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Brittany recently entered a travel photo contest for the San Jose Mercury News. She entered a few photos, but I'm betting her royal wedding photo has the best chance to win one of the prizes. Click HERE to vote for her. It only takes one click on the page. Thanks!

Some Catching Up To Do

We're way behind on our blog, but I thought we'd just note the fact that we're alive and well, back in the US. When we finished our rotation in London, we took the entire month of July off to travel all over Europe. We have way too many photos and videos to sort through right now, but we just wanted to give you a taste of what's to come! We're getting settled back into "real life" in California--Sam at KPMG's Silicon Valley office; Brittany at San Jose State. As a bonus, we get to have her dad back in the Los Gatos Ward as the bishop after he served in the bishopric of the YSA Ward for over five years.

Here's a preview of what our next several blog posts will consist of...

Scotland - Highlands and Loch Ness (photos & video)

We did an all-day bus tour of the Scottish Highlands. Our bus driver was Scottish, of course, and had a really good sense of humour. He was fun to listen to, which was good because our tour was about 12 hours long! The Highlands were really impressive. I thought Ireland was green, but I think Scotland has one up on them. I'm used to big, rocky mountains from the time I spent in Utah, but it was really cool to see how high up the green went on these. We also visited Urquhart Castle and did a little boat cruise on Loch Ness. It did get pretty rainy, but that was just part of the experience.

Scotland - City of Edinburgh & Edinburgh Castle (photos & video)

Brittany and I were able to squeeze in a tour to Scotland a couple weeks ago. It's a beautiful country, and I was surprised to find it even more green than Ireland. Go figure! We took a train up to Edinburgh, where they gave us a guided tour of the city. A couple days later, we also took a tour of Edinburgh Castle. I really liked the setting up on the hill, and our tour guide was pretty entertaining. (Probably one of the best accents I've heard over here, too.) The tour company organized for us to stay at a cozy, little bed & breakfast, and our hosts were very thoughtful and welcoming.

The highlight of the trip was getting to visit my friends from high school, along with their little son. Tom and Chandra were high school sweethearts and have now been married for five years. Their son Rory (about a year and half) is pretty adorable. I think Brittany's a little jealous that Chandra has a little model for spur-of-the-moment photo ops! We had a great time with them, though, and both wished we had more time to spend with them. We were kicking ourselves afterward that we didn't get a picture with them, but we'll have to settle for staying in touch on Facebook.

Ireland - Day 3 (photos & video)

Puppies! Our last day in Ireland was really fun--horseback riding through Kilarney National Park and cruising the Dingle Peninsula. Possibly the best part for all of us, though, was the puppies. I'm a little sad we didn't get a picture or a video, but there was actually a little runt from the litter than sprinted up to greet us as soon as we drove up. He would seriously fit in the palm of your hand. I think the hardest part of the trip was coming to grips with the fact that we couldn't take any of them home with us. We were also sad for Jason in his fruitless quest to find berries in Dingle. The coastline on the peninsula was very impressive, though. Very glad we were able to fit that in.

Ireland - Day 2 (photos & videos)

Our first night, we stayed in a 2-bedroom lodge at Blarney Golf Resort. It was really cool! We basically had a nice, big house to ourselves for cheaper than two hotel rooms would have been. We kicked off the morning at Blarney Castle so we could all kiss the Blarney Stone.

Ireland - Day 1 (photos & videos)

One of the highlights of our time over here in UK was a trip we took earlier this month with Jason & Krista to Ireland. We found cheap flights for a long weekend, and drove a car all over the southern half of the country. It was incredible! The landscapes were breathtaking, there were animals everywhere, and the people had an infectious sense of humour (yes, I used a 'u') that always made you smile. I was expecting everything to be green, but my jaw still dropped a few times seeing the cliffs, valleys, and so on. It was also fun to see so much wildlife and farm animals--a nice change of pace after living in one of the biggest cities in the world for six months.

