64 weeks in China...check! 40 to go.

This video is Amsterdam,  (pre-Ally pick up). Stay tuned for the Ally included video.  My favorite part of this one is the ducks in the canal.  



amsterdang from brooke taylor on Vimeo.

Monday started off with letters from Chase early in the morning and then breakfast at our hotel in Malmö with Elder Beus and Elder Hill.  It was fun to hear them tell of mission experiences and talk Swedish with Ally.  Quick photos and then off to shop in Malmö Centrum.  It was fun to see where Ally spent some time while living here.  We hurried to check out of the hotel, C R A M M E D into the car with all of our luggage + Ally's mission luggage and Todd dropped us off at the central train station which was, luckily, near by. Forgot to fill the rental car with gas, shoot!  Ally went between helping me buy the train tickets and the kids ordering subway sandwiches. Her Swedish sounds so cool.   Todd met up with us and we boarded the train to Copenhagen.  In Denmark we walked through the city center to the building that housed the original Christus statue and the apostle statues.  Waffles and ice cream, shopping and taking in all the sights we could before we headed out to London.  Beautiful old buildings, crowded cobble stone streets, pigeons, fountains, and shops bursting with souvenirs are what I will remember about Denmark. 

On to London.  Somehow our hotel was right in the airport, which totally saved our bacon.  All we had to do was hop on the shuttle to the north terminal at Gatwick and we checked in and went to sleep, well, after I went nuts at Marks and Spencer Simply Food.  Rhubarb and vanilla yogurt, carrots and hummus, salads with all kinds of power foods, nuts, berries.  We ate, planned a little, then went to sleep.  

Up early-baked beans, cooked tomato, ham, toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  First stop was Big Ben, we were there for the noon-day chimes. We walked around Westminster, went to the War Room Museum, lunched on the steps of a courtyard and then went to Oxford Street.  The boys went one way and the girls went the other...the stores just look so much cooler in the huge old buildings with red double decker buses going by and flags (American and British and NFL) hung across the streets. Liberty was my favorite stop. We met up for dinner at an Indian food restaurant, shopped a bit more and headed back to the hotel on the Gatwick Express.  

Oh the Gatwick Express...they charged us 144 pounds.  The next day it was 47 pounds. We got ripped by the people selling tickets in the airport. First stop was the visitor's center-we chatted with the missionaries (Ashby's from AZ, & Elder Tan from SHEKOU), watched a movie on forever families and then headed back.  We got a musician down in the South Kensington tube tunnel to play "Happy Birthday" to my mom.(Love you Mom,and miss you on your birthday!)   On to see Wicked at the Apollo Theater, the girl who plays Glinda is a member of the YSA ward here, so they say.  Double-decker bus ride past speaker's corner and then to a surprise stop for Ally, a little shop called "Totally Swedish".  It had groceries, towels and napkins, books and cookbooks, dala horses etc.  We next walked to Cath Kidston for backpack pins and then had our final dinner at Pizza Express in a back corner wooden booth by candlelight.  It was a great ending to our vacation.  Train ride back, called Mom for her birthday.

Elder Beus and Ally

Ally & Brooke in Hjarup

Chase is in the middle row, a little left of center with the gray suit.  His cousin Chase is in the same row, farthest to the left.  

  

Todd and Ally went to the gym, the rest of us showered and stuffed our bags the best we could.  

Up at 4:15AM and we just had to go out of the hotel and up the escalator with all those bags. I ran to get breakfast while they waited in the line to check baggage.  As we were at security, the loud speaker said, " gate 53 is closing in 1 minute. If you are not here, you will not be allowed on the plane." So we ran and ran. It took longer than a minute but they let us through the gate. I think they were laughing at us.  When we got in line to get on the plane, we waited and waited. Then we got on the plane and it took off nearly an hour late.  Hurry up and wait! At least we got a little exercise in for the day.  

Amsterdam airport for frites and salads, smoothies before our 12 hour flight.  We found some country patches for Brigham and boarded the plane. Sophie was our snack gopher--she kept going back for chocolate and chips and noodles, apple slices and ginger ale, all through the night. We landed in Hong Kong after 5 episodes of Master Chef.  The kids looked like a crime scene, sprawled out and sleeping on the floor and on chairs while we waited for the 9am ferry.  Sophie was so tired she said "all I saw was shapes" while walking from airport terminal to ferry terminal.  After the ferry ride Ally wasn't feeling so well.  While we were waiting for our bags I found her around the corner squatting, throwing up over the side of the ferry dock.  Welcome to China! 

