Ringer Family News

Thanksgiving

2007-12-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving here in London started off with football as ussual. The only difference was that because we have 33 female students plus our girls and Janey and Lucy, we started off with some powder puff games. Jeff split the girls into 4 teams and we had sort of a play off. After that we added the boys. So there were many games and lots of mud.

One of the girls teams, Kyla, Sloane, Kellee, Chelsea, Jennifer, Amy, Katy, and Carly

The group that stayed around to the last game.

Another powder puff team, Janey, Katelyn, Katy, Rachel, Kelsey, Haley, Jan, and Bethany.

Big daddy was the QB for his team.

Hansen going out for one of Jeff's passes.

Jeff trying to referee.

Kelsey being QB for her powder puff team.

Eliza's team, Eliza, Emily, Lucy, Bethany, Lauren, Kristen, Katy, and Kate.

Cousins!!!

A little fun in the mud post games.

After some intense clean-up, we sat down to a delicious dinner.

Tina still made a lot of the food, but we stayed up late the night before making rolls, pies, jello and stuffing. Kris was on the stuffing, Jenniffer on the pies, and I was on the rolls and of course many students helped.

Ely and Cambridge

2007-12-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Kelsey and Spencer got to come on our day trip with us. It was a crisp clear day. We went to Ely first. The cathedral there was amazing.

Kelsey shares these shoes that were purchased at D.I. with some friends in the dorms, "the traveling shoes". She got to bring them on the trip, so she had to document everywhere that they went. So here they are at the Ely Cathedral.

We had our great sack lunches behind the Cathedral.

We walked in to Cambridge along the backs.

Catching some air by King's college.

Hansen playing the jump onto Matt's shoulders. Matt is 6'2'', so it's harder than it looks.

I'm not sure which of the amazing colleges this was. It was fun to have the girls together again this week.

Greg, Hansen, Kelsey, Spencer, Sloane, Eliza, Annie, Marin.

The fam in King's college quad.

It was a really fun day, but we did have one little mishap on the way back to the coach. We were crossing one of the busy streets and it was clear of cars, but apparently not free of bikes. This guy was riding along very quickly and it was already pretty dark and he ran smack into Eliza's backside. She was a little shaken up, but neither her or the cyclist were hurt.

Hampton Court with the Kids

2007-12-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Kelsey and Spencer went to Westminster Abbey, then we met up with them and headed out to Hampton Court. Brad and Ann went to Paris Monday and Tuesday, so they were not with us.

Kelsey and Eliza in the courtyard.

We finally figured out the maze.

It was fun and we had it mostly to ourselves. Then we got back in time for dinner and Kelsey and Katy went to Wicked.

Monday with Kels and Spence

2007-12-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

We went first thing in the morning to get Hairspray tickets, then they headed off to the British Museum, and I headed back to the flat to do school with the kids. Then we met up at the national portrait gallery.

We headed down Whitehall, but unfortunately Westminster was closed. so we walked over to the Imperial War Museum.

A very fun night at Hairspray.

Sunday with Kelsey

2007-12-06T02:58:00.000-08:00

Sunday we picked Kelsey up from Victoria had lunch and then headed to the museums.

After we dropped off their luggage, we walked through the park to get to the museums.

The natural History Museum.

In the V&A we found some fun dress ups.

Outside the V&A.

After the museums we walked to Harrods, through Green Park to Buckingham, then up Piccadilly to Picadilly Circus and bussed home on the 94. This was a stop out of the rain in the Burlington Arcade.

Saturday with Brad and Ann and Kids

2007-12-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

We took them on the marathon walk through the parks and to Westminster and then up to Trafalgar and the National Gallery. The walk always keeps people awake on the first day. Dave and Katy joined us for the parks part.

Kids on the peter pan statue. Crossing from Hyde Park to Green Park through Wellington Arch.

Back at the flat for cards, cookies and fun.

Visitors, Visitors, Visitors

2007-12-04T13:40:00.001-08:00

We had visitors rolling in all weekend. Hansen's friend, Taylor and his family, arrived Friday. Brad, Ann, Janey and Lucy, got in Saturday. Then Kelsey and Spencer flew in Sunday. We had a flat full of fun.

Taylor and Hansen on Portobello.

Cousins at 27 Palace Ct.

Spencer and Kelsey after they trained into Victoria Station.
Taylor's family only were around for the weekend, but the cousins and Kelsey and Spencer stayed for a week and were here for thanksgiving.

A Day on Whitehall

2007-12-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

We started our day at the horse guards, then over to Banqueting house, and finished up at Westminster Abbey. We had the whole faculty gang together.
We watched the changing of the horse guards, but not much really goes on. It's still fun to see the fanfair.

The gang at Westminster. Along with the faculty we had a few stray students who did not travel that weekend.(Rachel, Bethany, and Hannah)

The back garden at Westminster.

Winter Weather

2007-12-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

One night we went and made S'mores on the spotlights by the tower. After we had a floor sleepover in the basement.

