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Keeping Busy

beach

I haven't updated in a while. We have been keeping busy. Ryan's Grandpa Kitchen and his wife Henny came this week. I don't know where my brain was but I didn't take any pictures while they were here. I took them to the temple one day and to Brighton. Then we went to Windsor the next.

Last weekend we went to the beach and so did everyone else in England. We've had great weather lately.

This Friday our ward had a going away party for us and a couple other people leaving. Saturday we went to the British Wildlife Center, which has animals that live in Britian. Our favorite were the wild cats that looked like house cats.

Audrey has been to some birthday parties lately. If I'd have been thinking I would have brought my camera. English parties are a bit different and all the little girls dress up in Sunday dresses. It's old fashioned but it's so adorable.

For Relief Society I requested that we have a mini enrichment on making a traditional English Roast. Here is the pictures of our day and then I'm posting all the notes I took.









ENGLISH ROAST DINNER - 2nd August, 2007
We had:
Roast
Roast Potatoes
Roast Parsnips
Cauliflower Cheese (with broccoli)
Yorkshire Puddings
Cooked Carrots
Gravy


ANGELA'S FAMOUS ROAST
Preheat oven to 400 F or 200 C or Gas Mark 6.
Put olive oil over the roast.
Sprinkle salt an pepper and horse radish or mustard if desired.
Cut 2 onions in half and put them on the side of pan.
Sprinkle flour on top before putting it in the oven.
Put roast in oven for 20 min to sear the meat. Leave the lid off top of pan.
After 20 minutes turn down heat to about 300 F or 150 C or Gas Mark 2 and put the lid on.
Leave in oven for about 4 hours

ROAST POTATOES & PARSNIPS
Boil for 5 to 10 min.
(Parsnips take less time. Usually 5 min parsnips and 10 min for potatoes.)
Drain water
Shake up pan with potatoes to fluff them. Don't fluff parsnips
Put oil at bottom of pan.
Spread potatoes or parsnips in separate pan.
Pour oil on top and then salt them.
Cook at 400 F or 200 F or Gas Mark 6 for an hour and a half.
Turn half way through.
Should be a crispy on sides of potatoes when finished.



YORKSHIRE PUDDING (this recipe is for 12 puddings)
Preheat oven to very hot. As hot as you can.
Dribble olive oil in the bottom of each cup of a muffin pan.
Put the pan in the oven and heat it until just smoking.

While the muffin tin is in the oven, mix together:
4 oz or 1 cup flour (plain, not self raising)
About 1 tsp salt, 3 eggs
Add milk until it is a rather thin consistency.

When the pan is smoking and the batter is ready, take the pan out of the oven.
Fill the cups halfway through with the mix and put it in the oven for 15-20 min at about 400 F, 200 C or Gas Mark 6 until it is raised, brown and crispy at the top.


CAULIFLOWER CHEESE
1 ½ oz of flour
1 oz butter (about that-you can eye it)
Make like white sauce.
Melt butter on stove, add flour and whisk
Then add milk until you get a gravy like consistency
Add some cheese and mustard
pour mix over already cooked cauliflower or broccoli
Sprinkle grated cheese on top of everything.

English Words

I'm reading the final Harry Potter book but it's the English version. I got it a couple of days ago and haven't finished so don't spoil it for me! :) When I first got here I realized that even though we both speak English, many words are different than our own, as well as the pronouciations and spellings. For example when they say herbs they pronounce it with the H. They also say, instead of X, Y, Z, they say X, Y, Zed. When they spell, they use the Y more liberally. For example, tires are tyres and pajamas are pyjamas. So I've been making a list of some words or phrases that the English say that are different from our own.

