Above: screenshots of temperatures today in the UK and here in Tarboro!

Happy Saturday, friends. I was talking with a friend about the oppressive heat and he asked what summer was like in England when I was growing up. I laughed about temperatures in the low 70’s with 80 considered a heat wave and then I had a “What am I doing in eastern North Carolina?” moment!

I remember a day one summer in England (I think it was 1972) when it hit 90 and the event dominated the news with massive front page headlines in all the papers. So I looked at my hometown – Folkestone – in my weather app and grabbed this early afternoon screenshot (above).

The grandchildren!

But the weather – other than a little whining and complaining – is not my topic for today’s post, it’s the grandchildren. During our time together I posted a series of day-by-day updates, but this is designed to round out the whole experience.

I felt like this time together was pivotal for Geoffrey and me in the same way I was able to bond with David and Beks when I took care of them while their parents were in Italy (April 2014, when David was two and a half and Beks just over nine-months!).

So here it is: our twelve days with the grandchildren (2025) using just twenty-one images. I want to capture the life, the laughter, the fun, the faith, the intimacy and the variety.

Also, one more thing. There are several photographs in here that speak to our core intentions with all of our grandchildren: from communicating the critical importance of faith to the value we place in learning, to our desire to continue exposing them to a wide and inclusive view of this world.

So the image of the three children standing in front of a representation of this beautiful and fragile planet is probably my key visual for today.

They are an amazing crew – David and Beks and Geoffrey (as is Andrew and Alicia’s Mr. T.) – and we are grateful to their parents for trusting us to their care again this summer. We do not know what the future holds or if we will be able to take them all together again… or one at a time? But we do know that this summer was epic.

Blessed, always – DEREK