We left on Monday, January 7th 2008 to head for London, England for William's internship with an architecture firm. Our flight from Austin to Chicago was delayed, so it turned out longer than anticipated. Here are some pictures of Ethan and William playing MadLibs before the flight and Ethan watching a movie on the plane.

We finally arrived in Chicago and had to run to our flight to London which involved going through security again. We made it only to be delayed on the runway for another 2.5 hours due to a thunderstorm. The first hour of the flight was very, very bumpy - one of the worst flights I have ever been on. However, it finally smoothed out, and we arrived safely. Ethan did great on the flight despite the bumps. By the way, our plane was huge - a 747 - here is a picture of the plane and our seats on the flight to London...

Collecting all of our luggage (six large, large bags) and several smaller bags and going through Customs and Immigration was a breeze. We had a driver waiting for us who took us to the hotel (best decision we could have made - despite the price). Our hotel is called LaGaffe and is located in Hamstead in north london. It is in a really cute area and has a small Italian restaurant and wine bar on the ground floor. Our room is tiny, but it does have a little extra room with a bed for Ethan. We are very happy with the hotel which also has a nice breakfast that is included in the price. Here are some pictures of us walking around the neighborhood of Hampstead.

Today is actually Tuesday, our second day in London. We took our first subway or "tube" ride to central London to do some fun stuff with Ethan. We spent the morning running errands (bank accounts, cell phones, and apartment searching). We went to central London to go to the London Eye which is the worlds largest Ferris wheel - actually it is little observatory carts (enclosed with heat) on a Ferris wheel type structure. Here are some pictures!

Here is a picture of Ethan getting on the car and another close up picture of what one of the cars look like.

Ethan takes a look down - we were up really high - it was a bit scary!

This is a picture of Parliment and Big Ben (the clocktower) from the Eye.

In preparation for Christmas, Ethan and Grandpa Ed hung Christmas lights on the house. Ethan was "the general" helping grandpa Ed hang the large ornaments on the trees out front. He moved the ladder himself and tied the ornaments on his own. Here he is tying the ornament string.

Ethan than makes sure the placement is just right!

Ethan is helping grandpa hang lights on the front porch.

Dad even got in on the action!

The light hanging took several days. Ethan even got to get on the roof of the house (under close supervision by Grandpa Ed). Here is a picture of him looking through the second floor window.

The house looks just beautiful. The guys did a great job. Here are some shots of the lights.



Here is a shot of the back looking from the back porch into the back yard.

The next day, we purchased and decorated the Christmas tree.

Here Ethan and Dad hang the star!

What a great looking tree! Dad takes a cookie break after working so hard.

We spent Thanksgiving 2007 with Gail and Grandpa Billy in Corpus Christi. The day started with an early morning wake up call for the family to go to the annual Turkey Chase run at 6:00am. Ethan participated in the 1K kids run, and I participated in the 4.1 mile fun run. Here is Ethan running towards the finish line - look at him go!

Go Ethan! Almost to that finish line.

Here is a shot of him with his medal. He had a great race.

Here is a shot of mom making her dash towards the finish line.

It was a cold day, but the Huie's were real troopers. Here is a picture of the brave bunch that stood out in the cold wind for the event.

After we returned from the race Grandma Gail was busy with preparations for our Thanksgiving Dinner. Here are the cooks stopping for a photo.

The dinner of fish, curry rice, green beans, asparagus, and vegetarian quiche was excellent! Here is the gang at the dinner table.

After dinner, Ethan pulled out the game of Monopoly and asked how to play. We all played a long game of Monopoly on teams. Ethan had a great time; this is his new favorite board game.

Here are Holly and Ginger all worn out from all of the activity.

We also played several games of croquet while in Corpus. Ethan loves to set up different and challenging courses for us!

Before we left for Corpus, Ethan's elementary school had their annual Thanksgiving turkey lunch. Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Ed joined went with us to Ethan's school to celebrate with him. Here we are eating our lunches!

Here are some pictures from the last game of Ethan's fall 2007 Soccer team "Longhorns" with CCUnited in Austin, TX. The Longhorns enjoyed an undefeated season!! The last game was warm - here is Ethan taking a water break.


Here is the team getting ready to head out after half time.

Go Longhorns! Grandpa Ed joins in on the cheering.



Ethan gets a congratulatory hug from mom after the game.


The champ enjoys a post game juice.

We went to a carnival at a pizza restaurant recently. Ethan and dad got matching mustaches - That is our little dog Ginger in the background.

Ethan celebrated the end of the Fall soccer season with a pizza party and cupcakes at the park. The boys were presented with two really nice trophies. Here is a picture of the team (Longhorns) who played the entire season undefeated.



Here is a picture of the little champ celebrating after receiving his trophies.


Grandpa Ed who helped the team all season during every game and practice got a suprise card from all of the team members and a gift certificate. He is the "Longhorns Biggest Fan." Here is a picture of him with his giant card!


Grandma Sharon joined in on the fun too!

This year's halloween was "return of the ninja." Ethan wanted to wear his same ninja costume from last year, and luckily it fit. Here he is with our carved pumpkins anxious for trick-or-treating and doing one of his best ninja moves!



We started the evening with his pal Dylan and headed over to Zane's house to pick up more friends for group trick or treating. Here are some pictures of the gang.







Dad joined in on the fun with a hat from Grandma Sharon and one of the kid's masks and gloves!



Grandpa Ed stayed at the house and scared the neighborhood kids as they came to the door for candy. Here he is in his scary costume.

In preparation for Halloween, we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to the patch at the local garden center.



I wonder if this pumpkin will fit in this hole?



This seems like a good way to carry these heavy pumpkins!





Photo break with mom.