The Robinsons

Daisy's birthday & SC vacation

2009-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Get all the photos on facebook - here's a little taster...

Fishing with Mark

2009-05-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mark, the leader of the church here and our good friend, suggested we go fishing with him today. He's quite the bass fisherman, so we went to learn a thing or two, and in the process caught about seven fish in around two hours - pretty good going for beginners! What a beautiful day, in a beautiful place, with some beautful people.

More photos here.

Dandelion Destruction!

2009-05-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to many friends we managed to annihilate many dandelions that had completely taken over our front lawn, which, rather than making our little patch look like a beautiful meadow, actually ruined the neighborhood where we are surrounded by people who take great pride in their perfect green lawns - so we're very grateful for all the help!

See more photos by clicking here.

The Good Life

2009-02-01T13:22:00.001-08:00

When we drove into Nebraska we saw the welcome sign at the border which said 'Nebraska - the Good Life'. We like to agree. Here's Toby enjoying some music

Daisy at a day out at Standing Bear Lake

Toby & Daddy (he was on the phone to a friend who he'd not spoken to for 2 months!!)

Lucy

Taking tea on the deck outside on the warmest day so far in 09.

For Granny Robinson and Charlie - Daisy in her HSM outfit!

More photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76180&l=4f885&id=558035982

Road trip

2009-02-01T12:55:00.001-08:00

We spent our first evening in Flagstaff where Lizzy bought a much needed winter coat

Then drove through strong wind to Albuquerque where Toby LOVED the buffet breakfast!

The next day we got to Oklahoma City, and stayed with some good friends from Sheffield who now live there, Alex and Hannah - and had an ex-pat party with Jonny, Libby and Gavin (the only Americans were Charlie the dog and Jonny's girlfriend Mikki!). Not entirely sure why Alex and Hannah never quite made it into the photo...

Finally we arrived in Omaha - here's the view from our kitchen window. Daisy's school is 5 minute's walk away, church is 10. The place and the people are gorgeous. Awesome.

Goodbye Arizona!

2009-02-01T12:32:00.001-08:00

Our final week we saw some stunning sunsets, the photos never do them justice

Some 'coincidental' planning meant that Lizzy's Mum & Dad were around for our final two weeks which was so helpful as we packed up the house and celebrated Thanksgiving

...and walked our way to (almost!) the summit of Daisy Mountain (David and Anne reached the top on the second attempt without us!)

We sold the Mustang thinking a rear wheel muscle car might not be so great in snow...!

Boxes!

Everywhere!

Kandy's Photo shoot

2008-11-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

Kandys photo shoot

2008-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Dress up & Days out!

2008-11-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Lucy turns 4

2008-11-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

Homecoming

2008-11-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Farm

2008-11-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Toby

Playing in the corn

It was a very hot day at the farm

September 08

2008-09-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Toby fell off the slide on the back garden and broke his arm just above his elbow, and is very proud of his cast

He also goes to group and loves to wear his backpack like his big sisters!

August 08 part 2

2008-09-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

Jonny leaves for College in Oklahoma

Lucy's first day of pre-school

Daisy's first day of first grade

Toby home alone with mummy!

August 08

2008-09-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Gareth was leading at a friend's church in Oceanside in San Diego County, so we made the most of it and had a mini-break with the lovely Tony and Bobbi

We did the zoo on a very hot day - the hippos were cool, though (double meaning intended!)

Sunset on Carlsbad beach after fish and chips and Coldstone Creamery ice cream. Perfect.

Us!

July 08 part 3

2008-09-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

A day at Alton Towers with the Frenchies (this was one of the more scary rides)

Spider Park in Fulwood with Gareth's family - playing cricket

Toby with Granny R

Toby with Grandpa R

July 08 part 2

2008-09-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Anna, Barnabas, Lucy, Daisy and Toby

Toby reading through Which? magazine

Beth, a friend in Bristol, and her twins

The Mallons - we met between Sue's hospital appointments for coffee and inspiring conversation!

July 08

2008-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Toby in the park at Alnmouth during a much needed rest after the burglary in late May

A not-quite-in-focus family shot

The sisters!

May 08 part 3 wedding part 2

2008-09-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

May 08 part 2

2008-09-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

Daisy graduates Kindergarten

Ms Kocur, her wonderful teacher

Libby & Gavin's wedding, Daisy and Lucy were bridesmaids

The wedding party

May 08

2008-09-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hot in the city

Daisy's 6th birthday

Toby eager for bathtime

Paul & Laura, Daisy's godparents, visite

Washington DC part 4 - and the tooth fairy!

2008-05-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

The rain began to fall only as we ended the evening. This photo is backstage - there were more than three people there!!

A view of the stage from backstage. Toby danced with some new friends, watched closely by his own bodyguard who followed Lizzy and the kids everywhere!

And the day we got back from DC, just before Gareth left for Nashville for a week, Daisy's tooth fell out! Good timing! The tooth fairy came but apparently had some things to say about thumb sucking...

Washington DC part 3

2008-05-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the Metro (the kids' favourite part of the trip!)

Toby waiting too!

Me reading the bible. On the National Mall!!

Me singing. In front of the Capitol!

Washington DC part 2

2008-05-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

The girls at the Lincoln Memorial

Looking east back to the Washington Memorial

A beautiful part of DC called Georgetown

Toby ready for anything

Washington DC part 1

2008-05-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

Daisy was excited to see the White House after studying George Washington and Abraham Lincoln at school last term

The Washington Memorial behind the WW2 Memorial

Toby walking up to the Lincoln Memorial

Toby running!

Easter

2008-05-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our friends Christian and Oline from Norway came to visit over Easter. We had lots of fun with them, here they are in Sedona

Cool!

The boys hanging out in Jonny's room

Lizzy was the Easter Bunny at Mommy & Me - which Lucy thought was hysterical!

Random photos!

2008-03-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Valentine's Presents!!!!

(Its BIG in the USA)

The Robinsons in Sedona

Camping at home

The boys, Sam & Toby.

