Day Six-six Our Final Day

This is it!! Our last day in England. I know this is hard to believe, but we’re literally on our last roll of toilet paper and paper towels; I scraped the bottom and sides of the peanut butter this morning for one last piece of toast, then tossed it in the trash; and, the deodorant, soap, hairspray, toothpaste and laundry detergent we bought on arrival will barely make it for one final use. These are all signs that it’s time to go home! Last night we had a final meal with Justin, Sherry, and Kelly. Tonight, at formal dinner, we’ll say our good-byes to our college friends. And this will be my final blog. The journey is complete.
We stayed in England long enough for the scenery to become secondary to the people. We’re all different, but for me, that is as it should be. I have never been one to be so caught up in a “place” that I don’t value the people more. That’s why I have never enjoyed traveling alone. For me, if I can’t share a majestic sunset or a field of daisies or a snow covered mountain with someone dear to me, it’s hardly worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I can see the beauty and appreciate God’s mighty hand in His creation; I just want to watch someone else’s face as they see it too. The feeling that comes from “oohing” and “aahing” with another human is irreplaceable. I’m sure you’ve experienced it. Like at a fireworks display at a New Years celebration when the colors light up the sky and the entire crowd sighs in unison and you look to the one nearest you for an affirming nod and smile. That’s the feeling.
In our ten weeks abroad we toured seen war torn castles and restored English manors, climbed stairs to dark prison cells and powerful bell towers, dined in seasoned pubs and extravagant palaces, marveled at intricate stained glass windows and magnificent steeples that point to the heavens, and relaxed in soothing Roman hot baths and luxurious hotel rooms. Over time, only our photographs will bring those memories back to the powerful status they currently hold as places and things are eventually replaced with other places and things--and memories fade. But names, people, like Tim, Fiona, Justin, Sherry, Sierra, Skylar, Kelly, Andrew, Davis, Isabella, Myra, and Jules will never be replaced.
People are never replaced. Like stacking dominoes one by one, our relationships become an awesome display of God’s most precious gifts. Unlike dominoes, where the higher the pile the more likely you are to lose them, our friendship pile can continue to grow as one inevitably leads and connects to another as if it’s held together with a magic human glue stick. And with each addition, each new friendship, we are challenged to get closer to heaven as we learn to communicate, adjust, make allowances for, delight in, speak kindly to, and love each different personality.
A place never demands the best out of us. Conditions might, like a driving wind or slippery black ice. A condition might require us to be patient, still, or understanding, for a time, but it never requires us to be kind and loving. Only people can bring out those Christ-like qualities that will serve us well when we reach our final destination. But, places can bring out the best of God. His natural creations can never be rivaled by something man-made. Beyond the castle sits the rolling hills sprinkled with sheep and cows and horses and one is almost dared to decide which demands our attention more. God’s creation always wins out. And so, we’re back to people. God’s creation always wins out over man’s. If given the chance to view one more castle or even one more sunset or one last glimpse of a child, parent, or spouse, my guess is we’ll all go for the loved one every time.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me. As I said in the beginning, I love to share my experiences in person, but it was also great fun to record our adventures for others to read. I had never blogged and I thank you for being a part of my first blogging experience. When I told someone at the college on our second day here that I planned to blog, he commented that it would be quite a discipline. I hadn’t really thought of it that way, but he proved to be right. It was a discipline. I think I learned as much from blogging about our adventures as living through them.
Finally, Dorothy said it best when she clicked her ruby red slippers together and declared, “There’s no place like home.” This statement is said by thousands every day. From soldiers in Iraq to vacationers in Hawaii to students at Harding, at the end of the day, it’s great to go home.
“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” I Peter 1:18
Love you all and will see you soon. You’ve been great blogging buddies.
Hugs, 2 Mama and 2 Papa

Day Sixty-five Sulgrave Manor Day

It’s Thursday afternoon which means our countdown is one and one half days to home. While we’re eager to board Saturday’s plane, we’re not wasting our last minutes. On Wednesday, 2 Papa met with Dr. Paul Fiddes for a tutoring session concerning 2 Papa’s book project. Dr. Fiddes, a British Baptist theologian, is a remarkable man. He is Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford and was formerly Principal (President) of Regent's Park College. Being the former principal gives him the honor of having his portrait hang in the dining hall in a prominent position. Looking at the very austere portrait would lead you to think he is not someone with whom a normal person could hold a conversation. But then, he walks into the college, with a tiny bicycle helmet still attached to his head and you think, okay he’s just a normal person himself. As my dad used to say, “He puts his pants on just like we do--one leg at a time.” That was Dad’s way of saying that, in the end, we’re all equal. 2 Papa had a great discussion with him on suffering and Dr. Fiddes was able to give him some insight into scripture he had never considered. 2 Papa considers this the highlight of his trip.
