Finishing Scotland

I thought I would share some more pictures of our days in Scotland before I move on to the past week we have spent here in England at Brian and Kamber's house. Hope you enjoy.After our time in Stevenston, we drove up the coast a little more to a town called Saltcoats for "supper". We found a very nice restaurant with reasonable prices (for the U.K.) and had a delicious supper. We were right along the beach and went to play in the water and sand a little bit more afterward.We then drove through the country a little more until we found the Robert Burns cottage. Close by to the cottage is the Brig O' Doon. Here we are walking along the Brig O' Doon.

The next day (after church) we drove along the coast and through Glasgow to Edingburgh. It was a beautiful drive and we were excited to see Edingburgh.We arrived at our Marriott!! This is the Marriott that we stayed at. Yahoo for the friends and family rate huh? It was very nice and we slept wonderfully in those awesome sheets!There was a golf course surrounding the hotel and bunnies were hopping all around. Brie loved chasing them and came up a new sound for bunny.Monday was spent in the city of Edinburgh. Here we are entering the Edinburgh Castle. It was very interesting to here the stories and history of Scotland and the castle. What I liked most was seeing the tiny little room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James. The back side of the castle. It would be pretty tough to invade, huh.
Alicia standing guard at the castle.
After the castle, we strolled down the Royal Mile. It is a long cobble stone road with shops and restaurants. We ate Fish and Chips and bought a very nice sporan for Scott's kilt attire.
We left Edinburgh in the rain. Scottish weather changes very quickly. It was soon sunny and we found this rainbow as we drove back through the countryside to the airport.

Good bye to Scotland. This is Scott pulling our rental car into it's spot at the airport. He did a great job driving in Scotland and in England on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. It was very scary at first, but I think we soon got used to it.

"Give auld Stinston my love."

We have seen many neat places while here in Europe, but the personal connection we felt as we visited Stevenston was certainly a highlight of our trip. We spent Saturday and Sunday visiting the small town on the coast of Scotland where Scott's father was born and grew up. He and his family moved to Utah from Stevenston when Fred was 17 years old. He has always shared his love of Scotland with us and now we feel it too.

Our visit to this town was so special for Scott. We were able to meet a number of people who remember the Buchanans living there in George Place. They told him stories of his grandparents and father and aunts and uncles.

Fred sent us to Scotland with a list of places to visit and what meaning they have to the family. We were able to see it all. He closed this list of people and places to visit by saying "Have a wonderful time--enjoy a genuine fish supper, travel safely and give auld Stinston my love.
Yours aye, The Faither". We did have a wonderful time. Ardeer Halls - This is where Scott's Aunt Betty was married.
This is Scott, Alicia and Brielle standing in front of the exact spot where George Place was. George Place was a row of cottages. Fred was born in one of these cottages and lived there with his family.
The Alfred Nobel’s Explosive factory. This is where Fred's parents met in 1915 and Aunt Betty worked during World War II.
Scott and Brielle standing out in the ocean at Stevenston Beach. This is where Fred and his family were baptized into the LDS church. This is also where they used to "fish in their wee boat".

Our little Brielle playing in the sand on the dunes where Papa Fred used to play Cowboys and Indians. Samantha also enjoyed the sand dunes. She just enjoyed it in a little messier way.Fred gave us a few poems to read while at the beach. We read "Sea Fever" and "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" by Sir Walter Scott and a poem by Robert Burns.Scott, Brie and I standing on the sand dunes.This is a picture of the High Kirk. It sits atop a hill and can be seen from anywhere in Stevenston. Surrounding the High Kirk is an old cemetery. We went searching through the cemetery for the headstone of the Reid family. Scott found it in the last corner we searched. Here is the Reid tombstone lying flat on the ground with the names of Scott's great, great great grandparents on it. Sunday morning we attended the services of the Church of Scotland at the Ardeer Church. This church was built by John Reid, Scott's great great grandfather. He also contributed the money for the bell that has rung since July 9, 1899. It stopped working just a couple years ago.

Brie running up the aisle of the church after services were over. The group up front are people that were childhood friends of Fred and they were all waiting to talk to Scott. One man told Scott he was the best man at Scott's grandfather's wedding. Everyone was very excited to have us there and tell us their stories.This is a picture of us after church with Georgie and Wilson McLellan. Georgie and her older brother were childhood friends of Fred's.

The cemetery where John Reid, Jeannie Garven Young, Samuel Reid and Elizabeth Bell Reid and Catherine Ross Bell are interred.