At the MOA, Mindy and I decided to jump of this bench and set a self timer. We tried to time it right and on this attempt we were so close.

A guy in my ward works at Cosmo's connection and he made me the biggest shake ever. Unfortunately about 15 seconds after this picture half of it fell on the ground.

LONDON!

We went sledding last weekend after it snowed a couple of inches. It was perfect conditions for sledding and a lot of fun!

After sledding we went and took pictures with the cougar in the snow. My jeans were seriously a little stuck to the cougar. It was so cold!

Edinburgh

2007-11-26T16:08:00.001-08:00

We took the Flying Scotsman up to Edinburgh for the day. The train ride was nearly as fun as the city. Hannah joined us for the day trying to make up for our missing kids.

Our train had a problem so it was "finished" at newcastle and we had to get on a new train. We were nervous because we hada such great seats on the first train, but we managed to rush the train and get some good seats.

It was a beautiful on the royal mile.

A view from the castle.

The Scottish Parliament.

Jeff found a sculpture that he had an esthetic experience with.

The Scotland national gallery.

Headed home at the end of a great day.

Museum of Childhood

2007-11-26T15:09:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how much fun the teenagers could have in the toy museum. You can tell we've been to way too many historical sights.

Lots of fun on the horses.

Eliza , Elizabeth and Emma deciding which way to go next.

Hansen and Mitchell putiing on a great puppet show.

The Lord Mayor's Parade

2007-11-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

We went to the Lord Mayors parade in the city. We watched right by St Paul's.

They had a little carnival set up in Paternoster Square. It seemed a bit out of place.

Their idea of a float. I don't think that it would have made the cut in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

They do a much better job with their uniforms though.

We saw the second half of the parade from Fresh Italy's window, while having a liitle snack. It was like having box seats.

Finally the Lord Mayor's carriage came by.

Dover and Canterbury

2007-11-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

A sunny, cold day at Dover Castle. You could see over to france it was so clear.

Marin, Hannah, Eliza, Hansen, and Katy at the castle.

Jeff and Henry, both men of power.

You can't see the people, but Canterbury Cathedral is spectacular.

The kids in the cloisters.

Eliza and Elizabeth looking like eskimos.

Hansen and Gary trying to bargain for a better price on their hats.

Cabinet War Rooms

2007-11-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great afternoon at the cabinet war rooms. On our walk to the cabinet war rooms from the bus we went past the Methodist Hall and went in. It was beautiful, we had never been in before. The war rooms have a new Churchill exhibit room that was amazing.

The lighting was great on Westminster Abbey on our walk back to the bus.

That night Eliza and I went out with some of the students to see oxford street turn o their Christmas lights. Westlife sang, but we were a little late, so we didn't hear much. They had a count down then turned on the lights and lit off some fireworks.

Some of the party girls.

A Day With The Queen

2007-11-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful day with the queen, except I don't know if she even knows that we exist. Oh well. It was the opening day of parliament, so there's a lot of hoopla when the queen goes from Buckingham to the houses of parliament. It wasn't too crowded and it was a beautiful day.

Eliza, Marin, and Katy waiting for the Queen.

Bartons and Ringers.

The Queen, but you can only see prince Phillip.

They fired cannons in Green Park after the parade. It was crazy loud.

Rochester with the Dickies

2007-11-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

We had a great excursion with the Dickies to Rochester. It is a little city towards the east coast with a castle and a cathedral. It is not on the tourist circuit though and it had a fun high street and not many people. The Castle was right on the river. It was mostly a ruin that you could climb around the inside and up the towers.

It was a small cathedral, but the church volunteers loved having visitors and told us all about the church. It had some norman architecture that was really beautiful.

We enjoyed watching Dickie struggle with his camera all day. Of course he got some great pics.

Everyone got very silly on the train ride home and because this was the real Guy Fawkes Day we saw some bon fires and fireworks from the train on the way home.

Leading up to Guy Fawkes Day

2007-11-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we had some fun family excursions.

First we wandered through Regents Park and then up on to Primrose Hill. Then we walked over to Camden market where Hansen got another soccer warm-up from our favorite soccer dealer. Then we headed down towards the British Library, but found this great little church and park on the way. Sir John Soane was buried there, the trees had beautiful fall leaves and there was this tree that they had ringed with headstones when they moved them to make room for the train tracks.

Crazily when we got to the library we ran into the Bartons. We spent quit a bit of time in the masters room looking at all the original manuscripts.

We spent the next day out at the Docklands. It is such a fun area, kind of like a little New York.

Even though Guy Fawkes Day was going to be on Monday they did the big fireworks on Saturday night. We went down to Chelsea and watched them from across the river. They were shooting them off in Battersea Park.

