John and Susan Collins

2011-06-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

Our vacation is nearing its end :(

We have been able to attend 2 temples here. We went to the Preston Temple, and the London Temple. This is a picture of the London Temple.

After we went to the temple, we thought we would drive to Wimbledon to see what we could find.

Wimbledon is a city outside of London. They not only have Wimbledon Tennis, but golf is pretty big. These are some practice tennis courts in Wimbledon. We had been following the signs and thought we were going to see the real Wimbledon courts. Little did we know, they were quite a ways away from where we started.

After much looking, we finally found them. We couldn't get any closer then this though. They had high security in the area getting ready for the tournament that started this week. This shows some shops and restaurants outside the courts.

Wimbledon tennis courts from a distance.

While we were looking for the tennis, we ran across some horse jumping competitions. They were kind of fun to watch.

This is a sign we ran across at a convenient store. We have had lots of chuckles over signs we have seen the last couple of weeks.

We found another castle! This one is called Warwick Castle. This is the entrance. Pretty cool walking through this tunnel.

This Castle was built in 1068. It is in pretty good shape for as old as it is.

Another picture of the Warwick Castle.

Walking back from the castle we walked past a church.
This is one of the headstones in front.

This lady was born in 1320, and died in the 1390's.
This is by far the oldest headstone we have seen.

A highlight of the trip will be touring the Manchester United Football (soccer) Stadium.

Here is the stadium. They shave the grass after every season, level the ground, then replant. This was replanted a couple of weeks ago.
We had to promise several times not to touch the grass.

Here are the seats the players get to sit in when they are not on the field.

Here are just a few of the trophy's they have won over the years.

This is a place called Salford Quays.
You can see the Manchester United Stadium on the right.

This is a swan swimming by at Salford Quays.

We have had a great time here in England. I'm sorry to see it end. We have seen lots of neat things, and met some nice people along the way. Maybe someday we will get to come back.

2011-06-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Life in Cumbria

Here are some stones that were strategically placed by people here a long time ago. They used this place for ceremonies, and for trading good with others that would come into the area.

There are tons of sheep here. There are more sheep here then cattle in Idaho.

This is a close picture of the rock walls that keep the sheep where they need to be. These walls are everywhere as you drive from one city to another.

John works during the day, so I spend lots of my time walking around, finding different interesting things.

All the cars in England are small. They have lots of the same name brands, but the models are much smaller then we have in the states. I did find a smart car that is older, but I thought it was a cute little car.

I found my first castle. It isn't much of a castle, but it was one. It was built in 1134. People still live in it on one side, the other side is breaking down. They won't let anyone in it except for special occasions like the summer festival in July.

I toured through the John Wordsworth home. He was a famous poet that lived in Cockermouth. It was interesting to see and learn how this family lived. This is a harpsicord that was in his house. I wished I had brushed up on my Beethoven, because they let me play it.

We are limited in space for our way home. I told myself I could find one thing to remember this trip by. Through all my looking this was it. The English are know for their tea, cakes, and pastries. This is something they would use to serve their cakes and pastries when they have their tea. And it matches what I have at home already.
Good find!

2011-06-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

On our way to Cumbria

I am amazed at how pretty and green everything is. These pictures were taken next to the river Ribble where the early missionaries that came to this area baptized several people.

As we drove to Cumbria we saw several fields full of sheep. Instead of fences, they have built rock walls. Those rock walls, I'm sure, took forever to build and are many years old. They are flat rocks stacked with no mortar of any kind.

This is an old church house that was built by one of George Washington's Grandfather's. I think it was built in the 1400's.

Outside of the old church's there is always a graveyard. Some of these headstones date back to the 1500's, and are as recent as 1975.

This is the house where John Taylor was born.

This is a plaque the church had made to mark the home.

Next to the plaque the owner's now have an egg stand, where they sell fresh eggs. Kind of funny.

These are some more pictures from the River Ribble, where lots of Saints were baptized by Heber C Kimball and others who served in this area. (Pres. Hinckley served his mission in this area, but I am sure he did his baptizing in a font.) The top picture is a picture of a garden area the church keeps up in memory of the missionary work in this area.

2011-06-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

Liverpool, England

For a change of scenery we went to Liverpool for the weekend. There are lots of fun things to do and see here too.

There are lots of museums. We visited an art museum and the world museum. Sometime you will have to ask John how the movie was in the Planetarium.

You can't go to Liverpool without learning something about the Beatles, so we went to a place and learned about the Beatles story.

When we got to the motel we couldn't get any of the lights to work. We called down to the front desk and they told us you have to insert our room key into the slotted device on the wall to get the lights to work. Who would have guessed it.

2011-06-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Manchester, England

We made it to Manchester. It is beautiful here. Everything is pretty and green. The weather is not very warm. It might reach the 60's the warmest part of the day. The top picture is the rental car. Notice the steering wheel is on the right side. This, along with driving on the left side of the road, makes it challenging getting anywhere.

These are pictures of the Marriott, where we stayed the first few nights.

I got enough courage to adventure out on my own one day when John was working. I figured out the bus system, and rode the bus to downtown Manchester.

There were lots of people, shopping, and confusion.

This was an amazing building. It is the John Ryland's library. He made his millions growing cotton. He built this library that has awesome wood carvings and stained glass. This was definitely a must see.

2011-02-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

England

John had the chance to go to England for a business trip. It was green with rock walls as fences. Below is the River Ribble where many of the early saints were baptized by Heber C. Kimball.

Island Park

We went to Island Park a few weeks to go snowmobiling. It was a fun time.