The rest of the blog is very historical, so here’s my warning. Stop now, if history is not your thing or you’re out of time.
We couldn’t leave without one more tour, so today we went to Sulgrave Manor, the family home of George Washington’s ancestors. George, himself, never traveled to England at all, and had it not been for a fateful sinking of a boat, he might never have ended up as our first President. It seems his great-great-grandfather, John, was heavily involved in trade with the newly established colony called Virginia. On one of his journeys to trade English goods for tobacco his boat sank leaving him stranded in Virginia. As luck, or fate, would have it, the ship sank near a plantation owned by a very wealthy man who happened to have an available daughter named Anne Pope. Although the boat was eventually repaired, John knew a good deal when he saw one and married Anne, receiving a wedding gift of 700 acres on Maddox Creek. The rest is now American history since in three more generations George Washington was born.
Our visit today to Sulgrave Manor was so fascinating. The focus on the tour during this time of the year is to take visitors back to its very beginning, the Tudor years of the 1500s during Christmas. We visited the grand room which was used for entertaining the men of the time and the master bedroom which hosted the women and, then the very competent, but rustic, large Tudor kitchen. The original owner, Lawrence Washington, and his wife had eleven children all of which lived to adulthood. This was very rare at a time when only one in ten children lived to adulthood. The house was quite large, but not because of the eleven children, who would have lived in just a few rooms or possibly one room. Everything was large and beautiful just for show. The class system was well in effect during this time and if you had it, you flaunted it. Even a dinner would be set with the better food at the end of the table where the most prestigious people sat. Our guide said the Tudors were very aware of their status and knew exactly where to sit at the table. The expression “Upper Crust” comes from the fact that the bread was generally burned on the bottom so the most prominent would be allowed to eat the unburned upper crust. The bread would then be slice from the top down, leaving the burned bottom slice for the servants. An average person ate eight or nine loaves of bread a day.
We learned so much today that I couldn’t possible say it all, so I’m going to just bullet some of interesting facts.
• Christmas trees were not used yet, but they hung a wreath in the grand room and hid gifts in it. Other decorations were fresh evergreens and fruit.
• Martha Washington suggested to Betsy Ross that her husband’s family be represented in the new American flag by using symbols from their family coat of arms. Hence our flag features the famous stars and stripes. But the stars were really the spurs from the militia horsemen and the stripes were the French blood that was shed during the French and England war.
• Christmas during this time was celebrated with twelve days of merriment and drinking. Poor people would likely not even know it was Christmas as they had no calendars, but would celebrate somewhere around this time. Of course, they had nothing so they would go caroling in hopes that wealthier people would share their bounty.
• No one ate root vegetables, like potatoes, as they were considered dirty from being under the dirt and they were too close to the devil for their comfort.
• Which is odd about the dirty part as the people of this time never washed their clothes. They did wash their undergarments, but their outer garments were of fabrics that were not washable. Hence, the napkin. Napkins were draped over their shoulders and covered their clothes to protect them.
• Meal courses were called “removes” as each course is removed before the other is put in place. Henry VIII is said to commonly have 25 removes at his meals and is credited with being the first person to eat turkey. The average number of removes for a wealthy family was seven. Food was also a status symbol.
• Until the 15th century, the cooks for large homes were men who worked naked because of the heat. Obviously, women were not allowed in the kitchen—thank goodness!
• In Tudor days no one had a fork and visitors were required to bring their own knife to the table. Food was cut up first, and then eaten with fingers. Oddly, manners were very important and this was the manner of the day.
• The poor could not afford sugar, which we now know was probably good. Queen Elizabeth loved sugar and had plenty. So much so she had rotted teeth as a result. Women of the time wanted to look like her and blackened their own to copy her.
Okay, this is extremely long. If you read it all, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about our English ancestors. Since I’m a combination of American Indian and English and 2 Papa’s ancestors are also from Britain is all very interesting to us. Better go!! Have a great day.
