Bollard Family European Adventure

Ever since Will's brother Sam received his mission call to Barcelona, Spain 2 1/2 years ago we've been excited about the possibility of traveling there to pick him up. Now that we're home from our 13 day European adventure, I can definitely say the trip exceeded all of our expectations. We had a wonderful, busy trip full of sightseeing (as you can tell from the slide show), and some nice family bonding time too. We concentrated most of our time in Spain, seeing both the large, exciting cities of Barcelona & Madrid, and the more relaxed Southern parts with their beautiful beaches. We loved reuniting with Sam, having a family testimony meeting with his Mission President and just being out in the perfect weather. We weren't big fans of most of the Spanish food we tried and by the end of the week McDonald's was sounding fantastic! After a week in Spain, we flew to London for four more days of sightseeing. This felt like a sort of homecoming for me, as I have dreamed of showing Will this city ever since I studied abroad there seven years ago. Despite the pouring rain, I feel like we were able to hit the highlights and even do a few things that were new to me, like going up in the London Eye--a huge glass Ferris wheel with amazing views of the entire city.

And, of course, this post wouldn't be complete without some much deserved thank-you's to my wonderful in-laws, Bill & Christy, for making this trip and all it's memories possible for us, and to my own parents, for being so good to our boys while we were away and allowing us a much-needed break. We love you all!