Christmas Festivities

The boys put together a gingerbread train.

Last weekend my sister and her family came for a visit and the cousins made Christmas cookies together. They had a blast playing together.

Yesterday we took the Santa Express train to the North Pole. The kids wore their jammies and enjoyed the train ride and the cookies and getting a bell from Santa.

Photoshoot (121 photos), by Andrea O'Dowd

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We're Home!

We arrived back in the U.S.A. late Monday night. The long day of travel went much better than I anticipated. We even had very cordial flight attendants who weren't grumpy at us for bringing kids on the flight. Our only hitch was when their flight computers listed us as having one more bag checked than we actually had which of course is a security risk. This resulted in the flight being delayed 30 minutes because I had to go down to the cargo crew and verify which bags were ours. Turns out they mixed up the numbers and there really was no extra bag.

We are currently in New Mexico spending Thanksgiving with Devin's parents and enjoying the blue skies and crisp fall air. We may even get some snow tonight!

Yesterday our new minivan arrived via truck from Arizona. Teagan was quite upset when it arrived to find it was silver and not his requested blue. He quickly recovered when he discovered the van's interior amenities like a dvd player and plenty of cup holders!

We are enjoying our time together and trying not to think about the fact the Devin has to go back to England next week. This is the most relaxed he has been in months and he is dreading the work ahead of him and being away from his family.

So this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving we are thankful to be home with family, enjoying good food and shopping and American football.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

1 More Week!!

The kids and I have only 7 more days in the U.K. One week from today we will board our overseas flight bound for Los Angeles and must endure an 11.5 hour flight with 3 kids. Oh joy!!
I hope they sleep for most of it! From LA we will catch another flight to Albuquerque where we will spend Thanksgiving with Devin's parents and also pick up our new car! Woohoo! We will be so happy to have a large car again and wider streets to drive it on! After a week there, Devin will return to England and the kids and I will drive to Colorado Springs and stay with my parents for 6 to 8 weeks! It will be nice to spend Christmas with them and enjoy some snow. The kids are hoping for enough to play in and go sledding. It will be sad to be apart from Devin during the holidays and for so long. We haven't been apart more than 2 weeks since he deployed in 2003. It hasn't really sunk in that we are leaving England but I think it's because I haven't really had time to let it. I know if I sat and thought about it I would start to cry. It's always a two-edged sword for us having to move every few years. 3 years is only barely enough time to make good friends but long enough to create memories. I now have to let go of everything here but at least I can take the memories with me. On to the next adventure and new friends! Farewell England. We will miss you!

Moving Day!

Well, it has been a month since my last post, so I thought I better send out an update. Not that anyone really reads this blog but while I'm sitting here watching the moving company pack our belongings I may as well do something. So the last month in a nutshell....not much except organizing and getting ready for the move and discovering this will be our most stressful move yet. Another overseas move, a third child, spending 6-8 weeks in Colorado while Devin stays in England to finish, purchasing a car in the U.S over the phone
are just some of the added stresses we've been facing. Oh and how do you pack for a 10 week vacation covering 2 countries, 3 states, and 3 climates without access to any of our belongings except what we can fit into 10 suitcases? We'll be so glad when it's over. The kids are feeling some of our stress too and acting out of sorts. Patience is not one of their strong suits especially when a young child has no real concept of time. The next 2 days the house will be packed into boxes and slowly emptied and loaded onto crates. We are amazed at how the movers load each crate like putting a puzzle together. The kids think it's fascinating that their toys will be shipped to California on a big boat that will take 6 weeks to get there when we can fly there in only one day.

In other news....Austin lost his first tooth a couple weeks ago and the second one is nearly ready to fall out. Looks like he'll be missing his front teeth for Christmas! I would post a pictures but our home computer is packed up. Austin is very excited at the prospect of making some money off the tooth fairy to put towards something he wants for Christmas.

We also sold our car the very last day of the ad we had placed. The new owners drove 2 hours to see it and took it home that day. Talk about a "God thing". We were worried it would have to sit in a lemon lot somewhere while we fly to the U.S. and Devin would have to sell it when he returned but what a blessing to have it sell so quickly. This of course has left us without a car for a few weeks but the kids have enjoyed taking the bus to Church and into the city for shopping.

