A Glimpse into my Life.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I was last in Scotland! It's amazing to see how big the kidlet crew have grown!

Elgin Cathedral was first established in 1224 AD and I can only imagine how spectacular it would have looked in all it's glory. It has enjoyed a long history, and survived the Wars of Independence, only to be burned in 1390 by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan. He was also known as the Wolf of Badenoch.







The brightness of the day belies how cold it was. We all had frozen fingers and noses by the time we were done. Even though it was cold, we couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The brisk, biting air was invigorating.

Little Miss had a wonderful time strolling through the grounds, and she didn't want to leave when the day was done.



Rynie is always ready for exploration and adventure. We explored every nook and cranny we possibly could while Little Miss hung out with Floolie.


I love the silhouette of the cathedral against the Winter Blue sky.


Sunset at Elgin! One of the prettiest sites I have seen. It was incredible to see the stone light up as the last rays of sunshine shot through the clouds and the window ruins.

I know I got a wee bit sidetracked with life, but I still wanted to put up some pictures of Scotland from my last two trips. I love visiting Scotland, and even though my parents are now in The Netherlands, I can't wait for the time when I can go back to Scotland and visit the friends I made there! There isn't going to be much of an order to the postings of my trips, but I'll try to include a little information with them.

A beautiful Winter sunrise in Scotland!

This is Braemar Castle. It is the ancestral seat of Clan Farquharson.
http://www.braemarscotland.co.uk/history/index.htm


The village of Braemar: The upper course of the river Dee flows through Braemar. The kidlets had a wonderful time at the bridge watching the river beneath them. (Who can blame them when there is this fun little turret.) They hold some of the Highland Games in a field near Braemar.

Rynie and my friend Melanie, who came to visit Scotland with us. I think Rynie now has a new best friend! They went for a walk to see a different part of the River Dee.

We woke Little Miss to walk around Braemar, this is her "I'm not sure I"m happy to be here." face. Of course, since she is a budding fashionista, take note of the turquoise bead necklaces she had to wear with everything. Her Floolie brought those back from Egypt for her. We later found out it was painted mud because she wore her beads in the bath tub and they disintegrated. That was a nasty mess to clean!

The River Dee.


I love Scotland in the Winter! Let's be honest, I love Scotland any time I've been there and it's been a wonderful opportunity to visit.

We took the kidlets up to Temple Square to look around since they've never been there before.

We did a Birthday Party for Little Miss on Monday. We kept it low key and just did a dinner with her cousins and grandparents.
While she wouldn't say thank you because she gets shy about talking in front of a lot of people, she was more than happy to applaud her presents!



I think the baby cradle was a big hit! Now hopefully Little Miss will stop tossing her baby into Little Dutch's bed while he's trying to sleep.



Aunt Kelli showing Little Miss her cake while we sang Happy Birthday to her!


She loved having us sing to her.

Since she wouldn't blow out her own candles, we had to recruit Rynie, Cousin B, and Cousin A to help!

I figured since it is a little girl's Birthday today, I should put up some of the pictures from Rynie's Birthday. He had a few buddies over to play in the water during the day, then he had a dinner with his cousins and grandparents!

To start the day off, he and Little Miss had to inspect his presents. They were enthralled with them. In fact, it was almost killed Rynie to have to wait for his dad to get off work to open his presents. Then, to get ready for playing in the water, we filled up the kiddie pool and since there was water in, off came the clothes and they were in the ice cold water!

They stayed out in the water until their lips were blue and they felt like popsicles when you touched them. In fact, we had to fight Little Miss to get her out of the water because she was in seventh heaven!

Then, some buddies and cousins came over and the water fun began! After spending over an hour with Kelli filling water balloons, I think they were all done in about 45 seconds! They also played in a fun, wiggly armed sprinkler and played with the bubble machine!

Little Miss sure loves her cousin B!

This is what Little Dutch did the whole time!

While we were cooking dinner, we had some entertainment courtesy of Little Miss!

Sneaking into the cake! And getting caught.