English terms translated to American

hiya=hi
touch wood = knock on wood
pear shaped = out of whack
big ask = that's a lot to ask
I was gobsmacked = I couldn't believe it!
that's a shocker = that's crazy
magicked = did a magic trick
never mind = oh well
poorly (sounds like paully)= someone is sick

Audrey came home and told me "Elliot (one of her friends) was paully" I didn't understand for the longest time until I realized that she was saying "Elliot was poorly."

silly sausage = silly goose
broody = baby hungry
plaster = band aid
fringe = bangs
spots = zits
shattered = tired
wellies = boots
flicked = flipped (as in flipped through channels)
trolley = shopping cart
lorry = diesel/tractor trailers
handbag = purse
purse = wallet
reception = kindergarden
cuddle = hug
plait (pronounced platt) = braid
boot = trunk (of a car)
bonnet = hood (of a car)
iced lollies = pop cycle
crisps = chips
chips = french fries
sick = spit up
motorway = freeway
tin = can (as in food can..can of corn, etc)
holiday = vacation
nappy = diaper
dummy = pacifier/binki
garden = backyard
milk teeth = baby teeth
always mobile = never a cell phone
bin = trash
veg = veggies
teli = TV
trousers = pants
pants = underwear
shops = stores
granary bread = wheat bread
post = mail
half three = three thirty (or whatever half past it is)
squash = concentrated drink
pickle or puppet (pronounced paupat) = if a kids cute you call them this...like we would maybe call a kid "squirt"


There are so many more. I'm sure I'll be adding to the list as the week goes along. I may make a little video of Audrey and Mia saying some English terms. They know them all well now. Mia says "hiya" to greet people. It's rather cute.

Legoland or BUST!

Legoland

Last weekend we tried to go to Legoland. Notice the word tried. After 3 grueling hours of terrible traffic and listening to Audrey repeatedly say "Legoland here we come!" we got there to find the sign read "Park closed." Ryan and I thought about the movie Vacation with Chevy Chase and how they get to Walley World and it was closed! We felt like punching all the Lego's! Ok, not really but we were definitely ready to get out of the car! All the cars were still heading in the direction of the park so we thought that we had to figure this all out. We waited in the que (in American that's line)and then they directed us into the car park (parking lot). When we got there the guy told us that they had never had this happen but all the car parks are completely full!!! The weather was really nice that day and our summer weather hasn't been great, so everyone had the same idea as us. Good weather=go to Legoland! Ryan asked what we should do. We had just driven all this way with screaming children and now we were told to go home. The worker told us we either could go back to Windsor (the closest town) and ride the bus back, which would take another 2 hours, or we could come back another day. Ryan asked if he had any free tickets. He told us yes. It was obvious he wasn't planning on handing them out so I was glad Ryan had asked. Even though Mia and Tori get in free he gave us 5 tickets. We were pretty excited about that and on the way home we started planning another trip to Legoland! We decided to invite the Bunes's well #1) because we like them and it would be more fun to go with friends! #2) for selfish reasons-because Ryan and I wanted to ride some adult rides!! :)

This weekend we checked the weather forecast and it was a one drop day. That means chance of showers/scattered showers. We decided to take the chance. With kids in tow and the Bunes's right behind, we took off. After 30 minutes on the road we hit a traffic jam. I was gutted!! (people like to use this saying here) I was so worried the same thing would happen. Luckily after about 20 minutes we started to move again. We were part of the first people to get there, unlike the other day, so we easily entered the park.

Legoland was great! It's like any theme park. You can't do everything in one day. We just did what we could. The rides are perfect for little ones. There were a couple that Mia couldn't ride. We tried to sneak her in by putting her hat on her head and giving her a few inches. She got to go on her first roller coaster which she absolutely loved!

Halfway through the day it started to rain. We're not talking a little drizzle. We're talking like full on good ol' English down pouring rain! You would think since this is England they would have big canopy's or something to sit under but they didn't have much. We were lucky to have been well equipped, but we still got our trousers (pants) quite soaked.

Legoland is full of lego statues. I loved the lego zoo, where all the animals were made from Lego's but the absolute coolest was the little London. There was Big Ben, the London Eye, St. Pauls Cathedral, etc and they were all made of Legos! My camera ran out of battery so I was gutted. (again!) I took some pictures with my video camera but we'll see how they turn out.