If It's Not Scottish It's Crap

On Friday afternoon, Scott, Brielle and I left Teresa's house on a train and then a bus and then a plane to Scotland. We arrived safely and had the most WONDERFUL experience there. I have so much to say and show. Scotland is a gorgeous country. We loved every minute. I'll begin with our first pictures.We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast called Fisherton Farms in Dunure, Scotland. It is an actual working farm and was perfect for us (and cheap). It is out in the country in Ayrshire (county where Scott's dad is from). My very best friend, Kamber, and her husband, Brian, and daughter, Samantha, joined us after a long drive from their home in London. We were given our own little house to stay in. It had a kitchen, living room, bathroom and three bedrooms. How perfect for our little girls! Scott in front of the Fisherton Farms sign. Here I am in my "If it's not Scottish it's Crrrrap!" t-shirt. I brought this shirt just to wear in Scotland. I'm sitting in front of my first Scottish breakfast that was brought to us in our kitchen when we hung the towel out the window to signal that we were ready. It was an egg, sausage, ham, cooked tomato, cooked mushrooms and fresh milk and orange juice. Yum.Brielle, Kamber, Samantha, Brian and Scott at our breakfast table. Brie got to go see the horses outside after breakfast. She loved watching them and even came up with a new sound for them.She also got to chase the hens and ducks around in the grass right in front of our door. What a fun time.

This is the beautiful view from our Bed and Breakfast. I loved how incredibly green Scotland is. I also thought it was so picturesque to see the green rolling hills full of sheep and little lambs right along the coast of the ocean. Wow!
This is the farm land outside our front door.

Meanwhile, back at home . . .

we have no home! That's right. We spent the couple weeks before we left for Europe getting our house all ready to sell. We had to do that along with getting ready for a 3 week trip. Fun huh? We thought it would be a good idea to let the realtors show the house while we are not there. This way it stayed clean and we weren't disturbed during naps, etc.

The house looked great when we walked out the door Thursday morning. It was listed for sale that afternoon. The next Wednesday, six days later, we received an email from the realtor that we had an offer. We counter offered and they accepted!! We sold the house. Tonight we were able to check email again after a few days and we have an even higher offer! So, that will now be the back up.

We are very excited that all of this happened so easily and quickly. We haven't had to do anything, but check email. We are also so sad to lose our cute little house that we have loved so much. But, by the time we get home, we'll be packing and looking for a new house. Wish us luck.


P.S. It is 1am and we are in London. We were in Scotland today and flew to London tonight. Scotland was wonderfully memorable and so gorgeous!! I'll tell all about it soon.

Rothenburg

Tuesday we spent the day in Rothenburg, Germany. It is an old, quaint city built within walls. We had a nice lunch outside and just walked through the streets and shops and gardens. We loved it. It was just our kind of place.

{Scott, Brie, Jacob, Steven, Nathan, Teresa and Steve on the main street.}

{This is where we ate lunch on the main plaza. We are in the right corner.}

{Scott still at the table trying to talk Brie into eating something.}

{Alicia, Scott and Brielle in front of the clock tower.}

{We bought Brie a german teddy bear. She fell in love. Here she is kissing him.}

{Scott, Brielle and I walked through the gate in this tower and found a beautiful park/garden. We could also over look the valley and the city. Spectacular!}

{Steven, Nathan and Jacob with their cool new shields.}

{As soon as I was done taking pictures of the boys with their shields, there was a huge group of Asian tourists that had gathered around them to also take their picture. You can see here that each Asian was taking a turn getting their picture taken with the boys. It was hilarious!}

Rhine River - One of My Favorite Places On Earth

Now, it is true, Walden Pond is still my favorite place on this earth. I love the Rhine River area in Germany almost as much though. It is absolutely beautiful! The last time I was in Europe, we toured nine different fascinating countries. It was all wonderful, but I remember the little town in Germany on the Rhine River being my very favorite of all we did and saw. Well, we got to go back on Monday and it was just as beautiful!

It was another gorgeous day. It was about 70 degrees and sunny. We drove the short distance to Rudesheimer and got out to walk around the water front. It is a very quaint German town with little shops and restaurants. We had a good lunch of Schnitzel and then drove along the river until we boarded a boat. We got to ride on a boat up the river quite a while. We rode and saw the little towns along the way and the green hills and lots of castles. At one point we came upon the Lorely rock where all the Germans sing a song to keep us safe from the mermaids that lure boatmen into the rock. We were safe. After our boat ride we got off and had some apple strudel and ice cream. Then the adventure began.

We had no idea, but it was already 9pm and we were waiting for a train with 4 small children to take us back to our car. We rode the train and the boys loved it. When we got to our stop though, the train went quite a ways past where our car was parked. Scott had to run to the car while Teresa and I walked four tired and hungry kids along through the town until Scott came back with a car and we drove home. It was another GREAT day! Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

{The boys checking out the cigarette vending machine.}