Christmas 2012

Very dear Friends,

This blog is well overdue to say the least but it comes in time to say...

A Very Happy Christmas

We’ve tried not to send many cards out this year and we hope you will accept this heart felt greeting

Where to start? Perhaps family first this time.

We saw Luke in October which was wonderful as we hadn’t see him since last Christmas. He’s well and looking forward to taking up snow boarding this winter in Stockholm, this shouldn’t be a problem as he said they woke up to two foot of snow last week! We’ll next see him in February when we celebrate his grandfather’s 92nd birthday.

Luke and Lloyd in Stockholm

Menna is too busy. She’s in the third year of her degree course in Outdoor Education, she’s working part time in Cotswolds outdoor shop and raising Ffion. We don’t see quite as much of her now as she is living in Carmarthen with two girls on the same course. She’s off to Ben Nevis in January on a winter skills course with work, lucky girl.

Menna camping up Cadair Idris

We see a lot of Ffion as we help Menna when we are needed. She’s a busy, talkative three year old. In the summer she obsessed about worms and slugs and still loves walking in the woods lifting old logs to look at any creepy crawlies.

Ffion waiting for Santa Claus

Lloyd is in his second year at WEST (Wales Evangelical School of Theology). He’s enjoying the course very much and is the missionary and prayer sec. He has preached in a few small Churches and is off to Korea in January for a month, on a placement to a Church of 90 000 members! A very different experience.

Lloyd preaching

Gay’s parents are both in their nineties now. Her mum is well and continues to be such a source of joy and laughter. However life is increasingly hard for her as she copes with the ravages of Gay’s Dad’s alzheimers. What a cruel disease it is, in an otherwise fairly healthy man. Having said this, he still prays like an angel. We shall enjoy having them with us over the holidays.

Clive and Gay are enjoying life back in Wales. Our little Church is slowly growing and we are blessed by the preaching of our pastor. Clive is an elder and Gay as usual, is involved with the children and youth work. 

Health wise, Clive is doing okay just a few more seizures, so he’s waiting on an MRI scan. Fortunately they continue to occur at night so his driving license should be safe. It would be pretty awful losing it living where we do.

I guess we both feel we’d like a short break having not really had a holiday for about seven years. It may be a while before we do as we’d both like to see the bunkhouse function for a full year and then we may think of a break. Of course there are also the animals to think about. We love having the sheep about the place, the chickens keep us well stocked in eggs and our big hairy brown dog Dylan is super company. 

And what of the bunkhouse? Well, as most of you will know we finally opened in the summer (so called) of this year. God was so faithful to us over the three years of the project and the result is a very simple but beautiful building. We have been blessed with just the right number of visitors over the past six months and received very positive feedback. Our prayer is that it will be well used to the glory of God. Much prayer went into the development and it is our aim that it will be sustained by prayer to see people come into a relationship with the living God.

If you haven’t visited the website, you’ll find it at www.hiraethbunkhouse.com

Christmas in the Bunkhouse

We’d love to see you, or why not come as a house group or with some of your young people if you work with them.

Thank you for standing with us through the years. Some of you for thirty or more years. We are forever in your debt.

                A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED 2013

                          Clive, Gay, Luke, Menna, Lloyd and Ffion