We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Kofford's and Ma and Pa Morty!  We had a very relaxing and peaceful day spending time with each other.  This morning we opened presents and then Simon spent a good part of the day preparing a delicious English feast for us.  Here are some pictures from our day:

Mom sleeping

Presents under the tree

Simon got me an English Christmas movie called Arthur Christmas- this is a snapshot of the beginning... my mom and I really enjoyed it

The cover

Simon cooking away

A little blurry, but our Christmas crackers

The feast- roasted chicken, carrots, swede, yorkshire pudding, mash, stuffing, and gravy... it was so good!!!

Mom trying a pigs n blanket... sausage wrapped in bacon

Me with my Sholer and crown from the cracker

My crazy dad eating some ice cream

Later in the day my side of the family skyped us and we were able to watch them open presents. Everyone was there except those of us in England.  I am so grateful for technology!  Here are some pictures from skype:

Jeff, Kira, Jeffrey, Kylie, and a piece of Phoebe

Joe showing us a sweater Becky and Kyle got for his dog Chalupa

Rach saying hi

Kira, Jeff, and Jeffrey

Becky and her girls (Maddie, Phoebe, and Kylie)

Dalty and Katelyn (they are pregnant by the way and expecting a girl in May!!!!)

Simon dying because skyping my family is crazy business

It was so wonderful to chat with family.  I know being with family always helps me feel the true spirit of Christmas better in my life.  I love my family and I am grateful that I get to be with them forever because of the birth and sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I am especially grateful for Simon and all that he does for me and our little family.  I don't believe in soul mates, but I couldn't have married a better man.  He may not be perfect, but he has been the best for me.

Hopefully we will be able to catch up with Simon's family today as well.  We can't wait to talk with them too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE TODAY (AND EVERYDAY)!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning was the last day we would have our rental car so we decided to go to Delamere Forest and Simon and I went for a run while my parents went for a walk.  It was pretty muddy because it had rained the night before.

Mom and Dad in the forest

Aren't they cute?

My stud muffin just before our run

Simon and I after our run

After we went to the forest we went home, showered, and ate lunch.  Simon had to work from 3pm to 7pm so we went into town and did a little last minute shopping.  When Simon got home we had tortellini with corn and garlic bread.  It was delicious.  We also had some Shloer with dinner.  It is like a sparkling cider.

Our table decoration we bought in Germany, a Christmas pyramid

Sitting down to eat

Mom, dad, and I

The scrumptious food

One of our traditions is to get each other ornaments each year and open them on Christmas Eve.  Here are our ornaments:

Dad got an English post box

Mom got the "Special Mum" award

Simon got a knight in shining armor that I bought in Wales (cheesy I know)

Simon got me two baubles that I made into earrings that had London on one and Paris on the other

Katelyn and Dalton had us for Christmas this year and also sent ornaments for us... I am holding Simon's, a cupcake that they said was the closest thing they could find to a crumpet, and he is holding mine, a US Passport 

After dinner and opening the ornaments we decided to watch an English movie called "Nativity." It was surprisingly good and quite funny.

After the movie we went to bed and waited for Christmas morning.  Although Christmas is not the same without little children around and we missed being with our whole families, but I am so grateful my parents could be here with us.

A Whale of a Time in Wales

Day 2: The title of this post is courtesy of my dad.  He got a kick out of it and loves Moby Dick, so of course he had to do a play off on whales.  He was really disappointed that we weren't actually going to see whales while we were visiting Wales.  Instead we went to Conwy in Northern Wales and went to the Conwy Castle.  The castle was built between 1283 and 1289 by King Edward I.  It was considered one of his key fortresses.  It is also considered the most magnificent of all of Edward's Welsh fortresses.  It was super windy outside so it was kind of crazy while we were walking around.  It was beautiful though and probably one of my favorite things we have done while I have been in Europe. Some of that may be in part due to my mother.  She made us laugh the whole time because she was screaming and holding on to the railing because she thought she was going to be blown away. These two pictures and video might help illustrate this a little bit...

Simon laughing at mom

Her hair helps demonstrate how windy it was

Video of mom and the wind

Since all we really did was walk around to see different parts of the castle, there is not much to write about.  Here are the pictures from the trip:

Conwy Castle

Conwy

Simon, Dad, and Mom- Simon towers over them

Me and Simon

Simon on the castle guard

Mom and Dad with the castle guard

Castle

Mom and Dad by the Southwest Tower

View from the tower

Another view from the tower

At the top of the tower

Mom, me, and Dad in the baking quarters (overn behind us)

The Ghost of King Edward I

Bridge

Them being crazy

The lean

After we spent some time in the castle and gift shop we went across the street to a Knight Shop where they sold swords, armor, shields, etc.  Mom bought a letter opener that had a dragon on it and says "Barbarian."  Haha.

Mom with a knight

Mom and my crazy dad

Some small knights in the shop

Shields

Simon also took some video of the trip, but we didn't realize the sound was off.  Here is one clip that I think really shows how beautiful Conwy was.

We ended the day by going to my bishop's house for dinner, they live in Wales.  His wife Haley made a full English dinner with a spread of crackers and cheese as well.  The food was delicious and we enjoyed spending time with them and their two children, Kiera and Luke.  They were so nice for having us over while my parents were in town.