To Summarize...

As you probably know, Eric, Jenni, Rhys, Ben, and Desi moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, England this past winter for a fantastic career opportunity with the Royal Shakespeare Company for Eric. It's been a whirlwind six months, but we are settling wonderfully into our new home. We've been rather lax about sending updates and photos back to everyone, so we've decided to post it all here, in a place where you can find it whenever you'd like.

Eric has found his new position with the RSC both challenging and satisfying. He is the Head of Automation, and is working hard to establish this brand new department with the RSC. He usually works right here in Stratford-upon-Avon, but occasionally his work takes him to London. This week, he'll also be travelling to Berlin for a conference. He won't have much time to see the sights, but that doesn't mean that Jenni's not extraordinarily jealous!

Jenni has been staying home with the kids, though she just started a new job this past week. For the next twelve months, she'll be working as an editor for Harcourt, a major educational publisher. She's torn between being at home with the kids and being in the workforce, but her new boss has assured her that she'll be able to work from home a day or two per week, so hopefully the life-work balance will settle itself into something satisfactory.

Rhys, Ben, and Desi have settled well into our new home.

At some point in the past few months, Rhys left toddlerhood behind. She has really become a little girl. She's spent the past couple months learning the fine points of using a toilet, and has recently entered the great and glorious "why?" phase.

She's still as girly as ever, and claims to be a queen at least once a day. Note the things she picks up in the shops, demanding that she absolutely, positively needs them:


At least she picks out the occasional book as well, even if it is the Girliest Book Ever Written:


We were lucky enough to move next door to a really great family with three little girls. One of the little girls is only a month younger than Rhys, so Rhys has made her very first best friend. Rhys and Sofia are nearly inseperable, and it's really a joy to watch such a young friendship.

Rhys also gets along well with the other girls from next-door. Just the other day, she got married to Ella. In the words of Ella's dad, "How very liberal of you!"

Since our move, Ben and Desi have really changed. They have grown so much, and their personalities are becoming clearer (and more hilarious) every day.

Ben took his first steps shortly after we arrived in the U.K., and mastered running shortly thereafter.


He loves to play in the backyard, especially if there's any sort of puddle or bucket full of water to be splashed in or thrown around by the cupful. He's become a mischevious little boy; climbing onto the dining room table and tossing things into the toilet have become two of his favorite pasttimes.


He's caught on that the little green potty we've been using with Rhys is for sitting, so we're hoping that the potty-training will come quite easily with him. He's starting saying "please" and "thank you" and "cheese" (when the camera comes out, he knows exactly what to do). We've come up with all sorts of captions to describe the way he felt about his first haircut:


It won't be long before he'll be able to tell us exactly what's going on in that head of his!


Desi also learned to walk shortly after arriving, but as a quiet, snuggly little girl, she's not into climbing on tables.


She'd much rather be left to sit quietly with a few simple toys, with the occasional break to dole out hugs. She babbles to herself as she plays with the Little People or plastic dishes and food, and would be perfectly content to sit for hours without disruption.


Unless, of course, she is the one causing the disruption:


She loves to be read to, and will happily settle into a lap for a story at any moment of the day. She's also started to say "please" and "thank you", though most of her vocals these days are still babbles. In the past few weeks, she's started to babble more, and I suspect that she may give Rhys a run for her money as the family chatterbox.


There are so many cute stories and special moments to share, but I know that very few people have hours upon hours to read a detailed account of our lives, so I thought I'd limit myself to just a few more photos:

I'm thinking dance lessons, very, very soon...


One of the first warm days of Spring...







Eh?


It's never too early to turn a kid into a Harry Potter fan...


Jenni had the chance to visit with some friends in London in March...




Ben and Desi can be so unbelievable cute with each other...




And, of course, they're cute all on their own...




Sometimes you find such a great pair of shoes, you just have to sleep in them...


And sometimes you find a great dress that goes perfectly with your tool set...


And sometimes a shower in the plastic fridge of your plastic kitchen is just absolutely necessary...


Summer finally arrived a couple weeks ago...




Complete with popsicles...




I suppose that's about it for now, but I plan to keep this site nice and full, so come back soon! We miss you!