Sheldon Ward Christmas Party 12/19/2014

Bishop and Anna Stilger and Bishop's mom, Sister Stilger from Germany
The Bishop bought the house next door to his home
where S. Stilger will live while he uses the downstairs as an office.

A happier photo of Sister Stilger, a very sweet lady

Elder and Sister Jones, the benefactors of our Christmas Feast!
Look at this spread! Ham and turkey, salads, fruit, rolls, and desserts! Delicious!
The adorable baby belongs to the Manseyas who are parents to half the Primary children. :-)

Chris and Jake Maloney & Elder Burke from Australia, caught red-handed with a sumptuous mandarin!
Elder Jolley next to the tragically hideous Christmas tree. Maybe the YM were in charge of decorations? :-(

Pat Sheridan, one of the stalwarts of the Sheridan Ward.
She and her daughter Dolly teach seminary.  (Sorry about the thumb!)

Jenny

Patrick Carroll and Timmy

Pat's granddaughter in Santa hat, Camasani's daughter in red sweater; friend.

Beate Wright (R.S. teacher) from Germany - she is Sister Stilger's interpreter

Maria (pianist), Heather (R.S. counselor)

The Primary Teacher's Worst Nightmare...

Sian Davies reading a Christmas story

Jeremiah Stilger was a good sport since his "hands" belonged to a torture artist. Here, he is brushing his teeth.
Oh what fun! This skit is always a hit!

The Appreciative Audience! :-)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve! Looks like somebody had too much eggnog.

 Elder and Sister Jones hosted a Christmas Eve Luncheon.

Visit to the British Museum in London 12/15/2014

We went to the British Museum expecting to see British history, but we saw the history of the world, which belongs to us all. This is a tiny sampling of what can be seen there.

The Rosetta Stone was carved in 196 B.C. in 2 different languages. (Greek and Egyptian).
It was written using 3 script types: hieroglyphic, demotic & Greek.  The text was written to                                                   honor the Egyptian Pharaoh. It is named after the small town where it was discovered in 1799.                                         Does the shiny bald head reflected in the stone seem familiar?

Colossal Statue of King Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC)

Modern Day Ramesses I and II

Decorative ceiling inside the museum

One of a pair of sculptures found in Assyria. Mythological figures were often placed at the                                                          entrance to palaces in ancient Mesopotamia for protection against demonic forces.                                                              This particular sculpture is a winged human-headed bull.

The marble head of the horse of Selene (goddess of the moon), carved around 438-432 B.C.
This sculpture is from the east pediment or gable of the Parthenon in Athens.

Mummy, is that you?

Sister Jones admiring some of the many beautiful Egyptian sarcophagi 

Sister Jolley and Henutmehyt, an Egyptian Priestess. Her name was popular at the time she lived. (1295-1186 BC)
The richness of her burial says she was an extremely wealthy and important woman, like S. Jolley? :-)

Elder and Sister Jones: Good thing we wore our coats! It's like a refrigerator in here! 

Reconstructed artifact known as the Standard of Ur which was discovered in a royal tomb in Ur (near Bahgdad) in the 1920s. Amazing restoration work by the excavators who filled the hollows in the ground with wax to record the shape of the objects that had once filled them. They carefully uncovered small sections & covered them with wax, enabling the mosaics to be lifted while maintaining the original designs. This reconstruction is a best guess at the original appearance.

Confucius say: Wise guys imitating ancient monkey ...bad karma!:-)

London BT Christmas Concert December 15, 2014

Royal Albert Hall

Elder and Sister Jones

By the time the concert began, all the empty seats had been filled.

The papers were copies of Christmas carols for the sing-a-long.

Pre-performance candid photo shoot

Elder and Sister Jolley

London Concert Chorus, London Concert Orchestra, R.A.F. Squadronaires, John Rigby conductor

Amira Willighagen - a 10 year old girl, winner of Holland's Got Talent, was one of the guest singers. She sang Ave Maria and O, Holy Night. She has a beautiful voice that would put most grown women to shame. If you didn't see her you could not believe she was singing those songs!

The performers involved the audience to sing the 12 Days of Christmas. They had everyone taking part in actions for the song. The audience loved it since they could get up and move a bit - the actions were hilarious...sorry no video! Our camera went dead just before the end of the program.

Before the night was over, the whole audience was raising the rafters as they sang the Christmas carols. Even without the words, they seemed to know all the songs. The Christmas Spirit in that Hall was amazing. We were glowing with the realization that these people who claim not to be religious, for the most part absolutely LOVE the carols that sing praises to our Heavenly King!

This wonderful experience brought us a big dose of Christmas Cheer!

Who has a beard that's long and white?!

Santa? You found us in England!!!

Oh Christmas Tree! 

Santa the Wylde Green Ward loves you!

What would you like Santa to bring you this year?

George and Audrey...on the naughty list!

Next Year's Santa needs to eat more pudding!

Sharon with her two boys, Christopher and Alexander

Lots of good food!

The Yule Log

Alexander wearing one of the quality gifts Santa gave him.

Celebrations 2014

Sister Thomsena Anjum in their home, preparing to enjoy some carrot cake.
Elder and Sister Jolley came by to celebrate her birthday with her favorite treat..
She is wearing one of her beautiful Pakistani outfits.  

The Maloney Family Christmas Dinner
L-R: Nickie, Jake, Chris, Stephen & Nicholas

Elders Peterson and Farley join us for some Christmas cheer.

Nadia the Russian Princess out for Christmas 'Tea' with Sister Jolley.

Eliza Stilger's Baptism Day (Bishop & Anna Stilger's daughter)

Our camera battery died just as the Bishop and Eliza were posing in their white clothing. So we missed getting any shots of the main attraction. We'll ask the Stilger family if they can send us some of their photos to post soon. It was a special day for Eliza alone. They don't have the big stake baptisms here as we usually do in the U.S. When our granddaughters Aly and Lydia were baptized this year they each had their very own day, so it does happen - now and then! 

Elder Jolley got a few shots of the amazing food tables before the crowd hit...

Bread, Meat& Cheese Trays to feed the 5000...the whole ward = 100 people, on a good day.
See the grapes halfway down? E&S Jolley's 'healthy' contribution to the meal :-)

November 16th was Eliza Stilger's 8th birthday which happened to fall on Sunday. The baptismal service was held
immediately following church. The whole ward was invited and they fed us all with sandwiches and trimmings.
Bishop Stilger is a successful businessman who lives large. He and his wife Anna are very spiritual and loving people -
the backbone of Sheldon Ward. Sometimes the Bishop teaches Sunday School and then speaks in Sacrament Meeting!

Beautiful birthday cake and cupcakes with fondant frosting
A wonderful celebration for Eliza to remember...