2010-10-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

John and I have been spending time doing a little of this and that this fall. We took some friends up to the Continental Divide on 4-wheelers and showed them the scenery outside of Island Park.

2010-10-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

John has been busy getting projects done at the cabin before winter sets in.
This project was a major one.

2010-10-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tara is busy with her leadership class in school.
She gets to be in charge of some of the extra activities the school puts on.
This is a picture of "T" in her tu-tu.

2010-10-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of our new little Grandaughter, Alayna. She was born on September 6th. She is about as cute as they come!

We will be getting another grandbaby in May. We can't wait for #3 the get here!

2010-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

In July we planned a vacation to Chicago, Des Moines and Nauvoo. We met up with Andrea and Mckenna in Chicago. We later went to Des Moines and saw Andrea and Devin's new home. We had a great time in a land where they grow tons of corn, when it rains it pours, and if you like humidity you would love Iowa.

2010-08-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Nauvoo.
This is Tara in front of Carthage Jail.

2010-08-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

We spent a day at the zoo and were surprised they had cows and pigs. Only in Chicago!

2010-08-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

We went all over Chicago and saw lots of landmarks. One that we saw was the bean.

2010-08-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

We got to see the famous dinosaur - Sue.

2010-08-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

and of course we had a great time with Mckenna!

2010-08-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

The last week in July was Girl's Camp Tara and Susan had a great time.

2010-08-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Tara and Shauna are in Las Vegas this week visiting Katie.

2010-03-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

baby duck

We are ducksiting a baby duck for Tara's friend

This duck follows Tara everywhere and will not stop squeaking or pooping!

2010-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

We are busy getting ready for the big wedding on May 14th. Plans are starting to look pretty good. The dresses are figured out, decorations are under control, we are now working on the most important part, the food.

2010-03-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

In February we took a trip to Texas and visited Eric and Megan. We had a great time. We walked around Texas Tech, we saw where they are both going to school. They told us the sun always shines in Texas. I don't think it shined once the whole time we were there. It was nice to visit with them, and to see their new home.

2010-03-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the trip was riding Eric's moped around the block.

2010-03-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

This is Eric in his new cubical. He was pretty happy to be able to get his own computer. He and Megan love it at Texas Tech.

2010-03-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Tara found the love of her life!

2010-01-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

During Christmas Break, Eric and Megan came to visit,

we made a quilt at Grandma Collins's house,

we went shooting with Grandma Collins,

Mckenna learned some new tricks,

and, Brittany is now engaged!

We are all excited to have Nathan in our family. They are getting married May 14.

2009-11-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

Mckenna looks so cute in her pink hat!

She turned 1 year old this week.

2009-11-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

Mckenna sneaking some goldfish.

2009-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Las Vagas. We had a nice visit with Devin, Deanna, Carolyn and Gregory. We all got tickets to the BYU, UNLV game.

2009-10-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the Cougars

2009-10-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here we are

2009-09-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Brittany and Tara

2009-08-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

The first part of August the Smith's got together for a reunion.

We had great fun at Oakley Ranch.

2009-08-23T18:47:00.001-07:00

Tara's new look in her bedroom.

2009-07-21T09:01:00.001-07:00

We spent last weekend at Camp Comorah with the Collins family. We had a great time. Swam in the pond, ate good food, and enjoyed each others company.

2009-07-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

A great picture of Devin and Mckenna.

2009-07-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

A great picture of Grandpa and Mckenna.

2009-07-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

John recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Brittany and Tara changed the ringtone on his phone so it would sing Happy Birthday to him. If it wasn't for the famous ringtone, people at work would have missed out on the eventful day.

2009-07-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

John in his new Texas Tech sweatshirt.

2009-07-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

John and I had the chance to be a Ma and Pa for a Pioneer Trek our youth went on in our stake. We had a great time. It was hard work, but worth it. We will never forget the rain, mud, and our little white buckets we carried around everywhere we went.

2009-07-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the suspenders!

2009-07-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Tara's new look.

Her cousin Karie cut her hair and she loves it!

2009-06-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Killer hail storm leaves Susan's tomato plant distraught!

2009-06-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Devin and Deanna on Red Rock hike.

2009-06-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tara had her piano recital.

She memorized a Jon Schmidt piece

and did very well preforming it.

Way to go Tara!

2009-06-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we were at the cabin.

We enjoyed having Devin, Andrea and Mckenna with us.

2009-06-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

John is the happiest when he is working at the cabin.

He about has it done.

2009-06-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Eric and Megan made it to Texas.

Megan started school, Eric will start in August.

2009-06-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Eric and Megan ran into some crazy looking trees in Texas.

2009-05-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Eric and Megan have moved from Rexburg. They are on their way to Texas. They both will be going to school down there for a couple of years. It sure is a long way from Idaho!

2009-05-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tara had a hot date with a young man named Jason. They had a great time at prom. For their day date they branded cows. You will have to ask Tara about that experience sometime.

2009-05-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

I thought the back looked as good as the front.

I liked their tails.

2009-05-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

Brittany celebrating her 19th birthday.

2009-04-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Eric celebrating his 25th birthday.

2009-04-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

Mckenna having fun with Aunt Tara, or

Tara having fun with Mckenna, I can't remember.

2009-03-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

This past week was spring break. We realized that our only chance of having a "spring" break was if we got out of Idaho. So, we flew down to Las Vegas to see Devin and Deanna. While there, we drove to the Grand Canyon and to the Hoover Dam.

Tara jumping the Grand Canyon

2009-02-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

Isn't she a cutie!

Mckenna at 3 months.

2009-01-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

We were all together for

Christmas 2008.

Fun times!

2008-12-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tara and Brittany at their best!