This week has really been a great week. As you can tell from my pictures, I got my hair cut. I love my cut and now remember why I love short hair so much! On Tuesday night I went to a friends house (Carla's) for a girly night. It was a strawberry party and she made the chocolate dipped strawberry's, along with a bunch of other kinds. We relaxed, drank and ate. It was relaxing and just what I needed. On Friday I went out with sisters from church. One of our friends, Carla (again), was celebrating her first anniversary without her husband, so we decided to go out with her and have dinner at an Indian restaurant. (Of course she would have rather been with her husband!) She has been waiting for a visa clearance from the Embassy to get back to the states. She has been waiting for about 8 months, and on that very day we were set to go out she got the call from the Embassy saying that she had been booked for an interview on August 7th. Which means, more than likely, she will get her clearance to leave right after that. YAY! So there are a few pictures of everyone at the Indian restaurant. One quick bit of info. Indian food is big in England. It is like our Mexican food. There is an Indian restaurant on every corner. (No Mexican anywhere! sad!) But we have become quite the fans of Indian food, and are going to miss it when we leave.



Here is Victoria's Blessing Picture. Isn't it cute? Audrey & Mia tell me she is thinking in this picture. (she is a smart baby.)

Favorite People. Not So Favorite Prices.

SECOND COUSINS MEET IN ENGLAND!
Who knew when we came to England, we would meet Ryan's long lost second cousin Sister Watson!!! (second cousin once removed for the girls) She is serving a mission in England and is Ryan's Mom's cousins daughter. We have enjoyed getting to know her over these past few months!! She has been a great missionary! What a small Mormon world! :) (Sister Watson is on the left and her companion, Sister Burton, is on the right)


PETROL PRICES
I love listening to the news and hearing how crazy the gas prices are in the US. Check this out. We pay 95.9 pence a LITER!!! There are 4 liters in a gallon. That means we pay 3.8 pounds a gallon, and since the pound is stronger than the dollar by almost 2 to 1, we pay $7.67 a gallon!!!


FUTURE SONS-IN-LAW
We have some really great friends named the Bunes's. They have 4 boys!! Since the chances are that we will have another girl, we have decided to pre-arrange their marriages. This makes it easy for family reunions. Of course the Bunes's will have to move to America. We haven't talked with them about this yet.


ENGLISH PAYPHONES
English payphones.....goodness, gracious! I wish they would put them by Petrol/Gas stations! Usually they are out in the middle of nowhere! I have learned from personal experience that you can't find them when you need them.


GINGER HAIR
Do you think she'll have red hair? I see tints of it here and there. In England they call it "ginger" hair.


BRILLIANT BURGESS HILL TOUR
We took a little tour through Burgess Hill to show you the town we live in, and show you how well Ryan drives on the left hand side of the road. (pretty scary!:)

Burgess Hill Tour

Tori's Blessing & Lessons Learned

Today Ryan blessed Tori. She looked so adorable in her blessing dress that her Aunt Andrea made. Here are a few pictures of her special day.


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I was writing the story of Tori's birth and it just seemed too gruesome to put on my webpage so I decided to write a couple of pointers for anyone that is thinking about having a baby.

Lessons learned from Tori's birth:

#1. Have an epidural!

I kid you not! I have had 2 children with epidurals and 1 without (Tori) and all I can say is WHAT WAS I THINKING? Modern medicine is sent from above. How do women do it! I really admire anyone who chooses to do it without. When I was talking to Ryan about it, he said something that I think I'll adopt. “Why be a martyr?” Even though my recovery was amazingly quick with Tori, I think I would have rather had a couple days of slow recovery. Trust me, it's worth it.

#2 Birthing pools help you to relax until the pain hits!!!

Birthing pools are nice and I actually had a water birth! It wasn't expected. They asked me if I wanted to get into the pool to relax and I thought that sounded nice. And it was. Before I started to actually push, I was falling asleep between contractions. But when the pain hits, there is nothing like it! In the pool or out, it's all the same. OUCH!

