Over Christmas, I visited with the Belvin side of my family who all live right here near me. It was great to get together for a big lunch at my aunt's house. It was a last minute event, so I felt really lucky to be able to spend Christmas with my family since Ben, unfortunately, had duty over Christmas (and I was thinking up until then that I would be alone for our first Christmas together).
After the Christmas festivities, Ben and I flew into last-minute packing mode as we quickly jetted off on our first vacation since our honeymoon. We went to London and Ireland for a week to visit Ben's brother & his fiance as well as Ben's grandparents (and a few other of his extended family members I was fortunate enough to meet!) We have tons of pictures and I have been asked by lots of family members and friends to put them on here, so I will try to sift through them.
Ben and I had such a great time together on this trip. I was so excited to finally meet his grandparents. It was wonderful to stay with them in Ireland. We also had a blast in London--Ben went to high school there, so it was great to see a lot of the places he talks about going to back then. Not to mention my country-count is up to an impressive 8 countries. (Can you believe that?--7 countries in just 8 months!!) The country-count thing is an ongoing competition in the Bond family. I will probably never catch up to any of my in-laws...or even my husband...but I am glad to be apart of the travellin' fever! Let's be honest: if you're in the Navy, you gotta live it up to the fullest!
Here are a few of the London pictures (I will post Ireland tomorrow!):
British taxis all in a row
The Tube station
Tower of London
Shakespeare's Globe Theater
Me in Piccadilly Circus
I loved it that London's Christmas decorations were still up!
Just too cute.
Albert, Christian, and Ben---3 of the 4 Bond brothers
Ben and me in the classic telephone booth picture
A great view of the London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament
Westminster Abbey
Ben knocking on "Britain's oldest door" inside Westminster Abbey---the door was from the 1050's. That just boggles my mind how old that is!
Horse guard
Buckingham Palace
St. Paul's Cathedral
The view of London from the very top of St. Paul's Cathedral (yes we climbed all 500+ steps!)
Albert, Carrie, Christian, Ben, and me all counting down to the New Year on the Thames!
Fireworks off the London Eye
Guard outside the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London
Tower Bridge
London's Chinatown
Sherlock Holmes' house
Liverpool Street Station--I just thought it was really pretty
