What have the Pendletons been up to?

If you have been on the edge of your seat wondering what the Pendleton's are up to these days...relax, click on the link below, and enjoy a few merry words from us and lots of pictures.


Pendleton Christmas Letter

Sneak peak...Back in Italy!

Conwy Castle, Wales

Scotland

Twilight at Eileen Donan Castle

Scotland, land of the bagpipe, home of William Wallace, range of the highland cow, and castle heaven. Being that we are already on this side of the pond and also that I (Caleb) had saved up a few dollars for our anniversary, we decided to take an early anniversary and enjoy seven days of Scotland. Since I was planning the trip, logically, it would include as many castle stops as possible.  We drove over 1,500 miles and along the way saw more than  25 castles, magnificent and rugged Scottish countryside, waterfalls, holy sites, ancient  Roman walls, and quaint little villages.

Hadrian's Wall 122AD  (74 miles long)

Justus not liking the cold-windy walk - Hadrian's Wall

Overlooking Edinburg

Our trip started out by what was supposed to be 4 ½ hour trip (according to our faithful GPS) from Newcastle-Under-Lyme, England to Edinburgh, Scotland. It turned out to be 9 hours. We learned that whatever estimated time the GPS said it would take us, we were to double it due to nursing, food, potty, castle, and beautiful view stops.  The saying, “getting there is half the fun” was our motto except we changed it to “getting there is half the fun and twice the time” Especially, since every other day we spent a day driving getting to our next destination. We had a blast seeing most of Scotland. On our way to Edinburgh we stopped at the English/Scottish boarder to check out the 2000 year old Hadrian's Wall. If you've seen the movie "The Eagle" they show what it would've looked like 2000 years ago when the Romans where trying to keep the Pics (ancient  Scots) from attaching Roman settlements. The wall went from the West to the East coast. 

Justus enjoying a picnic in the castle courtyard

After Hadrian's wall we arrived in Edinburgh, which is full of history with its castle that has changed from Scottish to English hands and back and forth again, to its palace, and ancient city. Charity and I seem to be on the same page, big cities are interesting and full of history and museums, but we prefer the small town and countryside. Of course, the exception to that would Rome and Prague. While in Edinburgh, I dropped Charity off to get some pampering=haircut (she has had her hair cut in 4 different countries{USA,Mexico,Ireland, and Scotland) and snuck off to buy her some exquisite Celtic jewelry. That night we went for a romantic walk around Edinburgh. It is always fun to see a city in the daytime and then at night again. 

William Wallace Monument - Looks like something out of the Lord of the Rings

FISH and chips - "What ya got Mama?"-Justus

After a couple of days in Edinburgh on the east coast we took the scenic route to the west coast port town of Oben(with a few stops at the Wallace Monument/Sterling Castle/Inverary Castle). Here we stayed at a great B&B with the best hostess. Of course being a coastal city we had to have some fish and chips.








The next day we booked the three Isle tour, Staffa, Mull, and Iona. I don’t usually like to do tours, but this was kinda forced upon me since there was no other way to see the Isles. In the end I was very glad we did. Our coach driver was hilarious. It was like a comedy show, but on a bus. Here are a few extracts:

Highland Cow

“See those cows? Those are Highland cows, they are strong, brave, good looking, humble, courageous, and benevolent…I am a Highlander as well.”

“You know how they do those sales, the buy one get something free? Well, the other day I bought a cup of coffee and got a free wife.”

“This part of the trip is boring. It’s a great time to take a nap, I’ll go ahead and take one too.” – he’s the driver

“See that boat (it was a two man dilapidated boat)? That is similar to the one you’ll be going on to the Isles, expect yours will be smaller”

Isle of Staffa

The boat rides to the Isles were amazing. The Isle of Staffa is an incredible and unique volcanic formation. The isle is made up of naturally formed hexagonal pillars and home to puffin birds. Fascinating!

