SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS...

These past 3 weeks have been very busy! We have spent untold hours in the archives and Family History Centre. We have reached that point when we are not sure just how to move forward. We are trying to figure out which of 4 men who all are named Rees David or Davies is the father of John Davies who is Steve's 3rd great grandfather. 

With sketchy records at best in the 1700's it is really hard to know which is the correct person. So we decided that the only recourse we have is to extract all the baptism, marriage and burial records for the names David/Davies in the Llangyfelach  parish records and then try to put the families together to eliminate those that do not fit. 

We have also been extracting from the Bishop's transcripts of the same parish which should be the same but are not. Only in the Bishop's transcripts do we find the baptismal records for Steve's 3rd great grandfather and there are many other discrepancies hence the need to extract both sets of records. So, we will see if we can find some success.

Our time here is drawing to a close. Tomorrow, the 16th of July, will make 3 months we have been here and one month from when we will move on to Aberystwyth where we will hopefully be able to read more relevant documents.

It has been such joy to be here and it will be hard to leave. The people we have met are lovely! The Pontypridd ward has been so great!  We love the people there!  Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching the Relief Society lesson on a talk given by Elder Bednar "Prepared to Obtain every needful thing."  I loved the interaction and the wonderful honest testimonies of these lovely sisters.

We also love working with our young missionaries who are teaching a single mother about the Gospel. I wish we could send more time just  teaching people who want to know the truth.

We miss our families and love when we hear from them. Our son and his family who has lived several years in Tokyo is transferring to London this week and we look forward to going up there and spending a little time with them.

One of our grandsons who lives in Alabama has received his  mission call to serve in the Salt Lake City Utah Mission and will be speaking Spanish. He will go to the mission training centre in Mexico City to learn Spanish.

We are trying to use our time wisely and to accomplish as much good research as we can. But some times we get discouraged.  But all we can do is try.

Steve working on the burial records for Llangyfelach parish extracting all the David/Davies names. Those shelves are full of bound volumes of facsimile copies for many parishes in West Glamorgan. It is so nice to be able to look page by page at the old records.

West Glamorgan Archive is in Swansea which is about an hour's drive from where we are staying.
In the  past 3 weeks we have spent many hours in this archve.

Love this Swansea beach wish I had a hammock to lay in and listen to the waves!

We try to pack a lunch and  sit on the benches while we eat. 

The skies are always interesting.

Love the waves!!

For a birthday celebration we went to Bistrot Pierre which is near Mumbles. We loved our second story view!

The birthday boy!

Our food was REALLY good!

We love that there is a Costco in Cardiff. It is nice to go there and feel a bit  of home since
it is laid out just as ours is at home.

This stadium is right across from Costco.

And also right cross from Costco is the Glamorgan Archive
where we also have spent many, many hours!

On the Saturday when we drove to Pontypridd to pick up my driving glasses there was a market. This young man had spent 4 hours sand carving the puppies on this blanket. They were really good!

A random shot of the bridge between England and Newport. Love this bridge.

And yet another lovely road! I don't think I will ever get enough of this beauty!

Many years ago while we were yet in our 40's Steve one day suggested to me that we needed to get with some sort of exercise program or we would be in trouble when we got old. Well sadly we did not heed his suggestion despite a few false starts. So now we are 30 years down the road and we are feeling the affects of not keeping up a regular exercise regimen.

So, now we are in Wales spending a lot of time sitting and not exercising and not eating well. And I decided I needed to begin walking. I try every morning to walk for about 40 minutes. Steve is struggling with walking so he only walks part of the way with me and then returns home while I continue on my way.

But it is fun to see things while I walk that we miss when we drive. So here are some shots of things I see along my way.

Rain drops on the bars at the entrance of  the walking  path. Wales is a country of much walking and there are many walking trails. This trail used to be a railway bed.

A nice gate that allows, walkers, bicycles, prams to go through but not cars.

When you have a large ladder and want to keep it safe but you do not have a garage you
padlock it onto a street sign. I thought this was genius!

The allotments with their growing vegetables.

Clematis near an apple tree in one of the lovely gardens along the way.

A beautiful day to walk!

A strangely empty street on my way home.

McColls - mini store, a post office and a pay point where we  pay to update our gas and electric cards . We forgot to check our electric last week and were startled to realize we had no power when we got home. Back in the car we went to McColls to put £20  on our gas card and £50 on our electric card. That should be enough to finish out our stay here in Pontygwaith. 

A mother walking her two little girls to school. Wales really is a country of stairs!

Another beautiful morning!

Now this is one classy school bus!!! and note the crossing guard waiting to help children cross
the  street to get to the school just up the hill.

Don't know what kind it is but this looked like classy car.

Crossing the bridge over the highway.

Rubbish day We set out our recycle in clear bags every week
and our rubbish in black bags every other week. And magically it disappears :)

A delightful respite!!! We had the opportunity to hear the Taft Wells Community Choir.
Only a few voices but a spectacular performance led by a phenomenal director
who had us all singing some of the selections.

Sometimes the SatNav sends us to strange roads to avoid traffic.
This evening we were sent on this road which was also being used by this truck hauling hay.
Thankfully it turned off when it reached the riding school.

Cardiff Stake Centre which houses the Family History Centre.
 The FHC is only open on Wednesdays. Somedays from 10AM - 4 PM
and then 7PM-9PM  and somedays not in the evenings.

HYDRAENGAS!!!!!

Nice pub just around the corner from the stake center where we had a nice early dinner
between 4 PM and 7 PM while waiting for  the FHC to be opened again.

Home Sweet Home! the last unit on the end has been our home for 3 months
which is longer than we lived in our Utah home before this trip.

A good day to do laundry so the clothes actually get dried. If it is rainy it will take up to
TWO days to get our jeans dried inside. I do kind of miss my dryer
but I love the outdoor smell when the clothes hang outside. 

My little "garden". If you look really close you can see my one little cherry tomato
which is still green.  And I LOVE the geraniums!!!