Dan's home coming! And joyous reunion trip to Wales and Switzerland!

June 2, 2024     Dan came home from his mission in Edmonton, Canada!

He left for his mission in June 2022 from Salt Lake City and finished it here in High Wycombe, England—where he ended up spending a whole month with us. Hooray!

We are so excited to see him again! We picked him up at Heathrow Airport. Instead of a big welcome home group, it was of course just us. 

At our Home in Penn, High Wycombe

It was so fun to show Dan around where we live. 

Our backyard forest: 

Visiting High Wycombe: 

We showed him London, which he hasn't seen since he's about 10 years old: 

Chinese food in Chinatown:

Got to have a picture with the phone booth!

The next day it was just Dan and me going to London:

At the Millenium Bridge:

By the St. Paul's Cathedral: 

In front of Shakespeare's Globe Theater: 

Yummy Mediterranean food at Brother Marcus:

In the evening, Dan and I went to the Peacock theater and saw an amazing Japanese drummer show. It was fantastic! Sadly, no pictures. 

The next day, Dan made hotpot for all of us - and it was yummy!:

Dan almost beat Henry in chess - he did have an advantage; he wasn't blindfolded like Henry was! Haha. 

Friday, June 7   Wales trip

We went on a short trip to Wales and got very lucky with nice weather. First stop: Tenby. We stayed 3 nights at the Taormina Guest House. The place was not posh, but nice enough and at a great location. 

Tenby is such a cute town, full of colorful  homes:

It has the craziest bookstore: 

Saturday, June 8, 2024     Coasteering and other adventures

The next day we drove to Lydstep Headland, just 10 mins from Tenby, for a coasteering adventure. We booked with Tenby Adventure, and they were fantastic guides. We started with a plunge into the icy water, explored a few sea caves and tackled several cliff jumps (yes - I did them too, despite not loving the free fall). It was a blast, though even with wetsuits, Sarah and I were quite chilly. 

After a warm shower and a change of clothes, we still had time to explore a few nearby bays. That’s when the roads suddenly became incredibly narrow. No matter how long we’re here, I don’t think we’ll ever get used to driving on these tiny two‑way lanes.

Good thing the drive was all worth it. Barafundle Bay is just stunning: 

The walk itself to and from Barafundle bay had amazing views: 

Our next stop was Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with its rugged sea cliffs and pretty coastal hiking paths. 

Here is Saint Govan's Chapel:

And nearby Stack Rocks: 

The coast is so beautiful - we took a million pictures!

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Pembroke, a charming Wales town, where we had dinner: 

After another night in Tenby, we slowly made it our way home. On the way home we stopped by Cardiff and visited the castle: 

We also made a quick stop by Tintern Abbey (or what was left of the Abbey): 

Well, Wales was lots of fun and we were very happy with this short weekend trip. 

On Monday, June 10, I showed Dan the Hughenden Manor with its secret map making mission: 

Later that week, Dan and I flew to Switzerland on Wednesday, June 12th. We were picked up by Christian and Ting-Wai and spent the first night with the Gesslers. It was a joyous reunion of especially Dan and his cousins. 

Of course, we had to do our usual stroll to the Kaiseraugst Amphitheater:

and play games with the Gesslers:

View from the Gessler's balcony: 

The next day we drove to Interlaken and hiked up to the Oeschinensee, one of the prettiest lakes in Switzerland. Funny thing, even though I grew up in Switzerland, this was my first time there!!

I'm so glad I finally discovered this place! 

We could have taken the gondola to the lake, but we chose to hike and were glad we did. It was steep, and we continued past the lake, totaling 10 miles in 3.5 hours with 2,660 feet of elevation gain. If we’d had more time, I would have kept going—the views above the lake were amazing. Next time, I’d probably take the gondola up so I could spend more time on the upper trails of the lake.

After that we stopped by the Thun castle, which is by another lake.

Next stop was Bellach, Solothurn where we had another joyous reunion, this time with my mom. We stayed overnight at her apartment. 

The next day, June 14th we took my mom to the Swiss temple for a Temple Session, followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant. 

The following two days we spent with my mom and the Gesslers in Kaiseraugst. 

As always, we headed out for our usual walk to Sakura Sushi and Grill, our favorite all‑you‑can‑eat sushi place in Germany, about 30 minutes from Kaiseraugst.

Dan and his cousin Jonathan: They haven't seen each other since they both left from their missions (Jonathan served in Taiwan). It was fun hearing them speak Mandarin with each other!

Here we are, enjoying all you can eat sushi: 

In the afternoon we visited Basel. 

In front of the reddest Rathaus (Council house): 

By the Muenster: 

By the oldest house in Basel, built in 1438!: 

Sunday, June 16

We enjoyed going to church all together in the Pratteln Ward and then had a nice walk to Christian's beehives. Christian is a beekeeper and Dan even got to help out filling the honey jars. 

Ting-Wai and Christian: 

Visiting with one of their friends: 

Filling jars with honey: 

Playing mahjongg with my mom in the evening: 

The next day, we brought my mom back to Solothurn and visited the Bellach cemetery, where my dad rests. True to his style, he chose the simplest and most economical option: a communal grave for his ashes. 

The next morning we met up with my friend Urs and his nephew and were soon on our way back to the Interlaken area. This time, we were going to do the Via Ferrata by Muerren together. 

We passed picture perfect Lauterbrunnen on the way to Stechelberg: 

At Stechelberg we caught the Gondola up to Muerren (roundtrip $18).

From there, we strolled through the town and soon found the entrance to the Via Ferrata:

This was our first Via Ferrata (Klettersteig in German)  and we were so excited!

