Christmas 2010

We felt particularly blessed this past holiday season because we were able to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas with family! Ethan's mother and brother spent a week with us over the Christmas holiday.

But before they arrived, a few festivities already took place, including the children's annual school Christmas pageant. (How I will miss these after we move home!) Both Tim and Maddie played the part of angels this year (how fitting!!!!).

Christmas Eve was delightful. After a lovely meal, we cuddled on the couch and sang Christmas carols (it was so nice to have Mom here to play the piano!), nibbled on some cookies, drank some egg nog, read "The Night Before Christmas," and opened one gift each!Christmas morning was a lot of fun!! Collin's favorite gift seemed to be his tricycle which he enjoyed riding around the house. Tim was excited about his new sledge, and Maddie rocked out on her Paper Jams guitar. Ahhhh.... the glorious mess!Christmas dinner was of course accompanied by Christmas crackers, complete with jokes and crowns! I think that this will remain a tradition for us for years to come.We ventured out on the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) to Fountains Abbey. (Oh yes... did I mention that we had a white Christmas??!!) We enjoyed taking some lovely photographs, and taking part in a service that they hold there every year on Boxing Day. I think it's noteworthy to mention that this service is a culmination of a walk/pilgrimage that hundreds of people participate in each year. They begin at Ripon Cathedral, and walk 4 miles to get to Fountains Abbey to commemorate a similar journey that took place back in 1132 by a group of local monks! We did not participate in the walk, but we certainly appreciated the free admission!

Tim was thrilled that we had plenty of snow during his school holiday. That meant plenty of chances to test out his new sled! And we even had the right kind of snow to make a snowman for the front yard! (We didn't have any carrots, so it had to have a celery nose.)We all enjoyed a day trip to the village of Skipton, where we toured Skipton Castle. We really appreciated how well restored the castle was (it was nice to tour a castle with a roof during the middle of winter!). Here's a brief tour:
The gatehouseThe CourtyardThe Banquet HallA Medieval potty (always fascinating!)Stairs down to the dungeonA nice shot of Maddie and GrandmaEthan also took his mom and brother to take some unique and foggy shots of Bolton Abbey.
It was a very special Christmas season indeed.

Family Photo Shoot-Swap

I usually like to have our family picture taken for our annual Christmas card. But last year, I didn't know what to do, since my good friend (and amazing photographer) Christy, had moved back to the States.

Well, when we were leaving our friends' wedding back in October, we drove right past the sweetest little walking bridge. I told Ethan as soon as I saw it that that is where we needed to have our family picture taken!I mentioned it to my good friend Leslie, and asked if she might be interested in doing a photo shoot-swap... she would take our family picture, and I would take their family picture. And thankfully, she had a really nice camera!

So, one crisp and chilly Sunday after church, we loaded all 10 of us into our cars, and headed to the little walking bridge. We took a lot of pictures, hoping that by sheer chance, we would end up with a picture or two with everyone smiling, or at least looking in the camera's direction. Thankfully, we each had a bunch of nice pictures to choose from.Leslie said she will be in charge of finding next year's perfect English countryside location. But, I don't know if she'll be able to top this one!

Tim turns 9!

This past November, Timothy celebrated his 9th birthday!

What a joy it was to be able to celebrate while my parents were still here. We had our own little family party on his actual birthday, and a party with friends the weekend after. Our gift to him was a skateboarding/scooter ramp for the driveway.Tim chose to have a bowling party with the boys from his class. (There's a bowling alley on the base.) It was the first time that many of his friends had ever gone bowling, but we all had a fun time!I even took a stab at making a bowling ball and pin cake for his party. (It wasn't too hard actually- 2 round 9" pans to make the ball, and a 13x9" size cake, cut in half the long way, stacked and shaped to make the pin)!

Is is possible that my baby will turn double digits next November???!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

If ever I was thankful at Thanksgiving, this past Thanksgiving is probably the one I was most thankful-est for (yes, I said "thankful-est"). And the reason that I was so thankful is because, even though I live across the ocean from my family, I was able to celebrate the holiday with not only my parents, but my aunt and uncle as well.

My parents made the long journey to the UK to be with us (and the journey was especially long for my dad, who had to travel from Florida first). The one thing we didn't account for during their trip, was the weather. It was bitterly cold... so cold in fact, that we woke up to snow on Thanksgiving morning! (Did I mention that my dad had just come from Florida? Well, let's just say that he wasn't too pleased about the snow.)

My Aunt Marsha and Uncle Stan only had to come from London to be with us. My Uncle Stan is a college professor and was teaching a course there for the semester. We hadn't seen them in a few years, so it was wonderful to be together, and share our experiences.