“Celebrate God. Sing together—everyone! All you honest hearts, raise the roof!” Psalm 32:11
Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Sixty-three Earl of Suffolk Manor Day

Hi, my dear family and friends.
We’re down to four remaining days in merry ole England. We’ve managed to stay long enough to welcome winter as we woke up to frost this morning. (see car in photo) We walked to the bus stop breathing out those fine puffs of smoke that only happen when the temperature is around freezing. This afternoon we even spotted a few snowflakes.
Monday was rather uneventful except for lunch at the college with good company. Last night we went to see 2012, which was like watching The Titanic, The Poseidon (sp?) Adventure, and The Day After all in one movie. It was a little too much, but okay if there’s nothing else to see.
Today, we boarded the train at 10:07 headed to the home of Davis and Isabella Bunn. If you’ll remember they are the couple responsible for our being in Oxford. Davis is an author and Isabella is a lawyer who works with the Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regents Park College. We’ve tried to get together all term, but as is often the case, the time has nearly slipped away without our doing so. Today they graciously entertained us with a homemade meal that Davis prepared and dessert that Isabella prepared in the most amazing setting—their home.
First of all, their home is located in the Cotswolds; that wonderful part of England that was home to thousands of sheep for hundreds of years used to make beautiful woolen everything. The sheep are fewer in number now, but still a staple in the lush countryside, along with horses and huge, fuzzy cows. Just the drive up to the home is like entering a movie set. Then this enormous mansion comes into view and you’re transformed into another century where women wore corsets and large skirts and men smoked pipes and discussed men things in the drawing room.
Originally built in the sixteenth century, this has been the family home of the Earls of Suffolk. Just a small thing, hardly room enough for one family, this manor is 58,000 square feet, including the cellars, and sits on 4500 acres. The 21st Earl of Suffolk, Michael John James George Robert Howard is the current owner, but he lives in another home on the property using this home to help fund the entire operation. (Howard is the family name of the Earl’s, dating back to 1500’s. Maybe we should dig a little deeper. I think 2 Papa looks like an Earl.) There are twenty-one private residences now occupying what was once home to one family. After many changes, the style today varies in each part of the manor, but is mostly Georgian. The huge common room looks like a Wedgewood china plate with a raised white design on a soft green background. Davis and Isabella live in the front section of one wing of the manor. Of the 58,000 sq. feet, they have a measly 3000. It includes three stories and is absolutely beautiful. I have included a picture of the entire manor and their spacious kitchen. The nearest little hamlet only has nineteen houses in it. A hamlet is the name given to a community that doesn’t have a pub and a church; a village has a church and a pub (it’s all very complicated over here). The trip to Oxford takes around two hours so it’s been quite a commitment for them for the past seven years. But, they have loved their country life and it’s perfect to inspire Davis as he writes. It was great to spend time with them and to see another slice of historical England.
Tonight, we met up with Kelly to continue our quest to eat at all the restaurants in Oxford. Tonight it was Yo! Sushi. Who would have thought we would come to England to eat sushi? 2 Papa has been fascinated with this restaurant since he first peered in the window to see that the food runs on a conveyor belt letting the customers just pick off what they want to eat. It was SUSHI HEAVEN for 2 Papa. I truly thought it would cost us a fortune as 2 Papa has never exercised great willpower when food goes pass him at a slow speed. But, he did okay, or maybe I should say, each bowl was reasonably priced so the bill wasn’t as bad as I suspected.
As we ate with Davis and Isabella, I kept thinking of all the generations of families who have shared this home. Since 1561, there have been twenty-one generations of the same family living on the same piece of property. A reality that's hard for us Americans to imagine as we rarely make it to two generations living on the same property. While this is very cool, my prayer is that we are handing down something more valuable than a house of bricks and mortar.
“Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we'll hardly notice. We'll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.” II Peter 3:11
Well, that’s it. Four more days and we’ll be sleeping in our own bed. WOOHOO!
Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Sixty-one The Beginning of Our Last Week Day

Happy Sunday, everyone. This begins our final week in Oxford and we certainly plan to use our time wisely. We have tours, meetings, lectures, dinners, and more on the calendar for the week, so it should prove to go quickly, which will suit me just fine.
