Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: London

The iconic,

the landmarks,

the shopping,

the surprise royal sighting,

and the travel buddies.

London was like a dream, and a perfect ending to our 

crazy, amazing, eye-opening, spiritual, educational, adventuresome,

super-fun month in the UK

Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Southern England

Miles and miles of beautiful yellow flowers.

roaming the dappled light of ancient church ruins

and being dwarfed by the grandeur

enjoying the perfectly picturesque landscapes, rivers, and cottages of the Cotswolds

exploring Roman baths in, well...

Bath

 

then relaxing at a swanky limestone boutique b&b

standing in complete awe at Stonehenge,

in spite of the freezing cold

admiring the pomp and splendor of Windsor

and stopping Jon just in time from "watering the bugs" 

(aka urinating on the grass) in the Queen's rose garden.

oi vey.

Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Wales

Tea and scones in an adorable little tea house

with a name we still can't pronounce.

A day at a living farm where we bottle-fed lambs,

held baby bunnies, and brand-new lambs, and goat kids.

We Gaertners were in baby animal heaven. 

The woman running the farm ask Jonathan to help her 

rescue a lamb that was stuck in the fence.

We visited an oceanside mediaeval castle.

We drove along the mountains, stone fences, and lush farms of the Welsh countryside,

Got lost again, but finally found this view after two hours of 

one-way roads winding along steep drop-offs... But it was worth it!

.

Wales, you're beautiful and charming and we love you (even though you 

don't believe in vowels and we can't say the name of any place we saw).

Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Preston and Liverpool

More than half of my ancestors come from Preston and Liverpool. Some of them, including Mary Rogerson, were among the first English converts to the LDS Church. I've grown up on their stories of sacrifice, faith, and heroism.

It was so special to stop in Preston, where there is now an LDS temple.

The descendants at the doors of the temple. 

Mary would be so thrilled.

We visited the river bank where Mary was baptized. 

and played on a park we found on the way.

Then we went to Liverpool, where these ancestors got on ships to a completely unknown future on faith alone. Some of them were single mothers, some of them had new babies, some of them spent every penny they had on the ship passage. 

On top of enjoying the funky hip vibe of modern Liverpool, we wandered around old ships at the pier.

And wept in gratitude for my ancestors faith and courage that paved the way for the beautiful life I enjoy.

We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants.