FINALLY!!

Hang on to your hats and buckle your seat belts. It's a long post. O.K. So all my kids have been bugging me since my last post was so long ago. It's been so long I can't remember where I left off, but I think I had just returned from China. I'll give a not-so-brief outline of travels since then and then include some pictures. It all seems a blur, but I do believe I left for California three days after returning from China. The renos on our house were suppossed to be finished as the movers were bringing our stuff from Arizona in a couple of days. Most things were done, but as usual there were a few glitches, but nothing too serious. The only bad part was my extreme jet-lag and exhaustion. Fortunately, Don came down to Cal to help with the unpacking and we were able to get it almost organized with the help of my sweet daughter-in-law, who was pregnant and sick, but hadn't told us yet. Yes, Ryan and Nic are expecting #5. I wish I had some pics of the house before and after, as the transformation is amazing, but alas, I didn't think of it.

I was able to go back one more time in May to finish the house and my mom was able to come with me and spend a few days. She wasn't feeling very well, but it was nice to have the company. I was able to get everything put together and even had the garage organized.

Then it was off to Ireland the end of May with Don, my brother Jim and sister-in-law, Sherri. We always love to travel with them. We have so much fun together. Although Ireland is beautiful, if you don't golf or do pubs, there just isn't a lot to do. Dublin is not very attractive and it was sunny (mostly), but really cold.

Here are the "Golf Fools" gearing up for the next day on the links.

This was the view out of our hotel window. It really was quite gorgeous. We stayed outside of Dublin about 40 miles at a Marriott resort.


This was at a place called Powercourt Gardens. It was a lovely day and the home and gardens were so beautiful. In fact it was so nice Sherri and I decided it would be fun to ride around the golf course with the guys the next day.

This was the next day! I have never been so cold, but Sher and I stuck it out for all 18 holes. The guy in the Pro Shop was amazed and said we must really love these guys. When we told him we had both been married for over 30 years, he about passed out. He asked us if had stayed married so long because we really liked each or if we just basically ignored each other. We really laughed at that one and told him we really liked each other.

After Ireland, Jim and Sherri flew home and Don and I were off to do the most amazing Church history trip with Richard Holzapel (sp?) that you can imagine. It was so humbling to stand where our ancestors stood and to see the places where they joined the Church so many, many years ago. It was such an amazing trip and we never realized how important the early British Saints were to the growth of the Church in North America. Don and I both were overwhelmed with gratitude for those who made it possible for us to have so much, especially the Gospel.

We met up with our tour group in London and it was fun to be with those we knew from family like Ian and Liz and Lynne and Darrly Sherwood. We also were with friends from Calgary, Clyde and Kerrie Davis and friends from other trips, John and Ruth Ann Evans from Irvine and Steve and Marilyn Rizley from Scottsdale, plus others that we had so enjoyed on our Italy trip last year. We also met many new friends. It was a great group of people!

The Tower of London on a beautiful, rare, sunny, without rain day!

We visited so many amazing places, like the London Temple, Hyde Park Chapel, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Avon-upon-Strattford, an Ancient Text display and too many other beautiful sites to mention. I must say the food was quite excellent as well. Not at all like we remembered it from 30 years ago. Wales was incredible and it was fun to phone our son-in-law, Steve, from the places he served as a missionary. As pretty as Ireland was, England, Wales and Scotland have it hands-down for beauty. We have never been anywhere so lush and green, except maybe New Zealand. It was amazing because we had perfect weather, warm with no rain.

The Benbow Farm is where Robert Harris was baptized. The pond is directly behind us.

A plaque honoring the first members with a bit of their history is displayed at the first chapel owned by the Church near the Benbow farm.

This is the spot on the River Ribble in Preston, England, where the very first members to join the Church in England were baptized in 1837. My great-grandfather, Robert McBride was in the second group of people to join the Church. He is also T.J.'s great-grandfather. Cool, eh?

A plaque honoring all past, present and future missionaries to serve in England. Steve, this is for you.

This part of our tour was definitley the most touching. To see the actual places where Robert Harris and family (Don's great-grandfather) and Robert McBride and family (my great grand-father) were baptized was so memorable. It was neat to think that so many of our ancestors knew each other including the Ellisons ( Nic and Adams grandparents).

The Preston England Temple is quite large and so beautiful.. One of our missionaries from Haiti, Elder Maxwell, is from England and his father was just released last year as the Temple President.

Our guide through the Church sites was a young man from Preston named Peter Fagg. This is him with his cute family. His wife and kids met up with us at the Temple grounds. He was so amazing and so knowledgeable. I'm sure we saw things that few others have seen. He is an amazing historian.


And of course our entrance into Scotland had to be documented. We visited Edinbourgh, St. Andrews, visited Glamis Castle where the Queen Mom was from, attended a highland game, visited Glasgow plus a few other sites.

On our last day in Scotland, Ian had made arrangements for us to have a personal driver to take us to the places our ancestors from Scotland came from. We went to Paisley just outside Glasgow, where my Scadlock ancestors came from. There are still Scadlocks who live there. This is the church that has been there for centuries.


We then visited Dumbarton, where Grandpa Miller came from. Then we drove into the country and buried a time capsule that Ian had prepared in honor of the Miller family. For anyone wanting to find it we can give directions and GPS coordinates to locate it. This is a place along a loch where we stopped. We also visited the grave site of Rob Roy and his family. It was a great day and a fitting end to our Great Britian experience.

Two days after arriving home from Great Britan it was off to Utah for my Mom's 80th birthday party and family reunion. All but one of my neices attended (there were 75 of us) and it was really a fun time. My sis, Peri organized and planned and she did just a great great job. Thanks "Pei"!!! The highlight was the MuMu Review (in honor of my mom's love for wearing mumus) preformed by the grandaugther's and granddaughter's-in-law. It was absolutley fabulous, as was the DVD my neice Shae spent hours putting together. A belated "shout-out" to Shae for the amazing finished product. I cry every time I watch it. We had family pictures taken so here is a sample.Great looking bunch of folks, don't you think? Well, that almost gets me up to date. I think I'll do a different post for the remainder of my travels. It's been fun to relive the memories. What a blessing to be able to have so many fun adventures. We truly are blessed!