At long last, here are some pictures to share with you from our summer’s trip to Europe.  We visited my brother and his family in England for a week (perfectly timed so that Nik could go to Wimbledon!), then spent two weeks in Greece with Nik’s family followed by a 12-hour layover back in England and then a 2-1/2 day stopover in Iceland on the way home.

Jon and Leah are full-time missionaries with YWAM Harpenden.  We really enjoyed getting to hang out with them, see some British sights, and also learn more about the work that they’re doing.  We also especially had fun getting to know Maria, my newest niece who we hadn’t met yet!

At the ancient Roman wall in St. Albans

in St. Albans Cathedral

Jon and Leah also treated us to lots of great food, including special British treats, such as:

Elderflower cordial, in the making.  It was delicious!

Leah’s delicious homemade scones with tea, jam, and clotted cream

We spent a day in London, seeing a few sights and enjoying some delicious Lebanese food for dinner.

Aren’t we cute? In front of Buckingham Palace

Never mind the sightseeing – this was the little girls’ favorite part of London!

Obligatory Big Ben shot

in Trafalgar Square

The official countdown clock for the Olympics – only 32 more days!

The next day, Nik lived a tennis player’s dream and sat in Centre Court at Wimbledon while Ellie and I played with the cousins back in Harpenden.

That’s Nadal on the right (I think).

Our final day in England, Kaitlyn’s preschool held their own Olympics.  This is where we learned that the Brits say, “Ready, steady, go” instead of “On your mark, get set, go.”  “Ready, steady, go” is our chant of choice now! 🙂

Kaitlyn and Ellie had so much fun playing together.  The good times were certainly enhanced by the fact that there were two doll strollers to play with, meaning no one had to share!  They had so much fun taking walks together around the Oval (which is where Jon and Leah live).

We had a wonderful time in England with Jon and Leah.  I particularly loved it because the weather feels like Alaska!  Then we packed all our cool weather clothes in one suitcase and didn’t open that one again for two weeks because…

we were off to Greece!