London 2011

Here we are in London. Jared took us
over the water. I say Jared because he
orchestrated saving our money so that we could afford the trip. We origninally booked the trip because my old teaching partner in Houston was getting married there. I was down about not being able to find a teaching job in dallas that was a good fit for our family so we decided to book it. Jared helped with our budget so that we paid for our trip before going. So proud of him! and low and behold in November the job of my dreams came in front of us in a small more rural town north of dallas. and I love it! Everything about is the right fit for our family. They didn't mind in the least about our trip and in fact encouraged us to do what was right for our family. You see us throwing up our Bearkat paws in many of these pictures because our college team was playing in the semi-finals while over the water. We stayed up until 3:00am skyping and watching the game with friends at the game. crazy. we were up the next day at 6:30 to catch a tube and see the Westminister Abbey. The Tower of London and Westminister Abbey were some of my favorite attractions there. The architecture and history is wonderful. I also really like Hampton Court Palace. The countryside is also really beautiful. Harrods is the upscale shopping experience. Of course we went to the toy section. We missed our children greatly. We were able to skype every night on our ipad in our hotel room with our little ones in Houston. Thank you again Mayra. They were well taken care of and always smiling. When talking to Addison every night she asked when we would be coming home but never cried or even whined. She was pleased to see her friends and was enjoying the Christmas season with family. Jesse of course was the life of the party in Katy. He went to a graduation party and enjoyed visiting with our extended Peruvian family there. Addie has already asked for rice and beans like Mayra makes. Sorry chica, I don't have that gift. To our family in Magnolia and Friendswood: thanks for putting up with us and we promise not to do this every year. Jared is already trying to scheme up a plan to fly into Minnesota to see the Wagners and then rent an RV and drive to Canada with our little ones....we will see. I don't forsee this happening for a while. Get ready for us Jake! It was a great vacation but I can't see us leaving our children any longer. But again we are truly blessed to have Mayra and family that are so wonderful. Hampton Court Palace was one of my favorites. There is the world's largest maze and where they filmed part of Harry Potter the Goblet of Fire. It was difficult and fun at the same time. You had to find the center and then back to the beginning. Jared took a picture of the map once we got to the center. The last day we visited Harrods again and went to the Globe. Its where Shakespeare wrote his pieces of work. It's actually the third building because of time and a fire that hit in the 1500s. I didn't realize that it was open air and that all of the actors were men. They many times preformed in the cold weather of winter. The whole structure is mainly built of oak and wood pegs. Awesome!

Overall, we had a wonderful visit but I am definitely happy to be back in the good ole US of A.