The Ponczoch Family!

We had a FABULOUS with

Kim, Dave and the kids here.

So nice to share some of our love for London with them.

 

Because Kim did such a GREAT job doing a daily Facebook post, I'm just using much of her stuff for my record.  Thanks Kim!  (Sorry if you're bored because you've seen most of it.)

 

Day one: Big Ben, double decker bus, Trafalgar Square, ice cream, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park, Westminster Abbey & fish & chips. #lovelondon #lovefamily #lovesleep

 

 

 

 Day 2:  Afternoon tea and front row seats to see Wicked, where Elphaba said hello and waved to the girls during curtain call. #lovelondon #lovewicked #love scones #couldgetusedtothis #thanksdadforwatchingzack

Day 3:  Went to Warwick Castle and watched jousting, met princesses and climbed lots of towers.  Also saw Shakespeare's home.  #lovingengland #lovecastles #could get used to this

 

                        

 

 

Day 4: Sneaking off to Hogwarts, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, National Gallery, English Monopoly, and scones with clotted cream and lemon curd. #loveengland #zackdoesntfeelreadytoleavemefortheschoolyear #englishladythoughtiwasfromireland #couldgetusedtothis #mydadowesmecandy.

 

Day 5: Day of rest... Church, puzzles, play dough, Cluedo (English version of Clue), Sunday dinner. #loveengland#lovefamily #zackneedshisownbedroom#couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 6:  Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Princess Diana Memorial Playground, and Dave finally joined us#loveengland #lovefamily #loveroyalclothing#tookthebuswithoutmyparents #imgrowingup #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

Day 7: Changing of the guards (kind of...  Tried not to get trampled by the rest of the tourists), Royal Mews, Churchill War Rooms, St James Park, Big Ben, breakdancers, fish & chips, tradional British breakfast.  #loveengland #lovefamily #hatecrowds #lovehavingdavehere #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 8:  Boat tour on the canal, afternoon with Dave (Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Supreme Court and Speakers Corner in Hyde Park) while my mom and the kids prepared a proper afternoon tea for us.  #loveengland #lovefamily #homemadesconesarethebest #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 9:  Windsor Castle by train and souvenir shopping #bestcastleyet #loveengland #lovefamily #daughterslovetoshop #husbandanddaddont #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 10:  Royal Albert Hall and train to Hampton Court Palace. #loveengland #lovefamily #neededawholedayatthepalace #historybookscomingtolife #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

 

Day 11:  St Paul's Cathedral, Tower ofLondon, Tower Bridge, boat ride on the Thames River, and LOTS of London rain. #loveengland #mayhavesetarecordformoststairsclimbedinaday #windbroketwoumbrellas #gladimnotafraidofheights #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

 



Day 12:  Early church, bus to the South of England, crossed the English Channel via ferry.  Viva France!  #goodbyeengland #myfrenchisveryrusty #idbebetteroffinspain #goodthingmydadspeaksfrench #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 13:  Drove to Paris, walked down the Champs-Elysees, saw Arc de Triomphe, ate escargot, duck liver and pain au chocolat, and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  #lovefamily #jinniesnewfavoritefoodisescargot #eiffeltowerisbestatnight ##lasttimeiwashereiwas15 #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 14:  Notre Dame, Conciergerie, lots of yummy pastries for lunch (eclairs, mille-feuilles, pistachio almond raspberry macroon, croque-monsieurs, & quiche), the Louvre, boat tour on the Sein, and dad was pic pocked on the metro.  #lovefamily #lovefrenchfood #everyoneissafe #dontmesswithmydad #theguyisinjail #davedoesjustfinewithhislimitedfrench #ispoketotheconductorinspanish #couldgetusedtomostofthis

 

 

 

 

 

Day 15:  Drove to Normandy, visited Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, and the American Cemetery; ate crepes, croque madame, snails, frog legs & stinky cheese. Slept in a chateau that was occupied by Germans during WWII.  #betterthanparis #historycomingtolife #loveourmilitary #nowifiatthechateau #couldgetusedtothis #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 

 



Yup, frog legs at Chateau Baffy
 





Day 16:  Left the Chateau at 5:30 am.  Rental car, taxi, bus, ferry, bus and tube.  Walked into mom & Dads flat at 7:30 pm.  #worstdayofthevacation #buswastwohourslate #iwantachateau #lovelondon #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 



 

 

 

Day 17:  Making of Harry Potter Studio, shopping, Jinnie played Bells of Great Britain on a piano in the middle of a train station, last afternoon tea, Harry Potter board game, Picadilly Circus with Dave, and ate treacle tart, sausage & mash and drank elderberry juice.  #lovelondon #lovefamily #needtofindabutterbeerrecipe #couldgetused tothis #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 

Practicing spells.
 

