back in our own beds

What have we been up to? probably more than a single blog post can say...

We left the ship just before Christmas for a break in the UK. We have visited Sarahs family in Southend, Tommys family in Liverpool and friends in Cambridge. We enjoyed Christmas back home, not working for a few weeks and the SNOW!!

The boys had been praying for snow before we left and had wanted to go on a bus. Our flight was redirected because of  the weather flying out and then we had to get a bus back down to Gatwick. So it started well in their eyes. We were welcomed by a snowman that had been built for them by Auntie Amy and Pete and the next morning we found some winter clothes (a little too small now but they didn't seem to notice) ready for a snowball fight.

It was a busy couple of weeks seeing lots of friends and family, and we are really grateful to our friends who drove to see us somewhere. It was good to talk about the Ship as a reminder to ourselves as well as everyone else as to why we are here, I think you can lose perspective when working non stop. We didn't quite do all that we planned because of the snow, but we did make the most of it and have some fun sledging.

We then headed back to Tenerife for a weeks holiday with Tim, Helen and Ben in the South of Tenerife. We needed a rest and didn't do much more than beach and park trips which was what we needed. A lovely week was had by all and we were pretty sad to watch their plane fly off without us. But no time for staying miserable, we headed back to the Ship and then collected Sarah's family for a weeks break with us on the Ship. We have been exploring locally - more parks and a lovely beach that is just up the road. We also got to see a little of Amy's parents Shirley and John Handy and Miriams Mum Rosemarie which has been nice.

They left yesterday and we try to convince ourselves that six months is really not that long before we will see them again. Tommy has been back at work a few days, Tom is back at school today and 'normal' life returns!