Oxford

2007-11-11T15:43:00.001-08:00

The students had gone off to live-in. (that's when they live with a british family for a few days) So we took off for a family day trip to Oxford. We took the Oxford tube, which is actually a bus, out there. Some of the students didn't go to live in, so some of them and the Bartons went out with us. After we got there the kids were hungry for lunch, so they got to do one of their favorite things and eat at pizza hut's all you can eat buffet. They stayed for an hour, so that they could eat as much as possible. Hansen ate about 8 pieces and Eliza ate 6 I think.

This is the Ashmolean, a great museum in Oxford.

We also toured Christ's church, which is one of the colleges. More importantly they filmed some of Harry Potter here.

These are the stairs that they were standing on before they got sorted.

In the church at Christ's church there was this cool scary skull head.

Walking along the back of the colleges.
It was a really fun day, but I could spend a couple more there. There's never enough time.

Halloween

2007-11-11T09:05:00.001-08:00

During the day of Halloween we went to the Tate Modern, which is perfect because it has some pretty scary art in it.

We finally saw the much talked about CRACK. I'm not sure that we were as impressed as others in the group.

Tina did a great job of fixing a fun halloween dinner. So fun to go out and play all day and come back and dinner is just already!

We had planned out lots of fun activities for the night. It started out with cookie decorating,

and pumpkin carving.

Then we had a costume parade. There were some very creative costumes, because no one has any with them or wants to spend any money on them. Gary is Ghandi, Jennifer and I are siamese twins, Jeff is King Harold(he was shot in the eye with an arrow by William the Conquerer, for those of you not in the history class), David is from Queensway, and Kris is the official party pooper.

Hansen and Mitchell are Hansel and Derek Zoolander.

Eliza and Elizabeth are a pair of dice.

It's hard to see how great all the costumes are, but they were great!
After costumes we all went bunk-or-treating. Everyone had decorated their bunk beds and we trick or treated to everones beds. Two of the girls decorated their bunk as the night bus from Potter. Very fun night.

The Day Before Halloween

2007-11-10T15:10:00.001-08:00

It was a nice sunny day and so in preparation for a spooky halloween we went to Highgate cemetary. We had to walk through the park to get there and this tree was the brightest red we'd seen. Hansen and Mitch always have some kind of game going on, I'm not sure what it was this time.

The famous Karl Marx headstone.(literally)

The cemetary is so perfectly creepy and overgrown with sunken in graves and tipping headstones.

On the walk from highgate cemetary to Hampstead Heath we discovered the coolest planned community. This group of homes was built in the 1800's and they were incredible.

Then we walked across the Heath to get to Hampstead. It was such a clear day you could see across the whole city.

Then we finished our Halloween prep with a viewing of the Woman in Black. It was really good except for the mice that came out as soon as the lights went out. We ignored them until they started charging towards Jeff's feet. It did get us moved to much better seats for the 2nd half.

South West Trip: 4th and Last Day

2007-11-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

Our last day of trip we went to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. It was Victoria and Albert's house. left to right:Hansen, Jeff, Katy, Lauren, Hannah, Eliza, Brittini, James, and Jame's friend.
Eliza and Hansen in front of the Swiss Chalet where the nine kids gardened, cooked, had school, and more.

We ferried back from the island to Portsmouth we found this great picture spot.

The main reason for stopping at Portsmouth was to tour the Victory, Lord Nelson's boat.

After this we were homeward bound. It was an enjoyable trip. It's a little sad because it's our last one. The students thought that maybe we had turned this last trip into "fat camp". We didn't always have good places to find our dinners and lunches and had to sometimes get creative and think ahead for our food. I don't think that any of us really were lacking in food, but at this point in the semester there's quit a few of us who wouldn't mind loosing a few pounds.

South West Trip: Day Three

2007-11-10T06:59:00.001-08:00

The first stop of the day was Montecute house. We'd never been there and loved it. Of course it makes it even better that it is the house used in Sense and Sensability.

Eliza, Hannah, and Mitch completed their kids projects in the house and we were so proud!

After Montecute House we dashed off to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight. We got there 1 minute before the ferry left. Great timing! This is as we are about to pull in at the Isle of Wight.

We spent the night in Sandown, an old seaside town. There was a fantastic large sandy beach. We played in the water, walked, and had a big football game.

After the beach time we went out on the pier that had a bunch of tacky arcades, but also had "crazy golf". It was a really fun course, plus we had 2 for 1 coupons. That night we stayed in a hotel instead of a hostel. Taking that S out makes a big difference, mostly having our own bathroom.
GREAT DAY!!!

South West Trip: Day Two

2007-11-08T02:03:00.000-08:00

On our second day we went to two of my favorite places, St Michaels Mt. and Tintagel. Our first stop was St MIchaels Mt. The tide was still way out so it was easy to get over to the Castle/home.

This is the whole group before we went in.

Jeff and Hansen were looking out at some seals before I made them pose for a picture.

Hansen had just purchased a football in Bath, so of course they had to play some football on the beach.

It was an amazing day at Tintagel,and as you can see from the pictures we tried not to step off the edge of the cliffs like this guy.

We could never quit catch all of them in the air at once. Gary was getting a nice X games pose.

