We were told that now that we live in an actual house, in an actual neighborhood, we would definitely be getting loads of trick-or-treaters this year. And after having spent last Halloween in our apartment building and not hearing a single knock on our door I was more than ready to offer a smile and a sweet treat to little cowboys and princesses and sheet-adorned 'ghosts' toting flashlights and plastic pumpkin buckets full of goodies.
So this afternoon we ran to the store to get a bowlful of mini-sized candy bars and sat down with Nora on the kitchen floor to carve a friendly pumpkin or two for this evening's guests.
Nora was eager to get to work removing all those stringy, slimy pumpkin guts.
She started scooping with a big spoon...
but soon realized her hand worked a little better.
Hooray! All done!
And all lit up!
Only guess what!
It's 8:30 and we have had a grand total of 0 trick-or-treaters.
So sad. And yet a little glad that we now have a bowlful of goodies to enjoy ourselves!
So we moved last week.
We're busy, busy, busy - sweeping, scrubbing, pruning, painting, weeding, and generally just making this place home. Hopefully we'll be able to post some pictures of the house in the next few weeks (once we've made a few improvements.)
But for now...
We now have our own garden (back yard) for Nora to romp around in and although it needs a lot of work to make it really beautiful, we're loving it!
Nora loves digging around, exploring, stealing (not-yet-ripe) blackberries off the vines when we're not looking, sweeping the path and finding ladybugs (called ladybirds in England) and worms to play with.
This photo is of the day we moved in and this worm in particular received several kisses from our sweet little girl. (Don't worry, we've been discouraging the kissing of worms ever since.)
It's so nice to be able to let her get all dirty and then plop her straight into the tub!
Here she is that night telling us all about her 'wum' (worm).
Okay, okay, I know you haven't heard from us for awhile... but we've been busy!
In early July after an exhausting couple of weeks of work for me (Deanna), we headed home for my sister's wedding which meant that EVERYONE was in Oregon! My parents picked us up from the airport (after LONG flights - made even longer by a curious toddler) and drove us out to their place. The drive out to their house offers breathtaking views of Mt Hood and seeing Oregon again made me realize how much I miss the mountains!
We had so much fun introducing Nora to the cousins she hadn't met yet on my side of the family. Luckily she didn't have to wait long because my parents organized a family picnic.
There are lots of really great things about living in England. Oxford certainly has its charm and the last thing I want to do is complain about God bringing us here. However, it is absolutely terrible being so far away from my family. I recently read this and it resonated with me,
"My mom and dad and brother [and sisters] have grown through the years into my closest friends,
the people who tell me the most searing truth, who give me soft places to rest and present to me a
bright future when the only one I can see from my vantage point is dim and breaking before my
eyes. Families can go either way, and I take no credit for the way we've gone. I accept it like a gift
or a winning lottery ticket, and I hold that ticket in my hand tightly, and I take every chance I can
get to be with them, for an afternoon, for a weekend, for a vacation, and every moment feels like
being given one more winning ticket."- Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines
I hate being far away from the people we love. I want my dad to teach Nora to fish, just like he taught me. I want my mom to teach her how to play the piano. I want her to know her Aunt Trinette's laughter and joy. I want her to know her Aunt Larissa's compassionate heart and fierce devotion. I want her to understand that although her Uncle Nick can be a man of few words -minus the sarcastic comments- when he does get talking, it is so worth listening. I want her to hear her Aunt Linnaea sing because when she does, she lights up the room. I want her to have slumber parties and birthday parties and Christmases with her cousins. I guess because it is all these people, all these things that have made me who I am and have made me feel loved and known despite my many flaws and I am so very very grateful.
Dear family,
I love you and I miss you.
Love,
Deanna
Our friend John from church is an amateur film photographer. That's right, film photographer. Anyhow, he asked if he could practice some portraits on Nora.
