Wales, Day 1

Taking the M6 toll road, we made it to Wales in 4 1/2 hours.  Not bad, we thought.  One pit stop and one movie (Despicable Me) made the trip really not so bad.  Minnie had the hardest time and kept asking every 10 minutes if we were in Wales yet or not.  We stayed at this quaint little cottage built in the early 1800's.  We had the family room which consisted of a double bed and 2 sets of bunk beds.  It had a small kitchen and the bathroom was right next door.  The first thing we noticed was that it was much colder in Wales than in England right now.  We unloaded the van and then headed out down the narrow lane to check out the surroundings.  First, there are sheep everywhere!  Goofy loved them. He kept "baa-ing" at them.  They all loved them, but I'm not so sure that the sheep loved them!  We ended up with a couple downpours and soon after we made it back to the cottage, it started to hail.  We really started getting worried that the whole week would end up cold and rainy!  It didn't, but even if it had, we still would have enjoyed the views. I loved the stone walls everywhere, the lakes, the mountains, rivers, and bridges.  It was gorgeous!

English vs. American lingo

Well, we've lived in England for almost 3 years now and there are certain words we use in place of the ones we grew up with.  There are even more that I do not use regularly but do not want to forget, so I'm making a list of the words and their equivalent in "American."  (Never thought there was an American language before we moved here, but my kids often ask, "Do they speak English or American?" So I now think they must be two different languages.)
 English vs. American
clever--smart
rubbish--trash or lies
rubbish bin/waste basket--trash can
trolley--shopping cart
pram/pushchair--stroller
brilliant/brill--awesome, cool
mobile--cell phone
phone/ring me--call me
the loo/toilet---bathroom
nappies--diapers
gorgeous--yes, we use this word, but would you use it to describe cookies or other things?
frock--dress
highway/motorway--freeway/interstate
drop a penny--use the toilet
pavement--sidewalk
pants/knickers--underwear
trousers--pants
feeling poorly--sick
I have also noticed my kids using certain phrases now as well. For example, "I was nearly there" instead of "almost there."  "I'm going to tell off you" instead of "tell on you."
I know there are many more, but that's all I can think of for now.

Dan and Shar come to visit!

Uncle Dan and Aunt Shar were able to come and visit during spring break.  We had so much fun.  The kids absolutely LOVED playing, snuggling, wrestling with Uncle Dan.  They sure do miss their dad!  It was so nice to have them here, though. 
 After church on Sunday, we went to the ruins in Thetford.  The weather couldn't have been nicer for that day.  And I love taking pictures of the kids.  It's just fun.

Thetford Priory

 Cambridge is always fun.  We made a duck friend while having a snack and saw one of the best street performers I have ever seen! He was a magician and the kids (ok, the adults too) were enthralled.  He swallowed a balloon and sword, had cool card tricks, and was funny as well.  One kid came up to watch with a Gap sweatshirt on. He said, "Hey, you've got a hole in your jumper! Oh, no, sorry, it's just a gap."

 Punting is a favorite!  Dan even had a go at it.  I promised the kids a lollipop while on the punt.  Minnie started singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat while "paddling" with her lollipop.  Of course, Goofy and Bucko had to join in. It was pretty funny!  The whole experience was really nice and relaxing. We had the whole punt to ourselves, the weather was nice, and we got a "tour" of the colleges while floating down the river.  Love it.

 We finished at Cambridge after eating our yummy jacket potatoes. Of course there wasn't any place to sit down, so we tried just sitting down in the mall. Apparently this is not allowed as they came over and asked us to stand up. Pretty weird.  So we ate outside.  Since it was only afternoon, we headed over to Audley End.

 Friday we went to Oxburgh Hall.  The kids loved the priest's hole and walking in the woods, but honestly, they would have had fun doing anything as long as Uncle Dan and Aunt Shar were along.  They miss them a ton already.  Bucko cried when we dropped them off at the bus stop taking them to the airport.  All the kids remember them in their prayers every night too.  All who have come to visit are included. It goes from Daddy, to Auntie K, GG, and now Uncle Dan and Aunt Shar.  They are sweet kids.

Auntie K's Last Week

Yes, it happened a couple weeks ago. I'm just now getting to posting. My sister finally had to leave us. :(  I know she has to get on with her life and plus, the English government wouldn't let her stay any longer without a visa, but we were sure sad to see her go.  We had a fun final week together as one of our lifelong friends came to visit.  I have known GG since we were born and she is more like a sister to me than anyone else.  I mean a real one, as in we've had fights, but always are friends in the end, have gone for LONG periods of time without talking but when we do it's just the same ole same ole. We actually have always referred to ourselves as "eternal sisters" because we figured we probably knew each other before we came to earth, and we hope to see each other on the other side as well.  So because we knew GG was coming, we waited to do a few things until she arrived.  We went to Blickling Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, Thetford Priory, London, Weeting Castle, Oxburgh Hall, and Cambridge. It was a full week!  But tons of fun (though we were all pretty tired at night--I even fell asleep putting the kids to bed at least twice that week).


The gorgeous blossoms on the trees near our house.  Just getting in some more pictures with Auntie K before she had to leave.



Blickling Hall.  Goofy and Minnie were the only children with us, and they loved running around the gardens.  They were huge!  There was a secret garden, a dell, several ornamental pieces, an orangery, a "temple," and then just these main gardens with a double walled border.  It was a lot of fun.

  

Westminster and GG--I hadn't done Westminster yet and it was really neat.  My favorite part was searching for some of my favorite author's in the poets corner.  Also, Mary, Queen of Scots tomb was neat because we are direct descendants.


 

Buckinham Palace with my sista




Hard Rock Cafe in London. The original Hard Rock and what fun it was! We had an original waitress as well which was the neatest part.  (Oh, and there were a quarter million people outside protesting in the streets of London while we were there. It was crazy! And made the tube trip home very packed.)

