Dear Ones, I have arrived in Newark and am on my way home. What a shock to walk off the plane to 97 degree temps, American accent, hispanic accent, dour security and customs guys and heat haze!!!! Well, thought this pic of the Scottish country side would give you all some "eye candy". It was really hard to leave the precious ones this morning . . . shed a few tears as I flew over Scotland on the way to the US. I will add a few more pics to the blog and some narrative once I get home. Have some great footage of a neat castle near Hamilton and some other pics of around Hamilton. Love you all, cant wait to give you hugs!

Beautiful Loch Lomond and the tiny town of Luss - my favorite

My all time favorite so far! I love the wee town of Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond. Makes me think of the musical"Brigadoon". I would love to live here. The cottages just welcome you in . . . and the flowers this time of year are incredible. I will add some pics to the blog . . .I can't say enough about the scenery. The colors are so vivid! Each day the sky displays breath-taking patterns, and the flowers . . .well, all colors, all sizes and all beautiful. From Luss we traveled just a short way to Helensburgh, again on the shore, but this time the sea! To smell the seaweed, hear the gulls call to one another is marvelous . . .I wish I could bottle all the experiences and bring them home to you! We have had such special times as a family, some of whom we may not see again this side of Heaven . . .this makes it all the more precious. Enjoyed church on Sunday and today spent some time on the computer downloading pics from Uncle Jim. (will make a wonderful book!) This evening I was invited to go with Aunt Sadie to the Monday girls night out! what fun! Yummo food, ha. We won't be traveling much more except to Overtown and Law for the family history and down the Clyde side. Miss you all and send you big hugs, cool air and rain from this side of the pond!

Thought you would enjoy a wee fish supper tonight for your dinner! Delicious food and great

company. The week has flown in! We visited Peebles, a beautiful town on the borders. See down below and I will add some pics from there. The landscape and colors are so vibrant, never seen so many shades of green! The camera can't capture all the hues! Wednesday I moved down to Uncle Jim and Aunt Sadie's and then in the afternoon went with Uncle Jim to Overtown and Larkhall for history lesson and pics and along the way visited the most fantastic horses!!!!! Yesterday we drove to Coatbridge and visited an industrial museum of life in the mines and steel works. Can you imagine chipping at coal with a pic in an 18 inch space for 8 to 12 hours and being dragged out by your feet at the end of your shift!!!!! Use your imagination as to eating, drinking, etc. God bless those men, with their shirt off no less! Today we are off to Glasgow to tour on the "topless" bus. Tomorrow we are off to Helensburgh and having lunch in one of my alltime favorite place, Luss. Reminds me of Brigadoon, ha Love and miss you all!

The bagpipes are coming!!!! What an experience, the ground shook with the drums and the air vibrated with the sound of the pipes! And they kept coming till the stadium was filled with pipers

from all around the world. You just wanted to stand up and cheer will you had no voice left!

The program kept us on the edge of our seats, from 5 - 7 year olds on motorized mini bikes to the older teenegers flying around the stadium doing single, double and quad crosses in front of us, gymnastic displays by the soldiers, graceful , highland dancing to funny skits. A moving reenactment of soldiers protecting and Afghan family in the desert. The sky cleared during the performance not a drop or rain fell as it had several times that day. We also took a Celtic walk thru parts of Edinburgh to learn the Christian history, the bravery of the Conenantors in their stand for Christ during 1661-1668. Did you know if you were caught reading the Bible you could be shot right then and there????? If you were caught in a gathering you were taken to the castle and thumb screws were applied till you either recanted or your thumbs split!!!! 1400 were taken to Greyfrair's church graveyard and treated as animals till all but 48 survived. The leaders had their hands chopped off along with their head and placed on pikes for all to see . . . one head was on display as a warning for 27 years. How would we act in those circumstances??? Would we stand for Christ through the fire and the water. Our brothers and sisters were tortured and drowned for their faith, the time is coming and is here in other countries where Christians die for their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ . . .May we stand tall together and fear no man in our declaration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

love to my kiddlets!

