Saturday, 7 January, 2006, London, England~

Dear Friend in America~

Hullo! How are you doing? I enjoyed your delightful letter of last week; I am sorry for not responding sooner, but Angus has been in hospital. He had an attack of appendicitis; he had surgery, and now he is finally doing better, but he is in a lot of pain. I sure do miss him; poor Alastaire, Peter, Brighton, and Millie have been worried about their daddy; they sure wish he were home! (I do too!) I will keep you posted on his progress in hospital; stay tuned~

Other than that, we are well, but it sure is quiet without my dear Angus here! He is always singing, and he seems to be a happy sort of fellow: always chipper, always smiling, he is! I sure picked a good one in my Angus! :)

How is your family? Has your company gone back to their respective homes? It seems like you had a most lovely Christmas; I am happy for you and your children! I was sorry to learn that the picture of the kids on your one letter were not yours. I sure would love to see a picture of your kids (a recent one would suffice!). I bet that is a challenge, trying to get 53 children to pose for a picture! LOL I could just picture it! Do you do the pictures, or do you go to a photographer? I bet they just CRINGE when they see the lot of you coming into their studio! That must be quite a sight! LOL I am glad that your children have stayed well and out of hospital; I do pray that this continues!

Other than Angus getting sick and ending up in hospital and having surgery, there is not really much going on. I have been following the news reports of Ariel Sharon and also the miners in West Virginia on the BBC, and of course, all the violence in Iraq; such awful goings-on in the world today! Makes me wish that I was a turtle, so I could hide from all this sad news going on! It is enough to make me, a stalwart British woman, break down and cry! (And me, I don't cry much, but when I do...watch out!!)  The weather here is grizzling: drizzling, cold, just plain dismal out. The kids are bored staying indoors, and I am busy trying to keep four little ones entertained. It is enough to make me want to pull out my hair! How do you manage 50 + kids? I have more than enough with just FOUR!! LOL And now with Angus being in hospital, it is enough to drive me MAD!!!!

Well, dear, I must shut this down...the kids are screaming again...rather, it's Millie who is doing the screaming; seems that her big brothers are teasing her again. I am going to have to get after them about that! Aye, such is the life of a mother, eh?? *grins*

Love, your friend in London, England, Rosie. :)

Keep Angus in your prayers! Thank you! Better yet, keep us ALL in your prayers!!

Isn't this picture too cute? I saw it on the Web, and I thought it was funny! Enjoy! :)