Day One-Hundred and Ninety-Three: "When you tire of London, you tire of life"

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Today we woke up very early on this Saturday morning (blasphemy!) and headed down to Big Ben and Westminster to get family photos taken. Taking family photos with kids is like running a marathon. It is exhausting. But we survived and the boys were actually good and after we were finished we let them run around at this little park behind Westminster Abbey. 

There were several people there with their dogs, and so Tate was in heaven. 





Just chasing dogs behind Westminster Abbey, no big deal! 


It's times like this that I stop, take a look around and kinda sit back and say, "whoa". 


This babe loves his "goggies"...


Cute little boys looking very dapper and british in their photo outfits! 



After romping around Westminster for a while, we headed home to relax a bit, then headed out in the afternoon to the Zoo, which is very close to our flat and we have a year pass to. The London Zoo is great, with lots to see and do, I will miss living so close!

This huge ape gets the boys every single time we come...they're obsessed! 


Mama tiger just recently had three tiger cubs so I love to sit and watch the tigers when we come, it is so cool to see how the interact. Tate also loves to do his best tiger impression..."raaaaaaarrrrrr!"


Three monkeys sitting on a bronze tiger...


The girafe area of the zoo is rad! You can get super close to them! 




Oh hey Miss Girafe...




There were TWO weddings going on at the zoo while we were there...TWO. To each their own I guess, but you must really love animals to wed and then take these pictures next to rubbish bins and a sign that says, "penguin beach". 


We of course had to ride the merry-go-round, because when Tate sees one, we are all hooked in to going on it! 



We headed over to the reptile house, where we saw where they filled the scene with the snake in the 1st Harry Potter movie. The boys loved it. 


We had such a great time together at the zoo. We came home and ordered Thai. It was an all in all very London type of day...love it. 

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Day One-Hundred and Ninety: Autumn

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The cooler weather is definitely here and our walks to school in the mornings are getting chilly. Tate is back in the "fuzzy turtle" for our morning walks. Don't let the smile fool you, he hates putting it on. 


Speaking of school, these two handsome guys were both elected to student council. I was so proud of them when I heard!


The headmaster told me that he thinks it is a Barrow Hill first that two siblings were both nominated to the student council. He also said that our two American boys have taken the school by storm and are quite the popular kids. I got a good laugh from that. This experience for the boys has really pushed them and helped them grow. They both have really loved it and for Thatcher especially it has been wonderful for him to come out of his shell more. I think they have really loved it and it has absolutely broadened their horizons and expanded their world and all that good stuff, which was one of the reason we really wanted to come, so we are happy.

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Day One-Hundred and Eighty-Seven: Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens

Sunday, September 21, 2014

It was a beautiful Sunday today and so we decided to take a walk after church through Hyde Park and into Kensington Gardens with Mark and Kristin. The weather was perfect and it is days like this that I will miss forever about London when we go home. The weather here this past summer has been absolutely idyllic. 

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are hooked, so it is basically one expansive park. They are beautiful and one of my absolute favorite things about London. Our church building is just a short walk from Hyde Park. 

Todd and Taters...



In the middle of Kensington Gardens is the Prince Albert memorial. I love it. It was built by Queen Victoria after Prince Albert died. On it it says, "Queen Victoria And Her People • To The Memory Of Albert Prince Consort • As A Tribute Of Their Gratitude • For A Life Devoted to the Public Good." It is such a sweet sentiment and I love the love story between Victoria and Albert. 


Todd and I in front of the Prince Albert memorial...just as smitten as Victoria and Albert. 


Oh speaking of the devil...Queen Victoria herself in front of Kensington Palace! 
Looking good Vicky!


Kate, Wills and baby George are in that palace...


We had a lovely walk through the Gardens and Hyde Park, and at the end we were all starving so we hailed a cab and headed home!

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Day One-Hundred and Eighty-Three: #londonproblems

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Living in London isn't hard. I mean it is hard sometimes as in not what we are used to, inconvenient, no car, lifestyle changes, etc. It isn't hard. Like we have running water, clean streets, normal food, etc. Not to mention all the amazing things to do and see! So I feel almost bratty complaining about things, but sometimes there are the little things that grate on you and grate on you and just start to drive you a little bonkers and you start to lose your mind up in here! 

This is one of those things for me...


