The charming house with a leaky roof

I chose this title as my post for a myriad of reasons but mostly because I wanted to share the reality of our little life...
Living overseas - and in such a beautiful part of the world - is so exciting and we feel so blessed. Our opportunities at times feel endless, even overwhelming sometimes. We have had already many, many "charming" moments, starting from an invitation to FHE/dinner with a family in our ward to visiting the famous Selfridge's Department Store and seeing the breathtaking art at Tate Modern with my "old~new" friend Corrine.  But there have also been a few "leaks" along the way if you will... And so I present "Leaky Charm". 

August 11th-August 17th

The week started off great with an invitation for dinner/FHE with our new ward members in their beautiful home in Virginia Water. My kids about fell over when they saw their home all decorated and "homey". We currently live in our home with a few pieces of furniture and whatever we could fit in our suitcases, so it's a bit "cold" feeling right now- a little like a missionary apartment or hotel room. It's all good. As dad would say, "It builds character." Anyway, great evening together and the kids got along really well. We even received invitations to go to Leeds Castle with them as well as a day out to Legoland. Of course we accepted. 
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were/are dealing with a host of issues with the house. Our roof leaks - it's over the stairway and we have a bucket catching the water, the front door is broken and we can't get a locksmith who knows how to use this old of a lock to come fix it...(see the key to the door is about six inches long, it folds in half and a typical key usually has 7 or 8 divits in it to make it secure. Ours has 16! lol So nobody can fix it!) We currently have to go around the house to the back door through two locked gates and doors. One has to be prepared before going out to the car, or you'll be making a long trip back to get inside the house. :) I am also fearing we may have a little mould in the bathroom, so they said they were sending someone out to look at that as well. Honestly, overall the house is going to be just fine and is in a great location. We just have to work through a few kinks right now. 

Tuesday I took the kids to two of the three memorials near our home. The signing of the Magna Carta by King John and the John F. Kennedy memorial. (I've decided the Brit's love John F. Kennedy. There was even reference to him at Legoland and Leeds Castle.) Anyway, the Magna Carta was the official document that needed to be signed by the king to give commoners more rights and freedoms. King John was forced into signing it and it resulted in people not having to pay unexplained taxes or be put in prison just because the king thought so. People actually could receive a fair trial. Parts of the Magna Carta document are the very words we have in our Bill of Rights and Constitution. 

 The Magna Carta

 The gorgeous walk up to the Kennedy memorial. 

Just take a minute and read the words on the bottom of this memorial. It's so beautiful, I read it out loud to my children three times! Very inspiring. I'm hoping to memorize it.

Wednesday we drove almost 2 hours, because of traffic on the M25, to Leeds Castle. 

The grounds were unbelievable. Swans and ducks waddling around, (Ty was especially mesmerised by them) weeping willows draped the ponds and the gardens were manicured and elaborate. A stunning moat surrounds the castle and it has actually been very well maintained. My friend said it was one of the most well kept castles she has seen as most of the castles are in ruins and you have to imagine their beauty.  It is titled, "The most lovely castle." My favorite comment was from my friend's son who's Ike's age, "So who coined that phrase? Was it the people or from the manager who runs this place?" It was so funny!!

Conquering the Garden Maze

I just love this picture of Anne and Ty entering the castle's gate

Castle courtyard

one of 26 bedrooms

library

The Grotto - under the garden maze in order to get out. Very cool

Thursday, we headed for Legoland. The day was very fun. It rained on and off all through the day and it didn't phase anyone! People pull out their raincoats, umbrellas, and stroller covers. Seriously impressive. Rain and all, people waited in lines, rode rides and looked at the masterpieces of Lego art. The best was mini land which were recreations of some of America's and Europe's greatest sights. It was our favorite.

Loving time with the Frost's

Leeds Castle!

So on Friday, as if we hadn't already worn the kids slap out, we decided to take them into London to see some of the sights. They got to ride the overground train for the first time, see Big Ben, watch the changing of the guards, visit the National History and Science museum and see street performers. It was extremely crowded and we had to stick close together. Many times we were shoulder to shoulder with people while we waited in lines and to see different things. August is a very busy month in London as it is the last few weeks of summer and everyone is out visiting different places. 

First family train ride from Virginia Water to Waterloo

Joshy loved the train

Ike in front of the River Thames (pronounced Tems), Big Ben and Parliament 

Watching the changing of the guards

Buckingham Palace

All was going well, until we left the Science Museum. We were getting off a crowded elevator, following the mass of people out the door when we realized we couldn't find Ty. Ty has a propensity for darting and not looking where he is going. We have reminded him and reminded him of this dangerous habit. But is wasn't until today till we realized the great danger in his habit. 

