The English are just GREAT!

On Sunday we had another enjoyable day at church, then instead of catching our usual (and rushed) bus at 1:08 (church ends at 1:00), we stayed after to practice our song we are singing next week. We were just going to wait for the 2:08 bus, but it was raining, so we stayed inside the church building. We were sitting in the lobby with the bishop's wife and he came out ready to leave. The moment he saw us, he said, "Oh, you haven't offered to give the Americans a ride home, have you?" He was just joking of course, and ended up truly offering us a ride home. So all 6 of us + 2 of them (their kids were at her sister's house for the afternoon) scrunched into their teeny little car and we set off for home. In the car, the bishop then asked what we were doing for dinner. We explained that Candice was making us all dinner (we take turns) and then he said, "Well who wants to come over to our house for chicken, and who wants to stay home and eat dinner with Candice?" He is just SUCH a funny man and they are both so kind! We love them both to death!

scrunched in their little car (it doesn't look quite as scrunched as it really was)

Alas, we took them up on their dinner offer. It was fun to go into their home and be guests of such wonderful people! This is how we really get to see culture! We sat in their "sitting room" while they finished preparing the meal. The missionaries were also coming over for dinner that night, so they were feeding many mouths, none of which belonged to their children. :)
The dinner was absolutely delicious! We had chicken with a yummy white onion sauce, peas, carrots, corn, stuffing balls, the best roasted potatoes I've ever had (crispy on the outside), roasted parsnip, and yorkshire puddings (tastes kind of like fry bread (?) - see below), and everything smothered in gravy. They really like gravy here!!

We insisted on helping to wash dishes and prepare for dessert.For dessert, she had apple sponge cake (like apple cobbler) with vanilla custard on top and ice cream. Then she also wanted to make a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate custard on top. She said the cake would be super fast to make and Heidi and I offered to help. She got out the ingredients and then pulled out a scale with a bowl on top and you measure everything in ounces! I was like, how do I do this again?!? Well that whole thing is a funny story that I'm going to leave out, but you get the gist. She ended up taking over (kindly) because I was going too slow; then she just poured it in a little glass bowl, threw it in the microwave for 5 minutes and it came out a cake! It was amazing! Well, we of course had to try both apple and chocolate cakes/custards - and they were both SO GOOD!this is all of us (except Erin, who just loves taking the pictures) :)

Tonight, we got to go to the Preston, England LDS temple, which was, in all seriousness, just lovely! It was their ward temple night, and once again, the bishop was kind enough to arrange us all rides to get there. We went to the 8pm session, so by the time we got out of the temple, it was dark....but, beautiful! What a way to end the day! I'll say!


So, I think everyday we still pick up on new phrases and terms that they use here in England. Here are a few more that are either new to me or I forgot to put them in earlier. Enjoy! :)
"consultant" - doctor
"chips" = french fries
"crisps" = potato chips
"stone" = measurement of weight (=14lbs) - they really say things like, "Oh, he lost a good 8 stone after his gastric bypass surgery"
"lovey" = another common term of endearment ( i think i like this one more than "luv," especially in their accents - it sounds more like "lovay")
"pram" = stroller
"trolley" = shopping cart, tray cart at the hospital, luggage cart, etc.

Some VERY common names we hear all the time here:
-Fleur
-Fiona

And they tend to pronounce things differently too (even words we do know!). We've noticed it's usually placing the emphasis on the second syllable where we would place it on the first. Most of these are health care related, but they are pretty funny to us. I will try and put the English pronuniciation to the right of the word. Now you have to say them as you read them...
"respiratory" = res-PEER-ah-tree
"pulmonary" = pul-MON-ah-ree
"skeletal" (this is our favorite!) = skuh-LEE-tul (say it fast)
"capillary" = kuh-PILL-ee-air-ee (yes, they add a syllable)

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I always do! :)

Cheers luv, ta!
(that's what the train conductor says when he punches my ticket - like in the Polar Express!)