more British slang

The whole month of April has looked like this...

except for seeing two pictures of a sun with temperatures close to the 60s! It has been raining all day everyday the past month with temps in the mid 50s and gray skies, per usual.
I have been sick with a cold the past few days and finally recovering only to see that now my little one is sick too with a fever and who is currently taking her second nap of the day! Not how I envisioned spring.

In lieu of HM Queen and Prince Philip visiting my little Greenwich today, (which I totally wanted to go to but couldn't because of my poor sick baby), I thought I would share a few more British slang that make me laugh!




lie-ins = sleeping in
rubbers = erasers (If you go to America asking for rubbers...haha)
snogging = making out (I learned this term after Tim told me about him witnessing first hand two women co-workers snogging after having one to many drinks at a work event and then people gossiping about it at work the next day. Classy.)
re-jig = re-work
pile of sick = throw-up
diary = calendar

I hear a lot of funny/cute things while on the bus, while walking, while at the store, that make me just smile to myself. Nothing really weird actually but to an American, it is just slightly different. Especially when said with a British accent.
For example, while waiting for Marisa's ballet class to start a little 4 year old girl burped out loud and quickly said, "Pardon me" in her cute British accent while her mum gave her the "eye". Ha! How proper!
Another time I was walking past a few teenage girls when one says to her friend, "Oh, stop mocking me!" I just had to laugh to myself. What teenager says that?

Not only do Brits have different words for things than we do but there are also slight differences in writing. The usual words like favourite, immunisations, organisations, centre, theatre, are some of the obvious ones, but here are a few more I learned.

maths = math
driving licence = driver's license
chewing gum = gum

And although things may be spelled the same way , some things are pronounced differently. I'm no English major but I will try my best.

Like the word "advertisement" is pronounced,

 ad-vur-tiss-ment or ad-vurt.

and "leisure" is pronounced,

lej-ur.

"schedule" - shhedj-ule
"assume" - uh-shhoom

Lastly, one day at work Tim's coworker said, "I'm going to nip off to the loo for a wee." We asked some family members what they thought it meant and we got some hilarious responses. We know what it means, but what do you think it means? :)

Pottery, Paint, Party!

"3 more days until my birthday and then 4 more days until my party!"

We heard the countdown from Marisa every morning for probably a week. She has been greatly looking forward to her party. And the day of her party was probably pure torture for her because she wouldn't play but just watch the clock instead.
Marisa invited a few friends over to have a pottery painting art party. A cute little cafe in our town centre allows you to rent out supplies to paint your own ceramics in the comfort of your own home and bring back your ceramic ready for the kiln at your convenience. It was a perfect party idea for this cute little girls!

Tongues were out and eyes focused hard on their mini masterpieces. Little girls are so cute like that.

I played off the art theme for the party and decided to go with rainbow colors for the decor and food. I love themed parties. It's all about the details!

Just like every party, after the activity, food, blowing out of candles, comes the best part for the birthday girl...presents!
One of Marisa's friends couldn't make it to the party last minute so it ended up being quite a small group but the girls still had fun! Happy Birthday, Marisa!

Happy 5th Birthday Marisa!

I have contemplated a lot recently about my role as a mother and about motherhood. My writing highly lacks the ability to eloquently describe how I feel about this sacred calling, my little family, and my darling children. Nevertheless, oh, how I love being a mother to my eldest daughter, Marisa.

It was 5 years ago yesterday this little one entered my life and has forever changed me for the better. Looking back I can't help but think how incredibly young, naive, and crazy we were as mere BYU students bringing a child into our lives! I wouldn't change it for the world though.

Marisa is a very special little lady. She brings me joy. Joy that I never thought possible to feel. Marisa is happy all of the time and loves making friends. Friends and strangers constantly comment on her contagious giggles. They certainly are unique, lively, and cute little giggles.  She has become quite the nurturer to her little sister and sets the best example for her as well. Marisa always desires to do what is right and wants nothing more than to please her parents and be the best she can be at whatever she is doing.

Marisa also loves cats.

Loves the color pink.

Loves ballet.

Amazing imagination.

Perfectionist.
She can read!

Loves to play computer games.

Enjoys traveling and learning.

Something she said recently which I thought was pretty cute...

"Mom, I'm very clever. Because I can find things." - Marisa

Happy 5th Birthday Marisa! I love you with all my heart.

(Party pictures coming tomorrow!)

first visitors

The day before we left for England we attended the wedding of our good friends the Campbells. Exactly one year later, in celebration of their one year anniversary, they are here in London!
We honestly could not have been more excited when they told us they would be visiting. We love having guests and seeing familiar faces.

They arrived while we were away in Switzerland but we got to play tour guide for a couple of days right after our return. It's so fun to share with them the very things that I love about London.

We are so sad to see them go. They have been our first and I think will be our only visitors aside from family while we live here. Consider this an open invitation to all! Brett and Ashleigh, hope you enjoyed your stay and see you guys again soon in CA!
P.S. How did we manage not to take a picture together??

"London Bridge is falling down..."

Yesterday afternoon I couldn't help but smile when my American daughter suddenly busts out loudly singing on the DLR with the train quite full of commuters.

{Switzerland and Liechtenstein} Flashback: Day 3 and Day 4

Day 3:
Easter morning brought gifts for the little ones from the Easter bunny, who found them even in Switzerland, (Marisa was a little worried about that) and more snow! And lots of snow that was actually sticking unlike yesterday's weather which was more like snow/rain.

On the agenda for the morning - more sledding! If you turn your volume up you can hear Natalie starting from the top of the hill.

After lunch we thought we would drive to a nearby city called Chur. It was a super cute alpine village, but of course, absolutely everything was shut down. Even restaurants. The only thing that was open was McDonald's. So yes, I am ashamed and sickened to admit... Easter dinner was at Mickey D's. Barf. Those who know me well know that I would rather dig my own eye out than eat McDonald's. But it is what it is.

The drive to Chur was breathtaking. I didn't even think to take my camera out because I was so entranced. So on the way back to our hotel I thought I would try to capture the Swiss Alps scenery. 1. The pictures do not do it justice. 2. I was taking pictures inside the car so that doesn't exactly help either.

Day 4:
Our flight back to London didn't leave until around 9 at night so we had all day to play. Off to Zurich!

We were pleasantly surprised at Zurich. It was a very clean, very charming city. Load of tourists were walking around but to no surprise, everything was closed due to yet again, a bank holiday. I was pretty irritated. Oh well, "it is what it is!" is my new motto. Luckily, close to dinner time lots of restaurants opened up. In the meantime, between lunch and dinner we ate more chocolate. :)

We briefly walked through the Grossmünster and saw Sankt Peterskirche at all different angles throughout the city.

I was surprised with how much I really, really liked Switzerland. It is exactly how I envisioned it to be. Beautiful and calm. The people were really friendly too. I felt more safe in this country than other country so far and I will gladly visit again to see the other side of Switzerland!
The girls were sad to leave but both pilots on our airplane home smiled and waved to the girls from the cockpit as we were boarding which put a sweet close to our trip.