Isle of Iona Monastery 

Afterward we spent half of the day at the sacred Isle of Iona, where Saint Columba started a monastery in 563 A.D.  The monastery was hugely successful, and played a crucial role in the conversion to Christianity of the Picts of Scotland in the late 6th century and of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in 635. A large number of satellite institutions were founded, and Iona became the center of one of the most important monastic systems in Great Britain and Ireland. While here one can feel the spirit of peace. I felt as if the centuries of this Isle being used to seek God had left an imprint of God’s peace. The Scottish writer, William Sharp, poetically expressed the spirit of Iona "To tell the story of Iona is to go back to God, and to end in God."

Eilean Donan Castle

Our journey continued into the Scottish highlands where we got see some of the most impressive castles I’ve ever seen. As we meandered through barren and rough mountainous highlands we came upon Stalker castle, which was built completely on an island and could only be accessed by boat or when there was a drought. Further on we got to see Eilean Donan Castle. Eilean is one of my very favorite castles; I even had it on my bucket list.

After the castles we drove to Isle of Skye, (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgitheanach) it is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous center dominated by the Cuillin hills. Even though there was a cool waterfall and landscapes, this area and the B&B we stayed at were our least favorite (the breakfast at our B&B was old and the bread was even moldy…yuck). If you are going to Scotland, avoid Skye and enjoy somewhere else instead.

Even though we’d gotten to see some spectacular things in Scotland there was more to come. For about an hour we drove next to Lock Ness looking for Nessy, but to our chagrin we didn’t get to see him/her. We ended up in Cairngorms National Park, the epicenter of castles. After so much traveling, Charity had seen as many castles as she needed to. So we decided that she would like to spend the day in town visiting the little shops and taking it easy and I would do some castle hoping.  We both had a really fun time respectively.

We finished the glorious trip with a visit to the Boarder Abby’s in the south of Scotland.

Here are a few pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure: Videos and Slideshow

A Belated Christmas Letter

Warmest belated Christmas greetings, and best wishes for a New Year full of purpose. As the end of 2011 draws near, we thought a letter with a few words about what has transpired in our lives over this, the most eventful and wonderful year yet, were in order.

Well, let us start at the beginning...the start of 2011 found us blessed with our first baby, Justus Finley Pendleton, born on December 1^st, 2010. It also found us as sojourners in Uvalde, TX as we had just moved out of our San Antonio home and were anticipating a move to England soon thereafter. Not to be daunted by all of these changes, we signed up to take a five day training course from Christian Listeners USA (CLUSA), a non-profit whose mission is to “be the listening heart of Jesus Christ in a broken world.” 

Days after the course finished, our little family boarded a plane headed for a study-abroad program in England. We arrived exhausted and without a home, but thanks to the valiant efforts of Caleb, the help of kind owners of a B&B in Keele, and the favor of God, we moved into a lovely two-story flat (aka apartment or townhouse) in Newcastle-under-Lyme. We spent the next six months there as Caleb studied at Keele University. 













We had the time of our lives: we bonded as a family, cherished every day with Justus, learned the ways of a different culture, read lots of books, traveled a good deal (Czech Republic, Italy, Scotland, and Wales), soaked up the beautiful green, wet , and cool England, entertained friends and family from the U.S., visited over 30 castles, saw ancient wonders, and made many new friends.

July found us back in Texas: visiting friends and family, taking the next level of training in Christian Listeners, and acclimating to the blistering Texas Summer; in August we were off to Manzanillo,Mexico to spend time with family, but come September, we settled down in Uvalde as Caleb's school schedule necessitated. During this time, we also started a new business in the trucking/oil industry. In October, we were surprised and overjoy to find we are expecting another little blessing; he/she is due June 19,2012. 

We have only six more months to prepare Justus for big-brotherhood! December 1^st brought about Justus' first birthday which we celebrated with a trip to the San Antonio Zoo; Justus loved seeing all the animals, but his favorite were the fish. As this month comes to a close, we will celebrate Caleb's birthday, Jesus' birthday, head to Mexico, and celebrate the New Year with Caleb's side of the family.