Outside the museum
Watching the street performer make large bubbles for countless children.

From Spencer: When we realized Ty was lost, I went from being mad, scared, to complete humility at the realization that we needed our Heavenly Father's help. We couldn't find him anywhere. We notified the museum in case he went in there, and I started running up and down the street. There were so many people, it was hard to see anyone in particular. Brittany and the kids were waiting back at the museum in case he had gone back inside. It did not matter how fast I ran up and down the street, all I could really do was plead for Heavenly Father to help us find our Ty. Honestly, I felt frantic and scared. Then I saw Ty. Tears were streaming down his face and he was surrounded by four women who were all trying to comfort him. I know that God led these ladies to Ty. As they explained to me in very broken English I was filled with gratitude, "We found him sitting on the sidewalk crying. He is a good boy." With all my heart I thanked these ladies, and Ty and I ran back to museum toward Brittany and the kids. Our hearts melted as we saw his brothers and sister run to him and hugged him as they all had a good cry together. 

Ironically, located across the street exactly from where we were standing in front of the museum, was the Central London Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know...
We all looked at each other and said, "Let's go in." We were greeted by darling sister missionaries and given a tour of the building. It was really beautiful. We got to watch a show about families and by the end Spencer and I had tears streaming down our faces. We were so grateful for this tender mercy.  

The trip inside the church ended up being more educational than expected. We had the opportunity to meet a great organist originally from Logan, UT. He showed us behind the organ and played pieces for us. There are 3000 pipes in the organ and Ty, Josh and Anne were captivated at how his feet danced along the floor keys and his fingers moved effortlessly across the rows of keys. Absolutely beautiful and a great way to end our days adventure in London.

Saturday

The kids unanimously voted for a day at home. We woke up late and went to a really nice baptism of a man in our ward who we understand has been attending for sometime with his wife and decided to make the commitment and join the church. It was a very nice meeting. We took the kids home and Spencer and I grabbed a few groceries on High Street at Tescos and ran back to the car so he could quickly drive me to the train station. I was invited by Corrine to meet her in London for the day. Corri, is actually from my darling home town in Idaho. No seriously, get this...Lewisville has a population of less than 500 people. So here we were, two farm girls from Idaho in London, visiting as many sites as possible for an afternoon. We had such a FABULOUS time! I'm not sure which was better- the site seeing or catching up with Corri! Either way, it was really a great day. 

Because she has lived in England for the the past 10 years, she's like a walking encyclopedia. I could pretty much say, "Let's go here or lets go there" and off we went complete with insights and history on what I was seeing. It was so great!

We started off visiting Greenwich Village and seeing the maritime memorabilia as well as the palace there. It was used mostly by seaman dignitaries as England was the naval superhero's back in the day. We found a fabulous market filled with places to buy food from around the world and art, jewelry, handbags, home decor etc. I loved it. 

Me and Corrine at Greenwich village in the market. We found the greatest mini pancakes.

The mural in the dining hall were outrageously breathtaking

The naval's chapel 

From here, I snapped my fingers and off we went to Oxford Street to Selfridges. All I can say is, Natalie, you would be in fashion heaven. It was like sensory fashion overload. Everything, everything you could imagine was there in the finest form. Wow! There are rooms completely filled with perfume, then makeup, then the different designers, a chocolate room, a posh grocery store and flower market, Tiffanys and Louis Vuitton and on and on and on. It was incredible. 

 We walked from there to St. Paul's Cathedral which was closed when we got there, but it was so beautiful to see. I snapped my fingers again, and my London touring angel took me to an art museum.

The front of St. Paul's Cathedral

side view

The Shard - The tallest building in Europe

walk across Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern

Street view from St. Paul's 

View from Tate Modern balcony

We walked across Millennium Bridge to the famous Tate Modern Museum and I was again blown away with Corri's knowledge of art. I learned, albeit very new, how to appreciate and even love pieces of modern art as Corri talked me through how to look at the paintings and what to look for. Believe it or not, I fell in love with a Rothko painting because Corri showed me how to see it.
I came home on an absolute high. It was really incredible. Thank you Corri for such a fun afternoon! I can't wait for the next one!

Sunday morning was so nice with church and the talks were very uplifting. After church we asked the Frost's if they would like to join us for a picnic at Virginia Water Lake. A perfect end to a great week.

Life isn't just about noting all the charm and that being the only times we are happy. Life is also the leaks that happen which build strength, character and even add some humor.
Thank heavens for our Leaky Charmed Lives....