Streeter's Visit

We really miss all of our Texas friends, so it was a huge treat to get to have lunch with the Streeters in July.  Paul and Tanya used to be our across-the-street neighbors in Austin for many years, and both of them have lived in Brighton (Paul is from Brighton and Tanya attended Roedean).

Paul, Tanya and Tilly were in Brighton to visit family, and we were lucky enough to get to meet them for lunch one day in town.  It definitely wasn't enough time to get properly caught up, but it was so much fun getting to hang out with them.  We especially loved spending time with Tilly because she is growing up and changing so fast.

We are looking forward to seeing the Streeters this summer when we are back in Texas, but we also hope to catch them again the next time they are in the UK.

 

Seussical

In July Sloane was in her first theatre production.  She was in the ensemble of the City Youth Theatre Company's production of Seussical.  Sloane had a great time, worked really hard and learned a lot about performing.  She also made a lot of new friends.  In fact, a couple of her good friends ended up being in her form at school when they started in September.

4th of July

If I made New Year's Resolutions, my resolution would be to be better about keeping up with our blog.  Sadly, my resolutions are about as reliable as my blogging, so I don't even bother.  So here I am writing about summer events while there are several inches of snow on the ground.

We celebrated the 4th of July with some of our best friends here in Brighton.  The Maskells and the Houses helped us celebrate, and the girls each had a friend come over for a Fourth of July Bar-B-Que.  It is a bit ironic to celebrate Independence Day with a bunch of Brits, but everyone was a good sport and had a great time.

Happy Fourth of July with the whole gang.

The Brits with Old Glory.

Emily, Will and Mike relaxing in the garden.

Erin enjoying some watermelon.

The Larson's Visit

June was a record great month for us because we had two visits from some of our favorite people in the world.  The week after Kyrie and Corey left, Megan, Claire and Mary Lynne Larson came to see us in Brighton.  The Larson ladies spent a few weeks in Africa on a mission trip, and they stopped off in London on their way home to spend a week with us in Brighton.

It was so much fun having some of our closest friends stay with us, and we tried to give them an idea of what life is like in the UK during the brief time they were here.  The Larson's even survived packing into our little house, and Keith survived sharing a bathroom with 6 girls.

Here are some of the highlights of the Larsons visit:




Megan and I had to get some workouts in while we were together. 
I took her to my Bfit boot camp on the seafront, and we also went for a run at Devil's Dyke. 
It was just like old times having my running partner back.

I took the Larsons to Arundel Castle while Sutton and Sloane were in school.

We picnicked on the grounds of Arundel Castle, and this was Claire and Mary Lynne's first picnic. 
I guess you can't picnic too often in Texas when it is 100 degrees in the shade.

We visited the Royal Pavilion...

...and drank tea...

...and ate cake.

When the girls got out of school, they met us for some shopping in the North Laines.

 

 

 

Then we met Keith for dinner at a pub, so Mary Lynne could get her fish and chips.

On Friday, Sutton and Sloane skipped school, and we headed to London.
The first place we visited was Kensington Palace.

Royalty.

Luckily the weather held out...

...and Mary Lynne got her wish to go on the London Eye.

Lovely in London.

Perched on the Victoria Memorial.

It wouldn't be a trip to London without eating at Wahaca.

Back in Brighton on Saturday, Claire, Sutton and Mary Lynne joined a protest.

We introduced Megan to Pimms.

Saying goodbye on Sunday.

This is the happy goodbye shot. 
Luckily, we didn't get any pictures of the tears flowing when the Larson's left.




 

Kyrie and Corey's Visit

We recently received a care package from Texas from Jan and Kyrie (they take VERY good care of us), and it reminded me of when Kyrie brought us about two suitcases full of goodies when she and Corey came to visit us at the beginning of June.  The amazing stash from the States was great, but nothing could beat having Kyrie and Corey actually being here with us in Brighton.

For those of you who don't know, Kyrie is our niece from Houston and Corey is her boyfriend.  Kyrie finished Baylor in May, and she and Corey both started law school at South Texas in August.  Their Brighton trip was a break for them and a huge treat for us.

Here are some of the highlights of Kyrie and Corey's visit:

We visited Devil's Dyke and had lunch at the Shepherd and Dog Pub in Fulking.

Sutton and Sloane welcome Kyrie and Corey to Brighton.

We took advantage of some brief nice weather to have a barbecue at Hove Park.

Hanging out at home.

 

We went to the Big Church Day Out again this year...

...and we met and got autographs from Casting Crowns.

It was really exciting!

 

Kyrie and Corey's visit was during the celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee,
so there was a lot going on.

We went to the Palace Pier...

...and visited the Royal Pavilion.