Hansen enjoying the good boy to girl ratio on this trip.

The girls were able to all catch air at the same time, but I'm not sure about the style points.

We thought that this looked a lot like pride rock.

We had to get back up into town to get a delicious pasty(kind of like a meat pie,but you can hold it in your hand) before the restaurant closed. The kids walked up ahead of us and purchased the last ones. They were incredible.

South West Trip: Day One

2007-11-08T01:25:00.000-08:00

Our first stop on the trip was Bath. We had three hours there, but it still wasn't enough. We went into the Roman Baths first. We drank some of the water and it is not good!

Then we walked by the shops and made our way up to the famous Royal Crescent.

Then with just the girls we went into the fashion museum. It used to Jane Austin dresses to try on, but they didn't anymore, so it was a little dissapointing. While Eliza tried on a corset and hoop skirt we met the Jeanette Wolf of England. She taught Eliza how to put it on properly and then taught her a few dances. I thought it was great, Eliza was pretty embarrassed.

The girls with Kellee Cook at Wells Cathedral. There was a cool knights clock in the cathedral that chimed ever quarter of an hour and the knights rode in a circle knocking each other off their horses and the carving of the guy with a toothache,

The final stop was Exeter. We didn't know if we'd make it there before the Cathedral closed, but we did. So we visited the Cathedral then went in search of food.

The only place that we could find in our budget was Mcdonalds, but at least it was a cool euro interior.
Then off to our first Hostel of the trip. It was just outside of Exeter. We taught some students snaffu and also taught them the water game. It was a fun night, but as it gets darker ealier we have to figure out indoor games instead of soccer and walks.

St Pauls

2007-11-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

We had a couple of days after Jeff got home before we left on our trip to the south west. Jeff had quit a bit to catch up on , but we still fit in a few things. We had a nice wander in the beautiful streets behind Harrods, and found all of Hansen's streets, Hans Place & Hans street. We then shopped Harrods, which means a lot of looking and no buying. Then on Tuesday we went to St Pauls. It was an incredibly clear day and we could see all over the city. It is quit a climb though.

A few shots from the top of St Pauls.

A Weekend Without Jeff

2007-11-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Jeff had to go back to Provo for a meeting, so we were on our own for a few days. On Saturday we all had different activities. Jeff was at a BYU football game, Hansen and Eliza were at a Fulham football game(different kind of football), and I was on a walk in the country with some of the students. Jeff got to see neighbors, friends and family while he was home. In fact Kelsey was also at the football game, but she was out in the snow while Jeff was in the box.(check her photos for the blizzard pics)

A few students were going to the fulham game so they took Hansen and Eliza with them. They were on the front row and Hansen even got the his hands on the ball once.

About 20 of the students trained out to Shorem and we met the old Stake Pesident, Bro. Chiddock. He led us on a great walk through some little villages, an old roman fort, some fields, etc. It was beautiful weather and a great 8 mile wander.

Friday the group went to Hampton Court. We had already been, but there's always more to see.

Jeff got back Monday morning just in time to teach. Needless to say he was a little shattered.

The Halloween Season

2007-10-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

We carved pumpkins a while ago. Mine was named Wacko Jacko. We then displayed them in the bathroom, but due to the all the water in the bathroom they rotted very fast. Shauna, Mindy, and Me

This was at the BYU football game. It just started blizzarding! It was really funny to see all the kids in the dorms from Southern California who had never seen snow before. They also thought that there would be snow on the ground for the rest of the winter. To their surprise it was melted by the next day. Allie, Me, and Natalia

A few girls on my floor and I got plastic bags and went up to rock canyon park when it was snowing. We slid down the hills and it was one of the funnest things of my life. We got soaking wet of course, but it was completely worth it. Me and Shauna

THis is the Taylor family dinner up and G & G Taylor's cabin. These are all the BYU students. You can't see, but outside was covered in snow.

This was in consideration for our halloween costume, but in the end we decided that it just wasn't the best idea.

We decided to be the ninja turtles for our ward party. Needless to say we won the costume contest and we now have two pounds of chocolate. Millie, Shauna, Me, and Mindy

Heroes in a half shell. TURTLE POWER!

Stonehenge, Stourhead, & Winchester

2007-10-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's getting a little more brisk, but it was still a beautiful day.

The kids had fun making some human blue stone formations.

Who needs to really listen to the audio guides anyway.

The colors at Stourhead were fantastic and they were burning off some stuff, so it smelled great also.

A highlight for all the girls in the program, including Eliza, was hiking up to the temple where Darcy proposes in the new Pride and Predudice. Many of the girls acted out the scene.

Hansen and Eliza inside Winchester Cathedral, Jane Austen is buried here, so of course the students found that immediately

Winchester has a great little shopping street. If course all we bought were treats.

At the old city gate they had a fun museum and the kids got to try on aurmor and other costumes.

