Holiday in words and pictures

We just had TWO WHOLE WEEKS holiday in The States. After too long on planes and in airports, we finally made it to San Francisco and descended upon the city for the first time at around midnight. We pulled our cases for a good number of blocks, UP hill! Boy, was I glad to get into bed.

After luscious sleep, we went exploring. This is the best thing about holidays - no agenda and lots of time....oh, and my husband all to myself! So we walked and talked and stopped for coffee and taking pictures. We rode on the famous street cars, took in the bustle of Pier 39 and ate fresh dounuts whilst looking out to Alcatraz, once home of mobster Al Capone. Union Square area is also great for shopping, which we did, making the most of the weak dollar!




The next day we picked up our rental car, over the Golden Gate Bridge and drove (the scenic route!) north to Redding. The 'scenic route' was actually intended as so, however we just did not anticipate it taking so long and had to abandon our plan a quarter of the way along in favour of the speed of the highway. We still got to see some of the coast and drive through the winelands though, which was definitely worth it!




Our time in Redding was for two things - firstly a Leaders Conference at Bethel Church and secondly catching up with friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in three or so years. Neither disappointed. Redding itself was a pleasant surprise to me. Whilst the town itself doesn't have a lot going on, it's surrounded by beautiful mountains and lakes. We got a chance to visit a friend (of a friend) at his mountaintop ranch and look out over the region. It was stunning. We also spent a day at Whiskey Town Lake, a blissful day of sun, relaxation and eating strawberries!





Not content with just holiday snaps, we asked our talented friend Heather to take some photos of us for future publicity things we need to do. She ended up doing a whole photoshoot with baby bump shots and everything! Here are some of the results.








That's all folks!

New News!

Our school of ministry has been and gone...I can't believe it! Our students graduated on Sunday and we sent them off with a bang! They are still living with us so we get to enjoy their company without the pressure of running the school! God has accomplished SO much in their hearts and lives - Timo and I have literally watched in amazement and can just keep thanking Him for His faithfulness as we have stepped out into this new thing. The next school will probably start in January 2009.

So, we have had one day (of freedom) so far, which we spent mostly at the hospital. Nothing sinister I might add...in fact, quite the opposite! We just had to wait a ridiculous amount of time for our 20 week scan. This is the final scan and they are very thorough in checking everything - so the doctor was getting close ups and pointing out it's spine, it's fingers and toes (10 each!), it's kidneys, it's brain, it's heart, even it's mouth and lips!

But, I really shouldn't refer as IT anymore, since yesterday we actually found out that we are having a GIRL!!! We made sure we checked a number of times and the doctor was definitely certainly really really sure!

Look at her, she's so cute!


Can you see her right foot up by her head!? You can even make out her little toes!


SO, now we'll start looking at names and doing some baby shopping! How exciting!

Bigger Bump

These were actually taken on Timo's birthday, 21st March so aren't up-to-the minute bump shots... And I'm told (by my ever-so diplomatic housemates) that in the last week I have become significantly bigger! So, at some point there will be more photos, probably after our next scan in a weeks' time. This is all for now!



And this is just a smile and HELLO from us!

Let's stay together!

I love our togetherness..
When there are words and when there are none,
When there is laughter and through out the tears,
In the busyness, in the stillness,
In the knowing and in the unknown,
We are one.


Timo & I, celebrating Us on our 3 year anniversary!


Happy Anniversary to us (for yesterday!)

Ruth Hack: Choir girl

I think I have found my love in life...

I mean, other than God and Timo and obviously ice-cream!

Today I performed with our Church Choir at a wedding of one of our church members' family. The Choir was discovered and first booked for a wedding after one of our Christmas carol concerts. I had never been a part of the Choir before, because Timo and I have always happened to be out of town for one thing or another at the time of the big events.

This time though, I knew we would be here, because we are right in the middle of the ministry school we are running and have not booked in any other extra ministry or in fact time off in general!

After the first rehearsal I thought, I am not cut out to sing in a choir...I pretty much hear a harmony and sing it...and it's usually NOT what's written on my music, which I have in front of me but ignore! I persevered however, and it was worth it! The practices in themselves have been SO much fun and completely uplifting (when we're all in our right parts, coming in on time and singing the right words!). Really, there are about twenty of us and the sound is no less than magnificent!

Today was the wedding and I loved it! I had to do a solo and duet bit on You Raise Me Up, and it was fab! I have only ever really sung in worship bands before and never considered I could do the whole 'performance' bit...but I actually think it's IN me! Other songs were from Sister Act - Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Oh Happy Day and I Will Follow Him. Every one was up on their feet, clapping and swaying and having fun!

