Just a quick update.  We're now in our home!  Yippie!  Our address is:

Tim and Tracy Cook

Spring Hill

Gorse Hill Road

Virginia Water

Surrey

GU25 4AS

We have rental furniture at the moment and expect our sea shipment to arrive around October 17th.  It has to go thru customs and then it will be delivered.  Hopefully we'll have it by the end of October.  Now that we're in the house I have connected Vonage.  That means you can call my US cell phone and it will ring my house phone here in the UK.  The only charge you will have on your cell is whatever your carrier charges you to call a US land line.  Or call from a land line it's free from your house phone.  I hope you all call often and keep me up to date on what's going on over there. 

Tonight Mason had a volleyball match and he played both JV and Varsity.  He really played well.  They won both matches.  He has a wicked serve!!  He improves every game and is more confident.  It's really fun to watch him play.

Tim is in Italy right now and then heads to Sweden Wednesday.  Work is going well for him.  His schedule is a bit hectic right now but it will calm down soon.   We're planning on doing some traveling this weekend so be sure to come back and check out the next post!  I'll take a bunch of pictures.  Love and miss you all!

While Tim was out of town, Erin, Mason and I went on a tour of The Royal Holloway. We were invited to go along with Kat and her parents.  Kat is one of Mason's good friends at school.  ;-)   The Royal Holloway was founded in 1879 by the Victorian entrepreneur and philanthropist Thomas Holloway.  It was a women-only institution, and was officially opened in 1886 by Queen Victoria.  The university became co-educational in 1965.  It's a stunning place and I hope you can tell by the pictures. 

Erin and Mason pestering each other. 
Who started it...this time?  :-)

Awe!!  They really love each other!  In fact Mason said Erin
was his favorite sister!  lol

The organ in the church is on the left.  Vertical and horizontal
pipes for the Organ are in the center.  This picture doesn't
do it justice.  It was so beautiful.

Erin holding up The Royal Holloway!  Yes, she's been working out! 

Not sure!  ha

It was a beautiful day!  (Who took these pix?)

Erin standing just like Queen Victoria.

Ahhh ha!  Erin Finally got a picture of Kat. 
She wouldn't let anyone take one. 

~Mason James Cook~

~Kat and Mason~

Mason texting Kat about where to meet us.

As promised, here's a video of Mason in his volleyball game.  Remember this is his first game and he's never played before.  He even had to ask the coach how many times you can hit it before you have to get it over.  ha!  Is this MY SON???  I'll be sure to post another video of his last game to show you how much he's improved.  I noticed a big improvement in his second game.  They're 2-0 so far. 

This week has been pretty busy.   Monday Erin and I went to learn how to play bridge with some ladies in the expat community.  It's really fun but has so many rules.  We'll be going back for a couple more sessions to learn more about the game. 

Tuesday I went on a Walking Tour with about 30 other women to the little town of Shere.  This is the town where "The Holiday" was filmed.  They built the house in Surrey and then tore it down.  :-(  This is the picture of where the house was though. 

This picture is the same pub where they shot the scenes.  The White Horse.  We had lunch after our walk/climb.  I had an awesome Mozzarella Veggie Burger and chips.  Chips = French fries and they're most always really thick ones.  Oh and I also had a pint of Fosters.  :-) 

 

Below is a where Jude Law sat in the pub.  

They say he sat in that corner between the 

window and the fireplace.  I'm going to have 

to watch the movie again.  :-)  I loved the atmosphere of this pub.  Warm and friendly with YUMMY food. 

The Anchoress of Shere, Christine Carpenter

We also visited the Saint James Church.  There is a story that a 14 year old girl named Christine Carpenter decided to be enclosed in a wall of the church to show her devotion to God.  Here are some of the pictures I took but you can also go to this website to read more about the story.  http://sheredelight.typepad.com/shere_delight/2010/11/the-anchoress-of-shere-christine-carpenter.html

This is the wall she was in for most of her adult life.  They gave her food through the opening you see the woman sticking her hand in.  the other opening to the right is her view of the pulpit.  When you look at the wall you can't see anything but large rock cemented together to close the opening.  I would love to have seen how much room she "lived" in.  It doesn't seem big at all if you compare it to the outside of the building.  

To the left is a picture of a sign on the outside portion of the wall she was enclosed in.

 

"SITE OF THE CELL OF CHRISTINE CARPENTER ANCHORESS OF SHERE 1329"

I just can't get my head around someone wanting to do that.  I think something bad must have happened to her and she was afraid of something.  Who knows? 

 ***Paul L. Moorcraft wrote a fiction novel based on some of the historical evidence.  If you'd like to read it you can order it by clicking on this link. http://www.amazon.com/Anchoress-Shere-Paul-L-Moorcraft/dp/1590580281

These last few pictures are of the beautiful view of the 5-6 mile walk.  It felt more like 7-8 because of all the hills.  

I thought of Tim and the boys fishing when I saw this stream.  