Oct. 14th-16th: Adventures With The Carliles and Other Stuff

2007-10-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

We had a great day in the city with the Carliles. They went ahead of us, while we were doing a little school, to St Pauls and we met them there. We took a ramble through the city on our way to The Tower. We went into Old Baily, in a few Wren churches, saw the Bank of England museum, cruised through Leadenhall market and passed by the pickle and Lloyds of London. Eventually we ended up at the Tower.

Looking back at St Paul's.

A stop at St Dunstan's.

Finally the Tower.

This is just after being amazed by the Crown Jewels.

We had a funny tour from a Beefeater, but this is actually not the one we got the tour from.

Walking around the wall inside the Tower.

Finishing up the day with a great meal at the ussual place.
Shopping Covent Garden with the Bartons. Emma had just purchased this mask to decorate, it looks a little scary like this.

A Sunday afternoon with just the family at Hampton Court. Now that we have the palaces membership we can go into Kennsington, Hampton, The Tower and Banqueting House as many times as we'd like.

Things for Jeff to Bring Back

2007-10-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the list:

Dice

Soccer drawstring bag

Hansen's A's hat

Maybe shoes for Hansen if you have time to shop-Vans sz 10-1st choice-Navy blue lace ups w/white soles or 2nd choice-black lace-ups w/ white soles

The things on my original list-Do you have that?

Thanks- call if you get this list

We miss you. See you soon.
Love the fam

The Carliles Arrive

2007-10-15T04:05:00.001-07:00

The Carliles got to Palace Ct around 11:30, of course we're not sure because we didn't hear the bell and they had to get some repair man to let them in. Our first stop was Portabello Rd. and a Bratwurst. Then we went through the parks and hit the major sights.

We are not going to get so much time with them after today because Lauren gets back from Ireland tonight.

Weekend Adventure

2007-10-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

The students were given a short free travel period, Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday. So we had the place to ourselves, not that we were home much. Thursday afternoon we with the Bartons to Kensington palace to see Diana remembered and the rest of the palace rooms, then the kids played soccer and we walked Kensington Church street and checked out antique shops. That night we all went to Sound of music. We had front row tickets and loved all the familiar songs. The Maria was really good.
The next day just our family went to Leeds Castle on the train. We had a fun relaxing day. On day trips we get at the most 2 hours at any one stop, so it was fun to have a longer time to play around.
Saturday the Carliles arrived so we had a fun day with them walking the parks and seeing some of the major sights, Kennsington Palace, Albert Memorial & Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham, Parliament & Big Ben, and Trafalgar Square. That night we went out to eat and to Covent Garden. Then slowly the students trickled back in.

Our night out at Sound of Music.(sorry Gary for cutting you out of the picture)

Leeds Castle

At Leeds they had just built a fantastic new playground. The kids wished that the Barton kids were there ot play with.

One of there favorite things there is the maze. You go through a grotto and tunnel to exit. We had a little trouble getting to the middle on this one, it is tricky.

The kids had some fun jumping the streams.

The castle is not bad either and one of the coolest parts is the dog collar museum. (you would have to see them to understand)

Hever, Penshurst, and Chartwell

2007-10-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic day trip. All the places are amazing and they are all so close togethter that you spend a lot more time off the coach than on. We also had a great coach driver who had lots of interesting facts for us. We also slipped in a temple stop first. Last time we went to the temple it had been in the spring with all the daffodils coming up, so I didn't think that the grounds could compare to that, but it was beautiful with all the fall colors. We did seem to have picked the same day to visit Hever as every primary school around though. Hansen said that it made the maze even more fun.

The family at the London Temple, which is really in Surrey.

The kids at Hever with one of the students, Annie. We love her because she always gets on the bus last, so that saves me from being the last one.

This is at the edge of the gardens at Hever, looking out at the lake.

This is at Penshurst. We had never been here before. Penshurst has the oldest surviving Great Hall. It was beautiful and more importantly it is where the fight between Inigo Montoya(sp?) and the six fingered man was filmed in the Princess Bride.

The girls performing on a little outdoor stage in the gardens at Penshurst.

A view back at the Great Hall and Jeff giving us his backside view.(he was matching the statues backside view)
When the Santiagos left they challenged Hansen to get a hug from all of the girls on the trip, so here he is adding one more to the list.

Eliza in the gardens at Penshurst.

Sometimes the best part of the visits for the kids are the playgrounds. Of course by the time we get to them, the kids have about 5 min. to play and then run for the coach. Luckily we know that Annie will arrive at the coach after us.

One of Jeff's favorite sites, Chartwell. (Winston Churchill's home)

Eliza's favorite place at Chartwell is the play house in the garden.

Winnie and Clemmie.

Looking out over the beautiful grounds at Chartwell. The fall colors were great on this trip!

1st Week in October

2007-10-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

It was another great week. The directors and wives went out to Hampton court to purchase palace memberships for the students . These memberships will get them into Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Banqueting House, and the Tower as many time as they want.

The tubes were a mess so we went on a walk through mayfair. We walked through the ritzi areas and through Grovsenor square where the US embassy is.Hansen enjoyed the audi store the most.