Tower of London and Kew Palace and Gardens (photos & video)

Although Brittany and I had visited the Tower of London a year and a half ago, our membership to the Royal Palaces allowed us to back with Jason and Krista for free. We visited the torture room, enjoyed a tour with a Yeoman Warder (aka beefeater), and saw the Crown Jewels. Afterward, we headed out to the Thames to get a few pictures with the famous Tower Bridge--not to be confused with the more mundane London Bridge. We also made a brief stop in Westminster for a photo op.

Dover Castle and the White Cliffs (photos & video)

We then drove to southeastern corner of England to visit Dover. Brittany and I had been there before, but it was pretty disappointing. This time we got romp around Dover Castle and hike along the White Cliffs. I love castles like this that were designed as fortresses--not some frilly little palace. There was also a Roman lighthouse that was about 2,000 years old. The cliffs were pretty awesome. They drop hundreds of feet straight down to the water. The white cliffs made of chalk can be seen across the English Channel from France on a clear day, but it was never clear enough for us to see France. Our cell phones, for some reason, had no trouble "seeing across." We kept getting messages that we were roaming in France once we got down by the cliffs. We ended getting locked into the park because we cheated a bit with how far we walked out. After jamming to some blues on the radio, a ranger (or the British equivalent) let us out. By the way, if you hear the phrase, "Give me a boost!" scattered throughout our videos with Jason and Krista, you can ignore it. Just one of those dumb things that sticks.

Windsor Castle and Jane Austen's House (photos & videos)

Brittany's brother Jason and his wife Krista came to visit us in June. We didn't go easy on them, either. The very first day after they arrived, we rented a car and hit the road. It was my first driving on the "wrong" side of the road, so it may have been a blessing to have five months off first, getting accustomed to the reverse flow of traffic. I think I did okay, but they upgraded us to a big Volvo, rather than the compact we reserved. It was nice having the extra leg room, but they were some roads where it felt like the car was spilling over line on both sides.

Hampton Court Palace, Westminster Abbey, plus Houses of Parliament and Brittany's Birthday (photos & videos)

Between Easter, the Royal Wedding, and the Bank Holidays, I had two consecutive 4-day weekends. That's why we decided to do our trip to Spain and Portugal in April. To conclude this wonderful season of being untethered to my laptop or Blackberry, we visited Hampton Court Palace and Westminster Abbey. Hampton Court Palace was one of Henry VIII's primary residences, about 12 miles southwest of London. A lot of the videos I took of the interior were even drier than usual, so I trimmed a lot of it out. It was a really interesting palace, though. I think one of my favorite things was the plethora of chimneys. It was like THIS scene from Mary Poppins.

Roehampton University, Shakespeare's Globe, and Arsenal Football (photos)

I have finished my semester at Roehampton University. It has definitely been a different University experience than I am used to, but still a good one! I will miss some friends that I made, taking the tube and bus down to school (even if sometimes it was miserable), and just hanging around the beautiful campus. Sorry if this post is boring to most of you, but I just want to remember my university experience!

Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Dover (Round 1) (photos & videos)

The day after the Royal Wedding, Brittany and I went on a bus tour through southeastern England. We first stopped at Leeds Castle. I hadn't really done my research on English geography because I was assuming Leeds Castle was in the city of Leeds. Leeds, though, is actually up north, about halfway up to the heart of Scotland. The origin of the name Leeds Castle is still debated by historians. Anyway, it was lived in until just a few decades ago, so it's still in pretty good shape. The interior was fancy and all, but the most impressive thing about it was actually the setting. The moat/lake really made the castle "pop." The gardens were nice, plus they had an aviary and a hedge maze.

The Royal Wedding (photos & videos)

In case you've been living under a rock for the last six months, Prince William married Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011. We were there! It took a lot of persuading on Brittany's part to convince me that it would be worth it to camp out for a good view of the procession. She was right. I was wrong. Yes, it was miserable before and after, but it was pretty cool to experience it. Plus, Brittany got an amazing photo of William and Kate in their horse-drawn carriage, basically waving right at us. If you want to see all the lead up, watch the first video in the playlist below. If you want to cut right to the Royal Family, skip to Part 2.

