Noble Chins

A fun night of amazing musical performaces at the Noble house -

Noble Chins "Forget You" by Ce Lo Green

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqrXNthRvyI


Noble Chins "You're Pitiful" by Weird Al Yankovic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjvVJsSPt5k

(The files were too big to attach so they are linked through You Tube.)

Oooops! What I left out of the Christmas Letter.

I left a few items out of the Christmas letter that might be helpful to those of you who don't know all the details about our move to England.

1. Why are we here? Nephi works as a mathematician for the US Dept of Defense and is on assignment as an integree with the British government. We are here for 3 years.

2. Tabitha, Hannah, and Abish are attending a private Catholic school. They wear uniforms everyday and follow the traditional British school program.

3. Abish is 10 and in Year 6 at the junior school. In England kindergarten is considered Year 1, so Year 6 is actually 5th grade in the US. Next year in Year 7 Abish will start attending the senior school.

4. Hannah is 14 and is in Year 10 (9th grade) at the senior school. She is at the beginning of a program here called GCSE - General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is a 2 year program (Years 10 and 11)of academic qualification awarded in specific subjects. Students study for 2 years in subjects and are qualified based on assessments and course work. It is a rigorous program at the end of which based on grades on GCSEs students decide whether to go on for more schooling or finish (at age 16!) and go into a trade.

5. Tabitha is 15 and in Year 11 (10th grade) at the senior school. She is also in GCSE and her challenge is to catch up with the other students her age who have been studying for the GCSEs for a full year beyond her. She is doing very well, though. At the end of this year she will not go on to trade school and instead go into a program called Sixth Form or A-Levels which is basically 11th and 12th grades (Years 12 and 13). In this program she will study a fewer number of subjects in a more intense manner. This will be preparation for college and will be in a lecture format. Her speciality is art.

6. We will have to do some major adjusting in order for Tabitha and Hannah's schooling to fit in right with the US system, especially when it comes to applying for college. But we are confident everything will work out.

7. While in England we are allowed priviledges on the US/British military base that is about 1.5 hours away. Otherwise we are 100% living on the economy - in a British house, in a British neighborhood, going to a British church, and experiencing all things England.

Hope that help clarifies our XMas letter!

Christmas Letter 2010

Cheerio from Jolly Old England! The Nobles have finally arrived in the United Kingdom. We are living in a town named Cheltenham in Gloucestershire (shire means county). Nearby is Stonehenge, Stratford Upon Avon (birthplace of Shakespeare), & Oxford.
So far the adjustment is going well. There are different foods, different phrases (sometimes it’s like we speak another language), different customs, & different technologies to adjust to. We struggle with some things, but overall the experience has been wonderful.

Nephi & Krista ~ We think we have successfully learned to drive on the opposite side of the road. Krista has only hit 2 cars so far & really it was just their side-view mirrors. We are getting along well with the locals & Nephi has only shut down one royal air force base & diverted air traffic over Cheltenham for just a few hours. We had a package delivered that ticked like a bomb (the game Catch Phrase does sound like a ticking time bomb!).

Tabitha ~ School is radically different over here. Instead of 6 hours, British school is 8! It’s really fun though because everyone gets a half an hour break & a whole hour for lunch! Plus there are a lot of fun activities at school like reflection daytrips to local religious sites, & mufti day where we can come to school in whatever we want.

Hannah ~The castles & other places to go in England are amazing. So many places to explore & see. We have visited Sudeley castle & Warwick castle. We also went to Puzzlewood which was fun to explore around.

Abish ~ I really like school & the sports we do. I am doing swimming & field hockey. I’m also in chess club, Irish dancing, & drama. I’m learning Spanish & the schedule here is different. We do different things every day in school. There are school discos(dances) as well, which have themes like “Spots & Yellow” & also “Big Hair.” We have a break that is basically recess & we also have lunch & a break when you are done eating & during that break you can go to the library. We have no homework on Wednesdays but we do have homework on Fridays. School here in England is really different from school in America & there are things I miss from America. We also have to wear a school uniform.
We have been woefully behind in updating our blog (which many, many of you continue to remind us!). We promise to repent in the new year & keep you better informed of our adventures. In the meantime we wish you a very Merry Christmas full of love & blessings as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Post by Tabitha

I'm supposed to write something but it's 11 pm and I'm tired.
I'm eating crewtons.
See you tomorrow.

