Alright! We made it to JUNE baby!
Rachel is just growing so quickly! We have the best conversations. I probably ask her too many questions, but it’s fun to hear her funny responses. She is a little comedienne! She likes to ask me questions now like “Should I help you?” (while I’m making dinner) “Should I have a bottle?” (all the time) and “should I watch the ipad?” (nope). Ha!
Alice has really come into herself. She’s a fun baby! We like to dance, play peek-a-boo, and go outside. She never cries in the stroller. This girl loves adventure! Her vocabulary includes "dada" and "gaga" and lots of "tah". She’s been a bit more fussy these days-randomly bursts into tears when strangers make faces at her. And she’s so close to crawling, but she just can’t quite do it. She gets stuck in funny positions or falls on her face a lot, but she’s mastered the art of backing up! Her two little teeth on the bottom give her a cheeky little grin, and Rachel is the only one that can really make her laugh! Her laugh is HILARIOUS-She does this little snort and breathes in and out really fast. So cute! I love to hold her and squish her soft little body! She’s the best cuddle buddy!
Our daily schedule looks something like:
6:00-Rachel comes into our bed and falls back asleep (on a good day); Alice wakes up and I feed her in bed
7:00-we all wake up and get breakfast, I throw in a load of laundry, and we try to clean up any spare dishes from the night before while we all listen to some Conference Talks
8:00-Alice eats some solids and we all try to get dressed; Paul leaves for school. Rachel waves goodbye from the window
9:30-Alice goes down for a nap. Everyone is dressed and we either play inside, hang laundry in the backyard, or get ready for an adventure to the park/store/playgroup
10-If we aren’t going out, Rachel and I have snack time and read books or do an art project
11:00-Alice wakes up and has her snack :)
12-Lunch!
1:30-Chalk outside or bubbles inside
2-Naptime! (Mom always falls asleep nursing Alice)
4-Wake up and recover on the couch. Rachel drinks some juice and has a little snack
4:30-go outside if we’ve been in too much. If not, try to play happily while mom figures out dinner…
5-sometimes we facetime Mimi or Ggie…
6:45-Dad comes home and we eat dinner! Feed Alice some solids too!
7:30-Either family night, mom goes to dance, dad goes to correlation, or we all go on a walk
8:15-bathtime
8:30-get out, lotion, brush teeth, blowdry Rachel’s hair, put on jammies, read books, get bottles and dummy ready, nurse Alice, pray that everyone falls asleep
9:00-Mom and Dad do companionship study and watch West Wing or play Lord of the Rings, try not to eat sugar, maybe clean the house…
12-go to bed!!!
**not included are a minimum of 12 nappy changes, lots of “Mommy’s gonna get you”, and the continuous clean up
Memorial Day Weekend:
Paul and I set a goal to visit the temple at least once a quarter during the year, so we hired a car to go to London for the weekend! We left early Saturday morning, but we set the wrong destination in the satnav originally, and we got stuck in traffic, so it was a LONG drive to the temple. We each did some initiatories and enjoyed the temple grounds. It was just what I needed to be reminded of those promised blessings and who I am meant to be. I love every opportunity to teach my children about the temple too. Rachel call’s the London temple “Sariah’s temple”. Haha!
Then we fell asleep in the car as Paul drove us to the Tower of London! Driving in London is MAD, but there are no congestion charges on Saturdays, and we didn’t have time to do it any other way. We were able to find parking, get our tickets (which we free, thanks to the Beasley’s Tesco Vouchers). It was 45 minutes until closing time, and they usually recommend 3 hours for a full tour of the Tower, but it was our only chance to use the tickets since they expire soon. I took Rachel, Paul took Alice, and we RAN all through the place. We saw the exhibit about the exotic animals they used to keep, read about the methods of torture used on prisoners, walked right up to the Crown Jewels, went in the chapel where Thomas Moore is buried, and toured the White Tower with all the swords and guns Paul could ever hope to see! We saw Traitor’s Gate, a few Beefeaters, and a giant Raven! We could have spent hours there, but we felt like we made great use of our time, and we really did see pretty much everything we wanted to!
We were all starving, but we were determined to get to Chipotle for dinner! I nursed Alice on the tube, and Rachel entertained the entire car with her singing. People were surprisingly friendly-offering to help carry the buggy at every stair case, smiling at our kids, and moving so we could sit together. Maybe it would be different on a week day, but we felt very welcome in London.
