across the pond

SLC – the last 12 months in photos

phillipsfamily — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:41:47 +0000

By the smelly Salt Lake

Salt Lake Zoo

Picnic in Millcreek Canyon

Wedding Anniversary at Millcreek Canyon

Neighborhood Vista

The front porch mid summer

Utah Gymnastics....Go Utes!

We fostered Rosie the Great Dane, for a week..

Where I teach...the University of Utah

Rock Climbing at RockCreation

White Christmas with the Paces

Hitting the slopes

New Years Eve - downtown SLC

hitting the fairways, cos the snow has gone!!

Invisible Children weekend

Georgia's 16th

Chillis for birthdays

Where we go to church...

Still playing at church....

Park City tomfoolery

Backwards, then Forwards………..

phillipsfamily — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:51:29 +0000

Looking back, I realize we are always are going forward. We have been in SLC for almost a year now, the summer looms, the kids are almost out of school, Lynne is still working in the nursery, and I am teaching summer school, to help pay for our trip to Florida in August.
We will be moving next month to an apartment a couple of miles away, with a pool and a gym.
We are starting to make some pretty good friends – including our neighbors, who are moving, to Dubai in a week or so…
I have had opportunities to share our moving stories, that of visas, waiting and being distressed over paperwork, trying to move out, then move in, getting rid of furniture ,the sense of the unknown when moving to a foreign country etc.

If it’s right, it doesn’t matter what the problems are – you just keep pressing on.

Many people I know don’t want to stagnate, and I don’t blame them.
McSean, Kera, Owen and Asher……we will miss you.

The thompsons ( without asher!!)

more rain to come

phillipsfamily — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:10:21 +0000

There is still flooding in the neighborhood we lived in 3 weeks ago, with no electricity for some, our old neighbors can’t go home for two weeks, and there is a major hurricane in the gulf ready to dump a bucket load of rain with it on Florida, with another tropical storm waiting behind it….and they are evacuating New Orleans again.

flood

phillipsfamily — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:18:40 +0000

Well you’ve probably seen the news by now about tropical storm fay…….we’ve been watching the coverage on the net, and are amazed with how blessed we are to have left our house three weeks ago – because that house that we lived in is now flooded.

We lived in a neighborhood called Timberlake – it only has one road that enters and exits the subdivision and our old house sits twenty feet away from the lake, which burst its banks on Saturday.

We had no renters/ contents insurance, would have lost all of our stuff, and our SUV would be under four feet of water.

I cannot explain how Gods timing is so impeccable that he got us out of the house in time – but He did.

It’s just stuff, but its still comforting that we have our stuff because God moved us to SLC, rather than have to start over, although it is heartbreaking to see our neighbors being evacuated in boats and realizing that there but for the grace of God would be us, in that same situation.

Check out the video coverage, on wtxl.com, and find the video for 11pm news and weather for 8/23, and check out the photos/ video on wctv.tv and tdo.com for the timberlake evacuations.

uh...wheres the road gone?

our house is the one on the far right – this photo has mysteriously left out a road with a three foot fence around it.

photos from the journey………

phillipsfamily — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:01:36 +0000

dallas cowboys new stadium

thank goodness for dvds and mcdonalds on a 2200 mile trip

west texas is interesting

get your kicks on route 66

new mexico

sandstorm in the navajo reservation

kid rock

four corners - new mexico, arizona, colorado and utah together

utah

Dear friends……….enjoy

phillipsfamily — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:41:23 +0000

new house in SLC

phillipsfamily — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:58:53 +0000

Take the tour

k2, olympics and altitude……

phillipsfamily — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:03:29 +0000

well we made our second trip to K2 church SLC Sunday and had an all round much better time than last Sunday. Maybe we had put too much pressure on ourselves with our expectations last Sunday when we pulled into town at 1230am and then made it to church 12 hours later, only to find no-one spoke to us and it all seemed a little unfriendly.

But Sunday was different. We spent some time with the youth pastor, and the lead pastor, and actually spoke to people! The youth group has a junior high contingent of about 20 kids, and the high school has 30-50 kids.

Tuesday night Georgia goes with the high schoolers to spend sometime at an apartment block with some refugees from Africa. I get the feeling she is growing a servant heart!

Check out the church website – www.k2thechurch.com.

I have been fixed to the tv for the olympics, and can’t help but admire Michael Phelps domination in the swimming – but when you swim in so many events, the more chance you have of winning a medal. People are saying he will be the greatest olympian of all time, because he will have more golds than anyone in history. But what if you are a single event athlete? doesnt that seem a little unfair? I would choose Steve Redgrave the British rower – winner of a gold medal in FIVE consecutive olympics, and thru all this, he is a diabetic who injects himself with insulin five times a day.

I have been very tired lately, kinda funny with balance, blocked up ears etc. Apparently its the altitude – we are 5000 feet above sea level.

Even when I sneeze blood shoots out of my nose!!! This will only go on for another week or so though.

Anyway…back to the Olympics!…………those Chinese gymnasts are strong boys aren’t they?!!!

SLC Journey

phillipsfamily — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:31:43 +0000

ok folks – heres the rundown – alabama is not all pickups and flowers, but it almost is – mississippi has more holes than roads – louisiana has more roads but still holes – east texas is great, dallas/fort worth etc, but west texas has nothing there and is the most uninhabited place in the US – until you get to new mexico which is worse but hilly(even though I had a scorpion die on my foot) – we were in arizona for a good fifteen minutes so I can’t make a comment, and the same in colorado – and much of utah is orange.

the rundown on SLC is this……..parking is harder because the parking spaces are smaller………..we can’t find moes, publix or sonnys…………..the friendliness of the people doesnt match southern hospitality……………its a big city with 1.2 million people living in the valley……………you can go for a walk without becoming soaked in your own sweat………..I haven’t heard anyone say the word ‘dagummit’…….and the city is based on a street grid system, and so if you can’t count in 100s you are toast.

We all miss Tally but know that God is with us. But we do miss you all very much.

Sweet Home Alabama

phillipsfamily — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:42:02 +0000

Mobile Bay

Alabama is not all what you think – it’s not just flowers and pick up trucks- there are many parts that are nice – especially Fairhope!!!!!