A good start

Well the first week of 2011 started off well. It flew by, mind you, but all in all it was good. Jordan still wasn't well enough to go to school on Monday but he went on Tuesday and is feeling a lot better. Melissa has a revision break and will start her semester exams next week, so she is busy learning. Jordan seems to have passed his cold on to her, as she is coughing and spluttering all over the place! Nice! I hope she keeps her germs to herself........

It was the tri-stake (Bern, Zürich and St. Gallen) Relief Society temple day yesterday so Melissa and I went to that. We were dead tired as we had to leave at 5.30am but it was a good day and we always come away uplifted regardless of being tired. The temple was heaving but it was good to see it so full and to see so many people we knew. I guess that's what comes from having lived in all three stakes. The hubster's father was also at the temple and we got to have a quick visit and swap some family temple cards. One of the sisters from our ward saw René and said "that's R's dad isn't it? Wow, there's definitely no denying who he belongs to!" Yes, the older the hubster gets the more he's looking like his dad!
The sun was shining so brightly when we came out that it almost blinded you. It was so warm that you could have believed that it was spring not winter. We mananged to take a few photos but not as many as I would have liked as my battery died on me! So typical!

Today was a sepcial day for our family. As Daniel turned 12 on 22nd December he was now old enough to leave the primary organisation and progress into young men's. Last Sunday he was "picked up" and taken out of sharing time and taken to YM by his quorum and today he was ordanied as a deacon in the Aaronic priesthood! He is so excited to finally be able to pass the sacrament which he will do next Sunday. I can hardly believe that my youngest is finished with primary! When did that happen? He is so happy to be able to go to Mutual with Jordan every Wednesday and I love it when my boys go off and do activities together.

Here are a few photos of today:

Let's see what "week two" has in store for us.

Have a lovely week.

Hugs,
Becca

The Power of Words

I came across this uplifting YouTube video yesterday called "THE POWER OF WORDS: 50 WORDS THAT LIFT, MOTIVATE, AND INSPIRE FROM A LDS MORMON VIEW" and wanted to share it with you:



Are we aware how powerful words can be? Yesterday I was playing around with my boys and said jokingly, "I'm surrounded by idiots!" and low and behold, today at lunch time one of the boys called his brother "an idiot" and he meant it. We've never tolerated the kids calling each other names but it seems by me using the word idiot, even if it was only as a joke,  gave my son a "free pass" to call his brother one. We so have to be aware of the language we use because our kids copy it.

Anyway, getting back to the video and the fifty words - I chose six words I felt were special to me at the moment (I had wanted only five as it just sounds better but I couldn't do five, so six it is). They are words that have meaning to me either in my relationship to my children, with myself or my husband and I want to use them to help me to improve these relationships. Here they are.

•  Mercy    Tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook error

•  Progress   Increasing in truth and light

•  Unity   Oneness and undivided having the same spirit dwelling in them

•  Encourage  To inspire and give hope

•  Confident   Having full belief

•  Teachable  Readily receiving instruction

I'll let you know how I get along with these six words and how I am able to use them to improve the relationships of those I love. I know now that MERCY and ENCOURAGE are going to be the hard ones as I have the tendency to be negative with one of the kids at the moment and he needs just the opposite. So, onwards and upwards......

Hugs,
Becca

UK Trip Part 2

Bath
One of the main attractions in Bath are the Roman Baths itself. The romans came to Bath in 50 AD but the baths were only re-discovered in 1880 and received a grand opening in 1897.
The view from the Terrace is the first view you have as a visitor to the baths, but what you can see from here is less than a quarter of the site as a whole. The Terrace overlooks the Great Bath and is lined with statues of Roman Governors of Britain, Roman Emperors and military leaders.

Jordan touching the water although the little white notice there is saying "Please don't touch the water"!

 Some of the drainage system:

At the very heart of the site is the Sacred Spring (now called the King's Bath).  Hot water at a temperature of 46°C rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 litres (240,000 gallons) every day and has been doing this for thousands of years.

 In the past this natural phenomenon was beyond human understanding and it was believed to be the work of the ancient gods. In Roman times a great Temple was built next to the Spring dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a deity with healing powers.

The mineral rich water from the Sacred Spring supplied a magnificent bath-house which attracted visitors from across the Roman Empire.

The King’s Bath was built, using the lower walls of the Roman Spring building as foundations, in the 12^th century. The bath provided niches for bathers to sit in, immersed up to their necks in water.
Although modified and encroached upon by the building of the Grand Pump Room in the 18^th century and subsequent 19^th century developments the King’s Bath continued in use for curative bathing until the middle of the 20^th century.

The Pump Room as it is today:

Where the lady in pink (left in picture) is standing is where you can drink some of the warm spa water. Personally I think it's gross - The hubster drank my glass!
Spa water has been used for curative purposes for two thousand years (it contains 43 minerals).  Originally treatments involved bathing in the hot waters, then in the late 17th Century drinking spa water also came to be a recognised treatment for certain conditions. I would have had to have been really ill for the doctor to get me to drink that stuff :)
We really enjoyed our morning in the baths. We all received audio guides explaining everything is great detail and once again the boys listened to theirs in German.

After eating our lovely baguettes we did a bit of shopping. We went to GAP and bought Roland a hoodie.
We seemed to lose it a little as Mr. D. took an age to decide which one to buy!

Bath is a lovely town and the buildings are just gorgeous. We walked up to the Circus:

and to the Royal Crescent:

At around 6pm we made our way back to the hotel to travel to Bridgend in Wales to stay with Anthony (my nephew) and his family.

Wales
To get into Wales you have to cross the Severn Bridge (a toll bridge), which is rather spectacular. Bridgend is on the welsh south coast and Anthony and Pauline live in a nice area. We were treated to our own room with en-suite bathroom! It was lovely spending time with them and for Roland to get better aquainted with my family.

On Tuesday Anth & Pauline took us up to a local mountain where we greeted the sheep........

........and then we went to their local beach. Apparantly the water was warm but it sure as heck was windy. Only Mr D., Jordan, Daniel and Brandon were brave enough to go in......

Lily-Mae, poor thing, was freezing!

On Wednesday we went in to Cardiff with the train where we visited the Welsh National Museum (and a peek in to Cardiff castle) and on Thursday to The Museum of Welsh Life, an open air museum covering Welsh Life from Celtic times to the present day. To finish off the day, another trip to the beach made.

Daniel and two year old, Lily-Mae:

Five year old Felicity:

On Thursday evening we made our way to Redditch to spend the weekend with Mum and Barbara. On Friday we took a trip in to the Cotswolds and visited Bourton-on-the-Water. It's such a quaint little village with the typical honey coloured cottages.The kids played in the shallow water and the rest of us laid on a blanket and either snoozed, read or played games. We really needed an easy day and this was just "the ticket" :) 

 

Barbara, my elder sister. Love you, Barb!

And my Mamma - she's just the best!

Saturday we let the boys sleep in - they really needed it - and we just went into town to do some window shopping. On Sunday we went to my home ward for church, where the hubster and I were called upon to give our testimonies - argh!!!On the way home we drove by the hubster's old missionary flat......

.....and then to the cemetry to show Mr D. and the boys my Dad's grave, which he shares with my neice Emma who died when she was three months old of cot death.

Well that's all for part 2....phew!!

Hugs all,
Becca