England update

Saturday turned out to be a bit rainy as we began our journey. We stopped by the town of St. Arbens. We visited a very large and very old church which was absolutely stunning. The artistry that was used to make all the sculptures and moldings is so admirable. We were going to go and look at some Roman ruins after that, but it was "chucking it down" as our English friend, Jenny, described the weather (aka raining). We then went to visit our friend Margaret who has been sending many parcels of knitted sweaters and hats to Lesotho. She, along with several friends, have been making these knitted things in order to keep the kids at BG warm. We have been writing back and forth for the past 2 years and it was very nice to be able to meet her in person.
Sunday, Bryan had the privilege of preaching a little sermon for Father's Day. We then had a brief shopping trip with Jenny in the afternoon where we convinced Bryan to wear a pajama onesie after he was finished trying on his jeans. Jenny and I had a great laugh as he posed wearing his very lovely, dark blue. one piece pajama. In the evening, Jenny had invited many friends over to have a BBQ so they could meet and greet the directors of BG. We had a great time seeing some friends who had visited BG in August last year, we met many people who have been supporting Jenny in her fundraising efforts and we even met someone who is planning to come and see us in Lesotho next year.
Yesterday we had a lovely walk through the Beeches (a wooded area where we took the kids for a walk along the trails). We saw an area that was used in the filming of Robin Hood and later saw some very large cows. I had a bit of a realization that there is a large difference between a starving 3rd world cow and a cow that was living and grazing in a nature reserve. We enjoyed a lovely lunch with our friend Fiona who visited us in Lesotho last August. Her husband took our kids and us to a nearby park and they had such a fun time playing and then we spent our evening sharing about Beautiful Gate with the Girl's Brigade where our friend Jenny is a leader. It was really nice to meet the leaders and girls who have been helping Jenny spread the work about BG and who have been doing fundraising for BG as well. At the end of the evening we had a chance to dig deeper with some of the older girls and dispel a few of the myths about HIV/AIDS.
Our time in England is finished for 6 days and we have now arrived in the Netherlands. We had such a fabulous time with our friend Jenny and I am so glad we decided to make this "layover" on our way back to America because it has strengthened the already wonderful friendship we have with Jenny and we now have a much better idea of the school and church Jenny has told us about. It makes a huge difference to see England and to meet people and it really helps solidify my beliefs that no matter what I say in MI to my friends and family, I will never be able to fully describe things in Lesotho to do justice to the experiences we have had. Seeing really is believing.
I will update about the Netherlands soon.