After making our way through the forest, we were soon at the edge of the mountain with its amazing views: 

A bit scary, but oh so fun!

There were also several slightly tricky bridges to cross:

And some exciting ladders:

The last part was a very long and wobbly hanging bridge: 

And here we are at the end. 

Can't wait to show this Via Ferrata to the rest of my family!

We took the Gondola from Gimmelwald back to Stechelberg where we parked. 

From the Gondola we spotted the bridge that we crossed: 

and some waterfalls: 

Our next stop was at the nearby Trümmelbachfälle, a must-see in that area. The entrance ticket cost $18/adult. It is a series of ten glazier-fed waterfalls hidden inside a mountain. The force of the water and the constant roar feels almost otherworldly! What was also nice about this place is that an elevator takes you straight to the top so you can wander down through the falls at your own pace.

Our final stop of the day was the Grindelwald Glacier Gorge. It was getting late, but we had a 2‑for‑1 coupon, so we hurried over—and we were glad we did. Regular admission is $19 per person. Our time was limited, but the gorge itself wasn’t very long, especially since part of it was closed for maintenance. It was a nice gorge, but we're glad we only paid half price!

To our surprise, a huge net had been suspended across the gorge:

Here is the view from the net: 

And here we are already at the end: 

We drove back to my mom's place in Bellach and stayed one more night with her. 

The next day it was time to say goodbye: 

On the way back to the Gesslers, we stopped in Solothurn, my hometown: 

and one more quick visit to the mountains, this time to Schmiedenmatt, 

which is part of the Jura mountain chain: 

Nice view from the Jura across the valley: 

On Tuesday, June 18 I flew from Basel back to London, while Dan spent a few more days in Switzerland. Dan was supposed to fly back on Saturday, June 22nd, however, when they got to the airport, the flight was cancelled, so Dan got to spend one more day in Switzerland, which he didn't mind at all! He flew back to England the following day, Sunday, June 23rd. 

I went to pick him up around 1:30 pm and then drove with him to Brighton to show him the Seven Sisters. It was another gorgeous day, and we did our usual Seven Sisters hike over the 7 hills. This time we couldn't cross the river because the tide was too high, so we had to go around it, which added about another 30 minutes:

Back in Penn, Dan got to experience more of our usual activities. 

Here we are biking with Henry: 

The following Sunday, June 30, was Dan’s homecoming in our High Wycombe Ward. To our surprise (well, I had found out a few days earlier at work), Elder Quentin L. Cook happened to be vacationing in England and decided to attend our ward that day. Elder Phillips was seated next to Dan and kept leaning over to him during Oleksiy Hakalenko’s talk, whispering updates like “You’ve got 7 minutes… now 5… now 3!” In the end, Dan delivered an excellent three‑minute talk, and everyone commented on how well he did—especially since the whole congregation was eager to hear from Elder Cook. And hearing an apostle share his testimony was unforgettable - it was one of the most powerful testimonies I have heard!

What made that moment even better, the Meyers were sitting right behind us -- they were also vacationing in England and came to visit. It was an amazing day and we are so proud of Dan! (It also helped knowing he’ll be giving another homecoming talk in Orem, Utah, where he’ll hopefully have more time.)

Dan got a hug from an apostle: 

Joyful reunion with David, Dan's best friend, both freshly returned from their missions. 

We couldn’t be prouder of these fine young men:

Lunch with the Meyers right after church: 

It was so fun to have them visit us in our home!

Dan and David playing chess: 

So happy to see these two best buddies back together again: 

After lunch we also did a quick visit to Oxford with the Meyers. Astonishingly, I didn't take a single picture there!!

The following day, Dan and I went on a quick day trip to Stonehenge and Bath: 

We had the typical England weather: 

Later that week, Dan and I went to see the Back to the Future musical. I had already seen it once, but it’s such a fantastic show that I had to take Dan—and thanks to my TodayTix Gold membership, we even got free upgraded seats!

These seats were amazing!

In addition to that, I also had to take him to the oldest pub in England, the Royal Standard of England, just 10 minutes from our home.

We enjoyed some classic English dishes there:

Another special event in June was a dinner with Elder and Sister Boom. Josh was away in Greece for work, but the rest of us gathered for a wonderful farewell meal, as they were preparing to move to Utah and had already started packing.  They even invited Henry to join us. They are truly remarkable people, and I’ll miss working as Elder Boom’s assistant.

One last farewell photo with Elder Boom, the Europe North Area President, and his assistant—me.

Here is also a farewell picture we took earlier, with the entire Europe North Area Presidency and assistants: 

DTA David Robertson, Lesley Macmeikan, the Glaziers (Executive Secretaries), Elder Whiting, Elder Boom, Elder Phillips and myself

On July 2nd, we had some special visitors: Sage, Sophie, their mom Dianne Burt came to visit us for just 2 nights. It was so fun to hang out with them! We went to the Michael Jackson musical together and it was fantastic!!

Haha, we did not know at that time that we would soon be family!!

Another very exciting event that happened was the baptism of Henry Neenan, Sarah's boyfriend on July 4. Henry decided he wanted to get baptized before our trip to Utah. He had all of his lessons in about 1.5 weeks!!

At one of the lessons with the sister missionaries: 

Sister Butler, Sister Nunez, Eugene Neenan (Henry's dad), Henry Neenan, Andryws de Olivera, Josh and Irina

Henry and John Mensah - the 2 newest converts in our ward: 

That was a great way to end Dan's trip to Europe! The next day, we all flew to Utah. Henry joined us in Utah a week later, with a temple recommend in his hand. 

THE END