Goodbye and Hello

Kris and the kids left about the end of July to come back to the U.S. I was lucky enough to stay one more month and spend my time cleaning the house so that another family could move in. That family also bought my car and then moved into the house. What a great deal for us. On the way back, the kids were lucky enough to see some great friends in Provo as Kris was longing for someone who could cut her hair correctly. As a result, everyone stopped off at that Durlands and the Uhls's dropped by as well. It was great to see everyone again and how much they have all changed over three years. It has been exciting.

After a short stay in Utah to pick up the new van, Kris drove across Idaho to finally see our new town for the very first time. Don't worry, she is used to moving to places that she has never seen before and start a brand new life. I chose the house in Provo while she was stuck in Texas and we chose Corvallis together but she still had never seen it. I promise to change my ways and let her pick out our house. On the way, it was great to see cousins and family that we hadn't seen for so long.

It is hard to leave behind England but we look forward to starting things new here. Katy started school and we had our traditional picture of the kids on the first day with their new backpack. Evan was also baptized and we had family come in for this great occasion. He was so excited to get baptized and Nick and Lizzy were able to give great talks on baptism and the holy ghost. We missed all our friends from England but were excited to have such great support here. We look forward to our new start, I hope Kris chooses a nice house.

One More Gelato

As you can imagine, our time in England had to come to a close. We have been looking forward to moving back to the States but are sad to leave England and our good friends here. We have seen the pattern in the past where people tried to fit a lot in to the last few months here and so Kris and I tried to make the most of our last eight months and planned ahead. We think we did a good job but still tried to do fun things at home for the kids.

Nick and Evan both played soccer. This season was much warmer. Nick was very good this year with some extra height he was able to score much more easily. Evan moved off of his corner of the penalty box and ran the whole field. He didn't quite get into the middle of the scrum but circled around it consistently. It was fun to watch.


After the school year, we decided that we had enough castles and churches and really wanted to relax. I love Italy and the kids love gelato and with that we went off for our last big trip to Sardegna. It was an odd choice but we had heard so much about the beaches that we thought it would be the perfect place for our pasty white-skinned family. The kids loved swimming and we suffered only minor burns. To say it was rural would be an understatement. We were running late for the airport where only one flight goes out per airline per day but got stuck behind a herd of cows on the road. We thought we would get some gas in our rental near the airport, which was a bad idea. There was nothing even near the airport and finally paid extra to the rental company. We did do a little sight seeing and saw Neptune's Grotto, which was found by fishers a long time ago. We also got our fair share of gelato. Thank goodness.

Scotland

As you might or might not know. We are leaving Europe soon and will be heading back to the states to settle down. We have really enjoyed our stay here and England has been wonderful. Obviously, we have tried to take advantage of our stay here by seeing as much as possible. We have tried.

Even though we have tried, we still feel like there is so much more to see. We are following the time-honored tradition, then, of trying to fit in as much as humanly possible in the last few months before flying out. In the spirit of that, we crammed in a five day driving tour of Scotland. I have finally found a place where someone with red hair and pasty white skin can fit in. I felt at home. That does not mean that I understood everything that was said but our whole family could have easily passed for the natives.

Kris and I carefully planned our trip to maximize our time in the car and minimize time visiting monuments. Obviously, we didn't do that but it seemed like it at times. We did visit the Lake District, Hadrian's Wall (for you history people that was the northernmost boundary of the roman empire. 70 miles long and guarded by 20,000 troops. Parts of it were very impressive.), Edinburgh, and Loch Ness. We were able to see a cheap Braveheart impersonator, see a castle on Loch Ness (no we did not see the monster but we saw some very large waves), and the Caledonian Locks.

