Each evening at the dinner table we used to share a rose and a thorn (the best and worst part of our day). This has since been replaced with three things we are grateful for (can’t keep reminding ourselves about our thorns all the time can we?)
But just for one last time I wanted to share a rose and a thorn in our life right now. The terms ‘rose’ and ‘thorn’ are quite an understatement for these two things, you can see for yourself.
Rose: Myron has been granted his 5-year adoption visa for Australia. This is absolutely brilliant news. We applied in May last year and were told we would have to wait up to two and a half years for an outcome. It means that Australia is recognising Myron’s adoption and is now considered a ‘resident’ of Australia – he can come and go into Australia as he pleases for the next 5 years. We are planning on visiting Australia later this year, and are really looking forward to reconnecting with family (it has been a very long time).
Thorn: Dan and I tested positive for COVID this week. We are both double-vaccinated and not particularly bothered about being sick, however the real kick-in-the-guts is we had planned to have a Kenyan beach holiday with some dear friends of ours at the beginning of the year (we were due to fly to Kenya today). That certainly can’t happen now. We have been sick since Christmas Day (with potentially a range of different things). We had PCR tests taken on Monday and Dan and I were positive, however Myron was negative. We still have a few lingering symptoms and have been confined to the house for what feels like too long. Ironically, we stayed at home to avoid ‘getting COVID’ before we travelled, but at least we were protecting others from us.
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 