doing (it must have been 2 a.m.). She said she was planning her life. She was thinking about offering to help the Merkles with the homeschooling while in Oxford (she was a senior at NSA at the time). Very momentous moment, if you see my point.
Sometime the next day, Bekah said to me, “I’m thinking of asking Brooke to come help us homeschool the kids next year.” I encouraged her to follow up her idea, and the inevitable happened. Brooke moved to Oxford, and the next two school years she labored with the children in their makeshift schoolroom (i.e. the kitchen). And if I could add, though it is not pertinent to the romance, I took note of the fact that when we visited, she pressed on with spelling and reading and what not while we made coffee and toast all around her.
Toward the end of year one she met Daniel, an Oxford medical student with an eye toward the ministry, and that guaranteed that she would want to return for year two (lucky for the Merkles) to keep on helping with the homeschooling, biking into town, helping out at the church, and babysitting my very lovable grandchildren while Ben and Bekah went on wild excursions, mostly to pick up Ebay purchases.
Yesterday the courtship culminated in a lovely wedding. Brooke was gorgeous, Daniel was very appropriate in a morning suit, my three Merkle granddaughters sprinkled flower petals, Judah did the duty of bearing the rings, Knox ushered, and Doug tied the knot, all in grand style. It was a memorable blending of British and American wedding traditions. I particularly enjoyed the lovely toast Daniel gave to the bride, a custom that I have seen only occasionally in America.
I confess that I have no pictures of the actual ceremony. But if you’d like to take a peek at some professional pics, you can find them here. I have to say that the last pic, the one of father and daughter, is quite priceless. Gordon is Doug’s youngest brother, and I see volumes in that look. I hope you will admire the bride and groom in all their splendor!
Here’s a pic of the rehearsal dinner set up, before the guests, and before my camera ran out of batteries.
We had the pleasure of hosting the rehearsal dinner in our yard, and if you look closely, you’ll see the Daniel & Brooke banner that Bekah made for the festivity. Rachel took care of the flowers, so if you check the link above, you’ll see the beautiful bouquet that Brooke carried. Many of the flowers came from our favorite local flower spot, the cutting garden, site of that adorable video for Amoretti. Not only did Rachel and her husband Luke cook all the food for the rehearsal dinner, Rachel did all the flowers for the bouquets as well. She had her staff of professionals on hand, friends and (mostly) former boarders, Casey, Gentry, Bonnie, and Bethany. They helped serve the food and make the corsages! So all in all, it was a family and friendly event, start to finish!
A friend of mine told me an anecdote that she thought I might be able to use as an illustration of the pettiness of so many of our squabbles. She and her future husband were driving down the highway having an argument and had gotten out of fellowship with one another. In fact, they were angry with one another. As they rounded a bend on the highway, they spotted a wreck, and just as they drove past, they saw the ambulance crew zipping up a body bag and loading it into the ambulance. Needless to say, they both lost their desire to be at odds with one another, and they saw their own foolishness for what it was.
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