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!