Hello Friends! I got home late last night from a really long, tiring but super fun trip to the Northern part of the UK. I'm pretty sure I have seen every single sheep, grazing on a grassy hill in the whole of the UK now. We left early Monday morning at 6 am and drove 4 hours to the Wedgwood Factory. I was expecting a factory making fancy wooden things but alas I was quite wrong. Apparently, Wedgwood is a type of pottery. We got to watch the artist make some of the pieces. It was kinda awkward standing there, staring at them as they tried to paint tiny flowers onto vases and such but whatevs.
This perambulator was amazing. We want to push baby Dane around in it.
The Wedgwood museum was basically like walking around my moms kitchen. I always knew my mom had good taste but I didn't know her taste was museum worthy.
My Grandma LaVona collected this pattern called Old English Rose. We got tea towels in the print to start our own collection. All in all unless you are Lizza the museum and tour were kinda a snooze fest but I'm glad I got to go just so I could tell my mom about it.
We drove another couple of hours (so much driving) to the town of Preston, which has a lot of LDS church history. My friend Truman served some of his mission here as well as President Hinckley. Both of them are great men so the town of Preston was lucky to be blessed with them.
President Hinckley would stand here and preach to the people.
I loved this restaurants motto: Sit Eat Drink Chillax
This used to be the mission house of Preston. Our tour guide told us a story that two missionaries were standing living there and the house was seized by the adversary. They cast out the evil spirits and eventually moved locations. Somehow the town heard about this and tried to sell the house marketing it as a devil house or something like that. Its been vacant ever since to no surprise.
Avenham Park: they have two plaques dedicated to the LDS church here
This is the only picture I took of the River Ribble were they held the first LDS baptism outside of the US ( thank you Truman)
Screen shot of how far we drove in one day. UHHhHHHHHHhhh
After the tour around Preston, Camille and I went to go shopping and get dinner but apparently the city goes to sleep at 5 because EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. So we got to eat a great dinner of McDonald's and Subway. yay. We got lost walking back to our hotel because we had a crappy map and I'm horrible with directions but finally made it back. I roomed with a really nice girl named Ashlyn.
The next morning, Tuesday, we had to wake up super early again (ugh) to go to the Preston Temple. At the hotel I had my first beans on toast experience. I mean it was good don't get me wrong but its the most random thing to have for breakfast. Like don't eat beans for breakfast and that's obvious. Don't they know the rhyme about beans?!
The Preston temple is beautiful and I am so thankful for the experience to do Baptisms for the Dead. I did confirmations for two ladies named Minnie and Ursula. I couldn't help but smile. Heavenly Father would give me two Disney related ladies. That's so great. We also had lunch in the temple cafeteria and Camille and I got some weird crumble thing that had rhubarb in it. But it looked like asparagus so we didn't eat it. I'm more of a chocolate cake girl anyways. After the temple guess what we did??? DROVE A MILLION HOURS to Beatrix Potters house ( the author of Peter Rabbit) in Ambleside.
Driving pictures because what else am I supposed to do?! Also, England is beautiful and green and I am in love with the almost constant white polka dotted hills filled with sheep.
My Mom likes Peter Rabbit things so I grew up knowing some of the stories and using Peter Rabbit bowls and tea cups when playing with dolls. It's no wonder Mrs. Potter wrote such fun, magical stories. She lived in a fairy tale setting. There were wild bunnies runny through the fields around her home. Very fitting indeed. I down loaded all her stories on audiobooks after the tour and listened to them on the bus. They are such sweet and simple stories.
There is a little bunny in this pic but you cant really see him. Sorryyyy!
More driving pics
Literally right outside the Hostel. DREAMY
After unpacking a bit I went on a little walk on my own, took some pretty awesome pictures if I my say so myself and found a pier to sit on and watched the sunset. It was fantastic. When I sat down on the pier I failed to notice the giant glob of bird poo. I didn't let it ruin my magical moment though. I turned on Gabrielle's song Freeze and cried and got all emo over how great my life was and how badly I missed Gabby.
This place was closed. Mega bummer. If you know me well you should know of my love for chocolate dipped cones.