When she was born, she was just floating at the bottom. They asked me if I wanted to pick her up so I did. She was all slimy and had varnex all over her and she wasn't breathing until Ryan cut the cord. It was different than I expected it to be but it was cool to say I had a water birth. It still doesn't take away the pain.

#3 Have a baby in the US.

I'm just a wimpy American! Not that having a child is the most pleasurable experience, but in England it is totally different. Yes the heath care is socialized, which is nice because it is free. But because it is run by the government, there really isn't any patient satisfaction level that they are trying to meet and you have to bring many supplies that are provided for you in the states. First of all, I was asked what I was going to give birth in. Luckily, I had been prepped by friends and told that they don't provide gowns here. But because I had a water birth, I didn't use a gown. (I know you were all dying to know that bit of info!)

When Tori was born, the Midwives (there are no OBGYN's.. just midwives) didn't bathe her at all or suction out her lungs. She seemed to be coughing up stuff all night. They weighed her but they didn't measure her. They didn't have a diaper for her or anything to put on. Ryan put on the diaper and put on her outfit. When they say to pack your bags, they literally mean it!

Another crazy thing, I was asked after having Tori, if I wanted to released 6 hours afterwards. If I had heard this in the hospital, I would have said “What? Are you out of your mind? I just had a baby!”. My friends again told me this is normal. At first I was put into a room with 6 beds. I was so tired and wasn't sleeping with everyone around that I asked if I could have a private room. I decided to stay the night but the help was very minimal. When I did ask for something, I felt like I was bothering the nurses and they told me they were “so busy.” I didn't get dinner because I had missed it in the cafeteria but someone did bring me some leftover fish, which I couldn't stomach and didn't take one bite of. I had a friend who brought by some snacks that saved my life. (thank you Carla!)

The phones and TV cost in the hospital. Good thing I didn't use the phone. I almost did but then later found that it cost 1 pound per minute or $2 a minute. I did pay to use the TV. I figured since having Tori was free $5 wouldn't break the bank.

During the night, I wanted some pain medicine but had to go to the nurses station and ask for it. They don't have a nursery for the babies which I missed. I like having the child whisked away and being able to enjoy some uninterrupted sleep. It's rather tiring to have a baby! (especially without an epidural!) Seriously it seems like you are supposed to jump up and be normal again.

All in all, it was quite an experience to have a baby in England! I think I like being pampered like a true American!

English Playgrounds

I haven't written much about England on my blog. So I've decided the last 2 months we have left, I'm going to write all about being here. I want to send videos of us driving on the left side of the road, the strange foods we've encountered (as well as the good) and anything I can think of.

Since I'm a mom, I have noticed how amazing the playgrounds are. I've had to try out some of the equipment because it's so FUN! They have all the old school playground stuff: big slides, merry-go-rounds, teeter totters, excuse me....they call them seesaws....you get the drift. Much of what they have here, you would NEVER see in the states anymore which is sad because the girls love English parks!

English Playgrounds & Grandma's Visit

Click on the picture above to view all the photos and videos.

Mom Broderick been staying with us for 2 weeks now helping me with Tori. I've been so glad she's come! It's been nice to have an extra set of hands around! Newborns take so much work. We have been able to do a couple of fun things while she's been here. We went to Pooh Corner (a small shop) and went to the 100 acre woods where the real Christopher Robin played and grew up. We also got to visit the Pooh Sticks Bridge and throw our own sticks in the water. We went to Eastborne one day and went to the tennis tournament and then played at the beach. Mom has also been able to go up to London a couple of days and see the sights.

Proper Family Pictures

I thought I'd put some (as the English would say) "proper" pictures online. The hospital pictures didn't do us justice.


Proud big sisters!

Our darling Audrey.


This face means "Leave me alone mom! No more pictures!"


