The Cousins Meet at Last!

Last Wednesday, after over 9 months of waiting, I FINALLY got to meet my sweet baby niece, Summer Grace! My parents, sister, and niece literally traveled by "plane, train, and automobile" to come visit. It was quite a day of travel for them and they arrived completely exhausted, but we were so glad to have them here.

How sweet it was to pick up Summer for the first time after all of our previous interaction had been through a computer screen. My kids just adored her! It was so precious to see her with Collin, too (they are only a month and a half apart in age). They would make each other smile, and grab at each other's faces. So cute!We quickly learned that our Summer is a ball of energy... always on the move. She kept us on our toes and kept us laughing! One of our favorite things about Summer is how she dances! My sister would start singing "Baa, baa black sheep", and Summer's head would start bobbing! Loved it!

Uncle Ethan bonded with his first-ever niece one night over a few stacking cups. He had her laughing so easily. It was adorable!

While my family was here, we did a few day trips. The first day, we took a walk through Ripon to play on a playground and see the Cathedral.We also took a day trip to the city of York. We found a good Mexican restaurant for lunch, and we did a tour of the York Castle Museum that afternoon. We also enjoyed a leisurely walk through the small streets to see the Shambles (a narrow street from medieval times), and York Minster.Also, during this visit my dad finally made good on his threat to go to school with my kids. I don't think I've blogged about this before, but last year when my dad visited and saw the kids' school, he said that he wanted to go. He told the story about how he couldn't go to school as a kid because he had to work in the coal mines.... etc., etc. To this, the kids responded that he couldn't go to school because he didn't have a school jumper (sweatshirt).

So, for Christmas last year, we got my dad his very own Bishop Thornton jumper! He was thrilled, and wore it proudly to school last Friday, with his Harley Davidson lunch box in tow. He went into the school with the kids, and after reaching his goal of a sufficient number of eye-rolls, headed back home with me. More about our trips to Bolton Abbey and London next time!

Germany!

Last weekend, I (Rebecca) went to Germany for a women's conference. Ethan kindly and very capably took care of the kids for 3 days while I was gone. What a guy!

The conference I attended was the Annual Training Conference for PWOC (Presbyterian Women of the Chapel) in Willingen, Germany. I went with 4 other ladies from the base here who are interested in serving in some leadership capacity.

The flight from London to Germany was a little over an hour, and we lost an hour for the time difference on the way there. On our drive from the airport, we were able to see some of the countryside which was very different than what I am used to in England. There were no sheep or stone fences, but there were a lot of trees--- tall trees. It's easy to see how lumber is a big part of the industry here.We arrived too early to the hotel to check in, so that gave us some time to take a stroll and grab some lunch in the local village. We decided to eat at a place called Bavarium to get some traditional German food.This is what the menu looked like: leiderhosen on the outside, and complete German on the inside!I had no idea what anything meant, but it certainly was fun trying to pronounce everything! (Remember to pronounce your "w" as a "v" sound!) Thankfully, I was able to find pork schnitzel on the menu, which a friend in England recommended that I try.

And, I wish I could say that I tried the authentic local weissbier (beer), but no. The whole table of Christian women ordered Pepsi! Oh well...

Anyway, this is what my meal looked like. The pork schnitzel is the breaded meat, and the two things on top are not eggs. They're actually Camembert cheese that was broiled and oh so gooey! The fries were good. They had a seasoning salt on them that was yummy.

This is what my friends' meals looked like. I tried the purple sauerkraut, and it wasn't too bad. And this is my new friend Nikki. She said that ice cream was the only thing on the menu that she recognized, so that's what she ordered. Now that's my kind of woman!

After lunch, we were able to do some window shopping and see some of the town. I got some candy and toys for the kids, and I even considered buying this outfit for myself so I could be Ethan's beer wench.Maybe next time...

I couldn't help but notice how many of the houses had a-frame shaped roofs. And check out this house! It is completely covered in slate shingles!Of course, we had to stop at the local bakery to try the Apfelstrudel! It had a little Bavarian cream in it which I wasn't expecting, but was delicious. (By the way, the lady behind the counter totally laughed at me taking these pictures... the things I do for my blog!)We stayed at a very nice 4-star hotel, and the views from our balcony were just lovely. This town must be a ski-resort during the winter, because you could see the slopes in the distance.

I ended up having a really wonderful weekend. It was nice to get away with the girls and meet some new people, too. I also really enjoyed some sweet times of fellowhip, worship, and teaching. And although the trip home was exhausting, I still came back refreshed for mommy-hood once again.

Swap 'Til you Drop!!

A few weekends ago, I hosted my first swap party. What's a swap party, you might ask? Well, the general idea is that ladies bring items to the party that are in good shape but they don't really use anymore, and swap it with other ladies' stuff.

I got the idea from my friend Kari, back in Maryland. She would tell me all about these swap parties she would have with a group of friends every few months, and how she would come home with some great finds. I remember thinking the whole concept was just a great idea! No money exchanges hands, and everybody goes home happy having gotten rid of stuff they don't use, and getting "new" stuff for free!

So, I planned out my first party. We had 12 ladies here at the house, and they brought A LOT of stuff. There was a huge variety: clothes, kid toys, books, movies, kitchen appliances, etc.

There are different ways of swapping, but I found this idea on line, and thought it would be the fairest way of doing it:

• I had three tables marked with price ranges: $1-5, $5-10, and $10-20.
• Each table had a designated color and blank tickets of that color. The ladies had to decide a price range and fill out a colored ticket for each of their items. For example, if they had a sweater that was in the $5-10 range, they would write their name on a yellow ticket and put the sweater on the yellow table.
  
• The ladies filled out colored tickets for each of their items based on their price range, and put all tickets in a basket.
• When all tickets were in, we started the swap. I would pick a ticket out of the basket, and if it was your name, then you got to pick any one item off of that color table. (This way, you left with items of about the same value as the ones you brought).
• We did the ticket system for a while, and then we just did a free-for-all time until everyone got things that they wanted.
  
• Everything left over got donated to the local thrift shop.

Can I just tell you.... it was great!!! It seemed like everyone had a lot of fun "shopping," and they left with some neat finds! Personally, I felt like it was Christmas! I got some Mary Kay make-up (unused), a Pampered Chef piece of stoneware, a new table cloth with matching napkins, a set of hand weights, and plenty of new toys for the kids! It was so much fun!

Before the party, I really wasn't sure how it would go. I was nervous that someone would leave feeling like they got much less than they contributed. So, I really encouraged everyone to come in a spirit of donation. Most ladies said they were glad just to get rid of stuff, but thrilled at the items that they got in exchange.

I would highly recommend having a swap party, and plan on having another one in the fall. If you would like more info about hosting one, I would gladly give you more details.

Last Day in Wales: Bodnant Garden

On our last day in Wales, we were in no great rush to get home, especially when the trip only took a few hours. So we thought we would go see one more attraction before we got back on the road. We decided to go to Bodnant Garden, which was on our way.

Bodnant Garden was originally started in the late 1800s, and passed through four generations of the Aberconway family. It was entrusted to the National Trust in the mid-1900s.

The garden was just spectacular! It was probably the best and biggest garden we have been to so far!

Here are a few favorite pictures:After a nice, long stroll through the garden, we had a light lunch, topped it off with some home-made Welsh ice-cream, and then it was back in the car. We were grateful for an uneventful drive back, and wonderful memories of our vacation.