Mind the Gap

Deer, oh deer...continued

2006-08-09T20:21:00.000-02:00

Tarah and her deer friend, enjoying each other's company. The amazing thing is that she and the deer are standing the same way. The wierd thing is that in the field, almost out of the shot, a deer is bending down just like on the other side of the fence where Brandon, almost out of the shot, is bending down. lol. Kayla is helping Britty feed the deer, Eliza is doing just fine on her own. Brandon Rhett helping Eliza Kayla and Tarah These deer were so excited to have the grass that grew on our side of the fence! If you look closely, this deer is not using his front feet to support himself, he is completely leaning on the fence in anticipation of the grass Rhett is picking. Aaaahhhh, finally the grass is ready to eat. My conclusion, sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side.

The Caspers and the Friendly Ducks

2006-08-09T18:23:00.000-02:00

In June we went to visit Audley End House. It is a beautiful house with stunning grounds (pictures to follow this post). The day we went, the house happened to be closed and we were very disappointed. Before we left I noticed there were lots of ducks around the pond, so I went over to the fence to get a better look. I didn't stand at the fence longer than 30 seconds before some of the ducks started to migrate towards me. I was stunned, to say the least. I had never seen this behavior before in birds. It became clear that they were expecting me to feed them! I went to our van and got the only food we had with us, graham crackers, and returned to find even more ducks on their way. The funniest sight was to see some of them "running".

Send in the ducks!

After a while, a mother and her 11 ducklings waddled on over to get in on the action! The ducklings had an advantage the other ducks did not...

...they could fit through the slats in the fence. This is Kayla feeding the ducklings from her hand, and Rhett feeding them from his shoe. lol. The sweet little guys would peck at our shoe laces and finger tips, thinking they were food no doubt. Here are Tarah, me, Brandon, and Brittany feeding the ducklings. Their mother was never very far from the fence, watching closely; and if we picked one up it would cheep, at which sound the mother would come closer and quack to her baby. It was very sweet and made the whole trip worth it. We did go back to the house on a day it was opened, and that time we brought two bags of bread to feed our friends. Even the adult ducks were confident enough to eat right out of our hands. The white duck stole an entire piece of bread out of Brandon's hand then ran off to enjoy his spoil. Another duck had Tarah terrified and on the run, he wanted her piece of bread so badly!

Bonus London Pictures

2006-06-25T16:47:00.000-02:00

I love this picture of my kids in the armory at the Tower of London.

They are standing next to a display of armor for a giant and a dwarf (which

I originally thought was matching armor for father and son - maybe that's

where Laura Ashley got the idea).

This is the best picture I could get of the clock tower at the Houses of Parliament. The position of the sun was working against me.

Standing on the south side of the River Thames, right next to the London Eye, we see the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, with one of the famous red, double decker busses crossing over, and the Houses of Parliament.

On the way out of the crown jewel exhibit, we ran into this fellow. I thought he was odd looking, but I liked the way his eyes are looking up. It actually looks like he is rolling his eyes. He's probably thinking, "If I have to be in a picture with any more silly kids today, I'll eat my own head. OOOOOhhhh nooooo, here come some more!!!"

London Bridge is Falling Down...

2006-06-19T21:59:00.000-02:00

London Bridge is Falling Down :)

Ok, not really (and Rhett's not standing on the London Bridge in this

picture). This is Rhett with the London Eye behind him (which reminds me of the '80's song "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me", or, as my kids think the lyrics go, "I Want a Steamroller, Somebody's Watching Me"). This was our last stop of the day after spending several hours at the Tower of London earlier in the day. The building with the pillars in front is the London Aquarium. To the left of the aquarium is a park we rested at (well, we rested, the kids found the energy to run and play).

The lighting is a bit disappointing, but here is Rhett, Kayla, and the kids with the Houses of Parliament and the clock tower which houses Big Ben behind them. When I took the picture above we were standing on the bridge you see in this picture (the Houses of Parliament were behind me, and in this picture the London Eye is behind me). Behind the clock tower you can see Westminster Abbey peeking out. We didn't have time to see the Abbey or tour around the parliament buildings (it was already 5:30 in the afternoon and things were closing). This was our first stop during the day, the Tower of London. The Tower is right on the River Thames. This is the river walk right outside of the Tower, and the bridge behind us is the Tower Bridge. The sun seemed to be thwarting every attempt we made to take a decent picture. This is me, Kayla, and the kidlets at the entrance to the Tower of London. We were excited to learn that there was a free tour inside; we were less excited when we found out that we had to pay about $80 for our family to go through the gates to get access to the "free" tour.Finally, good lighting! This is Rhett in the yard at the Tower, with the Tower Bridge behind him. In the armory at the Tower; this is armor for a giant and a dwarf (although, I first thought it was matching father/son armor).

The kids standing in front of King Henry the VIII's armor.

London Bridge is Falling Down...(part II)

2006-06-17T00:24:00.000-02:00

This is what happens when you let men decorate! They are now in the armory at the Tower of London, however these columns were actually in a home (forgive me, I forget which one, but I'm guessing it wasn't frequented by the Mrs.)

"Ok mama, I'll keep a close eye out for the Queen's Guard. Bright red coats and tall, bear skin hats? Got it, I'm watching closely! I'm sure I'll see them any second now." (just kidding) These guards are marching towards their next station, a small changing of the guards.

I don't actually know what they are guarding, and come to think of it, nobody told us. Hmmm...

On the way back from changing guards. This picture is in the keep yard of the Tower of London; it looks like a little town. There are homes, a church, a forge, and gardens.

The kids with the guard in front of the Crown Jewel display. Seeing that many diamonds made me a bit light headed! Brittany said, "So, when the Queen needs her jewels she can just drive down here to get them?" You wouldn't believe the size of the golden punch bowl she owns!