(Sorry Anne - We tried, Jonny wouldn't have his photo taken...it was a hair thing!)

We hosted a Super Bowl party. Crazy, but fun!

Toby's birthday, Lizzy's parents and SNOW!

2008-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Baking the cake...

Toby is 1!

Toby likes cake!

More than having his photo taken!

Grandpa on Lucy's new scooter

Lucy on Lucy's new scooter

Daisy on her new roller skates

And off to Flagstaff for a break in the snow

Lucy as a teletubbie

Daisy's snowman

Toby in the snow

Taking a look at the 'pond'

The wonderful cabin belonging to the wonderful Laizures

Granny & Grandpa Curnock

At the bottom of the 'sled' run

Toby's favourite toy

A crisp morning

Lizzy learned to ski in 2 hours - wow

Gareth enjoying the skiing too (it's SOOO much easier than boarding!)

~FIN~

Christmas in Arizona

2007-12-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Lizzy's birthday meal on the 23rd, it was manic (we had ten children on another table) but lovely!

The yearly family breakfast with santa at Daisy's school!

Gareth led worship 8 times over the Christmas weekend, so it was great to collapse at the Cockrams for a fabulous Christmas day. Steve & I had a VERY quick dip in the pool - it was freezing. Helen & Gareth stayed in the hot tub! (Steve you owe me $25!)

Phil & Becky Beresic's wedding

2007-12-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Becky & phil got married on the 22nd December in Arizona. It was an awesome day!

Kangas for the girls

2007-12-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

The girls were sent Kanga outfits by Granny Curnock from Tanzania. They loved them.

Yes Lord!

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

We apologise for the terrible photos! But it gives you an idea!

Thanksgiving with the Breens, the Cockrams & Jonny. It was a lovely day, the Breens did a fine job of hosting - the best Shrimp & Steak in town!

The boys relaxing!

Supper & bed for the girls, & the adults finished the evening with watching Top Gun (Jonny & Sam had never seen it before!) followed by drinks around the fire!

It was a super day, we have so much to be thankful for!

We LOVE thanksgiving!

New Christmas pajamas! (yes it's early but were in the USA!)

Fall Fesitivities!

2007-11-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Halloween alternative at church. We ALL dressed up this year!

It was held at the church car park, where we all decorated our trunks & gave out candy.

We think Jenifer & Dean should get 1st prize! Impressive or what!

Gareth's website!

2007-11-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

So finally I have my own website so people can access my music and chord charts etc online. I'd love you to take a look and let me know what you think (especially things that can be improved!).

Click on www.garethrobinson.net and have fun!

October

2007-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Jonny got a truck! Check out the Jesus sticker on the back. Unfortunately the engine exploded about 2 weeks after he got it and he's had to spend lots of money getting it fixed :o(

It's all fine now, though. Go Jonny go!

We went to a pumpkin patch with the kids to get a pumpkin each to go outside the front door. It wasn't quite the same as last year - we think we were spoiled at Young's Farm - when we got to this one Daisy asked where all the rides were... Hmm.

They did, however, love playing in the corn. Bit bizarre, kind of like very large pieces of sand. But they loved it!

Lucy was 3!!! (going on 13)

Her party was in our back yard with 25 kids, plus their parents (thank goodness). We once again introduced our American friends to the delights of 'pass the parcel'. Here are some of them on the bouncy castle...

And of course no south western party is complete without a pinata. Sugar!

Toby had an... explosion whilst eating cottage pie. A nasty combination; the only solution was to de-robe him right there and bathe him in the kitchen sink. Helen & Steve Cockram's girls, Izzy and Meggy, were there and everyone found it very funny indeed - even Toby.

A 22 hour round trip to Palm Springs (4 hour's drive away) to see our friends Dave & Ro, with their kids Ben and Joshua. They were visiting LA and we both only had one day we could meet up. Fun, and very tiring!

Josh and Toby were the tiredest of all:

Ahhh.

Daisy and Lucy LOVED the hotel we stayed in.

Some other friends, Frog and Amy, were visiting Phoenix from London for a conference, and again we only got to see them for a short time, but it was lovely to catch up with them. They have 2 year old twins, Zac and JJ, who were gorgeous. JJ loves his food...

Zac also had quite a feast!

Jonny!

2007-09-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

About 10 days ago we had Jonny Bell move in with us - he's here from the UK for a year working as an intern in the youth department at church. He's gorgeous and the kids love him. Daisy had to draw all the members of her family in her math class; her teacher looked very flummoxed as we picked her up asking 'who's Jonny?'!!! A compliment to Jonny, after less than a week he's part of our family.

Lucy starts ballet - at last

2007-09-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

The most anticipated event of the summer has finally arrived... Lucy started ballet this week! She's been asking about it for weeks ('go ballet now?'). She was very proud in her new leotard.

Some more goodbyes

2007-08-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

The lovely Saxtons - Chris, Jo, Tia (our god-daughter) and Zoe - left for cooler climes as Chris studies at Luther Seminary on his journey to ordination. We'll miss them. Here's a photo of Zoe with Toby. Hopefully they'll be back sooner than we know.

Jerica, a friend who's helped Lizzy with Mommy & Me, also left as she's relocating to Chicago. We're really sad to see her go, she's super-gifted but we're excited about all God's going to do through her up in Illinois.

This is no goodbye, we just loved these photos of Toby at Parent's Day Out, the group he goes to on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. With him is the amazing Granny Bev (who we think Toby likes more than us!!). Bev and Lisa, who runs the group, knew about Toby's sleep patterns (i.e. he doesn't seem to need much) and bought him this top, which seems to sum up Toby and the last 8 months of our lives with him!

See how happy he is at group?!

Green Electricity - at last!!

2007-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

2 years after we got here we can finally purchase green electricity! We're thrilled to have just signed up with APS, our electricity provider, for 100% of our electricity to come from renewable resources - solar and geothermal.

It will add only about $10 to our monthly bill, so is totally worth it.

