Trip over the Pond....Scotland

Ethan and I had a pre flight treat! Thank you Jamba Juice for accommodating to my needs! Ethan ate the tart yogurt, no problem

Created a little play area under neath the seat!! Ethan was a champ on the plane. Poor little guy had a hard time popping his ears and sleeping, but don't let that fool you. He did an excellent job on the flight. He cried about 2 hours total (not all at once), on a 8-9 hour flight!! 

Tired but we made it to Edinburgh, Scotland! 

Size of an actual deer, in the times when cavemen roamed the earth! :)   Sorry I don't know a lot of facts about the museum pictures, I was just trying to stay awake to kick my jet lag. At this point I had been awake about 24 hours and I still had all day to stay awake. 

Auntie Seda and Baby Ethan

Who else wants a ride?

Can't remember what this drink is called, maybe Ayran, but it's a popular Turkish drink. Plain yogurt, ice and milk! VERY tart and yummy!

Delicious Turkish salad. They really know how about presentation, and taste! 

Turkish Pastries, layers of flaky pastries soaked up in a maple syrup! (insert drool here)

Eilidh and Ethan. They played so well together. Eilidh was kind enough to let Ethan play with her stuff animals

Dropping off Eilidh at school!

Tartan factory, these machines are in full operation! It was amazing to see how the tartan's are made! 

Edinburgh Castle. What a site! 

Cartwheels in front of Sterling Castle

Me and my Sis Kelli Oswald!

I spy a famous monument! We didn't get to visit William Wallace's monument, but we did get to see it from the Castle!

Auntie Seda was kind enough to watch Ethan while Kelli and I explore the Castle grounds a bit. Look how cute they are! 

The Famous Heilin Coo!!! Never met one, but I would imagine they are the "beach bums" of the cow family! 

Ethan's new hat

Rob Hay was so kind to travel and come see us. It was a fun visit to catch up! 

MUFFIN BREAK!! My favorite lunch place to eat! Seriously on of the best muffins I have ever eaten. Not too dense like a brownie, yet not to fluffy like a cake!! 

One of Kelli's favorites, the square sausage sandwich, yes they have square shaped sausages! 

Kelli and I would indulge in Thorton's on those really hard days! 

Too tired to wait for his crib. This guy was a champ! Would sleep anywhere

The Watson Family! Loved and Missed their craziness! John took us out on his motorcycle, just as he promised.. Totally worth it. We went 90mph!!!! What a fun rush! 

The Mini Scottish Fry up! Mini includes: 1 square sausage, 2 round sausages, 1 potato pancake, 1 black pudding, 1 round haggis, 1 fried eggs and a serving of baked beans, 1 slice of dumpling (optional).  If you want a regular Scottish fry up just double the ingredients from above

Mama Rodgers enjoying time with her American Grandson! 

EDZELL WOODS

This church was in the movie "Lord of the Rings" Love the architecture 

Dunnart Castle

This is legit, I saw the hole and a roar!! Alright, alright, there was no lion, but there was definitely a Lions Den made for the Castle. 

These Crown Jewels were transferred and protected at the Dunnart Castle because of it's location. It was extremely hard to steal anything from the Castle, unless you have mad rock climbing skill and can scale a mountain side in under 2 minutes

The size of their fireplaces! 

Quite blowy. Ethan's face says it all!

The Garden or lounge spot in the castle

Look when the Chapel was built! Other parts of the castle were built in the 18th century. Castles are huge, but they take a long time to build! Pretty cool history.

The Chapel

Wee bit blurry, hope you are able to read it! 

An oven just for bread, Nate would  always be on cloud 9 if we had an oven dedicated to only bread! 

Water supply for the 200 occupants 

VISITING MONTROSE WARD

Heather Murry was a woman I help teach while in the area,. She is so sweet and brightens up the room with her smile and hugs!  She is in heaven as she is holding Ethan! 

The Dibdin Family. It's crazy to think that the last time I saw them, their youngest, Josh, was Ethan's age! Josh is now 6. This cheeky family was sure fun to be around! 

The Henderson's, OH boy, where do I start?  I have so much gratitude for this couple. They offered for me to stay at their home during my visit to Montrose, drove me to all the sites in the area, helped me with Ethan (carrying the carseat, getting toys out, and getting the tub ready when Ethan has his 3 blowouts!!! or as Martin called them "EXPLOSIONS!"haha), they were patient with my jet lag and organized a Ward lunch allowing me to see as many members in one visit.
I only had time to be there 1 day and was afraid I wasn't able to see everyone, but because of The Hendersons, I was able to do much more! A HUGE THANK YOU 

In case you are wondering, Ethan was this charming the entire trip! 

BACK TO EAST KILBRIDE

Had dinner with Peter and Glenn. What a fun dinner to catch up with them! 

Granny Green getting in some Sunday Cuddles

 Susan Curry! 

Bob Curry wanting to get as many pictures as possible. The Curry's as absolute sweet hearts. 

Ah, the McNally's. So much to say about this couple, there isn't enough space. The McNallys helped us with miracles as a missionary! Getting to appointments, on-time, encouraging us to bring a less active to Sunday lunch or Friday dinner. Kelli and I always knew we could phone the McNally's if we were ever in a pickle that we couldn't get out of . They were part of our foundation while serving in East Kilbride. Their example of service and helping ward members is something I"ll never forget. If we needed to know about a member of the ward, the McNallys knew would have the updated information and if they didn't know, they would find out and tell us the next time we saw them!
LOVE THEM!

Ethan with yet another blowout at the McNally's. They may have a small permanent , poop, spot on their carpet! (hopefully not) Ethan definitely made his mark! 

I would be smiling like that too if I had an EXPLOSION that big! 

SISTER BETTY. She was a miracle. Time was running for our visit to Scotland. We had schedule one more stop before the end of the night( and visit). With some time left we found out that Sister Betty moved house! She was a block away from the McNally's. The sister missionaries were kind enough to walk us over and we were able to visit another beloved member. Sister Betty, as you can tell by her smile she is kind.  Sister Betty is a fast reader, if I remember correctly she once read The Book of Mormon 2 or 3 times in a week, maybe week in half. She loves The Book the Mormon and knows it's true with all her heart! 

The Thomsons. Anther great example in my life. Brother Thomson was singing Scottish nursery songs to Ethan, which he loved! (both of them).   The spirit in their home is so apparent. I came home wanting my house to feel the way as the Thomson's 

This was a must. We saw this in the airport before we arrived at our gate!! A great way to end a great week in Scotland! Thanks for the memories Scotland, until next time!!