We finished with a boat ride. We wanted to ride the Harry Potter train but it was four hours long and thought the kids might get bored. So instead, we found a boat ride that takes us out to see wildlife and the third largest whirlpool. We knew it would be cold but not like this. We were well supplied with wet weather gear and our whole family looks like blue and yellow penguins. It was great but a little freezing. Except Katy somehow found a way to fall asleep during the part with the largest waves and choppiest weather. That was amazing. It reminded us of the time that our kids fell asleep and we spent an hour knocking directly on their window until one child woke up to let us in. When children are sleepy they can sleep in any situation.

We look happy in both before and after pictures. The after picture doesn't show that we sprinted into the nearest pub for warmth, hot chocolates and the ability to dry off. Of course Katy was happier because she was more rested.

Active Spring

We have been doing our very best to keep our children as busy as we can. Evan and Nick wanted to both do the exact same thing, or I guess I could say, that Evan wanted to do exactly what Nick was doing. Lizzy wanted nothing to do with what Nick and Evan were doing. All in all, it created for lots of driving all over the place and plenty of games all through the week.

Nick has been looking forward to this soccer season all year long. This has been shown to us with his asking repeatedly for new shoes and soccer jerseys. He has collected quite a few as you have probably seen from our past blogs. Nick had a great season and was the top scorer for the whole league. The only game that he did not score was that last one out of eight games. He had ten shots on goal and hit every car behind the goal, but not the goal itself. Evan just wants to play anything. He told me after one of his last soccer games that he wants to play in every sport ever. He might be successful, I tried as hard as I could to think of a strange sport to ask about. As you can see, Evan has some focus issues but had such a good time in every game.

Liz just wanted to try something different, so she took an indoor climbing class. It was strange to see her going up a 20-30 foot wall but she had a great time. The hand grips were done in a fun way. It was fun. Liz had a really good friend with her.

We also did some extra things since the weather changed from cold, wet and windy to warm, wet, and windy. The spring was beautiful here and it was time to get out. We saw a falconry exhibition. We tried to see if Katy could get picked up by the bird but were unsuccessful. Nick also had to play in a spring concert for band. We were all surprised that his band could play for an entire hour. A whole hour. The band was good for a... whole.... hour.

At the same spring concert, the kids had some fun, too. Bungee trampolines anyone? Here is a spiffy picture of Liz showing off her skills. This is her doing her mission impossible impersonation.

Spring Break

We have been waiting for this one for a while. The kids have been cooped up inside the house and Britain has long winters with little daylight. So, we finally had our chance to take a break and get away. We were able to take a little vacation and see some places that we had wanted to see since arriving here.

So, on April 6th, we hopped in the plane and flew down to Athens. We found a taxi driver who promised to take us to all the sights. We were concerned that he might just take all of our money and drop us off in a back alley. Well, he did take our money. We spent the whole day sight seeing in Athens and were able to see the Acropolis. We also took a picture of the Nike Temple near the Parthenon, that was for Uncle Steve. Lizzy was ready for the Nike Temple. The Parthenon is really neat. It was mostly destroyed by the armies of Venice while the Turkish people used it to store gunpowder. The Greek people are rebuilding the temple now slowly. You can see bright white areas on all the major monuments where they are rebuilding.

We also saw the changing of the guard. This was really different from the changing of the guard in Washington, D.C. The guards are still not allowed to move but their outfits are a little different, as are their marching styles. It was a sight.

The next day we went on our cruise. We went to Istanbul, Mykonos (greek island), Jerusalem, Cyprus, Santorini (another greek island). Our ship was smaller than a regular cruise boat and therefore, more prone to motion. No one in our family had any problems, but it did make the onboard ping-pong tournament more of a challenge. The swimming pool also had whitecaps.

But the best part was seeing everything. Istanbul was great but I had to learn to bargain better. They always say offer half the price and walk away. They will follow you and accept your price. This is not a great idea with taxi drivers. I told him my price, he didn't accept, and I turned and started walking. I kept walking and looking over my shoulder and one mile later, no offer. Next time, I'll just pay for it. Behind us is the Blue Mosque. The minarets are the towers that you see behind us and five times a day the speakers give out the call to prayer. There are six minarets, which was scandalous because only Mecca is allowed to have six minarets. So the Sultan at the time decided to send his architect down to Mecca to build another one, problem solved.