Porto, Portugal (photos & videos)

After we finished in Spain, we flew to Porto, Portugal to visit Brittany's uncle Chuck and aunt Liz. President and Sister Walton have been serving in the Portugal Porto Mission for the last two years, and are now headed to Angola to lead the missionaries in that part of the Mozambique Mission. It was so fun to spend time with them and see how much the missionaries in Porto love them! I had to split the video into two sections, so the playlist below includes both parts. (I'm experimenting now with Jump Breaks, so you'll need to click Read More to see the content of the post. I'm just trying to make the blog a little more readable, as we'll probably be having several epic posts this week.

Madrid, Spain (photos)

After Barcelona, Sam and I flew to Madrid! We stayed in this hotel that was right around the corner from the palace. Sam provided a little more information about our three days there in THIS post, which also includes a video.

Barcelona, Spain (photos)

Barcelona definitely had some interesting architecture, though it is not quite my taste. Sam loved it though! This will definitely be a picture heavy post. Sorry, I'm not in the mood for writing much at the moment. Check out Sam's previous post about our trip to Barcelona HERE. He posted the video and wrote more info about the city.

Sherlock Holmes Museum, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, Dad's Birthday, and the London Eye (photos)

My parents returned to London after traveling around the UK for a little while longer. After a few days hanging out with them again, Jeremy and Maria flew in from California! It was so nice to get to hang out with everyone together for a few days--a great blessing to share this incredible experience with those we love! Here is a link to the video Sam posted about these places a few months ago.

Berrington Hall, Lambs, and Croft Castle (photos)

After our whirlwind road trip of seeing family history sites and castles, we concluded our trip in Leominster. We visited an old manor called Berrington Hall. It is a beautiful old home, and the National Trust had restored it to its former glory. It was fascinating to see how this manor ran. Our tour guide was dressed as the head laundry maid as she explained her duties with us and took us around the exterior of the house and the servants quarters. HERE is a link to Sam's earlier blog post that includes videos for these places, too.

I believe this post marks the completion of our Wales/Midlands trip with my parents. It was so fun to get to travel with them!! Sam and I both had an amazing time with them. By the way, this trip happened in February... So I still have major catching up to do! My goal before we leave for our cruises (less than 2 weeks!) is to do a post a day so that we will be able to get a lot closer to catching up before we don't have really internet access for a month!

Tales From Wales (and England): Benbow Pond, Castle Frome, and Bishop's Frome (photos)

Sam and I had the incredible opportunity to go with my parents to see Benbow Pond. Ever since my mom told me about visiting Benbow Pond (probably about 10 years ago), I have wanted to go there. It did not disappoint. For those of you who have not heard about Benbow Pond and the church history there, I will give you a quick rundown. I actually got to teach a lesson about Wilford Woodruff's experience there when I taught Relief Society in Monta Vista Ward. Wilford Woodruff was an apostle and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. At Benbow Pond, he baptized about 600 members of a Protestant group called the United Brethren.

Two of my ancestors on my mother's side were actually baptized here by Wilford Woodruff. He stayed in that area for about 8 months and brought about 2,000 people into the gospel. To read more about this story, refer to the Teachings of The Presidents of The Church: Wilford Woodruff manual. The lesson is HERE, and it is a really wonderful read.

I felt such an amazing spirit at Benbow Pond, and I am so grateful that I had the experience to go there. I feel so blessed to have such incredible ancestors who paved the way for me.

Tales From Wales: Raglan Castle

On a beautiful sunny day, we were able to tour through Raglan Castle. We have really been loving the castle ruins around here! Such a cool castle to explore. I love walking around, imagining all of the people who have been there before us. For more details on our explorations at Raglan Castle check out Sam's blogging and video of it HERE.

Tales From Wales: Big Pit and Abersychan

Sam and I had the incredible opportunity to go to the Big Pit coal mine with my parents in Wales. Two of my ancestors, Lewis and John Bowen, worked here. It was a very sobering experience to see the incredibly hard conditions they endured working there. Sam jumped the gun a little and posted about this tour about two months ago. (He is WAY ahead of me in posts!) See the video and his thoughts here.

