First Assessment, London

Well, it feels like we've been her for a week--in a good way. The kids have almost adjusted to jetlag and so much has happened. It is really all going so smoothly. I would say jetlag and ensuing attitudes are the big things that could go wrong but they haven't and eating English food could be judged as a smaller hurdle but it hasn't been a hurdle at all. This continues to pleasantly surprise me--I have had nothing but top-rate food such as great curries (at a pub no less), wonderful meat pie with perfectly cooked vegetables, fresh produce, and amazing ice cream. I am really liking London, so far I have been protected from having to feel too far from home. The parks are fabulous and the children have been enjoying them and the people have been extremely friendly, even the gray-haired downstairs neighbor who was almost on the receiving end of a large rock that Jesse had dropped over the balcony. He just said it hadn't been the first time (there had been other children predisposed to the same behavior) and asked Jesse if he was Jesse James. I do and will miss San Francisco, but it is soothing to my soul to experience the pleasant sunlight and heat we had here yesterday, to smell the constant wafting of Asian spices floating through the Tower Hamlets air which I have dreamed of and to enjoy the greenery everywhere, as well as the banks of the Thames while our children cast rocks into the water. I am enjoying the simplicity of our life right now, even sleeping in one room together as a family. It feels like we are all making the best of it and it is an intimate time together and with God as I am happy watching Him take care of us moment by moment.