A halloween evening out

Last week we headed over to Gardner Village for a fun Halloween evening out. We went the weekend that they were doing their "wee witches' thingy, and let me tell you it was rather crowded, but jolly good fun all the same. We actually didn't end up staying an incredibly long time (due to the crowds, two strollers and a toddler) but fun was had by all. We visited the petting zoo and strolled around, enjoying all the costumes (Anna and I then spent the rest of the evening planning what we were are going to dress our baby up as next year - so many choices! but I guess we have a year to figure it out!). Enjoy the pictures!

Usborne Books Show

As some of you know, Alison and I hosted an Usborne Books show for Vicki on Saturday, who is a consultant for the company. If you've never been to one of these shows or seen the books, they are really awesome, educational and quality books for kids of all ages. If you weren't able to make it to the party on Saturday, we are hosting an "e-party" until midnight on Saturday Nov. 1, which you can go to online and take a look at what Usborne has to offer.
To shop visit www.ubah.com/HOS129133
Or, if you're interested in hosting a show yourself, go to www.ubah.com/x2671 or contact Vicki, and if you host and close a book show before December 11, you can earn double free books!

Georgie eating an apple

Now I do realize that the title this post probably doesn't incite too much excitement, but I just wanted to post these very cute pictures of Georgie eating and apple like a little person. Isn't she cute!

Two New Posts

FYI - I just added two new posts about our trip and for some reason they have posted themselves in a weird order. If you're keeping track the two new posts are the second one directly under this post and then the other is about the fourth one down. Enjoy!

Something funny to brighten your day

Just to break up the vacation post a little - there are more to come by the way - here is a very funny clip from The Soup. We watched this the other day and, seriously, it is soooooo entertaining. Enjoy!

Our last post about our trip - I promise!

On our last day in England we took a fun trip to Oxford with our friends Vicky and Neil (Vicky was the 'best man' at our wedding - we have been friends forever) and it was jolly fun. None of us had ever been to Oxford before and I'm not really sure as to why because it really is a neat place to visit. We decided to plan our day to include a visit to Christ Church College (part of the famous Oxford University). Christ Church college is awesome, it is such a beautiful place to visit and has featured in several movies and TV shows (such as Inspector Morse), including (and the main reason for the visit) the Harry Potter films!!! The college was the setting for some of the scenes filmed at Hogwarts, including the stairwell and the main hall. Unfortunately the main hall was closed to visitors but we got to take a quick peak anyways however the stairway was open to visitors so we got some pics. After that little visit we headed across the street to Alice's shop, which is where the little girl that the Alice in Wonderland story is based upon used to go and by her barley sugar sweets. I had no idea that 1- Alice was real and 2- that the stories were written in Oxford - but now I do and you do too. It was choc-a-block full of Alice stuff - Vicky and Niel kindly bought us a lovely book for our little one. It was such a fun day especially as we got to see Vicky and Neil, it's so fun to see friends that even if you haven't seen in a few years feels like no time has passed at all. Thanks for a great day Vicky and Neil! (hopefully we'll see you guys soon - come visit!)

The main hall, that you may recognize, from the Harry Potter Movies

The staircase (above and below) that was, again, used in the Harry movies

With Vicky in the courtyard at Christ Church College (which was used in episodes of Inspector Morse)

The Alice Shop

Relaxing and catching up

After our busy trips to Paris and London we decided to spend a few days with my Mum at home. We had originally planned on heading to the sea-side for three days, we actually ended up going juts for one night and coming straight home the next day as Anna was feeling a little sick (so there aren't really any fun stories to tell there). So once nicely back to my Mum's house we had a few relaxing days, going shopping, visiting my Nan and just hanging out. Here's a collection of random pictures from our trip and some of the fun things we did.

We went to Market Harborough and had a fun time just visiting the quaint town

We took my Mum's dog on a walk down the Mill, Mum's house backs onto these fields and river that I used to go down to a lot when I was younger. It was fun to go back, it was quite overgrown compared to how I remember it, especially by the river Nene.

We visited Nan, and she spoiled us on behalf of the baby

One of the days my Mum held a garden party and invited all of our family (see the picture at the top of this post) and some of her friends over. We set up her garden and people just came and went as they wished. it was a really nice day and it was great to see everyone. Mum did an awesome job with the food and decorations, the only negative was that Anna insisted on making some Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, which were not quite the hit she had hoped (pretty much everyone who tried one wasn't impressed - I tried to tell her it was an American thing!)

Mum, Me and Gramps (my Grandad)

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, we headed over to Dad and Sue's for dinner, where my Dad cooked his famous spaghetti. He claims it has some kind of secret ingredient, it is quite delicious, but he was unwilling to share - therefore my initial suspicions, of it just being spaghetti in tomato soup, remain (I know it doesn't sound too tasty, but it is and I love it, he always used to cook it when I was little)

More of our Vacation

I'll be honest, I lost momentum a little on posting the pictures from our trip, but now I'm back - with some pictures from Bourton on the Water (in the Cotswolds). We decided to take a trip there specifically to visit the model village they have. You see since Anna saw the excellent movie "Hot Fuzz" she has wanted to visit a model village and now her wish has come true, and let me tell you didn't disappoint. So the model village, which they refer to as the 9th wonder of the world, is actually a scale model of the actual village, so it was actually kind of fun to match up the model with the existing village. Apparently they update the model as the village changes, which in all honesty isn't too often. I have to say it was worth the 3 pound and 90 ninety pence to get in. The model village even had a model village in it, then the model village of the model village had a model village in it too - crazy stuff!. After hanging out at the model village for a while we headed into the actual village and had quite the pleasant day.

