Merry Christmas from the Ridgeways!

Finally have Internet back, thank you, Jesus.

Eight days without internet. EIGHT DAYS!!! Regardless of the fact that I went the first 15 years of my life without internet, eight days seemed liked eternity. I started using my fingernails to carve tic marks in the wall counting the days...I'm not-so-proudly pathetic.

Moving along--we're settled into our English countryside house. Well, I don't know about settled, but we're here and enjoying it so far. It's snowed several times and has made for some gorgeous landscapes. Getting used to the cold has been interesting. I think Jim's enjoying it more than I, which we knew he would ahead of time.

The boys are doing well. Jim has Blaise running around saying "Pip-pip, Cheerio", although it really sounds more like "papa cheerio."

Visited a gorgeous church in our village the other night that was having a "Yuletide Fayre." Unfortunately, we missed Father Christmas (who was on his way home to change for the wine and mincemeat refreshment party to be held after the caroling service that evening), but the boys got some gifts given to them anyway. Turns out, the church is from the 14th century. That's like, the 1300s (sounds much more dramatic). The extraordinarily nice parishioners told us that the other church in our village is from the same time period. And it still doesn't have electricity. Needless to say, I don't think they hold too many services there during Winter. Blaise's favorite part of the whole evening was running like a madman around in between the pews. The ladies were so funny--"Don't worry about him. We're very child-friendly. He can't hurt a thing!" Yeah..Mm-kay. The question is not if it's child-friendly. It's if it's Blaise-friendly? Maybe for our next trip we'll take him to Notre Dame and let him use the Shroud of Jesus as a Superman cape.
 It is pretty cool to be running around in a church 600-700 years older than you. But, what's even more cool is that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We're as close to him now as they were when that church was originally built. Cool.

This Saturday, it's off to Thomas-Land (Thomas the Train). Blaise is going to freak. Hoping he can walk by then. Poor thing was given 5 shots today and is walking around like a penguin...

Cheerio!

Look Out Brits!

Heavens, almighty! Jim and Tori Ridgeway both passed their British driver's license tests on the first try (not very common). Maybe that was because there was no driving portion for American military/dependents with stateside licenses :). Anyway, we are definitely practicing our driving skills like crazy. Big Red is here (that's in reference to our red Pontiac Grand AM that qualifies as two vehicles over here). Yay! I really feel more comfortable driving it than the right sided steering car, for sure. It has to have some work done to it, though, before we can drive it. British cars have special fog and side lights.

We went to Bury St. Edmunds again today and had a MUCH more successful trip this weekend (plan and map in tow). We actually didn't look like complete idiotic Americans this time, evidenced by the fact that we didn't hear the "f-word" one time made in reference to our driving. Had lots of fun and found the best shopping places. Bought some way too cute British clothes for the boys.

And guess where we went to for lunch? Go ahead. Guess. It definitely shows our adventurous side....Pizza Hut! Heehee. It was definitely different from U.S. Pizza Huts, though. Never had the option of fine wine as a drink option at the Barnwell Pizza Hut. Nor did its salad bar have couscous, cold red rice and beans, marinated cocktail onions, antipasti salad, or hummus on it. This was so my kind of a salad bar. The only thing missing was Ranch dressing--which they apparently don't eat here in the UK.

Next time, I promise I'll have something more interesting to write about than a salad bar. Our next target trip (other than to visit our friends up near Oxford for Thanksgiving) is to Cambridge. So, I'm sure I'll have some great pics to share after that trip. It is so surreal to think that we're not even 2 hours from London. Better yet, we're in the heart of Harry Potter land. :) We were just talking about how neither of us can believe that there are actually a few people here and there who move here and hate it. Most absolutely love it, but there are some who move here and never leave the base. They're afraid to go out and encounter anything un-American. Thus, they get bored. That would drive us crazy. We may not necessarily have success in every attempt we make to travel places, but we're sure as heck going to try! :) Cheers!

Yay for Finding a House!

We found a house! After looking at seemingly a billion choices, we found the perfect house and were able to negotiate with the owner. She seems to be really nice, and luckily for us, is currently updating the place. It looks great so far. It's out in the English countryside in a little village that's practically nothing but old buildings (and when you say old in England, you really mean older than the United States), but it's minutes away from the base and about 15 minutes or so from a larger town with lots of shopping (happy, happy). We're supposed to move in around Thanksgiving.