We spent some of conference Sunday at the museums.

We went on the required city walk for the walks class and saw some of the great city churches and modern architecture.

This is leadenhall market.

Hanging out in St Dunstans In The East.

Everything but midterms

2007-10-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

We moved our mattresses to the ground so we could all watch a movie. We also watched some of conference like this. It is very comfortable.

This is me at after hours (activities in the quad right after visiting hours to get everyone out of each others dorms) eating a cookie I decorated.

As a prank we moved Emily's ninja turtle into the bathroom stall while she was gone. We then printed off a picture and left it in her room. She was kind of mad when she saw it, because she said it was gross. What was the funniest part was seeing people walk into the bathroom, open the stall door and see a giant turtle.

The relief society presidency in our ward got to go to the General Relief Society Conference, and after we went to dinner. In this picture is: Mindy, Me, and Rachel

A girl on my floor had a birthday, and she was gone, so we decided to decorate her room. We also decided to dress up crazy and take pictures of ourselves in the decorated room and leave the pictures all over her room. I am not exactly sure why, but it was fun.

This is Millie, Mindy, and I just having really good time decorating Annie's room!

Wales Trip

2007-10-07T11:31:00.001-07:00

We had a fun short trip to Wales. It was just an overnighter. The first day we stopped at Tinturn Abbey, The Big Pit(a coal mine), and Cardiff. We were hoping to get to the welsh folk museum, but couldn't make it in time. We got to Cardiff just in time to wander around in search of dinner and then see the city at night. As we wandered we wondered where Tom and Katy were living this summer. Cardiff seemed like a great place even thoughwe didn't see that much. We cruised around the pedestrian shopping center, went by the castle, saw the stadium(they had a world cup rugby game there two days later), and various palces imbetween. We stayed at the youth hostel by Roth park. The next day we went to Castle Coch and then three church history sights, Benbow farm, the Beacon in the Malvern hills, and the Gadfield Elm Chapel. It was a spectacular day. The bus trip was entertaining because Dickie was on a roll. We hope that he will keep taking whatever drugs he was on that day.

Family shot at Tintern Abbey.

Fashionable helmuts at the Big Pit.

Castle Coch, a victorian castle.

Eliza inside the castle.

Everyone having a great time on the Beacon.

A family pyramid with some stand ins for kelsey and Taylor. The two students aare Preston and Erika.

The Gadfield Elm Chapel.

LondonWith Mom and Dad

2007-10-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad were here at the same time as Megan, but they stayed a couple of days longer. On Monday it rained most of the day, so we started off ina museum. We went to the Courtauld then wandered up the strand to the two churches in the strand, St Mary-le-Strand and St. Clement Danes. Then we went up a liitle further and went into the Royal Courts of justice and down through middle temple. We then walked down the embankment to the Tate Modern. The turbine hall is getting a new installation, so it was not as fun as ussual. Tuesday we went out to the Docklands and had a nice wander. The kids had a long class schedule so they stayed home, and Jeff stayed back at the flat also to try to get some work done.

While Megan was still here Mom, Dad, Megan, Eliza and I all went to Mary Poppins. The chimney sweeps did a fantstic dance. We loved the whole thing.

St Mary-le-Strand

Walking back to the tube from the Tate on the millenium bridge.

Canary Wharf at the docklands

From Kensington to Big Ben with Megan

2007-10-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

We walked with Megan through Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James's Park. We ended up at Big Ben and immediately walked to Wesminster bridge to buy a banana nutella crepe. It was a beautiful day. Megan had just gotten in at 7am that morning so we kept her moving. From there we walked up Whitehall to Trafalgar and did a quick tour of the National Gallery. The kids and Jeff had to get back to the center at that point, but Megan and I kept cruising.(I of course got back late for dinner. It's happened quite a few times recently) We walked through Covent Garden, and then up to Sir John Soane's house, then tubed home .

The girls at the corner of Hyde Park.

Going under Wellington Arch as we cross from Hyde Park to Green Park.

Taking a very short break in Green Park. We had to get up before they charged us for sitting in the chairs.

Buckingham Palace, but no changing of the guards.

Three classics in one shot, Big Ben, phone booth, and Megan.

A Chilly Day in Greenwich

2007-10-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

We started at the Westminster pier and took a boat to Greenwich. We started out on the deck enjoying the view and the commentary from the captain, but a little before we got there the rain and winds drove us inside of the boat. We thought that the rain would let up any time, since we hadn't had a full day of rain since we've been here, but it rained most of the day. We still had a fantastic day.

Here we are before the cold drove us inside.

Here we are at our favorite picture spot with the observatory behind us on the hill.

The little hidden prime meridian line behind the observatory. We didn't have to wait in line for a picture here.

In front of the old naval college.

Changing of the Guards

2007-10-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

After a great week with the Santiagos, they had to head out. We didn't have to wait long for our next visitor though, Megan arrived one hour before the Santiagos took off. So we took a little time to rearrange luggage and beds and headed out again. Not only did Megan get here,but Steve& Ann, and G&GT got into town. They had their own lodging, but we still got to see them quite a bit.

