The September Crazies!

Travis has been finishing up all the paperwork for his Eagle rank in scouting and as a congratulations present, we let him buy some parts and build a computer.  Thanks to his sister Codi and brother in law, Scott, he got all his parts ordered and safely delivered here to Ramstein.  He was so excited he couldn't go to bed and started the build job at 10:00 p.m. and didn't finish up until almost 4 a.m.  Mike and I woke up to see it all assembled on the dining room table with sticky notes saying "Don't Touch!"

The fog laying in the Mosel River Valley

 On the tenth, Mike and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary by driving to Luxembourg to check out a used furniture store called Troc.  It's a huge chain of stores throughout France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany.  The drive was beautiful, as always and although we didn't find any great treasures, we had fun.  Then we went to the adult session of Stake Conference.  Such a nice day...and so blessed to spend it with each other and that we love to spend time with each other, even after all these years!

Border between Germany and Luxembourg

A street in downtown Luxembourg

On Monday, being the crazy girl I am, I got up at 3:00 a.m. to be picked up by my friend, Sandy and drive to Frankfurt Hahn airport to catch the early flight to London.  Sandy wanted to got to London to celebrate her birthday and who am I to say NO to London!?!?  

Some school kids on a field trip

Parliament

Double Decker!

Big Ben towering over part of Westminster Abbey

It was one of those whirlwind, one night adventures and we had a wonderful time! 

 We landed really early in the morning and took the 45 minute train ride into London, checked in to our hotel near Victoria Station, then we were off to see Buckingham Palace which is only open to the public in September and October while the Queen is on holiday at Balmoral in Scotland.

One entrance to Buckingham Palace

We were surprised that we were able to see a whole display of Princess Kate's wedding gown and the wedding cake!

The north side of the Palace, where you exit from the tour

Me and some of my close friends outside Buckingham Palace :)

After the tour of the palace, we took the tube to Westminster Station and then spent and hour walking through Westminster Abbey.  The history of this place is jaw dropping!  It has been the site of coronations since 1066 and the resting place of seventeen monarchs.  Queen Elizabeth l and Mary Queen of Scots are buried here.  It's where Prince William and Princess Katherine were married last spring.  
You aren't allowed to take pics inside the Abbey, but I did snap a few outside.

Part of the doors into the Abbey

The Cloister

Westminster Abbey

A door near the Abbey

Continuing our adventure, we hopped on the tube and went to the Notting Hill Station.  I've always wanted to wander around Notting Hill and see the famous Portobello Market there.  The market is open everyday, but Monday is it's slow day.  It was fun anyway!!  There were some vendors out on the street and lots of cute, quaint shops all along the way.  We had a nice lunch in one of the restaurants along Portobello Road.

Sewing Machines floor to ceiling

 More sewing machines!

It was getting to be evening and even though we'd been up since 3, we decided we wanted to see if we could get some last minute, half price theater tickets.  Once  again we hopped on the tube and this time headed over to the west end theater district.  We were able to find a good deal and great seats to see Legally Blonde playing at the Savoy.  It was SO good!!
After that we took the underground back to our hotel and finally went to sleep.  We even slept through all the noise...we opened our window to discover we were right next to the train station.  

The view from our hotel window

The Underground (Tube)

Sandy at Victoria Station

 The next day we got up, had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then did some exploring and shopping and then went to Liverpool station to catch our train back to the airport and then flew home. 


The day after I got home, I went right to work at the annual ROSC ( Ramstein Officer's Spouses Club) Bazaar.  It's a HUGE event!  Last year I worked with my friend Karma on the hangar team and this year I worked with the Hospitality team.  They are like the marines...first in and last out.  They make and serve meals for 11 days in a row out of a small hangar kitchen.  They feed the set up crew, the bazaar committee, the volunteers and then the vendors. I worked for 5 of those days..10 to 12 hour days.  It's hard work, but so rewarding. 

 On Saturday, Mike and Travis went with friends to the Frankfurt Car Show.  They said it was huge and they only saw a small portion of it but that it was really awesome!  

Bumblebee

Ford concept

Russian concept

Lamborghini

Bugatti

 So that's how our September is going...and it's not over yet!   I still have a huge women's conference to put on next Saturday and then my friend Karma is coming for a week long visit!  The fun times never stop around here, do they!

Love and miss you all,
-corri