For our AZ friends who use APS, click here to see the page and feel better about that AC unit going all day and night!!

School, Jeeps, Pigs, Food

2007-08-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Daisy has started school...and she loves it. This is her with all the school supplies we had to buy, it took us two hours to interpret the list- a true cultural experience!

The girls were given a jeep last week from their friend Megan who had outgrown it, they think it is amazing, and are planning their trips to the park and shops in it!

Toby is not sure of the pink!

On Friday we had an unexpected visitor, a Javelina. I was too scared to take a photo when it was in our front yard but when it ran off I took this rather terible photo to prove it!

This is a classic Toby face when we are feeding him...

Our Holiday in Mexico

2007-08-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a vacation at a place called Rocky Point in Mexico - it was very touristy but perfect for what we needed as a family - lots of swiming, exploring the markets & pot shops, reading, eating great Mexican food, & drinking nice wine (well I did, Gareth is not allowed as he is on strong stuff for the Valley fever). It has given myself and Gareth a little taster & we both would love to return & see more of Mexico... When we did travel out of the tourist areas we were struck by the sheer poverty, it reminded me of the extreme poor & rich divide in Rio when I worked with the street children in Brazil. So it also sparked lots of discussion about how we should respond, as we have so much and saw those with so little.

The views from our balcony.

Toby eating the sand.

Gareth & the girls.

Gareth's Surprises

2007-07-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Gareth turns 33.

A suprise Birthday party for him & his friend Eric. This is everyone hiding!

Gareth & Eric suprised!

The boys.

Eric, Gareth & another cake!

Another suprise for Gareth was his team & church staff re-decorated his office for his birthday. Unfortunately I have no photos, but he was blown away by all their love & hard work.

...and another suprise to Gareth was finding out he had Valley fever, a fungus that grows in your lungs & gives you fatigue. Now that he is on the right drugs he is on the mend.

Toby

2007-07-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

At six months - Toby is crawling!

Ahhhhh!

Lots of goodbyes

2007-07-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Daisy saying goodbye to Granny & Grandpa Curnock's garden - at one with the flowers!

Lizzy saying goodbye to tea and wine on tap at the Curnocks

Daisy saying goodbye to Caleb, her best friend.

And back in the US our friends Kyle and Karen Wallace moved to North Carolina to lead a church there. Here's our girls with Quinn and Xander, our godson, for one last sleepover - we'll miss them.

Daisy's friend Jaxson moved back to Canada with his family. Lizzy was also close to his mum, Trina - we'll miss them, too.

The lovely Mallons are also moving on - Paddy and Mary, the kids' adopted grandparents here, moved back to the UK in May - and Nigel and Sue are off in July. Here are their kids for one last sleepover! At the risk of repeating ourselves, we'll miss them too.

Relatives galore!

2007-07-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Granny & Grandpa Robinson feeding ducks at Cassiobury Park

Great Granny Ruffe

Great Uncle John

Great Grandpa Dredge

(honestly, we tried SO hard to get Lucy to smile!)

Great Granny Curnock

UK Beach holiday

2007-07-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

On the way to Northumberland we stopped off in a beautiful town just off from Scotch Corner for lunch with the Harveys.

Day 1 on the beach. Cold, windy and wet but great fun!

Lucy is definitely an Arizona girl; she wasn't sure what to make of this strange place where people got cold. Thankfully aunty Esther lent her a coat to wear.

It got sunny by day 2, and the kids loved playing in the back garden of the cottages, here with uncle Paul.

Uncle Mike warming up before braving the sea to win a bet; and training Daisy whilst he's at it. Check out Daisy's hat-and-glasses combo - she's been saying recently she wants to be a clothes designer when she grows up and we think she'll fit right in.

Paul went in with Mike - look carefully and Esther is still enjoying a swim whilst the boys try to pull each other's shorts down...

Daisy's birthday. Everyone gathered early in the morning for her to open her presents... lots of bleary eyes!

She loved the microphone she got. Here she is doing an open air concert.

Grandpa Curnock sharing his wisdom with his granchildren on burying people in sand...

Granny Curnock taking her turn with Toby. He wasn't sure what to make of it all.

April & May Part 1

2007-06-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since our last post; April saw Holy Week and Easter and an early birthday party for Daisy before we left for the UK (but not before Gareth caught pneumonia, and then fainted on the plane as we were about to leave, meaning we had to leave 24 hours later...). May was spent mainly in England, firstly traveling around seeing friends and family (but not as many as we'd hoped because of Gareth's health and Lizzy had also sprained her neck - what a great month!), then a week's holiday in Northumberland with Lizzy's family.

Here are the photos...

Daisy's birthday cake - she had a Dora the Explorer themed party, and the lady who made it put the flowers on especially for Daisy.

The party was in late April, average temperature 83F, 28C. But not this day - the wind was blowing hard and cold. You can see the wonderful Chad trying (and failing) to light Daisy's candles, so in the end she blew out the lighter!!

Lizzy did an amazing job of sorting out the party and keeping everyone's spirits up - Gareth came for 15 minutes before going back to bed, so was not much use!

We landed in England on May 2nd, here's Lucy in a dress Lizzy wore in Nigeria at her age. She's in a very happy place - on the swing at Granny & Grandpa Curnock's house.

From Nottingham we went to Sheffield, where we stayed with Joy & Clynt, our very good friends there, and parents to Caleb, Daisy's best friend from the UK. The photo says it all.

Caleb and his older brother Isaac's room - where the four older kids slept. Getting them to sleep was a challenge each night, as you might imagine...

Lizzy and her Sheffield pals, Susie, Fiona, Joy and Katie.

We also got to see Gareth's brother Stuart and his family, Fiona, Matthew and Charlotte, but the photos didn't come out very well... sorry guys!

From there we traveled to see more family and friends (we failed miserably on the photo front here), then off for a beach holiday - photos to follow in part 2.