2012 will be full of big events for us: in January, we will help teach and oversee a Christian Listening Retreat in Uvalde (it's not too late to sign-up; there's our shameless plug ;)), we also hope to move back to San Antonio towards the end of the month (keep your eyes out for a small home/cottage for rent). In May, Caleb will complete his undergraduate degree in Business management Information Systems from the University of Texas at San Antonio completely debt free. He will also get to participate in a study-abroad trip to China. In June, God willing, we will have baby Pendleton number two naturally, in fact we are even toying with the idea of doing a home-birth. July onwards we anticipate enjoying our expanding family, focusing on building/managing our business, working with CLUSA, and dreaming...about traveling, attending graduate school at Denver Seminary, and the Retreat/Healing Center that we hope to one day open. In a nutshell, there is the past year and the upcoming one in the lives of Caleb, Charity, Justus, and Baby-boy-on-the-way Pendleton. If you are dying to know more about  the life and times of Mr. Justus Finley, then check out his blog at www.blogforjustus.blogspot.com.

Warmly,

The Pendletons

Italy: where the magic is

"How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?"                             

Dr. Seuss

I don't often quote Dr. Seuss, but this time his was the most fitting I could find to describe how I am feeling at the moment. Although we have been in England almost six months and our time here has come to an end, I feel as if we only just arrived. And although I have been meaning to blog about a trip that transpired three months ago, I have only just begun. So I ask myself "how did it get so late so soon?" But before the later comes any sooner, I shall commence a story of our time in Italy.

There is one word that sums up Italy...
                                                               Magical

This is the country where the seeds of love were first planted in my heart for a certain Caleb Pendleton over three years ago. As we returned to the city of Love--Rome--married, with our precious little baby, and accompanied by four good friends, we found the city and the rest of the country just as magical as the first time we were there together. From rich history, to fabulous food, irresistible gelato, breath-taking landscapes, and awe-inspiring ancient structures, Italy has it all!

Need I say more?

Rome

Resting at the Forum

Castello at night

We had one week in Italy, and it was a wonderful week at that. On our first day, we flew into Rome from Prague. Aside from catching trains, subways, and buses with a group of six adults and one baby, plus all our backpacks, we managed to get checked into our apartment, grab a bite of tasty Italian Pizza, and then were off to see the sights. We walked about the city from about six o'clock in the evening till at least one in the morning! A few of the highlights included the Roman Coliseum, Illy cappuccinos (only later did we find that Illy coffee was, in the words of one Italian, “for snobs”), Piazza Navonna, the famous Treve Fountain, the best gelato in Rome, many a beautiful cobbled alleyways, and the most diverting jokes of the pence variety. Let me explain the pence bit, my brother Ryan during his two week trip abroad visited four countries, three of which used different currencies. So by the time he arrived in Italy, he was entirely confused with all of the different coins that had accumulated in his pockets. We did our best to explain that the English bills were called "notes," and that the change was called "pence," that the Czech currency was called "Crowns," and the Italian currency "Euro;" this was all a bit overwhelming and so he called almost every coin a pence, whether it was a British, Czech, or Italian. And thus began one of the most comical aspects of our entire trip...pence jokes, the other being "special privilege flashers."  Late into the night, as our exhausted and crippled group (from bum knees to blistered feet, we had all varieties of ailments by this point) shuffled through the streets of Rome, someone would through up the next joke to lighten our weariness…a pence for your thoughts, pence we are on the subject, well I’ll pence-il this into my journal, we’ll have to add that to the ex-pence sheet, let me give you my two-pence, and many many more.

2011 C & C

2008 C & C

Cappuccino + Corneto = best breakfast

The next day, after the essential capaccino and corneto (Italian pastry), we headed to Piaza del Popolo, were we rented bicyles. Cycling around the city is the best way to see Rome, and so this is what we did, all six of us with little Justus strapped onto Caleb’s back. 

Bike riding in Rome is the best way to see it

With Caleb in the lead, we had moments where we held our breath, like when were in the middle of crazy traffic and where we lost our breath, ascending the hill that never ends to look out over Rome’s skyline. Sadly, Caleb left our camera in the basket of his bicycle upon returning it to the rental shop. And although we searched all the bicycles and reported the loss to the owners of the shop, our little camera was gone for good.

