Hello everyone! I guess the warm weather has already begun back home. It started to get warm here, but then it went cold. It's not too bad - hopefully the warm summer days will get here soon! As I said in the last update, we've been REALLY busy this month - traveling four weekends in a row. We're on the train back from St. Andrews right now (will talk about that in the next update).

Jackie and Mike came to visit us - and they covered lots of ground! The first day they arrived, they took a quick "get me over my jetlag" nap then went on in to London to see some sights. During their time, they saw it all! Their trip spanned over two weekends, so we all took a couple of trips together. Over the first weekend, we hired a car and drove to Cardiff, Wales. Well, I should say that Jill drove us to Wales. Jackie and I drove a little bit - just to get the feel for it - but Jill was the real driver - and she did awesome! She made it look so easy - and I know that it's not a cake walk - especially those roundabouts - I don't like those, but Jill handled them like a pro!

I think she can drive better on the wrong side of the road than she can on the right side back home! She didn't have any problems at all - I almost knocked off a mirror and got passed by a limo - and I only drove for like 10 minutes!

Wales was great - there are castles all over the place - "castell" in Welsh. We saw Castell Coch (a fairy-tale type of castle up on a mountain), Cardiff Castle, and we toured Caerphilly Castle - more on that in a moment. First, we drove to Tintern Abbey - now that's a sight to see - it's beautiful! It was completed in 1325-1330, and was the largest and wealthiest monastic foundation in the 15th century. The best way to describe its beauty is by the pictures. We stayed in the Crossways House B&B in a town called Cowbridge - it is a huge house that was built in the 1640s - very nice people there, and they cooked a great Welsh breakfast for us.

OK - back to Caerphilly Castle - this is one of the coolest castles I've ever seen! It's much different from any other castle we've toured. This one is not all fixed up and made more into a museum like the other castles we've been to - this one still in ruins. This castle was built from 1268 - 1271 and was protected by four outer walls and four moats. The moats are still there today! One of the towers is leaning so much that they are working on it to make sure it doesn't fall over. The drawbridges are still there and there are catapults and other weapons that still work now - the weekend before we visited they catapulted some stuff into the moat.

On the way back, our chauffer (Jill) took us through the English countryside. Jackie and Mike really got to see a lot since we had a car (and an excellent driver) - we went through Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor on the way back from Wales. These are sights that are tough to see if you don't have a care (especially when you visit for just a short time). They were getting ready for the Royal Wedding at Windsor Castle while we were there (we were there the weekend before the big day). Jill got the car back to the rental place without a scratch! I'll have to get her to drive me around more often! We took a cab back to Richmond, and boy did it smell bad!

Jackie, Mike, and Jill didn't miss a beat - they were up the next day heading to Edinburgh, Scotland. You know that when Jill goes to a place one time, she becomes an expert travel guide for that destination - so she showed them around like she had lived there all of her life - I think she needs to get a "tip jar"! Jackie and Mike loved Edinburgh - not surprised at all - it's a beautiful city! So I stayed home while they got to go play in Scotland - well, I played a little golf and squash while they were gone.

They did some more sights in London when they got back - Mike stayed in the Tower of London longer than Jackie, so she and Jill hit the shops - Mike went on a tour with the Beefeaters - it sounded so good that I'm going to go back for another tour since we did it on our own last time. One night, we all went out to see the West End play "The Producers" in the Theatre Royal Drury (oldest theater in London). Talk about funny - that's the funniest play we've ever seen - we were laughing the whole night - Lee Evans is hysterical! He's the one that played the crippled guy on "There's Something About Mary". His facial and bodily expressions were absolutely amazing. Hey Mike, "Look at the spike, look at the spike"!

During the last weekend they were here, we all went to Barcelona, Spain. It was really neat to be in Spain - I got to try out my Spanish skills - I did all right, but not perfect. I'd probably get a "C" if I took a test right now - it was fun being able to say more than "hello", "good bye", "thank you","excuse me", and "Do you speak English"? in another language. There weren't too many sights to see, but the coolest part was just being in the Spanish culture. They are a "late" culture, and by that I mean that they sleep late, eat late, and party late. Restaurants didn't even open for lunch until 1:00pm - and we were the first people to sit down every day! We did see the La Sagrada Familia. Building started in 1882, and it's still incomplete today. There are so many details (even at the top on the towers that no one really sees) that it is expected to take another 21 years before it's completed! Jill and I went up to the top of one of the towers for a nice view of Barcelona. Other than that, the inside was just a huge construction zone.

The food was excellent - Mike introduced us all to a Spanish dish called seafood paella - DELICIOUS! It's a rice dish with all kinds of seafood like fish, mussels, prawns, squid, etc. We ate this every single night - the best one we had was a black rice seafood pailla dish - outstanding. We took a stroll down the beach on the Mediterranean Sea - first time we've ever seen this sea - we all touched the water and it was pretty cold - that didn't stop people from laying out though - and topless at that! Our hotel was really nice - one of the best hotels we've had in Europe - very modern and plenty of room - the shower had several modes, and Jill set it on "spray straight out" mode for me, so that was a shocker when I turned it on in the morning - thanks honey, I'll get you back later!

Jackie and Mike, we had a great time during your visit - even though you covered a lot of ground, it seemed like it ended too soon. Jackie, Jill needs you to come back soon because she didn't get enough shopping in while you were here. It was GREAT to see you both, and we can't wait to see you again in June! Glad you're back home safely!

Rachael is from Liverpool, and she and Justin were kind enough to let us ride up there with them when they went over the Easter break. Jill and I stayed at the Albert Dock - the old docks that have been converted into a nice shopping area with lots of restaurants. It was right by the Beatles Story Museum (which was playing Beatles' songs all day - great if you're a fan!). No, the Beatles have not gone away - Liverpool is still and will always be "The Home of the Beatles".

