July Part 1: Birthdays

On July 3, I enjoyed my last day in my thirties. I can't remember all we did because I'm pretty sure it wasn't much--we were still recovering from our trip and jet lag and all that. However, Gabe made sure I got my final picture with him as a 39-year-old. And then Brian wanted one too. 

 

For my 40th birthday, Brian surprised me with a video of my friends and family wishing me a happy 40th. I loved hearing all the sweet things people said about me. It was a bit of an "It's a Wonderful Life" moment. The best was hearing what my mom said. When I was a teenager, she used to tell me that I was selfish, so I was moved to tears when she told me that I was selfless in the video. It's good to know that I'm getting better with age--hopefully!

Brian also surprised me with a Church history tour with my favorite podcast people. Of course, my first question was, "Who is going to watch the kids?" and he had a ready answer with the arrangements he'd made (just like he knew that would be my first question!)

He also made me my favorite cheesecake, complete with raspberries and blueberries. 

He even remembered the sparklers! And Michael lit them up for me. 

Imagine the incredibly off-key and off rhythm singing from these guys. If you haven't heard Savilles sing "Happy Birthday," you need to hear it. 

Me pretending to blow out sparklers as if I could snuff their sparks before their time. 

Brian even found the 40th birthday banner that I originally bought for Chelsea two years ago! Next year, it's heading to Cal. I think he'll really appreciate the pink and black color scheme. 

The cheesecake was so delicious! Well done, Honey! 

Rachel painted me toes a very patriotic theme. I still have the remnants on my toes, 4 months later. They were perfect. 

Rachel also made me dangle earrings with the kids' birthstones--well, beads in the proper colors--for me. 

Brian also surprised me with tickets to Stadium of Fire, headlined by Rascal Flatts. He insisted I wear the Birthday Girl banner that Lea gave me back in 2022, so I did. 

I really do love celebrating America, and I really love how Stadium of Fire does it, cheesy theme song and all. The fly overs, the skydivers, the patriotic songs, and the fireworks. I really love my country, and I really love sharing a birthday with it. After being in Europe for 39 days, it was especially wonderful to be back and celebrating this amazing place. We have problems here for sure, but there is no place like it. 

They had a drone show celebrating the 200th birthday of the U.S. Army and U. S. Navy. It was incredible! 

And obviously these fireworks are wishing me a very happy 40th birthday! 

On July 5, I got to go out to lunch with these Foxy Ladies (really named because we met in the Fox Hollow subdivision in Saratoga Springs). We had Mexican food, so it was doubly awesome to see them. We also celebrated Jen's birthday, which was in June. 

Later that night, we lit a few sparklers with the kids since we couldn't do it with them on the 4th. 

Michael missed out; I think he was out with friends. 

(Side note, I think it's pretty funny that I'm wearing an Ireland sweatshirt to celebrate America. I guess it's a nod to my ancestors who immigrated here in the hopes of a better life.)

We made sure to sing badly to Papa (aka Kirt and Dad). We were so terrible that the AI responsible for the transcript really struggled to make sense of our singing. 

On July 6, Lea hosted us all for dinner and dessert. The food, was of course, fabulous, and the company superb. Kirt and I got to blow out candles together. I failed miserably to get my half out. 

And at some point, Michael ended up on the roof? I have some questions. 

Thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes. I loved your videos, your well wishes, and I especially appreciate all the support and love you've given me over the years. I feel blessed to finally be 40. Each day, each year, is an incredible gift. I'm grateful for the laugh lines on my face that prove I have smiled enough over the years to have some (I have resting banshee face, so this is a big deal!) I am a strange duck in that I was excited to reach this milestone; I feel like a perpetual youngster. No matter how old I get, I have so many people who like to remind me how young I am, and while it's true, especially compared to my friends and loved ones in their 80s and 90s, I do wonder when I will ever feel old enough. Growing older is a gift that not everyone gets to experience, even if it does mean more aches and pains as payment. 

I have been blessed to have spent my last 17 birthdays with the love of my life, and I still stand in awe of that fact. He makes everything in life better, and I couldn't have made it this far without him. The Lord has truly blessed me in my life, and I find myself standing still and in awe that I'm living the dream I envisioned for myself as a child: I have a handsome husband who loves me, three incredible kids, and a beautiful home, not to mention countless friends and family in my corner. I feel like a wealthy 40 year old in deed, and I am so grateful for this life I'm living. I'm not 100% sure I've got another 40 years in the tank (though I hope I do!), but I will try to see each day as the incredible gift that it is. I truly have a wonderful life. 

