LONDON LIFE

The Big 3-0

2007-12-10T22:57:00.000Z

I left my twenties a few days ago.....Pearl Harbor Day....December 7!
How did I celebrate?? I went to one of the posh places in London. The Ritz-Carlton :)

There are a few of us with milestone birthdays in December--- 30, 40 and 50---so we decided it was cause for an excursion to the Ritz for a traditional tea. We enjoyed our finger sandwiches (mine were gluten-free!), fresh pastries and a wide variety of tea...traditional English, Moroccan mint, and an elderflower tea. Ooh-la-la! The Ritz was decked out for Christmas so the decor was simply stunning.

After tea in the lobby. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in the dining room.
Our roomie for one more week, "CC", outside the Ritz.
My friend, Jas, and I. Our birthdays are 1 day apart!

Heavy Hearts

2007-12-10T22:37:00.000Z

Our hearts have been heavy for the past few weeks as we received news of our WHM colleagues in Uganda---they are on the forefront of an Ebola outbreak.

Much of the team has been evacuated to the capital city of Kampala, but Scott and Jennifer (team leaders and doctors) have remained in the village---they are now separated from their 4 children. A catastrophic blow came on Tuesday when their friend and medical colleague Dr. Jonah Kule died from the virus. Their blog - http://www.paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/ - has been heart-wrenching.

The Ebola outbreak has made BBC News online and ABC.
The following article honors Dr. Jonah http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/Story?id=3970795&page=1

Please pray for Scott, Jennifer and the Ugandan villages battling ebola.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-10T21:34:00.000Z

Happy Halloween!
Here are a few photos from the Halloween Party at church. We had over 300 people in attendance---it was hopping with all sorts of characters!

Nicholas helping "Gma" with the duck pond.
Pre-party at home with Mum.
Finally, getting some time on the bouncy castle with "Pops".
Dancing with his friends from Parent & Toddler. Nicholas gave a little jig here and there, but was really focused on his lollipop. His 1st ever lollipop...

Kew Gardens

2007-10-31T16:19:00.000Z

Kew Gardens is one of our favorite places to explore in London...and we love introducing friends and family to the gardens.

Fun with Pops
Autumn Color at Kew. The most vibrant colors I have seen here in the UK. I have to say, nothing beats the Fall colors of America!
The Mediterranean Exhibit. Brought me back to Italy as we passed all of the olive trees.
A squirmy Nicholas.

Our favorite Animals

2007-10-31T15:16:00.000Z

My parents arrived in town on Thursday so we planned some "grandparent-ish" trips. One of those being a trip to the Zoo!
Nicholas' favorite animals right now are monkeys. We read "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" before afternoon naps and every night before bed. We can recite this book in OUR sleep! He never fails to laugh or make a monkey sound so......we thought he would just love a trip to the Zoo. And boy were we right!

All day long we saw him curling his arms under his armpits and shouting "ooh, ooh". He was just mesmerized by these little guys below! They had an open environment so they were up close and personal to him! My parents were thrilled that there was a Meerkat exhibit. They are Meerkat Manor faithfuls!
And my favorite animals---alpacas! Barry knows I really want one or two for Christmas, but his practical side is taking over. He won't justify the $10-20K alpaca pricetag. :)Here is our group minus Barry as he was home on the sofa shivering----sick with the flu. yuck.
We had a great day and spent it with 2 other families.

7 Years and counting

2007-10-18T22:22:00.000+01:00

October 15th marked our wedding anniversary!

We celebrated by heading to Windsor for a great French lunch at a restaurant Thameside. And we had a perfect view of the castle. We had 2 hours to ourselves to sit back, relax and enjoy. It was a treat!

Our anniversary luncheon was complete with a Starbucks run. A Hazelnut cappuccino for me.

"Auntie Jean" came over to play trains with Nicholas. She is a Thomas the Tank Engine expert so he was on cloud nine!

A Big Hello from the Little Man

2007-10-18T22:03:00.000+01:00

Playing with Dad....

Foot and Mouth

2007-10-18T21:28:00.000+01:00

This sign popped up a few weeks ago a few hundred yards from our house. Comforting, huh?

No wonder why we don't eat the beef in the UK. :)

"Brudder"

2007-10-06T21:59:00.001+01:00

This is Nicholas's 1st photo of his new sibling. The doctor gave him his very own copy last week!
We have been trying to teach him to say brother, but what comes out is the ever so cute "brudder".

