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)

Missing England (and NOT missing England)...

With our move approaching faster than I ever thought possible, I have been trying to soak in all that England has to offer. ;o) Even though being away from our family has been extremely difficult, the past 2+ years have been an absolutely wonderful experience that we will never forget. The people we have met, the things we have had the opportunity to see, and everything we have experienced as a family will be etched in our memories forever and ever.

I was recently looking at the journal I started keeping when we first moved here (since I wasn't a blogger yet) and got a chuckle out of the things that occurred on a daily basis that were quite a bit unusual from what we were used to in the U.S. Terminology was about the biggest hurdle we had to overcome (and we're still learning new words). The weather was absolutely gorgeous the week we came to England in 2006 for our house-hunting trip...boy was that ever deceiving! England has lots and lots and lots of rain and mud. Some days are nice (maybe 2 or 3 weeks out of each summer). ;o) The first time that the girls and I went to Tesco after Mike went to work and Brett went to school, we walked around for about 3 hours just attempting to take it all in and figure out what everything was. (Honestly, I still can't believe the eggs aren't refrigerated.) And after over 2 years of living here, I still don't know what everything is. ;o)

With that being said, I wanted to document the things that I will miss about England as well as the things that I will NOT miss about England. ;o)

I will miss...

• the families that we have met at both Caterpillar and the Air Force Base
• the children, their families, and the teachers at Elton School
• the children and the teachers at Warmington Playgroup
• our house (I still can't believe we have been living in a house that was built in 1625 before the United States even existed)
• being able to stay home with Kendall & Kameron
• being able to take Brett to school and pick him up every day
• Brett's celebration assembly every Friday afternoon where they recognize children for good work and say a prayer to end the day
• school uniforms
• the children’s English accent -- I absolutely love "mummy" ;o)
• having people come up to us in stores and around the country asking if we are American (now we're just going to blend back in with everyone in the U.S.)
• Hovis Invisible Crust Bread (I know this one sounds silly but it is absolutely fabulous!)
• the ability to travel to so many destinations without having to pay an arm and a leg for the trip
• Tesco
• double trolleys
• not having a house payment -- we are homeowners again on Feb. 3!
• mail dropped off in our front door
• mother/child parking spaces (this really needs to come to the U.S.)
• roundabouts -- I love these! Unfortunately I don’t think they will work in the U.S.
• London
• Stamford -- beautiful nearby town (although this is where I had my first teeny tiny accident -- darn small roads!)

I will NOT miss...

• driving on the wrong side of the car
• driving on the wrong side of the street
• tiny little roads that only one car can fit through
• people parking their car on the street -- I mean, literally on the street where other people have to wait to get around them if there is another car coming
• shopping on the weekend where everyone in the Peterborough area seems to be at the exact same store at the exact same time -- crazy to say the least!
• rain
• rain
• rain (yes, I know I put this down 3 times...with good reason) ;o)
• mud
• more mud
• having to pay to park at every car park
• motorcyle drivers that believe they own the road and zip in and out of traffic
• traffic backups that basically stop traffic for NO apparent reason at all
• trolleys at the grocery stores that don't have locks on the back wheels -- so all 4 wheels just spin around freely and make it very hard to steer
• teeny tiny washing machine and dryer
• having no air conditioning (granted there was only about 2 weeks each year that it is needed -- but nonetheless)
• NHS -- it worked okay for us while we were in England (and the hospital in France was great when Brett bit through his lip and needed stitches) but anyone who says that publicly-funded medicine should come to the U.S. is crazy and really needs to experience it before making that decision

Mike purchased our plane tickets yesterday -- so it is now official ... we will be moving back on February 22. We are so incredibly thrilled to be moving back to our family; however also tremendously sad to be leaving our friends and "extended family" here. We love you all!!!

So much to do, so little time...

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind for our family. With our upcoming move back to the Peoria-area, we have been attempting to get everything finalized in England and set up in Peoria. (Honestly, I don't remember having this many things to do when we moved to England.) ;o)

We are now on the countdown to when we move our family back. We have made arrangements with the movers to come on February 12 to begin packing all of our belongings up. While I didn't realize we purchased that many new things while living over here, we were about 10 cubic metres over our limit for the sea shipment -- so Mike has been working hard taking down bookshelves, etc. to attempt to make up some space (as the movers don't disassemble items -- they just place them in the truck to be shipped). The movers will be here for approximately 5 days (not including the weekend). Following the movers, we have the cleaning crew coming on February 18 until 20 to ensure the house is spotless before we do the "final" checkout of our house. We will either be travelling back to Peoria over that weekend or on the following Monday.