Civita & Assisi

Caleb is an amazing photographer 

Civita - So rustic 

After two non-stop days in Rome, the time came to move on to our next destinations, the spectacular Civita di Bagnoregio and captivating Assisi. But before we dive into explaining the wonders and beauties of Civita, let me first mention that Caleb procured a good sized van so that our merry group could traverse the desired roads of Italy at our own pace (this piece of information is critical in understanding the upcoming stories including “special privileges flashers”). Upon exiting Rome, we soon arrived at one of the most incredible little villages I have ever beheld. Perched atop a lone peak in the midst of a giant valley, sits the beautiful city of Civita.

Best food in Italy + sneaking in a kiss

The only way to get to the tiny village is by a footbridge, thus it is essentially untouched by time. There are no cars, no sirens, no traffic lights, only a plethora of stone homes, restaurants, and a cute town square. It was at one of these little restaurants, Osteria Al Forno di Agnese, that we enjoyed the best of Italian hospitality and food. A sweet lady by the name of Manuela served us some of the tastiest lasagne and ravioli plus she brought out a mat and blanket to lay Justus on so that he could rest while the rest of us ate.

Caleb having fun w/jumping pics

City of Assisi 

From Magnificent Civita, we were off to another lovely place, the city of Assisi, named after the saint, Frances of Assisi. We were awed by the ancient city on a hill, complete with a towering castle, an enormous church, innumerable cobbled alleyways (our van hardly fit through these narrow streets), cute little tourist shops, and an ambiance that breathed peace and beauty.

Church of Saint Francis of Assisi 

We bid farewell to Assisi after a short day and were off to San Gimignano, a town known for its towers (there are 14 remaining of the former 72)  and world famous gelato (the frozen nectar of the gods). To our dismay, we arrived too late to get our hands on a cone.

 

San Gimignano at night

Thus, we changed our plans of staying in Florence to include spending the night in San Gimignano, all so we could try that gelato. Everyone was in complete unison on this decision, who wouldn’t when world-renown gelato was at their fingertips? 

San Gimignano - Sunrise

Miraculously, we found a place to stay, due to a crying baby and Caleb’s dashing good looks (I had to get a little possessive after three American women fawned over him and even took pictures of him!). But back to the story, the first place we checked was far to ex-pence-ive for our budget, as was the second and third, however the forth place we tried was a convent and we had a little better luck here. The nun told us her convent was full, but seeing our motley crew and me holding a crying Baby Justus (it was 10:00pm by this point) took pity on us and sent us to a nearby hotel, whose owner had already gone home for the night. Gratefully, the lady at the restaurant next door called the owner who returned to the hotel and put us up for the night. Of course, none of the communicating would have been possible without Caleb’s stellar Italian speaking skills. We were so grateful to finally have a place to lay our heads. Which is what we did, well…after we had a goodbye service of toasting and feasting on corneti for our dear friends Ryan and Casy who would be flying home to Texas the next day.

Gelato - World Champ 2006-2010

When the gelato shop opened at ten o’clock we were the first to come strolling through the doors with an enthusiastic “buen giorno!” (Good morning). Every single one of us ordered a large cone with three delectable flavors, and after consuming said cones, marched right back inside for another round. The servers thought we were a little weird, eating six scoops of gelato each, but hey, it’s not every day that we Texans can enjoy Italian nectar of the gods.  

Group with Florence in the background

After making ourselves half sick with all the gelato, we were off to Florence, where we drove illegally through “authorized vehicles only” streets, ran through the city for the two-hour mini-tour of the highlights, danced to italian street musicians, and best of all, hit up the hill overlooking the city for a gorgeous sunset.

Caleb danced here solo in 2008 w/me in 2011

From there we hit the road for Pisa, the city from which Ryan’s and Casy’s plane departed. We were down to the wire on time, so it was a bit tragic that we made a wrong exit on major toll road, did a uturn before the toll booth, almost ran out of gas, and had to stop for a nursing session. Thanks to the good Lord, we got them to the airport just in time for take-off!