Our Thanksgiving meal was wonderful! Being with my mom on Thanksgiving meant that there was very little stress about prepping the turkey dinner. She is nothing short of a pro! The following day, we went into Harrogate where we went to the Pump Room Museum and learned about how the natural sulphur springs brought tourism and wealth to this area. We then had lunch at Betty's Tea Room, which is the best tea room around.After my aunt and uncle returned to London, my mom, Maddie, and I decided to take a trip to Stoke-on-Trent. I have blogged about this before. Stoke-on-Trent is known for their production of fine china!

We went first to the Wedgewood Museum and Factory, where we were able to learn about the process of making and painting fine bone china. We watched videos which showed us how painstakingly some of the pieces were painted, and left with a much humbler appreciation for the hefty price-tags.

After Wedgewood, we headed to my favorite place in Stoke-on-Trent, which is the Burleigh Factory. My Mom already had a few pieces from Burleigh at home, so I thought I would add to her collection as an early Christmas gift. And, since we were there, I had to add to my collection as well!!

We decided to head back home after this, and what should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive, became a 4 hour drive due to some newly fallen snow. It was a VERY scary ride. At one point we found ourselves at the top of a hill, looking down at the s-curve road down below, where a bus was stuck on a bridge! (A bus full of elderly people, mind you!) We were SO grateful to make it back safely, and will forever remember the china that we risked our lives to get that day.

Aside from the snow, we had a wonderful time being together. So much to be thankful for....

MUCH More than Taco Bell

The weekend after Veteran's Day, we took a trip to two other US bases about 4 hours south of us. These bases are both much bigger than our base, so they have more "Americana" to offer, including Taco Bell!

When we arrived, we found the food court, and helped ourselves to some Taco Bell and Baskin Robbins! What a treat! Both of these bases have hotels that we can stay at for a really reasonable price. I think it was only $45/night, and we had a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen! It was fabulous!

These bases also have larger stores than what we have at our base; one specifically had a much larger selection of toys! So, we spent some time our first morning wandering around the aisles with the kids so we could get a feel for what they might be interested in for Christmas. (And later that night, Ethan went back and did a big chunk of our Christmas shopping, while I was putting the kids to bed!)

It was a really nice weekend to get away, and get a little US fix without spending a ton of 0money. But the best part of our weekend had nothing to do with these bases, but with a little air field about an hour away.

Ethan's grandfather, Roger William Stryker, served in the US Army Air Corps (Air Force during WWII as a navigator. He was stationed at what was called Debach Air Field when he was only 18 years old. When Ethan's uncle came to visit the UK, he was able to see Debach Air Field, so we thought we would give it a try.

We looked it up on-line, and found that there was a museum at Debach, and that they had a few events each year, mostly in the summer. http://www.493bgdebach.co.uk/
They listed a contact number, so I gave a call the day before we left, not really expecting much.

Well, we drove to the air field, and when I checked my voice mail on the way, I found a message from the proprietor saying that they would be glad to meet us there. We were surprised, and again, not quite sure what to expect. While we were waiting for them to arrive, Ethan walked around a little bit, and then we went to see the memorial. (In this photo, Ethan is holding his grandfather's Bible which he kept in his pocket during missions.)By that time, the couple arrived who were the owners of the air field. We learned that the airfield was passed down to them from his father, who owned it before and after the war. This couple has made it their personal hobby and passion to restore the air field, and collect items of interest from during the war. They were unbelievably kind and gracious to meet with us and give us a personal tour of the air field.
We started in the control tower, where we were able to see a model of what the air field would have looked like. And amazingly, we were able to find a picture of Ethan's grandfather on the wall with his flight crew (he's in the upper left - it incorrectly says "Strykes"). They only had a sampling of photos displayed, and his was there. Words couldn't describe our joy to have been able to make this connection, so far from home.Next, we toured the infirmary where there was a large display of models and artifacts from the time period. They also took us to see a collection of automobiles from the war that the owner was restoring. It was very impressive. They even had a model of a bomb shelter.If all of this weren't enough, the owners made a call to their archivist, Darren, who practically dropped what he was doing to come and meet with us. He took down Ethan's contact information, and for a month or so following our visit, he forwarded Ethan everything he had with Roger Stryker's name on it. So now, Ethan has an extensive collection of information regarding his grandfather's missions, promotions, etc. What a treasure!

This whole visit turned out to be so much more than we ever expected. We thought we would go, take a few pictures, and that would be it. Never did we imagine to get an in-depth, enthusiastic, personal tour by the owners. We never imagined we'd see a picture of Ethan's grandfather there. And we certainly never imagined to be linked up with someone who could provide us with such an extensive written record of his grandfather's activities during the war. It was a Veteran's Day weekend we will never forget.