Foggy London Town

Now we know what people were talking about when they say that London is a foggy town. We have been stuck in face-freezing fog for about three days now and it doesn't seem to be lifting. As some of you may know this has been causing major problems for Heathrow Airport and since we have family flying in tomorrow and next week I think it is time for a big group prayer for no more fog. It does make it feel very Christmassy here though. We have our tree and our tiny pile of presents that make our tree look huge. Merry Christmas to everyone! We miss all our family and HOPE and PRAY to see some of you soon.

This is the view out of our kitchen window. The fog is starting to clear this morning.

Here is our little Christmas Tree.

This is me, freezing on the tube after a day of Christmas shopping down town. It really made me miss the mall where you can get it all done in one stop!

Personal History

Isn't it funny how the people we are closest are sometimes the most mysterious to us. For instance, I could only tell you a handful of stories about my father growing up but I could tell you the whole life history about some of my aunts and uncles. It just helps us realize to not only share everyday life with those we love, but fun stories and life lessons. Nate and I play a game where one of us has to come up with a story about ourselves that the other one hasn't heard. It's amazing to find out that there are stories we don't know about each other. The Washburn side of my family has a monthly newsletter and next month we are writing a 2 page personal history of every member of the family...EVERY member. I will post mine and Nate's when we get them written for anyone who is interested. I think it is good to stop every once in a while to take stock of your life.

Good books inspire deep thoughts

I just finished a book by Jodi Picoult called Second Glances. It was really interesting and I recommend it. It discussed the interesting and controversial blight on American history. In the 1920's and 30's thirty-three states passed bills that in some form or another that paved the way for the sterilization of "inferior" persons. It discussed eugenincs, which usually refers to the selective breeding of certain animals (cows, etc.) to ensure that any inferior genes were weeded out. Doctors, professors, and politicians decided to apply this to humans which usually lead to racial discrimination as well as dicrimination against any who were indigent, feebleminded, insane, blind, deaf, criminally inclined, or transient becuase it was decided these people were inferior and so should not be allowed to procreate. These people were "voluntarily" sterilized. This was then tied to modern day gene selection to get rid of things like inherited disorders such as sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, etc. This is something that scientifically, we are very close to accomplishing. The question at hand is who decides how far to take something like this. Anyway, my point is this: I have to write a research paper for my internet class and I thought this would be an interesting topic. Without turning this into a family debate, I would love to hear any opinions or points of view or even stories that I can work into my paper. It is always good to challenge the mind so let me know what you all think. If you don't want to post something you can email me at aksechrest@gmail.com. I would really appreciate any help.

Quirky British

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and I got all my stuff and was going through the line. I am almost through when the lady tells me that I can't buy the can of refried beans. Now, I'm confused because she is holding the can of beans and I can tell her that they cost exactly 85 pence and there is a bar code on them and everything. She tells me that they don't have them in their computer so I can't have them and that this has happened before and I can come back tomorrow and get them. Well, I don't want to make tacos tomorrow, I want them tonight so I offer to just give her an extra pound if she just lets me take the can of beans in her hand home. She looked so offended that I let it go. I'm pretty sure that this sort of thing would never happen at Walmart but what do I know, I'm just American. I mean, just take the cans off the shelf if you can't sell them. Anyway, we run in to wierd stuff like this all the time here and it just helps you realize what a great country America is and how fun it is to shake your head in amusement at our British brethren sometimes.

Thanksgiving in London

The British obviously don't celebrate Thanksgiving so Nate had to go to school on Thursday and we celebrated on Friday. We had a lovely time with just the two of us. We had a yummy turkey and most of the fixings (we skipped yams and pumpkin pie as niether of us are fans). Thanks to the family for the Rasberry Jello and the pudding mix. It is just not Thanksgiving without Chocolate pie and Rasberry Jello!

Home Sweet Home

Here are some pictures of our flat here in London. It is a cozy one bedroom and we love it!

This is Nate studying at our desk, ie. the window sill. This is the only place where we get internet.

This is Nate studying on the couch. And you all said he couldn't do it!

This is Alayna reading in the bedroom. She is a good reader. on our IKEA bed spread

This is our kitchen it is very clean. We like to keep things tidy.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth opened Parliment on the 15th and I was so excited to see her. I got there early and saw the whole parade. They pulled out all the stops and it was truly an event to see. They had all the bands and guards and horses in all of London... or maybe just Buckingham Palace. I got a few pictures of the soldiers in their funny hats and big guns (I thought Luke would like that), and I got the queen and the crown and all that for Halle and the rest of the girls. Nate couldn't be there (he does go to class pretty regularly) so I took a million pictures for him which I am now passing on to all of you!

This is the Queen in her fancy carriage. She was moving pretty fast so the pictures are a little blurry.

