Meet the Rushtons

(left to right): Rose, Adam, Helen Clare, John, Kelly, and Heather

Here is my other half of the family! I feel so incredibly blessed by the Lord to have such loving in-laws. Mum and Dad Rushton (Rose and John) generously provided air tickets to Australia as their wedding gift to us. Wow. What an amazing trip Adam and I had this past fall when we went to visit them! It was perfect timing because Heather and Kelly (my new sisters-in-law) were staying at the house, too. We all had 3 1/2 weeks of quality family time together--Mum and Dad even took off of work for our whole visit. Although I had only spent a few days with them right before our wedding, I immediately felt at home and a true part of my new family. Every single member of Adam's family treated me with such love and acceptance that I was truly overwhelmed. When I came back to London raving about how wonderful they are, I got some funny reactions--probably because those individuals have rather more, uh, challenging relationships with their in-laws! We had so much fun checking out the unusual Australian wildlife (even touching kangaroos, koalas, and dolphins), going for drives in the lush, green countryside, walking along trails into the srubby bush, gazing out across the crystal blue ocean, eating fish and chips on Bondi Beach (Sydney), trying the "World's Best" pies (savoury, not sweet, in this country) outside Kangaroo Valley (yes, a real town! and one of the cutest you'll ever see), eating banana splits at none other than...the Big Banana, and to top it all off: climbing to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It's fun even now to think back over our trip and all the fun things we did...There are so many more but I better not get too carried away.