san agustín del guadalix.

spain series │ episode five

hey there & welcome back to my spain series! travel with me to spain through seven posts, launching on tuesdays. i hope you can experience a bit of the beauty of spain & the wonder of travel as i go day-by-day through my trip. more pictures than words (click on the pictures to expand), i’m really excited to honor this opportunity as i share my adventure through my eyes, and of course, all my thoughts <3

<< this was the mood as we drove back up north from almería up to san agustín del guadalix, which is just northeast from madrid. lots of sleeping and reading :). after going to the beach and hanging out with friends late, we were all exhausted.

it was nice to have car breaks with time to relax and sleep between all the crazy days :). our poor dad had to drive without cruise control, but he made it through. it was cool to see the speed limit signs saying 100 (km) -- that was definitely something different from america :)

our airbnb was in the prettiest location. unlike our previous ones, this one was farther away from other houses and actually had a yard :o. i was so excited! after not having much space to be alone in small airbnbs, i was really missing having my own spot.

one night i was just thinking and praying and looking at this gorgeous sunset. there was a fence i couldn't cross, but the view of the mountains and valleys with the sunset was something special. you could see madrid light up as it got dark <33 i love the glittering lights of the city from far off!

while we were staying in san agustín del guadalix, we went to the temple! we drove into madrid :) it was the first temple i've gone to in a different country, which was super awesome. just the same, but a different language!

temples are places of worship for my faith, where members can go to feel close to God and make promises with Him for this life and forever. they are very special :)) if you ever can, try to go to a temple open house! they happen when a temple is just completed, and before it is dedicated, they let everyone in to come tour it. i've gone to multiple open houses and they are so cool.

something crazy happened at the temple: we ran into some friends. totally by accident! my grandparents had joined us in san agustín del guadalix, and were watching the kids while we were at the temple. the friends we ran into are close with our grandparents, so after we were done, we went out to lunch with them! it was so crazy because they live in the canary islands, and just happened to be at the temple on the same day. they hadn't even been to the temple for several months! the fact that we were ALL there at the same time was so awesome. so y'all i might go to the canary islands sometime, anyone wanna fund my airplane ticket? thanks :)

i love this picture because audrey, my baby sister, looks so big! she really grew a lot this year, and she did SO well on the trip. it was pretty brutal at times with the amount of walking, heat, and fatigue, but she was such a trooper. it's so sweet to see her becoming an older kid and starting kindergarten. obviously as the oldest i've seen all the kids grow up, but i remember clearly when we found out mom was pregnant, holding her when she was a day old, and when she was a baby. since i was eleven, those memories are a lot stronger than for the other kids :)

driving into madrid from the airbnb was so beautiful. the rugged terrain and sunny skies, along with the views of the city and valleys = :DD

we even went on a hike on sunday, and walked a solid two hours or so down to the waterfall (the first picture). it was slow and i was hungry (we left at almost seven), but the waterfall was so cool. there were these tiny little steps going down to it, but thankfully no one fell down :)

i loved seeing some beautiful nature sights in addition to all the architecture on this trip :)).

we went to church in spanish :) it wasn't the first time for me, but it was so cool to go to church in a different country. same things, different language. a lot of the girls spoke some english though, and that was nice. we met this cute girl and had a broken convo with her in spanish :) it's so hard and humbling, but the more you speak, the easier it gets. you just have to stay out of your comfort zone.

there weren't many boys benjamin's age, so he got to pass the sacrament! we were so proud of him because he didn't know anyone else doing it. i think it's funny because in this picture the boys on the stand are looking right at me :)

i definitely didn't understand the talks, but i did understand some of the sacrament prayer. for the second hour, the lesson was in both english and spanish. there was a family there who was from the us but their dad is part of the air force i think, so they didn't speak much spanish yet. our young women leaders were literally the sweetest. complete strangers but i loved them so much already.

after church, we got to meet another one of my dad's friends from his mission. the lady is so tiny :) but super happy and kind. i love this picture because it really shows my grandma's character, as she's hugging someone she hasn't met before, but has a deep love for. it's crazy how you can just be around my grandma and feel like the most important person. it's something i admire so much, and am working each day to become like.

on our trip, i did a little interview with my grandma and recorded it for my podcast. it goes along with this picture so well. if you haven't already, you should most definitely listen to it <33 she gives such beautiful advice on practical tips of things you can do every day to love others.

listen to the podcast with my grandma

i was so happy to have alone time outside. :) i did a little scripture study in the sun (my favorite).

i also watched the chosen pretty much every day on this trip. i'm obsessed. if you haven't watched it, you need to!! it's free and you can just get the app. it's the most beautiful cinematography, deep characters, and has helped me visualize the new testament in a whole new light. i've learned so much about the history and culture too! now we just all wait for season four...

one of the highlights of the trip was meeting our friends sofía and alicia! our dad has known them for a long time, and we started emailing them a few years ago. we've been long distance friends off and on, and meeting them in person did not disappoint :). literally the sweetest girls ever. i could've talked with sofía all day long <33 her english was amazing, and we like a lot of the same things :)).

like i mentioned earlier, this was the sunset view from the airbnb. i just stared and tried my hardest to soak in the fact that i was in a different country. the lovely thing about traveling is that even when you're far away from home, some things are still the same. there's still humanity, life, sunsets, roads, and clouds in the sky. the ground underneath my feet is not suddenly so different. yes, there are many differences, and that is wonderful, but it is still a place on earth. and i find that so special.

so i just stood here, feeling grateful. in awe of life -- which is so hard and yet so deeply beautiful.

and in reverence for the privilege of this trip and this year of life. <33

on that note, thank you for being here and supporting me. it means so much.

see you next week ☺

xo, kate