The Thursford Collection
My friend told me about this place. I knew it was what I wanted to give Justin for his graduation present. He LOVES Christmas and everything that goes with it, so I knew this would be the perfect gift for him and the whole family could enjoy it too. I had to book a time for us about a month in advance, but somehow it didn't work. Luckily, I called the day before we went and they had a place open for us for the next day. It was terrible weather that day! Rain, snow and WIND! We safely drove the hour and a half to get there.
Nobody but me knew what we were doing, it was my secret! I think they were all pleasantly surprised. We would have gotten pictures of the outside of the building, but it was so cold and windy, you couldn't stand outside for very long…COLD! We couldn't take pictures of Santa because they want you to buy the ones they take. When we got into Santa's house, we went into another tiny room that had Santa sitting in a chair with one little elf helper. They shut the door behind us so we were all alone with Santa and his elf. It was so amazing! Santa just talked with the boys for about 10 minutes. There was no rush, no noisy crowd, just us and Santa. He gave the boys each a really nice gift and then we had our picture taken with him. It was so magical! Wish we could do it again next year, but hopefully we will be with FAMILY next year! YAY!
Trip to the London Christmas Markets and the London Eye
On Tuesday the 22nd of December, Justin took the boys and me to the London Temple. We were so blessed to have to great friends who were already there, and they said they would watch the boys while Justin and I went into the temple together. It has been a year since we have been able to go in together; we usually just take turns watching the boys. It was so nice to be there! The boys always love to go with us. We stayed the night at the temple hotel and then made our way to London the next morning.
Justin planned on using the London Underground to get around that day. It is their amazing subway system. Any where you want to go is so easy and convenient! I was nervous to use it, but it was so fun! They boys loved all the trains. I will never forget the voice of the lady on the train saying: "Please mind the gap” we heard that over and over and over. Justin found all of the “German” style Christmas markets in London and we made it to all of them but one, which we couldn't find, or it just wasn't there.
We also took a ride on the London Eye…the thing is MASSIVE! Last time we tried to go on it there was a 2 hour + wait. We didn't have to wait at all this time and there were only 7 of us in our pod. The boys loved the view. Sammy kept asking when it was going to move, it was moving, it just moves really slowly. I liked it until about a quarter of a turn went by and we got higher and higher. I was glued to the bench until it was about half way back down. I was brave for my boys. ;)
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day. On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner with our favorite "old lady" (we are her "Americans") Sister Denham. We take her to church every Sunday. She loves the boys, has a crush on Justin and thinks I am the most wonderful person in the whole world. Boy do I have her fooled! ;)
On Christmas morning, we went downstairs to see what Santa left us and then we had a nice big breakfast before the big event. We all seem to get grumpy if we are hungry, so first things first. After breakfast we opened all our gifts. We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys. It was so nice to just hang out as a family with nothing to do but be together. What a perfect Christmas season! It is sad to have it end, but hopefully next year we will be with our family for the first time in 6 years! It is about time!
Thanksgiving
I know, better late than never…right? We had the best Thanksgiving! We invited all the American families in the ward to our house for a real turkey dinner. Some of them are military, some of them are students at Cambridge, and some just work here. It was a first Thanksgiving away from home for allot of them, so we tried to make it as much like home as we could. Everyone helped out with the food and it was awesome! We made the main things like the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, and cranberry sauce. Two angel friends of mine came early and helped me get it all ready so it went very smooth. Everyone enjoyed all the food, friends and laughs. The next day I was wishing we could do it all over again. It was so much fun!
