**Warning: excessive sentimentality and superlatives. 

By Thursday morning our house was all cleared out so we were obligation free.  We had given the kids the choice about whether they wanted to spend their last day at school or in the city and they chose school.  So after breakfast at the hotel (I opted for a full English breakfast one last time) Richard and I dropped them off at school and went into the city.  

We had a reservation for afternoon tea at a restaurant called Sketch, which had been recommended by friends and had great reviews on social media sites.  Other than that we didn’t have any plans, so we just walked and enjoyed a rare sunny, blue sky day in London.  

Our tea spread was phenomenal, and seemed like the quintessential British experience to have before we departed the motherland.  The sandwiches, cakes, tea, sparkling beverages, scones were all utterly delicious and we were utterly satisfied.  We walked a bit more and then took the train back to pick up the kids from school.  It was all quite magical.  

Once we were back at the school it didn’t take long for my tears to start flowing. (And they flow again as I type!) From my first moment at Lucas Vale I had felt an overwhelming feeling of friendship, and for two years it never stopped.  I always felt like the teachers and staff really cared about me and my children, and it was a feeling that came from consistent thoughtful and friendly gestures.  

We picked up Simon first, which was what began the water-works because I felt particularly close to Simon’s teacher.  After Mrs. Uddin and I hugged, I looked around and realized we weren’t the only ones crying! It seemed like everyone I said goodbye to was really, genuinely sad that we were leaving.  It wasn’t lip service and that realization sunk in deep.  

Earlier that day I had written a note to the mother of a little girl in Simon’s class.  She didn’t speak English but she and I had seen each other at school drop off, pick up and on the bus every day for two years.  We had exchanged smiles and friendly glances, but had never really spoken.  She had two other children and her kids and my kids were always friendly to each other on the bus.  In my note I just mentioned how I had enjoyed being around them and what lovely kids she had, but that we were moving away and I would miss seeing them. I asked Richard to translate it into Spanish for me and I gave it to her as we picked up our kids together.  She looked a little confused at first, but she found me later and had her son translate a message back to me, reciprocating similar feelings.  It was incredibly  touching and this feeling of love that can exist beyond cultural differences just kept blossoming inside me.  

We picked up the other kids, saying thank-yous and goodbyes to their teachers, all while being hugged and greeted and adored.  I seriously felt like a celebrity but I was too emotional to feel awkward or embarrassed.  

I’m so glad Richard was there for this experience. He was wonderful moral support and also kept track of Amirah and the other kids while I said my goodbyes.  I saved the hardest for last, and found my friends Fatiha, Tessa and Samira.  My three Muslim sisters, who despite language obstacles, had been my dearest school mom friends.  Interestingly, although we had some good laughs about our inability to understand each other, it was these three women who I most felt really understood me.  This is where I lose my ability to articulate quite what their friendship was and what it meant to me.  But suffice it to say, it was another tearful goodbye.  I won’t post our picture here, per my shy friend’s request, but I’ll keep it in my home forever.  

Fortunately I didn’t have to say goodbye to Cindy and Mike at the school.  They met up with us and we all walked to Greenwich Park to spend the afternoon before eating dinner at our last favorite place, Goddards.  (How did I not take any pictures?!)

Also fortunately, we took the DLR home and Mike and Cindy had to get off before us, so it was a quick goodbye on the train. Mike and Cindy were like our family in London, and even though they had family of their own, they were always welcoming and kind and helpful to us.  We miss them so much.   

We walked back to our hotel, riding a giddy high from all the love and adoration we’d taken in, and heartbroken at the idea of leaving.  Of all the kids, I think Cameron was hurting the worst.  He had been the most upset about moving to London, but saying goodbye to his teachers and friends at Lucas Vale had been more difficult than he could have imagined and he was feeling pretty raw.  

The kids crashed in the hotel beds, while the already completely exhausted parents packed up the last bits of our London life and got much too little sleep for the long travel day ahead.  

I’m not sure if it’s been my busy life, or my subconscious that has been procrastinating the next two blog posts, finishing these London posts makes me feel sad all over again.  

Our last two weeks in London is naturally a blur. I was emotional, sleep deprived, stressed, anxious and every other thing. This post is just a gathering of photos from my phone during our last few days in our beloved home.  

On a rainy afternoon there was a showing at the house, it was a second showing which I figured meant the people really wanted a chance to look it over. So we went to the library and then stopped at Lewisham Shopping Centre for some Magic Corn, one of our favorites. 

