First Day in Birmingham

Our first day back, we played with Cousin Reese. (She is exactly 2 weeks older than Caleb.) Luke and Reese played very nicely together. She is easy-going and very observant.
And Caleb and Reese played nicely side by side (most of the time-----when Caleb wasn't hitting her on the head with a toy).

I love this picture because it accurately shows what these first days back were like. Caleb was EXHAUSTED and just not himself (see him pouting into the couch), and Luke was loving being the oldest around and "in control." This trip was the hardest one yet because of sleep deprivation. Caleb, we have discovered, does not do so well with change. He had a hard time sleeping in a new place and woke everyone in the house up almost every 2 or 3 hours. He did finally get better the week before we headed back to England. (Of course!)

We're back.......

So, we just arrived back in Oxford today. It's 7:50 PM and our place is silent. We're zonked! It was a crazy 3-week Christmas adventure with lots to reflect about and about 150 pictures to share. It was so crazy, we even ended up on the same airplane with some North Carolina cousins we're meeting up with this coming Sunday. I'll be posting lots in the next few days, but will sleep for now.

By the way, we returned to find our bedroom has (FINALLY!!) been insulated and that the 250 year old mattress was taken away and replaced by a 50 year old one. We are very grateful for these improvements to our place.

More soon.....

Tents in the morning

Fun in the morning....still in pajamas.
The new and improved Luke-built tent.....so much fun!

Thanksgiving Round 2

While in America, we would only have Thanksgiving once. But here, in England, we do it twice!! Christy and Matt's party was Friday night.....but Chris' college, Regent's Park, hosted a party Saturday night. It was in 3 single guys' apartment, i.e., not exactly child friendly, but plenty to entertain ourselves with. Luke and Caleb went through EVERY cabinet behind me (and there are many more not shown in the picture). I think everyone in the room was a bit fearful of what might be behind one of those doors. However, nothing incriminating was ever found! After inspecting each cabinet, we looked through a catalog, then we ate, then we ended up outside throwing the baseball.
Abbey and Caleb.
Lots of yummy food......we truly did the American tradition of eating lots this holiday. And all the traditional stuff too----turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, etc.

Thanksgiving Round 1

Christy and Matt (featured above), from Utah, are new to "our" building and hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in the community room Friday night. It was fun to celebrate Thanksgiving with people from the US (Virginia and Utah), Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China.
Here, Matt is teaching Chris about cheap English cider.
From left to right: Sacha (Australia), Vicente (Brasil), Luke, Lindsey (Utah), and Sebastian (Ontario)
Fireman Sacha in his every day attire---he only answers to Fireman Sacha

Lunch time

This is how we eat lunch 5 days a week. Caleb in his chair in the kitchen and Luke on the kitchen step. Here they wait.....
and wait...
and, Caleb plays peek-a-boo
and blows kisses.
Enough pictures....now for lunch!

Luke and Lindsey

A new family moved into "our" building in August and Luke fell in love with the 8 year old daughter who couldn't have cared less about him. But, the 5 year old, Lindsey, just watched as Luke followed her older sister around screaming (literally) for attention. Our little Romeo would beg to hold her hand, offer her flowers, and yell "how's your day?" at the top of his lungs every time we saw her--even far away. Thankfully, this phase passed as she rejected him countless times.

And now, Lindsey is our little friend. She comes home from school with Luke---or he with her--about every day. In fact, Luke asked tonight if maybe he and Lindsey could be a mama and daddy together someday. Someday 30 years from now, Buddy!!