Madrid, Spain (video)

Our next stop was Madrid, Spain. Rather than doing one of the standard tours, we just got a transit pass and wandered through the city at our own pace. We were nervous because the weather forecast called for rain the whole weekend, but we ended up having clear skies most the time. Although Madrid does have its share of history and culture, it felt much more like a city focused on business and government than tourism. I guess that's to be expected, being the capital.

The video below includes some highlights from the Royal Palace, the disappointing radio tower, and a relaxing day in the park. We also got to pop in at a sacrament meeting on Sunday, though we didn't stay for the whole thing as everything was in Spanish. I took a few years of Spanish in high school, but I only remember bits and pieces. It was enough to ask for directions or order food, but there was usually enough people close by that spoke English, too.

Barcelona, Spain (video)

So apparently, I was really trigger happy with the video camera in Barcelona--30 minutes of video, even after I cropped it down. We spent three days there and did one of the hop-on, hop-off bus tours. We were a bit nervous our first night there, because everything was closed. Even restaurants--at 6:00 and 7:00. Apparently, a lot of their restaurants don't open back up for dinner until around 7:30pm or 8:00pm. Normally, that'd be perfect for us, but hunger struck at the wrong time.

Luckily, the trip picked up quite a bit the next day, and we had a lot of fun touring the city. I think my favorite attraction was Sagrada Familia. It's a huge, imposing cathedral that stands out in a flat part of the city like Shaq at a concert of the Wiggles. It's been "in construction" for the last 130 years or so, and the original creator, Antoni Gaudí, wasn't even alive for half of that. The stained glass windows were abstract, but the colors were very vibrant and bright. The pope just dedicated it last November, but who knows how long it will be until it's "finished."

Waltons in London (video)

Finally got around to putting together a video from our adventures with the Waltons in London. Brittany's parents and her brother Jeremy and his wife Maria came to visit a few weeks ago. This video includes highlights from Big Ben/Parliament, the London Eye, the Sherlock Holmes Museum, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. Sorry I'm too lazy to spend time dressing it up. It's sub-PBS late-night documentary. Think more along the lines of local access cable. Then drop it down a few notches. At least the sets have been carefully and patiently designed by the British people over the last several centuries.



Brittany and I had gone up in the London Eye a year and half ago during the daytime, but it was kind of fun to go up at night to get a different perspective. I'm a sucker for city skylines, particularly at night. You'll probably see a recurring theme as I post videos of our other adventures later on.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum was interesting, but it did make us wonder for a bit, "Wait a minute... was this a real person?" I mean, the guy's house has one of those little blue plaques the Brits put up on buildings where famous people used to live. I was kind of thinking it was one of those situations where there was a real person named Sherlock Holmes, and the stories were just embellishments or something. Wanna know the answer? Look it up.

Abbey Road was one almost traffic accident after another, as tourists casually strolled across the street while sports cars and lorries came precariously close to recreating the scene from Meet Joe Black. We didn't get to spot the queen this time at Buckingham Palace, but I have since learned the system for knowing when the queen is at home. When she's out and about, the Union Jack flag flies atop the palace. When she's in da house, her royal flag is raised instead. Random fact: apparently she was recently watching her sons play on their iPads, and she ordered her iPad 2 immediately thereafter.

Over the next little while, I'll work on trying to get more videos posted. We spent three days in Barcelona, three in Madrid, and three in Porto with Brittany's uncle Chuck and aunt Liz. They're serving as the mission presidents there right now. It was really fun to visit with them. When we got back to London, we camped out for a good view of the Royal Wedding procession. That weekend we then visited Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, the White Cliffs of Dover, Hampton Court Palace, and Westminster Abbey. They still had some of the decorations up from the wedding, so that was kind of cool. More on that when we get there. For now, you can enjoy Brittany's teaser shot from the wedding. Cheers!