This was the main gate into the Tower of London, they would sail right up to it from the River Thames. It used to have a different name, but since many of the prisoners were sent to the Tower for treachery the gate was renamed "Traitors Gate". Today the river is blocked from reaching up to the gate. By the way, only those of noble birth were brought to the Tower of London, this was not a prison for the ordinary bloke.

This was our tour guide, a Yoeman, or Beefeater, as they were nicknamed. He is among a few hundred men who have served as these special guards since the Tower was built. The yoemen and their families are the only residence at the Tower today. They got the nickname of Beefeater hundreds of years ago when, as part of their pay, they were given beef joints on a regular basis. The common man, at that period, couldn't afford meat very often. The meat isn't included in their benefits today, but how cool would that be to give your address as "The Tower of London" ?

Coming and going

2006-06-16T23:41:00.000-02:00

Recently, my sister-in-law arrived for an extended visit. She will be with us for at least six months, maybe more. After I picked her up at the airport I got to thinking about making the same trip to pick up other family members we hope will visit us while we live here. I thought I would jot down some of the thoughts I had, in hopes of making getting here (and me getting to you) easier. Kayla arrived at Gatwick, which is one of two international airports near London (Heathrow is the other, just in case you didn't know). I was quite nervous to go and get her, afraid of the traffic, affraid of getting lost, and things of that sort. However, just the opposite happened; I had an easy time getting to the airport, an easy time finding a parking spot, and a relatively easy time getting Kayla away from the over zealous immigration officers who seemed suspicious of her. From my experience and the advice from others, Gatwick is easier to get to than Heathrow is. Both airports are about 100 miles from us, but the closest international airports. It took me about two hours to get to Gatwick from my house; which brings me to my next point - arrival time. Kayla's flight was due in at about 9:30 am, which meant that I had to leave my house at about 7:30. I would just like any of you travelers to keep that in mind when scheduling your flights. Two hours driving time for us...that is not to say we would prefer you find your own ride out to our place, the drive is very beautiful and not difficult; it just takes two hours. I imagine if anybody arrived before 9:30, they would end up sitting in the airport for a while because any earlier would be REALLY difficult for me. :) For those of you who might be more adventurous and want to try to ride the tube (the London Underground) out of London and have us meet you, don't bother. I have heard, and it seems logical, that any thiefs would spot a wary traveller quickly and you might become a target. Especially being tired, slightly disoriented, and carrying lots of things with you. When we rode the tube into London to go sightseeing we had a great time and didn't feel endangered at all. However, after travelling for so long and being in unfamiliar territory, it would be easy to get robbed, harassed, or otherwise irritated. Save the ride on the tube for sightseeing. All right, that's all I have for now. I do have some tips for planning your sightseeing if anyone needs it; of course, with access to the internet you can find about anything! E

Every Day Life

2006-06-11T05:29:00.000-02:00

Brandon's first scout camporee!!

Making a todem pole with his den.

Bridging from Bears to Webelos. Brandon got started late in the school year, he had about three months to complete his requirements; he and Rhett worked very hard, and he spent much of his spare time reading the Bear handbook and deciding what requirements to do next, and they were able to complete enough so Brandon could move on to Webelos with the rest of the boys. Cub scouts is Brandon's favorite hobby now. Brittany played soccer for the first time. Brandon was chosen to be in the Spirit Club at his school. The Spirit Club put on a show with songs and positive messages for most of the school. This first picture is Brandon standing with other Spirit Club members, Raggedy Ann and Andy (who were special guests) and Rocky, the Lakenheath Elementary mascot. A few classes of first graders put on a Mother's Day show, complete with hand gestures and sign language. Tarah is in the middle, with a green shirt on. Our Tarah sweetie.