When we walked out of the ferry building, Ally was greeted with members from our branch holding signs and flowers and leis.  What a welcome! It was so nice of them to come and greet and support her.  Thanks everyone! We appreciated the effort and the rides home.  Love our branch! 

We rested a bit and then headed over to the Cox's so President Cox could release Ally from her mission.  We talked about how Ally's mission service has blessed our family and goals for the future.  By the time we were finished it was raining so Pres. Cox loaded us all up and drove us home.  Indian food to celebrate Ally's first night back at "home".  

Saturday: We are still messed up, time wise.  Girls and Todd were watching Studio C at 3AM, the girls loved that! A few up around 10AM watching BYU football, Brigham was down playing soccer all afternoon, til dark.  All the girls were sleeping until 5:45PM and now want to eat breakfast.  Gym time now. It was 8ish PM and we are all wide awake.  Shannon came over to hang out with Brigham in exchange for Ally, Brynn, Sophie and me.  We rode with Joyce down to get haircuts and massages.  Ally's first Chinese haircut was a success.    We were up so late doing laundry and wide awake, we were able to watch some of conference at midnight-2AM.  

Sunday: Nice day at church.  Sophie, Todd and Ally shared their testimonies. Matt and Holly came for lunch. Ally is reporting at the district presidency meeting and Todd is napping here beside me.  That will cost him.  All is well.

Hope all is well with you, too.(Love you Aunt Jane!)   

Love from China, 

Taylor Family

63

With Asa

Amsterdam

Cheese Museum

Our groceries, carrot balls, mozzarella balls, nuts, raspberries, blueberries, yogurt, chocolate covered raisins. 

Brooke on the bus. 

Stockholm-loved the socks. 

After dinner at Vapiano, picking up Ally the next morning. 

Ally, Syster Beckstrand, Syster Morris

Pres & Sys. Beckstrand

Emma Morris

Looking out the mission home front window. 

Syster JANE TAYLOR, the first Jane Taylor I've met. 

Ally with Bro & Syster Taylor

Swedish shop in Gamle Stan

Todd and Sophie Gamle Stan

Gamle Stan

Ally with Mike & Amber's youngest, Axel Crew

Traditional Chocolate Balls

Best scalloped potatoes ever, baked in a crock casserole. 

Airport frites..we ate here coming and going.  

The weeks seem to be clicking by faster and faster.  I have a long write up but I'll put that on the blog  later this week

​​

,  for anyone who cares to read it beause this week's letter was a novel.  It keeps getting longer and longer so I'll just share a few highlights here. 

We left our house Monday night for our 12 flight westward from Hong Kong to Amsterdam.  Distractions while waiting to pick up Ally included the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, Cheese Museum and eating a Turkish dinner,  a first for us, swinging at a park and eating waffles and frites. Loved the rows of houses, ducks in the canals, little shops with vines growing up them, blooming flowers, speeding bicyclists and tiny cars.   We ran to the bus stop in the rain...my decision won over Todd's pick, to take a taxi.  You can't make memories in a taxi, but running to the bus stop in pouring rain with six people, six suitcases and six backpacks, with moments to spare before your 24 hour transit ticket expires, riding to the airport soaking wet in a Mercedes- Benz extra-long bus? Memories. 

We didn't take off until 1PM so we had some time to dry off,  climb through an actual plane that had been retired, marvel at the technology of the AMS security check point, eat eggs on toast and soup and crepes,  and shop flower bulbs and cheese. 

We finally landed in Stockholm at 3PM, got the rental car and headed to our "hotel". The hotel sent me a code and room number by email...there was no front desk, no lobby, no employees anywhere and both help desk numbers were disconnected.  It was very strange--sci-fi  experience.  Tiny rooms that slept 4 each with a trailer like bathroom setup in the middle.  Todd said, "we can't bring Ally back to this!"  We checked the other room and it was the handicapped room, a little bigger and a real bathroom. The ladies in the artwork weren't dressed so Sophie wanted them "dressed". We brought washi tape and found some ads and fixed them up.  

We went to the mall in Taby and had a nice dinner at Vapiano. It was an Italian restaurant where you walk up to a well-stocked kitchen via three lines, one for salad, one for pasta and one for pizzas/calzones.  You scan a card and at the end you give your card to the cashier.  It was delicious, (so delicious that we took Ally to the same restaurant,  different location, the next day). We also drove by the mission home so we would know where we were going. I didn't want to be late...I had flashbacks of rushing to meet her for lunch in kindergarten and not wanting to be a second late. 

