We see our parents usually once a week or more and chat by phone – all a great blessing!   Also we are living the life of the People of Praise here in Northern Virginia; last week, we celebrated our 38th anniversary by welcoming three single sisters who made the covenant and answer God’s call to live it out in the context of this community.  It is exciting when something like that happens; the praise and worship that day were so strong, it almost seemed alive and about to take off in flight.  It is good to be home.

John is still hard at work providing for the family.   Other than his day-job, he is always looking for ways to improve the home:  installing / moving light fixtures, choosing carpet to “finish” the carpetting job, plugging leaks in laundry rooms, ordering samples of ceiling tiles for a room with cruddy, old ones, and finding creative ways to discipline [read train] the children.  He belies the thought that transition is an exhausting process by maintaining the momentum around here.

Maria tries to be hard at work, but finds life “back on the ranch” to be hectic.  For her, the transition from U.S. to U.K. and back again felt overwhelming – mostly the “back again” part.   She does feel exhausted a lot, and yet has attempted to keep up with the schedule (did I mention it is hectic?)  In our part of the country,  extra-curriculars occur after school for the most part, involving driving, which in our vicinity is sometimes called “beltway bashing” or “rush hour” both of which are mis-nomers for sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for part of your day.  No way to live, but many of us do.  However, today’s project will be emptying boxes to try to make a dent and move from the plateau we have been on – liveable but still not settled.  She is glad September with the yearly start of school, three family birthdays, and annual women’s retreat, is now history, and soon October will be too.  “Let the unpacking be finished!” is her cry.

Jane is a senior (like Upper 6th form) at her school, and has just this week begun to actually drive on her own.  It was a great moment in our family’s life – when the children can now be driven by one of their own to events.  Extra driving practice is needed in this busy (all right – HECTIC) area of traffic patterns, with nary a roundabout in sight.  [In the U.S., we have the unsightly and restrictive system of traffic lights at major intersections rather than the sensible and practical system of roundabouts as in the U.K.]  She is busy applying to colleges (universities), and working very hard on her substantial curriculi.  Still, she finds time to keep up with her sisters and many friends across six time zones!

J.T. and Brad attend the same school, and they also work very hard in addition to playing soccer (football for the enlightened) and the tournament time is fast approaching.  J.T. just had a week of a flu-like virus, but not swine flu according to the symptoms which were much milder.  Praise God, no one else got the bug.  The boys are very happy to be back in the U.S. with their friends and customary activities although they do miss the ones they made in Britain.

The weather has been up and down, with five days that everyone informed us must be like British weather as it was chilly (40′s) and drizzling or raining 90 % of the time.  We said it was actually better in Britain… :)   And it’s usually a lot better in Virginia in the Autumn as well.  This week has been sunnier and seasonable – low 60′s in the day time.

Kristin and Kathryn are doing well in Dinkytown at the U (of Minnesota), “studying hard and making us proud” as we like to say.  Kathryn has a blog too.  It is http://blog.lib.umn.edu/ellio244/3101newsfall09/ She is doing it for coursework, but it is still interesting.  Kristin is delighted to be working hard on her minor studies in music.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to go back through and look at some previous posts.  You can do this by manually moving down (which would be chronologically backwards), or by clicking on one of the groupings to the right such as “Recent Posts,” “Categories,” and “Archives”.

Cheers!