Rainbows

A few weeks ago it was Showers, now it’s Rainbows. I shared this video on Instagram, but am also sharing it here along with the message I wrote: “Living in England isn’t always flowers and rainbows—except when it is! I’d had a few days of stress and was feeling a little discouraged. God must have known I needed a little pep talk in the form of this beautiful rainbow outside our window that morning. It just kept getting bigger and fuller and then a few minutes later was gone. Just the reminder I needed.”

You may have noticed (or most likely not haha!) that I missed a week of sending out an email. It’s been a busy, fun, whirlwind couple of weeks and I haven’t had much extra time because we’ve had more visits from family! (with a few more on the way) That’s one of the great things about a senior mission in general—we have a little more flexibility to be able to have people come and visit us. Now, if we were in the middle of Iowa I’m not sure we’d be so popular. But since we’re in one of the most beautiful and iconic places in the world, we’re a hot spot destination! But hopefully our kids and grandkids at least would want to come see us wherever we are. ;)

So this past weekend we had a visit from our Denmark family and got to show them where we live and also spend time with our grandkids while Mom and Dad spent a little time in London. Win, win for all of us! I won’t share the hundreds of photos I took in just a few days but here are just a few of the fun we had together—playing at a park, visiting Oxford and Warwick Castle, sewing a quilt for the new baby (it was all designed by big sister and we did our best with a borrowed machine and limited sewing supplies), and just enjoying some much needed Bubba and Nana time. :)

Going back to rainbows, this last picture was taken in the Cloisters at Christ Church College at Oxford (I adore Oxford and if you come visit us, that will be high on my list of places I’d want you to see!). Any true Harry Potter fan will know this was a filming location for one or more of the movies—I like Harry Potter and all, but that’s not what really interests me about these beautiful old buildings. I just love the architecture and the history behind them. I love imaging what life must have been like when these buildings were first built. I don’t think I would have wanted to live way back then, but it’s fascinating to think about. I caught a glimpse of this rainbow light being refracted (is that the right word?) through the windows, which actually aren’t even windows but just bars over window-like openings and I did my best to capture it.

I can’t even really explain what feels so special about these old and beautiful places, but whenever I see light like this or a beautiful sunset or an amazing rainbow, I’m just so grateful for the history and charm and beauty in the world and that we get to experience so much of it here.

♥ Until next time, we love you! Cheerio! ♥

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Words of the Week:

(Words or phrases we hear “on the street” that either delight, confuse or amuse us.)

Jolly - happy, wonderful, good - This seems like such a cliche British word, but I really do hear people say it regularly. It’s often said in reply to something almost like we would say “great!”. Yesterday I handed money over to a cashier and he replied, “Jolly good.” Or another way I’ve heard it said is something like, “He’d jolly well better do it.” That’s my favorite, it’s like using a very cheery word to issue a threat haha.

Wellies - rubber rain boots - This is one I should have included last week when talking about rain. If you don’t have proper Wellies while living in England, you better get some quick because they really are useful in all this rain.