Butter beer is delish!

 

 

 Day 18: Packed, pictures at Abbey Road, shopped, kids returned library books & played in the gardens, played dthe London version of Monopoly, and said goodbye. #wenttoofast #lovelondon #lovefamily #missmyparentsalready #heathrowhasthebestkidsareaever #toomuchturbulance #letthejetlagbegin

 

You can see we did a TON and this is just a condensed version. Twas so much fun!

 

I must explain Day 14 a little.

 

As we were hopping on the metro, it appeared a man was sort of helping Rick with the stroller but he was really helping himself with the contents of Rick's pockets. He passed the wallet (which was in his front pocket) off to another man who hopped off the train as the doors were closing. When he took Rick's phone from his little change pocket, Rick felt it and confronted him. Soon we had him emptying his bag onto the floor looking for the wallet too. A woman standing back further said she'd seen him pass it off. Rick grabbed him as the door opened, but he broke away and took off running....never dreaming a gray-haired man could run so fast. A man from our train tripped him up a bit on the stairs and Rick was able to grab him again. Three gendarmes were waiting at the top of the stairs for them. Several people who saw the whole thing stopped and gave statements. The thief, Rick and 4 policemen had the ride of their lives getting to the police station as if it were an emergency. Glad they're still alive. We're told the thief would be before the judge in the morning and straight to jail. Apparently he'd given a false name too and must have had a record cuz they figured it out.

 

A week later a letter was sent to our home address saying the wallet was found. Rick will be back in Paris in a few weeks and will pick it up then.

 

Blah. I used to love Paris.





 



 

 





 

My Heart is Full

I thought I was a grownup.

I thought I was a semi-decent mom.

I thought I was a semi-decent grandma.

But I was wrong.

 

Apparently,

It's all about me!

 

This little miracle is how I figured this out.

 

Lena Patricia White was born on  September 20, 2013.

7 lbs 13 oz, 20 1/2 inches

 

Because of being home in April for Kelsi's wedding and coming home in December for Nathan's wedding, I didn't arrange to come for this new baby.  Rosa Lee's mom lives close enough, plus I'd thought they'd be spending the whole month of September in Cannonville whilst he worked on a project there.  Rosa Lee would have plenty of help, and this far-away mother-in-law wouldn't be

needed.

 

How could I be so stupid?

 

Going when a new baby comes is not about my being helpful for the mom.

It's about me.

 

Me holding the baby.  Me kissing her.  Me smelling her newness.  Me feeling of  her spirit.  Me whispering in her ear.  Me staring into her eyes.  Me.  Me.  Me.

 

Now I know.

 

Now you know.

 

Sorry to my daughters and daughters-in-law...

It's all about me.

 

Four new granddaughters in 51 weeks!

Of course my heart is full.

Life is good.

 

 



Downton Abbey-ish Family History, and Little Miracles

So, a lot of months ago I stumbled upon this teaser in
"The Hertford Mercury & Reformer" dated 24 Oct 1846:

"Mr John Hughlings, Chemist, of Hertford, said the deceased came to his house and asked for two penney worth of arsenic to poison rats.  Witness refused to let..."

That was it.  The teaser.
  I would have to pay to get the rest of the story.

 A death?  Arsenic?  John Hughlings involved?
(An earlier post shows a picture of his possible Chemist shoppe in Hertford.) 

This felt a little like Mr Bates being accused of poisoning his wife with arsenic.
(A reference to Downton Abbey for those of you who are confused.)

It carried on for months, with me unable to figure out getting a copy without paying....
until I asked a friend who happened to have a subscription to the site I needed.

And the answer is.....

He was found innocent!!!!
  Thank heavens he covered his bases and made her bring in a witness saying she was using the arsenic to poison rats.  I feel sad for her friend who vouched for her.
She was wrong.  She must have felt terrible.
The verdict was "suicide while in a state of temporary insanity".

One day I will ask him if this influenced his leaving his occupation
as a Chemist to become a Scripture Reader.

