Dig out the Passport...we are going on a trip!

So back in January, Larry came home one day for lunch and asked me if I would like to get another stamp in my Passport. Duh! Ha, I of course was quite intrigued and ask him where and he responded, "Ukraine". Hmm. Please don't take this wrong, but the Ukraine was not at the top of my bucket list. A have a pretty big bucket, but Ukraine has never been on it. However, Larry explained that the University Students at Hillcrest were going to the Ukraine to work with Jeremiah's Hope and we had been asked to go as sponsors. Jeremiah's Hope is run by a young man that grew up at Hillcrest. Andrew and his wife Jenny, are doing an amazing work...they have built a really neat camp for orphans kids to get to come to during the summer. They also work with the CPS and have just opened a rescue or safe house to provide a safe place for children when things "fall apart' at home. We decided to go and that was a really good decision on our part! It was an amazing trip! We left Abilene on Mother's Day, drove to DFW and flew out at 5:30 PM. We arrived in London at 8:30 the next morning. It was a good flight, but I know I personally didn't get a lot of sleep! :) Too excited I think! We arrived, went through customs, checked into our hotel and then got our tube tickets and headed into London. We had learned before we left about a really cool bike tour called Fat Tire Bike Tour (a company started by 2 Aggies...Whoop!!!!!). We had contacted them and scheduled a tour for 24 of us, the others were going to take in a show. What a fun way to see London. When you know you have basically an afternoon...and you have never been to London...this is the way to go! Not only was it so fun, but it was a great way to get to know the students we would be working with in the Ukraine. The tour guide was so awesome and a lot of fun. We took the Royal Tour so we got to see Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Hyde Park and a whole lot more!!! It was so fun to ride our bikes around the city and learn all sorts of fun facts along the way. We then ate dinner, took the Tube back to the airport and then a bus on to the Hotel. It was a LONG day but so fun. We caught a few winks before an early wake up call...we had a plane to catch early morning...then it was on to the Ukraine.

Here are some of the MANY pictures I took on the Bike Tour...

 Just hanging out in the phone booth with my sweetheart!

 Westminster Abbey...oh my...be still my heart!

 Ready to go! This is a few of the awesome students we got to hang out with!

Our cute little bikes!

 Larry. That is Will and Kate's "digs" behind him!

 Larry and Mary Kay at Trafalgar Square. It was chilly and a bit rainy...thus the gloves and coats!

 Have I ever mentioned how strong my husband is??

 The flowers in the gardens were AMAZING..unlike my hair...which didn't really care for the damp weather we had that day! Oh well.

This was the first tube station we came to, I was a little excited. What can I say.

Okay, to say I have a lot of blogging to do is a huge understatement.
Next..."Working in the Ukraine".