A new chapter in our life...

Today was the day that the announcement came out about our move back to the US. While we are both excited to get back to family and friends, we are having a difficult time thinking about leaving the wonderful friends and experiences that we have had living in England. I know many of you will be shocked, but I have cried more than a few times over this move! You may never catch me in the act, but just ask Dan about the ugly cry this morning! I'm working on a list of things that we will miss but am not quite ready to do that. At this point, we are just asking for your prayers that everything goes smoothly and that we trust and believe in God's plan for us. We are heading back to IL the first 2 weeks of April to look for a house and schools. It worked out perfectly as this was already our planned home leave for the year. The move will happen around May 1st. More to come...

I just wanted to post a few pictures from the last few days...the end of our week off from school.

Wednesday was the "oh my goodness, this house is a disaster and we better clean a bit" day! Max is actually pretty slick at getting Blake to help him with his jobs. I had told Max that the next time I mopped the floor, he would need to help...due to the fact the immediately after I mopped last time, he spilled milk all over the floor!...why does that always happen. Anyway, Max asked Blake if he wanted to help because it would be so fun! Blake joined right in and they had a great time. Now only if the excitement can continue for several more years.

This was Blake on Thursday! He had swim lessons and then immediately after, it was open swimming at the Stamford pool. We stayed for a couple hours, went to McDonald's (they were out of ice cream for the 3rd week in a row!) and after 30 mins at home, this is how I found him. Right in the middle of the hallway on the hard floor! Poor guy...you can see he is completely out as his thumb has fallen out of his mouth!

Friday, we had Amy and her kids over for lunch and a last play date before she moved back to the states on Sunday. I took a couple pictures but I think Amy would kill me for posting the one of her.

That night, Holli and I decided to take Amy to the Falcon for dinner. It is one of the best pubs in the area. Amy lived about 5 mins from there and had never been. She didn't want to have a big going away dinner because she gets just a tad bit emotional and didn't want to formally say good-bye to loads of friends and have the red puffy eyes like when she said good-bye to her school friends. (I hope that doesn't happen to me!!) Her family left on Sunday morning with 15 bags! Can you imagine?! They arrived safely in Peoria and we will get to see them soon! Love you Amy and miss you already!

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day! We haven't seen much of it lately so really have to take advantage of it when it shines! Dan took Max to soccer ("football") in the morning and they just didn't get enough of it. Max and Blake wore daddy out! (That evening, Max told some friends that daddy was 61yrs old! Not too far off...) Later in the day, Max and Dan went to watch Kelly's boyfriend, Allistair, play rugby. Blake didn't want to go so he stayed home with mom.

That evening, we had a dinner date with the Tony and Sarah. Their 3 kids came over to our house and Kelly (along with some help from Allistair!) watched the kids. It was almost 10pm when we came back and this is what we found. All 5 kids were sitting around the room either watching the movie or coloring. Thanks again Kelly!