Kevin and Tessa leaving with their bags bulging.

Mags and me in Kensington Gardens.

The incoming crew in our flat.

Blenheim and the Cotswolds

2007-10-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

You know that it's going to be a great day trip when aunt Kris starts off the day with a Becks. I don't think that the students noticed, she kept it together fairly well. The day started off a little chilly, but ended up being beautiful. We started off at Blenheim and had a classicly British tour guide. I wish that I could send a recording. We then went on to three towns in the cotswolds, Chipping Camden, Burton-on-the-Water, and Bibbery. We had never been to Bibbery, and we really enjoyed it. It's not big, but it's beautiful.

Here's Kris before she got too sloshed.

Last time we took this shot in 2004 we had a pyramid of six. Still a fun picture, but not quite the same.

The great little street in Bibbery.

Hanging out in London

2007-10-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Most afternoons after a little school work, we head on some sort of adventure. We try to balance fun with some educational sights. Often it is both fun and educational.

This is one of the kids favorite spots, the fountains in the courtyard of the Somerset House. Before they played tag in the fountains, they did go into the Courtauld art gallery, that is also at Somerset House.

Checking out the Horse Guards, while on a required walk for class.

Great flower beds in front of Buckingham Palace.

We went out to take a look at the Chelsea stadium. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to get a ticket to one of their games, but we'll be able to see another team hopefully.

Amy's Birthday

2007-10-01T02:29:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Birthday. It was great weather, the Santiagos, Bartons, and Dave & Kris joined us during different parts of the day. We started the day at Portabello Road, then took the walk from Little Venice to Camden Lock Market. Then we went to a birthday dinner at Wagamamas and finished the day at the musical Spamalot. Spamalot was so funny, we loved it. Between Portabello and Camden the family gave me some great gifts, it couldn't have been a better day!

The boys on Portabello Road.

The canal walk from little Venice to Camden.

Swarming on a warm brownie.

We loved the show and aparrently so did the guy next to Hansen.

A Day at Kew Garden

2007-09-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful sunny day at Kew and there was a special exibit of Henry Moore statues there. The whole student group went together, but we hung with the Bartons and Santiagos mostly. We criss crossed paths with Dave, Kris, Maren & Gaven.

This is Eliza and Emma in the Mediterranian Gardens.

We had a lovely picnic. It was our typical picnic, baguette, boursin, fruit, crisps, and chocolate of course.

We toured through Kew palace for the first time. It just opened in 2006. It was the summer home of crazy King George the 3rd. He had 15 children!! It was very beautiful, but also very homey for a King's home.

Ringer & Barton Kids Run Amok in London

2007-09-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

Hansen, Eliza, Mitchell, Elizabeth & Emma are having a great time running wild in London. There's usually a soccer game after dinner, walks to the nearest store to find the best candy and treats, finding every fountain or pond to wade or run in, and on the way a few museums and sights.

This is the first stop in the many of the adventures.

A stop at the British Museum.

A ramble through Hampstead Heath.

Cooling down in the fountains by Liverpool train station and the Broadgate Venus statue. They were kicked out a moment after the photo.

Hanging out in the cemetary in Haworth by the Bronte sister's house. Cemetaries are great for a little hide and seek.
We hope they keep enjoying all their adventures and that we don't lose them along the way.

Dorm Life

2007-09-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

The boys in our ward (The Stover Studs) cleaned our rooms before room cleaning checks to be nice. This is Beau and Sam cleaning my room.

This is at the pep rally on Friday night before the big homecoming game. Front Row: Shauna, Millie, and Mindy. Back Row: Emily, Sam, and Tori.

Front Row: Me, Mindy, Tori. Back Row: Emily, Millie, and Shauna. This was after the pep rally on Friday night.

This is Allie, Lauren, and me at the BYU homecoming game against Air Force. It was quite a blast and we wasted them. You can't see but I am wearing a cute BYU jersey that I bought in the kids section of the Bookstore.

Check out my hair and eye shadow. It really was amazing. As you can see I went to the BYU homecoming 80's dance. It was really a blast and I got to show of my wonderful fashion sense.

So I just thought I would give you the full view so you could see my amazing leg warmers. I think I might have been born the wrong decade because I pull off the 80's very well.

1st Day Trip; Bodiam, Battle, & Rye

2007-09-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

The first stop was Bodiam Castle. We had never been there before and loved it. We climbed to the top of every tower, wandered through the rooms and watched the film.

The next stop was the sight of the Battle of Hastings. We got our first sprinkles of rain there, but it was still great. We wandered the battlefield then explored the ruined Abbey.

Of course one of the favorite parts of these sights is always the gift shop and Hansen found his favorite gift shop toy. I'm sure we sill wonder why we made this purchase.