This John Powell Hughlings is the brother to our Ann Hughlings Pitchforth.

If you can't read this and want to, go to:

http://whitefamilytrees.org/showmedia.php?mediaID=806&medialinkID=1343

Yup, that's my Family History website.
You ought to check it out.
whitefamilytrees.org

Have I ever said that I love Family History?
  Well, I do.

 

And I love miracles.

 

One evening while serving at the Hyde Park Stake Family History Centre, I was searching on a 19th Century British Newspaper site that I can access there.  Suddenly I stumbled upon this:

 

Under Marriages it says:

 

BOWES-HUGHLINGS--Dec. 18, at Holy Trinity Church, Southport, by the Rev. O.S. Hope, Councillor I Bowes, of Pendleton, Manchester, to Harriet, widow of Professor Hughlings, of Elphinstone College, Bombay.

 

WHAT?

 

Professor John Powell Hughlings had been married?

(He is the son of the above storied John Powell Hughlings.)

 

I'd finally found an obituary which extolled all his wonderful virtues,

and not one word about a spouse.

 

And why in the world would his widow's re-marriage say so much about him?

 

Just a week or two before I had thought I was finished with JPH and filed all his paperwork.

He had taught many years in India, gotten sick,

and died in Australia where he went to recuperate.

After all my searching, I had determined he never married.

 

But he had.

This record needed to be found.

So Harriet could be found.

And their marriage record found.

And their sealing reserved.

Now I think I can file away John Powell Hughlings.

 

 

 I love this quote by Melvin J Ballard:

 

    "You may be confident that your deceased people know where their records are, and you can obtain help through inspiration from them in locating these records...  And there are thousands of them, hundreds of thousands and millions of them in the spirit world who long to receive this gospel and have been waiting hundreds of years for their deliverance....  They know where their records are, and I testify to you that the spirit and influence of your dead will guide those who are interested in finding those records...  If there is anywhere on earth anything concerning your kindred dead, you will find it."  

                                                      Sermons & Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, p 230

 

 

 



More Fun in England

First, I want to show off my flowers again. 

 I know you can't tell from the picture, but these are the colors going on....

dark red, red/orange, hot pink, white with pink highlights, and white.

Quite a lovely welcome to our flat, I must say.

 

Last Tuesday I went with my friends Kim, Janet and her daughter Rebecca, to...

Clarence House.

The home of Prince Charles and Camilla.

Yeah, we're that special over here.  :)

We were taken through 5-6 rooms, and not allowed to take pictures.

No pictures was very sad, because I'd love to have shown Kelsi the harp.

(Yup, they have a royal harpist.)

It was very hard not to break all the rules...I so wanted to play it and get a picture by it

and touch it in all its elegance!

We could only take pictures outside the wall...

 

If you're out with friends, you really should go to lunch.

The plan was a restaurant in St James Park, but it didn't look very appetizing

so we headed through the park, seeing baby swans....

(ugly ducklings next to the mom)....

 

 

and this view from a bridge. 

It'smuch more beautiful in person,

with the London Eye and lovely buildings.

The moss or algae or whatever it is is not normal....

it's because of the extremely hot summer we've had here.

 

Deciding to get out of the heat (mid-90s that day) we headed through Trafalgar Square

to a restaurant underground.

So...we got to see the new Fourth Plinth Art commission.

 

What?

 

Apparently, the statue for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square was never completed

 and it sat empty for over 150 years.  In 1999 it was finally decided to

commission works of art to be changed about every two years.

It had been a boy on a rocking horse.

 

Now it's......

 

 an electric blue chicken!!! 

 Or "cockerel in intense ultramarine blue".

Hahaha.  Makes me laugh.  Little weird.

 

Or a lot weird.

 

Apparently it has "ruffled a few feathers with the irony of having a cockerel,

the national symbol of France, in a square which commemorates

a British naval victory over the French."

 

We crossed the square and went to eat at

St Martins in the Field Crypt.

 

Yes. That says Crypt.

S E R I O U S L Y ?

 

You sit at tables and eat with headstones under your feet.

and your chair....

and your table.....

 

Sorry.  Didn't get pictures.

 

Since few places here have air conditioning, and it has been hotter than normal,

it was packed....people seeking relief from the heat I guess.

Or they just like to eat amongst the dead.

 

Funny story. 

