The last few weeks in England

Well, the movers started packing our belongings up this past Thursday. It honestly amazes me how fast the time has gone -- and how many things we have! Our house is a disaster right now. My original thought would be that they would focus on one or two rooms at a time...well, they have been packing us up quicker than I ever imagined as our entire house is packed up right now except for our bedroom and the living room (as we begged to keep the telly throughout the weekend). The procrastinator in me just keeps thinking that I have plenty of time to get everything in order for our move back. I've come to realize that that is not a good thing to think, that's for sure!

Over the past few weeks, I've been attempting to spend as much time with my friends here in England as I can. When we moved here I felt like I had plenty of time to spend with them and the two or three years that we would be here would be enough. I didn't realize how fast the time would fly by -- so now I'm trying to truly enjoy as much of their company as I can. E-mail is a definite blessing and I am looking forward to keeping in touch with all of these wonderful people through that avenue. While it will be hard to say to goodbye to everyone, some of them will be more emotional than others. I know we will see our American friends again as most of them will be in the Peoria-area, so the goodbye will be more like an "until next time"; however our English friends will most likely be a different story as we aren't sure when we will be able to see them again. ;o( Brett and I are hoping to make a trip back to England during the summer to see all of our friends and family here so I am hopeful that will help us in easing the goodbyes.

The Caterpillar ISE wives had a going-away "tea" for me and Tina (my close friend that is moving back to the Peoria-area one week before we move) two weeks ago. Since I am on spousal leave from Caterpillar and hope that there will be a job waiting for me upon our return, they gave me a beautiful Radley briefcase (Radley is a brand name of bags, purses, etc. that are made in England), wallet, and brolley (umbrella). Everytime I use the items I will think fondly of all of them and the wonderful times we enjoyed together in England.

ISE Tea held at Holli's house in February


Me and Tina

In addition to the going-away party with my Caterpillar friends, my friends from Elton School held a going-away dinner for me at the Black Horse pub in Elton. To think of them and our family's time in England, they gave me a photograph of the Wansford Bridge (a beautiful bridge in the nearby village) from the early 1900's.

Friends from Elton School


Wansford Bridge photo

Our family members from my dad's side of the family live in the Cambridge-area (about 45 minutes from our house). We met for lunch with one set of family members, Maurice & Sheila, three weeks ago and with another set of family members, Ken & Miriam, two weeks ago. It was great seeing them and I really wish we would have been able to spend more time with them during our time here. Maurice & Sheila provided us with a map of Stibbington (the village we live in) from the early 1900's.

Maurice & Sheila with me and the children


Ken & Miriam with me and the children

Friday, February 13, was a day that I was absolutely dreading. That day was Brett, Kendall & Kameron's last day at Elton School and Warmington Playgroup. It was definitely one of the most emotional days I've had while living in England. The children didn't seem to be too phased by having to say goodbye...but it broke my heart watching them be recognized at their schools and then having to say goodbye to all of their friends and teachers. I'm so very thankful that children bounce back so quickly and adjust to new surroundings so easily.

Kendall & Kameron with their teachers at Warmington Playgroup (Miss Rosie, Miss Amy, Miss Allison, Miss Helen, Miss Julia, Miss Josephine, and Miss Sue)


Kendall & Kameron getting ready for their presentation


Kendall & Kameron showing off their card made by their teachers and classmates




Brett and Mrs. Spicer


Brett and Mrs. McPartlin


Brett receiving his Bronze Certificate for good work at his final Celebration Assembly


Brett during his presentation




Brett showing off his card made by his classmates and his leather bookmark from Elton School

Our time in England really has been spectacular and made so much better by being able to spend it with so many phenomenal people. We love them all as well as the gifts they gave us to remind us of England. The memories we have will be cherished forever.

Here are some pictures from our last few weeks in England. I'll be posting more once I get a chance but I believe the movers will be packing up my computer (yikes!) probably tomorrow morning as it will be going to Peoria on our air shipment. Please stay tuned...

Girls day at the Eden Day Spa (Tina, Laurie, Jenny & me) -- we missed everyone else that couldn't make it!


Chinese New Year celebration at Min's house


Corrina, Harrison, Min and me


Jenny, Tina, Holli and me


Brett with Michael -- first sleepover


Angie and me


Pam and me


Kendall & Kameron with Merrina (friend from Australia)


English tea at Miss Sue's house


Tina, Holli and me (with a very bad hair day -- I just got it cut 30 minutes before the photo)


Tina and me (again, with the bad hair day)


Tina and Holli


Me and Holli (can you tell I'm having a bad hair day?)






New sleeping arrangements as we have boxes stacked everywhere!

A bit of snow and then ALOT more... ;o)

On Monday of this week, we woke up to a bit of snow...in the Peterborough area there was maybe an inch or two of snow. In other places in England, there were up to 8-10 inches of snow. Over 100 schools in the area were closed on Monday (Brett's school was not one of them). The kids don't have snow boots over here (as they don't usually need them), so we put our wellies on and headed to school. Watching the snow fall throughout the day as well as while picking up Brett from school made us really feel at home. Granted, it was nothing like what we get in Illinois, but it was nice and pretty. Many of the English people were bundled up like it was 50 below zero -- pretty funny! The children enjoyed playing in the garden throwing snowballs at each other. Although Peterborough didn't have too much snow, other parts confirmed that this was the biggest snowstorm they have seen in 18 years.

Monday's snowfall

We had heard that we were supposed to get a bit more snow on Thursday. So I was expecting that it would start snowing throughout the day and we would enjoy a white garden by day's end on Thursday. WRONG! We woke up this morning to I'm guessing between 4 and 6 inches of snow. We don't watch the local weather over here so we had no idea what to expect. I let the kids sleep in as I knew they wouldn't have school and gave Mike a long speech about how he needed to be careful driving to work as a few people in England know how to drive in snow, but most don't have a clue. When I heard a knock at the door a few minutes later, I knew it couldn't be good. Well, Mike's BMW decided to get stuck in the field behind our house. So after trying to push it out, we both decided it would be best if he simply worked from home today. So the car was parked in the field for several hours waiting for us to go shovel a bit of the snow so we could move it back to its parking place. It is a good thing he stayed home as the 605, a main highway in the area, had been closed since 4:45 a.m. this morning as a lorrey was stuck in the snow blocking traffic. And we also heard that several portions of the A1 and the A47, the main motorways in the Peterborough area, were closed.

The kids were really wanting to get out and play so we headed outside and made a snowman and had a ton of fun together. The snow was perfect for making a snowman! While I'm sure most people here in England didn't enjoy the weather, I thoroughly enjoyed having a snow day with my family and it made me feel like I was back in Illinois! (17 days to go...) ;o)