Gloriously Odd Town Names

2006-06-04T12:47:00.000-02:00

To start out, I thought I would change the name of the blog because...well, I was bored with the other name (which I chose hastily, for lack of a more clever title). Mind the gap is a phrase the Brits use to mean "watch your step". There are "mind the gap" signs posted all over the Tube stations and train stations. It is a typical British phrase, putting something just a little differently than we do. T-shirts with "mind the gap" written across them are popular. Then, there is, of course, the physical gap between us and those of you who read this blog, so...Bob's your uncle (another way of saying, "there you have it"). Now on to the Gloriously Odd Town Names... On our recent trip to Dover I had some time to kill while I waited for Rhett and the kids to finish up "extreme" hiking on the famous white cliffs. So, as is habit, I reached for a book. The only book available was an English atlas we had with us. I turned the page to the area we live and was lazily looking over the names of towns around us, when I saw Six Mile Bottom. What a great name! So I looked some more and kept finding these wonderfully wierd town and village names. Searching out these odd towns has become somewhat of an obsession, and has amused me for a few months. It doesn't seem too hard to figure out how some of these towns got their names, but for others, I am just left with a puzzled look on my face. I thought I would share some of the names I have found and hope it amuses you as much as it has amused me. Itchingfield Burnham-on-Crouch Bath (the cleanest place in England) Womenswold St. Just-in-Roseland (get him outside of Roseland and he trades his halo for horns!) Herodsfoot Crumplehorn Blubberhouses (but they have lovely personalities) Budge's Shop Botusflemming Notter (is that even English?) Slapton Boohay Coffinswell (is it, though?) Combeinteignhead (I am sure this is Olde English for "I got the comb stuck in my hair again") Budleigh Salterton (note to Jamie Melin: sounds like a great name for a little boy, and you know none of the other boys in school will have the same name) Beer (a real "man's" town) Great Weeke Rumps Point Headcorn (it's where the hair style "corn rows" originated) Denton Lower Peover Upper Peover Cross o' th' Hands Bunny (now that's just cute!) Hose Breedon on the Hill (stay away from that hill on Saturday nights!) No Man's Heath Sheepy Parva (by far, my favorite!!!) Barton in the Beans Blaby (we just can't stop talking about how great this town is) Bitchfield (the female version of being "in the dog house"??) Needingworth (a town full of people with self esteem issues) Upton Snodsbury (which is located right next to ...) White Ladies Aston (my second favorite :) ) Dummer Three Legged Cross (huh?) Droop (a town with less energy) Oxenpill (imagine the size of that pill!) Butleigh (which is next to...) Butleigh Wooton (so nice they named it twice) Hand and Pen Inkpen Hopes Nose (it's sooo green here) Newton with Scales (you laugh, but not everybody has scales... it's something to brag about) Much Hoole (again, huh?) Locking Stumps Ramsbottoms Turton Bottoms Dunnockshaw Love Clough (sounds like Celtic ebonics) Triangle (lol) Upperthong Netherthong (kind of put off by Upperthong, yet absolutely afraid of Netherthong) Holyland Nether Whatstandwell Near Cotton (a new form of polyester that's softer than before) Netheravon (where under achieving Avon ladies are sent; incidently, they are now accepting special cases from Mary Kay and Amway) Mary's Hoo Dumpton Broadstairs (now, them are braggin' rights) Bapchild Tong Goodnestone Old Wives Lees Upper Harbledown (say that ten times fast) Rough Common (not an easy place to grow up) Ratling Sandwich Barfestone Paddlesworth Bossingham (don't you hate it when your pig starts ordering you around?) Three Chimneys Smarden Bell Smarden (I don't get it) Pluckley Thorne *these next four towns are all close to each other* Dymchurch Newchurch Ivychurch Woodchurch Baldslow (who needs Rogaine when you can live here?) Barking Thong New Barn Locksbottom Elmer's End Tooting Tooting Bec Much Birch (but few oak) Much Dew Church Cross Ash (what you have left after a cross fire) Crickadarn Powderham (just add 'Waterloo', or the next town) Canworthy Water (water fit for watering the garden or rehydrating powderham) Broadwoodwidger (sounds like the name of a racehorse) Minions Portwrinkle Crafthole London Apprentice (it's a thankless job) Barripper Westward Ho! (seriously, it even has the exclamation point after it) Hole Sheepwash (sheepwax is extra) Virginstow (hummm?) Chaddlehanger Harrowbarrow (home of Henny Penny, Chicken Licken, Turkey Lurkey) Frogwell (yes, he's fine, thank you) Luckwell Bridge Four Forks (but no spoons) Swimbridge (doesn't invoke feelings of confidence) Wookey (the hometown of Chewbacca) Catsgore Little Load (is right next to) Long Load Tintinhull Odcombe Curry Mallet Burnworthy (the people weren't that impressed with this town from the get go) Axmouth (yikes) Exmouth (yeah, that used to be my mouth but we broke up) Jack-in-the-Green (as if a Jack-in-the-box isn't scarey enough, there's one waiting to pop up out of the grass) Lower Upcott Uplowman Craze Lowman Otter St. Mary (ooookay) Downhead Temple Cloud (just lovely) Chewton Mandip (an exclusive town, for members only, of female cannibals) Evercreech Beer Hacket Hamlet Piddletrenthide (obviously didn't hide it well enough if the whole town knows about it) White Lackington (don't tell anyone from the ACLU) Piddlehinton Hillbutts *these next five towns are all in the same area* Tolpuddle Puddletown Affpuddle Briantspuddle Turners Puddle Overcombe (where Donald Trump grew up) East Creech *these next three towns are all in the same area* Over Wallop (when your mom hits you just one more time because you made her so mad) Middle Wallop Nether Wallop (the wallop of no return) Well, I have more but I also have four kids, a husband, and a Kayla to feed, so I must go make dinner. I'll post some more from time to time.

Brittany at Oxborough Hall

2006-05-23T01:30:00.000-02:00

Brittany's class recently went on a field trip to Oxborough Hall. The home was built in the 16th century (if I remember correctly) by the Bedingfeld family, and they still live there today! It was almost comical to hear the tour guide tell a group of military kids that this family has lived here for hundreds of years! You can slightly see some of the scaffolding in this picture; as you can imagine, a home this old needs a good deal of upkeep. In the front garden. (I guess I should mention that I went with Brit and her class as a chaperone). This gives a good view of part of the garden and the part of the house the family occupies. The bit with the scaffolding, extending off to the right, is the private residence. The rest of the Hall is open to the public. There is a lot of history in this home, one of the most important being that the tapestries of Mary Queen of Scots are housed here (forgive me, but I forget whether she stayed here when she did them, it's possible). She did an incredible job creating animals that were described to her. Another part of the garden. How would it be to have a moat around your house...just another thing to clean!!! And how many times during one day would I hear, "Mooommm,

{so-and-so} pushed me into the moat"? No thank you! Looking into the field from the roof of the Hall. Notice the chimneys, each has different brick work (I am thinking this was popular during Tudor times :) ). I wonder if those cows' genealogy goes as far back as the Bedingfeld family? Still on the roof, looking out onto another field.

2006-05-23T00:48:00.000-02:00

Gazing at GazelyThis cool thatch roofed cottage looks like a great place to live, until you realize it is two homes not just one. The yard is nice, though. Brandon and friends petting a clydesdale. This was on a hike around a village called Gazely. The beautiful English countryside (pictures don't do it justice). This bridge dates back to the fifthteenth century, and you can still go across it! One of the old churches around Gazely. Our Elder's Quorum organized a six mile hike around Gazely to see three old churches (and the beautiful scenery). Brandon and Rhett went. The village of Gazely is very small and they are not used to 60 or so people walking through town. However, the oddest thing had to be that none of group stopped at the pub for a pint (which is probably the strangest thing the village of Gazely has ever witnessed).

(A seperate day)

Another walk through the woods on a beautiful Sabbath day.

Now that spring is here it is amazing to see how much foilage there is

around here. I have seen nothing like it in the States.

The Pictures I Forgot

2006-04-20T19:57:00.000-02:00

Ok, so I forgot some pictures. These should come after the "Framlingham Castle" post but that's not how the posts will be displayed. This is the fireplace inside what used to be the poor house at Framlingham. I guess if you don't want all the trouble of chopping the tree up into little bits so you can burn it, you just build a fireplace big enough to put the whole tree into!