This is Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh. He is the Queen's husband but not technically the king because he is not in the right place in the blood line, although he is in the blood line (they are distant cousins, but not that distant). He is not generally very friendly with cameras and I am getting the stink eye from royalty, hee hee.

This is a closer shot of the Queen and her fancy tiara. She wears this on the way to Westminster Abbey, where she opens parliment, because the real crown is very heavy (about seven pounds, a lot of weight for an older lady's head).

This is the carriage that carries the crown to Westminster Abbey. I don't know who the people are but the crown is cool. If you look close you can see the scepter being held by the man in the grey suit. This holds the world's largest cut diamond which you can see up close at the Tower of London, when they aren't using it, of course.

These are soldiers in the Royal Army. They are holding real guns with big dagger bayonettes at the end. These are all real soldiers and many of them have been serving in Iraq with our boys. When you see them up close they look like teenagers. They are all so young but they really don't respond to you at all unless you cause a scene.

More fun in London

It has turned very very cold and we have already pulled out the hats and scarves. Nate is doing good in school and he just realized the other day that he doesn't have a singe final this term so we are going to take off for Scotland two days earlier than planned. It will catch up with him next term because a lot of his classes (and thier related finals) will carry on to the next section. There are already a bunch of Christmas lights up and tonight we are going ice skating. I can't think of a better place to have Chistmas than London, except maybe home with our families, but we are excited nonetheless. Here are some more pictures!

Here is me and Nate and Rachael and Brandi. They may hate me for this picture becuase they had just gotten off the plane but I love it!

This is me and Rachael at Westminster Abbey. This was one of the last days of good weather and this courtyard was so pretty.

Again they may hate me for this picture but all pictures in my possession are fair game! This is Rachael and Brandi doing a dance in front of the Tower of London.

Friends from home

My best friend from high school recently came and visited us here in London. She and her friend Brandi came for a few days and then went to Spain, France, Italy, Austria, and Germany and then back to London for a few days. I just put them on a plane this morning and I was so sad to see them go. Here are some of the things we did and pitures we took.

Here is Rachael trying to figure out her camera.

This is me with one of the volunteers at Westminster Abbey.Here is the statue in fron of Buckingham palace.This is St. Pauls Cathedral. They don't let you take pictures inside but it is awesome!Here is the view from the top of St Paul's Cathedral. It is like 420 winding steps to the top but it is worth the hike.

More pictures to come! I have to find some with Brandi because I love her too!

Staying Busy

Believe it or not you can actually run out of things to do in London. When you are on a budget and you don't drink or party the city can be a boring place once you have seen all the museums and tourist spots. I definitly have not sampled all London has to offer but my point is this: if anyone has any good book they have read or any suggestions on time fillers while Nate is in school I would love to hear them! I signed up for a library card and I found a few art classes that I'm going to take. I also am taking the time while the weather is nice to freak watch in Hyde park. It is a whole new world here and I love it. It just gets boring when I run out of books to read on the tube.

Pictures of London

Here are a few pictures we have taken since we have been here. There are so many things to see here and I am glad we invested in a fancy camera before we came. Here is one of me in front of the Tower Bridge (the one that everyone thinks is the London Bridge, including Fergie) and one from another bridge in St. James' Park. The last one is a picture of Big Ben and some of the trees in the courtyard of Parliment.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The best thing about Notre Dame is the football. We have become die hard fans and we are really sad to be missing games this year. We found an American sports bar here that plays all the games so we get to watch them but it's not the same. Plus, it is a little odd for us to spend every Saturday night in a bar and then get up early for church the next morning. But for Notre Dame football we do what we have to do. Here are some of the pictures we took last year. When my family came last year for the BYU game my parents had tickets almost in the end zone so they got some great pics.



This picture is Darius Walker, Notre Dame's running back, praying before the game. Apparently it worked because Notre Dame smashed BYU that game. Sorry guys.

Mishawaka, IN

We actually lived in a town called Mishawaka, which is very close to South Bend. We lived in Indian Lakes apartments and we loved it. We were right on a lake and we had geese and ducks almost year round.

Notre Dame Campus

Here are some picutres of the campus in South Bend. It is a huge and beautiful campus. Most of the time it seems so empty because Notre Dame likes to keep the number of students to a minimum but on game days it is crazy busy and we love it. The Law building is near the center of campus just down the quad (known as "God Quad") from the golden dome and the basilica.

Nate goes to Notre Dame!

Nate started Law school at The University of Notre Dame last year. He finished his first year and we are so glad it is over. As soon as I figure out how I will post some pictures of the campus and our apartment in Mishawaka, IN. We are now well into our second year in London and more posts are forthcoming.

The Sechrests are going to...

Welcome to our blog! We are in London and doing well. Much Love to all our family and friends.