On a gorgeous day Simon’s class had a trip to Greenwich Park, Amirah and I walked from our house and met up with his class at the park.  

On a not so gorgeous day during their half-term break, we went with Cindy, Tyler and Kayden to the Thames barrier. These crazy kids.  

At the end of May we had a ward social, a sort of farewell get-together where we played games and passed around #accomodatingbabe. 

On our last Sunday we were completely overwhelmed with love and affection and fond farewells. Our dear friend Joseph Tawaiah gave us all these African tunics and we had hugs and kisses on the cheeks to last us until we found a new ward family.  These people are the most remarkable people.  Our friends were such examples of humility, loyalty, courage, diligence and deliberate faith.  They were generous and thoughtful and we miss them dearly.  

Our last week in London we stayed in a hotel because our house was empty and our furniture and dishes had been given away or packed away.  So we promised the kids they could each pick their favorite restaurant.  George and Iris joined us on Monday night when went to Nandos, and then came back to the house to say goodbye.  

And that brings us to Thursday, June 9, which deserves its own blog post.  

Our Bishop in London has been taking BYU students, and other groups, on a countryside walk for years, perhaps decades.  He loves it, and he gave us multiple opportunities to come along with him, but the timing just never worked out.  Finally as our days were fast disappearing, we made it work so we could go along.  Iris kept Simon and Mim at home with her all day, we tucked Amirah into her wrap and Cam and Eli came along too.  In one day, one long walk, we saw just about everything I love about England.  I’ll come back later and fill in some details, but here are the photos. 

The kids wanted to go to the London Eye from the first moment they saw it, but it was one of those things that kept getting put off for the “perfect” day of clear, blue skies.  Those days are rare when you narrow it down to just Saturdays, not to mention how busy it is during the summer.  So we procrastinated it until we had no Saturdays left in London that weren’t already spoken for, and of course it was cloudy.  Fortunately the clouds were high enough that they didn’t impede our views.  

We didn’t have to wait in line for long, and then we boarded our capsule with about eight other people.  It takes 30 minutes for the complete rotation, and the capsule is made up of glass windows, so you can see everywhere.  We gave the kids a hard time because all they wanted to do was mess around on the iPads that gave reference points and information about what you were seeing in the panorama.  “Come on guys! Get present!” As obsessed as millennials are with electronic devices, what are the children of millennials going to be like? 

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After we finished we had promised the kids doughnuts so we went on a doughnut hunt.  We took a bus to Bermondsy to find a market I wanted to go to, with no luck. So we walked to a bakery I’d been to with Sean and Lori on the dessert crawl,  and it was closed, gone, “finished” as they like to say.  Our next choice was Borough Market, so we walked there, but decided it was too crowded and so we just settled on a dozen from the Krispy Kreme at London Bridge Station.  Not fancy, but delicious nonetheless.  

**I didn’t take a picture of the London Eye on the day we went on it, go figure. So I dug out some other pictures I’d taken on different (sunnier) days. 

After my mom was gone, it was just Amirah and me enjoying Spring walks in the city.  I miss it so much.  I can’t believe these places are memories, and not my daily life.  

(Taking a baby and a big camera just seemed like too much so I settled for camera photos everywhere we went.)

I also have a dozen pictures of all the food I ate on my excursions, but I’ll spare my blog audience from teasing you with delicious flavors from across the ocean.  

Despite having so much to do during my last month in London I tried to get out as much as I could. Of course I wish I had been that active for the entire two years I lived there, but it’s hard to be a tourist in real life, when there is laundry and sickness and motherhood to occupy your days, not to mention bills to pay and other demands on time and finances.  So I shelf my regrets and practice gratitude for the amazing chances I did have to enjoy London’s charm.    

**As an interesting bit of trivia, there are a lot areas in NYC that share names with places in London, one of which being Kew Gardens, which happens to be the neighborhood next to ours in Queens.

Kew Gardens, at Kew Palace in southwest London, is the largest and most diverse collection of living plants in the world.  It was pretty remarkable.  We went there on a Saturday morning, with a picnic lunch.  The weather wasn’t terrible but the clouds and sky changed so much throughout the day that it was driving me crazy trying to get the lighting right in the photos. 

The area is massive, and we didn’t see it all, but we did see a lot of it, and it was all beautiful.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

We spent hours in the gardens and didn’t have time/energy to go through the Palace, which was disappointing. But a day well spent nonetheless.  