Rhett and the kids standing on the opposite side of the curtain wall, with Framlingham College in the back ground.

My sweeties on the wall walk tour at Framlingham.

This is a view of Dover Castle from the beach we were on. We couldn't figure out if that monstrous building in the foreground is a hotel or apartment complex (we were leaning towards apartments, and that wasn't the only leaning we came across).

This was a riddle in our room at the Bed and Breakfast we stayed in. Is the wall crooked? Is the shelf crooked? Or is the radiator crooked? I would venture a guess that no one thought anything was crooked until the radiator went in! Does anyone know when the leveling tool was invented?

Framlingham Castle

2006-04-19T19:15:00.000-02:00

We visited this castle on April 14. It was built in the late 1100's by the Bigod family. Most generations of Bigod's had on again/off again relationships with the British Monarchy. This castle was taken away as punishment then given back to the family on a number of different occasions, by more than one king.

The kids and me crossing the bridge over the moat to the entrance of the keep yard. This is the view from where we are standing on the bridge looking out over what is now a very dry moat. This is the view as you come in the keep yard. All that remains of the castle are the towers and the walls. The original buildings were destroyed by one of the monarchs who had finally had it with the Bigod family. These buildings here now were once used as a poor house during the 19th century. The view from the car park, where the British have their convenient, small, fuel efficient cars...then there's our van :) . The shrubbery on the left of the picture lines the walk up to the main entrance. The faithful knight in full armor, standing guard at the window. The brick on the castle was an added during Tudor times as a means of upkeep. "Ahhh, do you remember those days when we were young and would play tag on the lawn of the castle?" Fun, indeed! :) A beautiful grove of trees on the castle grounds. Framlingham village. These chimneys are way cool. They were put here during the reign of Queen Mary. I think there were seven, spread out around the towers and the wall. Only three of them were actually attached to fireplaces, the others were purely ornamental. Each chimney is different (you'll have to look closely). This was my favorite! We drove past this windmill on the way to Framlingham.

We had a good week and saw many beautiful things. This is just the beginning. We plan to take as many local trips as possible, just little weekend trips here and there. During the coming months there will be some fun events that we want to attend, like a Robin Hood Festival in Sherwood Forrest, a joust tournament at another castle, there are birds of prey demonstrations at some of the castles, which I am really interested in seeing. Lots of fun stuff and we don't even have to leave our little island (although, we do plan to do that soon too). We'd love to be tour guides to anyone who wants to come and visit, too.

Once Upon a Time

2006-04-19T17:31:00.000-02:00

Dover Castle! Here we are at the beach just below the

castle; Dover has a very busy ferry port.

The coast of France is only about 55 miles

away.

If you enlarge this picture and look just beyond the harbor wall you can see the coast of France. Not that I'm promoting paying any attention to France...but some of you might care to look.

Our little sunny girl.Up the hill to the castle keep. The castle was built in the late 12th century and has been a very important place concerning England's defense. The British sure do have a curious way of keeping secrets. "Commander, I put the sign up over the entrance to the secrect tunnels. Are you sure the Germans don't know how to speak English?" Up on the hill overlooking the ferry harbor. Pretty much the same as last picture, except I'm in this one. It was a beautiful day, clear and sunny; later in the evening it got rainy. Into the keep (the keep is the part of the castle where the king holds residence). The throne room (in case you hadn't figured that out for yourself). The stairwell to the roof top. This picture shows something amazing...the oldest building in U.K. The building right in the center of the picture, with the square tower, is an old Anglo-Saxon church. Just to the right of the church, it almost looks as though it is part of the same building, is a round building with no roof. This is the Roman Pharos, a light house. I forget exactly how old it is, but I believe the Romans were here in the second century A.D. We took this picture and the next one from the top of the castle keep.

I wish I could remember more of the history of the castle. It has been used as a strategic defense head quarters many times during England's past. The most recent was during World War II. The secret war time tunnels were a command post. They also built a hospital underground for the wounded soldiers. You are not allowed to take pictures in the tunnels, that is why we have none. The second day of our trip we had a camera malfunction and so we missed many breathtaking, scenic opportunities to capture :(. If you take a few minutes to look up Dover Castle on the web you'll be amazed with it's history. We did take a hike along the famous white cliffs of Dover but that was on the second day so we have no pictures of that.

Those Anglo-Saxons...

2006-04-16T13:36:00.000-02:00

In the fall after we arrived in England we started to explore our surroundings. Fortunately, an Anglo-Saxon village was discovered many years ago here in East Anglia. It is the most complete village ever found in Britian. Frames of buildings made of wood were found, which the scientists were able to speculate what the homes looked like, what their barns, meeting hall, and other structures were like. This is the barn where the sheep are during the warmer parts of the year. Also, during the warmer months there are many other animals here which the Saxons would have had; there are also people who come and dress up and "live" in the village like the Saxons would have. It was a very primitve life. This is a home. This is Rhett modeling a Saxon warrior's helmet (looks quite fierce with the umbrellas). More artifacts found at the site. The helmet seems to have swallowed Brittany's neck! Eliza impersonating an Anglo-Saxon Richard Nixon. LOL. Tarah just trying to see through the darn thing.

Eliza's Birthday

2006-03-12T20:37:00.000-02:00

Eliza's fourth birthday, Dec. 4. Dress up jewelry from Grandpa and Grandma Phillips. Our little princess. Her dress up outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Lyman. Eliza loves playing dress up and usually spends most of the day in dress up clothes (this is her favorite dress, taking the place of the Tinker Bell costume she used to wear nonstop). This is Eliza's birthday party, Brandon, Brittany, Tarah, Eliza, Keegan, Buddy, Danny, Annie, and Chad...whew.