Up at 3:30 am and I couldn't go back to sleep.  We left to get her, stopped for groceries to pass some time and then drove to the mission home.  Brynn ran up first and the rest of us followed. I could just hear squealing behind the hedge.   It was great meeting President and Sister Beckstrand and seeing the mission home (which used to be a chocolate factory). We also met Ally's good friend Emma Morris, she's a doll.  Sister Beckstrand took the little girls into the kitchen and they came out with bags of Swedish Fish, rice krispie bars for each of us.  We left there and headed to the mission office to meet the Taylors and the Lowreys.  Then we started our Stockholm City tour...Gaml

​a​

 Stan, a nice lunch and a visit to Taby to see a childhood friend of Todd's, Cooper Wimmer.  They live in a beautiful home overlooking the Baltic Sea with floor to ceiling windows on two entire sides of the home.  We had tea and cinnamon rolls (fika) and then headed off to see more of Ally's friends. Dinner was at Mike and Amber's home.  They were her mission leaders in Katrineholm, but now live near the temple.  It was fun seeing their blonde-haired, blue-eyed children run around and to hear them speak Swedish.  Mike made us traditional chocolate balls for dessert.  Up early Friday and on to Katrineholm. We drove past red barns and hay fields and Green, green, green everywhere, with occasional yellows, oranges and reds of the fall leaves.  So beautiful.  

​First we met Elizabeth at McDonald's, Next, ​w

e stopped by Ally's friend

​ Asa​

's place and played at the park, 

​after that ​

the famous 

​K​

at and met her son Jock also. 

On the way home we drove to Mariefred, a castle. It was a beautiful home on the lake, cold and windy. It had gates and gardens and a beautiful courtyard with a wishing well in the middle.  I loved the windows that all had different panes and the different stairways with wooden carved banisters.  

Next was the family

​

,

​ her "pride and joy", ​

 Angela and her husband 

​Okoro ​

and daughter Alice and cute little twins Patricia and Dominique. Each family that we have visited just praised Ally like crazy.  She met Angela on the street and now their little family has the gospel to bless their lives.  Dinner at Italo and Claudia's house with Elder Faylor and Elder Allsop. Italo and his wife put on a Chilean meal that Todd couldn't believe...empanadas pino and queso and pastel de choclo and torta de man jar.  Second  Dessert by candlelight at Veronica and Mike's farmhouse was the peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate crust that made Ally cry one time, she loved it so much.    It was a

​ full & happy​

​

 day. 

Saturday: Temple and photos on the temple grounds...shopping and lunch at the busiest and biggest Ikea I've ever seen. 

​Todd was starting to hyperventilate because we couldn't get out of the maze to the cash register.  ​

Off on our 6 hour drive to Malmo via Jonkoping, where our family comes from. It's south of a lake where a family farm used to be, 

​such a pretty​

 place. We ate late at Max burger, a Swedish fast food restaurant.   

Sunday: Church in Malmo...Todd, Ally and I were asked to speak. Never in my life did I expect to speak at church in Sweden! Afterwards the Bishop came up and said his daughter was serving part of her mission in Nebraska and that he lived in Australia.  A few people came up after and said they had lived in Beijing, some even knew President and Rhoda Cox. (President Clark says hello!)  The world is so small.  they said Ally breathed life into that place.  Quickly drove to Lund for another sacrament meeting.  The missionaries joined in singing "I Am a Child of God." Back to the hotel for a quick rest and then off to dinner at Magnus and Miriam's.  He is from Denmark and she is from Peru and can she cook!! Bacon wrapped spinach and cheese stuffed chicken, rice with tomatoes and egg, cucumber/tomato/corn salad and chocolate cake that called for flour that was sifted 10 times! Her family runs a cocoa farm so she used 100% 

​Peruvian ​

chocolate in the hot chocolate and cake.  Such great people.  New friends.  

Ally is skyping Molly, must go. I'll update the blog later this week.  We are happy to have our Allysunshine back with us! So fun to meet the "cast of characters" she has talked about for the past 18 mo.

​and to be in the land of our heritage. ​

  We will be home on Friday and then she will be released. She will tour China with us until December when we visit the USA and decide where her life will take her from there.  

Love you all! 

Love from Sweden, 

The Taylors