Our first visitors, the Santiagos arrived on Tuesday and came on the day trip with us. We think that they had fun, but are not sure about how they feel about the bunkbeds that they get to sleep on in our flat.

This picture is from the St. Mary's bell tower. It's a great view down to the red roof tops of Rye.

4th Day on the North Trip and Home

2007-09-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

We spent the entire day in the lake district. We started off at Hill Top house, the home of Beatrix Potter. We then hiked down and ferried across to Bowness and then took another ferry to Ambleside. All of this on lake Windermere. We had a delicious lunch in Ambleside wandered the town and then went on a lovely ramble on some public footpaths over stiles and through the fields. It was "ridiculously" beautiful to quote the cheese man in Whitby.
This is the view from our first YHA on Lake Windermere. We spent the 2nd night in Hawkshead on the Esthwait. Both were great.

Pictures from our ramble.

On Lake Windermere by the Ambleside YHA.

A quick visit to the Preston temple. (sorry I don't know how to turn this)

The last day we stopped at some church history sites, preston, the river Ribble, and .Then we had a long haul home. It was a ridiculously good trip.

Update on Kelsey

2007-09-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Just another night in Taylor Hall... by the way, to avoid worry I will just let you know that we are drinking Martinelli's.

Well this is just some of the girls in my hall, and our unofficial hall mascot... The giant Michaelangelo. Oh we have fun.

This is my side of the room. It isn't that much, but I like it anyways. I probably don't spend very much time actually asleep in that bed, but when I do I sure like it.

Day Three of the North Trip

2007-09-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

We took a beautiful walk from our YHA, Boggle Hole, to Robin Hood's Bay along the beach. It was amazing that we got the tide just right. If the tide is high there isn't even any beach. We also got another sunny day. I hate to even say this after all the rain Tom and family got in Wales this summer, but we've had no rain so far.

The whole group at the bottom of Robin Hood's Bay.

The lovely Taylors in front of the ruins of Whitby Abbey.

The faculty above Whitby, the Bartons, Taylors and Ringers.

Hansen in Whitby right after we hwd a delicious fish and chips lunch.

Day Two Of The NorthTrip

2007-09-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

We've spent quite a bit of time on the coach, but it hadn't gotten too bad at this point on the trip. We were happy to get on and go to our next fantastic destinstion

Fountains Abbey was gorgeous, and then there was a hike where you got great views back to the abbey.

We love York. We toured the Minster, wandered through the shambles, but my favorite thing of all is walking on the city walls.

That night we spent the night at Boggle Hole. We had discovered this YHA 3 years ago when our family was hiking around Robin Hood's Bay. It's a great spot right down on the beach, but we did have to hike to it a little ways. The YHA workers also told us that there had been a ghost sighting just two days earlier, so that led to some good pranks by the boys in the group.

1st Day Of The North Trip

2007-09-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on the trip was Chatsworth. We have never been there before and loved it, especially the gardens.

It's been so fun to be here with the Dickies, and Maren and Gaven have been here for the past week. Finnigan is a funny little man, we love watching him

This cascading water is in Chatsworth gardens and yes it is legal to wade in it.

This picture was taken in the little town of Haworth, just after we had visited the Bronte sisters house. We had also just visited the local bakery and stuffed ourselves with delicious breads, custard pie, adn other treats.

The first night we stayed at a YHA in Haworth. That evening we hiked up into the moors and most of the guys plus kellie stayed to play soccer. This is a picture of the hiking group.

These are most of the guys who stayed to play soccer.

It was a great first day!

2nd Week In London

2007-09-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

At a Stop at the Imperial War Museum we saw a piece of the Berlin wall.

Our first week at our new ward, Wandsworth Common, south of the Thames. It's a great international ward.

Wandering through the Inns of court, law offices.

These cars,the g-wiz, are actually smaller than Smart cars. They're electric, but they're not as cool looking as Smart cars.

Wandering the streets of London never gets old.

Kelsey Moves Into The Dorms

2007-09-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Kelsey had her 18th birthday the day after she moved into the dorms and the day before we left for England. She became a legal adult right before we abandoned her.

We tried to get her mostly moved in before we left, but I'm sure that she has made a lot of finishing touches to the room, 3212 Taylor Hall-Helaman Halls.

This is Kelsey at her first BYU game as a BYU student. She had seats on the 7th row!!

We hear that she is having a great time and keeping very busy.

Back in London

2007-09-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to Kelsey at 1312 Hillsdale as we get in the car to go to the airport.

The flight seemed especially long without our own video screens, but Hansen and Eliza found ways to occupy themselves.

We fight the jet lag by taking the kids on a long walk through the parks. The traditional first day walking man picture in Holland Park with the Barton kids.

We've been spending the first week sending the students on walks around London to familiarize them with the city and transportation system. Here we are on the Millenium Bridge looking back at St. Paul's.

The third walk took us west and south of the city to Lambeth.
This is looking back at the Palace of Westminster (Parliament) from that side of the river. From here we walked to the Imperial War Museum for the first of what will probably be many visits.