The search for a house has allowed us to do a lot of driving around and site-seeing. We visited a fairly large town nearby this past weekend called Bury St. Edmonds. I wonder when we'll figure it out that making spontaneous trips without a plan or a detailed map NEVER works out for us...especially with two boys who are ready for a nap.
We did kind of get a lay of the land, though, so that was good for the future. And Jim got more practice driving in more traffic, and I must say, he did great. :)
Speaking of driving, guess who drove by herself in the dark and mist yesterday evening? Yep! Me! Of course, it was a grand total of about a mile round trip. But, I'm proud. Especially proud of the fact that I had to go around a dreaded British roundabout (backwards from the US way, of course)...nevermind that there was only one other car on it. And also nevermind that I wasn't supposed to go on the roundabout in the first place (got just slightly lost). "Oh, look kids, there's Big Ben"! :)

The adventure begins...

Well, our first couple of days in England have been largely uneventful. We were visited by several friends from the States, so that was great. Jim hit the ground running going about his various orientation tasks. It seems as though the getting over here was the easy part after all. It's kind of funny, but if you think about it, it's kind of like you're starting your life over. New house, new banking system, new government, new phones, new appliances (and may I just insert here--what is with the Brits' obsession with vague symbols??), new utilities, new car, new car seats and baby monitors (US and UK standards are different), new driving regulations (scary),...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The good news is that everyone we've encountered thus far has been exceptionally kind--Americans and Brits alike.

Looks like we will not be living on base for sure, which we weren't sure we wanted to do anyway. So, we'll go about looking for a house in the next few days. Hopefully it won't take too long to find one. The area surrounding us is BEAUTIFUL farm land. Lots of sheep.:)

The only "snafu" we've encountered has been Blaise's adjustment to the time difference (or rather, lack thereof). Oh well, it was to be expected. Hopefully the screaming until 4:00 am and then sleeping like a rock until 12:00 will eventually subside and he'll adjust. Poor Jim has gone to work today on about 4-5 hours of sleep. At least I get to lounge around the house all day (of course, any mom out there knows taking care of two kids does not allow for much lounging. heehee:).

Cheers!

This should have been my blogpost a couple of days ago, but I was too exhausted...:)

Five target tasks occupied my mind as we made our way over to England last night. 

Task #1:Kiss the ground as soon as we exit the plane.

Task#2: Revisit the concept of whispering with Blaise.

Task #3:Someday hug the Apple dude who invented the I-touch. (You're a hero amongst parents of toddlers everywhere and I love you.)

Task #4:Cut the carry-on luggage to a bare minimum vs. an inventory worthy of a major department store prior to our next trip requiring flight. 

And Task #5: Solicit someone rich to fund my idea for kid-friendly hotel rooms and airplanes. But, overall, I must say the trip was great! Jim and I made a great team (of course, we always do:).

Oh, and I'm also going to add a sixth task for myself: just get over the whole embarrassment over having to nurse in public (discreetly and covered, of course) issue. There are some times when you just can't be concerned with what others think of you. Being tens of thousands of feet in the air over the Atlantic Ocean with a tired baby is one of those times.  And heavens, forget about maintaining a feed, wake, sleep schedule. Fun times:)

Adventures in Infanthood

I just had an encounter with something I've never encountered before and hope to never encounter again--projectile poop. Literally. It whistled like a nuclear warhead as it came out. I mean we're talking an inch away from hitting the knee of my favorite jeans in the whole world. Terrifying. And the funny thing is, I was so focused on not letting it leak out the back like it does every other time he goes (Sidenote: why do diapers not have like an extra panel or something that goes all the way up between the shoulder blades to protect from that, huh? We've done laundry loads of just 2-3 clothing items three days in a row because of this predicament.). Never had this problem with Blaise. It's funny how each kid is different.
All I gotta say is, if you ever stay in the Eglin Temporary Living Facility, do not sit on the middle cushion of the couch in unit 2045. Makes me wonder how many seat cushions I've sat on in the past that have been pooped on...things that make me ponder.:)

~Tori
PS. We have airplane tickets!!! Finally. Leave out this weekend.

THE Visa is here!