Daddy and Tori taking a nap. Does she look like her daddy? She snores like him. :)

Victoria "Tori" Marilyn Broderick

Our little english baby, Victoria Marilyn Broderick was born Thursday, June 14, 2007. She weighed in at a new Broderick record....9.2 lbs!!! All those English goodies went right to Tori's cheeks! Her sisters are very pleased to have Tori around and love to hold her.

June 16, 2007 (Tori's Born)

Click on the pictures above to see the complete album. !

Getting Ready for Baby #3

Big belly! Ready to burst! Just waiting for the baby to come. No inducing here in England. No planning for this one. When she comes, she comes!



Baby #1 in the carseat. She's geting a bit big for it!



Baby #2. She forgot her binki for this shot.

Brodericks in England

Mom, Ryan, Katie and Michael in front of Big Ben and the London Eye.



Jolene & Wade in front of Westminister Abby.



We went to Bath and Stonehenge one day with Michael and Katie in the partywagon. Audrey and Mia got a little carsick. Audrey threw up and Mia reacted by dry heaving. It was lovely. In the end, we had a good day traveling together. Here is Ryan by a building in Bath. Isn't he muscular?



Good try guys.

Baby Ultrasound

Here is the ultrasound of baby #3! Audrey's ideas for names are: Ryya (or Riah is another way to spell it) and Ariel. What a long list! Riah has been her favorite for quite some time. Daddy says it's too close to Ryan...but if we have a 4th girl someday, it may be Ryya/Riah in Daddy's honor!





I only have 5 weeks until the baby is due! YIKES! And we don't have any ideas for a name! We want something that will remind this little one of her English roots. If you have any ideas, post a comment! We need your help! :)

Athens, Greece

The trip to Athens, Greece was one that we won't forget! The Greek Gods were against us going!

Not that we didn't want to go to Greece but this last year we have been traveling so much, our excitement for traveling has diminished, just a little. So we woke up a little sluggish (We woke up at 4:30, that could also explain it), and that's when the trouble all began.........

Ryan went to start the van and it didn't start. We called RAC (our insurance break down service). They came rather quickly and started the car. Then as I woke up Mia I noticed that she had spots all over her body. And as I turned on the light, I was astonished to see a bright, red rash covering most of her legs and under her arms. I thought “I can't go to a foreign country with my baby like this!” So we decided to wait it out a bit. We were hoping since it was a medical emergency that our airline would let us leave on the next flight (if Mia was starting to feel better) or reimburse our money , but of course they told us that we were out of luck in both cases (cheap airline!). I took Mia to the doctor and by that time her rash had already faded. The doc said that she needed some antibiotics but that she should be fine.

We felt sick about not going to Greece. It was our last big “horrah” or final vacation before we had the baby, as we were calling it, and we had already booked our hotel which was non-refundable. We checked online to see if we could catch the next flight out. We saw one that we decided to pay for but as we were booking, the website wouldn't recognize our credit cards. I told Ryan it was a sign but we were persistent. We tried every credit card and of course the last one worked.

We rushed to the airport and caught our flight. Everything seemed to be going ok until we got to Greece. We got into our hotel late at night and of course I had booked the hotel for the wrong weekend. AHHHH....of course? What else could go wrong?

Athens-April 2007

We thought the sites in Athens were spectacular, of course. We enjoyed touring the Acropolis and all the ruins around that area, like the Odeum of Herodes Atticum which is a music hall and built in the 2nd AD by Herodes Atticus. It's a Roman theatre that can fit like 6000 people that they still use today. We also went to Mars Hill (where the apostle Paul first preached the gospel in Athens), we went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Parliament (the soldiers have very unusual uniforms and they have a monument for an unknown solider there). Even though the ruins were amazing, we were quite surprised at how run down the city was. Don't be fooled by the pictures from above. The city itself is so much more slummier than it looks. It was really quite scary to me. There are cars everywhere and they look as though they have been there for years without anyone towing them away and the buildings look as though they could crumble at any minute. Our hotel was under construction and Audrey while we were walking home and looking for our hotel to “just look for a big pile of dirt and your there.” We are so high class. :) We were extremely impressed with the train and I almost preferred being in the train station than being up in the city. Plus, it was very wheelchair accessible, which we have found quite useful when you have a huge stroller. I guess they reconstructed the train before the Olympics in 2004, so they had little spots to read about the city and all the ancient ruins that have been dug up along the way.