So, this I want to do more of. You can hold me to that and make sure I make it a priority in my life. It brings me JOY! Hurrah!

Introducing Little Hacklett...

So we had our 12 week scan yesterday and it was amazing! It was SO exciting to see our little one wriggling around - certainly a mover....or a showoff!

Unfortunately the picture was taken when baby bean spun around so it kind of has it's back to us... But we saw little one really clearly from the side with legs kicking and arm and fingers waving at us! You could see the perfect little curves of it's face - nose, lips and chin...SO wonderful :)

So, why don't you say hello to little Hacklett!


(head is right and the floating looking bits to the left are it's legs waving about!).

Multiplication

Or more like addition...I never was much of a mathematician! Either way, from now on there is more than just Timo and I...WE'RE PREGNANT! And we are VERY happy about it!

Ok, so most of you know this news anyway, since we were so excited we told most people pretty much straight away around Christmas (perfect time huh?). But I thought it would be good to update you and let you know how we three are doing at 11 weeks...

Well, wonderfully, I have been doing super well - no sickness, no funny food turn-offs (or turn-ons!)...I've just been exhausted and close to falling asleep nearly all the time, but that could be as much to do with moving house and starting a school of ministry this month as being preggers.

We've had a number of appointments with Dr's and midwives and we'll check out the hospital we chose for the birth on Thursday and meet staff there. But we're STILL waiting for our first scan...and I can't WAIT much longer, I just want to see little baby Hack :) We'll post pictures from the scan when we have them, but first here is one of my little tummy. I know it doesn't look much but I've never had one before so it's quite exciting! Here is me and baby...the first one is last week the second is this weekend..in one week my tummy popped out!

Mr & Mrs Patell!

I forgot to tell you about the Patell's wedding in Toronto! The happy couple have actually been honeymooning since the wedding at the beginning of October, and stopped by to stay with us on their way from Sydney back to Toronto!

Anyway, the wedding was wonderful and I was SO glad to be there to celebrate with them. The bride was BEAUTIFUL (see for yourself!) and the groom was smiles all day - so cute! And there were so many people there that I hadn't expected to see and have the opportunity to catch up with.

I stuck around for a few days after just to hang out and enjoy being back in Toronto - I loved it! But was glad to get home to my hubby!

Seasons Very Special Greetings!

I hope you all have had a great Christmas and have some fun things planned for New Year.


We are just back from our Christmas with family in Germany. We weren't dashing around too much this time, but managed to see friends and family before we got struck down with a nasty bug which seemed to be doing the rounds! So, all in all it was pretty restful (which you might think is how the holiday should be, but this is not common for our trips away!).

Here are some photos from one of our days out visiting our friend Beni in Tuebingen and some from our family Christmas celebrations!






Next stop is Edinburgh for New Years - we're staying with some friends who have got us tickets to the grande street party! We'll also be doing some tradition Scottish dancing and Timo's determined to try haggis - I'm not so sure....?

We can't wear ourselves out too much though as we'll be moving house on our return....I haven't quite got my head around the whole moving thing yet but I guess I'll just have to go with the flow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Far Flung Places

We have been adventuring in the depths of Asia, exploring cities, beaches and yummy new foods!

So, first stop was Singapore for a couple of days with my mum's younger brother Jo and his family. I love Singapore. It's hot, it's clean, they've conserved colonial buildings and kept loads of greenery in amongst all the modern developments. The fusion between old and new is quite fascinating. We even drank Singapore Slings at the famous Raffles Hotel as a birthday celebration for mum and myself!




From there we took a rather interesting flight to an island off the east coast of Malaysia called Redang. I say interesting because not too long after take off, smoke started seeping into the cabin at rather an alarming rate! We were assured it was something to do with the air conditioning, but we all imagined ourselves passing out and reawakening in the middle of a jungle with an angered tribe!



We arrived in Redang safely. Wow! This place was gooooorgeous! See for yourself... It was hard to do anything other than lay horizontally, book in one hand and cool drink in the other. We were only here for four days so it was good to make the most of it and simply relax. We did however have a great day out on the ocean, stopping at various spots of it's marine park waters for a spot of snorkelling.






Then, Kuala Lumper. I LOVED being back in KL. Although this is my sixth time there, I loved it even more than before. The busy bustling streets, the modern architecture, the always open food places, the steaming hot air by day and the balmy stickiness by night. Plus, all the rest of my family are there so we got to reunite....always over food. That what they do there. If you want to get to know them, if you want to be a part of their world and their culture, you must eat. It's a serious business. Timo demonstrates...







No sooner had we arrived back in Manchester, I was on another plane to Toronto, Canada for my wonderful and beautiful friends wedding. More on that later!