White Trash BBQ

Hey everyone it's that time of year. Time for Quinn's friends annual White Trash BBQ! This is a picture of Quinn's costume two summers ago. I wish I could make it bigger so you could really appreciate it. I'm sending out the invite! It's a big event with a band, a slip and slide, a white trash hot tub and fireworks to top it all off. They get really into it so know that you have to be pretty decked out in your white trash garb. We would love everyone to come, the more the merrier. It' s August 16, if you want to know directions just give me a ring or leave a message. It will be a lot of fun!!

S'mores

I love sitting around a campfire with good friends roasting marsh mellows and making S'mores. It's one of my favorite summer traditions. We enjoyed the mountains and smokey fire with good friends Spencer, Lindsey, Josh and Jen.

Josh

The main reason to go visit Eugene was to see my sweet Nephew Joshie get baptized. I can't believe that he is old enough to be getting baptized, but here we are. Josh is such a great kid and I am so proud of him. The baptism was so moving. I got very teary watching my brother baptize his son. I am so proud of both of them.
It was so fun to spend a few hours at my brothers house in Eugene. His property is so beautiful. He has so much space for the boys to play and it's so green!It was nice to see Ali's family, the Roberts. ( sorry that picture is so small of everyone, I can't figure out how to get it bigger. ) I was pretty close to her family growing up so it was nice to catch up and see them again.
Well the last picture says it all. We had a wonderful trip, and to be truthful, we were a bit sad to get back to reality. I am so grateful that we did it though. The whole experience is one that I will cherish forever.

Oregon

To end our trip we got to go to Oregon to visit my brother Matt and his family. He rented a home in Sunriver, just outside of Bend Oregon. It was gorgeous!! We rode bikes, went for hikes, floated down the river in tubes and enjoyed the outdoors! Thank you Matt and Ali for this wonderful experience. We loved it. It was so beautiful. We are so happy that we finally got to see your wonderful home and to visit Eugene. We can't wait to go back!!!

The Kings

While in London we had the great opportunity to meet up with one of Mikey's missions companions and his wife and children. Mikey and Paul have stayed great friends since their missions and the Kings have actually come and visited our family so we have had the pleasure of getting to know them too. They were so nice to come and meet up with us in London for a few hours, especially since Katrina had just had a baby two weeks before!! They were so sweet, they walked the city with us and even treated us to dinner ( next time it's our turn! ) We had so much fun chatting and catching up. Their children are so much fun and incredibly cute. Gracie practically jumped in my arms moments after meeting me, ( I adored hearing her sweet little accent ) Mikey kept us laughing and baby Molly was just the most precious little thing. Thank you Kings! You're the best! We miss our friends from across the pond, we can't wait till you guys come visit again.
Oh, the picture of all of us is in front of Buckingham Palace.

Just a few more....

Riding the London eye was so fun! The worlds largest Ferris wheel lets you see 25 miles in every direction.
Big Ben is gorgeous. The whole Parliament building is quite stunning. It was a little smaller than I imagined, but still so fun to see.
The last picture is us in front of Buckingham Palace, the gardens were so breath taking.

London Continued

Here we are walking over the Tower Bridge. The next is in the beautiful Hyde Park, it reminded me of Central Park, in that it was a massive park in the middle of the city. It was very charming. Next a picture of us walking down Piccadilly Street, I loved the buildings in London, old mixed with new architecture. The next picture is of us in the famous Trafalgar Square, where the national museum of Art is located. Here was saw amazing works of art by Van Gogh, Monet, and more. The last picture is of St. Paul's Cathedral, a famous cathedral in London where such things like Prince Charles and Dianna's marriage took place.

London Baby!

I was so excited to go to London!I've always been interested in mid evil history and fascinated by the English monarchy, also I was so excited to see where my brother Mikey and my Dad served missions. It was so refreshing to be back in an English speaking country and the English weather was wonderful! The rain was a welcomed change to the hot Italian sun. We loved London!
Here we are at the famous changing of the guard. It was fun to see the guards march and play instruments. Next is Westminster Abbey, by far my favorite church in Europe. It was incredible to walk around this famous church that I have read so much about. To think of all the coronations and royal funerals, not to mention the people buried there, Edward l, Henry Vll, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scott's, Chaucer,Charles Dickens, Handel, Lord Byron, Sir Isaac Newton, Jane Austen, etc. etc. I was so enthralled I could have stayed all day. Right next to Westminster is Big Ben and Parliament. I didn't realize these were right across the street from one another. The next attraction that I absolutely adored was the tower! I was so giddy to go to the tower. Quinn looked over at me at one point and commented that I was like a kid in a candy store. To actually stand in the rooms that once held great ( and not so great ) Kings of the past. I have read so much about the tower and the stories that happened there. One of the stories that I love is about Simon de Montfort, King Henry lll brother in law who was the pioneer of representative government and lead a war against his King to let the people of England have more say in their government, only to be killed by his Nephew Edward l. The tower told the story of King Henry lll and Simon, and in one room in particular told of their heated discussions in the very room that I was standing! ( I'm sounding a little dorky I know but I love the History of that country. It fascinates me ) Last is the famous Tower bridge, which I always thought was London bridge, to be honest the real London bridge is nothing to spectacular, but the Tower bridge was beautiful!

Roma

Here we are at the Pantheon built by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC, it is dedicated to the planetary Gods. It is the tomb for many Italian Kings and artists, Raphael is Buried here. The next picture is overlooking Rome. You can see the Vatican in the background. The next picture is of us at the Bocca della verita. Legend has it that if you put your hand in the mouth and tell a lie it will snap shut. The next is a picture of the Colosseum at night. It was so stunning all lit up. The last is a picture of Quinn and I cooling off in a local fountain. It was so hot we did what we could.

Vivi appassionatamente

Here we are at the Trevi Fountain, part of Romes earliest Aqueducts. The next Pictures are at the Vatican. This was one of the highlights of the trip. The Vatican is beautiful, it is filled with magnificent works of art and incredible history, we enjoyed every minute. The next picture is of St. Peter's square with St. Peter's Basilica in the background, this Cathedral was beautiful. It is incredibly large and completely filled with art. One of the most famous pieces of art in the Cathedral is Michelangelo's Pieta, sculpted when he was only 24. The tomb of St. Peter is next. The design was amazing, I loved it, it was extremely humbling to think you could be near the body of an apostle of Christ. The last picture is of the Sistine chapel, which I hesitate to put on here because you aren't suppose to take pictures of this influential ceiling but when we walked in everyone else was taking pictures and we figured it was alright, only to hear later a security guard yelling at a fellow transgressor, but by then we had already taken the picture ( no flash, at least ) and since we had I have to share it with you. It was an out of body experience looking at the famous paintings, very moving.

Rome

Rome was absolutely amazing! Everywhere you turned were ancient ruins and thousands of years of history. Of course the highlight of the ruins was the Colosseum. Built in the years 72AD - 80AD it could hold over 50,000 spectators as they watched gladiators fight to their deaths. Across from the Colosseum was the roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This area was truly spectacular! The ruins were from the time of Christ. One of the things that I loved was being able to go into Caesar Augustus's home, where you could still see the fresco's on the walls.

More Florence

Walking the Beautiful streets of Florence!!!