Christmas

2006-03-12T19:28:00.000-02:00

This is as good as it gets for kids over seas...Ghetto-Claus. It's a far cry from the guy they have at Provo Town Center, but hey, Santa's all about a kid's imagination and the magic of Christmas, right? We're at the "mall" they have on the base in Mildenhall. The one good thing they had was a very talented balloon artist... Britty, our little angel... Tarah and Eliza got flowers with bubble-like stuff coming out of the middle... and Brandon got an alien hitchhiker. Christmas morning!!! The kids got a lot of clothes. This is Brandon's favorite shirt, it has the solar system on it. Sweet Tarah with a painting set from Grandma and Grandpa Bear (I think). Britty opening a box with clothes in it. She is wearing a new church dress that was supposed to be a Christmas present but Brandon opened the package it was in (it came in the mail several days before Christmas) and said, "Oh, hey Brit, mama got you a new dress." Eliza opening...I don't know...clothes probably! This was several days after Christmas, about an inch of snow fell and they had a ton of fun while it lasted (which wasn't long). I didn't get pictures of my Christmas present, which would have been hard to photograph anyhow (two women caught up in a shopping frenzy). I got to go to London and go shopping with a girlfriend. We left in the morning, shopped all day, stopped at a pub for a proper English dinner of Bangers and Mash (English sausages and mashed potatoes with a red wine gravy), and then home. It was amazing. I got tons of clothes and had an unforgetable time. The only thing I couldn't find were shoes. Not because there were no shoe stores, there were plenty, it's just that European shoes are SOOOOO ugly!!! I'm not kidding! I must have looked in eight shoe stores, high end ones at that, and I was thoroughly disappointed. So a word to the future tourist, don't come expecting to find great shoes. I have bought a pair of Doc Marten's while I've been here, but I got them on Ebay from America...no European shoes for me until they look more like American shoes.

2006-03-12T19:04:00.000-02:00

In January Brandon's class researched life in Japan and then they turned their classroom into a Japanese Museum.

This is a Kimono that Brandon and his friend Natalie made.

This is Brandon teaching another class about Haiku.

Jump Rope for Heart

2006-03-05T19:56:00.000-02:00

All the kids participated in a fundraising event at the end of February for the American Heart Association, called "Jump Rope for Heart". Brittany jumping. Brandon jumping. Tarah jumping. Eliza, posing with a jump rope.

Let the Good Times Roll..

2006-03-05T19:50:00.000-02:00

Eliza's first time skating. There's a skating rink on base and the kids go to lots of birthday parties there. This was in February. Tarah is very good at skating now.

Our Home

2005-11-21T02:06:00.000-02:00

The back of the house. View from the street. Looking in at the front of the house from the opening in the shrubery "fence". Looking into the front yard from the front door (see the shrubery "fence"?) A trip into the woods. Pictures could never do it justice.

Bury St. Edmund

2005-11-21T01:43:00.000-02:00

These are some thatched homes on the way to Bury St. Edmund. This first picture is great because it shows a lot of different things. The first thing is the red door; many homes in England have red doors, the second favorite colour for doors is blue. The second thing that is very common is two homes stuck together. In the states we call them townhomes, here they are called semi-detattached homes. They are two seperate homes, one family will own one side and the other family owns the other side. Another common element is the rock and brick construction. That is common around here (I don't think I've seen a home made of all wood construction). The rock they use is flint because it is plentiful around here. Most important of all is the thatchers mark. If you look towards the top of the roof of any thatched home you will see a design. The design is unique to the thatcher and is his "business card", the sign of his trade. You can see it well in this picture. A thatched roof lasts about 35 years. Although you can't see it in any of these pictures, each roof is covered with chicken wire. There are endless amounts of birds in England who would love to make their nests out of these roofs. Bury St. Edmund The cathedral in Bury. Ruins of the Abbey from the 11th century. The market (that's me in the pink shirt and Tarah in the white).

Before We Left...

2005-11-21T00:10:00.000-02:00

Almost got everbody in. August 20, 2005 The four graduates of the Advanced Education of General Dentistry...(L to R) Dr. Sam Wise, Dr. Denise Lyons, Dr. Alan Pratt, and Rhett. A camping trip to Mt. Charleston right before we left Las Vegas. A hike in the morning followed by a shower! It started to pour on Rhett and the kids! They had to dismantle camp in about five minutes. Everyone was soaked. This picture was taken after about ten minutes of driving off the mountain. If you look at the upper left corner of the picture you can see the mountain still engulfed in the storm!

On Our Way Out

2005-11-20T19:29:00.000-02:00

This is all that was left in our possession of all our worldly goods! 10 suitcases, five backpacks, 4 kids, 2 parents, and a partridge in a pear tree! On our way to Baltimore. Stuck in Baltimore. On an airport shuttle. Waiting for the hotel shuttle after we had been rejected. Our flight to England, with an Azores layover, was canceled...AGAIN.

Clarification

2005-11-05T03:43:00.000-02:00

OK, I think my last post must have been ambiguous, although I'm not accused of that very often, to be sure! I have already had two people ask whether I had been to France and that's why I could strike it from my "places to visit" list. The answer is NO. That's the whole point of that particular post; I WONT go to France!! Not for all the baquettes in the world. I thought that was pretty clear given the reasons I stated, but that's where the ambiguousness (is that a real word?) comes in. Also, I would like to address you people who have said to me, or to yourselves about me, "what about all the good members of the church in France", or something along those lines. I'm talking about politics here, foreign policy, not whether Marie and Jean Claude are snooty or regular temple attenders. Nowhere in the post did I mention the handful of French people I have met who were nice to me, or the few I have met who were snooty. And for the record, I don't think we should bomb France; maybe we should send some Navy Seals to take out their president, but bombing would be wrong because there are good people living in France (we signed a treaty agreeing we wouldn't go around knocking out fascist pigs with satanic foreign policies, so even that's out of the question). Now, if there is any question as to my meaning per the previous post I will do my best to 'splain some more. I'm not so comfortable with ambiguity, I'm more comfortable with "everybody's thinking it, I just said it." Erin

Other Than That Mrs. Lincoln, How Was the Play?

