Slideshow of Italy and Austria

Slideshow of Italy

Ryan's Birthday

Happy 18th Birthday to Ryan! He got a camera and a trip to Italy (sort of). What more could a boy want. I think he really wanted a DS, but knew it wasn't very practical.

Pisa hotel

The hotel we stayed at in Pisa looked so cute from the outside. It was a charming little seaside resort that was very tropical and relaxing. . . until we opened the door and saw how "cozy" it was. All the kids had to squeeze onto roll-away beds that were crammed together to fit into the little kitchen/living room area. As you can tell, they seemed to sleep fine.

Ashley in Pisa

Here's the "had to get a picture of this" picture! What a wonder woman!

Pisa at night

Here we are at the leaning tower in Pisa, Italy. Most people here wonder why a person would travel off the beaten path to see this, but we thought it was very cool. Sometimes mistakes have an unexpected result.

Switzerland

Pictures of Switzerland and the Alps.

Ausfahrt and Einfahrt

We took these pictures to start our collection of foreign words that are difficult (or funny if you are a kid) to say.

Brandon's Birthday

Brandon celebrated his 13th birthday on Easter Sunday this year. He was extremely excited to get a DS.

The kids had their easter egg hunt in the house because the weather was very nasty. Thanks to grandma and grandpa, they got to find real Easter eggs.

Holland

More pictures in Holland.

Koekenhoff

We went to Holland to see the flowers at the Koekenhoff Gardens. It was probably the coldest day we have ever had. The weather had been too cold for the flowers in the fields to bloom, but we saw many amazing and beautiful flowers in the buildings there. One building was full of these flowers that smelled so good. The whole building smelled--I think--like heaven will smell:)

Paris

The nice weather we had in London did not hold out. We were freezing in Paris.
This was one of our favorite things to see. We were always happy to know there was a WC nearby!
This was the first time we rode to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was a pretty amazing sight to look out over that huge city.

Paris with Grandma and Grandpa!

Eiffel Tower at night.
We stayed in a very "French" hotel while we were there. It had a breakfast of very yummy croissants, juice, eggs, and meat and cheese.


This is what I mean by very "French". I still don't really want to know how you use these. They are in the middle of the room?!

Stonehenge

We got to Stonehenge 5 minutes before it closed:( Too bad. We didn't get to go walk up close to it, but got this picture.

Gadfield Elm Chapel

Does this make you appreciate your padded benches?
This is the oldest Mormon chapel in the world. It was originally built by the United Brethren. Both Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff taught here. In 2004 the chapel was given to the church. It is used today as a meetinghouse and the upstairs has records of all the people who were baptized and taught by Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff. We found one of Eric's relatives there.

Benbow Pond and Farm

This is Benbow Farm where Wilford Woodruff stayed and baptised many converts in the nearby pond. Within 9 months 1800 people joined the church, including almost one entire congregation of the United Brethren. Within 2 years, many of the converts left England and sailed to America.

More London Pictures

We ate fish and chips at the Walker Wine and Ale Bar. Had to get a picture of that!
Emily helped everyone buy a souvenier at this little store. What a generous sister!
Tower Bridge in London.