Ben and Blaire's Visit

These are our awesome friends, Blaire and Ben. They came to visit us last week before Blaire's work conference in Edinburgh. We'd basically been looking forward to their visit since Nathan, our last visitor, left just after Christmas. We love visitors.

*Hint. Hint.*

Right after they got here, they pulled the goods out of their suitcases (cracked pepper! Real Simple magazines! Duke's mayonnaise for Nathan!) we ate a nice English meal (bangers and mash) and went to a concert at the cathedral. It was called, "The King James Bible in Verse and Voice." It was basically snippets of the Scriptures performed by an actor and some amazing musicians.

We went for a walk in the garden next door the next day, where the daffodils were out in full force. It was so nice and peaceful. The weather could not have been better for the whole week. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and the breeze was blowing ever so gently. Blaire said she prayed for good weather, which was obvious, because it got nasty again after they left.

We took a trip up to Newcastle the following day, where Ben, Blaire, and Nathan walked around while I had another job interview for another supply agency. Then we all got Starbucks at the mall and admired the enormous queue for the new iPad coming out that day.

My husband. He can't be helped.

The next day we went to Finchale Priory, which is a gorgeous spot where an old monastery used to be. We did more walking and talking.

It's situated right next to the River Wear, and it is so beautifully peaceful there.

Nathan and Ben... talking about deep stuff.

Here's a fuller view of the priory.

I absolutely love this picture of Blaire. She is such a beautiful person!

I couldn't get everyone and everything in the picture, but I tried.

On our way out, Nathan fed the chickens a cranberry cereal bar from Tesco. They were almost as aggressive as geese.

We also went for walks by the river near our house. That's the cathedral in the background. You probably already knew that.

We love our friends!

They are awesome!

And then there's us.

Ben and Nathan tried to rescue the rescue buoy from the river by making a human chain and fishing it out with a stick, but it didn't quite work.

Ben and Blaire, thank you so much for such a refreshing and relaxing visit. We loved every minute of talking, walking, eating, praying, and introducing you to our life and friends here. We felt like we were on vacation too! We love and miss you already...