2005-10-25T15:48:00.000-02:00

There are so many things to do and see here. Recently, we learned that this is the Kentucky of England. No, I don't mean there are large numbers of guys named Billy Joe and it's ok to marry your 13 year old cousin; I mean there are million dollar racehorses around here, two big race tracks, the National Stud Farm (I'll resist the urge to make a joke about that one), and big-time races held here. The National Racing Museum is here too, a nice touristy spot. This all goes down in a town about 15 minutes away from where we live, in Newmarket. As I mentioned, there is so much we want to do it would be impossible (both financially and physically) to do it all. One bright spot is, there is an entire country I can strike off my "places to go" list. Instead of just blabbing it right out, see if you can guess which country I'm talking about by the clues I give; it will be fun, like a blog-jeopardy. So as not to go on for days, I'll only go as far back as the 1970's to start. Now start thinking in Alex Trebec's voice: " In 1977 this country refused to hand over the Muslim extremist who was the "mastermind" behind the slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer at the 1972 Olympic Games. Instead of turning him over to the proper authorities, they let him go, on "technical" grounds. In 1986, Libya bombed a German nightclub known to be frequented by American servicemen, killing one American as well as some Germans. This country wouldn't allow us to use its air space so our boys could go open a can of whuppin' over Libya (of course, this did not prevent us from retaliating. However, our boys were so tired after flying a few hundred extra miles that they accidentally bombed this country's embassy in Libya. "Oooops, heh heh, sorry, my bad"). This country's most recent villianies include, accusing the U.S. of manufacturing evidence against Saddam Hussein, it has contributed millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, and, weeks after we went to war with Afghanistan, this Muslim-terrorist-brown-nosing country DEMANDED that we stop bombing Afghanistan! Not to mention Johnny Depp lives in the capital city of this country. Ok, ok, I'm making it too easy for you. Surely you all have guessed I'm talking about France. If I had any say in the matter, I'd say it's time for another "accidental" bombing some where in French air space. I hope all this doesn't sound hypocritical, considering I live but a few hours away from Ms. "I hate America" Madonna. Even though she'd like us to think she's British, with her little accent and her Brit hubby; the best I can do is lump her in with "Euro-trash" category with Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, and the Dixie Chicks (ok, that last one was a stretch, but not THAT much of a stretch...admit it). All told, it makes my vacation scheduling that much simpler. I just couldn't see supporting that government with our hard earned money; it would be like trying to enjoy a play while your husband is being shot in the head.

The House In the Woods

2005-09-24T07:29:00.000-02:00

Shortly before we moved to England I said to Rhett, " Maybe we'll love England so much we'll want to stay forever." His response was a resounding "NO" and then he began to "educate" me on how different Europe was from the states and how it could never be comfortable enough to be home. Granted, America is the promised land, blessed by God to be given to those who cherish freedom; however, is it possible to love another country when first you love America? Our home is in the small village of Mildenhall, tucked into a neighborhood of trees. There are a few human homes for the unfeathered, bi-ped species, but most of our neighbors are furry or feathered. We are surrounded by a wood, which opens up every now and then to a meadow, then closes again into woods. We have twice gone exploring in the woods around our home. On the Sabbath we went wandering and enjoyed the surrounding grandeur and the joy of being together as a family. When I first laid eyes on this area of England, which I assume looks similar to most other parts of the country (with small variations, of course), I understood how this land inspires my favorite authors. Dickens did not generally write of the beauty of the country, but it is woven into his stinging criticism of the developing industrial time of the nation. The Bronte sisters were inspired by the lifestyle and beauty of this ancient land; similarly was Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. My most startling understanding of inspiration comes when I think of C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and J.K. Rowling. Granted, C.S. Lewis was born and raised in Ireland (all the more to his credit I think :) ), but the woods in England he describes in the Chronicles of Narnia are right out of my backyard. While we were walking, the children did indeed pretend they were roaming the woods of Narnia (which takes very little imagination when you physically feel as if you could be nowhere else). I saw the inspiration of Alice wandering around meeting creatures as magical as those in Narnia. Perhaps my favorite, childish musing was seeing the meadow in the middle of the wood and imagining it full of the tents of wizard families from all over the world, congregating in England to watch the Quittich World Cup; many of whom stopped to stare as the famous Harry Potter walked by. This is truly a beautiful country with many good people on it. Just three weeks after arriving, while wandering in the woods surrounding our home, Rhett said, "maybe we could extend an extra year, or maybe they would give us back to back tours here. If the Air Force said I could stay here to finish out my 20 years until retiring, I'd stay in the full 20." This is quite a statement from Rhett, who never thought he could love another land. These words were uttered under the intoxication of the land and don't actually mean we'll be staying here the rest of our lives, maybe four years instead of three though. I suppose it's like loving your children. You don't love one less because you love another, you just have different reasons to love each. The area of England in which we live is called East Anglia and we live in the county of Suffolk. This area is very special to me, in particular, because hundreds of years ago my ancestors inhabited this very place. Who knows but that we've walked in the very same wood? Rhett has English roots as well and we both are feeling the Spirit of Elijah. We are excited to get our genealogy folders and go to the local libraries. The nearest temple is in London, which is just over an hour away. Once we get settled in a little more, and our van arrives, we'll be able to get there with some frequency (I hope). Speaking of the church, I thought some of you would be interested in knowing that Ben Affleck is in our ward. Of course, this Ben is only five, but it makes for an interesting story. There's also a Jessica Alba in our ward. We have a ward of about 200 and there has been a great amount of new people moving in. It seems to be mostly Americans, but there are several British families (probably more than I am yet aware of). Our neighborhood is predominately American, which is a small disappointment, yet not of significant consequence. I have some pictures to share but we still don't have our household goods, which includes our computer. They won't be arriving until the end of October. We are living with the loaner furnishings the base provides and making due quite well. We haven't had a television for quite some time now and I'm more partial to leave it that way but I'm being voted down (which is odd to me, who likes to think of the government of our family as a benevolent dictatorship not a republic), so soon we'll buy a TV and get a bit more up to date. I am having Rush-withdrawals (Rush Limbagh). I don't hear much of American news, except about the hurricane situations. We're afraid that three or even four years won't be enough to do and see all that this side of the world has to offer. One thing is certain, when we do finally leave this place, a part of us will stay here with our ancient heritage and the beauty of the land.

