Merry Christmas Eve

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas filled with many blessings, laughs, family celebrations, & joy!  

Here's the front & back of our 2010 Christmas Card

(standing in front of the Tower Bridge in London)

Remembering the reason for the season,

Happy Birthday Jesus!

#2

I immediately had a request for the Farm canoeing (or was this kayaking?) video & I FINALLY got the upload to actually work (I guess it just wanted its own post)!  Enjoy our family goofiness... we certainly do!

Videos

I have had my FLIP video camera since last Christmas (gift from Ben's brother Adam), and I carry it with me in my purse everywhere I go, but often I forget to use it.  I finally remembered to download the videos that I HAVE taken to my computer and share a few with you.

There were numerous fun memories on this camera: Little clips of the days both Leigh and Emory were born; Bennett's birthday last year; a run around our backyard last New Years Eve with friends (that Ben would rather me delete from the camera); a street band performing in New Orleans; and my personal favorite...Fun times in a canoe at the farm (I have been trying to post this video to this post for the past 2 days, to no avail.  There is either a limit to the # of videos that can go in 1 post or I'm doing something wrong.... maybe I'll post it separately). 

Here's the hilarious video of Bennett dancing, that my sister & I both alluded to in previous blog posts, while we were at the Seaside Wine Festival in November...

And here is the video of the Changing of the Guard's Royal Band at Buckingham Palace in London playing "Dancing Queen"... It's just the tail end of it, and you will have to just ignore Ben & my beautiful singing, but I promised to share...

I hope to remember to catch more special/funny occasions on film... 

Thankful

Things have felt hectic and busy ever since we got back from our trip, but that's what this time of year brings!  We moved straight into Thanksgiving celebrations... 

We spent Wednesday night at Ben's parents house with the entire family, grandparents from his dad's side included.  We had a delicious spread of dinner and desserts and all visited together and played with Leigh in the den afterward.  We all talked about how much fun we had in Spain & shared pictures from the incredible trip we had.  

While we were there, I got some extremely exceptionally exciting (lots of E's) news!  My younger sister, Rachel, & Hollis got engaged at the beach that afternoon!  We are so happy for them & the amazing marriage they are going to be entering into.  Hollis couldn't be a better addition to our family & I'm so proud of my not-so-baby-anymore sister.  

Then Thursday we spent Thanksgiving day with my family at the newly annual Roe/Setzler Steelwood celebration. The boys fried turkeys, we had a delicious meal, and then we had a crazy afternoon caravan of golf cart riding!  

Rachel & Hollis ate lunch with Hollis' family, but we were so glad they joined us for the afternoon so we could celebrate (and ooh and ahh over the ring & such).  

The next morning Ben & I woke up bright & early and drove to Tuscaloosa for the IRON BOWL!  It was a quick trip to see the game but well worth it.  Auburn defeated Alabama 28-27 in one of the best football games I've seen.  It was extremely exciting (and as I write this now, they have won the SEC Championship last night and are going to the National Championship! WAR EAGLE!)

 Yes, in fact I am wearing a red coat (Alabama's color), but that's because I got the coat in Spain & it was special.  However, I was wearing my AUBURN necklace & cheering Auburn to victory! :) 

The next day, Saturday, Ben & I cooked our own version of Thanksgiving dinner all over again because we didn't have any leftovers from our parents houses.  Ben fried a turkey breast, and I made homemade Macaroni & Cheese and a Pecan Pie.  My parents came over for dinner & there were leftovers for everyone.  This was my first time making a Pecan Pie and it was very easy (and Ben's new favorite dessert)!

Since then, I have gotten the majority of my Christmas shopping done (ONLINE) already and we are about to head out and get our Christmas Tree!  I love this season of Advent (which we are focusing on in our Bible Study right now) and know that I have so much in my life to be thankful for.  Not only do we need to focus on THANKS on "Thanksgiving Day" but throughout this busy season and the year.  

Thank you, blog readers & friends, for all of your kind comments and compliments!  It makes blogging worth it and I appreciate your kind words.  

Days 9 & 10: London & HOME

Day 9

Our last day in London was dedicated to everything we had not had a chance to see & was on our "MUST SEE" list. We started out with St. Paul's Cathedral being our priority because we knew it may take a while...

The exterior was massive and beautiful

We did the personal audio guides that were included with our entry fee & they took us around the entire cathedral, explaining everything. Pairing that with my Rick Steve's book, we felt like we learned it all. No pictures were allowed inside, but there was an area they were allowed... you could walk up 530 stairs to the TOP of the dome and look out over the city skyline. Well, I had heard about this "climb" before our trip & was really excited about doing it, getting exercise, and the photography opportunities at the top. 

 Then it was time to actually do it and we ran into a few problems: (1) Ben's fear of heights... so he walked the first 259 stairs with me before going back down & leaving me alone w/ my camera and (2) 530 stairs is A LOT... think "Biggest Loser" style challenges but in the skinniest stairwell that winds in a tight circle... that's TOUGH and I was worried I would pass out and never make it back to Ben at the bottom.

Making it to the top was worth it though!

It was very foggy that morning & most but not all of it had burnt off by the time I got up so high...

Looking back down to the massive building

We walked across this pedestrian bridge after we left St. Paul's

After my climb, we both went down into the crypt and then were on our way...