June 30, 2025: Recovery and Reflections

On June 30, we set zero expectations. Sleep in. Unwind. Do what you want as long as it doesn't involve effort from mom and dad. Therefore, I have no idea what Gabe is doing in this picture. I see he has a swimming suit on, but I have so many questions now. Back then on that day though? Didn't care. 

And even though I planned to cook dinner (we were all so ready for home cooked food), we did end up getting Costa Vida. Unfortunately, Brian got cheated in his meal from there. Oh well. It was still nice to eat from one of our favorites again. 

My heart was really upset by the jet lag, and really probably everything I'd put it through on that whole trip, and it took the opportunity to protest most strongly to me. I think I also caught some kind of strange bug, like I mention in the last post. Here's my EKG from Monday with proof of anger/duress from my heart. 

And here's what my heart did while I was sleeping. I was a little surprised by this one, but it also explained why I felt to terrible all day. 

But the trip was totally worth it, and I would do it all over again. After a couple of days, we mostly adjusted back to our time zone, but we took things really easy that first week back, as planned. Thankfully, Adobe was shut down for the 4th of July, so Brian didn't have to worry about work. 

Here are some things we learned from our travels in Europe.

We asked our family what we appreciate more about the U.S. now that we've spent 39 days in Europe. Here's what we came up with: 

• No smoking. We'd heard that smoking is still very prevalent in Europe, but we were still surprised by how many people smoked, how little they heeded "no smoking" signs, and how much utter disregard they have for non-smokers. Our laws in the U.S. really protect us from second-hand smoke, and we love it.  
• More bathrooms--and they're free. No need to carry around coins to use the bathroom
• Mexican food-we did find a taco stand outside the Tower of London, but that was it. 
• No more croissants (but this only lasted a week, and then we were craving them again)
• My own room--ALL the kids were so excited to be back in their own room, and they appreciate what a blessing it is to not have to share a room. 
• Cold water--Europeans don't seem to like to drink water that is cold. 
• Free water--Restaurants here automatically provide water for free. In Europe, they don't, and if you're not careful, you can rack up quite a bill on bottled water at mealtimes. 
• Air conditioning that actually works--When a place advertises that they have air conditioning, don't expect that to mean the same thing as here in the U.S. 
• Toilet paper we like

Things we learned: trains and taxis

• A 10 minute walk with luggage in Europe is not the same as in the US due to cobblestones
• Metro is usually cheaper, trains are second
• Both won't always get you right where you need to be
• Taxis are definitely more expensive, but Uber is even more expensive
• Use apps like FreeNow to book local taxis
• Storing luggage on trains: do it between the seats!
• Make sure to board the train on the right side of your seat or else it will be difficult!
• If you can ever reserve your seat on a train, do it! 
• Book first class if you can, even if it's an accident
• Luggage covers are a pain 
• Plan ahead for where to put valuables while you are walking around, and always be aware of your valuables. Pick pockets are everywhere, especially tourist destinations.  (Our cross-body water bottle bags worked great for this) 
• Along those lines, a lot of tourist places won't let you take a backpack inside. Travel as light as you can each day. 
• Being a 10 minute walk from the train station wasn't always helpful for us, especially as we started taking more taxis for our luggage. 
• High speed trains are even faster than driving, but can cost even more (not always). The sooner you can book them, the less expensive they will be. 
• Chatgpt can be helpful to plan things, but always verify the information they give you
• Watch YouTube videos to find the best way to get around in each country/city. There are lot of travel vloggers out there, and they were a valuable resource for us to know what to expect and the best ways to get around. For example. I learned about the special regional train to Pompeii and even exactly where to get on it from watching videos. We would have had a lot more walking or taxi hailing without their help. 

Apartments:

• First floor is what we would call the second floor (it starts at 0 for ground level), and be aware of that for carrying luggage up the stairs
• Not all apartments are elevator accessible, so if you don't want to haul your luggage up six flights of stairs, check to make sure they have an elevator before booking. 
• Washers and dryers in Europe are very different. The single unit (washer/dryer combo) is great for day trips but terrible to get things done quickly. 
• VRBO was cheaper most of the time, but places often had hidden fees (cleaning fee in Paris). Annoying since they claim no hidden fees.
• In Italy, they will ask for photos of your IDs, and they will have city fees that you will most likely have to pay for with cash. 
• Hotels, as we think of them,  are rarely large enough to fit a family of 5. 
• Booking.com is probably the most utilized booking system in Europe. Priceline partners with them, so anything you book with Priceline will be handled by Booking.com

Cruising:

• Don't book Paddywagon in Ireland! 
• Cruises are great for taking it easier (floating hotels) 
• There are a lot more cruise friendly tours available through Trip Advisor and Get-Your-Guide than the US based cruises, and they can be relied on to get you to and from the cruise port on time, just like the ones booked through the cruise ship. 
• MSC cruises are very different
• Everything closes early. All food basically. 
• No free ice cream
• Not as many kids! 
• Potato chips are just fries
• Interior rooms trigger more motion sickness than a balcony room, so if you must book an interior room, maybe be sure to pack a portable fan. 
• If you leave or enter the Schengan Zone during your cruise, they will take your passport from you to satisfy customs on your behalf. This was incredibly unsettling for us, but it's pretty standard over there. Because we'd experienced it with MSC, we were less alarmed on our Carnival cruise when they needed our passports for our Irish ports (which were part of the EU instead of the UK). 

