A Week of Saturdays

The week between Christmas and the New Year is weird because it's someow both busy and dead at the same time. You're just in limbo between two celebrations and are never quite sure what day it is. It feels like every day is Saturday and it's hard to actually feel like doing anything. Still, we tried to make the best of this rare time we have with all the girls here under one roof. 

The day after Christmas, or Boxing Day, was dedicated to homework and scholarship applications. Not super exciting, but super necessary. I'm so, so grateful that our girls have always been pretty self-motivated with their schoolwork. Unless they're really stumped and need help finding an answer, they just get it done and generally do it well. We'll probably spend another day this coming week before school starts up again doing the same thing. 


But all work and no play is no fun for anyone so we fit some adventures into our week too! Wednesday we headed through the snowy weather to the cinema (that's what they call a movie theater around here) to see The Greatest Showman. Oh man, what a fun movie. It totally swept me up with it's infectious songs, old school retro feel, and beautiful glittery sweetness. It's a movie that's not trying to be cool, it's just straight entertaining.  Go see it!

The next day wasn't snowy but it was bitterly cold. We bundled up and went to nearby Framlingham Castle. The interior of the castle is primarily a big grassy area, but the walls and ramparts are still intact so we climbed up the narrow, twisty staircase to the wall and walked around the castle to take in the view of the castle and surrounding countryside from above. The reason there's not much left inside the castle is because the interior structures were demolised in the 1700s to make room for a workhouse for the poor.



The workhouse buildings are still standing today and are used now as a visitors center with a nice little cafe, a museum about the Framlingham area, and an exhibit of the history of the castle. 




By the time we were done walking around the wall we were all frozen. Honestly, I couldn't feel my toes for at least an hour after we got back in the car. We had lunch at the cafe at the castle and the warm food was very much appreciated after the chilly temps outside. Did you know that parsnip and apple soup tastes like warm applesauce? 

Friday was another day at home. The youth in our ward were holding a Book of Mormon reading marathon over the Christmas break and the third and final day was at our home. So we made space in the living room for a bunch of youth while Madison, Natalie, and I hung out together in the sun room. The Gospel Library app has a feature allowing you to speed up the audio. If you select 2x it's super fast but not so fast that you can't follow along if you pay attention and keep your eyes on the scriptures. And at double speed it's possible to listen to the entire Book of Mormon in fifteen hours! 

Saturday I dropped Madison, Emily, and Abigail off at the train station with their friends John and Joseph Rowberry and they all headed into London for the day. Madison hadn't been to London since the spring of 2014 so it was time for another visit! Their plan for the day included a little sightseeing, a museum, Five Guys, and whatever play had cheap seats.

Madison in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Precious Blood of  Our Lord Jesus Christ - possibly the longest name for a cathedral ever!
Buckingham Palace!
I think this is in St. James' Park? All I know for sure is that it's Madison and Abigail.

At the National Gallery of Art
It's always fun to go to an art museum and pretend you're the subject of the portraits. I'm sure the serious lovers of art aren't annoyed by this type of behavior at all. 
The best deal on tickets was for Wicked, which the girls had all seen before but the Rowberrys hadn't, so they chose to see Wicked. Abigail told me there were new actors in several of the roles from the when we saw it last year so it was at least a little different. They had a great time together and they made it back home safely. That was all I hoped for when I dropped them off in the morning so it was a successful day out.

And with that, 2017 is all wrapped up. We're excited to see what 2018 brings to our family and wish all of you a year filled with love, happiness, and sweet surprises!

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