Toby's Passport

2007-03-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

So, Toby is a US citizen, with a Social Security number and US birth certificate. And to give him the choice when he's 18 of whether to stay American we needed a US passport rather than a British one. But getting a passport photo of a 2 month old is rather interesting... The seat is designed to support the head and sitting position of a 3 month old, so these were taken very quickly...

We spent Sunday afternoon with our lovely friends the Pfeiffers; Kandi is an amazing photographer and took some beautiful photos of the kids. Check them out at http://thepfeiffers.blogspot.com/. Ahhhh!

February 07

2007-03-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

Like you saw in our previous post, our good friends Pete and Nicola James came to stay. Pete is an avid boarder and Lucy took a liking to the idea too.

TOBY STARTED SMILING!!!

It's been a tough first 2 months as Toby had colic but it seems he's coming out of it now (please God). The fact that he started smiling was a little ray of sunshine in the madness.

If you're observant you'll have spotted the 'For Sale' sign next door to our house behind Lucy skateboarding. Our neighbours Chad and Heather are looking to sell - and so are we! After 2 very happy years in Anthem we believe the Lord's calling us to move to Glendale nearer the church. There's lots we'll miss, including our lovely neighbours (but hey, they tried to move first!) Here's their kids with ours...

Lizzy's loving the idea of moving and is prettying the house - she's very proud of her new pots in the back yard (all our plants were decimated by 2 nights of freezing temperatures at the start of the month so it's nice to have some colour again).

Serve Day

Once a year our church gets its hands dirty in the community through 'Serve Day' - over 2000 people helped out on projects from cleaning parks to building houses to feeding firemen and singing to the elderly. We picked citrus fruit, as it was something the kids could do safely too. It was lots of fun...

Our friend Daniel with a fruit picker; there's also Gareth, Charity, Lucy, Justus and his daughter Sadie in the photo.

Gareth and Eric working extremely hard.

Kandi and Missy (who looks amazingly like Lizzy!)

Daniel (with Sadie), Missy, Kandi, Eric, Jonny, Sarah, Gareth and Lizzy.

Kevin plays in my worship team. Kevin has a new truck. We like Kevin!

A photo we like of Daisy dressed up at Eric and Kandi's house doing a 'show' with Charity one Sunday afternoon.

We think this photo sums up Lucy pretty well.

Daisy and Lucy in their new jeans.

It was a pretty manic month - what better way to sooth ourselves into March than an afternoon at the Mallon's in the spa...

So here are the men, and the children... Anyone seen the ladies???

Aha.

Our 'very good friends' (they asked us to say that) Eric and Kandi with Sue. They were looking for themselves on our blog...!

The lovely Sue looking after Toby.

And finally, out of the vault from Christmas, Toby with his gorgeous God-parents Kandi and Eric Pfeiffer.

As per Esther's requests...

2007-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Aunty Esther has been asking for more Toby photos... Here they are!!

This Monday he was weighted at over 10lbs - that would be putting on 4lbs in 5 weeks - no wonder Lizzy's tired!

Daisy and Lucy like Toby most of the time - except for when he's yelling. Lucy responds by trying to yell louder than him and Daisy was recently found hiding under her bunk beds till everyone had calmed down!!

Granny & Grandpa Curnock sent the girls these bouncers which they love

Here's our 'fireplace' - well, as good as it gets; Lizzy bought this with her Christmas money to go in our lounge. We love it.

Here's Daisy passing on the secret knowledge to Toby of how to suck your thumb. He's not a very good learner... the dummy (pacifier) is becoming a very good friend of ours, to our horror!

This is Pete from Sheffield who now does the job Gareth used to do at St Toms, who is staying with us for a week. Daisy and he were writing songs together today! His wife Nicola joins us tomorrow.

Yes, Gareth does look odd here. But we'd had one of the most stressful days we can remember, culminating in the annual Dad & Daughter dance, and this year Lucy came too. No, she doesn't look excited. Remember the stressful day thing? There you go! Look closely and Daisy is proudly showing off her new shoes.

More Toby photos

2007-01-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here's Toby after his first bath at home. He looks amazingly like Daisy did at his age.

If only he slept like this at night...

The girls breastfeeding their babies

Toby in Great-Great-Grandpa Bucknall's arm chair

For those who are interested, here's our new-look front room which is now our office/'creative room' with Lizzy's new desk, chair and easel.

Pre-Christmas and Lizzy's birthday

2007-01-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Daisy's soccer season came to an end and the wonderful coach V and his wife put on an end-of-season party, award ceremony included! She was very proud to receive her certificate, trophy and medal.

She also performed with her dance group in the park, singing and dancing their version of 'We are Santa's Elves'

Then on the 23rd we celebrated Lizzy's birthday with a pancake breakfast...

...and a picnic lunch in the park with our friends Eric, Kandi and their kids Charity and Justus.

Lucy in the park video

2007-01-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Our friends the Kingsley-Smiths inspired us to work out how to put video on the blog. Here's our first attempt, it's a snippet of us at the park with our neighbours Chad and Heather and their kids, Scottie, Hannah and Hollen. Lucy loves trains!

Photos of Toby

2006-12-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here's the boy...

Straight out of the womb, as they cleaned him...

6lb 8.3oz

The amazing Lizzy - they broke her waters at 5pm and at 910 he was here; only 2 pushes and out he came - with no pain relief!!! The shiny stuff on his face is the eye drops they gave him.

The proud big sisters. Lucy was enthralled with him...

Lizzy had a amazing nurse called Mary Ellen who goes to our church, and filled in all the paper work for us, so we could get home - a huge blessing. She also had this Christmas outfit they put on him to go home in!!

Toby Wesley Robinson

2006-12-29T06:32:00.000-08:00

Lizzy gave birth last night to a beautiful baby boy - Toby Welsey - who came out at 6lb8oz and both mum & baby are doing great. Photos coming soon...

Pregnant Lizzy!

2006-12-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

We know there aren't very many photos of Lizzy pregnant so here's a recent one taken by our lovely friend Kandi. Doesn't Lizzy look beautiful? (Not that I'm biased...)

