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. 

 

A Frosty January in England

Even the spider webs freeze here!  You wouldn't believe how many spider webs cover this country until they are all covered in crystal white.  Kind of creepy!  Everything was frozen and beautiful for a couple of weeks in January.  I love the look of frost, so I had to get some pictures.  The kids had a lot of fun in the snow when it first came down.  Each year we have lived here we've gotten one to three weeks of snow.  Just enough to get a taste and then it's gone. 

Our house looked haunted.  Normally you can't see these things. 

More crazy spider web.  Couldn't help myself.  Haha!

 

I thought this was the coolest looking tree ever all covered and frosty.  Unfortunately I was just running some errands and didn't have my real camera with me.  Had to settle for a phone picture.  Totally worth stopping the car to get it though :)

 

 

I have loved that all the neighborhood kids come out to play in the snow together after school.  They go strong until bed time.

 

 

Ella isn't a fan of snowballs hitting her.  Poor girl!  She watched most of the time from the mail slot in our door. 

 

 

Luke after the snowball wars..

 

 

Ella went out to make an itty bitty snowman after the coast was clear :)

 

 

 

First Basketball Game

  Jake and Luke have been busy over the last couple of months with basketball.  Jake and Blake Jones are coaching a lot of the same kiddos that played soccer together.  It's pretty comical watching little kids play basketball!  A challenge to coach them when half of the time they are in lala land, too.  Got some pictures on the phone (excuse the blurry crap quality) of his first basketball game in January.  This kid loves it so far. 

 

The "Suns" have played against the "Cavaliers" a few times.  Love that little boy's fro!

 

 

 

 

Baby Callie at 6 Months!

 Luke and Ella were squishy little cuties and Callie has been following suit.  She is the best little snuggle ever!  So I don't forget her cutie chubs, here are some pics from 6 months!  (back in January!)

 

HaPpY 2013!

  On New Year's Eve we went over to the Ingersoll's house to play games, eat treats, and ring in 2013!  Before we headed over, the kids wanted me to take "cool jumping pictures," so I obliged.  Look how awesome they are.



For some reason, Callie was obsessing over an M&M wrapper that Luke gave her that night.  Whenever she'd drop it, she would cry.  Loved that thing!  haha. 

We took the kids over to the Ingersoll's in their PJs in case they fell asleep, but they ALL were awake at midnight!  Happy New Year!

Baby Charlie

Still in catch up mode!  Another thing I forgot to mention about December was that Abby and Chris had their baby!  Baby Charlotte was born on Dec. 23.  We were excited to get a new niece/cousin!  She was grandbaby #5 for the Gift fam.   We haven't met her yet, but love her already!