If I was the kind of person who streaked after a big win for the hometown team, I'd so be streakin' right now!!! Judah's visa finally came...the day AFTER we were supposed to leave (oh, the irony). And get this, in order to get the visa, we had to go and sit at our former address (which, awkwardly, was being moved into by a new tenant as we set there) for 6+ hours to wait on it to be delivered. After waiting forever with two cranky boys, we decided to call it a day and left. But, on the way home we ended up encountering and chasing down *two* different UPS drivers before we finally held the visa in our hands. I felt like standing and singing the chorus from The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Jim said he felt like hugging the guy. Jim's not a hugger.

So, Judah is now the proud (albeit completely indifferent) owner of a United Kingdom visa. He can now get a job and help put food on the table. Oh, I forgot to mention the best part. After we finally had the visa in our hands, Jim gets a call from his commander at Eglin saying that his new commander over in England now wants him to wait another two weeks to come so that they can more easily shift some schedules for someone to come and pick us up. Am I kidding, you ask? No.

We're going to ask Monday if we can go ahead over and Jim just take some PTO before his report date. He'll need time adjust to the time difference before he starts working anyway. Praying for that to be a go ahead for this next week.

You ever notice how, every now and then, God has a tendency to let you see just how much of a pessimist you are? He shows me pretty often. I was complaining to my dad this evening about how much of an ordeal this had been and how we were planning on putting in a complaint to Eglin's passport/visa office regarding it's total mess-up with this visa. I go on and on and on and he listens (which, believe it or not, he's extremely good at). And when I'm finally finished ranting, he calmly says "God let it happen for some reason" and changes the subject. Not that he was disregarding me by any means, he was just reminding me to live by Romans 8:28. And it really got me. Especially considering all he's been through recently (as well as for the last couple of decades or so).

How can I complain  about this, when I have been so blessed with a loving husband and beautiful baby boys and WE'RE ALL TOGETHER (Jim wasn't forced to go on over)? This also gave us the chance to visit more with our families in SC, which was a blessing. What's a couple of weeks? I too often forget that God is not far away. He's right here in the midst of things. He's completely in control, and as the saying goes, His timing is perfect. I don't know why I always have a tendency to forget that. Maybe I can come back and read this blog the next time I feel like complaining.

Our Family Photo--courtesy Newcomer Photography

Hello Bloggees!

        So, I've decided to take on the blogging world and keep family and close friends informed of our various adventures (or non-adventures at the moment) via Blogspot, as opposed to posting info on Facebook because I don't want to bore everyone unnecessarily. So, if you're interested in knowing what we're up to, check the blog from time to time! I'm really going to try to keep it updated. It's not like I have anything to do, considering I only have to take care of a 2-year-old who could have given Houdini a run for his money, and a newborn who apparently considers me to be a much better swing, bouncy seat, and floor play mat than the actual objects.
So, here's the scoop on our current situation:
          We're here living at the Eglin Air Force Base temporary living facility, which, in all honesty, is a little hard to live in (think duct tape being used as a wall patch and feet turning mysteriously pitch-black after walking around 30 minutes barefoot). But, hey, it's a place to stay for cheap. We're off to SC tomorrow for the last time before Christmas 2011. We'll be able to visit some family, which we're excited about. We were supposed to leave for the UK next Thursday, but it looks as if that isn't happening. The sergeant in charge of passports and visas here royally messed up Judah's visa and sent it to the wrong place (but won't admit it;). But, anyway, supposedly it's "in process" now.
 So, thank the Lord, Jim's commanders here and at Lakenheath (UK) are very understanding and granted another extension of his time here until we are able to get the visa (which hopefully will only be another week or so.  We were afraid they'd make him go on ahead. A lot of commanders would have done just that. At this point, we really, really, really wish they'd just let us have Judah over there, but whatever. There's SOME reason (other than irresponsibility on someone's part) that we're still here, if nothing other than God wanted to teach us patience and grace, which, I tell ya, are difficult "fruits" to maintain. It's so easy to have the kind of reaction that the world would have, and I must admit, both Jim and I have had the world's reaction a couple of times during this ordeal. I recently read this quote and it really convicted me:

You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God. - Lucado

Cheerio for now! (Totally going to go all Brit with the lingo so get used to the cheesiness.)