Bit of Gen

Hello all,
I'm at work, so I'll keep this brief.
We are planning to come back to the UK on the 10th June until 3rd July. We have provisionaly booked flights, and are very excited about seeing as many of you as possible.
News wise, We have moved flats now, and the new place is a real blessing. We are also able to put up a volunteer who is coming to India for 4 months from New-Zealand, as we have a little more space. We still have plenty of space for visitors though, so get in touch if you fancy a trip!

Work is getting busier all the time, but I am enjoying it.

Freya is doing very well, and has grown 10cm in 9 weeks! She seems much more mobile than Alistair was, and turns from front to back, and back again fairly easily now. she lifts her head right up to look straight ahead when she is lying on her front, and she easily moves several feet across the floor in no time at-all. I'm now pinning my hopes of a rugby international in the family on the women's team, not the mens!!!???

Alistair is such a good big brother. His language is also so good now. He uses 6 word sentences! My speech therapist wife tells me that he does not have good phonology though(which I think is pronounciation to the rest of us)!

Jo is sooo much happier in our new flat. It is much cooler, and the lift has a generator, so that Jo is not trapped when we have 3 hours of powercuts every afternoon! We have also found a lovely lady to come and help with housework and the children in the mornings (which seems extravagant by western standards, but is cultural here, and provides her with very valuable employment). Jo loves her, and as she doesn't speak any english it means that Jo's Hindi is improving!

Thanks for your continuing prayers,
Lots of love, Adam

New Flat

We successfully moved flats yesterday. Only one broken glass (we think!). Paul and Jean Dobbing are staying with us as of last night!, and we had 3 other people round for pizza last night. Was lovely. We still have carpenters and workmen around, but hopefully they'll finish today.
Will post some photos in a couple of weeks, once we are on-line in our new flat. I'm writing this at work, so Ill sign off now. God bless, Adam

House move

Just a short post to say that Jo and I are moving to a bigger flat today, then Paul and Jean Dobbing (friends from Glasgow) are coming to stay for a few days this evening! Hopefully we'll be ready for them arriving. It will be a very busy day. Pray for us to remain calm and focused!

Jo re: LIFE!

Hello all,

My folks were here for several weeks until 26th Feb and it was so lovely. Especially nice for Alistiar to have lots of attention. He really took to them and talked about Gran and Pop constantly (or more accurately 'dan an pop'!). I got to have a leisurely breakfast everyday! We had a good mixture of visiting places and just being around at home, chatting lots and drinking tea. Something i haven't done much of since getting here. It was really hard when they left but i wasn't in pieces which i thought i might be. An answer to prayer i think. Our new flat is another definite answer to prayer for us I think. The new place is much bigger and much cooler than our old flat. It also has a generator to work the lift so when there is a 3 hour power cut everyday i won't be trapped on the 11th floor! The development also has a relatively child-friendly play park and a swimming pool with 'clubhouse'! It really will make life with the kids a lot easier.

It will be lovely for us to see many of you in June. It will be nice to introduce you to Freya, and for you to see how Alistair has grown. We are definitely coming back! Our dates are 10th June to 3rd July. We plan to be in Scotland at the start and end of this time as our flight will be to Edinburgh. We will be at Queen's Park Baptist Church for 2 sundays hopefully. It will be so good to catch up with some of you there.

Freya is now over 9 weeks old! Can't believe it. She's come on so much and is so much more responsive now which is lovely. Alistair continues to be very good with her. It will be great when she is old enough for them to really play together. She looks quite different i think with blue eyes and lighter hair.

Loads of love to you all. Jo xxxx

Budding pals

The wee boy in the picture is the son of one of Adam's colleagues. Alistair and he had a great time at the dedication. Alistair is being held by Sudha, who is one of the nurses at Adam's work. 

Mini Me!

All dressed up for Freya's dedication. Adam's 'kurta' was a Christmas present from Jo and he found Alistair one to match in Mumbai. Aren't they gorgeous! 

Freya's dedication night

We had a party to welcome Freya to the world
the night before Jo's Mum & Dad left. An opportunity to thank God for our little gift. It was a great night - 50 folk turned up and we had a lovely Indian meal.
Jo's Dad said a few words and her Mum said a prayer for Freya and the family. It was really special for us that they were there. A couple of our friends from here also prayed, Dr Stephen Alfred and Andi Eicher who Adam works with. 

Chapati anyone?

Alistair LOVES chapatis! Here he is with Saroj, the lady who comes to help us, learning how to make them with playdough! 

Stars in our eyes

At Jeevan Sahara Kendra, they have a tradition of writing the names of every patient who dies onto gold star, and glueing those stars onto the ceiling. Currently we have 74 stars on the ceiling. It was quite emotional last week, as we had our first patient to actually die at the centre, as well as 2 others. I asked if I could be the one to stick the stars on the ceiling. When I first came to JSK I thought it was a bit morbid, but now I think that it is a sign of hope. Another patient who I had been heavily involved with died just a couple of days ago, and once his star is on the ceiling it will be quite meaningful every time I look at it.