England

The kids missed the actual last day of school... because we flew to England! We have been looking forward to this trip for so long, and it was so exciting to finally be on our way! We landed in London the next day after our overnight flight, and it felt like we were coming home!


We spent the first few days in Oxfordshire where we lived three years ago. We visited with friends in Windsor, spent a day in Oxford, went on our favorite walk, and visited so many places where we have wonderful memories. We went to church in Banbury and loved seeing so many families that we love so much.


The countryside was just as beautiful as we remembered it, and we spent a lot of time walking around outside and soaking in the views and pleasant weather. It was hard to choose what to do since we wanted to revisit all of our favorite places, but also wanted to see new things! I think we ended up with a pretty good mix.

Next we headed toward Cambridge to visit some friends and some pretty towns over there. Matthew and Anna loved seeing their friends from Mississippi and walking with them to school! Cambridge was lovely, and we enjoyed punting on the river.

Next we drove down to the south coast and visited Beachy Head Lighthouse, Cuckmere Haven, and stayed in Pevensey. The views were incredible and the fog just made it feel even more magical!

After stopping by the London temple grounds, we hopped on a quick flight over to Jersey in the Channel Islands for the weekend. It was the prettiest little island and we fell in love with it right away!

We walked out to Elizabeth Castle at low tide, found the most magical beach with caves, waterfalls, and tide pools, visited the Jersey Zoo, and enjoyed meeting some lovely people at church. The buildings were so colorful, the roads were tiny, and we loved it all!

We headed back to London for our last couple of days. It was nice to not feel like we needed to do all the tourist sites because we have seen them before! So we just enjoyed exploring the neighborhood, visiting Portobello Road, and seeing Wicked!

We were all exhausted by the end of the trip, I think we walked one hundred miles! :) We had the best time together making new memories and seeing beautiful places. We are so grateful we could go back to a place we love so much!

Dominican Republic

Joseph got to spend 10 days in the Dominican Republic on a humanitarian aid trip. They went to Azua and had the chance to provide free health care and dental work to hundreds of people from the area. They worked hard and were really busy while they were there.

They had a couple of days off to see the sights and markets in Santo Domingo and the surrounding area. There were lots of cool historical buildings and architecture, and he came home with beautiful handmade wood boxes and bowls from the market.

 
They got to help clean up a local park and took a quick trip to the beach. He said the food was really good and fresh and they enjoyed a night of music and dancing before they headed home. It was a great opportunity for him and we are glad he got to go - and happy to have him home! :)


 

England

I'm not exactly sure where to start, because I have so much to say. Three years ago we were heading out on an adventure of a lifetime, and I was both excited and terrified. I knew that I could do hard things and that I would be okay living far away from people and places that were familiar, but moving to England was just a tiny bit further away than I had ever been before. :) I remember landing at the airport in London and being completely exhausted from the time change, nauseous from the flight and car ride, and totally overwhelmed with everything we needed to do in the next few weeks. We bought cars, found a house to live in, and waited almost two months for our belongings to arrive so we could get unpacked and finally feel settled. Life moved forward with school and work and church responsibilities, and we tried to find our new normal in this new country.

The beauty is the first thing that struck me, and will be the last thing I'll always remember. Every view, every house, every stone wall, and every field was gorgeous in some way. I wanted to memorize every little thing I saw. I loved the hedges and the grazing sheep and the bright yellow and green crops that went on for miles. The quaint villages were full of thatched-roof cottages with vines and flowers growing all over them. The old churches that were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago had intricate stained glass windows and peaceful church yards. The public footpaths that weaved all over the countryside were our favorite places to go on walks. It was always green, and anything and everything could grow and thrive there. Every view looked like a painting or a postcard.



We visited some incredible locations - castles, grand houses, gardens, ruins, farms and cathedrals. I couldn't believe that we lived just down the road from a palace, a few hours from Stonehenge, a quick ride to Oxford University, forty miles from Shakespeare's home, and an easy train ride to magnificent London. We have too many favorite places, too many pictures, and too many places we didn't even get to visit. England is rich in it's beauty and history and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. We tried to get out as often as we could to appreciate the abundance of what was available to us.

We were grateful to be able to travel as much as we did. I've never had an itch to travel, so at the beginning we had to dig up the courage and make it happen, since we knew we would regret it if we didn't. We soon came to love our adventures as a family, and all the stress and money and inconvenience was worth the things we saw and felt and learned. We visited Scotland, Belgium, Wales, Rome, Venice, Paris, Greece, Amsterdam, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Norway, Italy, and Ireland. We explored Cornwall, Dorset, the Lake District, York, Norfolk, and other areas in England. Our children were able to see that people lived differently in different places, and that there was beauty everywhere. We were forced out of our comfort zones, surrounded by different languages, and occasionally a bit lost or scared. But we are stronger and braver and more humble because of it all.


We absolutely loved the community of people around us, both at work and at church. We had chances to stretch ourselves and do more because it was a small base and a small ward and we were needed in every way. The school building almost became a second home, the medical and dental squadron was like a big group of friends, and the ward members were most definitely our dear family. We served others in many ways, and received so much love and service in return. I have no doubt in my mind that the reason we loved England so much was because we gave it our whole heart and didn't hold back. We made it our home, so it felt like home.


Though it was most definitely some of the best years of our lives, it was also the hardest years of our lives. I believe I have been given a special blessing to not be homesick during these years of change and relocating, and I'm so grateful that I've been able to feel a lot of peace. But we struggled through some health issues, endured multiple miscarriages and heartbreaks, had some overwhelming responsibilities, and longed to be closer to home and family through it all. However, during the times we felt most alone and upset, we were soon surrounded by friends who were literally our angels and took the place of our family to provide love and support. My mom flew halfway around the world to be with me during my third miscarriage, and I'll never forget her sacrifice. So many people made an impact in our lives through their service to us, and I will forever be changed because of them. Though we don't always love or understand the trials, I wouldn't change the hard things we went through because of the joy, relationships, and lessons gained as a result of them. We know that we were more fully able to recognize and appreciate the wonderful times because we had lived through the hard times as well.

We are different people leaving England than we were when we arrived. We know that we were meant to be there at that time, to meet specific people, serve in specific ways, and open our eyes to more than we ever knew before. We will miss our neighborhood, our local shops and pubs and parks that became our favorite places. We will miss the lovely drive to the church, the footpath walks, and the villages. We will miss the beauty and the history and the accents. We will miss the familiar words and phrases, the roundabouts, the winding roads. We will miss the rare sunny days, the home-cooked food, and the traveling. But most of all we miss the people. It was so hard to say goodbye to so many things that we loved, to a country that welcomed us with open arms, and to our dear home where we made so many good memories. But we will focus on all the blessings we received, the relationships that will last, and the memories that will forever be in our hearts. Goodbye, dear England. Thank you for being exactly what we never knew we needed. We will see you again someday.


Previous thoughts on leaving Texas and New York.