London

We finally made it down to London last weekend! We only live about an hour away, but this is the first time it worked out for us to head down! We lucked out with a beautiful, sunny day, and we had such a great time. We really loved all the cool architecture. We stuck to the area around Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and the London Eye. We know there is so much more to see, so we are excited to go again soon. We can only imagine how beautiful everything looks in the Spring and Summer.

We just finished reading both the BFG and Peter Pan to the kids in the last few months, so it was fun to show them some of the places we read about in the books. Oh, and it was awesome to find a delicious burrito restaurant for lunch since we've really been missing Mexican and American food! Until next time, London! :)

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! Our kids are already tucked into bed in their new Christmas pajamas, and all of us are so excited for Christmas morning. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, where ever you are!

Christmas Time

We've been busy getting packages and cards ready to send to the states, decorating our house, and going to lots of fun Christmas activities. We are really looking forward to some time off of work and school!

*** Next time we'll do face painting after the Santa picture. Ha ha! ***

The distance always seems farther when we are away from family during the holidays, but we are hoping to have a relaxing Christmas with our little family, and fit in a few adventures here and there. Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Thanksgiving in Belgium

We got to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Belgium! It was such a fun trip, and so exciting to make our first visit over to Europe.

We rode a ferry across the English Channel from Dover, England, to Calais, France. We had beautiful views of the white cliffs of Dover as we sailed away. It was a nice way to break up the drive.

Then we drove through France and into Belgium. The countryside was really pretty, and Joseph did a great job switching back and forth between driving on the left and right sides of the road! :) We spent a day in Bruges enjoying the waffles, Christmas market, and great views of the city. It was such a cool place.

Our hotel was just a couple blocks from the beach, so we visited a couple times but it was freezing cold and windy. The kids were such great travelers and had a fun time running around and exploring. It was a great trip, and so neat that we are only a few hours drive away a different country!

So Far, So Good

The days have been passing by, and now it is the middle of November! We have been keeping busy with school, work, and church callings, and sometimes not much else. One of our cars was in the shop for over a month, so that kept us stuck at home a little more than usual. We've also been spending a lot of time at the church recently, and we try and get outside as much as we can when the sun is shining. We finally hung the first thing on our walls and are still really loving our new home. It has been a wet fall, but we've had a lot of beautiful days. Here are a bunch of pictures from my phone from the last month!

Village Life

There are beautiful little villages scattered throughout the countryside here, and one of our favorite things to do is to pick one to visit and spend a while walking around. A few weeks ago we followed a little footpath in one of the villages and it took us through horse pastures, over little fences, and through fields of crops.


There are public footpaths like this all over the area and I can't wait to explore some more of them. It was a perfect morning.

A lot of the villages also have published historical walks you can take through them that show buildings of interest and dates, etc. I can't get enough of the thatched roofs and flower boxes on all the little cottages. It is so fun to be surrounded by so much history and so much beauty.