Yesterday was a busy day as we wanted to show Ryan a few more things around Oxford before he met the 3:00 bus. I had loaded his suitcase and the extra one he brought with clothes I don’t plan to wear this last week to make room in our suitcases for souvenirs and Christmas gifts. 2 Papa took him to the bus station and all seemed to be on schedule for him to catch an early flight this (Sunday) morning, but we’ve already heard from him and he’s had a two hour delay. Since he has a six hour layover in Houston, he should still be home as scheduled tonight around 9:15. Please say a prayer for his safe travels today.
We met Kelly at 4:00 yesterday and went for tea at a nice little café. They had tea and I had hot chocolate. It was definitely colder this past weekend and I was freezing! The wind chill all weekend was around 32 degrees so walking around is quite COLD! BURRRRRRR. I also had a hot buttered tea cake, which probably isn’t anything like you think it would be or at least it wasn’t for me. It was like a toasted raisin bagel with butter. It was very good, just not what I thought a tea cake would be.
After tea we walked to Christ Church College for another Evensong service. A friend at our college had gotten us tickets as last night begins the Advent services and are so popular that it’s better to have a ticket to attend. If you don’t have a ticket, you will not be turned down; you just won’t have a good seat. The service is very mechanical in that it consists of Bible readings, songs by the choir, hymns sung by the congregation, and prayers. This is all written out in a little book telling the congregation exactly what to do---when to stand, sit, kneel, and sing. So, indeed, very mechanical. But, it’s also very moving as the singing is heavenly and the readings, all done with these beautiful British accents, are inspirational. The boy choir has boys as young as six in it and watching their faces was worth being there. One adorable little blond headed boy, who looked to be around eight (judging by his teeth), was so precious to watch. He opened his mouth super wide and swayed and bobbed with every changing beat of the music. He was definitely a very serious musician. Very cute. We were grateful to be able to attend. We also got to see the dining hall at Christ Church College which is the one used in the Harry Potter movies. Christ Church was founded by Henry VIII so his portrait takes center stage. (See photos above.)
We had dinner reservations after Evensong at the new, upscale, quite trendy, Ashmolean Dining Room in the newly remodeled Ashmolean Museum. It was raining again so we quickly made our way across the city huddled under umbrellas for our next adventure. We were thrilled to get reservations as this new dining experience as it is all the rage in Oxford. Not to be name dropping or anything, but the Queen will be here on Wednesday to take her place at one of the ultra modern tables. Certainly we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience it as well. After all, what’s good for the Queen is good for us. The restaurant is on the rooftop of the Ashmolean with a spectacular view of the city; however, since it was so dark, this is only hearsay to us. But, the food and the service were both spectacular and we were sitting next to the rock group, Radiohead. At the end of our dinner, Kelly asked our waiter if he would get lead singer, Thom Yorke’s, autograph. So he did. Cool. 2 Papa tried to discreetly get a picture of him as he signed his autograph, but the lighting wasn’t good. Oh, well. Life will still go on.
That’s it for Saturday on the 2 Mama and 2 Papa Oxford train that’s moving pretty quickly now and will soon arrive in West Monroe.
As I listened last night to those beautiful young voices singing the Psalms and other hymns, I thought of our family members who are in Heaven and how they must thrill at the heavenly songs being sung to them and for them.
“Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.” Zephaniah 3:16
Have a blessed Sunday.
Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Fifty-nine No Black Friday in Oxford Day

No black Friday in England since there is no Thanksgiving holiday, but we’ve certainly done our part to boost the struggling British economy during our last eight weeks here. So, today we didn’t shop, but instead took Ryan to Blenheim Palace. Even though we did the tour with Mom and John Luke, it was different today as it was decorated for Christmas. Absolutely beautiful!! It made me all the more eager to get my trees up and decorated. The Palace had more decorated trees that I could count and every table was topped with a Christmas arrangement. Antique toys were scattered beneath the trees and garland draped the staircases and wrapped the edges of dressers and cabinets. Even the busts of famous people were adorned with green wreaths wrapped around their heads (kind of a little strange looking, but I guess if you have a bust in your home, it works). There was evidence of spectacular lighting, but since we were there in daylight hours, we weren’t able to see it first- hand. Ryan’s attention span rivals a busy three- year-old’s and he was even impressed with the tour.
After we returned to Oxford, Ryan and 2 Papa went on down to the Oxford Castle for another tour. This was 2 Papa’s third trip up and down the 101 winding stairs of this former prison which dates back to 1071. Prisoners were kept there until 1996, which is so hard to believe as it’s so archaic. 2 Papa loves learning so he never tires of listening to the tour guides. Someone told him today he could probably guide the tours now. (I’m thinking---don’t tempt him! I’m ready to get home.) While they toured, I did a little laundry and ironed Ryan’s shirt for formal dinner tonight. That’s the first ironing I’ve done in eight weeks. So, I’ve cooked and ironed all in one week. Just call me Suzy Homemaker.
Formal dinner was as usual—good company and good food. Ryan, who never finishes a dessert, loved tonight’s creation and ate the whole thing. Apparently, it is a Regent’s Park tradition and the recipe has been handed down through the years. It was a square, caramel cream, whipped cream and almonds on top, kind-of- pie-thing. Very good. We met another American who was also the speaker at chapel tonight which we always go to before dinner on Friday. It turns out she was one of Kelly’s students at Calvin College. Both were shocked to discover the connection. Speaking of connections, and it’s a small world (we were kind of talking about that, weren’t we?), today I added Sherry (remember the American friends we had Thanksgiving dinner with last night) as a facebook friend. I noticed that one of her friends went to Harding and then I discovered that that friend is a friend of my niece, Jenna Owen. Talk about seven degrees of separation!!!! Whoa, too cool!
Well, my great news for the day is we were able to change our flight home to arrive in Saturday evening instead of Monday morning. That is huge news!! We’ll be able to attend church on Sunday and get lots of hugs and kisses two days sooner from our grandkids. Plus get all the Christmas decorations up on Sunday afternoon. Can’t wait!!
Better go. It’s almost ten o’clock and I have to sort through all our purchases to see what can go back with Ryan. He will go on to London tomorrow afternoon for an early flight out on Sunday. I’m so thankful he was able to bring an extra suitcase. Perfect!
Tonight at chapel, the message was about being content with today, not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. We just have seven more days in Oxford. I want to enjoy every day and not be so anxious to get home that I don’t appreciate all the many blessings I have gained from being here.
“When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don't forget how you got there...” Deuteronomy 6:10
Love and see you soon.
Hugs, 2 Mama

I hope this has been a day of great thanksgiving from east to west and north to south in all of America. I know from the Americans living in England, we did our share of eating and thanks giving and with the six hour time difference, I guessed we were all celebrating at the same time—us at supper time, you at lunch time. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
I was so proud that I had all my ingredients bought last night, eager to get up this morning and smell the smells of home cooking. However, I opened the refrigerator to get the eggs for the cake and discovered the eggs had never been bought. SO…off to the market. Here’s where a car comes in really handy. Oh well, umbrella up and off I went---walking. Also, I noticed that I had no measuring spoons or measuring cups. Now, that works well if you’re Mamaw Jo or Willie Jess, but for me, I NEED to measure. Those items are not usually in the grocery store so I was a little concerned, but I did find a large one that measures liters. I decided to make do and Google the conversion to cups and half cups. Soon, the smell of chocolate cake filled our little flat and it felt like a holiday. Except, I was sniffing all alone—not a normal holiday, for sure. Ryan and 2 Papa had gone on a tour and wouldn’t return until 4:00 so it was pretty quiet. I was able to do some computer work between cooking, but basically I just figured out how to mash sweet potatoes with no mixer or masher thing, measure milk, oil and water with liters, cook in an oven that is in centigrade and figure out how to get five hot dishes of food in a taxi. Korie did bless me with a Sykpe call so that was fantastic!!
Ryan and 2 Papa arrived home on schedule and had had a great time. I asked them if the tour guide got to talk at all, knowing the two of them can say several, like a million, words themselves. They both said they listened to the tour guide and learned a lot. Good job guys! They went to an outdoor flea market and Ryan ate a pig sandwich from a whole pig being cooked right in front of them. 2 Papa keeps saying they took the meat from the snout, Ryan denies it. You be the judge.
