The day after we got back from Rome, we went down to Scott and Helen Cryer's house for a farewell get together.  Helen invited Caden and Rebecca Stiles as well, since they also were leaving the UK this summer to go back to Canada.  All three of our families are good friends with one another, so we had a fantastic time hanging out, eating and talking.  We talked about everything from our kids to work to politics to our travels to the gospel. 

     It was really hard to say goodbye to Helen and Scott.  We met them in 2005 when we moved to Brampton.  Scott was bishop at the time.  I didn't immediately take a strong liking to him, probably because he is pretty reserved and quiet, so he is a little bit hard to get to know.  But as I got to know him, I became convinced that he and Helen were two of the most special people I had ever met.  Tim and I became such good friends with them that we would joke that Tim was Scott's only friend, because Helen would always claim that Scott didn't have any friends! 

     Our kids were similar ages, and so over the five years we were in Brampton we started to have more and more social engagements with the Cryers.  During half term I would bring my kids over to her house, or she would come to my house.  One time they came over and we did Halloween-type stuff, another time they came over and we did Easter activities together - I think that year we made lamps out of Sculpy and a model of the Garden of Gesthemene.  We went over to Helen's one year and made Valentine cards with all her fabulous card making stuff.  She always had us over for her yearly bonfire night for Guy Fawkes, where we always had her yummy chili.

     Then, there were all the Sunday dinner engagements - she would have us over, or we would have them over.  And they became our birthday party regulars:  I usually try to do something to celebrate Tim's birthday, and mine as well, since it takes place in the same week.  I always invited the Cryers to our birthday celebrations, probably more regularly than I invited anyone else (except maybe Liz Knight)  And they always came.

     But the thing I love about Helen and Scott is that they are both so strong in the gospel.  I feel like I can trust them both completely, with anything.  So, it was really, really hard to say goodbye.  It didn't help that Abigail and Lucy were crying like the world was about to end! 

     Here I am with Helen:



 

     And here we are, the two couples:

     Then, after Rome and a sociable weekend, it was back to the daily grind.  The only difference was that now the daily grind included getting ready to move, which was really stressful.  To break up the stress, I tried to make life as normal as possible for the kids.  So, it was the first of July - of course I had to take the kids strawberry picking, and then come and make loads of jam, even though we would be leaving the country within the month.
     Eleanor took this picture as we were getting ready to make the jam.  Pretty artistic, isn't it?

    
     Here's Georgie, preparing the strawberries:

 

      Eleanor and Verity were a great help, too:

     Here is our beautiful jam.  Just strawberries, sugar and lemon juice.  It doesn't get any simpler, or better than that:

     I also made sure that I got around to making Elderflower panna cotta - or Elderflower custard - can't remember now which one I did!  But both are important, so it doesn't matter.  The point is that I got to soak elderflower in cream one last time before I left England, an opportunity not to be missed.

     A lot of time at this point was spent going from room to room and deciding what we were keeping, and what we would be leaving behind.  Here's a shelf unit - used by Tim's family when he was little - that has been with us from the time Abigail was a baby.  It didn't make the cut.         

     And here's Tim and Peter's old desk, which we have had for a very long time, which stayed behind as well.

     The next weekend we had the Boston ward's annual campout.  Fortunately, the weather was fantastic!  The cold, cold winter seemed to have given way to a long, beautiful summer.  For the first time in about 25 years, I tried my hand at cooking breakfast over an open fire.  I loved it!

     But this was not any old ward campout.  In the morning we had a big Relief Society activity - one of our main activities all year.  We had decided to do something on provident living.  An old subject, but one that the Boston Relief Society hadn't done in a while.  We wanted to cover several different aspects of provident living, but make it a little bit different at the same time.  We decided to cover first the more conventional topic of how to use wheat food storage, wonderfully presented by Elaine Elsdon, who had brought loads of different dishes using whole wheat, such as a peanut butter cookies, chocolate cake, and spaghetti sauce:

     Then, on to the rather non-conventional topic!  It was suggested, when we planned the activity in February, that a good 'last days' skill to have - when food would be considered scarce - would be to be able to skin a rabbit.  I might add that some of the people who were very enthusiastic about this idea back in February were also the ones who decided it was all too much for them and decided not to not attend when the activity actually took place! 
     So, Barry White, of course, was our guy.  He dutifully shot some rabbits for us, and brought them along so that he could give us a hands-on demonstration.  The kids were both fascinated and completely disgusted:

     It was supposed to be a Relief Society activity, but it was a family campout, so the kids were running around.  The lure of butchery was too much for them, and the Primary and the Youth soon started congregating around our activity, and then became full participants!  Abigail and Imogen some of the first to volunteer to try their hand at skinning.  The pictures speak for themselves, so there is no need for commentary!

     The last activity was a presentation on outdoor survival, done by Gav Smith.  We were taught how to start a fire, which the boys particularly enjoyed.

     Tim was in and out during the Relief Society activity, packing up the tent and getting everything ready to go.   True to form, he managed to find time to fly one of his airplanes.  And, true to form, he managed to get the airplane stuck in a tree.  For not the first time in his life, Tim became the center of attention of a non-airplane event by climbing up very high in a tree to recover his airplane.  This time no one seemed to mind, however (the first time it happened, which was at a violin recital in 2008, some people minded very much!).

     The Bishop had made an appointment to see me and Tim on the following Tuesday.  I just assumed it was to talk about something to do with being Relief Society President - or, worst case scenario, to talk about something bad one of our children had done.  Since both Tim and I had to go, that meant that we had to take all the kids with us.  At one point we considered not taking Eleanor, because I think she was feeling ill, which meant one of us would be staying home.  But about 30 minutes before we had to leave, Tim pulled me aside and said he thought that the ward might be planning something for us, so we all needed to be in attendance.  It hadn't even occurred to me, but he was right. 
     We drove up to the chapel, and the big girls said 'Wow, there are a lot of cars here for a Tuesday night.'  And we walked into the chapel, and it was very quiet for a Tuesday.  The Bishop greeted us, then took us into the cultural hall.  Everyone shouted 'SURPRISE!'  Then commenced a very thoughtful, very nice farewell party from the Boston ward.  Loads of people were in attendance, including lots of less actives.  I don't have a ton of pictures, but here are some.  Here are Kathy Henman, Pat Hounsell, and Joyce White:

     The lovely Rhi Lavender:

     And the very kind Ian Wilson:

 

     They took our family picture, with the brilliant farewell sign they made for us.  The kids had all made really good friends in that ward, and they were very sad to go. 

     As for me, being in the Boston ward was definitely an important part of my spiritual journey.  It was not the strongest of wards, and a lot of the time I found that an unwelcome challenge.  But I learned some incredible lessons serving in that ward.  I don't know if I can recount all of them here, but here are a few thoughts:  I learned that when those close to us are not living the gospel, love and endurance are the answers, not wallowing in disappointment; I learned that God takes us as we are, and asks us to follow and serve Him - he does not wait until we are perfect to call us into leadership positions; I learned that God looks past our sins and our imperfections, and loves us perfectly, and we need to try to do the same to those around us.  I learned that serving the church is an essential part of our spiritual growth, and we need to ask 'What can I do for the Church' rather than 'What can the Church do for me'. 

     Those three years in Lincolnshire were a very tough time.  But God answered our prayers in incredible ways while we were there - more powerfully than either Tim or I had experienced before.  We left with stronger, deeper, richer testimonies than when we arrived.  We could feel that God was with us every step of the way.