Back in Edinburgh

We are now in our final week back here in Edinburgh, our time is going so quickly.

We left the ship on 28th May, and flew from a lovely sunny Bremen directly to a wet and cold Edinburgh. Despite the weather, it was good to get a warm welcome from Heather's parents and we spent the first couple of days with them. We also visited our house the day before new tenants came in. It was a bit strange seeing the house empty and not being home.

Friday was Steve's birthday and after a lovely day Thursday, it was another wet day. But that didn't matter when Steve and Liam went to the cinema to see the new Indiana Jones film which both enjoyed. The evening was spent eating a fantastic Indian take-away and playing Wii.

Saturday was a very enjoyable day in the sun at our friends Colin and Alison's house where we put our trampoline up for the kids and had a bbq.

But then Steve got a bad tummy bug and ended up spending Sunday in bed, missing out on meeting up with everyone at church on our first weekend back home.

On Monday, the kids were able to visit their school and say hello to many of their old school friends. They really loved it and Liam said he felt like a celebrity as he went into class and everyone called his name.

On Tuesday, Steve's parents came up for a visit in their campervan. We went out on Wednesday to Dalkeith Country Park where there is a fantastic play area for the kids and some nice walks. In the evening we went out for a joint birthday meal for Steve and his dad who celebrates his 70th birthday on Fathers day - 15th June.

Thursday we travelled down to Penrith to meet up with Steve's brother and family who were on holiday at Centre Parcs. We all enjoyed an afternoon in the water park, riding the flumes and the awesome "Canyon Ride". Liam and Kara always love meeting up with their cousins and have great fun with them whenever they are together.

While we had our dinner in the challet, a massive storm came over head and we had a deluge which lasted for much of the journey back up to Edinburgh.

Saturday was one of Steve's favourite days in the year - the Frenzy Christian Music Festival at Ingleston near Edinburgh airport. Having been the past 3 years, it looked very unlikely we would be around for this years event. But thanks to the drydock dates changing, we are in Edinburgh at just the right time.

Frenzy is in it's 4th year and attracts up to 7000 people and some of the top Christian artists in the world. This year there was a ceilidh held outside the gates while the crowds waited to get in.

So Steve was able to go and help out on the OM stand, talking to people about the Logos Hope and OM while also enjoying great music from Rebecca St James, Chris Tomlin and Delirious among others. http://www.frenzyfrenzy.com/ It was amazing to meet up with a guy that we had met 8 years ago at a friends house and challenged to get involved with the ships at a time when he didn't know what he was doing with his life. What a joy to discover that he has just left OM after 7 years - 2 years on the Doulos and the last 5 years working with OM Sweden.

At the same time, Heather and the kids enjoyed a street bbq with friends Michael and Esther. This is another annual event that the family have enjoyed over the past few years.

On Sunday, we finally got to go to church as a family. It was great to meet up with many friends again.

This week we will be meeting up with a number of other friends and family. It is Heather's grannys 99th birthday this week so there will be a big celebration next weekend.

Meanwhile, over in Sweden, the ship is going into the actual drydock on Tuesday and we are really hoping and praying that the generator will be put back together and put into the ships side on Wednesday. We are on a very tight schedule for the ship to be ready to come out of drydock next Monday.

Keep up to date with progress and see the webcam at http://www.logoshope.org/