This is Baby #2 at 13 weeks---due March 31, 2008. The doctor is 80% sure it is a boy. November 8th will be the final verdict when we have the 20 week scan.

Baby #2 has passed all his tests with flying colors. Thank the Lord! Mom will be feeling better soon as she is back on her thyroid medication---it wasn't just the 1st trimester exhaustion. :)

Back to Reality

2007-10-06T21:39:00.000+01:00

We are back to the normal rhythm of life---meetings are in full swing, the computer sucks us in most mornings by 8:30am and we are catching up with London friends.

Also, we are back to house projects on our days off!

Barry is almost done painting the outside of our house.....just some trim work on the front windows and drainpipes, a repaint on our side fence, and then maybe our front door.

Nearly there! We have definitely moved up a few notches in the house appeal category---I'm sure the neighbors are equally pleased. :)

The Final Stop on our Italian Journey

2007-10-06T21:18:00.001+01:00

Our final stop was Lake Como set at the foothills of the Alps. It is just stunning!
Our visit to Lake Como was short--just 1 1/2 days--but enough time to know that we want to return in the future. It seemed like the perfect spot for a week long retreat!

The lake is shaped much like the character “Y”. The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake. Hop on a boat and you can get to the various towns!

PS- George Clooney has a villa (or two) on Lake Como, but sadly we didn't have a George spotting. Next time!

Boat ride to Bellagio.

The town of Bellagio

Florence

2007-10-04T21:46:00.001+01:00

The Duomo in Florence, otherwise known as Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore!

This cathedral was the largest in Europe when completed, with room for 30,000 people. It is now only exceeded in size by Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, the Seville Cathedral, and the Milan Cathedral.

If you have seen the Duomo (or photos) the green and pink marble panels of the building are quite memorable.

The family on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.
Aunt Sarah with Nicholas. They really bonded on the trip! He couldn't pronounce Grammy or Grampy, but could manage Sarah quite clearly. :)

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is in the background of the photo---the most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. This bridge is the only one in the city to have survived World War II intact.

Toscana

2007-10-04T21:06:00.000+01:00

After a few relaxing days in Venice we took a train to Milan to meet up with Barry's parents and sister. From there we headed South for a week in the Tuscan sun.

First stop off---Pisa. You get in, see the crazy tower and you get out!

We did have some good gelato so there is something redemptive about the place. :)

And finally our destination. Tuscany! Here are some more shots around our farmhouse.

Grammy and NicholasDinner in Pontasieve---one of the towns closest to our farmhouse.
Nicholas learning to pray. How cute, no?

One of our favorite Tuscan towns--Monteriggioni. Just a charming, small village set on a mountain top.

Venezia

2007-10-04T20:38:00.000+01:00

View of San Marco Square
The Grand Canal
Before we met up with the family, Barry, Nico and I ventured over to Venice.
Barry has been raving about Venice for the last year, so the travel-addicted Schutters decided to make a side trip to the "city of canals".

It is simply stunning!

We loved wandering around the cobblestone streets, eating gelato (a daily event!), taking boat rides to the various islands of Venice and watching the pigeons in piazza San Marco (mostly Nicholas enjoyed that...)

Why the delay in Posting??? Italy!

2007-10-04T20:22:00.000+01:00

Yup, that's right we were living it up in Italy!!

We had a special treat this year as it was Barry's parent's 40th wedding anniversary and they invited the whole family to celebrate on an Italian getaway.

One of my memories of the farmhouse was simply finding it!!

Our SAT-NAV was a lifesaver, as I kid you not, we had to plug in the latitude and longitude coordinates to find it! It was on a cliff, in the middle of an olive orchard, across a dirt road from rows of grapes!

Here is a photo of the whole family at our Tuscan farmhouse.

Back to School Mela

2007-09-10T21:27:00.000+01:00

Saturday was NLMG's Back to School Mela. A time when we opened our doors to the community and asked for His blessing on the children, teachers and our schools.

We had the best pakoras and samosas too! 200 samosas and pakoras made by 1 woman in her kitchen. Talk about a lot of work. They were so tasty-I have a feeling she will get some repeat business from us.