Eating: 

• Fast food doesn't really exist unless it's sandwiches or croissants
• Ordering water by the liter adds up
• Still vs gas water-know the difference!
• Sit down is very common in Italy, but it's all about the same
• Some places charge more if you eat inside their restaurant versus taking it to go 

Miscellaneous:

• Add a vacation for your credit cards 
• Watch foreign transaction fees
• American Express is not accepted everywhere; take more than one kind of card

Booking sites: 

• Know when you can get tickets and accommodate for time zone (Anne Frank House, catacombs in Paris, Eiffel Tower) Put the dates in your calendar and set an alarm so you can wake up and get them. 
• Know which sites you must book on their official site for tickets/audioguide only. Booking directly from the site will save money. Tour sites will buy tickets for you, but they mark them up significantly. Sometimes, it's worth it to pay the extra price as that may be your only way to see them, or it might save you time and hassle. For example, at the Pantheon, we could buy our tickets from the Pantheon site, but they wouldn't let us purchase them from the U.S. We had to be in Italy to buy them. I was worried about those tickets selling out or reaching capacity that day, so I bought our Pantheon tickets from Get Your Guide. It was maybe $5-10 more, but it was worth it to me to have a guaranteed spot inside. If we really wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, that would have been the only way we could have done it without waiting in line for hours on a hope, but the tours mark Eiffel Tower tickets up significantly, so we didn't do it. 
• If you can get tickets to "Skip the Line", do it. Time is one of your most precious resources on a trip like this. 
• Get Your Guide and TripAdvisor are great places to look for tours. If you want a really incredible tour, book through Tours by Locals. If we could have afforded it, we would have booked all our tours through them. 

Packing: 

• Plan for all kinds of weather. We knew we'd have much cooler weather in the British Isles and Holland than we would in the Mediterranean, and we knew we'd be touring no matter what weather we were handed. We packed hats and lighter clothes for the hotter areas, and made sure to have warm packable jackets for the cooler areas. I bought all our boys linen pants for the trip so they could stay cool even if they needed to wear pants. 
• Check the dress codes of places you're going to visit. The old Cathedrals like St. Marks and St. Peters require your knees and shoulders to be covered. We learned that our longer shorts were okay, and we always wear sleeves, so that wasn't a problem, but you want to make sure that you are respectful and prepared. Mosques require that women cover their hair, so I made sure to pack scarves for Rachel and I. 
• Invest in good shoes. I made sure everyone had good shoes except for myself, and I paid for it. I did however have good walking sandals that were nice for dressing up and keeping my feet cool on those hotter days. 
• Europeans dress nicer than we Americans do, so avoid athleisurewear where you can. Also avoid graphic tees or things with logos. Pack interchangeable tops and bottoms so you can still maintain a variety without packing a variety, if that makes sense. 
• Try not to overpack. I wished I had left a few shirts home. Anything you pack, you have to lug around, so be incredibly deliberate. 

Because I didn't want to worry about Rachel and Gabe having to tote luggage around these big cities, we decided to take three medium sized luggages for our family. Brian, Michael, and I would each be in charge of one. However, I knew it would be tricky to share these three because we would all be in different rooms in the different cities. I knew Rachel and Michael would be with my mom on our MSC cruise, but sometimes, Rachel, Gabe, and Michael would all be in different rooms, and on our last cruise, the three kids would be in a room together, while Brian and I were in our own. How, then, do we stay organized with five people in three bags with different configurations in each place? I decided to make everyone their own packing cube that would take up 1/2 of a luggage. 

We each got our own color of lightweight, ripstop nylon so it would be easily identifiable. I made a mesh pocket on the lid of the packing cube, so it was like they had their own luggage, except that it fit inside the larger luggage. I told them that everything they wanted to Europe (minus electronics) had to fit inside that bag. Michael's the only one who didn't exactly follow that. (And I guess me--my luggage had my packing cube as well as the laundry stuff, first aid kit, medicines, shared toiletries, and so Brian and I agreed I could spill over into the extra space) Everyone also had a large, plastic compression bag for their dirty laundry. I used a couple of smaller, compression packing cubes to keep my stuff organized, but I think I was the only one who did that. This worked really well. When we left a place, everyone knew which piece of luggage their packing cube needed to go in, and dividing into the various rooms was easy. However, I think that next time, we may just have everyone take their own carry-on because lugging around these large suitcases was a lot of work. Our kids are now experienced international travelers, and by the time we can afford to go again, they'll be older. Although, when we go again, we'll probably just stay in one place...probably. 