Chepstow Castle

Sam and me in front of Chepstow Castle

Mom and Dad in front of the castle

We really loved this castle. It had a lot of walls surviving and it was so beautiful! I love to tromp around old castles and imagine all of the people who were there before me

The castle was originally built in the 11th century by the Normans

Visit to Seaton, England

 My parents took Sam and me on a trip around England and Wales. Here is part one of the journey! Our first stop was Seaton, England. One of my ancestors was a Reverend at a parish here in the early 1600's. He went to Cambridge before moving to Seaton. He left from Seaton to move to America and was the first of my Walton ancestors to make that trek. It was such a cool experience to walk to shores he walked and visit his parish.

Mom and Dad on the beach right in front of the lovely B&B we stayed at

Sam and me on the same stretch of beach

The whole Seaton beach was pepples rather than sand. The only two beaches I have been to in England are rocky shores. Not sure if they all are, but that is my experience so far!

This was the beautiful parish where William Walton preached

Mom and Dad in front of the church

The wall hanging that shows William Walton was a Reverend here.

My Dad giving us a sermon

Mom and Dad sitting in the parish pews

Me in front of this beautiful old church

London With My Parents

So I definitely have some catching up to do, and I finally have time to do it!

We had SO much fun with my parents when they came to visit us! They came to visit us in London for a weekend, then they went to Portugal. After Portugal we got to hang out with them in Wales and the midlands of England. Then they went off on their own adventures, then came back to spend a few days with us in London before flying out. So here are some of the photos of our adventures with them that first weekend in London.

Sam and me in front of Kensington Palace

Sam and me with my parents in front of the palace

My Momma in me in front of the palace! By the way this is the palace where Princess Diana lived. It is about 3 blocks from our flat

Paige and me at the BYU London Centre where she lived while in London

My parents in front of Garfunkels

All of us in front of Garfunkels where we ate that night. It reminded me of a Chilis or something, which is a welcome break for me!

Banksy sighting in Notting Hill on our way to the amazing antiques market--Portobello Road

Royal Wedding Sneak Peek

Sorry I have been on a blog hiatus lately!! Between school finishing and traveling things have been crazy, but they are slowing down now. Here is a sneak peek of our day yesterday waiting on the mall for the royal wedding route! We were on the first row of the crowd! I am still so excited that I got this picture!! More pictures of the wedding and our Iberian vacation to come!

Videos from Trip to Wales

We took a trip with Brittany's parents last week to see where her ancestors on both sides lived and tour some of the medieval castles in Wales. We had a blast, and it was a very humbling experience to think about the rich heritage of this country and the legacy left from our forebears. Brittany capitalized on the experience for a class assignment on identity, so I look forward to seeing some of those photos signifying her roots on here soon.

Seaton
On Friday after work and school, we took the train from London to Basingstoke to meet up with Mark and Susan. We then headed southwest for Seaton, a town on the southern coast of England. Our hotel/B&B was literally across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. It was here in Seaton that William Walton was a vicar at the parish church in 1627. He was the one that later immigrated with his family to the United States. I apologize I haven't really edited these videos much, so there will likely be parts that are kind of boring for most of you. Maybe someday I'll actually put a little time into cutting it up into a more cohesive package. Anyway, on with the show.


Chepstow Castle
Saturday we drove up to Wales, with our first stop at Chepstow Castle. Although parts of it were in ruins, it was breathtaking on the cliffs of the River Wye. It was originally built in the 11th century by the Normans. Because of limitations on YouTube, I had to split the video into two parts. So here is a playlist that includes both parts in succession.


Big Pit
Later on we traveled to visit Big Pit, an old coal and iron mine in Wales where some of Brittany's ancestors on her mom's side worked. (It was primarily an iron mine when they worked there.) Although the mine is no longer actively mined, they still operate by the standard safety codes for mines because they provide guided tours there. It was a really cool experience. It was very humbling to learn how dangerous and difficult the conditions were there. We actually weren't allowed to take any cell phones or cameras down into the shaft because the batteries can cause sparks that would ignite the methane gas that's released from the coal. So this video is just on the surface above the mine.

