End of the School Year, Birthdays, AMAZING Visitors and more fun! June 2018

Summer Life
Fun, Fun, Fun

Oh how I love this ward and the members in it. We are really going to miss you Stephanie when you move back to Utah. You have been an incredible friend x 
Baby Anna and Megan Snijman, me, Stephanie Carroll & Jan Keating - 
I have been surrounded by amazing women. 

Goodbye dinner with one of our closest family friends, the Carroll's :(
Lauren, Emily, Zach and Colby

Jason and Steph
Happy 17th Birthday Isaac!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for our son Ike. Ike, you are growing into such an amazing young man. I 
cannot believe you are already 17! Where has the time flown? You have worked so hard this year in school, sports, running your basketball camp, dating, developing lifetime friendships and making plans for next year and after graduation. We love your happy disposition, seeing the kindness you have to others, your hard work towards service to others, and the continued friendships you develop with your brothers and sister. You have a handshake with everyone and you are a friend to everyone. Love you so much and happy birthday. 

Ike with his school mates on his birthday xx
 

Birthday lunch date!
I LOVE that my kids love sushi!

 At youth night that evening, Amelia Petchey made Ike a King's Crown because it was his birthday and she always calls him King Ike and she is the princess.

How cute are these girls?! We loved having Eliza and Payton with us. They just arrived before this activity and they jumped in and participated and everyone loved them.
Saturday morning BOOT SALE!

 My friend Amy Hilton introduced us to 7am Boot Sales! 
We had so much fun looking and finding all sorts of amazing treasures. 

 Amy, Claire, Anne, Melanie and Addie

A little date night with Ty! 
YOUTH!

 The youth wanted another party before the Carroll girls left. We had such a good time with them. Lots of laughing and water balloon throwing.
Amelia, Colby, Xeina, Avi, Lauren, Camilla, Derrin, Jayden, Annie, Jono, Emily, Anne and Maddie

 We played water ballon volleyball

 Jan and Steph! haha!

 me and Vanessa Russell

 Vicki and Sam Petchey

 Megan Snijman came also x

 

Elder TIm McKeon and Ike. Tim left just after Ike's birthday of the MTC. We will miss seeing their fun friendship, but Tim has been an amazing friend. Good Luck Tim!  
Last  Day of School...with the Queen
Last day of school is always fun. We get to come and watch the kids perform their musical talents. This year..

Josh playing the djembe drums! He loved it and really got into it. 

Josh was asked to be in the school promotional film series!
These were some of the gifts they gave him. 

One of the pictures the school used.

These were not great pictures of the kids, but Anne got the GOLD award!!

This is SO hard to get and only a handful of kids get them in the entire school. It has to do with Academics. Ty also received an amazing SILVER! Way to go kids!!

 Anne was nominated and selected by all the teacher in the school for 
2 out of the 4 awards!!!
She received the Service award and the Alderdice Award!
Incredible!

Ike also received Honors! Whoot! Whoot!

ACS school parents~ Such amazing people. 
?,?,?,?,Linda, me, Maria, ?, Shereen, Rania, and Cindy

 Grade 4 Teachers
Mr. Brady and Ms. Lester

 Josh's buddies with Erin

More great mom's! Carli, Paula, Elfi, Florencia and Jolanda

DUKE'S LANE!
Royal Ascot Week

Eliza Remington and Payton Larson came for just a week long visit and we had so much fun having them. Anne, Eliza and Payton just went and went all over London and had such a great time together. 

My dear friend Corrine came in for a night to stay with us. It was SO great to see her. She's moved back to the States and when I told her we were going to see the queen, she was so excited to come.  She lived in England for 12 years and this was the first time she saw her!

And where was Ike?!!!! He was out teaching with Elder Allen and Elder Lee!

Day 2!

 Marci-Beth got tickets for another day that week and so I got to go twice!
It was so much fun and I completely enjoyed it. 
me, Claire, Nichole and Marci-Beth

 It is such fun pomp and fluff!

Liquid Liesure Birthday Party! 
Instead of individual birthday parties, the boys wanted to have one big joint party at Liquid Leisure!
 It was the perfect day with the McKeon's and Eliza and Payton. It was a riot!


Payton, Anne, Eliza, Josh, Ike, Ty, Emily, Stephen, Kyle, me, Spence and John

\
Everyone had such a great time and  I think it was a huge hit. 
Happy 10th Birthday Josh!

Birthdhay cake with friends and family!
Buck, Melanie, Matthew Knight, me, Claire, Isaiah Powell, Kyle, Stephen, Josh, 
Stephen, Ike, Emily and Ty, Eliza, Anne, Payton and Spence.

I made my first fondant cake! It was so time consuming but pretty worth it when Josh saw it. He seemed very happy with it. It was a Barcelona Football Club "Messi" shirt. (His number is 10 and Josh was turning 10!)
Josh, HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY! I can't believe you're 10! My baby is in the double digits! You are my playful, never-met-a-stranger child who is quick to laugh, join in, help out and you ALWYAS have a ball at your feet ready to dribble around the house. Thank you for being YOU! We love you so much xx Happy Happy birthday!
Beach Day!
Where else to spend the perfect day, at the perfect place? The beach of course!! We woke up at 6:30 in the morning to complete the hour and a half drive down to the beach. This beach had perfectly soft sand, and the weather was on point! We played and relaxed all day. It was Josh's actual birthday and we had so much fun celebrating it together. 

This was the funniest...All the kids had different types of paddles to keep the ball up in the air for soooo many hits! Josh's "paddle" was the best. 

Oh I love these kids x

These kids played countless games of spikeball

Honestly, we couldn't get over how perfect the sand and weather were.

Happy 12th Birthday Ty!