Sunset of Florence

Besides the Leaning Tower, Pisa does not have much to offer in the way of beauty, atmosphere, and attractions so after a less than peaceful night in less than desirable accommodations, the remaining members of our  group, Ashley, Christopher, Caleb, myself, and Baby Justus hopped on the train and headed to a more desirable, and even lovely locale, Cinque Terre. 








But not before we illegally parked near the Leaning Tower of Pisa (this was one of those times we used our “Special Privelages” status), dropped the van off at the rental place, forgot our back-up camera in the van that we had just dropped off, and made a dash back to the car rental place where we secured said camera.

Pisa

Cinque Terre

Beautiful ocean views and a string of five quaint villages, surrounded by terraced vineyards greeted us as we stepped off the train into the Italian Riveria region known as Cinque Terre (five lands). 

View from our balcony 

Night view from our balcony 

The only way to access these remote villages are trains, plains, and boats, but not cars. Some of the locals own cars that are transported there via trains, and it was in one of these that the owner of an apartment for rent picked us up and drove us part of the way to our humble yet perfect accommodations (she only drove us part way because the roads narrowed into footpaths). 

View of Corniglia

Our time in Cinque Terre was dreamlike, days of walking along the scenic paths between the villages, eating tasty pasta, drinking a bit of their famous wine, watching gorgeous sunsets over the ocean, and of course, eating at least one cone of gelato and drinking at least one capucino per day (this was a tradition we were very vigilant in keeping over the course of our time in Italy).


One of the more comical events of our trip took place on the way from Cinque Terre to Venice. Caleb had secured online a large rental vehicle for us in the nearby city of La Spezia, but we arrived to pick it up, the car rental representative informed us that we would have to take a smaller vehicle. 

Riomaggiore

This news did not suit Caleb’s fancy, so he spent the next HOUR arguing in Italian with the representative. By the time he was finished, we all knew a bit of Italian, other customers had gotten involved in the dispute, Caleb had asked to speak to the president of the company (his request was mainly to emphasize that he wanted to speak with someone important, but the representative responding first with a shock and then told Caleb that “the president does not talk to customers”), we had lost an hour, and we drove away with the smaller vehicle. Oh the adventures of traveling abroad! Next time, we will take the train to Venice.

Venice

This is where we had our romantic dinner

Venice was everything we imagined it would be, and although we had a very short time to spend in this magical island of a city, we took full advantage, eating a romantic dinner along one of the canals, getting lost through the myriad of beautiful alleyways, dancing to a symphony in the magnificent St. Mark’s Square, sipping capaccinos, and riding to and from the island on waterbuses. This place definitely deserves more than half a day’s visit, so we hope to return someday.

From Venice we headed back to Merry Old England, where the two men of the group (Caleb and Christopher) had arranged for us to stay in a luxury castle on a romantic getway. Thus, ended our memorable second trip to Italy.

Lessons learned while in Italy

• Drink Illy cappuccinos everyday (it is the coffee of snobs for a reason…it’s really really good!)
• Eat gelato at least once per day (the best gelato is in San Gimignano)
• See the sights of Rome from atop a bicyle (but don’t forget to take your camera out of the little basket)
• It’s ok to eat gelato for breakfast, only if it’s world famous though
• Don’t rent a car from Maggiori’s car rental if you are in a hurry, just take the train
• If you are tired and weary, try to think of some pence jokes

Shadow of a Dream

May 5, 2011

Our house feels a bit empty now that our most recent guest, Michelle, has departed for her dream destination, Italy. Michelle was the sixth visitor to our little home in Newcastle-under-Lyme. First to arrive were Casy and Ryan, followed a few weeks later by Ashely and Chris (friends and family from Uvalde), with Catherine fast at their heels, and Michelle not far behind her. In a small way, perhaps more like a foreshadowing, we feel as if our dream to run a B&B/retreat for those who need a bit of rest and respite has begun. Together we make a good team, offering our guests hospitality of the warmest sort--tasty local food, steaming hot beverages, good conversations, and entertaining activities/outings. Of course, Baby Justus adds a dash of joy and fun to our spread of amenities. In fact, some of our guests would be perfectly happy to do nothing more than play with him all day (that particular guest, I foresee will be my Mom).

