England

 Off again!  Yes, we had two mission conferences in three months.  Not usual for us, but I sure enjoyed it.  This time we went to England.  Our first few days we had the blessing of staying with our friends Tim & Anne.  Tim & Anne came to Uganda for years ministering to missionaries.  We have had the privilege of visiting them in West Sussex (the village of South Bourn) three times now.  It is a beautiful, peaceful, very old area - like their neighbors house was built in the 11th century!  Tim & Anne are wonderful hosts, tour guides, and history teachers.  We love it!  It was a blessing to see history, enjoy modern comforts, and just be at their home and in their beautiful garden together.  Thankful for another memorial time with as a family.

Always a long journey from where we live - one day drive to the airport and two flights to London - threes days later we are there.  Thankfully, our kids love the excitement of flying somewhere!

What a fun Dad!

Welcome to England!

Good to see old friends Tim & Anne Marsden!
Thank you for welcoming us and hosting us!

It is such a joy for us to experience a new culture.  We had so much fun exploring Marsden's old house, neighborhood and having daily tea times (pretty much every time there was a break or we arrived back home.  I love it!). 

Just down the road from Marsden's house is the water that goes out to the English Channel.

We were so happy to be cold (or cool at least)!  What a nice break for us.  Spring time is beautiful in England - reminded us a lot of Michigan.  We had rain and sunshine but never had to sweat!

Funny to see all the boats on dry land when the tide is out.

I love the houses in their neighborhood.  They name their houses instead of a house number.  This house was built in the 11th century!  Just fascinating.  So often I felt like I was walking in a museum or Williamsburg, VA.  Things in England are history.

This house was built in the 1400's.  And they are all still lived in! 
 It cost a lot of money because of all the regulations on an old home.

Our first outing was to Portsmouth.  A major seaport on the English Channel.
This is an old fort we checked out as Josh and Luka toured an old ship the Victory.

Later the girls and I looked around a castle from King Henry VIII in 1544 (while Makai napped).

Just for fun!  Why not?!

There are so many very, very old churches! 
Most of them we were in were 900 or more years old.
(And it's a big deal for a church to celebrate 100 years in our country.)

We love trying to find a date on the old tomb stones but most have nothing left on them.

This is slate. 
Almost every wall is built from it and it is all over by the water. It is beautiful inside.

The next day we went to Bosham.
This church is 1000 years old.

Crosses believed to be from when the Crusaders coming home. 
What?!  Amazing.

Standing in history.  The church remains!

Recreating a picture we took 6 years ago here.

I absolutely love walking down the village streets.
These old home near the water have small barriers by their doors so the raising tide doesn't enter their homes.

Chichester Cathedral

There are a lot of burials in the churches. 
 I liked this one because they are holding hands.

Remains of Roman bathes.

Roman road

Chichester town center

All tired out! 
A bit of an extra adventure having a 3 year old tour England.

On top of an old iron age fort - with a beautiful view!

Happy days!!!

Bluebells everywhere - so pretty!

We loved out relaxing evenings at Marsden's. 
The garden (that's what they call a yard with beautiful trees and flowers), tea, and fun fellowship.

Enjoying treats you can't get in Uganda.

Makai's favorite thing to do was slide down the stairs!

(We don't have any stairs or carpet where we live.)

We like looking at Marsden's antiques and learning about their family history.  These are slave bangles.  Oh, what a sad history.  But they also showed us their family crest, luggage from her grandmother who went on the ship to South Africa, a book about her uncle in the war...and more.

Luka's highlight was Tim let him mow his lawn! 

Meal times were a cultural experience too.  Cheese and pudding (everything is a pudding, though not really pudding) for dessert and the kids tried Marmite.  It is nothing American's have ever tasted or would want to!  It is black like chocolate but tastes like salty yeast.  You have to grow up on it to tolerate it!  Later we found Marmite rice cakes and the package even said, "Don't even try it!"

We also walked around Emsworth - a quant village center.

Everyone put out flags for the King's Coronation.  It was so festive!

I enjoyed seeing all the excitement for the coronation - the decorations and window displays.

Out last day we went to Arundal Castle.  It is the second biggest inhabited castle.  The Duke who lives there was in charge of the coronation. The castle was fascinating.  

Huge gardens

Cathedral behind the gardens.

Inside the Arundal Cathedral

The old part of the castle

We had so much fun dressing up.  Makai was thrilled to be a Musketeer!

Living large!

Makai really wanted to get a knight costume for Christmas.
(He asked for everything for Christmas or his birthday.  We must say that when we aren't going to buy something for him.)

Lots of these around on the walls and ceilings - just to make you laugh.
(Actually, they were probably to keep evil spirits away at one time.  Sounds familiar.)

Then we had to say goodbye to the Marsdens and move on to our next adventure...
The Freedom in Christ Family gathering in Northhampton!
Coming in the next post!!!

Thanks Tim & Anne!  We had a lovely time!