Leeds and The Deep

Pretty much all of our plans changed during our stay in England. Some times it wasn't our fault! The kids got sick so they didn't sleep well so we left late every morning. We wanted to go to the Preston Temple but it was closed. We wanted to go to Edinburgh, Scotland the first week but all the hotels were booked for New Year's celebrations. We wanted to go to Holland on a ferry the second week but we didn't read the terms and conditions (after having paid) and found out too late that I'm three weeks too far along. There were other things, but you get the idea.

We weren't planning on going to Leeds but I'm glad we did, even though Andrew and I had already been there. It's about 2 hours west of Hull. When we got there we were all hungry so we ate at Pizza Express before going to the Leeds Armouries Museum.

When Elliot gets tired he still sucks his thumb and plays with his or my hair.

Yum! That was good food, although a little over-priced with the exchange rate.

If you are interested in weapons or armor in different parts of the world and in history you would love this museum. Admittedly, I was a little bored having seen it all before but Andrew and James loved it.

Elliot would have loved it too if he hadn't fallen asleep and taken a nap the whole time we were there.

Looks like Avery was ready for a nap here.

Andrew's cousins came up from Portsmouth (about 5 hours south of Hull) for a few days and we took all the kids to The DEEP. They re-vamped it since the last time I went so it was nice seeing all the improvements. The kids loved the sharks.

Come back tomorrow for pictures from Scarborough.

York and Castle Howard

England Adventures continued:

I couldn't get over how beautiful the moss on this shed was, so of course I had to take a picture. This was near Helmsley Castle so I should have put it on the last post. The rest of this post is dedicated to York and Castle Howard.

My pictures don't begin to do justice to Castle Howard. It is actually not a castle but an estate. Because we visited it during an off season month we were only able to visit the grounds. Maybe next time we'll see the inside. Walking around and admiring the grounds put Pemberly in mind. It was that beautiful and grand.

Check out this stunning fountain!

Julie and James looking as cute as ever.

They had several gardens and this one was part of the rose garden. With no roses in bloom it just looked like a bunch of sticks and thorns but I'm sure it's gorgeous come spring.

Love this fountain with fish!

The rest of these photos were taken in York. Claire, Rich, and Rich's sister Harriet joined us there. Andrew and I have been to York several times since it's only an hour away from Andrew's home town.

We've seen York Minster several times so this time we got pictures from the other side. It's crazy to think how old this building is and how people built it with tools of their time. Amazing!

Is it just me or does Avery look a lot like her mommy here?

Here's Andrew enjoying a delicious cornish pasty. The rest of us had sausage rolls which I prefer and happen to be much cheaper.

While we were heading back to the car we all got soaked! I'm glad it rained at the end of our time there because it was cold!

31 weeks

Before I get too much bigger I wanted to post these belly pictures Julie took for me in England. I grew a lot during those two weeks! Must be all the hot chocolate, fish and chips, and other goodies. Not surprising my last midwife appointment showed I gained 10 lbs. in 5 weeks and my uterus is measuring big. Yikes! Since this is my first natural delivery pray for me not to have a big baby. At least Andrew is enjoying all my extra curves.

England: part 1

Everyone took turns getting sick while we were in England. Somehow my immune system lasted until we got back so I have been battling a head cold since Sunday. I'm telling you this as an excuse for my delay in posting these photos. I took an over-whelming amount of pictures in the two weeks we were in England so I decided to post a few at a time. These are in sequential order so if they seem random you know why.

This picture is on Christmas day. Elliot and Avery got spoiled the whole time we were there. We all really enjoyed spending time with Daddy's side of the family this year.

Andrew is showing off a couple of his swords to James. So glad they didn't make it back!

Julie, James, and Josie in Andrew's home town (Kingston Upon Hull) at the marina.
This is in one of my favorite stores: Primark. Primark is similar to Forever21 but even less expensive. The clothes are so cheap they're almost disposable, so don't count on durability. Andrew is standing next to an odd item of clothing. Not sure even he is man enough to wear these adult onesie pjs.

Below is Helmsley Castle. It's a place Andrew, Julie, and I have been to before but we thought James would like it. Unfortunately the grounds were closed so this was as close as we could get to it. Moss grew simply everywhere so I had to capture it on my camera.

So those are the first set of memories I took away from this trip. Expect more to come.

2012 goals

Last night we got home from our long flight from England. Coming back took much longer and we are all jet lagged but it's really good to be home. With my body clock off I'm not up for posting England pics yet. Instead here are my 2012 goals.

1. Read Hypno Birthing and have a natural delivery.

2. Learn 1st movement of Schumann's Fairy Tales viola concerto and record it.

3. Send photos to in-laws each month.

4. Have one sewing project each month.

5. Declutter/paint/decorate master bedroom.

6. Desert Grande triathlon with Andrew.

7. Do a race I've never done before.

8. Loose baby weight.

9. Talk less/listen more.

10. Do some back yard and front yard gardening.

11. Read/study scriptures at least 15 minutes every day.

12. Find 5 new good reads.

13. Eat 5 fruits/veggies a day.

I feel really good about my goals this year. They are all attainable but still just enough of a challenge to keep me busy and motivated. I think I'm going to print my goals out and put them on my bedside cabinet to read often. What are your 2012 goals?

bird sewing project

The other day I was shopping and came across these adorable 10 pack bird paperclips. I don't have much use for dainty paperclips but I got them anyway, knowing I could make something else of them.

Here is what I did:

M1.gently cut the paperclip off the back

2. hand stitch a hair clip on being careful not to stitch all the way through

3. continue steps 1-2 with all birds

Below are five completed.

I love how they turned out! They add just a little whimsy to Avery's hair. Perfect for baby shower gifts too!

Well, today has been full of cleaning and packing. We fly tomorrow morning. Pray that None of our flights will be delayed and all will go well. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to post the next couple weeks but there will be pictures at some point so be prepared.

pressies

Santa came to our house last night! We asked him to come early since we're going to be out of town :) We chose today to open presents so the kids had a couple days to play with their new toys before leaving everything behind to fly on Friday.

Below is Andrew reading out all the things Elliot got last year. I think Christmas is good for Andrew's heart. He's been sending me love texts all day and he's so happy.

Instead of writing "From: Andrew" on every present he gave me Andrew wrote a different endearing nickname. Here are the things he wrote:

"From: Sugar Plum, Dream Lover, Steely Buns, "The" One!, Hot Stuff, Dream Boat, Mr. Right, and Hot Lips". It gave me something to look forward to and laugh about with each present.

The kids love everything they got (whew!) so it was a wonderful family experience. Every Christmas gets better with kids!