Officially there are about 3 weeks to go, though judging by various contractions and other goings-on it may be here sooner rather than later...

Daisy's Ideal House

2006-12-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to see the movie 'Charlotte's Web' - Lucy's first time in a cinema. It's a great movie, and we had lots of fun together. This morning Daisy was playing with her doll's house and had set it up so beautifully we thought we should take a photo.

This, apparently, is her ideal house, with a cinema on the top floor with Granny & Grandpa there to watch movies with! (though we don't know why there is a bath in the cinema and we've not tried making popcorn with a saucepan on a lamp...!) We're loving Daisy's imagination at the moment and her amazing creative play, so we thought we'd share it with you...

Granny and Grandpa do look very relaxed!

Christmas is here (well, nearly...)

2006-12-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

Like we mentioned in our Thanksgiving post, the Christmas season here starts the next day. So we've gotten into the spirit of things and got our tree up and our other Christmas decorations...

And of course we've put lights outside our house, too.

And this week we had Breakfast with Santa at Daisy's preschool. We posted both pictures so you could see how Lucy warmed to him...

At least Santa looks happy!

Thanksgiving!

2006-12-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

Another month, another festival!

November's excuse to eat a lot is called Thanksgiving. Joking aside, we love this festival because there's nothing to it other than gathering as family and thanking God for all that He has provided in the previous year. And eating!

Lizzy's mum and dad came for a week on their way to New Zealand and it was lovely to see them again. Not least because Anne cooked and baked for us lots, and they sent us away for a night whilst they looked after the kids. On the day itself we roasted a turkey with all the trimmings and Anne made a Pumpkin Pie - a very traditional Thanksgiving dessert, from a recipe found in our Sainsbury's cookbook. Heather and Chad thought it was the best they've ever tasted!

We also made a gingerbread house, another Christmas tradition (the Christmas season here starts the day after Thanksgiving). Perfectionists Lizzy and David went to it and sometimes even allowed Daisy and Lucy to do some of it. We've been told that you're meant to keep them and buld up a collection (our neighbours have one that's 7 years old. Yes, 7.)

Lizzy's dad has recently retired from working as a paedatrician in Nottingham. Here's proof - still in pyjamas at 10am!!

Aaaah.

Our Halloween Alternative...

2006-12-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

It might look a lot like a normal Halloween (for our US readers, anyway!) but this was our way of doing it alternatively... 'Trick or Treat' here is code for 'let me grab as much candy from you as I can possibly get.'

So our alternative?

Halloween is about giving!!

That's right folks. We and our neighbours parked our 4-and-under year olds in front of the candy table with strict instructions to give but one piece of candy per person. Halloween, after all, is about giving, right?!! (It's either that or wait for 2 kids to come along and having to hide for the rest of the night in darkness as 'trick or treaters' come knocking)

Which is what we found Mike and Sally doing when we went to see them. We had to break into their house just to say hello!!! They were hiding upstairs watching TV in the dark!!

We also gave out Starbucks coffee and a roaring fire to those willing to risk resting for a moment!

Here are the photos...

Daisy (Cinderella), Lucy (Nemo), Hollen (Ladybug), Hannah (Bee), Scotty (Bob [or Barb, as they say here] the Builder)

Ready for action.

Chad and Heather joined us. It's our driveway, but their fake grass, just to clear that up.

Lizzy demonstrating the spirit of generosity. Heather wondering how she ended up with a neighbour like this.

Notice the youg children in the front line of duty. Starbucks anyone?

Mommy & Me Halloween Alternative

2006-12-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

Lizzy set up a mums & toddlers group at church in February which has kind of exploded. Loads of mums have connected to the church through it and the week of Halloween they had a fancy dress party...

Our beautiful God-daughter Tia Saxton rose to the occasion!

The amazing Heather (our next door neighbour) with her twins Hannah and Hollen.

Soccer!!!

2006-10-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, we know, it's called football.

That clarified, soccer season has begun with a vengeance! Daisy is one of about 500 kids across Anthem playing soccer this season and yes, she plays competitive games each Saturday with training every Tuesday. (The first game we had to point out what a goal was to the children and what they were meant to do with it!)

Daisy loves it and is amazing at running after the ball - and has scored a goal in both games so far!!!

Soccer moms and dads...

Daisy during half time. We love how she's sitting!!

This is Coach 'V' who we love! He has the perfect attitude for coaching 3 and 4 year olds - that is, let them have a good time and who cares if they hand ball/look at the rabbits/pick flowers/run hand in hand with their friends... Not all the coaches have the same attitude though - the team we played last Saturday left the field in disgust!! (We all thought it was funny!)

The Pumpkin Patch

2006-10-31T19:28:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we travelled up to Dewey to visit Young's Farm. It's apparently tradition that you choose your pumpkins from a pumpkin patch, and we hear that there's none better in Arizona than this one. We had a wonderful day as we did everything from hay rides to bouncy castles...

This is Daisy and Lucy being pulled by a tractor. We LOVE Lucy's face on this!

This is the real pumpkin patch where they grow the pumpkins.

We ate lunch there and felt very American with all the red and white table cloths and country music playing in the background!

This is the pumpkin patch where you get to choose your favourite pumpkin. We got 3 to go outside our front door (check the Mallon's blog for more on fall decorating!!).

Our favourite part of the day was a hay ride where 'Farmer Buzz' (9 children, 23 grandchildren!) told us all about the farm, raising free range turkeys, how to strip and eat fresh corn (yum) - and how Arizona water tax has meant that Young's Farm is having to close, so this is the last year the pumpkin patch will ever be there. We and Farmer Buzz were welling up together as he told us. Lizzy's planning her protest march...!

A beautiful vacation in Flagstaff

2006-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

We realised we've never had a holiday with just the 4 of us since Lucy was born, so decided to put it right. A friend of a friend has a cabin in Flagstaff which we stayed in for a few nights. It was such a beautiful place and just what we needed. Daisy particularly enjoyed the trampoline...

