Congrats Kerrie and Nick

August 10th... An amazing day!  My beautiful cousins wedding day!

We all got up and went and got our fingernails painted and then put on our best outfits ready for the wedding.  Our taxi picked us up and took us to the church in Hampton... we were all so excited!

We got to the church, sat down and waited for the ceremony to begin... there were lots of hugs from other guests and  family members while we waited.

Then the moment arrived... Kerrie looked absolutely stunning.  

Her dress was beautiful and elegant.

The ceremony was lovely.  We really enjoyed it.

Once the ceremony was over, the witnesses signed the register and we all headed outside for photos.

The professional photos were wonderful.  Kerrie looked so beautiful.

Family and Friends photos next!

This is Kerrie's Mum, my Auntie Kathy and Kerrie's brother Richard.

This is Kerrie's Dad, my Uncle Peter and his family.

Once the photos were taken of us, and while the final professional ones were being finished, we popped to the pub because I needed a snack because my tummy was hurting.  We then headed to the bus stop to jump on the bus to the hotel where the party was going to take place.

We were late to the hotel because everyone else had a lift... we made it though just in time for some yummy drinks and more photos!

 The table decorations were fantastic.  We each had a fun photo as a place card and a bag of old sweets from when Kerrie and I were little kids.

There was also a goldfish as the centerpiece!  So fun!

Dinner was served.... it was delicious!

We had such a fun time during dinner!  Kayle enjoyed her dinner and ate every bite!

The cake was beautiful too!  But the cake toppers were more fun.  Kerrie is an Arsenal fan and Nick is a Tottenham fan... Arsenal and Tottenham are arch rivals!!

Cutting the cake!

 Speeches!  Dad first!

Next the Groom!

The Grooms and Best Man's speeches were hilarious!

Kayle and Kerrie's little sister had so much fun playing together... they got along really well!

Steven and Jenny looking lovely!

Hanging out being silly after dinner!

Finally dessert time... as you can tell, someone enjoyed her dessert... nothing new there then!

Once we were all finished with dinner, speeches and dessert, it was time to make our way outside to the balcony to have a drink and wait for the dinner to be cleared up and the dance floor to be set up.

We all had fun messing around with the dress up stuff!

Dad and Linda chatting!

The dance floor was ready and so were we!  We all had so much fun dancing the night away.  Before we knew it, the time had passed and it was time to head home.  We had one tired little lady!  She was asleep on a chair by the dance floor before the music even stopped.

Kerrie's wedding was one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time!

Fun at the beach with friends!

When we decided to head back to England, we asked Mum if we could take Kayle down to Swanage for a few days so I could show her around and play with on the beach that I grew up playing on... 

So, Mum helped us to have 2 nights down in Swanage with some friends.  We invited Jason's friends Rik and Seonaid and my best friend Julie and my other best friend Lyndsay and her 2 boys flew over from Cyprus to come with us too because I haven't seen them in a really long time.

We hit the road and headed down there on Wednesday morning and arranged to meet Lyndsay at the Swanage Cottage.

One of the first stops... the beach!  It was where Kayle, Henry and Bertie wanted to go first, so we stopped off there and had fun playing.

There's nothing like digging your toes into the Swanage sand!  My favorite thing to do!

The boys took the kids out on a Peddle-o... a typical Swanage tradition!  Bertie and Kayle were sat on the back with their feet in the water and Kayle even had enough courage to jump in with her Daddy!

The following day we went and jumped on the Steam Train to Corfe Castle.

This was Henry's favorite bit because he absolutely loves Thomas the Tank Engine.

I love my husband!

We finally made it to Corfe Castle and went for a walk.  Next stop was lunch in the pub by the castle.  We have been there lots of times and it's always been lovely, but this time around our experience wasn't so good!  The food wasn't good and then the staff were extremely rude... but, we made the most of our time and had fun!

One more stop before our journey home... Ice cream!

 I'm so glad that Kayle and Henry had fun together!  A new friendship formed!

Europe... here we come!

Jason, Kayle and I took off on a fun family trip back to England on the 5th August for 3 weeks. 

We headed to the airport and got all ready for our journey... We were hoping for an upgrade and we got one but first stop... breakfast and Starbucks!

Next stop... checking out our plane!

Kayle had lots of fun doing her colouring!

We weren't completely sure where we were going to sit... we just knew we were giving permission to board early and were towards the front of the plane.

Next thing we know, we are sitting in World Club Class.  We were so excited... our seats reclined into beds and Kayle and I were sat in our own little compartment!  It was amazing and so exciting to experience!

Someone enjoyed themselves that's for sure!  She took full advantage of the luxury!

Once we had eaten and were all settled, my precious Kayle got comfy and watched her movie.... still loving the luxury!

Our journey was an incredible memory created and given to us by a complete stranger!  Another thing that this cancer has allowed us to experience!