Our new Roommate

2007-09-10T21:20:00.000+01:00

"CC", as Nicholas calls her, recently joined our family. She is working for NLMG through December as an apprentice--working at ASHA, studying religion and culture, and helping boost various programs for NLMG. We are so glad she is here!

Welcome to Nathaniel!

2007-09-10T21:06:00.000+01:00

Our teammates and close friends welcomed a little boy into the world last week.
Nathaniel joins big brother Thomas!
Here are some snaps from our visit to the hospital.

Norah

2007-09-03T14:21:00.001+01:00

A night out for Barry and Amy!

I would include photos of US at the concert, but they are better off in my deleted folder. :)

Final Day Trip

2007-08-31T19:48:00.000+01:00

Last year we took a 3 day holiday with some friends from the ASHA shop up to the Peak District---beautiful woods, quaint English villages and we stayed at an amazing hostel. An old stone manor house that (thankfully) didn't fit my hostel stereotype. Our friends wanted to go away again, but that wasn't really feasible this year so....we opted for a daytrip with them.

A Model Village was the attraction they recommended so we headed off with curiosity.

The kids loved it as everything was at the right height for their viewing pleasure. Nicholas was thrilled with the trains chugging throughout the villages---he pushed people out of the way and chased after the trains. It was cute and was the start of an obsession.

"Choo-Choo" is the favorite word of each day and his train set easily occupies him for an hour or two. Ahhh....we love little boys!

Daytripping....#2

2007-08-26T21:48:00.000+01:00

Where is it?

From London, drive south for 2 hours, hop on a ferry and you are in the English Channel on the Isle of Wight! It is a charming island of roman villas, medieval castles, historic houses and measures just 23 miles (E/W) by 13 miles (N/S).

Waiting for the ferry...and notice the ever-present ball in his hand. :)

Our afternoon tea location for PROPER tea and scones. And Clotted cream, of course!
The gardens were stunning and Nicholas enjoyed checking out the fish in the water features.

Daytripping... #1

2007-08-26T21:15:00.000+01:00

Nicholas is 18 months old and loves to hold our hands while taking a walk. Usually he is hoping to "swing", but we think it is just precious as he holds out his little hand to grasp ours. One of the best feelings in the world.

We were daytripping this week. We've covered a lot of ground by car and had fun exploring!

Our first trip was to Kew Gardens, the Royal Botanic Gardens, near London. We spent the day picnicking and walking the grounds (and boy, is it expansive!) with our good friends from NLMG. Here are a few shots.

Couldn't resist a snap of one of my favorite flowers----hydrangeas.

Kids Klub

2007-08-19T21:59:00.001+01:00

The last week of July was our annual and ever popular Kids Klub. 170 Kids showed up! Fortunately, our team from SC was impressively organized and pulled the week off like a bunch of VBS pros.
Our teammate, "M". The kids LOVE him!

Recap

2007-08-19T21:30:00.000+01:00

We are back in action, just delinquent in posting! So a recap is a must. :)

Dostana headed for an evening out of Bhangra dancing.

Here are shots with some of my favorite people.

A view of the club....
This time of summer is always sad as our interns head back to the States. Some girl time was in order. We headed out shopping, then dinner and an evening stroll along the Thames. Ahh!

We miss you guys already!

Nico hamming it up for the camera.

Now...Quarantine for Mum

2007-08-04T12:29:00.001+01:00

Yup....I've got it now. A chest infection rather than Nico's tonsillitis, so I'm on antibiotics and have been on couch duty for the last few days. Been catching up on my American sitcoms!

Nicholas has also gotten a lot more "dad" time too ...he has been trekking around town with Dad and the short-term teams from Chattanooga and South Carolina. :)

Out of Quarantine

2007-07-29T12:09:00.000+01:00

We have been battling 2 bouts of tonsillitis....or maybe just one long penicillin resistant bout. Not sure, but Nico is on the mend with lots of antibiotics pumping through his little body.

Yesterday he was feeling better so we headed to our local park and he enjoyed climbing, sliding and swinging. Ghetto style---gotta love the graffiti!

Tonight we head up to LEAP and he will be reunited with all his toddler friends. He will be pleased!

Nicholas, Nicholas

2007-07-27T21:21:00.001+01:00

Couldn't resist posting this photo......credit to Christy.