My New Surroundings

2005-09-10T14:12:00.000-02:00

I woke up this morning (late this morning because my sweet hubby lets me sleep in on Saturdays) to the feel and smell of England. It was humid and overcast and completely beautiful. We have been here for something like 10 days and have seen the sun every single day. Having had plenty of sun in Las Vegas, I was looking forward to some nice summer storms when we arrived here. Unfortunately the U.K. was experiencing some uncommonly sunny weather when we go here and it's carried on for days. Now, this is nothing to complain about, I realize that; however, I was so looking forward to the typical English weather. A friend of mine in the States who is originally from England said, "you can't beat a sunny day in the U.K." and it turns out she's right. The past several days have been bright yet not anywhere near as hot as Las Vegas (as if you thought it could be :) ). The most wonderful difference between sunny days here and sunny days in Las Vegas is that here you are surrounded by greenery; whereas in Las Vegas it's just dust and garbage. Over the past several days I have overheard a handful of people on the base commenting on the extraordinary weather; one person even went so far as to say that she was concerned that all the newcomers would think this is typical weather for this time of year. There is a charm about England and the weather plays a big part in that charm. Yesterday as I walked the children home from school it began to rain and we had a glorious time walking in it. It didn't rain for long but I am supposing that today's weather is the same storm from yesterday, still hanging around creating more charm. The twins survived yet another day in school and I think after several weeks of the routine it will become as natural to them as staying home for school was. I do miss them while they're gone but have had a revelation of comfort about them being in school now. It's all just part of the evolution a family goes through over the years. I mentioned in my last post that I was certain to have figured out Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for the movie "The Birds". England has mass amounts of birds!!! There are lots of pigeons here; we got used to pigeons while living in Las Vegas. But there are also a lot of Ravens here. They fly around in big groups and hang out in the trees together. It is a good idea to stay clear of the trees in which you see a few Ravens because there will probably be more you can't see and you will be in danger of having your hair or clothing soiled. Walking around the base at twilight and seeing several large groups of Ravens flying about and hearing groups of them squawking in the trees can give you an eerie feeling, and Hitchcock picked up on that no doubt. We have found a place to live in the village of Mildenhall. There is an Air Force Base on the outskirts of the village, called RAF Mildenhall, but that is not the base Rhett works at (he works at RAF Lakenheath). Mildenhall is about five minutes from our base and seems to be a quaint little village. We did not want to live too far from the base because the children are going to school on base, plus will have sports on base, scouts on base, other activities of that nature; most all of my shopping will be done on base, then of course the dental clinic is here. English roads are narrow and twisty, which isn't so bad in good weather but the roads get pretty bad in the winter. We ended up getting a three bedroom home instead of a four bedroom. Many of the four bedroom homes around the base were made up of two decent sized rooms and two closets they called rooms. We are hoping that we will only have to live here for about two months though because there is a large three bedroom on base opening up soon and as long as somebody ranking Major or above doesn't get on the list we should be able to move on base quite soon. I know we were hoping to have a guest bedroom to offer to our visitors, but it wasn't able to be done unless we lived 30 minutes or more from the base. Don't worry though, we are still very willing to offer our home to any of you who come; and it might even heighten your experience here, what crammed in a small British home and all that! Just kidding, the home isn't very small at all. We are slowly adjusting to our situation and it will be helped along as we move into this home. This has been an amazing journey for which I am very grateful. With as crazy and frustrating as the past two weeks have been, I have felt the Lord close to me the whole time and I have clearly seen His hand blessing me. Until next time...

Life Goes On

2005-09-09T10:39:00.000-02:00

Well, as I reviewed the last post I made, I realized that I had pretty much finished telling the tale of our travels. We finally ended up at our base, checked into our TLF (temporary living facility) and tried to stay awake until about 9 P.M. The kids did a great job getting over their jet lag, seemingly taking about three days to get adjusted. Rhett and I feel our circadian rhythm getting it's groove back and have finally started to sleep through the night. So far, waking up in the morning has been the most difficult thing for me but I have a good reason to get up early now-a-days...The twins started to go to school !!! I'm sure I have told most, if not all, of you that they would be starting school when we got here. We liked the idea of home schooling them until they were eight so we could get a firm family and gospel centered foundation under them before sending them out into the world. I was having a hard time with the idea of letting go, but I have survived two days so far and think I'll adjust well. As for the kids, they're doing splendidly. I have to say that I feel a good deal pride at the fact that they are showing signs of adjusting well to their new surroundings. Ultimately, as a parent, our job is to prepare our kids to be independent. At this point in their lives, moving to a new country is a big step; I worried a bit that moving and starting school would be overwhelming to them. I am glad to say I was wrong, and therein lies my pride in a job well done. They liked school and were enthusiastic about it at the end of their first day. They made friends well (they always have, actually) and have both said that they like going to school as much as they liked home school. They are confident and excited about the whole situation. I think this might be a bigger step for me than for them, but we're all handling it well. I'll give them a couple of weeks to really get their feet wet and hope to hear equally enthusiastic reports from them. Just another blessing in our lives!! I have driven on the roads here in a British car (so, on the right side of the car on the left side of the road) and must say that it's not as difficult as I thought it would be. I have to concentrate much as one does when she is new to driving, but am sure that doing it a new way will become as automatic as it did when I first learned to drive. The only difficulty I see is driving my American car on the left side of the street. The roads are very narrow here, especially the ones that run between the village we will be living in and the base where Rhett works. lol. I have more to tell but will have to post it later (like my new found understanding of Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for The Birds). Pictures to come soon, as we will be moving into a home on Tuesday next. Until later, Erin

