Picture and Story

My mom made a comment about not seeing Hannah and Jacob in the last post so I thought I would send a little photo of them. Here are the smiling duo sporting their brother's new wellies. We have yet to find a pair for Hannah and Jacob so they were trying on their brother's instead. Alexander and Benjamin are getting quite used to the lingo here. They correct me when I say "Put on your rubber boots" by saying "Mom, they're wellies here". I asked a lady from church and she informed me that they are named after the Duke of Wellington who made them famous.



And also an interesting story...
One of the first days here in Edinburgh, I took the children to a local playground. There we met a man and his daughter. I noticed the man did not have a Scottish accent and so asked if he was visiting. He informed me that they had just moved here a few weeks prior. Here is the rest of our conversation:
Bev - So are you working here or studying?
Man-Studying, I am doing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh.
B- Oh, so is my husband.
M-What did your husband do before coming to study?
B-He was a minister.
M- Oh, so was I. What denomation do you belong to?
B- Baptist.
M- Oh, so am I. My daughter is starting nursery school tomorrow so we came here because my wife is at work today, she is a nurse.
B- No way, so am I!

We did talk a little more than that, I just filled in the uncanny similarities.
Anyhow, it turns out that their little girl goes to the same nursery as the boys do and we all attend the same church! A little weird huh??
So we had them over for supper tonight and had a great time getting to know each other a little better. It is good to have friends with whom we can share these experiences.
Their visit just reinforced that neat story of our meeting so I thought I would share it.

Sorry for the long post but one more piece of exciting news.....
Shawn has purchased the first book of his PhD endeavours. One of the professors was selling a copy and Shawn snatched it up. It is 2111 pages long, about 3 inches thick, and must weigh at least 10 pounds (Shawn says at least as much as one of our children!). He is VERY excited... just had to show it to our dinner guests. Please pray for financial help for us as this is only the first book and it will require it's own suitcase on our way home.

CRUEL BOYS

Just thought I would leave a little post this morning before everyone heads out to school...
We have cruel boys...
Not only is this their first day back at school with new haircuts which make them look more alike, but they have insisted on wearing the same pants and shirts! Fortunately for their new teacher I convinced Alexander to wear an orange T-shirt under his shirt and Benjamin to wear a white long sleeved shirt under his. My, my, they look cute!

Most recent purchase

Hello all,
We have made our most recent purchase in the UK.....

Hair clippers!!
Tonight we gave the boys a much needed hair cut. I went first and gave Benjamin a buzz and then Shawn wanted to give it a try so he tackled Alexander's hair. They both look great don't you think?? However, I am starting to feel really sorry for their new school teacher as they look even more alike with short hair.
Stay tuned for pictures of Shawn's new "do" soon....I have to go out tonight so can't get his hair cut but maybe tomorrow!
We continue to enjoy the city and the many people here in our apartment complex. The children play outside for hours on end and love exploring the garden/yard in the back.
I am getting used to the grocery stores and may even do an online order next week. Stay tuned as it may be interesting!
Take care and keep in touch please...we miss you all!

Alexander's "new do"
He loved the comb that came with the clippers, that is what you see above his head!

The Twins and their Dad

Benjamin's "new do"
The hair left on his left side is how long it was, I did cut that off too!! I just wanted to show the difference it made, their hair was getting quite long.

"Scotland has strange weather"

"Scotland has strange weather, it is raining, then sunny, then raining, then sunny...." This is what Benjamin recounted to Grammy Weir today on the phone when she asked what Scotland was like. He is definitely correct! We had a marvelously sunny and warm day today...us crazy Canadians were out in our Tshirts with the Scots in their parkas (well, coats anyhow).
So we enjoyed a day of sun and then when Shawn came home at supper time we all trekked out to Ikea for a lovely supper (they have a great restaurant there with kids meals and a little play/video area where they play Thomas the Train videos) and some shopping. So on the way home, guess what?? It started raining. Fortunately I keep a couple umbrellas in my backpack/diaper bag. So the children just looked too cute walking home together under the umbrellas that I had to take a picture; fortunately I also carry a camera in my backpack/diaperbag.
I hope to be able to catch a few shots of the flat in the coming week to post so you can see our new home. Speaking of new homes, they brought in the new furnishing for our soon to be new flat today. They painted this past week and the furnishings today; still no kitchen cabinets though so we have a little wait.

BIG FIRST DAY

So this is my fifth post since waking up and finding our internet connected just a little over 2 hours ago. Alexander, Benjamin and Shawn have left for school and Hannah and Jacob are sitting here coloring so I could put on this last post for today. I really have been missing computer access....can you tell?
Alexander and Benjamin are off to their first day of nursery school. This week is called "settling in" and Shawn will be staying with them to make sure they are comfortable. Then on Monday, they will be dropped off for the morning on their own. They were very excited this morning and I can't wait to hear how their first day went!
They are holding their little school bags which they can use to bring home a book from the library.

BENJAMIN

ALEXANDER

READY TO HEAD OUT THE DOOR
and sick of picture taking....thus no smiles....they WERE really excited!

Some things don't change

Thankfully, the children are all adjusting very well to life in Scotland. This is our "couch" which is really a loveseat...One of the many things which are smaller in the UK than in North America. So here are the children eating their bedtime snack. We do miss Orville Redenbacher terribly but have found some much-less-tasty microwave popcorn which is acceptable. So if anyone has any connections to dear old Orville, get him to send some our way!! Hee Hee
We don't have a television but we do have a few DVDs which we watch on the computer.
So some things don't change, routine is good, especially bedtime routines.