...yes that really is the house where we stayed. It was so big we didn't even use the downstairs - or any of the 7 ATVs (quad bikes) they had there!!! This was the view from the front balcony, early one frosty morning. And yes, that is our 'pond'.

We did lots of hiking: we climbed extinct volcanoes, picnic'd where Gareth had snowboarded 18 months ago, and visited the country's highest arboretum, which had a great kid's maze. We took this photo there of Arizona's highest peak just near Flagstaff - over 12,000ft.

After eating lunch looking out over the painted desert - an amazing vista where you can see the 60 miles to the Grand Canyon - photos just don't do it justice - we went to Wupatki National Monument, a village from around 1200AD, the ruins of which are still there. Daisy and Lucy both walked much better when they pretended to be Dora the Explorer, with Lucy as Boots the monkey, both with their maps:

It was also a time to face our fears - Gareth saw a tarantula as we walked back from the trampoline, and Lucy got used to The Bear and The Moose:

We drove home via Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona which we love. It was so good to see leaves turning yellow, feeling the cold air on our face (it got below freezing once!!) and hanging out together as a family - awww. And thanks to the Lord for the amazing people who so generously let us use their house!!

Lucy's birthday

2006-10-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

Lucy is now 2 years old - amazing.

She got lots of presents, including a kitchen from Grannies and Grandpas, lego from us and a Nemo costume from Daisy.

We had a party for her in our back yard with lots of her friends and their parents - here in the sand pit with her are Xander (her very best friend) and Paige.

We had a Pinata, of course. The instructions said we should get everyone to pull a ribbon on the bottom to release the candy. We were mercilessly mocked by all Americans present that what you're really meant to do is beat the *&#! out of it... which we knew but we thought we'd go for a pacifistic approach. So much for that - nothing happened, so out came the broom handle...!

We were also persuaded to adopt the American tradition of opening presents in front of everyone...

Happy Birthday Lucy!

It's cool enough to bike to the park!!!

2006-09-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thankfully the weather has gotten cooler over the last few weeks, meaning we can bike to the park in the evenings as the sun goes down. This was Lucy's first outing on the trike, and she was a very proud little girl.

We were very impressed with Daisy who cycled all the way to Safeway (1/2 mile) before going to the park and then all the way home again.

Swimming in Sedona

2006-09-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Friday we decided to get out of town and go to Sedona for a swim in the river. We were a little confused as it was cold for the first time in 3 months, and then Gareth remembered seeing that there were thunderstorms forecast in Flagstaff (1 and 1/2 hours away). Gulp. We pressed on anyway, though as you can see it wasn't exactly teeming with people...

The sun did come out a bit, though.

We had fun playing in the river

And Gareth went in for a swim. Lucy and Daisy did too - and both got up to their tummies before deciding it was too cold! (Lizzy chickened out. She claimed being pregnant and cold was a good excuse.)

Ballet and Uncles

2006-09-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Daisy went to her first American ballet lesson in September. She's also learning tap and jazz, so she had to get kitted out...

And we had to say farewell to Mike and Hannah - the girls got very used to having them around, and we were all sad to see them go.

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-09-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to see the movie Little Miss Sunshine and haven't laughed/cried so hard in a long time. Perhaps it's all the things that go wrong, perhaps it's the social commentary on kid's beauty pageants here in the US, perhaps its the presence of the VW van, or maybe the view of Daisy Mountain (yes, right by our house!) as they drive on the I-17 and pass the signpost for the Carefree Highway - who knows, but if you're able to cope with some swearing and some crudeness, go see this movie and laugh! Click here to see the trailer, or click here for the official site. (Lizzy says she nearly had the baby she laughed so much!)

TOP GUN!

2006-08-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Lizzy's brother Mike and his girlfriend Hannah are with us at the moment. Mike absolutely LOVES Top Gun and so the lovely Bart, who teaches Top Gun at Luke Air Force Base, arranged for us to not only visit the base and see the F-16s, but fly in the simulator! What an awesome experience - for Mike it was like all his birthdays had come at once!

Mike, Bart, and an F-16

Lizzy in the F-16 simulator. She went supersonic!

Mike flying like a pro.

Hannah in the sim.

Mike sitting where Maverick, Goose and Ice-Man have gone before...

The Robinson girls at Top Gun

New Camera photos!

2006-08-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been quite rainy - midsummer in Arizona is a bit like midwinter in England - you only go out if you have to. The thunder and lightning is awesome!

On one of these days Gareth gets home from work to find Dr Lucy and Nurse Daisy at work on Lizzy and bump...

Today it brightened up and we played outside in our pool

And here's one of our bougainvillea plants (for Lizzy's Great Granny in particular, but we thought you all might like it!)

The Baby - scan 2

2006-08-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

A few days after we returned we went to see Dr Erikson and get baby checked out. Here's a little piccie...

The nurse also asked if we wanted to see the baby in 3D, flicked a switch, and suddenly we could see baby right in front of us - how weird! Even the nurse commented on how much the baby moved around (we're not sure that this bodes well for the future!), so here's the best picture we have at the moment, with a little blurring. Everything's fine with the baby - yippee!

ps - as an encouragement to all of you who have moaned about us updating the blog, we will soon be owners of a fine digital camera, hopefully making the process a lots lees painful for us, and a whole lot quicker!!

UK Trip Part 3 - The Wedding, the Conference and the Return

2006-08-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

From Northumberland we went up to Edinburgh for Esther (Lizzy's younger sister) and Paul's wedding. It was a beautiful day - we were all in awe of Esther and Paul for pulling together such a great celebration in just 6 weeks!

From Left - Mike, Hannah, Anne, David, Paul, Esther, Richard (behind Esther), Anna, Ruth, James, Lucy, Lizzy, Gareth, Kate, Geoff, Barney and Daisy standing in the front.

(Geoff is David's brother, Esther's uncle, married to Kate and Richard is their eldest)

Ahhh...

