We had a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Christmas was so different this year with being so far from home. We still had a good time though!! We let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve. The Air Force had given the kids presents and those are the ones they opened. Jacee got a baby doll and Oskar got some clothes. We didn't get to bed until after midnight, and we got up at 6 am so my parents could watch us open presents over skype. It was early but the kids were excited. Present opening lasted for about 20 mins....haha. The kids had fun playing with their toys all day. I was nervous to cook dinner because we got a lamb roast...I have never cooked lamb. But it turned out great!!! It was nice day and we even got to skype most of our family!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morn

Jacee

Jacee got a princess ball and Oskar got a Spiderman ball, so Nils took them outside to kick em around!

Our FIRST trip to London!

Yesterday (Dec. 17) we made our very first trip to London! We were all so excited to get out and explore this great city! To start off the day we drove to Newmarket to meet Nils's friends Tim and Andrew. They came with us and Tim acted as our tour guide since he had been there already. From Newmarket we drove to Epping to catch the tube (like a subway.) It was my first expierence riding a subway and I was a little nervous...I am clausterphobic, but it wasn't bad at all. Jacee loved it and wanted to stand the whole time and hold on to the bar.

 It was about an hour ride to the center of London. We had to transfer a few times and it was a little crazy because there were people everywhere! But we got off the tube and walked up the stairs, and BANG there was Big Ben.

 Jacee freaked out and was so happy to see the clock. She had been talking about Big Ben since we knew we were moving here. After taking a few pics we walked down and looked at the London Eye.

 It is ginormous! It would be so amazing to ride but I am deathly afraid of heights! Jacee wanted to go so bad...maybe next time! It would be cool to see everything from so high. There were street vendors everywhere and we got two huge donuts and they were so dang good! Oskar quite enjoyed them! From there we walked to a little Italian restaurant. And when I say little, I mean TINY!!! It was crowded of course...I had lasagna and it was pretty good. I do have to say not as good as my momma's! From there we decided to make our way down to Buckingham Palace. There were so many cool and interesting buildings, I had no clue what they were but I was snapping pictures!

As we got closer to the palace the buildings got more and more grand! I loved the Admirality Arch. And the way the sun was shining it made it glow!

We finally got to the Buckingham Palace and it was very cool to see! I loved the big golden gates!

While we were here it started to rain really lightly so we decided it was time to head for the tube and go home. As we were walking to the station we walked down this really cool street with some pretty expensive stores. It was neat looking in all the display windows.

It was a long ride back to Epping and Newmarket but we were all satisfied with the trip! There is still so much that I want to see and I can't wait to go back.

Hoarders?

Haha....NO. We got our household goods yesterday!!! My house is FULL of boxes! We have started unpacking most of the boxes and getting stuff put away. I think it will take atleast a week to get everything out of boxes. It has been fun seeing Jacee freak out every time she finds a toy, movie, or a book that she hasn't seen in awhile!

Friday Market

Today the kids and I walked to the town center for the Friday market. It is believed to have been held in the same spot every Friday since the 15th century! We walked around and browsed the shops. There were people selling flowers, seafood, fruit and veggies, cakes and cookies, clothes, and all sorts of other things. We ended up getting some carrots, apples,strawberries, oranges, and 2 bags of candy. It was a fun little adventure for the kids and I! It's nice knowing that it's just a short walk to all the shops!

Not a very good pic with all the dumpsters...but the stand on the right is where we got our fruit and veggies.

16th Century hexogonal cross in the town center.

My sweet kiddos fell asleep on the way home.

What we got at the market!

Finally!

Yay...we FINALLY have internet! I've been a little depressed lately since I haven't been able to skype any of my family. Since my last post we:
1. Moved into our house. We are still getting settled into our house, and are hoping that our own stuff gets here soon. Right now we have loaner furniture from base...and well...it's nice, I guess. HAHA. It basically looks like hospital furniture. I've been worried that none of our stuff will fit in the house, so I just want it to get here already so I can stop!
2. We bought a car. It's nothing fancy, but it will hopefully work for the three years we are here. It is a 1999 Rover. It took us awhile to find a car because we needed an automatic and it seems like all the cars here are manual. We are hoping to buy another cheap car before the new year.
3. We also had a nice little Thanksgiving celebration. One of Nils's friends (they were stationed in Korea together) came over too. We had a good time, and I was happy because all the food turned out!
4. We found a pre-school for Jacee! It is called Busy Bees, and it is wonderful. They have alpacas, mini horses, ducks, and goats. The kids help feed the animals and learn about them. The kids also plant gardens and help tend to them through out the year. The school also has a swimming pool, so the kids can take swimming lessons. It costs extra and we haven't decided if we are going to put Jacee in them. She won't be able to start until Jan. 3rd, but that's only a few weeks away. She will go Mon-Fri from 12:45-3:45. And the best part......!? IT'S FREE! The government allows 15 hours a week free! WAHOO!
5. Osakr started crawling! He just up and went one day! It's so cute to watch him figure new stuff out. I am still adjusting to him being on the move, and I really have to watch what's on the floor. He also pulled himself up for the first time the other day. He crawls over to the stairs and then pulls himself up. Then he likes to hold on to the railing. I'm sure it won't be too long until he tries to climb up the stairs. Can you say BABY GATE!? He has also started waving. I have tried and tried to get a video of him doing it, but of course he always stops right when I get the camera out. I will keep trying though.

Well, this has been quite the update! We have been trying to get out and explore, but it has been hard with the kids, the short amount of daylight, and still getting used to the roads and everything. But we have some fun Christmas activites coming up!