Our new home!

Hello from London!

Kim posted some pictures from our first day, so I thought I'd share about the past few days.

We are settling in our flat in London and loving it! Ok, let me rephrase that. We are very, very slowly, step-by-step (day by day...dont act like you didn't sing that you old TGIF fans) inching our way to getting settled in London and in our flat...and still loving it.

Things aren't easy for sure, but we feel so blessed to be here and take on this new challenge together as a family. It's been stressful, but good.

Here are some pictures of our new flat and neighborhood!

Our bedroom - lovely

View from the Bathroom

Girls room (bunk beds - which Meg gets out of regularly at night time)

Our dining room to the left, our living room to the right!

Enjoying a meal together!

The girls at the park/playground down the street - so close! Weather has been GORGEOUS!

Exploring the neighborhood - very residential, lots of greenery

The main street in Finchley (our part of London) that we'll use with lots of local shops

So those are a few pictures to give you an idea of our life here. Yes, it is a little unsettling being away from friends and family and moving into a new place, but the verse that I have been meditating on since the Airport in Memphis is Psalm 16:8-9 "I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure."

We praise God for His nearness and are thankful to you for your support and prayers!

Love

Robert, Kim, Ellie, and Meg

We're here!

We're here... in London... in a flat... I'm the only one awake... can this be real?!

Here are the girls looking all cute with their backpacks in the airport:

Here's the truer version of the story: The first flight was fine, but it was all leading up to the moment when our younger child had had juuuuuust about enough of planes. We had just gotten settled into our seats for the second flight, it was way past bedtime, there had been no nap, and there had been more sugar than originally planned. I was trying to distract the girls with some new toys and we lost a marker or something... aaaand the bottom just fell out. Lots of screaming, lots of kicking the seat in front of her, lots of apologizing (by Robert)... wow. I'm just cringing recollecting it. So, yeah, we're opting for a nice week-long cruise across the Atlantic when we return! Once they finally turned those cabin lights off the girls fell asleep, and we were in the home stretch.

And we're here, and it had to be the most beautiful day in London yesterday. We were picked up from the airport by wonderful friends (and the cutest baby ever - talk about a sweet welcome!) and stopped for a quick lunch at those lovely golden arches. That's right, McDonald's - and the fries were delicious! We drove on to LTS where we were warmly greeted and shown to our flat (more to come on this wonderful place later). I was even taken to the nearest Tesco for a few groceries! We explored a little with the girls and had time to enjoy the sunshine at the lovely park down the street. Then we had a quiet dinner at home (that was waiting for us in the fridge when we arrived!) and fell into our beds.

I love our flat, I love the park down the street, I love that I'm not on a plane, I love that I'm still the only one awake, I love EVeryone!!! (<-- to be read in your favorite Disney princess' voice) I know the "second flight" will come when I do a little screaming and kicking of my own, but for now I'm basking in the mercies of this new morning in our new home. I wanted to record some of what I read this morning so I could look back and remember His mercies:

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it... Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30:15 & 18

Almost Ready

We're almost ready to go, but I had to share a quick post of all the memory-making we've been doing lately!

We had an early birthday party for Meggie. If you talk to her, she'll tell you she's 3, and don't try to disagree with her. Even though it's not quite her birthday, we've had too many celebrations to go back now!

Ellie & Meg on the dolphin water slide

Opening gifts

Robert and I also got to sneak away to catch the last Redbirds game of the season. I took this picture as we left downtown:

We also fit in a fantastic trip to the zoo. The kids kept running ahead and I would say, "Wait for ME before you look at the animals!" Ha! I felt like my parents must have when we would sneak down to see the Christmas presents before they could watch our reaction. Oh well... We actually caught the grizzlies during feeding time!

At the grizzly bear exhibit

Ellie and Papa at the flamingos

We had lots of great dinners with friends and even a weekend away at Pickwick. One of my most encouraging moments was sitting down for breakfast with my best friend from high school (high school picture below). Facing a situation of new places and faces, it was just good to talk heart-to-heart with someone who knew me with braces.

TROUBLE =)

We enjoyed LOTS of movie nights with cousins:

We are pretty much all spoiled rotten from the love lavished on us while in Tennessee. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to actually cook a meal... for a family... by myself... All of the Aunts have been nail painting champions for the girls.

This past week it's been another round of the "Lasts" - only Memphis-style. Robert's parents had everyone over for a special family dinner, complete with delicious Memphis BBQ and a Teapot centerpiece. We even got in a few rounds of hide and seek and some airplane fun in a nearby open area.

Flying Grandbud's airplanes

Family Picture

Then came my side's special family dinner night, complete with a full English breakfast for dinner and tulips on the table. We fit in a few rousing games of Mafia after kids went to bed, and I am sure I can never trust any of them again. Ever.

I'm trying to eat my computer again just looking at this...

Eating around the table

We also fit in a Sunday brunch at IHOP today. My kids were pretty excited about the chewing gum...

Among all the fun has been lots of packing and repacking and pulling-out-of-hair and packing again. Robert, my hero, has been leading the charge. We would have nothing but smiles on in England if it had been left up to me! All that's left is the tough goodbyes...

This time last year... Surgery

I still remember waking up in a daze and seeing my surgeon. He said I probably wouldn't remember anything he was saying, but I still do. They couldn't remove the tumor, it was the worse of the two possible types of tumors. And the dread that filled me had nothing to do with losing some function in my leg, it was all the ugly underlying implications for my family. Implications that proved to be unfounded in the end, but they still packed a punch that day in the hospital bed! I remember Robert coming in and all I could cry about was "I can't feel my foot!" I didn't want to talk about what I was really afraid of.

