Halloween in England!

Side note: To my faithful readers, all three of you, sorry that I've been slacking! Life is getting busier! I am recommitted this week to catch up so I can be more on top of this blogging and sharing our life here with you!

Ok... Halloween!
We had been told that Halloween wasn't a big thing here so I didn't bring any Halloween things. Some placemats got put in the things, but that is it. Well, it isn't as big as it is in the States, but it happens. Trick-or-Treaters just look for a pumpkin set out and a light on to knock on your door. Dallin went out in a neighborhood with some friends and said they went to 1 in 3 houses. So, not too bad. Our ward does an annual Trunk-or-Treat at the church building. They told me that some Americans brought this idea over a few years back and it is starting to catch on here in England! It was fabulous for me that it was on Halloween night, so we didn't have to go through all the dressing up and everything twice! There were about 15 cars participating, so the kids candy was a fraction of what they collect at home. They didn't complain though and neither did I!
We also had a chili cook off, carnival games, and Halloween themed desserts. Sound familiar? An American planned it this year...no, not me! I did bring chili though and won 2nd place! Next year...

Our Dread Pirate Robert a.k.a. Wesley!!  He came up with this outfit on his own.
I helped him a little. We spent $0 on it!

The Magician-whose-last-trick-went-wrong. He wanted to be something scary!
We did pick up the bloody shirt at Poundland (yep, just like the Dollar Store) for 1 pound!

My Green Witch. Also found wig, broom, tights, and hat at Poundland- 4 pounds total. The skirt she is wearing was a can-can skirt that I wore in a dance performance when I was around her age, or maybe younger. I think my Mom made it. It is in our dress up things :)

Batman! Hand me down from Sam, or maybe Dallin? FREE! Love it!

Sophia the First! She already had this dress up! FREE!!

 (Halloween is like my least favorite holiday so I don't like to spend too much time and $ on it.  I was quite pleased that I didn't spend much of either this year!)

Cutest witch ever!

Our pumpkins!(They don't say Jack-o-Lantern here, with face or not, it's just a pumpkin!)
 Our ward(church congregation) had a trunk-or-treat on Halloween night. We decorated with our jack-o-lanterns since we wouldn't be home for trick-or-treaters.

Nathan's, Addy's, Kaylie's, Dallin's and Sam's (positioned to be looking at Dallin's) Daddy only had to help Addy with hers this year. He was pretty happy!

What I liked best was that at almost every car, the kids had to perform a "trick" to get their "treat".  This is our bishop's car. The kids had to pick this nose, eat the candy that was in there, and then they received another treat. There was a car that had the kids walk a plank and jump over a stuffed shark. Another car had cauldrons that the kids had to throw things into. It was fun for the kids, and since there weren't that many cars, it made it take more time as well. I have to think of something good for next year!

My kids LOVE Halloween, just like I did as a child.
I will always enjoy watching them on this fun holiday!

The Post

It's mid morning and I am busily doing chores or putting a puzzle together with Addy and I hear a noise that makes me think someone is trying to break into the house! Oh, wait...it's just the post(or mail, for us Americans) being delivered. (I am slowly getting use to it :) Everyone, well maybe not everyone, (but I think everyone) in England has a hole in their front door where the post is pushed through. 

Here are some pictures of ours:

There  are bristles like things keeping the cold air out, kind of. 

I often see this on the floor out of the corner of my eye and think,
"What did the kids throw on the floor, oh yeah, it's the post".

 The post men and women have a small van type car that they drive around. I usually see two in one vehicle. They get out and start walking to everyone's doors. I think they each take a street. They knock on the door if they have something for you that won't fit in the hole. We also get lots of packages for neighbors because if someone isn't home to receive a package, they find a neighbor who is home to hold it for them. We have met many neighbors this way, so I don't mind.

We also received random flyers, newspapers, restaurant menus, and advertisements
through the same hole.
Apparently it is not illegal for anyone to put something into my house :) 

What will come through the post hole today?

EGGS!

 Here in lovely England eggs are not refrigerated. I was quite shocked about that until I found out why. It is because they just don't have big enough refrigerators.

Just kidding! It is really because they don't wash the eggs before they are sold. This keeps the natural protective coating on them to keep them fresh. So, don't go looking in the refrigerated section of the grocery store because they are in an aisle somewhere, usually near the baking things. I always rinse the eggs off before I crack them open. They sometimes even have feathers stuck to them. Have you ever really paid attention to the expiration date on the egg carton? No? I didn't either. Here, if you keep your eggs out of the fridge, then you really need to. Luckily, the date is stamped on them. I often still put the eggs in the fridge because then I don't have to retrain my American brain! :) Preston prefers to keep them at room temperature for baking because they don't chill up your butter, etc.. but I'm just not that picky! I think I will keep some out for him. Luckily, I brought this cute basket across the pond that the eggs just go in perfectly! Don't you love the variety of colors? I do.

Friends! and Windsor Castle - 18-22 September 2015

Our good friends, Erik and Amber Hicken, came to visit for a long weekend. It was so good to have them here, I didn't want them to leave! Here's some of the fun we had together.

Erik is presenting Dallin with some of the Scout merit badges he earned in Colorado.
Erik brought them to Dallin so we had a mini Court of Honor :)

On Saturday we headed about an hour south to Windsor Castle.
The Queen and royal family still reside here sometimes.

Audio tour guides- Nate loves them!

Queen's guard because it is a Royal residence

Getting ready for the picture...

Nate is still not ready, oh well, take it anyway!

The iconic round tower of Windsor Castle. This is the castle's strong hold.

Friends catching up.

A lovely view from a courtyard

The archer protecting his castle and Queen.

 

I think that I could hang out here...all the time!

Sundial on the chapel.

We think that these really sharp stones are put in the cement so
nobody tries to climb up the wall- Do you agree??

Sam loves to be a photo bomber...and annoy his sister!

 Looking out and over the walls to the other side

Windsor is a beautiful castle with lovely grounds. We also had great weather.  It was a fun day!

Combination bed and coat rack, it even makes julienne fries- where is that from?
(Wow, I am tired!)

The Chapel 

I never tire of the colored buildings and all the flowers! Love them!

A shopping street across from the castle

This girl is one of my favorite people. I miss her tons!

Sam is showing off his strength by holding up the castle.

Kaylie, too!

Brother Hicken is buying us ice cream- so many choices!

It's quite the life to wake up from a nap to ice cream being pushed in your face.
 She didn't seem to mind.

The next day was Sunday so we played games and took a walk to a lake.
It was just nice to hang out before going to church.

We had a fabulous time, but it went by soooo fast!