So we will be spending the next 2 weeks cleaning the house and hanging out while Devin finishes writing his last few chapters and then we are homeward bound!

It's Happening!

It's finally happening! We're packing up and pulling roots once again. We now have moving dates and flights back to the good 'ol USA! We pack out in 30 days and fly home 2 weeks after that. We are so excited but at the same time can't believe it. We've been sorting through things, trying to get rid of things and cleaning and painting. We are excited to spend the holidays with each set of parents and for the kids to see their grandparents. We won't actually be settling in to California yet though. Devin won't be finished so will return to defend his Thesis and the kids and I will spend Christmas in Colorado. By the end of January we will be together in California looking for a house and settling in to a new city. 

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks our 3rd year since we stepped off that plane in England as some of its newest residents! We thought we'd be leaving shortly after this day but as usual it's rare that things go according to plan. We may be staying a bit longer than we thought but it's hard to believe in some ways that those 3 years have passed! Austin was 3 1/2, Teagan was 18 months. We had no idea what we were getting into or what our next 3 years was going to be like but were instead excited about the adventure we were embarking upon. Living in a different country, seeing so many historical places, traveling to different countries. We were wide-eyed with excitement.

Well, some months at times seemed to drag on as though our time here would never end and we longed for home and family. Other months have whizzed by and we wonder how it could have passed so quickly.

In the last 3 years we have had some struggles that may or may not be the result of where we live but were more difficult to get through without the familiarity of home and nearby family. The culture here as well as making friends was a big adjustment. Oxford is very transient and a melting pot of international students. We may have met many different people but very few have become our friends.

We struggled through a lot of illness, messy things like lice and bedbugs, terrible things like bike and car accidents and a miscarriage. Living here has definitely been more stressful and trying for us. But we know it is God that has brought us through all of it. If it weren't for our reliance upon him, we would have given up long ago and gone running home.

In the last 3 years we have welcomed our 3rd child to our family (a girl this time!) which has been such a sweet blessing. We found a terrific nanny who has become our closest friend here and a tremendous help to me with 3 kids running around!

We have traveled so many places and countries, and seen so many things that many others don't have the opportunity to. We have been so blessed to have had this opportunity and actually get to see places we read about in our history books in school!

Austin is now 6 1/2 and in 1st grade. We made the decision to teach him at home after issues with the local school and while it often wears on my patience we know it was the right decision for right now. He's doing so well and is reading well! Teagan is now 4 1/2 and we've started teaching him some kindergarten. He listens in when I teach Austin and already knows some addition and subtraction!

Bailey is 18 months already! The time has flown by! She is quite the pistol and thinks she's in charge. She talks a LOT and loves to sing! Her favorite things are princesses and Minnie mouse and playing with her brothers.
So we have 5 more months in this country. (We've been counting down) We are anxious to go home. We are excited to be closer to family. We are excited to live somewhere new. We are looking forward to our future in California and all the opportunities it has to offer. With any move we enjoy the adventure of discovering something/somewhere new or different.

We will miss many things about living in England. The beautiful summers. The history and ease of traveling to Europe. Our favorite pubs, bitters, and Pimms! We'll miss the friends we've made.

The next few months will be busy with school, packing, movers coming and plans for our return to the U.S. The time will go quickly and soon we'll be home!

Another Winter in England!!??

What?! Do I have to?!
We finally got word that Devin's application for an extension was approved. I knew this would happen but I didn't really think through what that meant for us. So instead of moving to sunny California in October and enjoying American food and shopping and a larger house we have to wait. 3 more months! Devin has until the end of January to finish. Don't get me wrong. I WANT him to finish and to do it before having to work a real job since we see him so little already. He needed this extension. But now I'm left with a dilemma. Do we stay until he's done? That means our 4th gloomy England winter and 4th Christmas in our tiny house with no family around. Another option is to leave earlier and stay with my parents but we all know that's only nice for a little while. :) We'll miss Devin and our things and want to get to our new home and get settled. 
So please excuse my little tantrum. I just needed to let off some steam. We'll work it out and eventually get home. 