June 29, 2025: Dover to London to Salt Lake to HOME!

We woke up before 5am to get going on time. It was honestly a very uneventful day. Dover was covered in a blanket of fog, and it was beautiful. Disembarking was a piece of cake, and they even had Michael's blacksmithing tools ready for us to collect once we were off the ship. We had a short walk from the boat to meet our driver, loaded our bags, and we were on our way back to London. This was by far the easiest disembarkation we've ever had. 

Port of Dover

Port of Dover

Heading to the Heathrow Airport

When we originally booked our flights to and from Europe, we booked round trip tickets to and from Amsterdam, and our flight home from Amsterdam was the day after disembarkation. However, by March, I was having a difficult time trying to figure out the best way to get our family from Dover to Amsterdam. I looked into a ferry across the channel and then taking the Eurostar. I looked at flying to Amsterdam from an airport in London. I looked into taking the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam. All these options were really expensive, and we would have to stay another night in Amsterdam. While I was excited to see more things in Amsterdam, all our transportation options would get us there way too late in the evening to be able to do anything there. So, when I was explaining to Brian my logistical struggle, we decided to look into flights out of Heathrow. Amazingly, there was a direct flight from London Heathrow to Salt Lake late morning on the 29th of June, the day we would disembark, and it was less expensive than our Amsterdam flight, got us home a day earlier, and solved our logistical problems. (We've been home three months today, and this still feels like a major victory for our trip). 

We originally booked transportation from the cruise port in Dover to Heathrow, but we knew that our timeline that morning would be tight, so we arranged for private transportation, which ended up being much cheaper, left earlier than Carnival's service, and was just all around more amazing. 

We got to Heathrow, unloaded our bags, checked most of our luggage (which felt SO amazing!) We expected that I would get flagged for a pat down, like usual, during the security check, but somehow, I escaped further screening, and the kids had to have additional screening. 

Waiting for Michael's shoes to clear security

We grabbed some food, and then I did some last minute shopping for our neighbors who helped us out while we were gone while we waited to find out what gate we were supposed to go to. Soon, they announced our gate, and on our way to it, we ran into missionaries at the airport, and we asked them where they had been serving. They said they were on their way home after serving in the Scotland/Ireland Mission, which is where Ella is serving. We asked if they knew Sister Lybbert, and they said they had just been serving with her! They had so many amazing things to say about her, and it was fun that they were on our flight back to Salt Lake. 

A senior couple from Ella's mission, on their way home

Michael was feeling better, though he complained about his legs aching. By the middle of the flight though, he seemed to be back to normal and even had some candy (in addition to real food).

We loved this message on our screens once we boarded: "You Made It." Delta, you have no idea. 

Flying home

The flight was uneventful, but very long, and we were exhausted. I can't remember who slept and who didn't, but we didn't put any pressure on anyone to sleep. We figured we would eventually catch up. 

We were so excited when we finally saw things we recognized. We were so beyond ready to be home! 

So excited to see familiar landmarks again

A few months before our trip, Brian found an app that would get us through customs faster, and he decided to try it out. At some point on our flight, he pulled it out and filled out the information. Once we landed, we got off the plane, used the facilities, ran into our neighbors who were on our flight as well, got our luggage, and by passed the long line of people trying to make it through customs, waited for maybe two people in front of us, and then had a quick check-in with a customs official. Two minutes later, we were heading to meet Lea, who kindly picked us up in our van. Our neighbors, who had got into the regular customs line way before we had all our bags together, watched us leave so quickly and texted us to find out how we got out of their so fast. All thanks to Brian. 

By this point, I was feeling terribly. I chalked it up to my heart not being happy about the whole early morning, long flight ordeal, but we think Michael had a bug that he passed to me. Our goal was to stay awake until bedtime, but I was feeling so terribly that I had to go lie down before bedtime. Lea took Brian to his dad's final June Concert in the Park down in Provo after feeding everyone dinner (I had groceries delivered to our house the day before, and my neighbor put them away for us.) 

It was so fun watching our kids find joy in the everyday things of our life here in Utah. They were so excited to see our van, our house, their room, and especially Gracie, whom Chelsea had dropped off at our house earlier that afternoon). They were all so happy to have space, to be in the U.S. and oh so many other things. We had an incredible trip, but there really is no place quite like home.