From Edinburgh we travelled to Newark for New Wine North, a week long Christian conference where Gareth was leading worship. We camped with friends from St Thomas' Sheffield which was lovely and Gareth thoroughly enjoyed leading the worship there. British caravans are pretty small, though...!

Our last few days were spent saying goodbye, with a trip to Sheffield to see Gareth's brother and his family, as well as lots of our friends from Norfolk Park, the area where we used to live. (Again, no photos, having too much fun). Seeing our old house was strange, though through the wholoe trip we had such peace about where God had called us and that our home really was in the USA. We're really excited about all that he has in store for us here in the coming year, including another little person (see next post...)

UK Trip Part 2 - The Holiday

2006-08-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

It was awesome to be on holiday in the midst of a heat wave on a beautiful beach. We flew kites, built sancastles, swam in the sea - you get the idea...

(Yes, folks, this is a picture taken in England!!)

We also celebrated David Curnock's 60th birthday with a splendid barbeque in the gorgeous garden at Bilton Barns, the farm where we stayed.

Clockwise from bottom - Lucy, Esther, Mike, Gareth, Anna, Ruth, Barney, James, David, Daisy, Lizzy, Anne.

UK Trip Part 1 - The First Week

2006-08-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

We arrived in the UK on July 10th, the day before Gareth's birthday, so he opened presents in the fog of jet lag...

Then Lizzy's sister, Ruth, came round with Daisy and Lucy's cousins, Barney and Anna. We had afternoon tea in the garden - very English!

We then went to see Great Granny Curnock...

After that we set off round the country catching up with lovely people, but sadly completely forgetting to take anyone's photo... Apologies, then, to Kevin and Fran, Chris, Belinda and the kids, and Gareth's Grandpa and Uncle John in Reading; Emma and Gracie in London, Gareth's mum and dad in Croxley Green and Lizzy's Granny Ruffe in Surrey. It was lovely seeing you all! We were too busy enjoying the company to take photos, evidently! From there we went to Northumberland for a beautiful beach holiday (see next post...)

New Baby Robinson!

2006-07-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

We honestly have no idea who knows or who deosn't, but just to make it official,

we're pregnant!
14 weeks and counting, according to the pictures:

Meanwhile, Daisy has passed her level 1 swimming test - she can swim unaided (including with her face in the water), float, turn in the water - all very exciting! Sooo many kids die in Arizona pool,s because they can't swim so it's kind of a necessity. Level 2 when we get back from England...

Lucy has caught the swimming bug too, but it doesn't seem to have struck home that she needs to be in water.

Here they are at the beautiful Lake Bartlett chilling in their new noodle chairs

We've just got back from church's Family Camp which was an awesome time of retreat and fun - God is definitely on the move in Arizona. Here's our 2 with their great friends the Wallace kids, Quinn and Xander.

(note Lucy and Xander both have same facial expression...!)

May/Jun 2006

2006-06-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

In May our lovely friends Dave and Row came to visit. They shared a house with Lizzy in London before we married and have since got married themselves. This was the first time we got to meet Ben, their first child, since he had been born, so we were very excited to see them all. We took them to Sedona where we tried to swim in a river but it was far too muddy to get in - though the scenery was beautiful!

I know we look lost, but in fact this is 50 feet from the car park.

Daisy and Lucy loved playing with Ben...

They went for a week's travelling around Arizona,

looking at canyons, other canyons and more canyons!

And the Anthem water park finally opened!

Here's Dave doing a daring dive from the top board...

and Row and Ben relaxing in the pool...

What else? We were very sad that Lizzy's much loved Grandpa Curnock died. Lizzy was unable to go to the funeral but was part of it by writing a celebration of his life which was read out at the funeral by her sister, Esther. Daisy celebrated her 4th birthday and we marked our year anniversary of living State-side, temperatures hit +100F, pre-school ended, Lizzy's Mommy and Me group finished, Daisy went into hospital with Strep-B and was on a drip for dehydration (she's fine now), Lucy continues to try to talk, Brian Doerksen led worship at church and spent the day with the worship team, Lizzy's sister Esther got engaged... Not much, really!

Last week church ran 'VBS' (Vacation Bible School) which is a holiday club; Lizzy led a class of 16 four year olds and Gareth helped with the worship. We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by having a night away at a resort hotel which was wonderful.

Looking forward, Gareth's team are going on a 2 day retreat, and then he is travelling to Nashville for a writing retreat, and then off to Vancouver to spend some time with Brian Doerksen. We're then off to Family Camp, a church weekend away over July 4th weekend; all the while preparing for our return to the UK in July which we are really looking forward to.

American Easter

2006-04-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Church marked Holy Week with meditations each night, much in the same way as St Tom's - and they were awesome. A very different type of expressing spirituality to what the church is used to, but people responded really well to them and God was moving powerfully each night.

The Easter weekend celebrations started off with an Egg Hunt at church, where Daisy and Lucy also got to meet the Easter Bunny...

Then we had baptism services all across the weekend which were great, leading worship with a choir and brass section was fantastic, too! We finished off Easter Sunday at Kyle and Karen's house for lunch, to celebrate their son Xander's baptism - we are proud to be his Godparents :o)

The girls on Easter morning. Ahhhhhh....

Frenchies and Disneyland

2006-04-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

We were all very excited to see Joy, Clynt, Matthew, Isaac and Caleb - particularly Daisy who was SOOOOO happy to see her best friend from England

Even if they did do strange things. We took them to Sedona and visited Slide Rock, a natural form in the river you can slide down. A meltwater river, can we point out. Here's Clynt jumping into a deep pool just down from the slide (Gareth refused as it was only about 65F outside and had snowed a few days before!)

We also visited Scottsdale for some shopping, and found this awesome sculpture (and only after taking about 20 photos did we find the sign that said 'Please do not climb'!!!)

And then, DISNEYLAND! A 7 hour drive, crazy LA traffic and finally we got there.

'It never rains in California, but girl don't they warn ya,
It pours, man it pours'

How true.

