Grandma Sherry Came to visit!

Now that it's April, I need to play some serious catch up again.  Lots of fun visitors and trips lately and too much to blog, so it seems like a daunting task!  Here we go. 
Sherry came for a week in January to meet baby Callie and hang out.  It was lots of fun to have her here again.  She and Rick came almost 2 years ago and we did a lot of sight seeing then.  This time we kept things more low key.   Luke and Ella had been counting down the days until she got here.  They were pretty excited!  

  Sherry is a big Beatles fan.  Since she lived through Beatle mania, we thought it would be fun to go with her to Liverpool to see the Beatles sights.  It was our first time in the Liverpool, and besides freezing in the snowy weather, it was fun to see the sights.  Seriously, this winter has been COLD.  And it is dragging on forever.  Can't wait for spring!  Here are some of our Liverpool adventures.  We took a  Beatles "Fab Four Taxi Tour."  It was awesome.  They took us to all of the Beatles sites in the city, and Callie could cry and throw her little baby fits without us disturbing anyone else.  Perfect.  In the cab!...  We are all looking a little like we just woke up from a nap.  (Or just drove a few hours to get here.)

First stop.  Liverpool Maternity Hospital.  Birth place of John Lennon.

 

The dude who produced the Beatle's albums lived here.  Brian Epstein.  From the stories we heard, he was a nasty guy.

Very cool memorial to the musical geniuses who came from Liverpool.  Each suitcase and instrument case is a replica from a famous musician.

We FROZE.  Brrr...

 

 

Humongo cathedral in Liverpool....

 

Birthplace of Ringo Starr.  The buildings are old and nasty.  Apparently the city is going to demolish them soon. 

Here's Ringo Starr's first solo album cover...

 

The building in real life...

 

Ringo Starr's childhood home...

 

 

The one and only Penny Lane..

 

 

 It's all in the song... :)

 

The childhood home of Paul McCartney...

Gate to Strawberry Field.  I didn't realize "strawberry field" was actually a Salvation Army children's home. 

 

John Lennon's house... 

 

George Harrison's childhood house...

Rumor has it that these tombstones were the inspiration for the Eleanor Rigby song.  Apparently John Lennon used to frequent the cemetery for makeout sessions.  Weirdo.

 

The cemetery and church from across the street...

 

Where John Lennon and Paul McCartney met as boys.  This dance hall.  The rest was history. 

 

That wrapped up the Beatles tour with our cab driver.  Here are some other interesting sites from Liverpool... one of the first LDS congregations in the area met here for several years. 

City skyline..

 

 

Near the docks.  We wanted to find the memorial that the church has here for saints who left England for Utah. 

 

Found it :) 

 

And a few more city pics..

These lamb-bananas are everywhere. 

Decided to check out a museum to warm up!  They had some cool old trains, and history about the area.

Before heading home, Sherry and Jake got some pics at the Cavern Club. 

 

Fun but freezing cold little trip.  I think I heard more about the Beatles than ever before.  haha.   It was fun to hang out with Mom Smith.  Sherry's week with us flew by.  Other adventures we had while she was visiting included Bury St. Edmunds on market day, on Sunday church was canceled (due to snow),  BX trips, and lunch/shop browsing at Elveden.