My mom came to visit when Amirah was a couple weeks old, just about the time when I was getting ready to be outside again.  Our first April in London was gorgeous, and I really didn’t want to miss our second (and last) April sitting at home in postpartum gloom.  Thankfully my mom enjoys these things as much as I do, and we were able to go out a few times.  We went to Camden Market on a Saturday morning, and took Miriam and Amirah with us, then we met up with the boys in Regent’s Park.  

On another day we walked through Mayfair, Hyde Park and then made a stop at Harrod’s. It was my first time at Harrod’s and I loved the food hall so much I went back three times before we moved. Ha! (Just yesterday a friend and I discovered that we had in common mothers who are ALWAYS game for finding new treats.)  

The aforementioned outings didn’t offer us the pleasant April weather I’d been hoping for, but we got lucky on our last, long city walk.  I only knew some general ideas about this walk, so it was a bit confusing trying to find our way, and then we did it backwards and I was confused again. It was the Parkland walk in North London, and there were so many little surprises along the way. 

Without meaning to, without even knowing such a place existed, we stumbled upon the Alexandra Palace, AKA, the “Ally Pally.”  It was built in 1873 “as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment.” It had really beautiful architecture, and a great view of the city. 

We eventually found our way to the walk that I had originally planned, which is a lovely and quiet path along what used to be an old train line.  Amirah slept nearly the entire time, and my mom and I had a lovely chat.  

We came out at Finsbury Park, took a quick jaunt up to King’s Cross, ate some lunch and cupcakes, popped on over to the British Library so my mom could take a quick look at an exhibit there, and then made our way home, just in time to pick up the kids from school.  

My mom and I had some other fun outings too.  We went to Cath Kidston (more than once), bought a couple tea cups and saucers at street markets, went through the National Portrait Gallery, and had lunch at a Cafe Rouge (which had been on my London bucket list), to name a few.  I think both of us were trying to squeeze every last little bit out of our time in London. 

Having my siblings come to visit was the best. I know I’ve already said this, every time someone came to visit I said it, but I just looked forward to it so much. My siblings have enough in common with me that I knew how much they would love all the things I loved in London.  (Especially the food.)  Our shared heritage and common interests make traveling and enjoying places highly pleasurable.  

Amirah was just a few weeks old when they came, so I feel like I wasn’t quite as organized and energetic as I like to be.  But we had a really good time regardless.  Here are just a few snapshots from their visit. 

We took a day trip to Stratford Upon Avon, which was so lovely.  (Thanks Mike & Cindy for watching our crew.) We strolled around the quaint English town, visited the theatre, saw Shakespeare’s home and his grave and ate treats of course. (Ice cream, and a Cafe Nero Millionaire bar, my fave.)

On a Sunday afternoon we took a walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.  There were also so many other things! Borough Market, Southbank, Soho, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, National Portrait Gallery, Harrods, Abingdon sticky toffee pudding, Tower of London, Goddards, British Library, and many other things they did without me, including a trip across the channel over to Paris.  

Having visitors at the end of our time in London was the perfect chance for us to make sure we did all our favorite things one last time.  

On a Friday in March Cameron went with his school class to Leicester (pronounced “Lester”), north of London for an overnight trip to the National Space Centre.  He had a great time, and got to do/see/learn some cool things.  All the kids have been learning about space at school because Tim Peake, the first British astronaut, is currently on board the International Space Station.  (As an interesting side note- he ran the London Marathon on a treadmill from the ISS. He ran the 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 35 minutes and traveled around the earth twice while doing so. I’m impressed.)  

While Cameron was in Leicester on Saturday, we took the other kids to Regents park for a long scooter ride.  It was a foggy, gloomy day but the park was still as lovely as ever.  It was Richard’s first time there, and he loved it.  We walked and played at playgrounds and ate a picnic lunch.  

Regents Park is so big that even though I’ve been before, each time I go I see new places, new playgrounds, and new water fowl.  The sun came out a few times and it ended up being a lovely Saturday outing.  

There is something so painful about being mediocre at things.  I feel like these are good enough to not count as a Pinterest fail, but not good enough to qualify them as a Pinterest success.  Oh well.  She’s adorable and I just am what I am with a camera and photo editing.  

I took these when she was 10 days old.  I miss her tiny-ness.