Home Again

It's good to be home again after my three week vacation to Amsterdam and England. If you were not aware, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary recently. As part of their celebration we went to Europe. It was a great experience! Here are some of the pictures of the trip.

There really are a lot of canals in Amsterdam. We stayed in Osdorp, on the west side of the city. This canal was right behind our hotel.

Here are the girls taking a selfie in Dam Square.

It was cool enough to enjoy hot chocolate. This darling café, Small Talk, was right near the museum district. We liked the café so much we went back a few days later for lunch with the whole family (see below).

One day we took a visit out to see these windmills. It was super windy and cold this day, but the tourist village where these windmills were was darling. So much to see and do all in one place. I wish the weather had been more conducive to staying longer.

Another one of our favorite activities in Amsterdam was renting bikes. The bike shop had a special one for my nephew Harrison, who is in a wheelchair. He LOVED that. We had three hours to go around the city. Vondelpark was beautiful. We also accidentally went through the red light district. Oops.

After a week in Amsterdam we flew to England. I served a mission in England, so it was amazing to get to go back. We stayed near the London temple and enjoyed the countryside of Southern England.

One of the things we did in England was to visit Redmarley, a small town where the some of the Spiers heritage is from. Near Redmarley is the Gadfield Elm Chapel, which is where John Spiers was converted and baptized by Wilford Woodruff.

Of course, we did lots of touristy things too. Above left shows us at Hever Castle. Center, at Buckingham. And right, at Harrod's to go shopping.

We also spent a day seeing the White Cliffs of Dover. The castle and the military tunnels there were really fun. And I think this was really the first time in my four times in England seeing the ocean.

After a week in London, we had to fly back to Amsterdam to catch our flight back to the US. In total we had four flights to get us home. The jet lag was not fun, but I think my sleep schedule is finally back on track. This really was a trip of a lifetime, especially for my girls. Such an amazing visit! I can't wait to go back some day!