Snow!

In mid-January it snowed about four or five inches over the course of a week. The temperatures stayed below freezing (usually in the twenties) throughout the week, so the snow stayed on the ground. Things do slow down and even get closed here like they do in Georgia as they are not equipped for snow and ice.

Amy actually realized this the hard way on the Friday the snow started as the buses stopped running that afternoon. Johnny called to send a taxi to her, but the taxi driver declined the request! So, Amy walked home two miles in the snow! Here's what it all looked like:

 Our postbox with the snow...

 

Looking out our living room window to the ground below...

 

 

 

Emily and Amy having fun, but it was cold!

 

Johnny's attempt at a snow angel...no comments please :)

 

Emily had a blast!

 

We all made a snowman!

Emily's favorite thing was to make and throw snowballs. Watch out!

 



 

The sign for our street...

Looking down Banbury Road toward Summertown and Oxford...

 



 

One of the homes along Banbury Road...

 

Finally we made what we called 'Downton Fort' while it was snowy and cold outside! (Yes, we watch the PBS series Downton Abbey. Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey is only an hour away!)

 

 

Life around Summertown

We live two miles north of the Oxford city centre in a community called Summertown. It is actually a nice area with a number of little shops and restaurants. We know pictures are worth a thousand words, so rather than try to describe it all, just see these pictures below:

 

Here's our main bus stop at Squitchey Lane (we love the name!) above and below going each direction.

 

We usually walk the 7-8 minutes to get to Summertown, but take the bus if we're going into the Oxford city centre.

Here's a shot of some of the shops and stores on one side of the main road (Banbury Road) going through Summertown. There's two grocery stores, a few bank branches, two coffee shops - Starbucks and Costa, several second-hand stores, and then a number of other local businesses.

This is Barefoot Books above, which is a great bookstore for kids in Summertown. They have lots of activities and storytime for the little ones. We go with Emily and read books there regularly.

 

 

Here's Amy and Emily in front of Taylor's which has great soups and sandwiches.

We love their soups and curry!

 

Here's a look inside Taylor's. Emily likes to get a ham sandwich and some juice!

 

There's a Boots pharmacy where we can get our toiletries and any medicines we might need.

 

Oxfam is one of several second-hand stores in Summertown where we have found some discounted items to help furnish our home i.e. mugs and cups for tea!

Here's our favorite restaurant - Mamma Mia's - an Italian place off the main road in Summertown. It is always nice and warm inside and the food is delicious!

 

 

Sainsbury's is our main grocery store in Summertown. It carries the basics so you can stop in each day if you want to get what you need for that evening and the next day.

Here's the view from the entrance down the refrigerated aisle.

 

And then here's the view across the back of the store. It has most of the basics, but it might not have many options of any particular item. for instance, I think it carries only two kinds of salad dressing and two kinds of peanut butter. (Larger grocery stores in the city do carry more.)

 

We usually stop in here and limit what we get to what we can carry as we walk home - one or two bags most often.

 

 

More of our British Christmas experience

Here's a few more from December of the Christmas season...

 

 

Singing Christmas carols with our small group...

 

the animals hanging out for Christmas feasts at the covered market...

 

including all the turkeys hanging high above.

The three of us on the couch one cold evening. (Emily obviously wasn't in the mood for a picture!)

 

But here she is in her Christmas dress and sunglasses!

 

Our Christmas in Oxford

We had a nice Christmas last month even though we certainly missed being with our families. We spent time with friends from church here and with some neighbors from Ghana.

So many of you sent Christmas cards or little gifts and we are so thankful that you remembered us in this way. We also were able to video Skype with our families and open presents with them watching!

 

When Emily opened her Christmas Eve present from Papa and Grammy she said, "Oh, it's baby Jesus!" We later called her 'Baby Girl Jesus.' :)

 

Christmas morning with her new dollhouse from Grandy, Ellie and Will! There's obviously some large colorful frogs in the neighborhood.

 

Emily listening to Papa read to her from the nativity book they sent.

 

Emily excited about the new tea set that she can paint!

 

Emily got new safety scissors and we spent the day carefully cutting open each present. We're sure she'll rip into presents in the future, but it was nice to open gifts at a more relaxed pace.

 

The two of us figuring out the cool Nightlight Ladybug that NaiNai sent works. It lights up in different colors and projects the moon and stars all over Emily's room at night.

 

Emily got some new books, clothes, and this puzzle of animals in the jungle. She loves doing puzzles.

Here's our girl deep in concentration (note the tongue) painting her teapot blue!