Salutations!

Greetings everyone! Rather than send out a series of large e-mails, I have decided to share our adventures in this blog. I hope you enjoy it.

Well, the Howell family has found home in the lovely city of Ely. The city is well known for its beautiful cathedral, which is about 900 years-old. It is a charming place to live with many things to enjoy.

After a rigourous housing search, Joe and I settled on The Coach House (yes, the house has a name). Nestled near the cathedral is an old manor house called The Chantry. Well, we live behind it on Chantry Lane in what used to be the old coach house for The Chantry. The house was recently remodeled and feels warm and cozy. While technically a four bedroom house, the house is much smaller than our old home in Pikeville so Joe and I are having to get creative. The parking situation also requires a bit of finesse. In order to get to our house, you turn into a tight alley barely wider than our car, then you make a 90 degree turn into another alley only slightly wider than the first. Chantry Lane looks like someone paved it 25 years ago and then forgot all about it.

But England has been very fun so far. Everyone's favorite pub, The Minster, is 70 paces from our door. (70 Joe-sized paces, so a little further for me.) Most of the pubs allow children until a certain time. Apparently, it is not taboo to have your baby in a bar. Wednesday night we went to the Thanksgiving service at the cathedral, and tonight, we went to the live nativity and lighting of the Christmas lights in the city center. It was like a carnival with rides and fun booths to look at. The whole scene made me wish Benjamin was a little older so he could enjoy it. However, I probably enjoyed mince pie and mulled wine more since I did not have to chase him around.

Well, I will try to keep this updated regularly. Now I have to figure out how to post pictures so the grandparents will leave me be.