You can see the people on the circular walkway at the very top of the dome... that's where I was

Over the pedestrian walkway I photographed, we saw Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Then we headed back over near our hotel for some lunch & the rest of our afternoon... during lunch this day was when we found out/it was announced that Prince William & Kate Middleton were engaged... all of London were excited!

Admiralty Arch (the road going through it is "The Mall" which leads to Buckingham Palace)

We were very picture happy this afternoon as we leisurely walked around the streets & enjoyed our last day

Next we went to Winston Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms, where Britain's government was headquartered underground during World War 2

Ben LOVES history & was very interested in this stuff (I enjoyed it too, but can't claim to be a history buff)

Because of the day's royal engagement announcement, and because we hadn't seen it at night, we decided to walk by Buckingham Palace

There were news stations, satellite vans, cameras, & all kinds of media outlets all lined up in front of the Palace "reporting live" on the engagement news. Ben & I sat on a ledge right there in front of all the cameras for a little while :)

Finally, for our last night in London, we saw the play WICKED!!! I had already seen it (back when I went to New York with my sisters) and absolutely loved it, so Ben wanted to know what all the hype was about.... and now he's in the Wicked fan club too

Day 10

This day, Wednesday November 17th, actually started at midnight.... the clock struck 12:01 am and Ben & I opened the bottle of champagne my parents had sent us and toasted to our 3 year wedding anniversary! We were still up and packing our bags to leave and head to the airport that morning, so it was fun to start the recognition of our ACTUAL anniversary then, even though we had been "celebrating" the whole week.

After getting some sleep, it was truly time to leave our wonderful hotel and London as a whole and head back home. Here's one last look at our cool hotel, The Haymarket Hotel

lobby

and one of the coolest parts: the POOL (in the basement)... there was a wedding party down here the first night we stayed at the hotel)

The flight back home was quite long (about 9 hours to Atlanta) so we watched a lot of movies and only napped a little bit. But all in all, it was the best vacation and best anniversary I have ever had. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband/my best friend and can't wait to spend so many more years with him making who knows what other fun memories (and obviously I will document it with many many pictures, whatever it is... hope you enjoyed!)! :)

Day 8: London

Day 8

Our second day in London, Monday, we had completely planned out from beginning to end! This would be the only day while we were there that the Changing of the Guard would be taking place, so we planned that for our morning. We got to Buckingham Palace early to stake out our place so we could see the show.

It all took place in stages from about 10:45 to 12:00 noon

I'm not really sure how to describe it except for a lot of pomp & circumstance and not what we expected... but very cool to experience

Other than reading the description in my guidebook, you had no idea what or why things were going on, you just watched...

my favorite part was when the Royal Band played "Dancing Queen" (I got it on video on my Flip & may download it one day)

It was very cool to be at Buckingham Palace & experience the ceremony. The Palace is humongous (much more so than it appears from the front)

once zooming in on this picture, I realized that some of the guards may be female...

After the ceremony, we went to a little Pub around the corner from the Palace. Of course Ben got a pint of Ale & I had "fish & chips"... I just figured I HAD TO since that's what I hear "they" eat, and it was yummy!

And then it was time to meet up with our tour guide. We had a guide for the afternoon to take us to a few places we had not yet been... and he was great!

First, we went by Parliament & Big Ben... this was the first we had seen it during the day.  Our guide called this photo op the "money shot"... I agreed... it's gorgeous & there were news cameras broadcasting from this exact same angle

Then we walked across the street to Westminster Abbey and he gave us a tour inside (no pictures allowed)... It was absolutely beautiful.  We went to a lot of beautiful places of worship on this trip and I was just in awe of all the architectural beauty and details and history... 

This is where Prince William & Kate Middleton are getting married (they announced their engagement the NEXT day after we visited here)!

side entrance to the church (potentially more beautiful than the front)

The day before was their version of "Veteran's Day" (Remembrance Sunday) so these crosses & poppy flowers were everywhere to honor fallen soldiers from around the world... it was extremely moving to be there at this time & see the sea of crosses

Next, we drove across town to The Tower of London (a palace, castle, prison, & home of the Crown Jewels)... along our drive, we learned a lot about the city's history

From here was our best (and such a gorgeous) view of the Tower Bridge... the biggest misconception is people calling this bridge the London Bridge (which is next to this bridge and actually very nondescript & boring in comparison)

My favorite thing at the Tower of London was seeing the Crown Jewels... it was so much more than crowns & jewelry (even though that's pretty cool, but Ben really enjoyed it too)... our guide told us all these cool stories and the history behind the stones and where they came from and how they made it to the crowns & everything was just stunning.

The grounds at the Tower were very cool too. There are Ravens living there, an execution site, massive towers with 15 foot thick walls, this cool cannon

we got our picture with some Beefeaters (the guards of the tower who actually live on the premises with their families and now give tours)

When we left, we saw the Tower Bridge lit up at night....

This was the only night that we had reservations for a nice dinner... a restaurant that had been highly recommended to us, RULES (considered the oldest restaurant in London)

the decor was very eclectic and the food was perfect

Finally, we went to see GREASE... it was so much fun to see a "Broadway" play in London... everything was the same, but when they were speaking you could hear a hint of a British accent in their voices

We had such a fun time & were singing the songs the rest of the night! We were just so sad that the next day would be our last :(