Summer recap
I haven't posted since graduation - summer has been busy!
Our Edward Jones summer regional was in Sunriver this year - we played it cool and spent a lot of time at the pool every day.
However, we dressed up for the two dinners....
Perhaps you recognize us better by our aliases...but here is the latest family photo...minus a couple of big kids.
Wales is filled with castles. You can barely turn a corner without being a stone's throw from one. This one was actually smack dab in the middle of a little port town. It is surrounded by a fence - we are standing about 10 feet inside the fence line here, with the Main Street of the town on the other side. On the left of us (your right) the fence continues to surround the castle property and a city park with a playground is tucked in against it. So yeah, you take your kids to the playground in the shadow of a 12th century castle. I thought that was pretty fun. Somewhere I have a photo of that playground with the castle wall behind the play structure.
our Eiffel Tower visit was short. The grounds were blocked a bit due to construction and we didn't feel like fighting the crowds to get to the top.
Faith has been taking swimming lessons this summer. It's her first year. She is now brave enough to put her face in the water - even without goggles. She doesn't love it, but she'll do it. I love her squishy little face.
Our Edward Jones summer regional was in Sunriver this year - we played it cool and spent a lot of time at the pool every day.
However, we dressed up for the two dinners....
Perhaps you recognize us better by our aliases...but here is the latest family photo...minus a couple of big kids.
Josh somehow thought 80s Prom theme = 80s kegger...but whatevs.
We drove home late Saturday night after summer regional in order to be at church the day Josh released me as Relief Society president... that was a super emotional day. I thought after six weeks of working through those emotions I would have them all under control. And I was okay until about 5 minutes before RS when someone came up to talk to me and I just burst into tears. And cried all through the opening exercises, which I had to conduct because BOTH my counselors had family emergencies that day and had to be gone. So I was flying solo and highly emotional and it was a little rough. On the other hand, once that mantle came off me I noticed that I stopped thinking about Relief Society - it just was gone! That felt good.
Taking a two week vacation immediately probably helped.
So that Sunday I got released and on Monday we headed to Portland.
Logan flew to Mesa (and spent a week with the Beckstead's and then
he and John had a week at EFY).
Brynne, Josh, and I were off to Europe for the senior year adventure!
We started in Wales and I have to say - if you ever get to go...do. I won't even post many photos here but if anything says cozy, quaint, British countryside, it is Wales. Historically not part of England, they still learn Welsh and speak it. It was just soaked in character.
We met Jason, Jasmin, and Jaymond in London and drove on out. Jason's pretty good at that reverse side of the road driving. I was in the front seat and petrified for a good chunk of the first day. The roads are narrow and bordered by stone hedges with NO leeway - you go over the line, you scrape the stone. Gorgeous drives, though. Most of our drives looked a lot like this, though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-V_EfYVgU
Wales is filled with castles. You can barely turn a corner without being a stone's throw from one. This one was actually smack dab in the middle of a little port town. It is surrounded by a fence - we are standing about 10 feet inside the fence line here, with the Main Street of the town on the other side. On the left of us (your right) the fence continues to surround the castle property and a city park with a playground is tucked in against it. So yeah, you take your kids to the playground in the shadow of a 12th century castle. I thought that was pretty fun. Somewhere I have a photo of that playground with the castle wall behind the play structure.
The architecture of the buildings always fascinates me.
This is a chapel room inside one of the castles we visited.
It's amazing what they constructed with simple tools and short life-spans.
Did any of you go to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden with us? We went to one that was like that one - only 10 times bigger. They were filming a new version of The Secret Garden while we were there - I'm looking forward to seeing that movie now that I've been on location! The roses were in full bloom and they were amazing. Google photos of the garden here:
We stayed in Conwy and rented a cute house down the road from the local castle....
Jaymond managed to lock himself in the bathroom and climbed out through the upstairs window that was seriously the size of a binder. He scaled the drain pipe, got inside, got the door handle that had fallen off his door, climbed BACK up the drain pipe...and realized there was one more missing piece he'd forgotten to pick up. Ended up having to knock on the wall for Josh at 2am because he didn't want to risk scaling the drain pipe again. :-)
We swung by the town of llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
The longest city name in the country, obviously - it means St Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave
and was created as a publicity stunt in the 1860s.
When we visited some friends of Jason and Jasmin they were able to say it for us but I couldn't replicate it for you!
One of my most favorite things in the world to see when I am on a trip are old churches. Small ones like the one below, and great cathedrals (later in the Paris section).
I love the peaceful beauty of them.
Our last night we took a drive past the Preston England Temple
Before flying from Manchester to Paris.
We found an amazing apartment to rent with a view to die for....
Favorite things: Musee d'Orsay
our Eiffel Tower visit was short. The grounds were blocked a bit due to construction and we didn't feel like fighting the crowds to get to the top.
We took a day trip by train to Giverny and visited Monet's garden
Loved Paris more and more as the days went by.
Sainte Chappelle was amazing. These stained glass windows are images representing Biblical stories and some historical events. And look at that ceiling! 💗
On the way home, because we had to fly home via London anyway, we spent a short 24 hours in London seeing the sights...and were able to catch a play while we were there.
All in all, a fabulous trip.
Four days after our return, the kids were heading off for Trek....
So glad they had that experience. It sounded like it was really amazing.
And two days after trek, our Spanish exchange student Jaime came back for a second visit.
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| redwood forest |
Among other things, he was able to go with us to Sunriver - our second trip there this summer and the one where we really explored and played hard. I took almost no photos of this trip because we were too busy having an amazing time!
Things we did: biking, swimming, horses, rafting/paddleboarding down the river, the museum,
and shopping in Bend.
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| blueberry the miniature pony - who faith thinks I should adopt |
So that was Sunriver! I convinced Josh we should go there more often (mission accomplished ✓)
And in August we've picked pears, swam, played games and watched movies, had endless friend time (since we are finally in town for more than 2 days in a row!!!), gone bowling, made yummy treats, canned peaches galore, and are thoroughly enjoying weeks of little to no schedules.
Summer, please don't go!
Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time. I LOVE Wales. That is where my maternal grandparents came from.
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