Children at Fountains Abbey, Musings, + Thanksgiving

I haven't done much up-to-the-minute updating, have I?  We are at the end of our second full week in Boroughbridge, and it has felt a little more settled than the week before.  The kids and I did more schoolwork this week than the previous week, though we're still not up to a full load.  We've acquired a car that I've successfully driven on several occasions (That feels like a big accomplishment.), and we've picked up some odds and ends to have ready for our move-in day, which should be this coming Friday.  We've got a big day out in Leeds planned for tomorrow with the hope of acquiring phones and placing an order at IKEA.

In the way of pictures, I have some from an outing we took on our 4th day in England.

We drove here to Fountains Abbey in the amount of time we could drive across town to Target.  It was a pretty good living history lesson, wouldn't you say?  I think they started building it in 1132.

It was also a good place for the kids to get to know the de la Hoyde children, who they are becoming fast friends with.

The first few days here were actually quite sunny and beautiful.  I love the light here; it's already low in the sky by afternoon, and I think it just looks a little lovelier in the Northern Hemisphere, but maybe I'm biased in general toward the beauty of this place.

With the combination of damp and cold and spending more time outside, my kids' clothes have never been muddier.  I think I've accepted this as a new normal state of things. 

With so much learning and change going on, I'm finding it hard to know where to begin in writing about it.  My heart feels very full.  I am daily thankful for Grace Church Boroughbridge and how they have welcomed us and loved us and encouraged us daily.  They make it easier to feel at home here.  I'm thankful for our church back home, who send us messages of encouragement and let us know they miss us.  Do you know that in 2 weeks here, we've already received mail from Alabama twice?  Through you we feel God's love, and it fills our hearts to the brim during this month of Thanksgiving.

Isn't that Autumn sunshine lovely?  And speaking of Thanksgiving, I've decided to attempt hosting a couple of Thanksgiving dinners the week after we move in.  I've never been in charge of turkey before.  Feel free to send me all your turkey tips.  And I'm definitely thinking these little English children need to make hand turkeys and color pictures of pilgrims and Indians, wouldn't you agree?