Jill and I are Beatles fans, so we went to the museum and on a tour. Both were excellent - we took the "Magical Mystery Tour" and got to see where John, Paul, George, and Ringo all grew up. The bus we rode on is the same one that appears in one of the videos. We learned a lot on the tour - Paul McCartney took notes on Penny Lane while he was waiting for John Lennon - of course these notes later became the famous song "Penny Lane" - we rode down Penny Lane in the pouring rain - very strange! It was really cool to see the barber shop, roundabout, and the bank that are all mentioned in the song.

When Paul McCartney tried out for the church choir, he was told to "go back to where you belong". Their first appearance in America was on the Ed Sullivan show. John Lennon grew up with his aunt Mimi, and Strawberry Field (a children's home owned by the Salvation Army) was behind her house - do you know the song? John and Paul couldn't agree which song (Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields) would go on the B-side of their album so they made both sides the A-side (hence the double A-side album). We went to the Cavern Club - the place where the Beatles played almost 300 times - it's a little underground club and it was really neat to be in it. Birmingham, Alabama was mentioned on a video in the Beatles Museum - I did a double-take when I heard that! A radio station there refused to play the Beatles because of a controversial comment about Christianity made by John Lennon - he burned all of their records and souvenirs.

Rachael and Justin picked us up and we all went to the Trafford Center - a huge mall in Manchester. This mall is absolutely huge! It's much larger than the Galleria in Birmingham. The prices were a little better than London, so we enjoyed that part of it. Jill and I took a train into the city center of Manchester from there and walked around the town and had dinner there that evening. Justin and Rachael met us for some drinks at the Albert Dock one night as well. And the next night, they picked us up to go to Rachael's house to meet her family and to play poker. We had a great time - it was Rachael, Justin, Rachael's mum, her dad, sister, and grandmother (Nan - she is hilarious - said that I look 19 and Jill looks 24). They are all funny - Jill and I were laughing all night long! I guess I need to mention that the girls whipped the guys at the poker table - all guys were out first - and Rachael's sister won it all with Rachael in a close second. One last thing about Liverpool - if you go, be sure to check out Mathew Street - it's a really cool street with pubs, shops, and restaurants all over the place.

On the way back, we took the scenic route through Denshaw Village and the Saddleworth area. It was really pretty - lots of little quaint English villages and English countryside - lots of sheep grazing on the hillsides. We drove through the mountains along the skinny and winding roads. Before getting back to London, we stopped by Justin's dad's house. He and Marsha had prepared dinner for us and it was delicious! A HUGE thank you to Justin, Rachael, and their families for such a great time - thank you all for your hospitality!

After our trip to Liverpool, Jill and I decided that it was time to go to Abbey Road - the road in London made famous by the Beatles - this is where the famous crosswalk is - the one where the Beatles had their picture made for the cover of their final album, Abbey Road. Abbey Road studios is where the Beatles recorded almost all of their songs (the studio actually changed its name to Abbey Road after the Beatles made it famous). We are very fortunate - Abbey Road Studios has not been open to the public in over 25 years - but they opened up for one week during the "Abbey Road Film Festival". We got to go tour the famous studios - and there are lots of other famous bands that have made recordings here - Pink Floyd recorded "The Wall" here - we got to watch the movie soundtrack in the actual studio where it was recorded - if you like Pink Floyd, you would have loved this - I thought that was awesome! They also recorded "The Dark Side of the Moon" which stayed on the US charts for 391 weeks in a row! A member of my favorite band - Led Zeppelin - Jimmy Page, has made some recordings here as well.

A few congratulations are in order - all boys too! First to Matt and Stacey Ramm - they had a baby boy on March 30 - he came in at 6 pounds and 19 inches long. Next to Chance and Amy Brannen - Charles Farris Brannen was born on April 14th at 9 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. My cousin David and his wife Katie are expecting a baby boy, and my sister Shae has chosen the name Ryan (Rine) Thomas for hers that is due in June. Congratulations to you all - we are very excited for you!

And now some quick bits before we go - if you think gas prices are too high, think about living in London - it's 83 pence per liter, which equates to 3 pounds 32 pence per gallon - with the exchange rate, you get a whopping $6.50 a gallon - think about that the next time you're at the pump! And if you're a smoker and want to quit, move here - you should have no problem quitting at $10 a pack! A1 Steak Sauce will set you back about $14 - and no, that's not for a big ole bottle. Justin and Rachael stopped at a "services" stop on the way to Liverpool that had a KFC in it - thanks guys for getting us some "food from back home"! Ever heard of a "humped zebra crossing"? It's just a crosswalk on top of a speed bump. And 18-wheeler trucks are called "lorries". On a side note, I almost got run over the other day - not by a car, but by a bike. I'm still not used to the way it works around here - even at a red light when all the cars are stopped, bikes and motorcycles come screaming through the gaps - you've really gotta watch your step around these streets!

I've got a new pager address and IM screen name, so be sure to update your address books. My new pager is bradbeard888@o2email.co.uk and my new screen name is gambler08mobile. And remember that you can always look here for our latest contact information. Well, my mom and dad are finally coming to visit - and my aunt Janet and uncle David are coming with them. They are actually in the air right now and land here around 11am tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing them and showing them what life is like in London. We're all going to Paris and Normandy this weekend - taking the Eurostar train from London. I'll let you know all about their visit on the next update - and our recent golfing trip to St. Andrews as well. Until next update, take care and God bless! We love and miss you all!