Family latest...

Well, it has been a good summer for us in light of the fact that everyone's home :)   Both Amy and Beth have been home for a wee while and we are all the better for that! We have been home for most of the holiday's save one long weekend in Edinburgh when we went down to se Amy performing with the National Youth Choir of Scotland. We enjoyed some down time as well as visiting with our good friends John and Mary Mooney. Fenella was working through most of the summer, but took two weeks off at the start of August. 

Not sure if everyone has been introduced to our latest member of the family - Gus! He is our year old Yorkshire Terrier and has very quickly nestled into our families heart! We are always met with an enthusiastic welcome any time we come through the front door. The girls look forward to his welcomes whenever they have been away any length of time and they have created a 'Gus group chat' for when they are away to get their fix of him. 

Fenella and I went to Rome earlier this year in March. This was a little treat for us in light of our Silver Wedding anniversary on 1st December 2014. We stayed right opposite the Pantheon - it was beautiful!  We loved every minute of it, well apart from the sore feet after a day's exploration. Our favourite site to see was the 'Colosseum' which was greatly helped by our tour guide. She was an archaeologist and had some great insight into the history and events surrounding the site. I was rather taken by the Triumphal Arches and the significance of their purpose. We had a guided tour around the Vatican City, which was pretty overwhelming. We found it a rather bitter/sweet experience - yes, it was stunningly beautiful and outrageously opulent and that is why it left us feeling rather sick to our stomach. We had an afternoon amongst the Catacombs along the Via Apia. Again, it was quite overwhelming to be walking around in underground passages where communities of 'The Way' desired to be burried. Anyway, we loved walking together soaking up the history and beauty that we were surrounded by.

This year has proved to be a hard year in light of health concerns for Alexa, Beth and Amy. We found out that Alexa's health is very poorly. In light of this we are bearing a burden that is only made easier by the beauty and peace that Alexa continues to display in spite of trials. We are still struggling with Beth's health. She is due to start Back at Glasgow in September and is handling things in a very mature way. Amy is still living with the constant shadow of her illness. For the most part she deals well with it, but every now and again it catches her out. In everything we continue to rely on the reality that, although we are powerless to change anything, we rest in the knowledge that with only with God all things are possible.

Holly and Hannah have just began their 4th year at High School! They are both doing very well in their studies. It is quite crazy to think that they will be 15 in December! They are following in their bigger sisters footsteps and growing into lovely young ladies. It is a blessing to have all the girls at home, not only for Fenella and my good, but because the are close and bring out the best in each other :)