Dave & Kathryn's wedding at Beamish

Jack's first official UK engagement required us to head off from M&D Thompson's the day after we landed from USA... Luckily we were only down the road at Beamish for Dave and Kathryn's wedding (a great 'do' btw). We'd decided to stay at Beamish Hall for a couple of nights so Jack got to stay in a pretty swish place - not bad for his first hotel experience!

No, Jack didn't get the 4-poster. Note the towels draped over the antique furniture... just in case little man had a bout of the ol' PVs... bleeeurgh! ;) (and no, thankfully he didn't)

We were impressed with the bathroom too - olde worlde antiquey is one thing, but snazzy, shiny and big is good when it comes to 'facilities'!

And this must be the biggest, shiniest, snazziest bath we've ever seen! It was HEEUGE! One of those double whirl pool jobs. Note Jack's more conservatively sized tub on the floor to the left.


When I say Jack didn't get the 4-poster, he at least had some snuggle time with Daddy one morning. Aaaah.

Not many wedding pics unfortunately - Adam was on offical duties as usher and Jayne had her hands full, literally, with Jack all day. Anyway, here's one we snapped of our table. L to R: Adam, Corinne, Jim and Corinne's son Freddie in his stroller, Jim, Ruth, Paul (early congrats on the upcoming wedding guys!), Ed.

Our little guy was happily entertained for most of the day. Here he is finally in the stroller after Jayne's arms gave out after lugging him around all day.

Jack and Daddy in their smarts


The happy couple, Dave and Kathryn. Lovely!

I think we all know who'll be wearing the trousers... ;)


One of Dave's nephews... aka Adam's little helper... aka Adam's shadow. LOL!

Jack conked out half way through the speeches.


After putting Jack to bed and leaving the Grandparents T in charge, I made it back down stairs in time for D & K's first dance.

The view from our window the next day - aaah, the lovely English countryside.

UK Trip: Jack's first flight ever

We all took a trip back to UK in November 2008. We had BIG plans for the 3-week visit, including a wedding to go to, Jack's Christening and LOTS of friends and family to introduce Jack to. :)

But first, the journey across the Atlantic...

Jack eyes up his bag and wonders what on earth is going on with just about all his stuff squeezed into that thing Mummy and Daddy keep calling 'the tardis'??

Just hanging out at Burlington Airport waiting for flight #1 to Philly

Thankfully Jack proved to be a great little traveller on his first flight. He dropped off to sleep while we were taxiing to the runway and literally woke up just after we touched down in Philly! Well done little man. :) (Phew!)

Thanks to Daddy having racked up tonnes of airmiles we got to chill out in the exec. lounge at Philly airport. A welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of this major hub.

Jack on his blanket again, coralled in the corner of the exec. lounge at Philly

Jayne and Jack passing the time

On board, Jack takes a peek out the window. The thing in the foreground is the bassinet he used which attaches to the wall in the bulkhead seats.

Yup, that'll be the bassinet. A great help on the long transatlantic flight. Sadly Jack'll almost certainly be too big for it on our next trip back.

The Boppy cushion was great too - a useful feeding/resting zone for Jack without tiring Mummy's arms too much.

Daddy was all of a blur... well, we were flying really fast!?

Jack with all our baggage - thankfully all made it safe and sound

The moment Grandad T finally got to meet his newest Grandson :)

And at long last, the cuddle they'd both been waiting for... in the carpark at Manchester airport

Jack gets reacqainted with Grandma back in Durham

Christmas cake mixing and wishing

Not very exciting for most, but it's a family tradition worthy of a post, especially since it was Jack's first time making a wish while stirring the mix. :)

Jack watches the mixture being prepared... don't fall in little guy... it would ruin the cake ;)

Jayne finishes mixing by hand, and makes her wish

Jack's turn... his very first Christmas cake wish

And now for Adam... call that wishing??

That's more like it!

And yes, Safi made her wish too. ;) The cake turned out pretty nicely and, surprisingly, there's still some left... at time of writing anyway. Maybe I'll have that cuppa with a piece of it just now...

Brace yerselves... mammoth update alert!

Okay, so having finally sorted out a bunch of pics from the end of 2008 (not even got to Christmas and 2009 yet!) a HEEEUGE spewing of pics and updates is on it's way.

You might want to put the kettle on...

2009 IS HERE... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes for 2009 from us to you. We hope 2009 brings all that you hope for.

We can't ask for things to be any better for us than they were in 2008 but we can be hopeful that 2009 is just as good. :)

We have SO many pictures to update on here and will do our best when we get a minute. COMING SOON... Jack's first transatlantic flight... Locks in UK... Jack's Christening... 1st solids... Christmas stuff... and no doubt a few bits in between.