I can not believe it is Tuesday already! What a weekend . . .Sunday morning was precious, the children who delivered their part of the programof their weeks time together were so excited about the kings and queens of the Bible: Jezebel - WICKED! ( in a bad way, ha), Solomon - WISE,Esther - WILLING, David - WORSHIPPING KingJesus - WONDERFUL. In the afternoon Ruth, a dear friend, and I went north to Stirling and through the foothills of the Ochil Hills to Tillicoultry . . .so incredibly beautiful. Tears, thinking of all the times Papa walked along these roads and the occasions I was bundled up in the pram and went for a "wee" ride up the hills with Mom and Dad. So many memories that we will have to gather in Eternity with them . . .Returning to Stirling we found the university of Stirling and there was Wallace's monument . . . majestic against the sunny sky, towering over the campus. CALEDON, the three Scottish tenors . . .wow what a night, what laughes, what music. Our toes tapped and our hands clapped and we laughed till there was no voice left! On the way home we were thrilled at the sight of Stirling Castle lite up against the black backdrop of the night sky. Today we are off to Glasgow to visit the Cowan's, Daddys cousin, sweet times that may not be experienced again till we are together in Heaven. Thursday we are off to Edinburgh! the Tattoo!

Lunch is almost ready so I will just say a few words and add more later! Time is flying in, the weather is beautiful, in fact yesterday was warm! Had a delightful time in church yesterday morning. The vacation Bible School was featured and the children were precious . . .all about the kings and queens of Bible . . .the church was decorated as a castle . . .really interesting. Uncle Jim and Aunt Sadie came over for lunch with our dear friend Ruth. After lunch, Ruth and I traveled to Stirling and along the foothills to Tillicoultry, Papa's home and even went to Campbell Castle.
Lunch is ready so must go. Will add more detail about the concert we attended and some pics!

Just a short post today . . .spent the morning getting the right curtians for Auntie's guest room. Traveling in the car is an experience that keeps you awake and on the edge of your seat! First, you are sitting in the passeger seat that should be the driver's seat, ha, and you keep looking up at the rear view mirror, which, of course, is not aimed at you. Turning corners are white knuckle moments, your brain tells you, you are not getting into the right lane and the adrenaline shots thru your body . . .then . . . you are fine, whew. The round abouts are a major cause grey hair . . .how in the world do you navigate those things. oh, and crossing the street . . .wow, you find yourself looking in the wrong direction, start to step out and ZOOM, a bus zipps by coming from your bind side, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Back to the cars, they are all so "tiny", zipping to and fro through the traffice and flying into parking places that appear to be so small and you KNOW they are not big enough . . .then you breath again, open the door and try gracefully to step out and walk, acting like nothing is wrong.

The sun is playing peek-a-boo with the clouds today, 57 degrees and only a sprinkle of rain in the morning. a beautiful reminder of what Texas will be like in November.
Found out yesterday we are going to the Tatoo on the 12th . . .am so excited. Till next time!

Tuesday

The first glimpse of dear Scotland! Just a few minutes from landing in Edinburgh. The excitement just hit and there are tears of joy! The flight over was very comfortable . . .even slept a couple of hours . . .through the turbulence, felt it but just slept on . . .the Lord was good! Food, not so much!!!!!! But hey, good food is coming! Auntie was there with a huge smile to welcome my home. Rainy and cloudy with 63 degrees - yea!
Home to a wee cuppa and then mince and tatties for supper, oh boy! The air is fresh and I am cold . . . wow!!!!!
Auntie and I talked and talked and talked till midnight last night. What a wise woman, Auntie is and how God used her to give insight and encouragement, not only to here family but a very active and thriving ministry here . . . and at 80!
We looked at lots of pics yesterday, old family photos and pics of her time in Pakistan. It is going to be exciting to get the stories behind these moments in time to share with you all back home. We have such an incredible history, full of God's hand directly touching and moving for His glory and honor.
Auntie left her car lights on yesterday and is getting the battery recharge as we speak. We are making plans for the time together . . . perhaps the Edinburgh Military Tatoo, look it up on the internet! I remember going when I was around 12 with mom and dad. To see the spotlit lone piper atop the tallest turret of the Edinburgh castle and hear the restrains of "Amazing Grace" in the hushed silence of a stadium filled with spectators . . .I still get goosebumps!
More later . . .love you all!!!!!!