 I was on the phone with Kimberly last night and sitting at the computer.  One screen had

some family history pulled up (surprise!) and I looked over at it.

Rick's great-great-great grandparents on is dad's side,

Arthur Murch and Mary Howell,

were married at the Parish Church of St Martin in the Fields,

Middlesex, England.  In 1825.

 

Where I had just eaten lunch days before...

 in the crypt.

 

Pretty sure they aren't buried there because they moved to Marylebone...

Which happens to be walking distance from our flat....

still looking for death or burial records on them.

 

But the highlight of the week was going to

the first ever British Pageant

"Truth Will Prevail"

at the Preston Temple.

 

The drive should have been 3 1/2 - 4 hours, but took 6 because of traffic...good thing

we left plenty early.

 

We had originally thought it would be an outdoor venue like most other church pageants,

but then were told it would be in a tent....but it was much nicer.

The great venue protected us from the rain and made the sound fabulous.

Here we are with Natasha Curtis from Canada and our YSA Ward.

 

Choir....fabulous!

Actors.....fabulous!

Set....fabulous!

Spirit.....undeniable!!!!

The best church pageant I've EVER been to.

 

The pageant told the story of the early saints in Great Britain.

The spirit was so strong as we understood better how the people in this land were

prepared for the restored gospel...because of people like William Tyndale and John Wycliffe, who

fought so hard to get the Bible translated into English,

and died as martyrs doing so.

 

It was amazing to be able to envision all 12 Apostles being called to serve missions

here in 1839, and the many, many numbers of people

who felt and believed truth,

were baptized,

and followed the call to gather to Zion.

 

Thinking of my 8 great-great grandparents on my father's side who experienced this

conversion with one of the 12 or later with other missionaries, caused my heart to be very full.

So full, that it leaked through my eyes througout the entire performance.

 

The spirit was very strong.

 

Profound re-confirmation of things I know to be true.

 

All 8 of these great-great grandparents were born in England,

joined the church,

 joined the saints,

and settled and died in Nephi, Utah.

 

Thus I am an American,

  a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

and I'm a Mormon.

 

So grateful for these ancestors who sacrificed so much.

 





Relatives, Antiques and Antique Relatives

Relatives

 

When Dave Wilkey brought a big group to London, we met up with them several times.

First at the Churchill War Rooms.

Then in Windsor, where we took Andrea to McDonalds for dinner...

Her kids were concerned there may not be a McDonalds over here, 

so she had to send a picture to them to prove there was.

 

That McDonalds was right across the street from beautiful Windsor Castle.

 

 

  

Of course, seeing Andrea meant seeing Duane, Cindy and Megan....

Dave, Lynne, Bill, Matt,their wives, and people we know from Nephi and St George.

Duane, Cindy and Megan stayed with us a few nights....

 

If you go to Stansted Airport to rescue their luggage, you may as well see

 

Mountfitchet Castle,

a Norman Village of 1066,

and the

House on the Hill Toy Museum

 

Because you're there.

And you can.

 

 

 

 

 

Antiques

 

Rick decided to take July 24th off

(well, as much as he takes off with a cell phone attached to his hip)

so we drove to the Ardingly Antiques Fair.

 

We've noticed gramophones many times whilst in antique shops, and are quite taken by them.

So when we found one for an incredible price, we had no choice but to consider it.
 

Found some of the old vinyl records for next to nothing, took them back to the stall

with the gramophone, and it worked!

 

So we bought it.
 

Good thing....

 since we owned some really, really, really heavy records.

 

Here's a snippet of the Blue Danube waltz for you....

 

 

Glad we had the car.  Would have been tough to get the

 gramophone and two big binders of vinyl records home on the bus, train and tube.

 

I also picked up some more serving tong thingys.

Now we can play Downton Abbey when we entertain.

 I think I'll need some servants to do that properly.....

 

 

  

Antique Relatives

 

There is a story behind this section.  I love antiques and I love family history.

I am reminded of my friend, mama Carolina.

Since I speak no Spanish and her English isn't always the best, 

we have many funny conversations whenever we're together.

My favorite is talking about old things.

She calls anything older (people, cars, anything)...antique.

So it makes sense to me that ancestors are

Antique Relatives!

 

Now you understand the title of this post.

 

I've been surrounded by relatives, antiques, and antique relatives!