The second day we decided to visit the beach. Audrey and Mia were in heaven. They loved the beach. There were parks everywhere and they stripped down (as much as we would let them), and played in the water. Ryan and I found that there were quite a few retirees on the beach and that they had lost all sense of decency. (Heaven help us if we become beach bums at the age of 80! :) Our last day, we went to a couple more ruins that we wanted to see and then went to a couple of shopping districts (called Monastiraki and Plaka.) We enjoyed the shopping and did quite a bit of Greek dining. We also toured their National Garden.

Even though we had a few hiccups at the beginning, I was sure our bad luck was over. When we got to the airport to leave, the person checking us in said, “how many weeks are you?”At that moment, I got a little worried. I remember a friend saying something about a doctors note...blah, blah, blah.....is all I remember from my conversation with her. So, I looked at Ryan, and he says “she's 30 weeks.” Ok, 30 weeks that sounds good. But then she told us we needed a doctors note if I am over 28 weeks. We told her we flew to Athens 3 days ago and no one had asked us for a note. I didn't have any contractions. I have always had very normal pregnancies. But no, she has to get the supervisor involved. So the supervisor says that we need a doctors note saying that I was “fit to fly” and that's final. We told them that we would even sign a waver saying that if anything happened on the trip, that we would be liable, but they wouldn't let us do that! They told us we had to stay the night (which they wouldn't pay for) and figure it out in the morning.

In the morning I called the doctor and his assistant said that the doctor couldn't do it. So we dragged the girls all the way into the city and went to the scariest hospital I've ever seen. The lights weren't on. There were people everywhere waiting for the doctor. Luckily, the man I talked to led us straight to the doctor who said that he wouldn't give me a note to fly but I could get an ultrasound and maybe (but he said our chances weren't very good) they would give me a note. (No one wanted to be liable for me...not even the airline that flew me out to Greece!) We went to the ultrasound office (ok....just as scary as the hospital) and they couldn't give me an ultrasound until Friday. GREAT! So we go back to the airport and plead with our doctor to give us a note but to no avail. So, I told Ryan the only way to do this was to book me a flight and he would fly with the girls on Easyjet back home. I put on Ryan's jacket, booked my flight and left. I was nervous the whole time and worried that someone from Easyjet had notified all the other airlines, because then we would have really been stranded. (I just envisioned me having my baby in Greece!) Luckily no one asked me anything. However, there was one last scare. On the plane we were delayed a bit taking off. The pilot came on and said, “we have overbooked the flight by ONE....I don't know how we did this but we are going to get to the bottom of it and sort it out.” NO JOKE! I could feel my cheeks get red and I felt like standing up and saying, “it's me! I know you're going to kick me off, so do it!” But they didn't and somehow it was sorted out.

It was such a relief to get home! We were happy the weekend was over. It was quite an expensive trip to Athens. I was hoping to take the girls to Disneyland in France and take the ferry (and try and convince Ryan to go) for my birthday but after this whole crazy trip, I'm ready for a break from our “vacations.”

Europe Vacation

Europe Vacation

April 2007

Make sure to click on the pictures above to view all the pictures from our trip.


Mom and Dad came to visit for a couple weeks. We had a great time with them and were able to see an amazing amount of sights. The first thing we did was leave on a road trip in the party wagon. We drove to Dover (and of course saw the white cliffs and the castle) and took a ferry from there to France. Once in France we drove into Belgium and stayed in a little town called Bruges. Bruges has canals, amazing architecture and lovely pastries and shopping. The shops were almost too inviting and I know we could have spent mucho money there. Lucky for Mom, she found 50 euro's on the street so she was a happy camper. While there we visited the main town square, the chocolate museum (yes, the chocolate was scrumptious) and also visited the Church of Our Lady that houses Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child statue. One thing I loved about Bruges is that everyone rode bikes there and they were the old fashioned kind. They looked as though they dated back to the war and passed down from generation to generation. Even the young men and women were riding them to work or school and they were in dresses or ties.

