900 Years of History in Ely

I just have a few minutes but I wanted to let you know about our exciting day yesterday. We decided to take a trip to a town about 20 min away called Ely to see the cathedral. Man did we pick the perfect day!!! We got there around noon and come to find out they were celebrating their 900th year of the city and the Archbishop of Canterbury was coming to preach at the service they were holding that afternoon. They had given out all the tickets but were letting as many people in as they could so we were able to go. Now, we had never seen the Archbishop so of course we had no idea what he looked like. As the service began, all of the people involved in the service walked down the side aisle right where we were and the last person stopped right next to us. He was an older man with a gold robe and funky hat and staff and the craziest eyebrows we have ever seen! Haylee was smiling at him and he was smiling back and waving and making faces at her. Then they walked back up to the front and that guy started speaking and I realized that was the Archbishop!!! The man that was flirting with my 16 month old!!! Haylee didn't care but I thought it was so exciting =) The service was incredible to be a part of and then afterward we were walking out the door and he was standing there shaking people's hands so I asked if I could get a picture of he and Haylee. I can't wait to put this picture up because it makes me laugh everytime I look at it. You think of the Archbishop as this high and mighty man and here he is crouching over next to Haylee's stroller grinning like a fool. It made our day!!! What an incredible opportunity to be a part of such an amazing day in history!!

I'm not sure where our next adventure will be but I'm hoping Paris will be soon! I think we will do that on our next 3 day weekend so we have plenty of time to sightsee. Please keep John in your prayers, he officially starts at the shop tomorrow and they are doing some kind of military exercise so he has to work 12 hr. shifts all week. That should be fun! We are still loving it here and excited to really get settled into life. Our stuff should be here no later than the 6th and I can't wait! I guess that took up more than a few minutes...oh well! Love you guys!!!Inside the cathedral




Ely Cathedral

Getting settled

Well we moved into our house last Friday and are now just waiting for all of our household goods to get here. We bought a love seat which will be delivered Friday so we will have a little more sitting room until we can get a couch. It feels so good to come home!!! It's a semi-detached (townhouse) 2 story house in a town called West Row and has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths plus a gorgeous kitchen and big french doors out to our backyard. I've already pictured how to set everything up and we are very eager to get our stuff and really make it home. Haylee seems to be adjusting well and loves to help me with household chores and doing all the normal girly things =) John will finish inprocessing on the base this week and will officially start at the shop on Monday. He is very eager to start doing the job he spent 6 months training for!!! He will start off in the Servicing department of AGE and drive the equipment onto the flight line and get a chance to really see how things are done around the shop.

We spent the day in London yesterday and absolutely loved it!!! We parked in a city near London and took the Tube into the heart of the city. We spent a lot of the day just figuring out where everything is so now when we go we will have an easier time getting around. We took The Original Bus Tour around the city and then toured Westminster Abbey. It was incredible to be in the place where some of the most famous people are buried and where thousands of people have worshiped for centuries. We also got on a boat tour on the River Thames and saw the Tower of London which will be the next place we tour when we go back. It was so neat to see everything that we have spent our whole lives hearing about up close and personal. Of course our camera had to die halfway through the day but since we know we will be back, it was ok. As soon as our stuff gets here and I have our computer I will put up pictures of everything, promise!!!

We did get cell phones and if I didn't email you our number let me know and I will get it to you. We love you all and miss you! Let us know how you are doing, it's been hard not being able to just pick up the phone and call so let us know!The front of our house. Ours is the one on the right.

Our Backyard

Half of the living room

Other half of the living room

The beautiful kitchen!!!

Our bedroom

One of our 3 bathrooms

England!!!

Well we've been here for almost 2 weeks now and I can't even begin to tell you about everything that has happened. Our trip here was pretty uneventful but very stressful when we got to London. We had 8 bags and no one knew where the bus to Mildenhall was. Thankfully there was someone that was headed that way and could tell us where to go. We made it to the base and into our temporary little apartment and slept!!! John started what they call FTAC last Monday so Haylee and I have been running all over base getting stuff ready to move into a house.
We found a really nice little 2 story house in a village called West Row. It's right by the base which is nice and it has everything that we need. We move in Friday and we can't wait! We also found a car and still can't believe what it is....we bought a red Audi A4!!!! It's a little older but absolutely beautiful and so much fun to drive! We also got Haylee a big girl carseat and she is thrilled. Now instead of crying the whole time we drive, she talks and laughs. Thank God for that! We are getting used to driving over here. Their intersections are roundabouts and those can be confusing since we have to yield to the right instead of the left. It's also very weird having the rest of the car to the left of us. It throws your perception off so you really have to pay attention.
Haylee seems to be adjusting really well. She doesn't want to take naps anymore which is very frustrating for mommy but we're making it through! She's talking more and more and is into EVERYTHING! She already has a fan club wherever she goes, no surprise there, and entertains everyone she meets. =)
All in all, we love it! We can't wait to get moved into our house and get our stuff here and really get settled into our life here. I already love going to the street market on Fridays to get our fresh produce and the butcher shop to get our meat. We have been to Cambridge and Norwich and a lot of the area around Mildenhall. It's a beautiful area with so much history and it's exactly what we pictured England to be. We are really starting to miss family and can't wait for you guys to come visit us!!! I will put pictures up as soon as I can, I just haven't found a computer that I can upload pictures on yet.
We love you all and miss you lots!!!!

Very sleepy after we got off the plane

We had a LOT of luggage!

The front gate sign

It's VERY cold here!

Fresh produce from the market

Our new car! (Yes the steering wheel is on the right side)