Next stop was Mykonos. We walked around and tried to find a quiet beach. We finally found one with no people on it at all. We had our own private beach for about 3 hours and the kids loved it. The beach came furnished with authentic looking rowboat at no extra charge. We also saw the infamous (for those of you who watch The Three Amigos) pelican. After a mother peeled the pelican off of a small girl, a store owner grabbed the beak and our children tentatively petted the animal. No blood noted.

The next stop was Jerusalem. This was a really different place. All road signs are in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. Our first stop was Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank. Our Jewish tour guides had to get off the bus because they were not allowed there. We visited the Church of the Nativity where a star is placed where Christ was supposedly born. The church was built 500 years after his birth so it might or might not be right but still very interesting. We then went to the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane before going to the Wailing Wall or old temple walls where Christ walked. Kris was holding Katy while walking and got tripped up near the Garden of Gethsemane. Katy hit her head on the sidewalk and had about a 1/2 inch cut on her head. It bled a lot and our Palestenian bus driver grabbed his medical kit. No stitches needed but let's just say that I have had some medical training. While I stayed with Katy and applied pressure to her bleeding head, the others still went to the Wailing Wall, Via Dolorosa, and walked through downtown Jerusalem.

Cyprus was boring and would have been better if we had more time to go to a beach, which is what everyone else does. We only went to a city named Limassol, which had a crusade castle that housed Richard the Lionheart. We have some wonderful pictures of the outside of the castle. We didn't pay to go in. Come on, if you were there you wouldn't have gone in either.

Final stop was Santorini. Supposedly, thousands of years ago, a volcano exploded in the area of Santorini that made the civilization of Atlantis sink the ocean floor. You can still hike around the volcano today and is on the right side of the picture below. The island that remains is stunning with cities built about 1000 feet up the sheer cliffs of the island. Most pictures that you have seen of Greece show the island of Santorini. It was amazing and the volcanic activity in the area made it so we were able to play on a beach of black sand. Amazingly, even in Greece, you can still find somewhere to buy ice cream and pull up a seat. The view just changes.

Basketball and Lost Teeth

Those two aren't necessarily related. Evan is currently playing youth basketball. We have had a basketball constantly bouncing in our house for the past month. If you remember Evan playing soccer, he loves playing but his feet never actually touch the ground. We have a video of him playing basketball and he hovers around the crowd of kids who are all pawing at the ball. Evan loves playing ball and he looks really cute in his little Cavaliers tank top. We think that he is even bouncier than the ball.

We also have had a rash of lost teeth. Most of them are due to Nick. He hit Evan in the back of the head with a pillow and the first of Evan's two front teeth came out. While he was playing with Katy, her knees somehow hit herself in the face and her front top teeth were knocked loose also. We would like to thank Nick for helping us save money for dental bills. He has a real gift. Lizzy, not wanting to be outdone, has also lost two teeth on the right side in the back. She went out of her way to show us her lost teeth.

Christmas Time

Christmas break was boring. It was fantastic. We had nowhere to go and nothing to do. We ended up staying around house, watching some movies, Nick played video games. Everybody was able to relax for about two weeks and not really do anything. We all loved it.

On Christmas day, the children woke up at six in the morning and were ready to open presents. If you saw our last blog, they got a lot of presents that were from Italy. Nick got four soccer shirts. One from Rome, Brazil, Spain and the U.S. He recognized every shirt but the one from the U.S. I guess that it is time to move back to the United States. Lizzy put on weird socks. I don't know why. We spent some time over at our friends house on Christmas day for a Turkish Christmas feast. We went to go see Tron Legacy on Christmas day (the boys and lizzy did.) Katy was sick.