In England, half-term at the schools in the nearby villages is February 16-20...so Brett's last day at Elton School and Kendall & Kameron's last day at Warmington Playgroup is going to be Friday, February 13. I am already dreading the last full week of the kids' school and especially the last day where we will have to say to goodbye to all of the friends the children have met. All of the children and their families were so welcoming to us when we moved here 2+ years ago and made us feel right at home.

In addition to having to say goodbye to all of the friends we have met at the children's schools, we also have to say our goodbyes to the people that have been our "extended family" while living over here. We have met an absolutely amazing group of people -- both with Caterpillar and the U.S. Air Force. The ties and bonds that have been created will never be broken and we will look very forward to hopefully all of them moving back to the Peoria-area so we can reconnect and be close again. We have decided that this will not be goodbye -- but an "until next time."

(If any of you own stock in Kleenex tissues, you may want to increase your shares as the next few weeks approaches...)

A home for our family

Being notified in early December that we would be moving back to Peoria in March/April was a bit of a shock (as we were kind of expecting summer 2009), but seemed to work out very well for us. Since we lived in Peoria and then were transferred to England (and didn't live in any other places in between), we aren't provided with a house-hunting trip. So on our home-leave trip (which falls in December each year), we decided to make the most of it. Arriving in Peoria about 10 days before Mike worked out well as I was able to view a good number of houses with a realtor and narrow it down to a select few. On December 23, my Dad and I drove to Chicago to pick up Mike (in the horrendous ice/snow storm) at O'Hare International Airport. (Unfortunately, they didn't have any flights coming direct from Chicago to Peoria on that night.) We arrived back in Peoria around 2 a.m. on December 24, went to sleep for a few short hours, and then met our realtor at 8:45 a.m. to start viewing my chosen few. With Mike having the beginnings of jetlag and me not having much sleep at all (which is most definitely not a good thing), I wasn't sure how the day was going to unfold. Much to our surprise, we were able to keep right on schedule and went through my final 5 houses before lunchtime. Mike and I enjoyed a quiet lunch together with just the two of us (where lots of caffeine was consumed) and decided on our top 2. We went back to the realtor's office after lunch and had him write up an offer. After several times of the realtors going back and forth (oh how I hate dickering!), we all agreed on a price. So, YAHOO -- we are now the proud owners of a house in Germantown Hills.

The house is located on Countryside Street in the White Oak Lake subdivision. It is situated on an acre of land, has 4 bedrooms, a good amount of space, and an inground pool in the back. We are all thrilled to be moving back to the Peoria-area and can't wait to receive our sea shipment with all of our belongings (it will take about 45 days after we leave England to arrive in Peoria) so we can start putting our new house together.

Here are a few pics...


(Sorry this isn't as clear as I would like -- it is a photo of a photo ... what can I say, it was winter when we viewed the house and the pool was covered with snow and ice.) ;o)

Christmas Holiday

I know it has been quite awhile since I've updated ... so please bear with me as I update with several entries. ;o)

The children and I flew back to Peoria on December 13. I was very naive in thinking the children would actually sleep on the 9-hour flight to Chicago. What was I thinking?! They were too interested in playing video games and watching movies and television shows on the screens in front of them to even think about sleeping. Finally, they slept for 30 minutes on the flight from Chicago to Peoria (as that plane was boring and didn't have any of the fancy gadgets that the big planes have). We made it safe and sound but thoroughly exhausted!

We spent the next week or so going to doctor and dentist appointments and visiting with friends and family. Besides the snow and major ice storms, everything went very well.

Mike joined us on December 23 right in time for Christmas. We questioned his arrival a bit as there were horrible ice/snow storms that day and many flight delays and cancellations, but thankfully he arrived without any issues. We had a fabulous time spending the holidays with our family and are now anxiously awaiting our return to Peoria (post on this new adventure in just a bit).

Christmas Eve -- making reindeer food for Santa's reindeer


Photos from holiday visits with our family (sorted in date order)

Dinner with Holli and Stacey -- wonderful friends I made in England (Stacey lives in Bloomington and Holli still lives in England)

New Year's Eve -- 3 party animals (that were in bed by 9:15 p.m.) ;o)

Photos from January 3 when we returned to England ... gifts from Santa (notice the robes and slippers that the children had on -- it was freezing in our house as we had NO hot water and NO heat)! (Update -- the AGA was fixed on January 5 so we were able to get hot water and the pump on the boiler was fixed on January 6 so we now have a warm house ... YAHOO!!!)