More from Edinburgh

I frequently comment "This place is somewhere you come to visit on vacation, this isn't where people live"...However, we really do live here! It is truly an amazing and beautiful place.
Here are a few more pictures.
Here is Calton Hill again; this is apparently part of the Parthenon from Greece. I'm not sure what it is doing in Edinburgh, but anyhow! So the boys are wearing their shirts from Greece of the "real Parthenon".

Deborah and Mom White with the backdrop of the city.
Edinburgh Castle is directly behind them in the distance. They enjoyed quite a bit of the city and got to see many attractions.

Our fine city

Here, at last, are a few pictures of our fair city. This is taken from Princes Street in the city center. I made the family do a tourist pose so you could see a bit of the city scape. The dark building slightly to the right of the family with the two towers is where Shawn will be spending the next three years.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Benjamin is holding up his bus ticket (which he doesn't even need but seems to love).
Here are three big boys with another section of the city center as background.
Very close to our home is the famous Arthur's Seat. There is a lovely park at the foot of the mountains and here are the boys posing on one of the grassy hills that lead up to the top. We haven't ventured up there yet...maybe next summer when they are a little older. However, a friend hereis trying to get her baby to come so on her due date climbed to the top! If she can do it, we should be able to!
And here is a view from Calton Hill, another great park in the city.

AAHHHH....Connected at last

We finally are connected here in Scotland!!
I am not sure where to start, so "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" (according to Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music).
Here are a few photos from our great flight over here. As you have all heard, we had a great trip, this is how they spent most of the trip....

ALEXANDER

JACOB
He actually woke up and entertained everyone seated near us for the last hour or so of the trip.

HANNAH AND BENJAMIN

We did have a great trip here and all was well with the plane, bus and train to get us here.
I must just comment now that Benjamin just woke up and said, "Mom, this is our first day, I better get up and have my supper" I'm pretty sure he means breakfast as they often mix up the daily meals.
So I will get the "big boys" ready for their first day of nursery school. This week is a "settling in" period where Shawn stays with them in the class and they go for just one hour. On Monday, they will start by themselves going from 9am to 1130. They are very excited!!

EDINBURGH PART 3....STILL NO INTERNET!!!

Hi all,
Guess what?? Still no internet so still no pictures. So here I sit at a friend's flat AGAIN. Our internet was supposed to be connected today but alas nothing in the post! (that's the mail for all you North Americans! hee hee!)
Anyhow, we are all doing well. Shawn started school yesterday and is loving it already. His supervisor seems great thus far (they've only had one meeting but Shawn can't stop talking about him and how great everything is). Mom White and Deborah have only a short time left with us so we are enjoying the city with them as much as possible. I am getting quite proficient at buses and we have daily "walking practices" for the children so they are ready for when school starts next week.
I really do hope to have the internet soon, I am dying to post some pictures. I don't know how I am going to do it because I don't want to post a gazillion of them at once, so we'll see what I work out.
Thanks to all who have commented and sent their love and concerns.
Hoping to have my own access soon,
Bev

Edinburgh Part 2...still no internet

Hello all, sorry I still have no pictures to post... We are still awaiting our internet service but today we got our phone connected!!
We are enjoying life and settling in very well. Although another move is scheduled for about a month's time....a ground floor flat is now being refurbished and we will move in when it is finished.
It will be good to be able to avoid the 3 flights of stairs with the 4 children.
We continue to enjoy the city sights with Grammy White and Aunt Deborah (now renamed Bedah by Hannah).
So here I sit in another friend's flat adding to the blog so you don't think we have forgotten. I am still addicted, just unable to participate in my addiction!! Boy, life is rough.
Today we got Alexander and Benjamin enrolled parttime in a preschool. They call it nursery school here and the government provides part time enrollement to all children over 3. So I had a tour today of one that was recommended by a few different friends here and the boys got the last 2 spots! Is God good or what??!! The school is about a 20 minute walk (10 minutes adult walk...20 children walk) and is right on Shawn's way to school so he can drop them off for 9am and Hannah and Jacob and I can pick them up at 1130. Again, God is good!
I will close for now but hope we have internet by the end of this week so I can post some of the great pictures we are taking.
By the way, Barrie you were right, we are 4 hours ahead of the maritimes, not six. I knew we were 8 hours from BC and didn't do my math very well!
Bye for now!

WE'RE HERE!!

Sorry it has taken a couple of days to post, but we are here!!
Edinburgh is beautiful. Our flat is much more spacious than we had thought. All is going very well.
The flight here was great. We had gotten delayed until midnight but once on the plane, everyone slept. Hannah fell asleep on my lap before takeoff and didn't wake until we taxied into the Glasgow airport. Jacob and Alexander and Benjamin all fell asleep shortly after we were in the air and we woke them up a half hour before we landed to go to the washroom! Did the adults sleep?? Not so much, we got sucked into a movie instead....when will the adults learn??
Anyhow, here we are!
I am posting from a friend's computer (one of many I have made thus far) who is also from Canada. There are a ton of children here who all run wild in the back yard/court. It is terrific!!
We hope to have a phone and internet in the next couple of weeks so that we can continue to post, email, and call.
Thanks for all the prayers...we have felt truly blessed to have such a smooth trip!
FYI We are 6 hours ahead from Atlantic Standard time. I am writing this at 9pm on Friday so it would be 3pm in NB/NS.