We had a great time just chilling at home and watching the Queen's Jubilee on television.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Year Update

The girls just finished their last day of school yesterday, so our summer has (finally) officially begun.  Next month we will have lived in Brighton for two years, so I thought it might be a good time to give everyone an update.

VISA STATUS:
As some of you might remember, our initial UK visas were good for 2 years, and that 2 years will be up on 15 August.  At the beginning of July, we submitted our visa renewal applications to remain in the UK for another 3 years.  We are waiting to hear back from the UK Home Office to see if we will get our renewals. 

We aren't too worried about getting our visas renewed because the visa we are here on is done on a points-based system, and we have the points to qualify again.  Our main concern is we want to get our passports back in time to be able to go home to Texas this summer.

Just because we are applying to renew our visas for another 3 years doesn't mean we will actually be here another 3 years.  We honestly don't know how much longer we will be in the UK, but we definitely do not feel like it is time to return to the States just yet.  Let's see if the UK government agrees.

WORK:
Keith has been working at FDM Group for a little over a year now, and he is still enjoying the work and the people.  He is the only legal advisor for this international IT consulting company, so he stays plenty busy.

I started a new part-time job in April right after Easter working for One Youth Brighton (part of our church, One Church Brighton).  We got a very large five-year lottery grant to start a community-based youth project in Brighton.  I am a Project Support Worker, and my primary focus is coordinating our school-based mentoring project.  I am really excited to be working in mentoring again (remember my days at Big Brothers Big Sisters), and it is especially nice to be earning real pounds.

SCHOOL:
Sutton just finished Year 9 at Cardinal Newman Catholic School.  This was Sutton's first year at Cardinal Newman because she transferred there from a different secondary school at the end of September.  Changing schools was a really good move, and despite having to start all over at another new school, Sutton did great academically and made a lot of really good new friends. 

Sutton will remain at Cardinal Newman next year for Year 10 where she will begin her GCSE classes.  Schools give a lot less homework here, but Sutton will have to start working a little harder because she will be taking triple science as well as taking an AS level Religious Education class studying philosophy and ethics (I know this doesn't mean anything to people at home, but it is good).

Sloane just finished Year 6 at Stanford Junior School.  This was her last year at Junior School, so Sloane and her friends enjoyed being the oldest on campus.  Sloane had a great year and as always enjoyed the social side of school the most.  The school is divided into four Houses, and Sloane was chosen by her House, the Unicorns, to be House Captain.  Next year Sloane will join Sutton at Cardinal Newman, and it will be so nice to have both girls at the same campus.

CHURCH:
Our church officially became One Church Brighton on Easter 2011 when Gloucester Place Baptist Church and Florence Road Baptist Church merged together to form one church (get it?).  The church is welcoming and focused on serving the community, and we have seen a lot of exciting growth over the past year.

Keith and I are both involved in teaching the children on Sundays and volunteering with the youth at a youth drop-in club on Friday nights.  We both also enjoy working at Safehaven on Saturday nights.  Safehaven is a joint project with two other churches where we serve a hot, sit-down meal for Brighton's street community.  Our church also does some work with a couple of care homes in Brighton, and through that work, I have been volunteering to meet with a blind lady who needed some help getting outside more. 

We also have a small group from church that meets at our house on Monday nights.  There are 9 of us in the group, and we have all really become close over the past year.  We feel lucky to have made such good friends that we feel so close to in such a short time.

WEATHER:
Wet. Cold. No Summer.

Keith's Top 10 Things Learnt in Brighton

We’ve been in Brighton for close to two years now, so I thought it was a good time to look back and summarize what I’ve learnt (yes, learnt).  So, here are my Top 10 Things I’ve Learnt in Brighton.  Enjoy.

Keith

1. Don’t use the “hand towel” hanging next to a bidet.
2. “Tea” only means “tea” when it is coupled with “coffee” as in “tea and coffee.”
3. Body odour smells the same in England as it does in Texas . . . unless the offending person recently ate curry.
4. Brits love curry.
5. If you see dry seagull poop, it’s not dry.
6. If you inadvertently use the word “pants” when you mean “trousers” it is almost always funny.
7. If you’re on a city bus, it’s actually possible to get off at a stop and get on another bus in front of you at the same stop before it drives away.
8. Driving on the left side of the road isn’t that difficult, but going the right direction around a roundabout is.
9. Two hundred people can be on one train car to London on a weekday morning and not one of them will be talking, but only two people can be in an open-plan office (no cubicles) and they’ll be talking so loudly you can’t hear the phone ring.
10. You don’t have to pick up your own dog’s poop—you just circle it with chalk and write “pick up.”  You can even make a package out of it by putting paper over it, taping it down and writing on it “Dog poo under here.”  That way, if anyone wants it, they can get it.  We never seem to have any chalk or paper and tape with us when we walk Lucy, so we just pick it up with dog poop bags.