Christy, I stole it from Facebook! Thanks :)

Scavenger Hunt around London

2007-07-27T20:33:00.000+01:00

Dostana headed into central recently for a good old fashioned scavenger hunt. There is always fun to be had around Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden. We had 2 teams going head-to-head for a Haagen Dazs reward. :) Here is a smattering of the 30 or so tasks to be completed---the team with the most items completed, with highest point value---WINS.

Singing a Simon and Garfunkel song in front of Garfunkle's restaurant.

Photo of whole group in a red phone booth

Photo of whole group as fountains in Trafalgar Square---water should be shooting out of your mouths.
A week old newspaper (they found this---doesn't say much for the London sanitation dept!)
And after the hunt we headed to one of our favorites....Wagamama.

For cheap Asian infused eats in London, check out www.wagamama.com

The Kanga that travelled around the World

2007-07-19T08:30:00.000+01:00

My brother, Paul and his girlfriend, Nicole, just traveled to Tanzania & Zanzibar for a climbing, safari and scuba diving adventure. They had an amazing time and my brother has been dreaming of opening a scuba shop in Zanzibar since. We'll see...they are both heading back to Hawaii in the next few days for work.

Paul, the package arrived Tuesday! Thanks for the kanga! It is beautiful.
We are enjoying the Reeses that.... well aren't from Tanzania. :)
Lake Manyara game reserve Zanzibar sunset

Beach Bound

2007-07-10T13:09:00.000+01:00

This past Saturday we headed south to Bournemouth, a seaside town on the English Channel. Bournemouth is one of the few sandy beaches around. Not to mention a very WIDE beach, perfect for all 160 of us from London.

Below are some photos of the short term team from the US---they hosted a kids program on the beach complete with volleyball and sandcastles.

Barry, Nicholas and Nicholas' best friend, Thomas. One of the highlights of the day was a baptism. The ocean was freezing cold so my friend opted for a good sprinkle!

Butterflies, Hearts and Tigers

2007-07-05T22:28:00.000+01:00

Another rainy day in London.

Our short-term team hosted an after school kid's club today at one of the local housing estates. The team organized wiffle ball tag, football, basketball and the big hit seemed to be the face painting. The little boy above was happy as can be with his tiger face....many butterflies, ladybirds (or ladybugs in the US) and hearts adorned other precious cheeks around the housing estate.

There were smiles on parent's faces too as they were happy to get the kids out of the house. We are all a little stir crazy here. Rain, rain, go away!

We head to the beach on Saturday so we are hoping to see the sun. :)

Welcome to London!

2007-07-01T21:23:00.000+01:00

July brings us 3 short-term teams plus our annual LEAP conference with 90 people in attendance this year. What does this mean for us???? It means life jumps from busy to complete insanity!

Our 1st team arrived this morning--safe and sound. After the troubles in Glasgow yesterday, we are thankful for their uneventful trip across the pond. Despite jet lag they have jumped into things with enthusiasm. They were bounding around town today learning about samosas, sarees, bhangra music, and Bollywood actors!

Nicholas' New Toy

2007-07-01T20:56:00.000+01:00

We couldn't resist this new tunnel system, complete with a tepee and hideout!! At 16 months Nicholas loves crawling and exploring all over our back garden......he's been in heaven the last few days. Here are a few shots of his 1st trip down the tunnel.

Dostana Summer BBQ

2007-06-25T22:27:00.001+01:00

So....this really should have been the 1st post! Our Dostana BBQ was last Saturday!

We had a great turnout and the weather even held off. It had been raining ALL day, and not just a little drizzle---thunder and lightning! My friend and I were busy cooking away and prayed haphazardly that the rain would stop by 5 pm so we could set up for the party. Well.....it did! The sun came out and we had a perfect evening!

Some photos from the evening.

The little man getting into some mischief....don't worry, non-alcoholic!

Our Punjabi Boy

2007-06-24T13:24:00.000+01:00

Last night was the wedding celebration for our friends, Amjad and Sarah. They were married in the US in March, but this was their big celebration in the UK for those of us who couldn't attend the official wedding. The back hall was decorated in red (traditional Asian wedding colors) and there were about 100 people in attendance.

Nicholas was dressed in his Pakistani best. Thought you would enjoy some photos of our little Punjabi boy!

Barry serving up chicken curry!