 

My most recent ahah family history moment:
 

On May 22 I did a post about a blue plaque for John Hughlings Jackson,

cousin of Samuel Pitchforth and the father of English Neurology.
 

Last post I showed where William Wallace and protestant martyrs were executed right outside 

St Bartholomew's hospital and near the Priory Church of that name.

 

Looking through a book on Dr. Jackson, he spent many years working at that hospital.

Just a fun moment when I read that.  I'd been there.  Seen it.  Can picture it.

 

We finally got Family History launched in our YSA ward last Sunday.  I'll be teaching Sunday School the next couple of months to train the Family History Consultants.

I'll also begin manning the stake Family History Center on Mondays.

 

Hope I'm prepared for that.
Feeling quite inadequate.


Flowers

And just to prove I can grow things in London,
these beautiful begonias are outside our front door...

Thank you Costco for a pot with dirt and pre-planted bulbs.
 Just add water regularly, wait for forever,
and you get lovely flowers!

Not quite so easy with herbs (say it with the "h", please).
I can only keep basil (say bawzil) alive indoors.

Still working on my British accent.....

 

 



Deaths, Wimbledon, Relatives, More Relatives, Castle, and another church calling....

A week ago we visited the London Museum, which was AWESOME, then took our

"London's Hidden Walks " book.and went on part of the Clerkenwell walk nearby.

 

On our walk we discovered many interesting things.....

like the square where William Wallace (Scotland's "Braveheart")

was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305...

 

 

Also, in this square, many protestant martyrs were either

burned or boiled alive in the 1550s.  What a place.

 

Close by was Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great..

begun in the 1100s.

 

 

A bit down the road we went to a 12th century crypt,

 the remains of the Priory Church of St John.

Think of Knights Hospitallers, Knights Templars, crusades, Henry VIII,

Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, and Dickens...different times, different uses for the buildings.

 

This book of hidden walks could keep us busy finding unusual places for a VERY long time...

 

But on to Wimbledon....

 

Twas on my bucket list one day, and checked off the very next.....

 

 

Rick met Dave Wilkey there on Tuesday and decided to take me on Wednesday.

Because we could.

We watched a couple of matches and he taught me about tennis.

One errant ball almost hit the person sitting next to Rick... 

it made a dent in the wood behind her.

Who knew you could serve a tennis ball at 116 mph?

 

Wimbledon was beautiful...purple and white flowers everywhere...just a fun atmosphere...

could wander around and watch numerous matches.  Even if you didn't have tickets to Center Court or the other two pricey venues, there was plenty of tennis going on.

 

And who knew that you MUST have strawberries and cream while there.

 

 

LOVE British cream.

 

And on to Sandra....

 

Sandra Gregory, my Third Cousin Once Removed, came to London.

Sandra and I started communicating on Family History 4 years ago

 and were thrilled to finally meet.

 

Her great-great grandfather, George Gregory, 

and my great-great-great grandmother, Ann Gregory (wife of John Wilkey),

are brother and sister.

She was born in Beaulieu, Hampshire, England, where the Gregorys had lived for generations.

(See earlier posts for our trip to Beaulieu.)

 

She spent a lot of time in London, but has lived near Washington D.C. for 20 years.

Has worked for BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel....

So lucky she came to London while we are here and wanted to meet!

Had a delightful chat over coffee and juice.

 

 

On Friday Dave Wilkey called and wanted us to meet his pre-tour group at the

Churchill War Rooms.

So we did.

Dave and Lynne, Duane, Cindy and Megan, others we know from St George and Nephi,

but especially....

Andrea!

So glad to hug her and spend some time.

 

 

Today was Warwick Castle,

a family-friendly castle where kids can have a more hands-on experience...

Knights fighting demonstration, birds of prey demonstration,

Trebuchet Fireball show, princess tower, etc.

 

 

Soooooo, for our children's information, we bought a years pass.

With those passes came 8 free tickets.

Wonder which of our children and grandchildren will be using them.....

Thinking it's worth the 1 1/2 -2 hour drive from London for the kids!

 

We also walked into Warwick and had to go to

St Mary's Church and Cemetery.

Love cemeteries.

 

 

Whew! Busy, fun, eventful week.

 

AND, I was sustained to another calling on Sunday....

Assistant Stake Family History person...

will be getting the YSAs going on Indexing and Family History...

and helping to open and staff the Stake Family History Center.

Will be good.

 

Life is good!