Beautiful Wales & Northern England (Lake District) With Family--Castles!!

"How great the goodness of our God . . ."  2 Nephi 9:10

Our family members are returning home from France today.  They said their favorite part of their holiday was with us in England and Wales because of the beauty of the countries and the friendly people.

Some special prayers were answered while in Wales.  Our grandson is 18 years old and graduating from high school.  He will be turning missionary age in October.  All of us have prayed continually that he will gain a desire to serve a mission and we all hoped something during this trip would touch his heart and that he'd feel the promptings of the Spirit.  While attending fast and testimony meeting in Gaerwen Ward (Wales), we experienced an answer to those prayers!!  A young man bore his testimony of why he has made the decision to go on a mission.  The following testimonies emphasized overcoming fears and relying on faith.  There were other very spiritual things said that were not only applicable for our grandson, but for all of us.  Our prayers were answered through the testimony of others.  Never underestimate the power of a personal testimony or God's power to help us be in the right place at the right time for spiritual strengthening.  He does his part and leaves the rest to us.

Here are more pictures of our travels:

Welsh spelling:  Castell Rhuddlan - 13th Century

High on the wall

The boys exploring the inner court

The mote in front, river on the other side, ruins from the back side

Beautiful fields of mustard?

Food hanging in the old gate keepers house at Conwy suspension bridge

Suspension bridge to the castle in Conwy

Castell Conway-Wales

Cailin's knight in shining armor is home, so this will have to do

Conwy Castle is on the sea.  Bridger overcame his fear of going into the towers.  Here he is very proud he finally made it to the top after he said he could never do it.  Grandpa went in front and his mom went behind and he trusted they'd keep him safe.  Goes to show us we can overcome our greatest fears when we have someone we can trust to guide us and give us the courage to try.

Overlooking the town of Conwy

We all love the Welsh flag

Inside Aberconwy House, the only medieval merchant's house to have survived the turbulent history of the walled town of Conwy over nearly six centuries.  People were shorter in those days as you can see by the height of the doorway.

Seems to be a habit in those days to hang your next meal from the ceiling

Smallest house.

We arrived in Caernarfon when a huge celebration was going on and everyone was marching to the castle.  These drummers were having lots of fun and they were marvelous to watch.  I want to be in a drum group when I get home.

If we'd known we'd get stuck in a huge party crowd, we would have chosen a different day to visit.  It was fun hearing everyone speaking Welsh.  We couldn't read the signs.  Cailin is taking videos there on the right. 

I met the Welsh Dragon--cool fellow

Menai Strait behind this treeTown of Llanfairpwll, Isle of Anglesey

Help in pronouncing this longest Welsh name if you can speak the language-we recorded someone saying it for us

Elder Blain and Bridger visiting Castell Caernarfon

A window in Caernarfon castle

Justice

It is easy to get lost in all the corridors and rooms

See the masses of people--they were singing in Welsh and dancing--a huge celebration!

Calm seas, rocky beach at Llandudno

Creative bed and breakfast in Llandudno

In front of Penrhyn Castle

Nice time of year to enjoy the trees and flowers

Castell Penrhyn - more modern (19th century neo-Norman) and a good way to see the inside of what castles looked like - this was a residence and not a protecting fortress like the 13th century ones that were build along the coast to protect Wales

This is Castell Biwmares (Baumaris Castle) that only got half built when they ran out of funds.  It is a perfect example of a wall within a wall fortress.  Real estate problems even in the 13th century.  It was still used even though not finished.

These were not fun to walk on and I can imagine the soldiers running along with their bows and arrows . . . ouch--trip!

Within old walls . . .

Lake Windemere in Northern England--Lake District

The Queen's swans on Lake Windemere (all swans are owned by the Queen)

The swans were all nice.  Cailin is feeding them our meal leftovers.

These sheep cracked me up as they came running to take a look at us--sunset and getting too dark for pictures

Beautiful country.  Trees are barely beginning to leaf out.

Oh no!  Another carvery and more gravy!  Elder Blain at the counter stocking up.