MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hello all,
As I sit here to write this and add these photos, it is windy, rainy and about 10 degrees.....We are missing the snow and cold weather (if you can believe it!). All the reports of 20 cm or more of snow are making us very jealous and we are longing for Canada. This is our 3rd winter away and it is taking it's tole a bit. We still love Edinburgh and the UK in general and are extremely thankful for the wonderful experiences we are having here. Our family is richly blessed! We are here in Edinburgh for Christmas and are heading over to the west coast of Scotland to Stranraer for New Year to spend some time with friends at their family's dairy farm. I think the children will really enjoy the time in the country - going for walks, milking cows, etc. And add to that our friends with their 3 children, we will be having a grand time to start off the new year.
We hope you are all doing well in preparation for the time of celebration of our Saviour's birth. Blessings to you all from Edinburgh!

Here is a photo we took after one of our favorite family activities. The Edinburgh Capitals are an ice hockey team (the ONLY ice hockey team) and we are excited to get to as many games as possible. Alexander and Benjamin have enjoyed many activities with the kids' club.

And here is a photo taken in our back garden about a month ago. Benjamin is in the blue stripes and Alexander in the red (just like when they were infants if any of you remember our color-coding system!). I think Hannah, Jacob, Shawn and I are a little easier to identify!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Stirling Castle

Yesterday was St. Andrews day here in Scotland so all the castles had special activities and free admission. So we decided (well, really, I decided and dragged Shawn and the children along. Ha ha!) to go up to Stirling on the train and check out the castle and sites. It was absolutely freezing (for here anyhow....I may not get much sympathy from all you folk in Canada who are covered in snow). We had a good time anyhow and enjoyed our day. Here are some photos from Stirling Castle and Argyll’s Lodging, which is "Scotland’s most splendid and complete example of a 17th century townhouse".

An interesting seat in the drawing room

The kitchen with a very big "oven"

Alexander on the cannon at Stirling castle

Jacob the knight

Benjamin the knight

A look at the castle

We found a very interesting old jail on the way up to the castle