Sintra, Portugal

Pretty sad that we have been home for over two months and I am finally posting the last part of our trip. I wish we could go back soon so bad. It was the most amazing trip ever! I loved that Kyle and I were together traveling around his mission.

This picture has a little bit of a story. We are at the Tour de Belem. It is about 30 feet out on the water so you walk out on a dock to get to it. It was closed so I turned around to take a picture and if you look hard you can see that my left knee is bent a little bit. I had the tip of my toe on the ground...or so I thought... I actually was putting my toe off the side of the dock on accident and my flip flop dropped 10 feet below into the ocean. It was a lost cause. The next 1.5 miles I walked on the cobblestone with one shoe until we found a Chinese store and bought me some super cute new shoes! I guess it was all that bad. :)

The Quinta da Regaleira in is the most pretty city called Sintra. It is a castle surrounded by some really pretty gardens.

Also on the top of the mountain in Sintra is the Pena Palace. I can't even start to explain how amazing this palace is. I was so disappointed that we couldn't take any pictures inside. It was A. Mazing! SOOO much detail and hard work was put into everything there. The tiles, walls, furniture, landscaping, outside walls and courtyard of the palace...

Here is small sample of the palace grounds. It was acres and acres of greenery and trees from all over the world. There were California Redwoods and trees from China and Africa.

These trees were really cool. The bottom branches came out and formed a J shape and then grew upward. It said they were from the Western United States???

From the Pena Palace you can see the Moorish Castle. The Moorish ruled a lot of the area back in about the 9th - 10th century.

Kyle walking along the outer wall of the Moorish Castle.

Our last days in Portugal we were able to spend with a family from Kyle's mission. I am so grateful for them and the rest of the families that did so much for us. They were so hospitable and fun to be around. They took us to some amazing beaches and the Convent in Mafra. In this picture we are at the park after seeing the Convent ...which was HUGE, by the way. Portugal overall was a dirty country but when they do something there its always really pretty and has a lot of detail. I loved this park. I really loved Portugal but I was excited to be home. I don't know if I could ever live there. I was so excited for trucks, our mountains, wide streets, grass, houses, Mountain Dew, and to see my family. Its crazy to see how different other parts of the world is. It makes you grateful for the life and family that you have.