We got on tons of rides without queueing which was fab, and the kids were amazing seeing as we were all soaked. The sun did come out some of the time, though

Disneyland is quite an intense place - we all went a little doolally (is Gareth laughing or crying?!?!)

Of course, in Arizona it was sunny and warm, and it was lovely to see Phil and Mags and the beautiful Skye, who stayed with Nigel and Sue. This is more like it (you can't beat a spot of quality English tea)...

And here's a lovely photo of our gorgeous girls:

Grannies, Grandpas, Aunties and Uncles...

2006-04-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

March was an exciting month with lots of visitors; unfortunately the weather didn't compy - Gareth's mum and dad went to the grand canyon where there was a white out because of all the snow! It was fun to celebrate Gareth's dad's and auntie's birthday in Arizona; here's a picture of us all in Scottsdale.

The unpredictable weather continued as it got hot enough to get the pool out... (It did eventually fill up after we found were the leak was!)

Rain, Horses & Snow!

2006-03-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

It rained here a few days ago... but not more than 1/100th of an inch! Daisy and Lucy rejoiced anyway, here they are halfway through their raindance!

This is Kimberley, 'The beautiful Horse' Daisy made at preschool. Lovely.

This weekend it snowed. Here's our picture of snowy mountains (promise! - there really is snow if you look hard enough!) These are the mountains just behind Anthem. What's just a little bizarre is that tomorrow it will hit 75F (about 20C) - 3 days after it was cold enough to snow!! Welcome to the desert!

This is a proper picture from our local news website. Can you tell why I'm not a photographer?!

Dobey the preschool dog

2006-02-24T12:37:00.000-08:00

Daisy's preschool class has a beanie dog that travels around the different families in her class, and this week it's Daisy's turn to host him. Generally he travels with us wherever we go and sleeps in the comfort of Daisy's bed with her! Here's a picture of her with him in the seat of her bike...

Valentine's Day

2006-02-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Wow - they do it really big here! Daisy took cards and candy to preschool with her today for everyone in her class and her group and came back with a whole shoe box full of cards and candy... Here's a picture of her on her new bunk bed with her box that she decorated herself.

Meanwhile, it's Transport Week at preschool - here's Daisy and Quinn in their 'car'!

Superbowl, Super Danes and Super Dad & Daughter

2006-02-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

Superbowl...
Sunday was our first experience of the Superbowl - we had a party and projected it up on our wall and had some neighbours and friends round who patiently tried to teach us the rules of the game. Gareth almost got it by the end.

Super Danes...
It wasn't just a cultural experience for us - our friends Peter and Tina Tingleff and their 3 children came to stay on Thursday - they're here for a 3 month sabbatical from Denmark and staying with us until they find a house to rent. It's amazing to see how the children play - none of theirs can speak any English but it doesn't seem to matter at all!

and Super Dad and Daughter...
Daisy and Gareth went to their first 'Dads and Daughters Dance' on Friday night which had a Hawaiian theme... They went off together in the Mustang (with the top up because Gareth didn't want to be seen by anyone on the way!!!) and had a fantastic time. They ate dinner together and then danced along with 300 other dads! The best part was the slow dance... We'll leave it to your imaginations.

Catch up - Autumn 05 to Jan 06

2006-01-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos that sum up our lives from then till now...

First our trip to Charleston
to see the lovely Calladine family

Then it was Thanksgiving - here's Daisy
in her turkey hat that she made at preschool

Daisy and Lucy on Santa's lap
- a big deal as last year Daisy was terrified of him!

Daisy wasn't very well on Christmas Day,
but at least she could stay warm by the fire...
Hmmm....

Daisy's Christmas present was a new bike, complete with carrier for her dolls!

Granny & Grandpa Curnock came to visit - we took them to the gorgeous town of Sedona

Daisy and a cactus we found on a walk
near where we live, in Cave Creek

Lucy with added icing
(or 'frosting' as we call it here)

Daisy at church all dressed up

Christmas in the Desert

2005-12-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

Wow! We've had an amazing Christmas here in Arizona...

Lizzy celebrated her 31st birthday on the 23rd and then had her first ever Christmas away from her family!

We had a fab Christmas Day with Chris, Jo and Tia Saxton after church in the morning and the five - yes five - Christmas Eve services the night before. They all went really well and Walt, the church leader, said they were the best Christmas services he'd been involved in through the last 28 years - yippee!!

Daisy and Lucy got lots of presents - Daisy got a bike and Lucy a trike; they got a Noah's Ark Playmobil set to share, but get this - Daisy asked for a balloon in her stocking which was her favourite thing all day, and Lucy played with the wrapping paper... At least next Christmas we know what to get them!

Daisy was very proud of herself for sitting on Santa's knee - last year she was terrified and had nightmares about him so this was a big deal!
Gareth and Lizzy were very proud of themselves because they managed to cook a turkey on Christmas Day!! (Though Lizzy did keep complaining about how big it was - Gareth bought, quote, 'the biggest one I could find...') There certainly was plenty for everyone. After the kids went to bed we had a good natter over supper and then played poker to end a great day.

Now Christmas is over and Gareth has two weeks off, and Lizzy's parents are coming out soon which is going to be great fun.

When we get photos we may post them; till then...

Happy Holidays!!!

Our Christmas Photo!

2005-12-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Sally Breen took this for us, and we love it - please note Lizzy's rather fine red berry garland up the hand rail - so tasteful!!

First ever blog

2005-12-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

Well hello - we finally succumbed to the wonders of blogging!!! It was whilst we were editing our Christmas letter that we realised there was probably an easier and better way of communicating all this stuff, so here we are in the 21st Century.

Seven months in Arizona!!! It's finally got a bit colder here which makes us feel more like Christmas is actually going to come this year!

We've just driven round the Community Church of Joy christmas lights - yes,
two miles of Christmas scenes in fairy lights - wow!

Now all we have to do is work out how to display photos and we're away... I may be back later...