We then drove through the Netherlands. We stayed the night and ate at a McDonald's in the morning, so we like to tell people we've been there.

Next stop was Germany. My dad served his mission there. This year will be the 40th year since he returned home so it was special to be there with him. We stopped first at a small town called . It was everything I imagined Germany to be. The buildings were very square and not that pretty. As we left that town though, the buildings became more beautiful. We went to a city called Düsseldorf where my dad served most of his mission. We stopped at the river and took some pictures. My dad stayed at a youth hostel while he was there and we went back to that. It is still a youth hostel but my dad said he could tell that they had remodeled a few times. That night we drove for a bit and found a hotel/restaurant that was in a small, cute village. All the buildings had dates on them. Most of them were from the 1700 and some of them were tilting. You could tell the doors had to be cut crooked so they could fit.

The next day we drove through Germany and we went down through the Rhine river valley which houses many castles along the hills. It was just so amazing to be driving and see a castle here and a castle there. We stopped at one that was a ruin and toured it and then another one that was decorated of the time period it was built.

The next day we drove into Switzerland and into the Alps. The mountains were truly breathtaking and it's one of those "you have to be there" type of moments. We stopped at a town in Switzerland called Interlaken that was in the valley of the Alps. It was gorgeous. Ryan did think the driving in Switzerland was crazy with lines crossing every which way.

The next day we went to Paris. We did stop at a small French town on the way but everyone was really unfriendly and it wasn't that pleasant of a place. We did enjoy the barbecue restaurant we ate at on the way out. We got to Paris late in the afternoon and went up the Eiffel Tower. The city was gorgeous and it was a grand view. When we got down, we drove around for a little while, showing mom and dad the city and then we decided to go to Versailles, the town, and stay the night because we wanted to tour it in the morning. Unlucky for us, it was spring break and every hotel in Paris was completely booked. We decided to call it quits at 2 am and decided to drive back to Dunkurque to catch the ferry the next day. We drove most of the night, stopping for short sleeping breaks. That was interesting.

I loved the trip! I thought driving was so fun. We could stop where ever we wanted and see what we wanted, when we wanted. The countryside of Europe is quite spectacular. One tidbit of information that we learned...McDonald's menu differ from country to country (well, just a few items. The fries and drink pretty much taste the same where ever you go). In Switzerland Mom and Dad got a burger with like this gravy filling in it. Just thought you might like to know. (I think we ate at McDonald's more than we ever cared to, but it was fast and easy)

The best part of the whole trip was making lasting memories with my parents and being with Ryan and the girls!

A day after returning home, Chad and Rebecca came into town. The day they arrived, they went up to London with Mom and Dad. They went on a bus around the city (and they got to see Prince Charles riding by!) and then that evening went to "Wicked" the play which they loved and they give it two thumbs up.

The next day I got a babysitter for the girls and went up to London with the family. Reid came into town for a business trip so we met up with him. We went to the Tour of London and then Hamley's (the toy store) and Herrods (a humongous shopping store). Everyone was pretty tuckered so we went home after that.

Ryan went with the crew the next day to London. They went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then Westminster Abby, where they were honored guests and were able to sing with the famous boys choir that performs regularly there. For some reason they hit it just right and sat in chairs that are usually reserved for royalty and dignitaries. LUCKY THEM! They also went to the British Library.

Their last day here we went to Windsor Castle. The queen was there and was flying her flag. The state rooms were open so we were able to tour those. Luckily everyone was here for General Conference so it was great to make a big dinner and enjoy watching conference together.

Mom, Dad, the girls and I made one last trip before they left to Leeds Castle and to Lenham (where the Steadman ancestry is from) and Canterbury (where the Synan family is from).

There is so much to see in England, but enjoying it with my family was the best part!

Rome, Italy