Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas 2010

We have just celebrated our second Christmas in America and are enjoying all the differences and similarities that that brings culture-wise!!! Mark's sister, has been able to join us here in Coshocton again and has been having lots of fun with Abigail especially!
Gingerbread men and houses are a part of an American Christmas ... so a couple of days before Christmas ... Abigail and Amy had a fun couple of hours making and decorating their own!!
There were major structural difficulties during the process ... however we're pleased to report that after some dedicated repair work but her Auntie Amy ... Abigail was able to finish decorating her little house (which is still standing as I write this!!!) Below is the finished masterpiece!
On Christmas Day ... we were treated to a lie-in by Abigail ... who hasn't yet worked out that most little people wake up in the early hours of the morning on December 25th to open presents ... and then had a very lazy morning having fun opening presents together! As you can see there was lots of silliness going on ... and Abigail did very well with her pile of goodies!
Later on in the afternoon we were joined by the lovely Gettle family (another MMS apprentice family and good friends of ours) for a yummy Christmas dinner and some more silliness together!!! One of the things we haven't managed to get out here are Christmas crackers ... so we compensated with head-boppers instead of the usual paper hats!!
We were so stuffed that we never did get round to starting our alternative Christmas cake ... something that is becoming a bit of a family tradition for us ... instead of the usual Christmas fruit cake ... we made another giant chocolate cupcake decorated as a Christmas tree again this year (by Amy) ... we started eating it the day after instead ... delicious!!
On Boxing Day (December 26th for our US buddies!!) we went to church ... as they don't do church on Christmas Day here. Pastor Dan had asked Jenny to share a little of the differences between Christmas in the UK and in the States ... so we had to do a little research before hand to find out why we do certain things in the UK ... and also identified lots of differences between how two supposedly similar cultures celebrate the same holiday.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Look out ... there's a Bubble about! ;o)

As many of you know ... or may not know ... there is a second little Beckwith due to enter the world around Easter time in 2011!! Yet another 'Big Adventure' for us to embark on!! We found out late summer that Number 2 was on the way ... and having named Number 1 'Monkey' before she born and given a 'real' name ... we were quick to be creative in naming the next one!! So, we'd like to formally introduce 'Bubble' to the world! ;o).
Jenny had a rough month in September as her body got used to growing another little person ... something she hadn't experienced when pregnant with Abigail ... but from the day we set off for the UK has felt much more herself again!! We had our first scan before we left for our trip at the beginning of October (see above) and then the second (20 week) scan last week (see below). Abigail came with us for the second one and the minute the image came up on the screen pointed and said 'Bubble'!! After that her interest waned a little and she thought it was much more exciting that Mummy's tummy was blue from the gel they were using than what was going on on the screen!! We (aka Mummy and Daddy!) on the other hand got to enjoy a much longer look at Bubble and all the different body parts than we had during the 20 week scan in the UK the first time around ... one of the many subtle differences of having babies in different countries/cultures!!
As you can see there are definitely bubble-like aspects in both scans ... which made us laugh a lot ... although I'm sure all you medical-types will correctly identify them as something else! We had the chance to find out whether Bubble was a girl or a boy last week ... but to many people's surprise in Coshocton we have chosen to wait until he/she arrives in the world!! Our doctor told us only 5% of his patients now wait to find out on the birth-day here ... so we're the odd English family going against the grain (in more ways than one I'm sure!)!!!
Bubble seems to be fit and well ... and has been wriggling around a lot from about 15 weeks on ... according to the doctors, he/she weighs 12oz already ... we're only just over halfway there ... the real adventure will begin in about 19 weeks time ... give or take! ;o)

Friday, December 10, 2010

Back into the swing of things!

We're now back into the swing of life in Coshocton again ... having returned to the land where when you step off the plane you automatically drop a dress size, there are adverts on the BBC channel and someone else bag's your groceries!!!
Jenny and Abigail have had lots of fun in the kitchen baking flapjack (the English type ... out here it's a kind of pancake!!) ... and this years batch of mince pies! Last year we experimented with a recipe for mince pies as they're not a Christmas staple out here ... and it was so yummy and popular that we multiplied the ingredients by four ... and are going for mass production! Last year Jenny made them all ... this year she has a very willing helper who enjoys making a spectacular mess as well!
Holiday festivities began early in small town America! The Christmas parade was in mid-November ... marching bands, giant gingerbread men, Santa riding a fire engine ... the whole shebang!! We walked down to Main Street and met up with several MMS families to enjoy the parade ... we also bumped into other friends as we walked along ... very different from last year when we had only recently arrived and didn't know anyone!
Thanksgiving weekend was at the end of November ... a four day holiday weekend ... a chance to be thankful ... something we don't get as much of an opportunity to reflect on in the UK! We spent the Thursday with 9 other families ... 40 of us in total ... and a huge feast of food, different dishes provided by all of us ... we were spread out across 3 large tables at the Hengst's house (see below)!
It was also nice to have a few days to have fun together and discover some new places too! We went to Canton (about 1hr 10mins drive away) an alternative place to shop in the Thanksgiving weekend sales ... with a better selection of stores than our usual 45 min drive to Zanesville ... which is the closest place to shop from Coschocton!
Abigail's been getting up to her usual mischief ... 'colour-ling' is her favourite thing ... she would be drawing for several hours a day if we didn't have anything else to do. In mid-November she decided that she wanted to start writing too ... her first attempt to follow the lines is below ... believe us, it's a lot more accurate now!
Abigail's also taken to 'swimming like a fish', as she calls it, in the bath ... she loves to lay flat on her back and just float around for ages ... and then pops up with a big grin on her face shouting 'I did it'!! As you can see she's having a 'whale' of a time surrounded by bubbles!! She's always wanting to read and re-read her books too ... she usually has about 10 different books out of the library at any given time and loves going to get more ... the problem is getting her out of the library and into the car at the end of the visit!!
The Swanson family arrived safely a few weeks ago too ... you may remember we mentioned them earlier on in the year. They are another MAF UK family ... this time from near Glasgow and have arrived for Andy to begin his apprenticeship in the New Year. They seem to be settling in well, having already found a house and car and have been out and about exploring the local area as you can see from the photo below!! Our Abigail is enjoying having two new playmates in their two children another Abigail and Matthew ... and we're trying to answer any questions Andy and Heather have as they settle in, as are the rest of the MMSers!
These are just a few highlights of what we've been up to ... more to come soon!