So...we are moving to England!: So...we are moving home

As I wrote the title of this post, my heart felt a little heavy. As I wrote the word "home", it dawned on me that for the past 3 years, Marlow has really been our home. I remember writing our first post when we were leaving Melrose and wondering how will this adventure turn out, how leaving our families and friends was heartbreaking, how the unknown was exciting and a bit scary- I remember all of it.

Some people believe that you can only have one place to call home, others believe that you can dub many places your home, some say home is where the heart is or home is a feeling not a place. For us, it is for sure a feeling, it is where is where our hearts are, it isn't our only home, it is where my husband and children are, it is where our story begins, changes and grows. One of Mark's colleagues told him that Marlow is our spiritual home. We couldn't have agreed more.

What a wonderful experience we have had here and we are so fortunate that Mark was given this opportunity as a result of his hard work. We have been able to see different parts of the world, make friends we will have for life and had our family and friends share our home and love for our adopted country.

When we moved here Oliver and Henry were 3.5 years old. I don't think I could write all of the changes they have been through- it would take weeks. From small changes to big changes. To put it in perspective, they were still in their cribs when we moved! They started kindergarten, moved on to grade 1, learned to read and complete math equations, Henry lost his first tooth and found a love for history and art, Oliver became a fluent reader and loves creating stories. Both learned how to swim here. They both changed their words as they acclimated to their British life and inevitably took on little British accents as they listened to their teachers and friends.

When we moved here Mark and I were still 39! Goodness. We learned a lot ourselves - such as... how to drive in the UK and obtained a UK license, learned what quality family time was, learned how to navigate airports of any size with small children, appreciated the feeling of coming home- no matter where that was, understand the different definitions of "tea", fell in love with curry, changed our wardrobe to accommodate balls and black tie events, learned that the bigger the fascinator the better, obtained a soft spot for the Royal Family, learned how to pack the night before a trip or the morning of, found a new appreciation for world history and we inherited the bug to travel! That is just the short list.

All of this plus the amazing ability to travel and expose the kids to different food and culture- we were blessed. When I ask the boys to name a favorite place, they can't. They loved something about every trip!

Here is the running list of places we have been in nearly 3 years:
(I say running because we aren't done yet!):

Madrid, Spain
Saas Fee, Switzerland
Zauchensee, Austria
Barcelona, Spain
Crete, Greece
Algarve, Portugal
Nice, France
Paris, France
Munich, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Ireland
Edinburgh,Scotland
Llansaint,Wales
Rome, Italy
Sicily, Italy
Marrakesh, Morocco

Inside England:
London- countless times
Corwall- St. Ives, Tintagel, Padstow, Port Issac
Oxford
Bath
Stonehenge (how many times Mark??)
Salisbury
Bournemouth
Poole

If I'm forgetting some, then it's in the blog anyway!

I started this post a few days before we left Marlow. I was emotional, without Mark for a month, tired and anxious. Re-reading it today, I still feel the same about what home is to us.

Currently, we are back in Massachusetts and trying to settle back in. I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been that easy acclimating again. There are parts of us that want to go back and stay forever. It was that good. The upside is that we have people there - Jo, Simon, Liv, Sophia, Annie, Ned, Ollie, Emma, Ray, Beth, Ollie, Lucy, Paul, Tom and Nicky, Lou, Kate, Steve, Andrew, Janet, Jill, Simon, Chris, Helen, Bex, Louise, Jenna, Julie, Vic, Carly, Alfie, Lisa and Ewan. - all part of our new family.

All of that being said, we have loved seeing our family here (our friends included) now that we are home- the family who sent us off with love and blessings when it may not have been the easiest thing to do, the family that visited us and created life long memories, the family that didn't waiver when we signed on for 1 more year, the family that accommodated us every time we came home to visit and the family that welcomed us back home with open arms. You were always present in our hearts and minds.

Cheers to our family, near and far....thanks for supporting our journey!

Below are some photos from our last weeks in Marlow...

Started with a goodbye party...almost all of our friends were there!