Of course, with the world coming together we were bound to run into a few people we knew :) We met up with Jason, who was Colin's roommate for a semester and a good friend from the University ward. He has been in London for a couple of months and he was able to show us the ropes. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which was incredible, before wandering through the city.
Outside St. Paul's
From the top of St. Paul's Cathedral with Jason
The Olympic winds let us cross paths with another good friend, Jennie, later in the afternoon. Jennie and I rowed together and she was one of my beautiful bridesmaids. It was quite lovely (quite) to catch up with her in London of all places.
In front of the Brazil headquarters
We then wandered over to Big Ben, parliament, and West Minster Abbey.
That night we watched the opening ceremonies, and we loved them. We've completely caught Olympic fever. The dancing was amazing, the songs were vibrant, the Queen was spirited, and the cauldron- really incredible. We watched the opening ceremonies with Colin's cousin Rachel and her husband Steve. The room started with a well mannered, quiet clap of "well done, England, well done." It ended with proper British pride swelling at the seams.
Sunday we went to church with Rachel and Steve. The service was very nice. Afterwards the church organized a family fun Olympics themed day in the park.
Colin made me proud with his cookie decorating skills- I ate mine before it could be documented
He made me extremely proud when he won a gold medal in the "wellie wanging" event :) where you see who can throw a rainboot the furthest
Monday we went back into Oxford to explore the town and do some good old fashioned punting. Oxford was really lovely...until we got Rachel and Steve's nearly new bikes stolen. This time we rode the bikes to the train, then took the bikes into Oxford... bad idea. It was terrible to have to break the bad news to our legendary hosts. To the dirty thief with beautiful bikes- I hope karma catches up with you. Here are some pictures from the rest of the day.
In the Oriel dining hall
In front of Christ's Church
On top of Carfax tower
After lunch at a delicious delicatessen
Colin punting me around
Me punting Colin
In front of the Bodleian library
We loved Oxford, but next time I am not putting up with having to punt Colin down the Thymes ;)
Now for the Olympic day! We started the morning by trying to get tickets to archery. We stood outside the stadium asking for spare tickets, and got them FOR FREE!
With our tickets!
With Rachel and Steve
With a great archer, or at least a very good guy
USA woman v Mongolia (I think)
After archery we rushed over to the Olympic park to go to the handball game that Steve and Rachel had gotten tickets for. The Olympic park is huge, there are tons of people, and it is exciting to be there.
Rachel in her team GB gear :)
At the handball game
After handball we walked over to the water polo arena to see if we could get spare tickets for the men's GB v Serbia and US v Romania games. Once the GB game was over a bunch of people left and we were able to get into the USA game! It was so cool!
USA men'a water polo v Romania
USA just scored a goal!
I can't believe this is our life right now! We feel incredibly blessed and thankful for this experience. As we stay with different friends and family, see so many people from around the world, and experience new and exciting things we are learning so much about the kind of people we want to be. It's almost as if, in true Olympic fashion, God is letting us see the best of everyone around us and take a bit of it into our lives going forward. As grandpa Dell would say, "Happy Day!"
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