Hey everyone! We hope you all are doing well! We have been really busy since the last update - lots of traveling. At the end of May, we took a trip to Cornwall, England, with our friends Shameem and Patrick. This area encompasses the southwest part of the country. It was about a five hour car ride, so we got to see lots of countryside on the way.

A few things about driving through the English Countryside - lots of green fields and hills - very pretty. There are lots of roads that are lined with tall hedges - it's like driving through a maze. We actually had to stop at one point to let the ducks cross the road. Some bridges are only big enough for one car, so if you see one coming, you have to wait. There are actually traffic lights for cattle crossing points. One last thing to note - there are "escape lanes" - these are really just gravel pits on the side of the road that you can turn your car into when the brakes go out.

Cornwall is a beautiful place - there are lots of cliffs on the coastline here. We saw Camelot Castle, which overlooks a steep cliff on the seaside, had lunch and a speedboat ride in Padstow, and dinner in Fowey - these places are little fishing villages. The picture above is at Land's End - this is the southernmost tip of England - Alabama is only 4456 miles away from this point! St. Levan is also in the Cornwall area - this is another place that has steep rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean - I'll admit it - I was scared walking around on those cliffs - Jill made me nervous walking around on them like it was not a big thing.

We saw a dog fall in off of a small rock - I think his ball fell in and he went after it - we weren't sure if he was going to get out alive - the current was threatening to take him down and into the rocks. Thankfully, his owner was able to pull him out. We also swung by St. Ives - another cool little fishing village in Cornwall.

The Eden Project is the largest greenhouse in the world. It has several biomes set up with the perfect climate for certain plants, flowers, fruits, etc. to grow. One of them was a tropical climate which gets up to 80 degrees at times. It was really neat - felt like Alabama weather.

We finally got to play darts for the first time since living over here (in a pub by our apartment in Cornwall) - it's only the second dart board we've even seen! We were really surprised that we haven't seen more dartboards - I guess they're just in the older pubs more out in the country. We also played pool - which is played differently over here - the balls are smaller, there are no numbers on them, and if you scratch, hit the other player's ball, or miss your ball, the other player gets two shots in a row.

We finally got to go home and visit our family and friends - it's been a long time (especially for Jill since I swung by for a couple of days in May). Our trip started off with a plane delay in London due to air traffic controller problems. When we got to Dallas, we needed about an hour and a half to get through customs and re-check our bags. Well, since our plane was late leaving, we didn't have much time. The stewardess said that they had not heard any information about the planes leaving anyone, so that was good news. We were the first off the plane (even before the first class folks), the first through customs, and we get our bags within about 15 minutes. We are running through the airport as fast as we can, and when I go through security, surprise, surprise - of course it goes off. I was wearing the same thing when I made it through the security in London. Jill made it through with no problem, so she keeps running - I'll catch up. I run up to the counter - I'm about to fall over - I'm all out of breath, but I see our plane through the window. I'm pumped - we made it!! Or did we? Oh no - the door is already closed sir, so no one else is allowed to board. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.

Once we catch our breath, we figure we'll just get on the next flight and arrive later - yeah right - no more flights to Birmingham tonight. This is just great. Jill has all kind of appointments in the morning, I've got to work in the morning - we've got to get home. They reserve seats for us on a flight to Huntsville, and we don't have much time to catch it. First we go the wrong way, and we end up outside of the security area that we had already been cleared through, so we have to go through it once again. We get up to the line and we realize that the guy at the plane we missed had thrown our boarding passes away, so we can't get in. Now we go check-in again. Time is ticking... The woman can't find our reservation - I'm beginning to think that this may be a sign and maybe we shouldn't get on another plane tonight. We ended up making it, renting a car in Huntsville, and getting home at about 2:00AM. Total travel time = 24 hours. Oh yeah, of course our luggage didn't make it. We end up getting it delivered the next night.

We can't tell you how incredible it was to be back home. It was so nice to get to spend time with our families and friends. My family and I (mom, dad, sisters Ashley and Shae, brother-in-law Billy, niece Kelsey, and nephews Reilly, Landon, and Billy) spent lots of time talking, playing games, and eating - thanks for all of the good ole American meals. The kids are all growing up so fast. Jill and her mom spent most of their shopping and eating some of her favorite meals. What? You're surprised Jill was shopping again? She is thankful that her mom bought her lots of clothes since it costs double the price over here. She also enjoyed spending time with Levi and Bimmer (our dog and cat). We already miss you all and can't wait to see you again!

We finally got to see Kaitlin Glawson, Christie and Jacob's new little girl! She is so beautiful and tiny with the cutest little features. We know you two will be wonderful parents. We regret that we didn't get to see everybody. I was working during the days, Jill had all kinds of appointments and stuff to take care of, we had Jill's 10 year High School Reunion, my sister and her kids were in town, and the time just flew by too fast. For those of you that we did get to see and talk to, we really enjoyed our time together. Jill's reunion was a lot of fun - everyone was really friendly, and the setup was great. I just hope we will get to come back for my reunion in August.

Jill has done some more cool stuff lately - she was in a soap opera called "Family Affairs". She did lots of up-close background scenes for three different episodes. She got paid well, and they fed her like a champ - they catered in several meals including steaks, fish, veggies - just about anything you could ask for.

Luck was not on our side with planes during this trip. First of all, Jill's bag was 10 pounds too heavy when we checked in for our flight back to London. The only good news we heard in the airport the whole time was that my bag had 10 pounds to spare. So we did some unpacking and re-packing, but we got it. On our flight back, our plane was delayed in Atlanta due to bad weather. Once we landed in Newark to change, we only had a few minutes to make our connecting flight. We knew the drill - I had my belt and shoes off before we got off the plane just to make sure I'd make it through security this time. I made it, and we were running as fast as we could - of course our terminal was all the way at the end of the concourse. We're almost there and we hear over the intercom - "Last call for Mr. and Mrs. Beard". We made it this time, but barely.

Some quick bits before we go - we have branched out and tried Indian food - we liked it so much we've already had it five more times. I played golf again - but it rained so hard we had to quit - hardest rain I've seen yet - and remember, they don't drive carts over here, so we got soaking wet. I learned that a "brolley" is an umbrella. Cooler = coolbox, tennis shoes = comfortable footgear, and instead of using the phrase "Close of Business", they use "Close of Play". It doesn't get dark over here during the summer until 10:00PM. The sun comes up around 4:00AM though - it's too easy to stay up too late - and if you happen to wake up around 4:00, it's hard to go back to sleep with the sun shining so bright.

Thanks to all who have helped us out with our animals - our parents, Mike, Shae, Mendy & family, Amy, Clarke, Bart, and Kerrie. We really appreciate all that you have done! Thank you very much!! Also, we want thank Mike for getting us a rental car to take to Atlanta.

That's it for now - we hope you all are enjoying reading these updates - we love hearing from you, so please keep calling, emailing, and signing our guestbook. We have new pictures up, so check them out when you get a chance (new ones are family, friends, and Cornwall). As always, if you have missed an update, you can view our other updates here. We love and miss you all! Amy and Clarke, we'll see you soon! Take care and God bless!