Going to the grocery store, this is the USUAL. Not a every once and a while thing, this is how it ALWAYS is. And this picture isn't even that bad. Usually there are several of these kart things blocking the aisles. Now, these aisles are not big in the first place. Then you stick several of these things in the middle of them and then try to navigate them with your stroller. Plus add a ton of people squeezing in and out around you. Sweaty people. Sweaty smelly people. I am not kidding, I lose my mind doing this and it is enough to drive you nuts, and definitely make you grumpy. Oh, and did I mention you have to really come almost every day because you have a mini fridge and it won't hold a ton of food, it hold like two or three days worth. So yeah. I am here a lot. And when I am here most of the time my blood is boiling and I come back grumpy and tired and need a nap.

So there it is. One of the #londonproblems that tops my list. I will forever be dancing down the wide aisles of Target when we get home.

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Day One-Hundred and Seventy-Eight: Date night in London

Friday, September 12, 2014

For our date night tonight Todd and I headed down into town to a tapas place that a co-worker of his highly recommended. We fell in love with tapas in Spain, and so I was pretty excited to try this place out. 

The little restaurant was tiny, but cute and had a great atmosphere. It was crowded, but we got in. They of course were shocked we didn't want to sit at the bar and throw back a few drinks while we waited. I did order a Ginger Ale, which I find quite good here in the UK and here they always serve it with lime, which I love and I will do for the rest of my days. We ordered a variety of tapas and spent the next couple hours just eating and talking. Perfection. 

After dinner we took a walk along the London Bridge and looked back to see The Shard...it's such a cool modern building and one of my favorite things about London is the mix of the modern and the old. 


On our way home on the tube we decided to stop off at Green Park and walk through the park to Buckingham. Buckingham still amazes me every single time I see it. I still have to pinch myself that I am actually here. I have been royal obsessed ever since I can remember, and being here in the land of the royals and castles and palaces still makes my heart a flutter!



"Hey Kate! It's me, your bff...let me in!"



Could you love the Victoria monument anymore? I could not. 


 Young lovers...and royal wannabes. 


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Day One-Hundred and Seventy-Five: Daily craziness up in here!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Brace yourselves for some images that will be booked for the next few nights in your nightmares...



Ha ha ha! I found these pictures of Tagg on my photobooth on my computer and died laughing after being a tad freaked out!!

To balance out the freaky...here is a lot of cuteness...


I've heard it is normal to want to bite the cuteness off your baby, and that is exactly what I want to do to Tate morning, noon, and night. There was never a child that brought so much happiness into a home I would reckon (that is what they say here...reckon, I'm totally British now! Ha!)

Taters love "i-beam" (ice cream) and asks for it any time anyone opens the freezer or we walk past the Gelato shop on the High Street. What is even cuter than hearing him say "i-beam" is watching him eat it. 








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Day One-Hundred and Seventy-Three: "I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain..."

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Today was such a special day for our family, Tagg was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are so incredibly proud of him for making this big step in his life and for the wonderful young man he is becoming! 

Here are some photos I took of Tagg to mark the special occasion. I am not going to lie and say that when I was editing and looking at them I didn't get choked up, because I absolutely did. I can't believe what a little man he is now! 





After church was over we hung around and got things ready to celebrate Tagg's big day, and then the baptism began. Tagg looked so handsome in his white, clean baptism clothes. Love this boy! 





The baptismal program and service were beautiful, and as a mother I was overcome with emotion. To see these children grow up and make correct choices and strive to do what is right is absolute pure joy. Nothing compares to the feelings I felt today watching Tagg go down into the font with Todd. I hope he will always remember how special this day was, that he was able to be baptized in London surrounded by his family who loves him dearly.

We had a little celebration after the program with our ward family, which was fun.


 


The cake was rainbow inside, I wanted to get a good picture but was busy getting everything served up. It was so fun to make!! 




I always want to remember these wonderful faces of these great people who we have grown to really love like family. It is amazing when you are in a situation like living in a foreign country how quickly you build great friendships. We felt so supported and loved today even though we were far away from our friends and family in the states.













On the cab ride home we were all exhausted, and Tagg was very pensive looking out the window. When we got home he found Todd and I in our room and told us that he was thinking about today and being baptized and that he felt so good inside. He told us that he never wants that good feeling to go away. It was such a sweet moment, and a great memory. I hope today will be a wonderful memory for him for the rest of his life, I know it will be for me.

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