Home Sweet Home (Colorado)

The end of June the kids and I traveled to my hometown of Colorado Springs. I had not been back since my sister's wedding 2 1/2 years ago. I was excited to see what had changed and for my kids to spend time with their grandparents. The kids were great on the flight. I'm so blessed to have kids that enjoy traveling! When we stepped off the plane in Denver it even smelled like home. I've missed it so much. The mountains, the thunderstorms, the dry air. Most of all it was good to spend time with my parents and my sisters who flew in for a visit too! The kids just loved being at their grandparent's and all the attention as well as the open space and room to run around on their little "ranch". We had tons of fun and the visit was too short. The kids keep asking when we will go back and hopefully we'll be visiting more often when we return to the U.S. for good.   

Road Trip! 2010

I can't believe it's been 2 months since my last blog! As usual the summer months seem to fly by. So a quick recap over the last 2 months. In June we took our last big road trip while living overseas. This time though we didn't leave the country. We drove to Scotland stopping in Sherwood Forest, Newcastle and along Hadrian's Wall. We stayed a week in Glasgow while Devin attended the 2010 Turbo Expo where he had 2 presentations. Then we drove up to Inverness along Loch Lomond, through the Highlands and along Loch Ness. We then drove to St. Andrews golf course and walked on the fairway at the 18th hole. What a thrill! Next stop was Stirling Castle (my great grandmother was born there) then a couple of days in Edinburgh. We finally made our way back to England stopping for a couple of days in the Lake District which was unlike anything I expected. Beautiful mountain passes and lakes almost made me feel like I was back in Colorado! Except for the sheep and very narrow roads! Below are a few pictures from the trip. We had a great time and will miss our "European vacations"!  

                             

Spring Time in England

We've survived our last winter in England! I must say we won't miss the cold, wet, dreary, dark days with about 7 hours of daylight. But after winter comes spring which is a beautiful time of year here. Yes we will miss spring time. The beautiful fields of green and yellow. The crocus, daffodils, tulips and bluebells are abundant. The daffodils literally grow like wildflowers here. They are everywhere!  More sunshine and less rain is a comfort as the days get longer. One of our favorite things to see (besides the flowers) are the baby sheep around Easter.

As our time here in England gets shorter I think about some of the things I will miss. It's always hard to pick up and leave a place and move on to something different whether or not you've grown fond of living there. There are still things we liked, memories we've made, challenges we faced, and new friends we will have to say goodbye to. Change (moving) is bittersweet.

HAPPY EASTER!

Teagan Turns 4!

Today we celebrated Teagan's 4th birthday! He's growing up so fast! He had a great day with his Lady train cake and lots of Thomas and Friends presents. He was hilarious to watch opening his gifts expressing such excitement over it all! Can't believe my little boy is 4 already. Love you Teags!

A Different Language - Translation

I recently posted some British words we hear commonly around here and asked any of you to guess their translations to "American". Well if anyone is interested, here they are.

Slip Road - the exit off a highway
Squiffy - Pear-shaped, strange or funny weird

Loo - Bathroom or toilet

Coach - Bus
Lift - Elevator
Squash - Fruit juice
Footpath - Trail or path
Bap - Bun
Queue - A line, people or cars waiting
Nappy - Diaper
Bonnet - Hood of a car
Windscreen - Windshield
Pudding - Any dessert
Dummy - Pacifier
Close - Cul-de-sac 0r dead-end
Poorly - sick, not feeling well
Verge - Shoulder, on the side of a road
Rubbish - Specifically garbage, also generally for anything bad
Lay By - Pull over spot from highway to rest, use phone, etc.
Torch - Flashlight
Lorry - Semi-truck
Fag - Cigarette
Pavement - Sidewalk
Boot - Trunk of a car
Bitter - Popular type of beer found in pubs
Pub Crawl - Bar hop

Football Pitch - Soccer Field

Pants - Underwear

Petrol - Gasoline
Wellies - Rain boots

There are many more. Check out www.english2american.com for a whole dictionary full of words we use differently.

Austin is 6!

It's hard to believe 6 years ago today a little 5lb.13oz. bubbly, energetic boy was born. We became a family of 3 and our world was about to change in a HUGE way! Happy Birthday Austin!We love you!