Another Day Downtown.

It has been another busy few days and I am totally exhausted.  Which is good for all you people who actually read this because that means it will be short!  Well to start off, it was a rainy day here a couple of days ago.  Can you believe it!?  :)  Anyway, I decided to build the kids a fort and have a movie day.  Here is a picture of that.

And yes, for those of you who care about Football.. That would be an Arsenal blanket.  They are die hard fans.  I told them my nephew wanted a Chelsea jersey and I about lost my job.  Haha.  So then yesterday, I got to hang out with actual people outside of this house!!  It was great!  Here are some pictures from the riots.  The stores were totally ruined and they have Flats (apartments) above the stores that are just gone... Here is a picture from that.  

After that, I went to a friends apartment and she had the most amazing view.  That little red circle is the London Eye.  You could see everything!!  Here you go.  :)

Anyway, today we decided to go downtown again.  They boys wanted to do some Sight Seeing.  They have lived in London their WHOLE lives and have NEVER seen Big Ben or Buckingham Palace in real life!  So we went there.  Here are those ones.  

Cameron was actually quite a good driver!

This one above is Cameron's favorite.

William wanted the picture.  Isn't he the cutest?!  These next two are for you Dad.  WWII monuments.

Police on HORSES!!  You don't see that every day..

Another Police Man on a horse.  William was like "Nicole take a picture, take a picture!!  The American's need to see this!"

The next few pictures are from The Changing of the Guard.  I thought this was fascinating.  They are so precise!  It was really cool to watch.

Well that is all for today.  I will write a better post when I have time.  I love you all and miss you very much!

This is Why I Moved to London. :)

The past few days, not much has happened.  So I don't have a lot to report today.  Just some cool pictures to share.  :)  First of all, today I made a fantastic lunch for me and the boys and I was so proud of myself!!  We had steamed broccoli and carrot sticks (because they are healthy and I personally think they are delicious!), the best mashed potatoes I have probably ever made, and fall of the bone ribs.  I have never made ribs before and, not to brag, but I did an amazing job!!  Here is a picture of my lunch.  :)

Now you can't tell me that doesn't look delicious!  I love how the HP sauce is in the background.  Seriously.. Vimto, HP, Aero bubbles and Wispa's, CHEAP sparkling water, This seriously is the life!  After we ate some lunch, we took a train to Waterloo so we could take a flight on THE LONDON EYE!! It was amazing!! I recommend it to anyone and everyone that comes here.  I have heard from locals that it is the one thing you HAVE to do when you come here.  So I did it.  And it was one of the coolest things I have ever done.  Here is a picture of the entrance to the Waterloo Station.  Cameron thought it looked cool and asked if I would take a picture for him.  

After we got of the train, we realized there is so much to do around this area!  The kids and I want to go back one day next week because we had such a great time and didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to.  First of all, we saw a group of break dancers.  The boys thought they looked cool so we stopped to watch them.  It was a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures from that.  And yes, one of those pictures, the guy is spinning on his head!

Then, we saw a lot of people dressed in costumes like you see on the strip in Vegas, only they were all in like a 50 foot radius.  William saw Jack Sparrow and really wanted a picture with him so we did that too. 

After that was London Eye time!  We went to a 4-D show of the London Eye before hand which was really cool.  The boys loved it!  Next was time to stand in the looooong line which surprisingly went quite fast.  Here are two pictures from when we were standing in line.  

Next it is time for all my pictures from out flight!  They aren't the best because people were crowding the windows and it was hard to get pictures.  And the sun was shinning really bright and making the lighting pretty bad for picture taking, I wish it was more overcast like a normal London day, but I still think they turned out okay enough to share it with my friends and family.  So here you go!  I love The London Eye.  :)

The last one is my personal favorite.  :)  Also, since some of you have been asking for some pictures with me in them, I asked Cameron to take two of me today.  So here is proof that I am really here and not just stealing these pictures from someone else.  :)  Hahah.  

I took two pictures so you could see both sides.  I love the River Thames too!  There is just something so old fashioned about it.  And everyone knows how much I love old fashioned stuff (especially the early to mid 1900's which is EXACTLY the feeling I get from it.)  Going to the docks is one of my favorite things to do around here.  But, that is all for my post today.  Can't wait for more adventures living here!  Hope you all enjoy.  I love you all and Miss you all very much and I wish you all could be here with me!  

