August found us still in Scandinavia. We were in Bergen, Norway for 4 days and really loved our time there. We went on a "Norway in a Nutshell" trip via train and canal and bus.
This was our river cruise and it was just beautiful the entire trip.
At the end of the cruise, we hiked to a waterfall area that was supposedly like 20 minutes from the canal...well, the trailhead was. The hike ended up being well over an hour with hundreds of stone steps to climb to reach the falls, but it was really a pretty view at the top and we were glad to make it there!
We hired a local guide...who ended up being a famous Scandinavian birder, Jules.
He took us with Aaron and Mitch, to several places one of our days there and we saw well over 50 species of birds, most of them completely new to us. He was amazing. He could see and hear the slightest things and know exactly what it was.
Bergen is known for having like 300 days of rain a year. We were blessed to have 3 beautiful days and then got one good afternoon of rain! We were up for it and it really did not get in the way of anything that we had planned.
We then flew to Copenhagen, Denmark to finish our trip.
We stayed at the Scandic Palace Hotel, a very old hotel right in the heart of Copenhagen. It was very close to the City Hall, and the statue of Hans Christian Andersen, the famous author.
It was also across the street from Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. We did go to the park one evening just to see the gardens and experience the shows and concerts that also go on in the park. In the dark, the lights were very pretty!
I learned that LEGOS were invented in Denmark. This is a LEGO family so we were excited to see some of the stores they have there.
We found that they would give you a LEGO PASSPORT that you could then take to any LEGO store in the world to get stamped. We got some stamps at the store along the shopping avenue and also in Tivoli Gardens.
We got passports for all our grandkids and a couple kids.
Here we are at the famous LITTLE MERMAID statue in the harbor. This was also a celebration of Lori getting her Emergency Passport from the US Embassy after she lost/had stolen her entire wallet with passport.
We loved seeing THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY not too far from our hotel. This is where the Thorvaldsen statue "Christus" is that the Church uses as it's logo. They also copied the 12 apostles that the church uses in the Rome visitor center.
We loved the houses along Nyhavn where we got to take an evening canal cruise.
We changed our tickets from the afternoon so Lori would be back from the embassy and loved going in the evening with a very small group aboard.
Scott and I walked to the CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR where he had ancestors christened. We did not have tickets to walk the spiral stairs outside the steeple (luckily) but it was still cool to be there in person!
We enjoyed the ROUND TOWER on the other side of the canal too, with amazing views up on top of the entire city.
We loved this trip with Taylor Family. They are all so fun and easy to travel with. We are already talking about where we would like to go next.
After we returned from Copenhagen...miraculously after our original flight was cancelled, we did some laundry and turned around and flew to Seattle to be there for cute Mackenzie's baptism. It was a very wonderful family centered event. So happy for her!
Then...we returned from Seattle just in time for me to start teaching my cute new Pre-K classes. I love them already!
Austin came to Utah shortly after we got back so he could go to Almo and City of Rocks for a friend birthday celebration campout. We had a lot of fun taking him there and hanging out at the house and birding. Good times.
We went to see Grandpa and Austin brought his guitar and we sang. YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE was the favorite. Dad has continues to go downhill quickly and looks very subdued a lot of the time. We treasure smiles whenever we get them.
We hosted a GARDEN PARTY for our ward Relief Society the next week and went to 3 yards in our neighborhood for a progressive "tea." It was a lot of fun and we had a good turnout.
Ashford, where Dad lives, hosted a PINEWOOD DERBY for the memory care that was really sweet! We had great representation for Dad with Jennifer and her family and LeAnn and her family joining me there.
Dad's car was painted green with trees on it. Lucas really enjoyed the racing a lot and we all enjoyed the treats afterwards!
August 31 was our first BYU football game (vs Southern Illinois) of the season and it was a beautiful evening to be at a game. Perfect weather and...we won 41-13!
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