Bath, England - Roman Baths and Christmas Market

Elder & Sister Parker Bath Abbey in background

Christmas market booths line the streets

The Christmas market has food booths, but it was quite cold, so we ate inside a pub.

Carolers from a "nanny" school.  These female students actually get a degree to become a nanny.  They study for two-three years.  Notice the Mary Poppins-type outfits. 

Bath during the day

Historic Roman baths

Elder & Sister Wallace by River Avon

Pulteney Bridge in background

I've seen this wall and setting in one of the Jane Austen movies!  There is a Jane Austen Museum nearby, but we had no time, and the men weren't really interested.  Another trip...

Pulteney Bridge and  River Avon

Never enough time for the little shops!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving dinner this year was organized by the temple missionaries, and our mission office staff was invited to participate.  The only thing I had to make was my homemade rolls, and bring some butter, so I got off easy!  We have quite a number of missionaries from the United States, so when we had "pot luck," it was very American-Thanksgiving.  It was fun, though, to see our British missionaries trying to figure out what was orange, had sweet caramel sauce, and topped with browned marshmallows...  (Yams!)

Elder and Sister Costley in front.  They came out the same time we did, and they work in the Visitor's Center.  The Visitor's Center is actually closing Dec. 22, and they will transfer to Plymouth as YSA missionaries.  We will miss them!  They are from Kaysville, and this is their third mission.
Behind are Sister Balloch and Sister Lee-Starr, temple missionaries from England.

Notice pumpkin pie on the left and British trifle on the right!

Elder Parker remembered to take the picture of the food BEFORE we ate.  Usually he remembers when it is gone...  It has been a long time since we had turkey and dressing.  

Daren - Notice the Digestives made into turkeys!  Dad was thrilled to get a bite of candy corn.  I let him have mine as well.

We are truly grateful for all the blessings the Lord has given us, and thankful we are able to be serving Him here in this part of England.  We love you all!

Hever Castle with Elder & Sister Madden

Hever Castle with our good friends, Elder and Sister Madden from Oregon.  They are serving in the Staines Stake as YSA couple and in a bunch of other assignments!
We've posted this castle before as it is near our home. It is the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.

Note the maze on the bottom of this picture.  Elder Parker stood guard at the exit, but did not enter for more than a few feet!

Only royalty wore sable.

King Henry VIII

Though we have been retired from Aspen Grove for four years, Dad still has to check out the playgrounds and program areas wherever we go!  This was a great one!

November Missionary Memories

November has held a few special memories for Elder Parker and I.  The picture below is of Laura Rosenkilde and Jared Amos who got married here in the London Temple last weekend.  Laura was one of the first of our YSA in Denmark to greet us on our mission in Denmark in 2014.  She offered to translate for me in Relief Society the very first Sunday we were there, which was wonderful as I couldn't understand anything being said in church!

The groom is "Elder Amos," who was serving in Randers which was close to Arhus where we lived.  Though I knew they were being married in November, I did not know it was here at the London Temple, and we just happened to be outside on the temple grounds when they were here...

The gentleman on the left is Jorn Bendtsen, Laura's grandfather, who was a very special friend to us in Arhus.  It was so fun to see him and a number of our other Denmark friends this few minutes in the Visitor's Center.  (We were a bit under-dressed as it was p-day and we had been cleaning, so we didn't stay long...)  Laura served her mission here at the VC while we were still in Denmark, and Jared Amos is actually English, so London was the place to be married.

I know this meeting was a special blessing from my Heavenly Father.  It really gave me great joy to see these people again.  It reminded me of what it might be like in the next life when we meet special people again who cross our paths even if ever so shortly now.  I had actually been thinking of Brother Bendtsen just a couple of days earlier and thought I would never see him again.  His wife has health problems and was not able to come, but he said they had just been thinking of us also.  We spent some special times in their home.

The Lord is in the details of our lives...  He knew how much this would mean to me, and it came at the perfect time.  We seldom walk at night, and especially on p-day.  We almost did not go by the Visitor's Center as we were in our work clothes and the wedding party had just arrived...  If we had turned around, we would have missed them.

Sister Parker with Julie Andersen, another of our special YSA from Arhus, who also served a mission in England.

Autumn in England has been beautiful, and we have loved the colors of the leaves on the trees.
It's November, but still lovely weather, though it is getting colder.

November also means Sister Parker's birthday.  Elder and Sister Wallace brought the cake and ice cream.

If you can crack the code of the candles, you can tell that I will get Medicare when I come home!

Stanley, the duck - gift from our office staff.  I will need to bring some more ducks home as they are very "English!"
Each duck has its own name, and though you can't see it in this picture, most have their "wellies" on!

Elder Parker always wants to take pictures of the food.  This is lamb shank and veggies.

Pizza from a Mediterranean cafe. We usually buy two things to try, and then split them for variety.

Elder Neuendorf, from Germany, Elder Palmer, from Canada. Sister De Arden, from Minnesota, and Sister Harkness from Maryland.  We are beginning the transition from November to Christmas in the office.

Windsor Castle