Birthday's, bbq's and back to Logos Hope

Well I'm writing this from my cabin back onboard Logos Hope in Sweden. The ship is STILL waiting to get into the drydock - we now hope to get in tomorrow evening and be out by Saturday, but we have heard that before. This is the ship that is currently occupying the dock which we hope will leave tomorrow.



This morning I caught an early morning flight from Edinburgh to Copenhagen and then the train over to Landskrona in Sweden. Heather and the kids will spend another week in Edinburgh before flying back to Germany next Sunday and driving up to Denmark to meet the ship on Monday in Koge, just south of Copenhagen.

Looking back, the past week has been a very busy time but a very enjoyable one.
After feeling somewhat unsettled during our first week back in Edinburgh, the past week I was starting to feel more at home just in time to return!
Highlights this week included -

• Spending many hours editing video to make a presentation to show at our churches missions update night on Friday - a great evening for all those there
• Meeting up with an old Doulos friend for a few hours in the city while Heather took the kids to the zoo - they loved seeing the new Ape house
• Visiting RBS (Royal Bank, my former employer) and talking to a good number of friends and former colleagues about what we have been up to
• A fantastic Indian meal with the friends who leant us their car and house for 2 weeks while they were on holiday - Thanks so much Iain and Morven!
• Climbing up Salisbury Craggs above Edinburgh with the kids and seeing the great views of our beautiful city.

On Tuesday, we found out that the ship was delayed a week getting into drydock so it was decided that I would return as planned and the family would stay another week in Edinburgh. The kids were very happy to get another week playing with their friends.

Saturday was a very special day. Heather's granny was 99 on Thursday so we had a celebration meal with a lot of the family getting together for lunch. She is a much loved old lady and everyone was very pleased to be able to celebrate this event with her. Liam and Kara were delighted to be able to play with their Scottish cousins for the day.







Later we had a bbq at Colin's house with some of the family and a few of the people that we had not had chance to meet up with. Although it did start to rain, just as I was about to start cooking, it soon cleared and we had a great evening with friends. It was good to be able to get behind the grill again.

Sunday we were at Carrubbers and it was the Sunday School's anniversary service. The church is 150 years old this year and the kids did an amazing job telling the history of our church - it is quite a story.



Later on, I had to say goodbye to the kids for a week, which was tough as they headed back to their granny's for the night.

My last night in Edinburgh finished around the fire pit in Colin's garden, enjoying the fellowship of our best friends over a nice fire until after midnight.

Looking back, it has been quite a busy and rushed time in Edinburgh but so good to catch up with family and friends. It will probably be next year before we return.

So now it is back to work. Just 12 days until I leave for Trinidad.