Baby number five... It's a girl!

Well it’s official- baby number five is going to be a girl. Woohoo!

Becky has already been out shopping for pink and has been ordering the fabrics for her blanket. Lots of dresses, frills and cuteness!

Now what shall we call her? We have a few options but would love some suggestions. We want more unusual names but the most important criteria is that it has to be beautiful.

Oh, and there was some not so good news- baby girl has some cysts on her left kidney. Unless these clear up by the next scan (early June) she faces the loss of that kidney. If the cysts spread to the other kidney (rare from what we hear, thankfully) the condition will be “incompatible with life”.

you can see the three cysts here (poor thing) The worst thing is that there is nothing we can do but wait for the next test, and even then there is little that can be done.

And the West family grows by one...

Exciting stuff- baby number five is en route! Having now heard the heart beat and seen the images, there is definitely a baby (one baby) in there. Due date is 29^th/30^th August (ambiguity because this is a leap year and we do not think that the midwife adjusted for this in her calculation).

We are all booked in to Bassetlaw hospital for midwifery care and the birth. This is a great hospital- not too big and so very clean. Even taking into account the recent news article about a set of babies being mixed, we loved this hospital with Micah and so look forward to coming away with some more great birthing memories and (hopefully) the correct child… no Coronation Street story lines for us please!

We are looking for names at the moment- feel free to suggest additions to the shortlist.

Biggest UK Quake in years... hits us!!!

Well last night we had a earthquake measuring 5.4, it was crazy we were woken up just before one in the morning.

The whole house shook, and there was a loud noise... but true to the West nature all the children slept through it!!

Gainsborough (were we live) was the worst hit town with the most damage!!

Our house managed to escape without too much damage however Lara's bedroom and our living room (which had been freshly plastered just 4 years ago) have suffered some significant cracks.

So looks like those finished rooms are going to have to be done all over again!!!

administration in the Kingdom of God a.k.a. the closure of the Retford Branch

Today, during the Worksop branch conference, the Retford branch was formally closed, with west of the Trent becoming part of Worksop branch and everything else becoming part of Lincoln Ward. There were a few last minute expressions of dissatisfaction, but ultimately I think that everyone will get on well in the new units- all the active members have solid testimonies and huge amounts of gospel knowledge. Change is hard. We have only been in the branch for five years but still found it sad to say good bye to the friends that we had there- some of the members have been in the branch for twenty-plus years.

Being part of the eastern Trent-basin, the West family, as well as a further three active families, are now members of the Lincoln Ward, Nottingham Stake.

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Out of the branch, we are probably the least concerned about the change- nearly everyone else has only ever been in small branches and so have quite a bit of fear about what they will find. Being in a small branch means that you will always have a calling and will always be relied upon. It is a scary thing to suddenly be in a larger ward where you can go through long periods without callings and you need to move the comfort zone out to meet new people… That is the scary thing for me… apart from the long periods of time without the calling- that sounds fun!

Although, that said I have yet to serve in the Youth organisation- since leaving Young Men’s myself, I have served in primary, branch presidency, elders quorum, clerk, Sunday school and ward mission… as well as a couple of stake auxiliary presidencies and the usual mission positions. Youth or Primary would be awesome… or I could just be a Home Teacher for ages… while I live in hope, I fear that my Heavenly Father has other plans.

The new Indiana Jones movie is coming...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Not a great title but exciting stuff for the Indy fan. We are all praying for a movie spectacular rather than a Rambo flop.

Micah is One!

I can hardly believe that Micah has turned one. It seems like only a week ago that Becky was waddling around praying that he would come out. Where does the time go?

Micah is now a cheeky little monkey who loves to wrestle with his dad (more like jump on his head or whack him with the TV remote) or play with his siblings.

While not walking yet, Micah is speedy with his crawling. He has just started to stand unsupported, so we are hopeful that toddling will ensue shortly…

Christmas Day 2007 in Pictures

A happy New Year to you all. With wonder as to what this new year will bring, I have been reminiscing the year gone by. A new child, more kids starting school, church burning down… a lot of crazy events! Here’s to a new year… I wonder what it will bring?

Christmas day was awesome. Too many presents again- less per child but more as a total (Santa keeps forgetting that we are a family of six now so space in our front room is at a premium). Maybe he will remember next year (especially as presents for the older ones become more expensive but less bulky).

Christmas is coming...

The traditional school nativity was held today. Sammy and Harrison were quite wonderful and sang wonderfully.

As you can tell, Samuel was a king (with Gold) while Harrison was an RM choir member. Very cute!

Only six days left...

A man who works with his hands...

Louis Nizer, American trial lawyer, author (and part-creator of the American movie ratings system) said;
"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist."

I have no idea what this guy comes under just that it is pretty amazing. I have no idea how one can be this coordianted! (thanks Grandma Talbot-Ashby for the footage).

No Retford Branch for a while...

The branch that we meet in for church has around twenty regular sacrament attendees (of which the West’s account for 6). Because of this, the branch presidency met with each family and discussed the size and initialised discussion as to closing the branch and amalgamating the membership with one of the surrounding wards or branches.

On the back of these discussions, we recommended closure of the branch. Stake concurred and forwarded the recommendation to Area, along with boundary options. Area ratified the decision and forwarded to the church boundaries committee for approval. A lot of bureaucracy but the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of order (and we are all lay-ministers).

While waiting for the confirmation, we have been running things as we should, preparing for Christmas and arranging activities…

…Until yesterday morning when the community centre we meet in burned down. (Retford Times article about the fire)

And I mean really burned down.

Everything melted!

And so we now are meeting with Worksop Branch until we get the official word about where each family is going.