Once the sweet potato casserole heated up, it really smelled like Thanksgiving and it was time to go to Justin and Sherry’s house. Ryan brought Thanksgiving paper goods (not found anywhere here) which I gave to Sherry yesterday and the tables looked so cute. Sherry had moved things around in her small living room so we were all seated around two tables. In total, we had fourteen—two other Americans, besides Sherry’s family, and one British family. See photo above. It really was as perfect as you could get without being home. Justin made turkey and dressing that was truly as good as any I’ve ever had and all the other food was fantastic too. No one had ever had a sweet potato casserole and everyone loved it. You can’t go wrong with butter, brown sugar, and pecans. Right?
After dinner, it was time for the Duck Commander Thanksgiving show. We put on episode eight, which was the Christmas episode and the episode where Phil talks about men who wear a piece of cloth tied around their neck in the name of fashion. We all looked at our British friend, a very proper Engineering professor, still dressed in his suit and tie. whew! He was laughing just like the rest of us were. They all loved it and laughed and laughed at the crazy southerners who hunt ducks for a living. Korie had sent t-shirts and hats for the kids and they were thrilled. It was such fun! But, it made me more homesick to see all the faces of our family and friends. They all looked so cute---even Willie Jess!
Well, that was our day. Not a typical Thanksgiving, but still great as we shared it with new friends. Johnny even read some of his famous Laffy-Taffy jokes about Thanksgiving. The jokes may have actually gone over better here than they do at home.
I don’t know about your celebration, but we went around the room and shared something we are thankful for. Of course, family was on the top of my list and then our new friends. Others said having a car (I agree with that one for sure), their friends, their children, new opportunities, plenty of food and so on. Yes, we are blessed.
“God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
Now, enjoy your turkey sandwich.
Love you all.
Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Fifty-seven London Update Day

Happy Thanksgiving! I can just see all of you scurrying to the grocery store for last minute cans of mushroom soup, fresh fruit, bread, salad fixings... What fun!! How I will miss my mom’s dressing!!
I made my grocery run a few minutes ago and think I have enough stuff to pull off a fairly accurate Thanksgiving meal in England. I know this for sure, if the meal isn’t perfect, the Thanksgiving part will be. I am so thankful for the many blessings I have. In our worst of times, we are so blessed! We will be celebrating with about twelve other Americans and one British family. Since there will be no American football game to watch, we are showing an episode of Duck Commander that we brought with us. Oddly enough, everyone over here can’t wait! It should be fun.
London with Ryan was great. He was here about ten years ago and saw a lot of the tourist attractions at that time, so we didn’t have to repeat the places we went to with mom and John Luke. He got here on Monday around noon and was starving. Since our room wasn’t ready we stored our luggage and headed to another new restaurant! (I’m just saying, how can we still be finding NEW restaurants? Oh well, if it weren’t for all the walking I would be rolling Johnny off the plane in Monroe next week.) Back to London. After lunch we went back to our hotel and unloaded and let Ryan rest for a couple of hours, then we went to Piccadilly Circus for dinner and a fun night at Mama Mia. We were on the FRONT row, which I love. At one point the actors sat on the stage with their feet dangling right in front us. It was very cool. Five girls sat next to us and sang almost every word. It was fun to watch it with them and share their excitement.
The next day we boarded the tour bus and headed to Harrods, which is like a shopping Disneyworld. This “small” store occupies 4.5-acres and has over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments. That is larger than Pecanland Mall in Monroe in one store! It was decorated for Christmas which made it doubly, triplely, special. For the most part we kept our spending down and enjoyed just looking. Ryan played a piano that costs $110,000. (See photo above) He managed to play beautifully in spite of such a shabby instrument. HA! HA! Ryan and I went on to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum since he has never done that and 2Papa took the bags back to the hotel. (See photo above of Ryan and Brittany) That night we went to see Les Miserable. I’ve seen this musical three times and it is always mesmerizing. The music, the script, the message, everything…WOW!
That was it for our time in London. This morning we boarded the bus back to our home away from home. I quickly surveyed our pots and pans so I could cook tomorrow for Thanksgiving and discovered I had one pan. So while Ryan and 2Papa took the tour bus, I searched for foil disposable pans. I found them in the basement of a department store, not the grocery store. Who knew? Then we met Kelly for dinner, which was fun, and back to the flat to catch up on emails and write my blog. Now we’re all three typing away. My, how our ancestors would have marveled at our modern day activities!
Here’s wishing you all the best day of Thanksgiving days. Enjoy every second of excellent food and exceptional family time.
“With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD : "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” Ezra 3:11
Thanksgiving Blessings to all.
Hugs, 2Mama