      

This week as been awfully busy!  I finally have some time to post.  Well I learned that being a Mom is MUCH harder work than I thought.  I go to bed totally exhausted every night but on the bright side, I am FINALLY getting a good nights rest for the first time in literally years.  I walk at least 8 miles a day and my legs are turning into pure muscle.  Anyone want to have a go at an Indian leg war next time I am home?  I bet I will win!  The family is so great.  The parents treat me as good as one of their own, maybe even better!  I am still quite homesick and the nights are hardest.  As soon as I lay down, I realize what I am actually doing and that my entire family is over 5,000 miles away, but as soon as I get up I forget everything.  I am much busier than I thought I would be, but I actually enjoy having something to do every minute and every second of every day.  Well every day this week I have had to walk to the park to drop Cameron at Wimbledon Park for water sports.  My days then have consisted of; spending time on the Playground with William, eat lunch in the park, go home and play Wii, walk to the park to get Cameron, Bring the kids home, Get Tea (Dinner) going, Walk into the village to go shopping, and coming home and literally passing out.  Here are a couple pictures from the park.

This is a street on the way to Wimbledon Park.  Its my favorite street.  I think is such a cute street!

This is where Cameron does his Water Sports.  And yes, it is as cold as it looks!

William playing at the Fun Fair! (Carnival)

British chips (french fries) are amazing!  They also have crisps (potato chips) in every flavor you can imagine and they are delicious!  The hamburgers over here however.. Disgusting.  This picture even makes me want to vomit.  I miss In and Out!  Hamburgers just aren't the same here...

I met two young men (who might I add were VERY attractive) in the Village near the house right after we ate that awful lunch at the Cafe in the park.  They overheard me talking and chased me down.  We spoke for about 15 minutes because they loved my accent!  Pretty sure I wont hear that very often over here!  They also had a lot of questions about America and were fascinated by the cultural differences.  Believe me, there are a lot more than you think!  I have already had someone ask me for directions and I was able to give it to them as well!  I was so excited.  I am learning my way around quickly.  I also found two new things that I am completely in love with.  First one is...

Ice Cream!!!  It has a different taste here and it is amazing!  Good thing I walk so much and I can justify having some a couple times a week!  Second thing is...

Peperami and a cheese string.  Simple I know, but it also tastes different over here!  Mom, you would LOVE peperami.  Its a little pepperoni and Salami meat stick similar to a Slim Jim, but I hated the taste of those back home.  These are fantastic!

I also took two pictures from the window on the landing outside of my bedroom.  I live in a four story house and I live on the forth story so it has a great view!  It is so beautiful to look at in the morning.    

The houses here are lovely!  I love being able to see this every morning.  And I love how old all the chimneys are here!!  They all have so much character, as well as the houses, but I seem to have taken a fancy to looking at chimneys.  Today I got to do something a bit different and I was able to go to the Wimbledon Windmill Musem and I spent most of my time there in the commons (forest) just next to it.  I could have spent forever in there.  Around here, every area with lost of trees looks like The Quinalt National Rain forest in Washington.  Everything is just green and absolutely gorgeous.  We also walked down to the mirror (A body of water that isn't quite as big as a lake, but not as small as a pond).  We found a duck there and named him Sirius after Sirius Black in Harry Potter.  They have ducks here that are black white a tiny white strip from the top of their head down their beak, and red eyes.  They are actually pretty freaky.  I also learned that Swans are freaking mean!!  I have come across a few and they have all been really mean.  The hiss and snap at you. Anyway, here are some pictures from that today.  

This was also near the commons.  Gran, make sure you show Granda this.  I took it for him.  It will give you a reason to come down to London and see me next year.  :)

London Scottish Golf Club!

I am also becoming a quick learner.  Here are some things I have learned so far.

• Everywhere you go, you WILL hear "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars.
• I underestimated how cold it would get.  I do not have warm enough clothes and it gets dreadfully cold here.
• There are dogs everywhere!  I love it.  But people also don't really care if their dogs are crying and it kills me.  It really breaks my heart and makes me a bit sick to my stomach because I just want to go play with the dogs and show them attention.
• The Ice Cream here is fantastic.
• I loved Mexican food waaaay more than I thought.  They don't have Mexican food over here.
• People look at you funny when you get excited about buying chocolate.  I have loved British chocolate since I was a little girl and I still cant believe I can get it anytime I want and its cheap!
• There is no parking.  Anywhere.  Ever.
• Movie Theaters (or Cinemas) are really small and different here.
• Underwear is called "Pants"
• Pants are called "Trousers"
• Shoes are called "Trainers'
• Jackets are called "Jumpers"
• People call money "quid" which is like us saying "bucks"
• Cobblestone hurts your feet if you walk on it for long periods of time.
• Everyone says "Oh you are from Utah?  I love that show Big Love!" ... Not the greatest way to have people associate you with.
• People have no shame here!  They say what they want and do what they want. 

And that is just to name a few.  Sorry this post is so long.. I will try to either keep them shorter or post more often.  Anyway, that is all for now.  I miss you all and I love you guys!