I also remember that physical therapist that came to teach me how to use the crutches. He took one look at my puffy eyes and said "Hun, I see a lot worse than this everyday..." And I'd like to think that I usually have some sympathy for people who mean well but say the wrong things (because I usually fit into this category!)... but I could have cleaned that guy's clock that day! I was furious and hurt and scared and sad. And I cried my way through the next week and clung to Psalm 100, especially verse 3:

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

And though all the horrible "what ifs" that I cried over never came to be, I feel a great level of gratitude for experiencing the grief of that scary time. Not so that now I can be relieved that I only have a wasted calf muscle to accommodate (I honestly really struggle with this restriction at times!), but more so for the precious reminder that my life is the Lord's. My childrens' lives are the Lord's. It is he who made us, and we are his.

And with this in mind I can:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Reading with the girls after coming home from surgery

This time last year was a painful but powerful time in my life. It's remarkable to me that we are flying across an ocean almost exactly one year later! And in this one year there has been so much thrilling excitement and wrenching heartbreak all mixed in together. And I can testify that the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Carless

That's right, folks. We signed over the deed to the Jeep last night and then waved goodbye to the Mini this afternoon, so we are officially "carless." Thank you, thank you for praying! It was a relatively easy process and we're thankful for the much needed extra cash. I made Robert take a picture as we pulled out of the lot:

And, just for posterity's sake, here's a fun old video of Robert and Ellie in the Jeep:

Somebody please bring Robert a tissue and some chocolate...

One Week Out

We've been rushing around like wild people enjoying our time in Tennessee and getting ready for the big move - and we only have about one week left! As we make our final preparations, we thought we'd share a few prayer requests for any of you kind enough to pray for us. Please pray:

• For clarity on what to pack and what to leave (and for miraculous extra room in our bags!)
• For the sale of our minivan
• For comfort in the goodbyes
• For freedom from fear and anxiety
• For a safe plane ride and for the girls to travel and sleep well

We are so excited the time has finally come! Thank you for your prayers. We have already been ministered to in many ways through them.

"We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you." Psalm 33:20-22.

Crazy 8!

Today we celebrate 8 crazy wonderful years of marriage. I really am still amazed that I get to partner in life with Robert Jones. What a continuous gift he has been to me over these 10+ years we've known each other. It hasn't been without struggles, but on the whole it's been like winning the lottery when I didn't even have the sense to buy a ticket: a wholly undeserved blessing.

It's been fun to be at Mom & Dad's - actually in the same room we spent our first 2 weeks of marriage (post honeymoon)! Right before we moved to Missouri. As many parents do, they have lots of framed family wedding pictures scattered around on top of dressers and bookcases. When I visit I usually spend time walking around looking at each one. Here's us:

In case you're wondering, yes, that bouquet weighed roughly 3 million pounds :)

And here's all the other family weddings so far:

L to R: Mom & Dad, Em & Muckle, Shell & Cor

There are even some of my grands and great-grands. What a beautiful heritage we have:

Please excuse Robert's deodorant...

And, just to be clear, they're not all wedding photos, there are lots of childhood ones (some I wish were never taken!) Here are a couple really cute ones of the twinks:

I love looking at the old memories and dreaming of the new ones to come. I honestly feel a little crazy looking around at all the boxes and to-do lists on this 8th anniversary, but I'm so thankful that they are OUR boxes and OUR lists - the overflow of the family God started through our union. May He be praised in and through it.

Lasts

It's been a while since the last update so here's the latest: We've left Alabama and we're in Tennessee! Whew! What a journey it's been so far! There have been so many "lasts" and there are more to come, but we wanted to record a few of our "lasts" in Dothan:

Our last Sunday to worship with our First Presbyterian family. I (Kim) tried to soak in every part of the order of worship: the call, the prayer, the songs, the scripture reading. It was special. My heart was lifted as I worshipped and felt the unmerited favor of my heavenly Father. We have received exceedingly more than we have given, and yet we were thanked over and over and over again. We snapped a quick picture upfront before we left:

Our last drive by the old house. It was the first time we'd done this since moving out and we all (even the girls!) oohed and ahhed over how nice it still looked.

Kim's last day of work. The office threw a luncheon party for me and it was such a memorable last time with them. My job has been a gift in many ways to me and to our family these past 6.5 years!

Meg eating corn-on-the-cob in the restaurant last year!

Our last family lunch at the church. Not many wives get to eat frequent lunches with her husband, and I have done it countless times - what a gift! Add to that the wonderful company of Robert's coworkers and the chance to get out of the house with the girls, and you can understand why we were there A LOT!

Our last Thursday night college meeting. We've known several of these students since they were 7th graders!! We had a neat time of prayer for each person there.

Robert's last Ultimate Frisbee Friday at Westgate Park. He's spent just about every Friday at 4pm there for the past 5 years. He will miss this time greatly running around rain or shine, secretly hoping to get a tan.

Our last Sunday night youth group meeting. Robert gave a passionate charge to the students (and to me!) and we all shared ways we were grateful for God's working in our personal lives and youth group over these past few years. It was the last time our wonderful friend Mrs. Jennifer helped me with the girls so I could be with the youth - what a GIFT she has been!

Many last luncheons and dinners and coffees and playdates with friends.

And many, many last goodbyes.

I know we'll look back on our time in Dothan as some of the sweetest years of our lives. And I probably shouldn't call all these things "last" because there may be even more memories here one day - we certainly hope to visit! As we drove away, it truly felt like the end of something so unique and special. We look forward to the journey ahead stronger for the time spent at home in Dothan.