*Munch munch munch munch munch*
*swallowing noise*
*Chew chew chew chew chew chew*

FOOD by Hannah

Seeing as how I am the best food critic in this family I'm going to write a post on the good food and the lack thereof and the bad food in England. One of the major differences between american and english food is the english are lacking corn syrup. In basiclly everything, the ketchup, the soda, the candy all things that having corn syrup should be a nessesity.

Now lets talk about candy, first mistake I made was in thinking that milky ways were really milky ways so here's the confusing part, what americans call milky ways, the british call mars bars(which of course just happen to be lacking the good kind of chocolate) and what americans call 3 musketeers, the british call milky ways. Also very close in name are milky bars, one of the few things that england has food wise that america is lacking. Basiclly it's a bar of white chocolate like a hersheys bar but better. Now that is some good stuff, another candy that England has that we are unfamiliar to is minstrals which are basiclly like huge m&ms. Unfortunatley they do not have laffy taffy or starburst jellybeans in England. 8( :( There is also a major difference between their starburst, skittles, doritoes and other things similar, the taste is off here, it's not as good, probably again from the lack of corn syrup. Another huge difference between american and british food is their so called grape flavoring they use currant instead which is some time of a berry and is pretty nasty if you ask me. So basiclly they dont have any grape flavoring and so I don't get any grape soda here, which of course happens to be one of my favorite things in the whole world!!!! Though they do have an intresting drink here called appletizer which is basiclly like sparkling cider but they serve it everywhere like you would have your regular coke or pepsi drinks and then you would have your appletizer which is actually quite good.

Oh yeah and of course how could I possibly forget the difference between our ketchup's? While american ketchup is a sugar filled delicacy in England it is quite bitter and lacking in comparison. And yeah I could probably write a lot more about their food and stuff but writing this out has started to feel a bit to much like homework so just know this, if you expexted me to come here and fall in love with their food, you were dead wrong in this contest America wins. :P

The Car Situation - Krista

When we left the US, we left an important family member behind. We affectionately called her SuperVan. Ok, I called her SuperVan! She was a 2001 Ford Windstar van that I was very attached to. She could honestly beat any vehicle off the line and I would sometimes hear her speak to me, whispering what a great driver I was and how lucky she was that I drove her. :-)

We originally planned to bring SuperVan to England, but about 2 months before we left she began to have very serious mechanical problems. Problems that would cost more than her current value to fix. So very good friends of ours, the Petersons, adopted her and I can only hope she is in a better place now.

Fast forward to England and we need a car - preferably a van. The problem is streets in England are much smaller than the US and consequently the vehicles are smaller. There are some American style large vans, but they are hard to find and very expensive when you do. So in purchasing a vehicle for our 3 years here we decided upon a "van" called a Vauxhall Zafira. It is a 7-seater and the back 2 seats fold into the floor for more cargo room. We wanted buy a used petrol (unleaded gas) Zafira and figured an automatic would be best since we would also be driving on the opposite side of the road. Unfortunately automatic petrol Zafiras are difficult to find. To get one we would have to place an order to bring one to Cheltenham from an outside dealership. And we would have to put down a hefty deposit to do this.

So one helpful Zafira dealer decided that I probably could drive a manual (stick shift), I just needed to have a go at it. The experience went a little like this- Dealer to Me: Oh, you'll be fine. If you can drive a manual in the US you can do it. Let's take a test drive. Me: Sure, I am a pretty good driver after all, let's go. Nephi to Me: Are you really, really sure you want to this? Me: What could go wrong? Dealer: You'll be fine.

During the test drive. Dealer: Um, ew, ah. Oh! Nephi to Me: Watch out for that curb, that tree, that car! Me to Nephi: Quit yelling at me I'm trying to shift gears. Which side of the road am I supposed to be on? Which side is left - I'll just put my hand over my heart.

End of drive. Me to Dealer: Can I just stop here and let you drive the rest of the way? Dealer to Me: Yes, Please! Then let's go order you an automatic - I think you're going to need one!

So Friday we picked up (and paid a lot for!) our new van - a petrol, automatic, Vauxhall Zafira. And in case anyone is worried, I am driving just fine with no accidents. As long as I don't have to shift gears. Here are some pictures of the new car. Beautiful, but not SuperVan.

the 1st pic fom abish

this is a pic of my benie boo i got 2 my bday here it has purple eyes

all the other pics rnt working lol :) :)