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub established in 1538
 (Frequented by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Dr. Samuel Johnson
 author of the "Dictionary of the English Language")

My dear friend Casy and fun older brother Ryan met up with us in London. After many an adventure on their part and ours, we found each other around 10:00pm! The next few days flew by as we dodged in and out of the fast-moving London trafick, on our way to see the signature marks of this old city: Big Ben, the houses of parliament, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, the White Tower, and our two favorites, an old pub called "Ye Cheschire Cheese" and Hillsong Church London. A few lessons learned on this trip: check the local news and avoid London if a 2 million person protest is planned, bring printed directions to the place you will be staying (don't rely on your iPhone alone), have a rendezvous location and time to meet your party, bring a book about the city you are visiting, and be sure to visit Hillsong Church if there happens to be one.
 

Chris & Ashley - Sunrise walk in Prague

After a week and a half tour around Prague and most of Italy with our friends Ashley and Chris, we thought England might be a bit underwhelming for these two. However, Caleb and Chris, being the romantics that they are, planned a special outing to, you will never beleive it....a castle hotel. We received royal treatment and accomodations at this gorgeous locale.  My bet is that Ashley and Chris left England feeling far from dissapointed with their time here.

Catherine on Stanage Edge

Being that Catherine was a well traveled lass, we wanted to give her a trip worth remembering. So with the superb researching, deal-finding, and driving skills of Caleb, we managed to to take her to the ancient city of Chester (the old Roman city with the wall encircling the old town area), the rugged cliffs called "The Roaches" in what is known as the Peak District, followed by a tour through some quintessential English towns like Buxton with it's so-called healing mineral waters and English park and Ashford-in-the-Water, a visit to the breathtaking Chastworth Estate,one of the most impressive estates in Britain-a Baroque palace with over 100 acres of magnificent gardens also the locale for the film Pride and Prejudice's Pemberly Estate, we saved the best for last catching not only the sunset from Stanage Edge,Kiera Knightley's vantage point for the beautiful view of English countryside, but also the full moon rising.

Michelle all over the place at Shrewsberry Castle

Michelle, having never been out of the U.S.A, found the traveling aspect an adventure in and of itself--catching 3 flights, missing a flight in Amsterdam, riding 3 busses, taking the wrong bus, twice borrowing stranger's phones, and arriving in Newcastle 4.5 hours later than planned. So although Michelle would have been happy to stay at our cozy cottage for her two days in England, I took her wondering about the local area. We visited Trentham Gardens, where she got a good taste of English landscaping skills, Keele University, Caleb's Uni which boasts the largest green campus in the UK and several lakeside walks, Shrewsbury, a little village with a big history, and a local pub for Pear cider and a traditional English meat pie.

Although the house feels a bit empty at the moment, I am breathing in a bit of rest and respite for myself befour our next guest arrives. Joanna, my mentor, friend, and teacher is making a special trip to see us before she attends a Christian Listener's leadership retreat in the south of England. Following shortly after Joanna, my sweet Mother will be joining us for an entire week! During her stay, we plan to enjoy the the English countryside, long conversations, meandering walks, and just being together.

What a beautiful season of life in which we have found ourselves. We are experiencing an inkling of our dreams to spend time with friends, run a B&B/retreat, and travel.

Even the shadow of this dream is good.

Mom enjoying her time with Justus

P.S. Since the time that this post was orginally written, both Joanna and my Mom have visited us. Joanna's visit was a quick one, she arrived late one afternoon and left before noon the next day. But the sharing time we had together before she left was wonderful. Her short visit reminded us of that verse in Proverbs that says "Like cold water to a weary soul, is good news from a distant land.." Mom's visit is a post in and of itself, but suffice it to say that her visit was absolutely wonderful. Complete with good long conversations, lots of coffee, and adventures about England.