Finally a post about England!

Portobello Road

outside London Temple

Westminster Abbey

in the "Tube"  - we had a blast!!

Brian and I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to England this past May with Jane and Paul.  Paul served his mission from London down to a small island off the coast of south England.  We were able to walk down the street where he first served his mission and also visit Bristol were he served as well.  That was awesome and what an incredible week.  Paul's brother Curtis and his sweet wife, Becky, opened their home to us to stay for 8 days.  We attended the London Temple on our first day there.  That was really neat.  Then for the next week; we rode the Tube all over London - remembering to "Mind the Gap" and had the greatest time.  Paul's sister, Kim, from MN joined us as well.  We saw London Tower, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle (one of my favorites), St. Bartholomew church (very fun!), St. Paul's Cathedral, and even went to see "Wicked" in London.  WoW!  We loved climbing all the stairs to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was a beautiful day in London, so we could really see out over the city.  Thank you, Jane and Paul!  We love you!

St. Bartholomew church - built in the 1300's

Windsor Castle - just beautiful

Tower of London
 

St. Paul's Cathedral

       top of St. Paul's Cathederal - very cool              

Last day - taking a nice walk along the
Thames River

 





 

 

Christmas 2011

We were blessed to spend Christmas with Jane and Paul in Arizona. Brian, Emily and I flew down on Thursday night (or early Friday morning, I should say!) and Andrea came in on Sat. evening. We had a wonderful time together playing games, eating good food, making gingerbread houses (Paul used hot glue - is that cheating?), visiting the Mesa Temple grounds where Paul and Jane hung lights on some of the trees, attending church together on Christmas Sunday -with pizza, missionaries, and friends over for dinner; having a picnic in the park on Tues., etc.

Our family and Holly!

iphone for Em! - hope you love it

iphone time!

"The" gingerbread house

Thank you for a wonderful Christmas - We love you!

Dad on vacation! - playing a race car video game

You want flower?

We had our first annual Bartholomew girls weekend  Nov. 5 - 7.   It was so fun to have Andrea and Jane fly into Denver.  There was lots of shopping to do on Saturday, with some relaxing and laughing during our pedicures. 

                                                                           

We enjoyed going to the Longmont Stake Conference on Sunday and having Sunday dinner together.  We even invited our dad to join us - of course!  Andrea wanted to decorate the Christmas tree, so we played games and Christmas music and even went caroling to our friends, the Baileys - (a big Christmas tradition)   On Monday we watched Tangled in the morning (so I wouldn't fall asleep) and did some more shopping in the afternoon.  It was just fun to be together and I think we started a great tradition.  I love you Andrea, Jane, and Emily.  Thank you, Paul and Brian for working and making your own food while we were gone.             

Oh the fun we have!

The beautiful Palisade Reservoir in Idaho

Brian, Emily and I drove to Utah at the end of July to celebrate Andreas 25th birthday, spend a couple of days with our good friends the Harwards, and visit BYU-I to have a tour with Emily.  She will be attending BYU-I in January.

Another summer is coming to a close.  Emily and I played on a city kickball team.  That was fun.  We attended the Prestwich reunion in Sterling and always enjoy our time with family.  I was able to travel to Arizona to visit Jane and Paul.  I read and relaxed during the day and enjoyed seeing Jane and Paul during the evenings.  We went to the movies, hung pictures, tried our hand at french bread, and enjoyed each other's company.

 "The Party" at the stake center


Skyline High School Graduation day

Emily graduated from Skyline High School at the end of May, but before the big day, we decided to celebrate all the graduations that had happened and spend some fun time together.    The 6 of us spent a wonderful, "magical" week at Disneyworld at the end of May.  It was awesome!

                                          Andrea graduated from LDSBC in April.  
 She had a wonderful portfolio evening the week before graduation.  Congratulations, Andrea!  She is enjoying her job at "Home Again" - a fun consignment store in Sugar House.

Christmas 2010



Christmas morning would not
be the same without a picture on the stairs

Andrea, Jane and Paul flew from SLC to Colorado on Christmas Eve. What was a fun day!  We came home to Longmont and watched our traditional Christmas movie, "The Muppets Christmas
Carol."  The kids were tired, so they had a good nap but sang along to "Here comes Mr. Humbug, Here come Mr. Scrooge" and "One more Sleep 'til Christmas"  We were happy to be together.  We enjoyed carolling that evening to a few families in our ward, as well as reading the Christmas story.   That has been a wonderful  tradition through the years.

We feel very blessed.  We had a fun Christmas morning with good food and thoughtful gifts.  We spent the day playing games and enjoying the time together.  As Sunday approached, we thought of our Savior, his birth, and love for us.  It was good to all be in church together on Sunday.  That evening we had a wonderful dinner with the big Prestwich clan.  We spent the next couple of days with them, playing dodge ball, eating, and going to the temple on Tuesday.  My heart was full as I looked around the endowment room and saw Andrea, Jane, and Paul - along with my other family members.  It was a wonderful Christmas!