That night, we stayed at Charly and Loren’s house! But they were in Scotland. Boo! We were so sad we missed them but so grateful to have a nice place to stay! Nobody actually slept that night, but at least we were comfortable! Haha!
The next morning, we were going to drive over an hour to get to the Robinson’s ward, but after a sleepless night, we were all shattered. I found a ward nearby that meets at 10:30, and when we finished sacrament meeting, we realized we’d been sitting across the aisle from George Nelson and his wife! They are here with the BYU study abroad program. We ended up chatting for nearly 2 hours. It was so nice to catch up and hear some of George’s words of wisdom.
We stopped for a bite to eat since we were running SO late and stuck in traffic again, but we finally made it to the Robinson’s home. They had made us a yummy dinner, and we had such a great time chatting with them. Rachel was in HEAVEN with so many cute friends to play with, tons of toys, and a giant trampoline! (I may or may not have done a back-handspring on it…Still got it.) Amy is amazing, and little Cole is so cute! The Pinegars were visiting as well, so we got to learn from some of the greats! So much wisdom in that family. We love them all! (I forgot to take pictures. AH!)
After driving home to Birmingham, we regrouped overnight, and the Mace’s came to collect us in the morning. I was feeling really light headed, so I wasn’t quite on my A-game in terms of preparation. We nearly got to Brockhamton Manor before Alice completely lost it, and I had to nurse her in the back. Unfortunately, she really never recovered from that melt down, but we had a FAB day anyway. (Look how British I am.)
The Manor was like a fairy tale cottage with BEAUTIFUL grounds. Everything was in full bloom. There’s a lovers swing and the ruins of an old Norman church, a lake, a gatehouse, and a hillside full of sheep. Ah! Gorgeous.
We stayed for a picnic/feast that Bev made, then on to Benbow Farm. I wish we would have knocked on the door, but it was a great experience just to be on the property. We went down to the little pond where the Benbow’s were baptized. I’d known their story for many years, but it wasn’t until I stood on their ground that I really felt an overwhelming love and appreciation for their sacrifices and the way they were prepared to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands. They were fearless in their conviction and in generosity. They funded my ancestor’s journey to Salt Lake and traveled in the same company. I’m forever grateful for their legacy of sacrifice and faith.
Next we stopped at Bishop’s Frome where my 4th Great Grandfather, Thomas English Jones, was born. Bev was so cute-printed out a ton of my family history for me and read to us in the car. We walked in the church there and wandered around the cemetery. There’s not much of a town-it’s a hamlet (my new word for the journey).
After that was Bosbury where Thomas married his first wife Mary Ann Parsons. I loved the huge church-the perfect place for Becky to practice wedding photos. Haha! Again, just a hamlet, but it was a romantic little place.
Colwall was next. There’s literally nothing there but a church and a few houses, so I’m pretty confident that Wilford Woodruff was preaching in that church when Thomas came and heard the gospel for the first time. Bev, Alan, and I went in the church and then on a little walk to see Malvern Hill while we were stopped. I felt a great spirit there, and I realized that Thomas would not be in Colwall by chance. The only reason he would have walked there on his wooden leg would be to hear an apostle of the Lord preaching the gospel. I’m so glad he made that journey!
(Side note: Everyone was falling asleep and trading off staying in the car. I got hungry and “borrowed” Becky’s popcorn. I returned what was left, but I kinda ate more than I meant to… haha! Sorry Becky.)
Ledbury was fun. Bev forced us all to get out and see the market place where some of the apostles preached. Then we all got sucked into visiting this 16th century painting room where a woman was dressed up giving a tour. We also all went to the cathedral down the street. It was beautiful.
The last stop was the restored chapel at Gadfield Elm. This is where a lot of the early saints met, and the land was eventually sold to help fund their passage to America. A few years back, some of the church members united to buy back the property, and local farmers even returned some of the stones they had borrowed. Haha! Jeffrey R. Holland dedicated the land, and when the reconstruction was finished and the church officially purchased the property, Gordon B. Hinkley gave the dedicatory prayer. I love how much the brethren-particularly President Hinkley-loved the UK and the British saints. We could have stayed for hours. It’s so cozy and has a small library of information. Paul found some great entries in Wilford Woodruff’s journal, and I enjoyed reading about some of the other church history sites we’ve seen-Preston, Liverpool, etc.
Alice was poorly, and we were all pretty tired by the time we got back, but it was SUCH an amazing weekend. I’m so glad we were able to see all of those sites. It helps me feel more connected to my ancestors and my English roots! I’m more English every day! Ha!
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