Anna has not only gained weight since being pregnant she has gotten a lot taller too!!(ha ha)


Anna doing her best to be Godzilla




The model village in the model village, and the blue/green thing in the bottom left of the picture is the model village in the model village in the model village (if that makes sense)


The actual village

A couple of trips to old London Town

Next stop on our trip0, after a nice lazy day at my Mum's house eating delicious food (see above - mmmmmmm - sausage, eggs and chips - with lots of brown sauce for good measure), we headed off to London with my Dad and Sue and had quite the lovely time. We stayed overnight and got to do lots of things, the first night we were there we went to see the new production of The Sound of Music - which was great, the show was really good and thoroughly entertaining. We had great seats - which was super nice as normally we are in the cheap seats at the back. We also headed over to Covent Garden and went to this fun old fashioned toy shop where we got some fun baby things. The second day we were in London we went to tour Buckingham Palace - which none of us had ever done before - and I would whole heartedly recommend it. The Palace is amazing and they ahd this cool audio tour which give you so much info about everything as you toured around. The State Room (where all the banquets are held) was set up for a banquet and boy was it fancy, Anna has now decided that she would like to attend such a banquet - good luck on that one! We had a really fun time in London and really got quite spoilt - thanks Dad and Sue!


Then the next week Mum surprised us with another trip to London - this time to see Wicked. We were sooooo excited to get to see Wicked as it truly is - Wicked. I absolutely loved it, we have loved the soundtrack for such a long time (although I though the book was a little odd), so it was so great to see the show and hear our fave songs (mine - Defying Gravity and Anna's - What is this feeling? - I think it reminds her of being a missionary with a new companion!). The show was so spectacular and the cast were awesome, the actor playing Elphaba was really good, I believe her name is Alexia Khadime. It was a blast! We then took a nice leisurely stroll over to Covent Garden area again - it is really quite fun and then headed home.

Our visit to Versailles

Towards the end of our trip to Paris, Anna and I decided to take a quick trip to Versailles and it was such an awesome place to visit -I would highly recommend it. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to see the all of the extensive gardens and palaces, however we saw the main palace and gardens. To describe it as opulent is really quite the understatement, some of the palace was so over the top, it's no wonder the french people were a tad annoyed and revolted. The only thing I didn't like about the trip was that for some reason it had been decided that it would be a good idea to display some modern 'art' in the palace and, now I'm not the biggest fan of modern art so maybe you can see some merit to it, it kind of ruined the feel of the place. Other than that it was great and we loved it - so enjoy the pictures!

Here is Anna outside the front of the palace - you'll note that there is a chappie in the background approaching Anna with a lovely scarf. It turns out that Anna is a beacon for all kinds of street vendors, beggars, odd people, it must be because she has a kind face. Anyway you'll be pleased to know she resisted the scarf - as lovely as it is!


The first part of the palace had all of these really cool rooms, each lined with vibrant, colorful fabric - we liked the yellow one the best


Above and below - the 'art', doesn't really fit in now does it. Seriously an inflatable lobster and a statue of Michael Jackson and a chimp - in Versailles



The back of the palace


The gardens were awesome and went on forever - the lake at the back of the picture isn't even the end, it was so huge and impressive. The gardens were immaculate too - it puts our yard to shame - there were statues and little hidden parts every where - we loved it.

Paris et ses environs

The first stop on our trip was four days in wonderful Paris (thanks to the all new non stop delta flight from SLC - 9.5 hours - not bad if you ask me). In Paris we met up with my Mum and her friend David and had a blast. We stayed in an area of Paris that I had never been to which is, apparently, known as the Manhattan of Paris (due to the huge number of huge office blocks there). I'm not sure of the actual name of the area but it was right by this big cool building called La Arche De La Defense, and some modern art (see the large thumb below). Whilst in Paris we did all the usual touristy things (Eiffel Tour, Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame, Champs Elysses) and some things we hadn't done before like visiting the Cathedrale Scare Coeur (which had the best views over Paris - although it was a little misty that day, and is right by this quaint square with cafes and artists all around)and taking a river cruise on the Seine (which was awesome as we got to, obviously, go under all the cool bridges around Paris. We bought two day tickets for these coll open top tour buses they have in Paris which was a really fun, and super easy, way to get around. We really lucked out during our whole trip as it only rained once - which is rather unprecedented. In short Paris was wonderful, it was great to go back - Anna and I went there when we were dating and actually it was while we were in Paris that we decided to get married - so it was really nice to go back and it was great to have Mum and David with us. Enjoy the pictures!

On the river cruise on the Seine


The square by the Cathedrale Sacre Coeur


La Arche de la Defense - cool isn't it - there was also a great mall and restaurants there too



The thumb - it's kind of gross really


Me and Mum at the cafe


There were all these cool stands selling old books and prints all the way form Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower (we bought a cute pic for the nursery)



Notre Dame


So it was whilst walking up these steps (just down from the Eiffel Tower) that we decided to get married and now here we are five years later!


Arc De Triomphe