The Adventure begins

Well we are on our way to Scotland! I mean we because you are all coming with me. This morning we were up bright and early . . . Wendy thought we were crazy! and off to the airport at 7 am. The airport was not crowded at all and we walked right up to the counter and used the computerized check in. really cool! just scanned my passport and all my info was logged in and the boarding passes for both flights came flying out . . .what would we do without the Internet and computers nowadays! Sat in the President's club till my flight was ready, just fun to look around and enjoy.
Upon boarding the plane, I merrily marched down the aisle looking for 1F . . now mind you there are four seats across . . .A B C D E F . . . I want to know how they got 1F in a aisle with four seats!!!!! Anyway, take off was smooth, flight attendants were very attentive and my seatmate was just the right amount of talkative . . .hot towel to start the flight, mixed nuts, warmed up even! and the a choice of shrimp salad or hot chicken burrito to accompany delicious mushroom soup and fruit salad with a brownie for dessert. (no I did not eat the brownie! Took pics of the beautiful clouds and coming into Newark with New York in the distance. Well, almost out of room . . .stay tuned for more later on the second half of the journey! love you all

Packing! Yipee

Four days and counting!!!!! Think I have everything ready to go . . .had to buy a new point and shoot. You should have seen us scurry around yesterday looking for the "lost" one. A sleek red Nikon S8000 is now the special camera to take the trip and bring back all the memories.
A neat thing happened several days ago, a gentleman in England has been gathering information about the 196 Field Ambulance corp, the unit Daddy was assigned to in WWII. He sent a picture of the whole unit and we can pick out Daddy. So young and handsome . . .
Love this pic . . .My sweet husband and little Finnlay . . .enjoying the pool at our townhome complex. Wish I pack them in my suitcase! In fact, I would love to put all of you in my suitcase and we could all enjoy the adventure together. But since I can't . . .Scotland here I come!!!!!!!

July the first is here and we are on a count down to the big day . . . have my camera out as well as the instruction booklet . . .ha, when all else fails - read the directions . . . although, how I am going to carry the camera and the computer is another story!

Will be working on attaching some slideshows to the blog so you can see a window into the wonders of the bonnie isle . . . wish we could all go there together . . .can you smell the heather . . ., hear the lambs bleating on the hills and the wind whistling along the glen, now listen . . . the waves gently lapping against the shore of lovely, rounded rocks . . .the sea gulls calling overhead, the sun glimmering on the water with the hills majestically rising out of the horizon at the far water's edge . . .are you there yet????

Aunt Sadie's baking and delicious meals await our tasting and the curries from Aunt Agnes . . . yummo . . .oh, the treacle candy, the shortbread and the "tablet" - sugar rush, but oh so wonderful, the morning rolls with bacon and egg inside . . .(my mouth is watering!!!!!) the beautiful brogue of the Scottish tongue . . .the double decker buses . . .the history . . .the scenery . . . and all the hugs from family and friends . . .have I awakened your imagination??????

June 25, 2010

Been thinking much about the coming trip . . .what to take, gifts etc. Dwelling on the purpose of this exciting adventure . . .to discover the hidden stories of the family, hear the tales of the past and see, in our own history, how God, in His greatness, led our "clan" to follow Him through the good, the great, the tragedy and the blessing. What a legacy to give our children and grandchildren . . .who knows how far down the line till the Lord comes and we can then all chat with the characters in the stories, face to face . . .wow!

Will be working with the new program we purchased for this event . . . praying for wisdom . . .He has promised to give it! What fun we will have with the Scottish dialect . . .just laughing now at the words the computer will come up with before it learns the "brogue".