It's a good thing they gave us hard hats, as my head hit the ceiling several times. I don't know how the workers' backs could have taken being crouched over so much day in and day out, let alone the strenuous physical labor they endured for around 72 hours a week. It was also sad to learn about the "pit ponies" that were used to haul the carts of coal back and forth. Once they went down the shaft, they pretty much lived and worked the rest of their lives hundreds of feet below ground in darkness. On rare occasions, they were taken above ground for a brief break, but would go blind if taken up in the daytime. Their eyes needed to adjust to sunlight more gradually overnight.


Benbow Pond and Wales
This is actually a collection of clips from our trip through Wales, including some of the churches in around Blaenavon and a visit to Benbow Pond. It was here that Wilford Woodruff baptized about 600 people from the United Brethren in 1840, including a couple of Brittany's ancestors on the Bowen side. The LDS Church now owns the land and has a little fence around the pond to protect it.


Raglan Castle
Raglan Castle in southern Wales, is a 14th-century castle that was ransacked during the English Civil War in 1646. Even in ruins, though, it still gives you a great sense of its former majesty and grandeur. I think this was probably when I've felt the most immersed in a medieval castle and could imagine archers defending the castle walls by the moat, and the residents and servants living and working here like a small city.


Berrington Hall
We later toured a neoclassical mansion in Herefordshire, built in the late 18th century. Our visit to Berrington Hall included a guided tour by someone portraying the lead laundry maiden, explaining what life would have been like for the servants of the estate. The home and the grounds were immaculate.


Croft Castle
This one was rushed, because we were running out of time before we had to head to the train station. We basically just ran in and took some pictures/videos of the outside. Croft Castle in Herefordshire was a different kind of castle, because it wasn't really designed for defensive purposes with walls, moats, and defense towers and turrets. Instead it was primarily a residence. A beautiful one, yes, but it wasn't quite as fascinating.


Leominster
Unfortunately, our trip finally had to come to and end. Not before Brittany and Susan had a chance to frolic with a flock of sheep, though. Just outside Leominster, we were driving past a farm where lots of young lambs were bounding through the field behind their mothers. They just couldn't resist. And who could blame them... the lambs were pretty cute. The second half of the video, taken at the Leominster train station right before we headed back to London, is rather odd. While we were waiting for our train, I saw some young people running from the police in a field just behind the station. We were watching from afar as the situation unfolded, and the teens kept trying to flee. Kind of random; probably not interesting enough for Real TV.


And with that, we bid farewell to Mark & Susan--for a week anyway. They're traveling up to Snowdonia and Scotland for a little bit before they come back to London for a few days. Their visit here will overlap with Jeremy & Maria's for a couple days, so that should be fun. Looking forward to it. After celebrating Jimmer Fredette's 52 points to help BYU finally beat New Mexico last night, now onto the Arsenal game versus Manchester United. Cheers mates!

Sam's 27th Birthday Celebration

For Sam's birthday we went to see Usher at the O2 arena! It was such a fun concert! We were up and dancing the entire time.

Yes of course Usher had his shirt off quite often

Such a great production!

We were so happy that he sang a lot of his old songs too.

He also did a Michael Jackson tribute. It was incredible! For those of you who know Sam well.. MJ+Usher was like a dream. haha.

Sam and I in front of the arena!

Sam with his soccer birthday cake. 

 

 

 

 

 

It is so weird to me that Sam is 27! Where did time go?? It seems like just yesterday I was making him a birthday cake at his Michael Jackson birthday party to get him to like me! haha. I love you babe. I am so grateful to be married to my best friend. You are the most amazing man. I am so blessed to be your wife. Thanks for making me laugh every day!!

Pictures of Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath

So Sam already posted videos of this trip, but I'll just follow up with some pictures!

Stonehenge

LOVE sheep! They are just so cute! I take after my Mum with my love of little lambies!

Salisbury

World's oldest working clock

Bath

In front of Jane Austen's home in Bath