View from my room
HI CAMILLE
After a provided dinner at the hostel (yuck) Camille, Savannah, Ali, Emily, Molly and I went to a pub a local told me about so we could get wifi. We ordered caramel hot chocolate. The cute bar tender put marshmallows and malterezers on top. IT WAS THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE OF MY LIFE. All the girls left to go back to the hostel but I wanted to call and check in my my mom so I stayed behind. After I got off the phone with her our waiter named Ryan came up to check on me. He asked why we didn't get real drinks and only hot chocolate. I had a pretty awesome missionary moment with him. He had never heard of the LDS Church before so I explained it a little.
In a shocking turn of events we had to wait for it..... WAKE UP SUPER EARLY AGAIN. I woke up extra super early and went on a walk again. It was COLD and there was frost on the piers.
I found these rocking swing and sat there and listened geese yakking at each other.
We drove to Edinburgh, Scotland, which is were a lot of my McKeon heritage comes from and is the place my dad served his mission around 40 years ago. It's been on my bucket list to visit Scotland and I am thrilled I got to go. I tried imagining what it had to look like when my dad was there. I'm sure it was quite the same. In my mind all of Scotland was going to be basically the movie Brave. Gingers. Rolling emerald hills. Bag pipes playing constantly. And I'm sure some of Scotland is like that. But Edinburgh is a major city so it's has all the things any major city has to have. A billion souvenir shops. Starbucks. and weird street people. Only this city had men in Kilts. Which was awesome.
The Royal Mile, which isn't even actually a mile long, but is filled with souvenir shops and such.
Edinburgh Castle
The One O'Clock Gun which they fire everyday but Sunday at One O' Clock
In the Cathedral we found our Surname which used to be McEwan.
Camille and I got a taxi and the nicest taxi driver named Davey Finn, who took us to my dads old mission home. He still has the address memorized because my dad has the best memory in the world. He can remember everyones phone number and address and always knows his way around. So Camille and I arrived at 32 Colinton Road and found the Chapel and the beautiful mission home.
Unfortunately, the bushes and trees hid the house from the street view. We buzzed for a while trying to see if anyone would let us through the gates but they were off preaching the good word I suppose because no one answered.
We stool on the church steps and tried to get some pictures, but the churches gate was locked up too so we couldn't get very close.
Pictures of the houses on the street for my dad.
Then the guard cat came and we decided to leave.
I am so thankful I got to go to my Dads mission area. I was a very spiritual experience for me and I am filled with the spirit. I am grateful for my dads decision to go on a mission. I know it was a very hard time in his life because my Grandma LaVona was ill, but my Grandma and my dad knew he needed to go on a mission. Because of my Dads mission he blessed so many lives in Scotland. I know that because of his mission it instilled within him his everlasting testimony that has impacted my life forever. I am so grateful to be raised in the Church of Latter-day Saints and I am thankful for a father who is a Priesthood holder. Traveling around the world has shown me how lucky I am to be raised the way I was and to have the blessing of the Holy Ghost in my life.
We stayed in a hotel right in the middle of the city. I roomed with Audrey. Our room looked like a cruise room/ made for Asian business men.
The next morning (Thursday) we drove to Hadrian's wall.
It was super foggy/ looked like a movie set for a War movie.
Real life Temple Run
The Angel of the North.
We drove to the city of York. Everyone went on a tour of a cathedral. I decided I would rather yank my eyeballs out than go to another cathedral so I made an executive decision and ditched it. I found wifi, facetimed madison, found place called Bramwell for mads and then walked around the city with another ditcher that I found wandering, Maddie.
Later that night we went to another Cathedral (shocker) for Evensong which I was happy to go to. Then we walked around the city and found a pub to eat at with Camille, Ali and Emily.
This burger changed my life. Its bigger in the picture than it was in real life. I PROMISE!
We stayed at another hostel. yippee. And got up EARLY Friday morning to go to the Fountains Abbey. They are super old ruins of a Cathedral/ could be a LOTR scene.
After, we got BACK ON THE BUS and drove to Hanworth.
Bus pic 4 ever
So, Hanworth is where the Bronte sisters lived. They had super tragic lives poor things. They lost their 2 sisters and mother when the 3 girls were very little. Their brother was super crazy, and then they all passed away super young.
I saw a dog that looked like Dooney and started crying because I miss him so much. Also, it was his birthday so I was extra sad and missing him.
Then we got back on the bus and drove the 5 hours back to London. I'm very happy to be back in my cute little apartment. We only have a few more weeks left. I better go get ready for the day and make the most of these next weeks. Have a great day!
xx Jac
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