My First Blog

2005-09-06T15:34:00.000-02:00

Welcome to my new blog!! It occurred to me that 50 years ago if you told your friends you had a blog they might suggest an anti-biotic or a good enema. I thought this would be a brilliant way for anybody who cares what we're up to to find out about our lives here in jolly ole' England. I will be able to be a bit more high tech in a short amount of time, adding pictures (when we actually go anywhere other than look at rental homes). The trip here was trying, to say the least. It was the product of a big bureaucracy inflicting itself upon the "little guy", namely my family and 200 other air force vagabonds. But the mayhem began before we arrived in Baltimore. We drove from Las Vegas to Los Angeles a day late, which meant no trip to Sea World for the four little ghosts :( . That also meant no time at the beach. Which, when I think about it, is not all bad considering that we are now surrounded by beach and ocean. Anyway, the next day we were to drop off the cars at the ports (they each went with a seperate carrier). We didn't anticipate the time it would take us to clean the cars and then drive them over to the shipping companies. And anyone who knows my darling husband well knows how...thorough...he is. After he detailed my van he only had a few minutes to wash and suck up any dirt from out of his Honda. We had appointments to drop off both vehicles, which we totally blew. By the time we arrived at the first shipping company to drop off the Honda, we were on such a time crunch that I was getting sick thinking about how we pull this off. The first shipping company was a...words fail me...dive, for lack of a better word. The office was tucked up in a make-shift loft and had a pinball machine in it, yet we still handed over the keys. After we handed them our keys we realized that we had left our check book at the hotel and had NO time to retrieve it. Just another kick while we were already down. When we arrived to drop off the Honda, the van was riding on fumes (to ship a car you can't have more than a quater tank of gas, so we were purposely keeping the tank low). I didn't have enough gas to make it to the other shipping company. We thought, no problem, we'll just get some on the way to the next place; but we went the wrong direction and didn't have enough gas to go back the other direction to look for a station. We ended up getting gas in Compton, CA. Now, this might not mean much to some of you, but others will understand the horror of this. Compton is the GHETTO of ghettos. The gas station only accepted cash, and there were two crack addicts across the street, just sitting on the corner, in front of what I supposed was a house. We were supposed to be at the second shipping company by two o'clock, but didn't get there until 3:58 (did I mention they close at four?); I had to endure stinky eye from the lady who was going to process us in, but the important thing is we got the car processed. Whew...tired of the story yet? We haven't even left the West Coast!!! The next morning we caught our plane to Baltimore, where we were going to overnight just to break up the trip. The flight to Baltimore was great, we got to our hotel, we slept, hung out for a few hours, then hauled ourselves, the kids, and 16 pieces of luggage to the airport to catch our flight...only to finally find out that the flight had been canceled and we would have to come back in the morning. The good news was that the Air Force had put us up in a hotel and would pay for dinner then breakfast the next day. We had high hopes that we'd be on our way to the Azores (and then on to England) the next day only to be shot down by the Air Force again. We stayed in Baltimore, at the same hotel, and basically did nothing. That was Friday, then went Saturday with no ride to England, then Sunday, and by then we were getting really sick of the restuarant food we were eating (even though it was free). Finally, the government bucks up and decides to put us on a commercial flight to England. This means that we have no lay over in the Azores, but at this point I didn't care. Monday afternoon, we left Baltimore and headed to Charlotte, NC where we caught a direct flight to London. It was somewhere over the Atlantic the thought occured to me that we didn't have a ride to the base, and we couldn't just take any ride, we had 16 pieces of luggage, four children, three car seats, two parents, and a partridge in a pear tree. "We'll deal with that when it comes," I thought, and then tried my best to appear as though I was comfortable in my seat, with the hope of sleeping just a bit before the stewardesses came crashing into my elbow with the drink cart to serve the morning coffee. We landed at Gatwick at about 9a.m., we managed to make it into the country (passing through their immigration officers), pick up our luggage and hook up with some young airmen who flew in with us. I'm not quite sure why I felt that being with them would be better, it was probably the "safety in numbers" animal instict kicking in. I tried to ignore the fact that they were wondering if they would have time to hit a strip club before the bus which would be coming for us arrived. Yes, I said bus. We learned that there would be a tour bus coming to take us to the base (the base is about an hour and a half away from London). The only problem is that once we learned about it the 10:30 bus had already left. We had to wait two more hours until the next bus came. There's us and our only worldly possesions we had in a rather dank airport, tired from jet lag and angry because we feel we've been left with our cheese in the wind. You might think that the airport in such a wonderful city as London would be nice, accomodating, well planned...no such luck. What a great welcome. After resting on some filthy benches, with my good eye opened so as to watch the children (who had an obscene amount of energy) and our luggage, we hauled our load around to look for some food. We thought we were safe when we saw a McDonalds, but were disappointed once again as we choked down some of the most disgusting food ever. When we went out to catch the bus, the news of the transport had circulated through the troops at the airport. One bus showed up and about 150 people showed up. Some had not been waiting as long as we had, but others had. Then the driver gets concerned that he won't have enough room for everyone's luggage. It was as chaotic a scene as you might see when refugees are lining up to get over the border of some oppresive country. We decided that there was no way we were going to get the shaft again and wait two more hours (or more) until another bus showed up. Next our driver tells us he's not going to our base, but only the base that is right up the road from ours. I made an executive decision right there that that was good enough. We'd get on the bus, go out to RAF Mildenhall (which is about 5 miles from our base) then refuse to get off until he took us up the road to RAF Lakenheath. My throat is sore from all this narration (actually, the library is soon closing and that is where my computer use is base right now). Enjoy it thus far, pardon me for the wordiness and the length of this tale, but it was such an amazing trip I thought it deserved to be told. I will finish this on another day. Cheers!! Erin