I think I'm back amoung the living now.  I've had a little bug and today is the first day I feel back to normal.  The weather has been awesome.  Maybe a sprinkle or two within the last 5 days.
I think it's because I bought some wellies. Erin and I both got a pair. We tried to talk Mason and Tim into getting some but they refused.  We'll see how that last once the rainy season starts. 

 
This is a picture of the day we bought the wellies.  (Wellingtons)  It rained off and on all day.  The sun would shine one minute and we'd be hot.  10 minutes later we were digging out the umbrellas and the temperature was cooler.  It was a fun day. 

The television here is sooo different.  There are a lot of talk shows in the morning where they discuss a subject and people call in and debate it.  Everyone has an opinion and they love to share it.  It reminds me of some of the talk radio shows you can hear on XM back home.
One of the things we all miss about TV is the shows we started watching are in mid-season and we're wondering what's going on.  So, we got Slingbox.  Tim and Jeff put it on our TV back home.  It's connect to the cable box and the internet.  We can see any show OnDemand at any time of the day.  Or stay up and watch the Colts Play.

This is me and Erin watching the Bachlor Pad.  Oh my gosh, Vienna and Kacey drove us NUTS!!!  We couldn't wait until they were voted off.

That season has ended now and we'll be watching Modern Family, The Middle, ... and many more.  I'm not so much into the TV shows but I know everyone has some favorites. 

Last Friday we went to a restaurant called "The Bank".  They had AMAZING live music.  Mason ditched us to hang with his friends so it was just Tim, Erin and me.  We were singing along and had a great time!  Here are some pix from that night.

More to come!!!  I'm headed to Mason's first Volleyball game.  I'll be taking some pictures to post on here. So stay tuned!!!  :-)

Windsor Castle

 

Our visit to Windsor Castle.  The oldest and largest occupied castle in the world.  Erin asked the guard if she could hold his gun for the picture and he said, "Are you kidding me?"  

She was like... "Well, I'll I'll take that as a NO." 

Erin and Mason misbehaving while shopping in Windsor.   

 

A quaint little church we passed by on our way to a 

pub the guards told us about.  It was their favorite.   

More to come Soon...

Tracy and Erin's final pose after performing our own version of Singing in the Rain.  (Mason disappeared for some reason.)

Well, we've been here for 24 days now and it's going well.  Right now we're in a fully furnished 2 bedroom flat in the town of Egham, Surrey.  It's nice and cozy here and we're enjoying the great location of the temporary housing.  The train station is right out our front door and the town center is about 1/4 mile walking distance.  Around October 1st we will move to our house in Virgina Water. 

Our address is:
Springhill
Gorse Hill Road
Virginia Water
Surrey
GU25 4AS

As soon as we get into the house and have telephone and cable hooked up, you'll be able to call my US cell phone number.  317-445-1965    I've set it up as a US landline in the UK.  For a flat rate we have unlimited calls to the US and anyone from the US can call me as if I'm still in Indiana.  :-)  Cool huh?

Tim's been traveling A LOT!  He's been home 7 days of the 24 so far.  The different cultures are very interesting and he likes getting to know such a diverse group of people.  He just got back from Portugal and will be leaving the flat at 5:15am to fly to Japan.  Our goal is for him to bring an ornament back from each place he visits.  I can't wait to see what he brings home. 

Mason has started school at ACS Egham.  He is really liking it.  He's made many friends and seems to be on the go often.  The school work will be tough but he seems to be doing OK so far.  Well, except for Spanish.  I'll be looking for a tutor on Monday. 

Some of you may already know about Erin Breiner living with us over here but I'll explain for those who don't.  :-)  Erin is in college and her parents are our very dear friends.  We kind of jokingly asked Erin if she'd like to come along with us and be Mason's personal tutor for school.  We then we all got serious about it and what a great opportunity it would be.  I can't tell you how much fun we've had with her.  (In fact, I don't want her to go back when the semester is over!)  Erin is going to an American University in Richmond.  She takes the train 4 stops and walks about 10 mins to the school.  She has classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  So that means we can play on Mondays and Fridays.  :-)  Of course only if she doesn't have homework. 

I'm getting things organized and still taking care of the moving business.  Getting a TV license, ordering internet, phone, cable, rental cars...  The list goes on.  But I'm not overwhelmed at all.  I'm enjoying the cozy little flat where we're all together.  There's something to say about only having 4 glasses, 4 bowls, 4 plates, 4 forks...  Less dishes to wash and do it by hand in no time.    I've also gotten involved in an expat organization called American Women of Berkshire and Surrey.  (AWBS)  They do fundraising, charity events, book clubs, tours around London... There's so much to do.  They even offer trips abroad.  The first weekend in December there's a Christmas Market trip to France.  Of course there's a waiting list but I think we should go as a family sometime during the season.

Well, I'll sign off now and save some for another day.  I'll post some pictures soon. 
Love to all!