 

The Tower of London




Tower Bridge

  

We stopped at the Thetford Priory after church. One of my favorite places in Thetford.





Goofy at the chapel in Weeting. We stopped to show GG the Weeting Castle ruins. I just love the round towered church.




Waiting for our food at the pub (The Bird in Hand). They were just making silly faces.




Oxburgh Hall and Auntie K.  This was a cool one with the moat, a priest's hole, tapestries by Mary, Queen of Scots, and original handwritten letters from Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  Very neat!




Punting on the Cam River in Cambridge. King's College in the background.



On the green double decker bus from the park and ride into Cambridge.

We had a lot of fun that last week.  I was so glad GG could come and visit and will be forever grateful for Auntie K who came and stayed for 6 months! It would have been a much colder winter had she not been here. We already miss her smiling face, singing, and dancing!  Love you K!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We have been having the nicest weather lately.  Auntie K and Minnie went for a walk yesterday and ended up at a park in a housing area near us.  Minnie was super excited because she could do the monkey bars at this park! So we decided that after school today we would all walk down for some fun.  Auntie K and I both took our cameras and between both of us, we ended up with some fun pictures.
We stopped for a family picture by the side of our construction fence. They are putting in a bunch of new houses right by us. This is the way the kids walk to school every day. (I think Goofy was trying to put his arm around Minnie, but it really looks like he is trying to strangle her.)

Here are some fun pictures at the playground. Hope you enjoy!

Goofy got new Lightning McQueen sunglasses and hat today. Minnie had to try them out. I think this is her "blue steel" look.

And there we are.  I have a wonderful family. I am truly blessed. It was a good day. :)

Minnie Turns 5

I can't believe my little girl is five years old. She'll start kindergarten in the fall!  She has grown up a lot in the past six months or so.  Life is tough as an adult, but at her age when you take away her father, move houses, and have an extended relative move in all in a matter of weeks it will rock your world.  I think Minnie's age can be a hard one.  No longer a toddler, yet not a big kid quite yet either.  Minnie soaks up information too and it amazes me what she has heard and understood when I don't think she's even paying attention.
But besides all that, she has been looking forward to this birthday for a while. Tink had even printed her out a chart with birthday cakes on it, one for each day, that she marks off until her birthday.  Mostly I think she just wanted her roller skates.  She had picked them out and when Tink and Bucko got their roller blades at Christmas, she has often felt left out.  Goofy used his birthday money to buy himself a pair as well.  I ordered them soon after his birthday and they should have arrived a week earlier, but were sent to the wrong zip code. The funny thing is that Minnie kept saying he couldn't get hers until her birthday because it wouldn't be fair. Well, because it was sent to the wrong zip code, his skates came in the mail ON her birthday!  I couldn't believe it.  It worked out perfectly.

Minnie really wanted to have her good friend and old neighbor come over for her birthday. They had been out of the country for several months, so Minnie had missed playing with her.  It worked out well for them, so they came over for dinner and cake.  We had crockpot chicken sauce and rice as the main dish and Minnie really wanted a cake with yellow icing, so I made it into the shape of a sun.  Besides her skates, she also received a doll, some nail polish (or varnish as they call it here), makeup (from her friend), a Groovy Girl doll, and a few other small things from friends and family.  We also invited our neighbors and good friends over for cake.  (I don't like cake all that much, so hate having leftover.)  She had a good day though.  We ended it with glow sticks for everyone--those are always a hit!

Spring

So I have this theory about spring. First of all, spring is my favorite season. I absolutely love that the sun starts shining, flowers are growing, leaves are budding--it's just all so glorious.  It reminds me of new life, change, and, of course, hope.  I look forward to spring every year.  My theory incorporates all this, but it might not be what you think.
Everything bad happens in the spring. You may find out someone close to you has cancer. Someone dies unexpectedly.  Divorce.  I'm talking major bad things, not the little trials we have every day, but the really tough ones that there is no way we can handle without His help. Yep, that's my theory. That God waits until springtime when we can see His hand in all things.  Even when someone dies, we can see the new life growing all around us and it gives us hope.  Even though your marriage may be crumbling (I'm not talking about me, in case you were worried, but I have had many friends with marriage problems and the big ones usually seem to happen in the spring.) and everything seems dull and drear in your life, in the spring you can look at the world around you bursting with color and feel His love for you.  One of my favorite songs is I'm Already There by Lonestar.  The line "I'm the sunshine in your hair, I'm the shadow on the ground" is one of my favorites.  I know that these things happen at other times of the year, but in the spring it's different.  I'm just so grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves us so much and He shows us this year after year after year. 

This year is no exception. Our community is struggling through the recent events that took someone from us in such a tragic way.  My heart goes out to his wife and two sweet children.  It brings home how sudden tragedy can strike, at any time or place. It has helped my own children understand how easily it would be to lose their own father. Their prayers have taken on new meaning. Their hearts have been opened and their understanding has grown. It touches me when I see Minnie, who isn't even five years old yet, finally understand what death is and feel the pain of a friend who has lost her father.  She knows how hard it is to not have a Dad around, but to think that other children lose their dads forever in this life is an understanding she is just beginning to comprehend.

  In the past 15 months, PC has been home for a mere 3 months.  That is a very long time when you are little.  But we will be blessed to have him home again soon.  We can't wait.  And while we wait, we will enjoy the beauty of God's earth. Every morning I look outside and see more flowers blooming.  This week was tough, but we had gorgeous weather every single day this week.  That is pretty unheard of in England in March!  Just one more small miracle that I have seen this past week.  His hand is in all things.  And my faith seems to grow a little more each time I recognize it.