Busted computer, first bump along the way

Pics of our last days in canada. here are some more pics of our beautiful nephew and niece:







hey again.
sorry this has taken so long to get out but our computer broke. i've lost a huge posting that i wrote on the plane over to england. also, all our music and photos are stuck inside that blasted thing. stinky. i'll have to do all my postings from internet cafes now. less convenience vs lighter backpack... up in the air after yesterday's hike...
what i wrote about on the plane over was how great of a time we had in canada and how excited we were to be going to england and the home where i lived for almost two years. i also mentioned that we were able to not only spend time with ailsa'a wonderful family, but we saw Jen and Rich and Joel and Annie as well. Very, very nice to see them all.
well, we are in england now. got here yesterday and then slept for 20 hours. i've been pulling quite a few all nighters since starting this little vaca so it was nice to catch up. we got into london heathrow at about 9:30 am and then made our way to see gareth at holmsted right off. we are only able to see him here in england for four nights so it was important to get here as soon as possible. well, we took the train into haywards heath and then we walked to holmsted. turned out the trek was a bit longer than i remember it. so, two hours and a bit later we arrived at holmsted's driveway. the walk was beautiful and well worth the effort. quite nice training for what's to come. the first thing we see when coming into the driveway was the footy pitch and someone mowing the lawn on the big ol' tractor mower. i stopped and stared hard until i was sure and then, when i saw the "alaska grown" sweatshirt i knew it was gareth. we both walked across the pitch to him and were just able to see the expression on his face when he realized who the two backpackers coming towards him were. it was a very cool hug as he wasn't even sure when we were coming to visit him and was pretty suprised.
it so nice to be at holmsted, but it's even nicer to see gareth enjoying himself so much here. ailsa and i did our tour of the place , stopping first at the spot of our first kiss ever and acted out our 23,014th. we went down to our favorite bridge (we call it "our bridge" as many do, i'm sure) but it was collapsed, sadly. the grounds are as beautiful as ever. it was especially nice to see the trees i had a hand in planting all grown up. it has been such a trip to be here with ailsa after all these years. for those of you who don't know, ailsa, my wife, and i met here at holmsted manor in January of 1996. that's almost 12 years ago now! chad, my brother, also met his future wife here when he did his dts. now, it's gareth's turn...for whatever may come his way. gareth has a great group of people on his school here and they all seem to getting along very well. he is doing a discipleship training school with YWAM, which is youth with a mission, a non-denominational, christian missionary school. i don't know all the details, and i don't think he would mind me sharing this, but it looks as if gareth is going to argentina to work at an orphanage or something in December for the outreach phase of the school. i really can't get over seeing my littlest brother here in this place. we got to walk down to "the vic" for a pint tonight but went instead to another pub as it was a bit to "stuffy" in the other (it's not the same as before). a pint costs around 3pounds!!! that's over 6 bucks!!! insane. anyways, us americans are liable to lose our money fast if we don't watch it.
we are hoping to do a bit of a hiking/camping trip together tomorrow, but we'll see. 'would like to catch the england v estonia footy match first.
anyways, don't mean to wander. the computer i'm typing on right now takes about 5 minutes to upload each photo, so i'll only be able to put a few on this post, as it's around 3:30 am and i need to try to adapt to my new time zone somewhat.
we had a great trip over here to england. we stopped in portland, maine for a night and had a "riot". we revisited many of our favorite places of rest during our nearly two year stint in that city. some quick facts: the havanna cheese steak at the "old port tavern" is hands down the best you'll ever eat. Geary's brewery makes the best beer in new england. brian boru is the best pub in north america, save for maybe the george and dragon in freemont. don't buy REI hiking pants as you may get the zipper stuck shut with your wallet and hotel room key inside the pocket. i know this. the leatherman was a fine purchase however and cut that pocket right open. no more zipping action though.
we have confirmed flights to belfast for the 17th and will spend a few days visiting our pals bryan and bre chud just west of there. from there we do some southern irish backpacking and then once we catch a ferry to france our 60 days of train travel begins. i have almost the whole thing planned out, to the minute. as i am sure this will end up resembling not exactly what occurs, it will give us a good idea of when to be where and how we can stay, etc... more of that when the time comes.
i promise to get some more pics on here once i can get on a real computer/faster connection.
blessing to all,
tyson, ailsa and _____________ or Adeline, Oliver, Huxley, Sophia, Bobby, Lamp, Chair, Pantsnow!, Chubby, Jack (S/he is a whole six inches long and weighs 6-8 ounces!!!)