Christmas Came Early!

Christmas came early to the Starr household this year, thanks to my amazing husband! When I got back from my trip to the States, he had gotten out all of our Christmas decorations and put everything up himself!! It was SO cool to come to that. We opened our presents to each other and had a great day celebrating, even if it was a little early. :)

Coffee press, whoo too! :)

Gift cards to my favorite store here!

Zoe's present - wrapping paper! 

Max

Bonfire Night

On November 5th, England celebrates Guy Fawkes Night every year with big bonfires in the towns, and awesome fireworks displays. It all started because Guy Fawkes was arrested while taking part in a plot to kill King James I by laying explosives below the House of Lords in 1605. When he was arrested, people celebrated the failed attempt on their King's life by lighting bonfires and fireworks. 

It seems like every big and small town here has some sort of celebration to commemorate the day, and I decided to go to Ely's this year. It was awesome. There was a carnival-like atmosphere complete with kiddie rides, glow sticks, and candy floss (cotton candy!), which I ate a whole bag of by myself before the fireworks even began. ;) Then after it was dark they lit the bonfire, which had effigies of Guy Fawkes placed on top, and then the fireworks went off shortly after that. I love fireworks, and I've seen some pretty awesome displays in my time, but these were incredible They were set right in front of the Ely Cathedral, so that was a stunning backdrop, and they were set off on the hill right in front of the crowds, so it was like the fireworks completely surrounded us. I can't wait to go next year!

Cadbury World

When I got back from the States fall was in full swing here in England, and it was beautiful - I think it's my favorite time of year here. It's just so cool to see the landscape change so drastically; it's so unlike anything we had in Arizona. 

View from the park

Thomas and I took a little road trip to Birmingham to visit Cadbury World! A whole day dedicated to chocolate - yes please! :) We got lots of free candy bars there...but other than that it was pretty disappointing. It was very much geared towards kids (which is cool), but not what we were expecting. We wanted to see all the chocolate being made/packaged, and we got to see some of that, but not as much as we had hoped. We did manage to find an Ikea and a Curry's Computer Store on the way out of the city...so everyone wins. :)

No divider on the freeway - scary!!

Birmingham

The World's Biggest Cadbury Shop

Um, yum.

Chocolate being packaged (pictures were illegal, hence the crappy quality)

Chocolate shoes!

I won the ping pong game! I can only put that because Thomas doesn't read this, but it is TRUE!! :)

Disneyland!

I got to take a very quick Disneyland trip with my bestie while I was home, it was much needed, and so much fun. We left late one night, stayed overnight about 2 hours from Disneyland, then drove the rest of the way in the morning. We met up with Kiki's sister that morning so we could celebrate her birthday at Disneyland! :) We had a blast, as usual, and hit every single ride that we wanted to - even the new Little Mermaid ride at California Adventure, which was awesome! I love me a good road trip, and this one didn't disappoint!

Wearing my Minnie Mouse shirt the night before!

Kiki, me, and Julie on the tram

Little Mermaid ride!

California Adventure is pretty

The scariest ferris wheel that I've ever been on. The cars moved as you go around the wheel!

It's A Small World

Toon Town!

Miscellaneous :)

There was lots of little adventures while I was home, so I thought I'd through in some random pictures that didn't quite fit in the other posts. :)

Drew, Mom, and Dad at one of our favorite restaurants - Paradise Bakery :)

Happy Hour at Elephant Bar with Jackie and Kiki

Getting to play with Batman Blake

Meeting little Gracie

Meeting Benson :)

Brunch with Jenni, Julie, and Benson

Halloween shenanigans with Connor

Doing awesome picture poses with Aaron

Drew got to drive the Z!

Lexi pants!

Bella

Mom cooking?! That never happens! ;)

Me with Jim and Jean Ziebol on Halloween

I was Al Borland (from Tool Time) for Halloween

First Birthday Shenanigans

Baby Thomas turned one while I was home, and it was SO fun to be a part of all the celebrations! We had a family party on the actual night of his birthday, and then he had a bigger party that weekend. He enjoyed his first birthday cake, although he mostly ate the frosting - my kind of guy. :) He seemed to really love his presents, especially his toy phone, which he held up to his ear to talk on, and his broom set. He likes to help his mom clean! My sister-in-law Jamie, and her whole family, came into town for the birthday weekend, so we all got to celebrate together. Thomas' cousins Connor and Aaron loved helping him open his presents, and blow out his candles, they were a big help when Thomas couldn't quite do it himself.

First birthday cake!

Talking on his phone

Jamie and Aaron

Thomas' first year

Thomas and his dad, Matt

HUGE birthday cake, it was yummy!

Practicing his sweeping

Connor and Aaron, they are such great cousins to Thomas!

The Minion had I made for Thomas (from Despicable Me). He didn't care for it, so this is the only picture I got - notice his angry face! haha