Andrea has one more semester at LDSBC.  She has done very well!  We look forward to seeing all of her accomplishments at the night when she shows off her portfolio.

Paul and Jane will be starting a new chapter in their lives.  Paul has accepted a job with Honeywell in Arizona.  They fly there tomorrow.  Good luck, Paul!   Jane is a full-fledged dental tech now and hopes to find a job as well.  We are proud of them.   

It has been a blessed 2010.  Have a wonderful new year in 2011!  Remember to stay close to those things that are most important!

FALL FUN!

Nov. 4 - 7, 2010

We had such a fun

weekend with our little family last week in Utah.  Emily and I drove over last Thursday - Brian was already there doing some recruiting at BYU.  We were able to visit with Andrea and her roommates on Thurs. evening.  Jane, Emily, and I went putt putt golfling Friday morning and then we met our family to participate in  temple work at the beautiful Oquirrh Mountain Temple that afternoon.  What a blessing!  On Sat. we visited the Hogle Zoo in SLC.  (I remember going as a kid.  My dad loved the zoo.  He could get the polar bears to stand and catch a dried hamburger bun.)  It was a beautiful Fall day in Utah!  The animals were out and playing and we really had fun.  Thanks to my family for piling in the car and going together!  We drove back down to Provo that evening to help my sister Allison celebrate her birthday at the Brick Oven - a.k.a. Heaps A Pizza!  Our friends, the Harwards, came along; as well as David and Katie and their family.   The balloon man kept the kids entertained and we all had a wonderful time, not to mention the great food!  We attended church together at Jane and Paul's ward in Pleasant Grove on Sunday morning and then said our good-byes and headed back to Colorado.    

October 30, 2010

 27 youth came over for a Halloween party on Oct. 30.  They seemed to enjoy the mystery dinner, complete with "mummy rolls" and the consumption of 5 gallons of homemade root beer.  They played

"British Bulldog 1,2,3" outside, and then honored us with infamous paperbag skits. 

I think a fun time was had by all!



Emily and Evan's group after their skit "Halloween Night"



Senior Picture Time!

It was a beautiful late summer morning in Longmont when Emily and her friend, Brindisi, and I drove out to the north side of town to find a fun spot to take senior pictures. They stopped and took some pics in a big open field. It was kind of foggy, but cool. Then we kept driving and found a silo. I love the picture with Emily in her "famous" Wicked jacket. We drove a little bit more and found a big field of sunflowers. The girls were excited and some fun pictures resulted. Another stop resulted in a creative black and white picture on the railroad tracks.  It's hard to believe that Emily is in her Senior year of high school.  Good luck, EM!

Summer 2010

What a fun, busy summer!  Brian and I traveled to Arizona, after dropping off Emily at "Girls State" in southern CO.  The drive was absolutely beautiful through Colorado.  What a nice time we had with Jane and Paul.  We played at the pool, did some shopping, and attended the Mesa Temple.   It is always fun to be with Paul and Jane!

   I managed to get to girls camp this year as one of the cooks.  I have great memories of being at camp with my girls and my friends.  Emily loves girls camp!

           

Jane flew into Colorado and surprised me before we left for Nauvoo.  I didn't know what to say . .  That was fun.  She and Emily helped at a stake Primary activity and then off to Nauvoo we went.  It was a great trip.  We wished that Andrea could have been there.  We were able to see Allison and her family in the pageant, visit the sites in Nauvoo and Carthage Jail and then onto the Boyack Reunion.  We love the feelings there.  We danced, played cards with cousin Jeri till the early morning, had "Boyack Olympics", took a riverboat on the Mississippi through the land of Mark Twain, attended the Boyack banquet and ended with lots of hugs good-bye.

Paul and Jane were able to visit Colorado in August, after seeing Paul's family in Minnesota for a week.  We relaxed a lot, played games and went to a Rockies game.  That was a lot of fun.  Paul and Jane flew back to Utah on a Friday, moved into their new apt. on Sat. and Paul started his last semester at BYU the next Monday.  Jane started her last dental tech class and will be done in Dec.  Good luck, Jane and Paul!
   

After a busy summer at LDSBC in Salt Lake City, Andrea was able to come home.  It was fun to have her home.  We visited the CU campus in Boulder where she is interested in their architecture program.  She also wanted to go to Casa Bonita.  What a blast from the past.  It is still fun there with the divers and all - food is not too great, but we had a fun time.  Brian was out of town, so we had a girls night out with our friend Laurette.

And now I am off to pick up Brian at the airport . . .