We arrived in Sunny Hounslow the following morning and actually arrived feeling relatively good because we had managed to get about 5 hours sleep.  First thing on the menu... my ultimate favorite.. Mummykins famous Mediterranean Roast Lamb Dinner!!  I wish I could eat one of these every day!

We had a few fun things before our big family BBQ... Kerrie and Nick's wedding and a trip down to Swanage.  I did separate posts for these!

We had all the family over the Sunday before we left for Spain.  We had so many wonderful family and friends come over and say hi and hang out for BBQ.  

Kayle had a wonderful time playing with all her all her cousins and new friends.

And so... the next morning arrived very quickly!  We had to be up and at Gatwick Airport at about 5am... we were all very tired, as you can imagine!

But, we got our flight to Spain, picked up our hire car, drove to Granny and Grandad's apartment... and got all changed and ready for the sun!

Lunches on the balcony were a daily thing... and they were yummy!!  

Kayle and Grandad enjoyed sitting on the balcony playing games together!  This was also a regular occurrence.  Kayle had so much fun playing and learnt lots of new games.

We had a really fun road trip planned for a few days into our Spain trip.  We hired a bigger car, packed a bag and headed to Cordoba and Seville.  

Cordoba first!

We had a, not too long, 4 hour journey to Cordoba... that meant 4 hours of learning new games and playing newly learnt ones.

I loved it in Cordoba... the architecture was out of this world, I don't think I could have taken more photos!

Kayle really enjoyed looking at everything too.

These beautiful open courtyards are everywhere.  They are really fun places to eat and hang out.

We sat in this one and ate lunch.

And then, of course, found the Ice Cream Shop for dessert.  So many choices!

These are the little tiny, windy streets that we spent all the time walking around exploring!

This stunning building is a beautiful Mosquita.  It was originally a mosque, but when the British came over to Spain, they changed it to a church.

This archway i just as you enter the road to the Mosquita.

Fun in the sun in the side streets!

Funny story for you all... while we were walking around and exploring the side streets, we were looking in one shop and this random lady came up to us and asked us if we would like to see a Bull!  She then takes me and my dad for a long walk right away from Mum, Jason and Kayle.  Dad and I thought we were being sold as slaves!  Well, turns out she is a chef in in a restaurant for a local retired, world famous Matador and wanted to show us the bull heads of the bulls he killed!

So, once Dad and I had checked them all out, we ran back, grabbed Jason, Mum and Kayle and took them to look too!  Kayle was a little scared at first, but then seemed to enjoy looking at them!  They were HUGE!  Absolutely MASSIVE!  I can only imagine how big the actual bull was when it was alive.

This bull head is the world famous one that is literally... the biggest bull killed EVER!

We had to hit the shops one day so we took off to the shopping center and went to Primark and let Kayle have some fun on the rides.

We stumbled upon thi cute little bar and restaurant one evening when our original restaurant was fully booked.  It was absolutely delicious and the atmosphere was so fun!

We saw these Bulls everywhere as we were travelling... they mark the roads.  They are traditional Spanish symbols.

We also hit Seville and had an amazing time exploring and taking in the sights.  We went to the old churches and ate great food.  The sun was so hot.  We had such a wonderful time in both Cordoba and Seville!

Back to the cool beach we headed.  It was a wonderful 6 days of exploring inland Spain, but the weather was too hot and we were all looking forward to the pool, the beach, the wind and the cooler temperatures... oh, and the beach bars!

Did I tell you I have the best husband ever?!

We enjoyed just walking down to the local beach bar, grabbing a drink, chilling in the sun and relaxing.

One evening, we went for a really yummy dinner with some friends of my parents and Mum and Jason split this Paella.  They both LOVE seafood, so this is perfect for them!

Our sweet girl enjoyed the sunshine too.... she loved getting to swim every day and play with Granny and Grandad.  She took swimming lessons before we left but really did well developing her swimming ability while we were away and Daddy even taught her how to use a snorkel and goggles!

I love chilling with my Daddy!

Coming towards the end of our trip... we took full advantage of spending time relaxing together and enjoying each other making memories.

Kayle really enjoyed watching the barman making drinks... she sat there for ages.

Then got to enjoy one of his creations!

As did we all!

These stunning flowers are everywhere in Mum and Dad's apartment complex... such a wonder to look at... God is sooo good... He creates PURE BEAUTY!

Our last day... took a nice walk down on the sea front... took in the sights one more time... took some more photos...

My sweet girl relaxing outside Granny and Grandads apartment.

A few silly shots of me and my girl....

We headed back to England at about 6pm.  We had a night flight because we were flying back to the US the following morning.  We got back to Granny and Grandad house, took a quick nap, took a quick shower, repacked a few bags and then said our goodbyes.  We headed to Heathrow to come home to North Bend.

We had such a wonderful trip with my parents... we made some wonderful memories together!