Leighton Buzzard

I could have been a Brit. 

It was a great feeling to see the little town that my great-great-grandparents called home, 

walking the streets and going in the churches where they would have attended. 

I couldn't help but wonder where great-grandpa first heard the mormon missionaries 

and decided to come to America. 

Some good perspective on how much can change because of a simple decision. 

Savoring England

Some moments and treats beg to be savored. I'm enjoying them in memory for now and hopefully get to experience them in person again.  If you get a chance I would recommend any of these:

The sight of the fresh bread- laid out on a table in the middle of a market in the middle of a quaint English town- should stop you in your tracks and you should savor that moment. 

We stopped for this bread, in Wantage. 

And then savor what ever treat you fancy.  

We went for the poppy seed bun.

I had yet to taste the next delight or I would have been ignoring the camera and enjoy each bite of tart greek yogurt, homemade granola (to die for!), and organic honey topped with a strawberry.  

Perfection to savor in Oxford!

Put me in a field of yellow flowers, in rolling hills dotted with intense green trees and my soul sings. The lanes line with trees and covered in leafy canopies also had this effect on me.

mmm... 

Just looking at the picture makes me want to go back to Brighton for scones and clotted cream.  

Our good friends recommended we get them in England and I am now passing the recommendation along to you.  I can see the possibility that this duo may be a hit or miss kind of treat...

I think it takes a fresh scone and good cream to get it right,

We only had it once while we were there and boy was it done right!

The gardens of the London England Temple.  

I'll let you savor this beautiful moment- it needs no explanation:

cruising the countryside

Who knew how fun it would be to cruise around the English countryside in a little Fiat? 

This was the very first thing we did and one of the best parts of the whole trip.

One of the gems of the countryside was the Salisbury Cathedral. The spire is the tallest in the England.

400 vs 5500

Last summer - 2 weeks - Russia & Ukraine - 400 pictures

Last month - 3 weeks - England & Italy - 5,500 pictures

Buying a "nicer" camera was definitely one of the best purchases we've ever made. 

It completely changes how you see something when you go somewhere to see something. 

(Big Ben and some flowers with the London England Temple silhouette in the background)

Jump on a plane

So there are places that you learn about, read about, hear about, and then someday.....finally see. After hours of researching, planning, and saving up a good chunk of change, you can jump on a plane and make it happen. We did and highly recommend.

the trees get smaller and smaller

Christmas is Christmas, as long as there's a tree, right? Well, with a busy December we almost completely forwent a tree this year, but Christmas cheer prevailed and late in the month Tiny Tim (the tree) was purchased in the local Christmas tree lot. He was so small, he didn't even need to be watered. Better yet, he only needed one strand of lights and 10 ornaments.

Here are some more pics of the Christmas season. Santa got us a new Canon SLR camera!

Antique ornaments on our tree, slightly reminiscent of a meteor striking the sun.

The lights of the San Francisco City Building. 

We caught this across the street when going to see The Nutcracker.

Who knew the books could be arranged in so many ways?

Still getting used to Christmas lights on palm trees. We'll get there someday.

cheers to the new year

Christmas is best when it's cold, but New Years' is welcome to have warmth and maybe even a little sunset. Utah was great for the holidays, but coming home is still the best. And after all the hearty holiday meals, a little sushi really hit the spot. Bring on 2012!

the Thanksgiving spread

This year's menu:
1. Pre-dinner Recchiuti Chocolate
2. An amazingly juicy bird (basted every 30 minutes).
3. Stuffin' Muffins
4. Homemade mashed potatoes with skins
5. Whipped yams
6. Homemade crescent rolls (with the secret ingredient: mashed potatoes)
7. Parfaits with quinoa, apples, Greek yogurt, pomegranate, and apricot yogurt.
8. "Vegetables in a cloud" dish
9. Fresh green and albino aspargus
10. Fresh green beans
11. Cherry, Apple, Pumpkin, and Banana Cream Pie

one wild summer

2011 included one wild summer for the Abbotts. Sandwiched between two amazing adventures, Russia in May and Disneyland in October, was a whole lot of hoopla.

Picking buckets of raspberries in our neighbor's yard, hiking, 

and checking out the wine country in Napa Valley.

Camping and hiking at Sugarloaf State Park.

A real African Safari. I think the lady in back wished 

the giraffe like her as much as Margo. (no surprise)

Margo's surprise birthday getaway for me: 

a long weekend on the Mendocino Coast.

A few new sights in San Francisco: 

fireworks on Pier 39 on the 4th of July, 

the tiled staircase, 

and a symphony at the Davies Concert Hall.

A visit from Margo's brother Alex.

A visit from Margo's sister Maren and baby Adelaide.

A cross country drive in a U-haul to get these two cute guys 

(and their parents) moved from Washington DC to Heber Utah. 

A trip for Margo to Seattle for her cousin Mollie's wedding.

And a great week for Margo at girl's camp.

A day exploring San Jose, including the Winchester Mystery House, the San Jose Rose Gardens, and finally cashing in a 

3-year-old gift card to Maggiano's Little Italy.

The last home game for the Oakland A's. I had to include the second photo to prove there were actually people at the park.

And last, but not least: a few amazing 

discoveries and rediscoveries of incredible foods. 

1) White Chocolate Raspberry bark from here. 

2) The most AMAZING bread in the world from here. 

3) Bread, pizza, and pasta that will change your life from here. 

4) Delectable drinks from here, and

5) Classic shakes from where they do them right, here.

Whew! Can't wait until next summer.

KYIV

After attending sacrament meeting in Tuapse, we jumped on a train for the approximate 30 journey to Kyiv. We bought the cheap train tickets from Tuapse to Rostov (since this was during daylight hours and we would be sitting anyway). We sat next to a Ukrainian lady. At a train stop in Timashevck (just North of Krasnodar) this lady jumped off the train and bought 4 gigantic halves of smoked fish. She slapped the fish on the table of our little seating area and then wrapped them in newspaper, threw them under her chair, and went to sleep. Margo thought it was pretty interesting.

From Rostov to Kyiv we bought the LUX tickets, which means you're in a compartment all by yourself. As our final and longest train ride, we felt it was a wise purchase. We actually tried to buy these tickets at least 3 times, but kept getting denied because they were "ridiculously" expensive. The cashier lady would just say, "Oh no, you don't want to buy those." Well, it was worth it and they weren't that expensive.

This is the only city we visited that I hadn't been to before, so it was awesome for both Margo and I to discover on our own. Overall, we really loved Kyiv. Everything we saw was very clean and well maintained.

Once again, the Russian (or Ukrainians) know how to build a good monument. The motherland statue is amazing, the metallic version of the stone statue we saw back in Volgograd.

Some amazing ice cream was also a nice surprise. We saw a little ice cream stand outside the main train station when we came into town, so we thought we'd try it. It was so good. I don't know what they put in it, but it was some of the best ice-cream we've ever had. Luckily, there were dozens of stands selling this same ice-cream. We bought ice-cream at least 5-6 times in the 2 days we were there.

Spring was a great time to see the city with the trees blossoming and new flowers. Lot's of people were out on the streets for their National holiday.

A highlight of Kyiv was visiting the Temple. It was dedicated just last August.

This trip was pretty spectacular; truly an unforgettable time together.