Holidays are here

We all broke up today, so now we can relax and enjoy the Holiday season.

We are grateful for so many things especially the chance we have to 

celebrate the birth of Christ and to enjoy spending time with friends and family.

We are mindful at this time of friends who will find the Christmas difficult but want them to know they are in our prayers.

Exam Success

Gareth collected his results last week.

All That equates to 

 3 A*

6 A

1 B

1 D (Statistics- a fill in course when he had got his A in Maths!)

1 Distinction

Where did all that come from!  I only managed 1 a, 4b, and 4c when I did mine.  We are really proud of him.  Also he has worked hard all summer whilst we have all been at home, not easy when you're sixteen.

Quilting

I spent the first two weeks of the holidays putting together this quilt for Gareth, it was a surprise so I could only do it while he was at work.  We happened across the fabric at a material warehouse in North Wales and, as he loves all things American, it was perfect.  

I haven't quilted much before so its not perfect but I really enjoyed the project.

Piecing it together

Adding the wadding

Attaching the Edging

All Finished

Inspiration

Sometimes school trips are just a day out in the world, but sometimes..........they are out of this world

Today I was fortunate enough to be present while this inspirational young man spoke to a group of junior sports ambassadors.

This is Jacob. You can read his story here.

http://www.tyhafan.org/jacob-our-paralympic-hero/

He spoke with confidence and feeling as he described his Olympic experience.

The children listened in silence as he told them of his training and commitment

to the sport he loves.

He showed us pictures of himself with world famous Olympians.  He has fantastic memories of the opening ceremony and the matches he played.

But most of all he is an inspiration to us all of how to face our trials and challenges in life, how to get on and not give up.  He has a fantastic team around him who have helped and supported him.

I feel blessed to have met you today Jacob,

Thankyou

To Bring You Joy

I was given these beautiful roses this week by my visiting teachers.  One of them had been given a similar bunch of roses and they had brought her such joy that she wanted me to feel that joy too.

Now, I have to say roses normally come into my house to die! but theses have bloomed and flourished and have brought a smile to my face each time I have passed them.  So today I wanted to capture and share their beauty, and maybe seeing them will make you smile too.  

One of our Favourite Holiday Haunts

For three years now we have visited "OUR STREAM" up in the hills.

There is never anyone else there and we just sit and read while the children paddle and build dams.

They sometimes take their bikes and ride around on the quiet country road.

We always take a picnic and we always stay longer than we planned!

Its just perfect.

Anniversary Break

Well here I am at last, the summer holidays are over and we are all back to work.  

On a lighter note....we now have a working computer from which I can upload photos to show you what we have been up to.

So here is post 1 of hopefully a few snippets of our summer.

We celebrated our 20th Anniversary in July and our parents gave us some funds to pay for a short break.  We decided on Symonds Yat, near to Ross-on-Wye.

We stayed in a lovely Inn called The Saracens Head from which you could call the chain ferry across the river.  We had a great, relaxing time and the weather was really quite sunny!!

Here are just a couple of photos of us two love birds!

This is the view from Yat Rock which was a half mile, up hill walk, through the forrest from our hotel.