journey to neverland: playing catch up

i know what you're all thinking! it's been so long since i've blogged and it's time for me to catch you up on everything you've missed! sorry if this is a long post. i have lots of pictures that i'll post so its not so boring and long!

when we returned home from scotland we stayed in london for a week then we left and headed off to PARIS! paris is absolutely beautiful and exceeded all my expectations! seeing the eifle tower all lit up blew me away!

ok so day 1 we went to notre dame cathedral. we went through it but the best part was walking to the top and walking around the outside of it at the very top. this view was my very most favorite view of the whole trip! that night we went to the eifle tower! we had to! ha we couldn't be in paris and NOT see it the first day so we went at dusk and it was absolutely beautiful!

this is from the top of notre dame cathedral

notre dame cathedral

from the top

isn't it beautiful? no words can decribe this!

perfect way to end the first night in paris! not to mention we saw it sparkle! (i tried uploading a video of it but it wont upload. sorry!)

day 2 we had to get baguettes! and guess what else? they really do buy baguettes and take them home to eat and share with their families. wasn't sure if that was a real thing, but it is! we went to the love lock bridge and locked our love to the bridge! and of course we HAD to go back to the eifle tower and take some cute pictures! did i mention i got pooped on by a bird? oh yeah... ON MY FACE! haha so sad! that night when we ate dinner i tried.. (drum roll please) ESCARGOT. not really a fan though.

day 3 we went to the lourve! and to the famous angelinas and had hot chocolate! not a very packed full day but it was fun to wander the city!

day 4 we went to montmartre! it was absolutely beautiful on the hill to look out at the city! on our way back to the hotel we stopped to get crepes. crepes were a bad addiction in paris! along with croissants, french onion soup, baguettes, and many many more delicious treats!

doesn't this look absolutely delicious??

day 5 we had a "photoshoot" day as we called it. kinda lame, i know but we just had to be cheesy and take lots of pics with the eifle tower and try to "fit in" with our mustaches. to end the day, we decided to go up to the top of the eifle tower! gorgeous view, but its one without the eifle tower in it. obviously! haha

top of the eifle tower!

my favorite picture from the trip is this one! proud to be an american!

american pride!

paris was absolutely amazing and everything i imagined it to be! hoping to go back one day!

the week after paris i studied for my finals and finished all my homework so i could play with my family when they got here!

one of the best weeks this last semester was having my mom, my dad, and madi come visit me! i didn't realize how much i actually missed my family until seeing them walk through the doors at the airport!

the day after they all arrived we went to my ward! lets just say church is exhausting here! especially when you are jet lagged!

love you mom and dad!

we just spent time wandering the city for the first few days! later on in the week we went to the tower of london and went out to windsor castle and cookham dean where my daddy lived as a little boy!

i've missed my momma's pretty face!

love them and can't wait to see the rest of my family!

lunch at tortilla! best restaurant in town!

just little background story on this picture. so we were taking just a normal smiling picture but there was this couple standing next to us. the man was taking pictures of his woman and she was posing and taking a few model shots so my dad tells us all to pose for the picture. well this is what came out! my favorite pose in this picture is easily my dads!! love you dad!

finished the evening off with a play! loved wicked just as much the second time as i did the first.

we went to piccadilly circus, showed them where i live and just had fun walking around town seeing big ben, the london eye, westminster abbey, houses of parliament, and the river thames!

we spent time at the tower of london and got to see the tower bridge. that night we went to les miserables!

love my sissy!!

les miserables t-shirts were a must!

my favorite day with my family was the day we went to windsor castle! also, the queen was living there at the time which was kinda cool! after windsor castle we went out to cookham dean and saw where my dad lived and went to school as a little boy, then we spent some time in marlow for lunch then went out to another little town and had some delicious curry for dinner! my favorite part was sitting in a car!

windsor castle

love you dad!

kissing gate

dad's second house in england

cookham dean primary school where dad went as a little boy

unfortunately the week had to come to an end so we spent our last day at spitalfield market and portobello market!

saying bye to them was extremely difficult. much more so than it was when i left in january. can't wait to see them again though in just 2 short weeks!

ok ok i'm almost done! last week we went on our very last trip with the program. we spent the week going to bath, stonehenge, wales, and many more places.

we first stopped in wales and went to tintern abbey. basically looks the same as many other abbeys we've visited so we had to be creative with our time.

after spending 2 hours in wales we drove to the roman baths. perfect timing too. hadn't taken a bath in 3 1/2 months! after bath we went to the hostel where we spent the night.

bought me a new hat... you like?

second day of the trip we went to the beach then on a 4 mile "hike" which ended up being 6-7 miles instead. but it was right along the cliffs so we were able to see the ocean the whole time!

gonna miss my best friends!

this girl here has changed my life! love you dan!

alright so these next two pictures are pretty self explanatory but basically we thought we were clever taking a picture of us touching the water until it came up and got our feet wet!

LOVED being on the beach!

we went to st. michael's mount. we had to cross the ocean and in order to do that we had to wait for the tide to go out so we wouldn't get wet.

view from st. michael's mount

like my henna?

these boats were floating in water about an hour before this picture was taken.

one of the hostels we stayed in was right on the beach so we woke up to a beautiful sight! from there we went to the eden project which was tropical and made me a little bit homesick for warm weather!

eden project

at the end of the week we went to stonehenge and decided to reenact it out!

i've enjoyed my time this last semester and i'm so sad it's come to an end! but i've started a new adventure just for the next 2 weeks in poland! it's quite a bit different, especially since i don't get to see all my friends all day everyday! but i love them! they've changed my life and i don't know what i'd do without them! can't wait to reunite with them in 2 weeks when we all get home to utah!