15 Years

So last year, our anniversary was less than stellar. I was gone the day before Kris' birthday and was gone for a few weeks when our anniversary came around. This year, I needed to redeem myself and planned to do something nice for our fifteenth anniversary.

Anyway, the answer came to me when I was trying to get off the day of Kris' birthday. I suggested a trip to London and she said maybe we can fly somewhere. Well, maybe we can. An internet search and a few phone calls later, we had a plan to go to Venice. Needless to say, I sort of made up for being gone in 2009.

It was before Christmas and all the lights were placed for the season and luckily, no one else wants to go to Venice during December. It was cold but the warmth of the pasta made up for it. We had a great time and it was nice to celebrate fifteen great years together. We also celebrated the fact that our kids are old enough to not cry uncontrollably when we leave.

Feliz Dia del Pavo

That means Happy Day of Turkey in Spanish, or in other words, Happy Thanksgiving. We say this as we were lucky enough to go to Spain for this Thanksgiving. (Even though we had paella on Thanksgiving) We took a few extra days off from work and school and found a cheap flight down to Spain. We flew into a city called Malaga with two other families here in England that are great friends. Total people in the trip, 19. Total parents, 6.

We were grossly outnumbered but we searched long and hard on the internet to find somewhere to accomodate the masses. Our spanish hacienda had enough rooms for everyone along with a pool, hot tub and a pool table. The children would have been happy just hanging out at the pool, except it was freezing for the first few days.

We wanted to see a few things in the area. We went to a Moorish castle called Alhambra, which was very large and it was obvious to see the moors impact on castles. Lots of water and fountains, which was important to them because they came from northern Africa where water was highly desired. It had the typical history of most castles where lots of people were killed and there were some good kings and bad kings. Instead of kings, though, we have Sultans, monarchs, and harems.

We also went to a white cliff city called Ronda. You can see why it was called a cliff city. We were way up there. The highlight for me was the bullfighting ring located in Ronda. It was great to get to play on the grounds of a ring that is still used today. It was one of the first, built in 1785. We had a few little bulls hopping around the ring while we were there. You can see them, they were cute. It was interesting to see the swords and the javelins used for the sport. Ronda also had an amazing bridge also built in the 1700's. It is 320 feet tall and it is an amazing sight. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's, Fascists were thrown from the bridge. It is wonderful to teach the children such uplifting history.

Despite the amazing history that we did see, the children enjoyed the museum of chocolate. As you can see, there is a chocolate statue of the current prince of Spain. Also, is a 1400 kg replica of the city of Bethlehem. (that is over 3000 pounds.) The kids loved that.

The kids loved having the time off but it all came to an end the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We were still able to get lost, even with a satellite navigation system. We were one loud group with 19 in tow and restaurant owners cringed when we walked to the doors. We tipped really well.

He's now a teenager... HELP!!!

No really, he's great. We're very proud of Nick and he is a wonderful boy. He helps around the house, he allows Kris and I to go on dates without hiring a babysitter. He has also taken over lawn mowing and other larger chores. (If you read our blog at all, you know how his very first lawn mowing experience turned out.) But the mere sound of the ward causes parents to shake and have twitching actions. We celebrated Nick's birthday a week early this year because we had a trip planned during Thanksgiving and would be with friends. It would have been very difficult to bring along a cake for everyone.

Nick was very happy to have a birthday party at home with family. He received money for iTunes purchases and bought video games. Our little baby is now thirteen years old and is also two inches taller than his mother. The height comes from his mother's side of the family. He has some great jokes and he has decided to follow in my footsteps and play the trumpet. He decided to depart from my footsteps and actually be good at it.

As a side note, we watched two of the Cranney's kids while they took a business trip. It was a pleasure to watch them and it allowed Kris to take them all out for girl's night. So off they went to Norwich to watch the Nutcracker done by Northern Ballet company. They all had a wonderful night and we boys went out and got lost trying to go over to a friend's house for Guy Fawkes night.