Happy 12th Birthday Ty!! I can't believe you are in Young Men's! You have been so excited for a very long time to go to Youth Night with Ike and Anne. (But I am a little sad that calling you "the little boys" (you and Josh) isn't quite as apropos.)  But Ty, you are so quick witted, helpful to me in the morning (which I desperately love), kind, funny, SO talented on the piano, in school, reading, maths and in doing 'stop-motion' videos. I love that we have to constantly buy you books because you go through them so quickly. And you are going to be the best little Priesthood holder. I am so happy and prepared that you are excited for this new step in your life.

 Birthday lunch with Ty!
Yahoo! He picked Sushi too! Love Sushi Nara

 Ty was SO stinking funny. He wanted to show how independent he was because he turned 12. So he had me drop him off in Staines, and he had to buy a ticket then he rode it to Virginia Water and I drove like mad to be there in time to pick him up. haha! I love it xx

 Our good friends who moved to Taiwan came back to visit us for a couple of hours. It was SO great to see them and she surprised us with bringing her new baby! We loved meeting him. He was absolutely adorable.
Carrina, Oliver and Alexander Normann (originally from Denmark)

 At youth night that evening, we celebrated Ty's birthday!
It was so much fun and everyone loved the cake!

Cameron is the greatest friend

London & Fun

Anne insisted in taking Payton and Eliza into Longon to 'Books for Cooks!" It's Anne's favourite place! 

Playing non-stop...and this includes in the garden.

Saying goodbye to the McKeon family was so hard. They had become some of our greatest friends, and always treated us like family. We all hope to see each other again. 

Claire teaching me to eat healthier! x
TAYLOR SWIFT 

 Anne was invited by her friend Ryder Maple to take the extra ticket with his family Marci-Beth and Jeff and his girl friend Celine! There are no words to how much fun she had. She said the concert was absolutely AMAZING! 

Marci-Beth said Anne's face was so cute when she saw Taylor Swift!
I love that she got invited! It sounded amazing and THANK YOU SO MUCH Maple family!!

And where did this extra Taylor Swift ticket come from...
Ryder's little brother who DID NOT want to go, so he came and hung out with Josh and Anne with to the concert!! Win! Win!

Afternoon Tea!

We went to the most beautiful hotel for afternoon tea in Guilford. Anne, Eliza and Jen Gravina were an absolute blast to be with. We all completely enjoyed our time together, the beautiful day and the stunning grounds. 

This was SO funny! I took a picture of Anne's face when I told her we got to have EVERYTHING on the menu for afternoon tea! It was so stinking funny.

 The entrance to the hotel where we had afternoon tea.

Our last evening out with Eliza before she left for her BYU study abroad. 
We love you SO much Eliza. Come live with us ANYTIME xxxx
HEVER CASTLE WITH JEN GRAVINA!

Jen was so cute! I asked her to give me her top picks of places to see while she was here. She was so excited to see Anne Boleyn's Hever Castle. It was an absolutely stunning day and the castle and grounds were gorgeous. 

I just wanted to take some pictures of this beautiful place and its grounds.

CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

Jen is an AVID reader and lover of English History. You can imagine how much fun it was to visit this cathedral again, but this time with an expert! She was a wealth of knowledge and I had so much fun listening to her tell me all about King Henry II and Thomas Beckett.

Canterbury Cathedral was one of the most important centres of pilgrimage in Medieval England. 
There has been a cathedral at Canterbury since 597.

Under an Equal Sky commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. It's in the shape of a ship in the Cathedral’s Nave.
International artists Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg

This is where Thomas Beckett was murdered and immediately raised him to sainthood. 

It was very interesting to see all the pieces of art made to remember this tragic event. 

Country Cottage 

Do people really comment about their airbnb experiences? Well, this is a time to do it...Sarah was our hostess and she was the most DIVINE, gracious, INSTANT friend I think I have ever met. Jen and I were immediately welcomed like old friends. I have to laugh that staying with them was probably the highlight of the weekend. Jen and I were just blown away with their incredible openness and kindness. FABULOUS STAY!

Sarah, Mitch, Mikey & Amy

Jen was so much fun and we had such a fantastic time together and this weekend 
was such a massive highlight to be in her company. 

Charming, sweet room- but it was the company that made it so great. 
DOVER CASTLE!

King Henry II began the building of the present castle in the 1180s, and over the next 800 years its buildings and defences were adapted to meet the changing demands of weapons and warfare.  

Jen loves the stories and history of this time and I felt like a little child hanging on her every word as she told me the stories she'd read about King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The king married her as she was one of the most powerful and wealthiest women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She was queen consort of France and England and duchess of Aquitaine. Sadly, they had a MAJOR family feud and the king was so threatened by her and his sons, he became quite vindictive and paranoid.

The king's chambers

My favorite time at the castle...when Jen got to talk with King Henry II. They spoke back and forth as if they were friends of some sorts...But he NEVER lost site that he was the king! He stayed in character the whole time and Jen spoke to him about his life at that time.

Ty received the Priesthood!

I'm not sure anyone could be more happy to turn 12 and receive the priesthood than Ty. He as always been ready for this and he's so excited to serve in this capacity. 

We were very blessed to have one of our favourite past missionaries visit and was there for his ordination. Matiss Senkans (Riga, Latvia), Ike, and YM press James Swineford. 

Also Brother Carlos Viera and Brother Blake Snijman stood in the circle as well. 

YW Activities!

I got called back into the YW! We made tie-dye shirts and papier-mâché piñatas for the ward party. 
Jayden, Jenny, Annie, Anne and Derryn
Primary Activity Days

Painting prayer rocks

Josh, Sister Alyson White, Katie Vermaas, Bianca and Beatriz Viera