Thanksgiving & After Thanksgiving Wanderings

FIRST I'LL START OFF WITH PICTURES THAT WOULDN'T POST LAST TIME

 

Yummy Sister Gifford Sauce!! This is Sister Donaldson, the President's wife.

My Italian "sauce" dinner for 40
Missionaries

This is the Mission home kitchen & my
garlic bread in the foreground :-)

         The following are pictures from the Mining Museum

Mining Shaft - deep & dark

It was dark down there!!

                     

Engine Room - original engine from the "1800's"

Thanksgiving table set for 22 missionaries & yes
it really is just one long table in the mission home!

Chalk the dark bird up to "Scottish ovens!"

Senior & Jr Missionaries - Seniors did the cooking!

      These are our Edinburgh Missionaries

O.K. we are caught up in pictures--hope you enjoyed. Now let me tell you about a fascinating week at the office (well maybe fascinating isn't the right word). To start with two of our young sisters on a dark winding road lost control and ditched their car, totaling it. The Lord took good care of them as the only injury was one slight concussion. But it shook the sisters up. They came to the mission home for a couple of days to rest and de-stress. Then we discovered that two of our Elders were living in a haunted house (believe it or not) and so in one day, I had to find a new flat in Dublin, no less. Which I accomplished and they are at peace now (the missionaries, not the bad spirits). Next two sisters, again in Dublin, were threatened by a homeless person with a hypodermic needle as a weapon. She had been watching the sisters and followed them to their flat. They gave her what money they had, so the President figures they aren't safe in that area. So guess what--another new flat to find in one day in Dublin. I'm convinced that this "flat finding" in one day or even a week is truly the hand of God in the works. I'd go into real estate when I get home, but I know it will never be the same! Nor would I want it to be.

Thanksgiving was quite an adventure! It was a regular office day for us because they don't celebrate the holiday here. We were back and forth from office/desk to the kitchen all day--quite tiring to say the least. Then there was the clean-up! Oh boy! It was worth it all when each young missionary filed by to say thank you. They were from England, Romania, Taiwan, China and, of course, the US. After a wonderful evening, we went next door to the church to help teach an investigator. The Lord's work is never done, and we are finding some of the best times are when we are helping to teach the Gospel.

Saturday we started the day at a private school across the street from the church/mission home at a Holiday Bazaar. Didn't buy a thing but enjoyed mingling with the Scots.
                                                                         

At the Holiday Bazaar

Private School across from the church/mission home

                            After the Bazaar, we visited Dollhousie Castle and it turned out they had a Falconary Habitat, which was amazing. Thought my grandkids & great-grandkids would enjoy seeing these pictures. We got to watch them feed the birds, which was pretty gross, but educational -:)

                                                                                       

Two young women ran the Habitat and actually held the birds and cuddled with them. We kept our distance since
they weren't used to us! The white owl above was at a
wedding today, he held the wedding ring in his beak at
the ceremony. Pretty neat huh? There were probably around
25 birds and most of them outside. Did I mention that feeding
time was pretty gross?

My last picture shows snow on the mountain caps just outside
Edinburgh. We drove up to the ski slope and found it to be
very busy.

NOTE: Well Hi mom--I don't have too much more to say (which is unlike me), but want you to know you are always in my prayers and I miss you a lot! Stay well and stay happy.

NOTE: Hi Levi, how are you. It's ggma writing and I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you. I'll bet you are a great big brother to Holly Dale. I loved the picture of you in your hockey uniform. How is your team doing? When I get back to the United States after my mission I plan on coming to visit you. So until then, keep happy and help mom and dad all you can. Love you bunches.

                                       

Full weeks and Full weekends & some Wandering

Sister Call & Me enjoying the evening!

Wednesday evening we had 5 baptisms--yes, five! One right after another. Pretty special evening. I'm posting a picture of those that were baptized and the missionaries that taught them. It is wonderful to watch Nicholas & Bahadir (newly baptized) pass the Sacrament they are both wonderful and it is such a joy to know that we helped teach them. They are both French and doing well at learning English. Our other friend, Nicky, who was recently baptized is coming to church every week and is really strong in the Gospel. Sister Call and myself have been assigned to be her Visiting Teachers. Oh yes, with everything else we are doing we have to find time to do our Visiting--we have 5 sisters assigned to us. My Sunday school class is going well. I taught Self-Reliance through Education & used my sweetheart husband as the example of someone who succeeded through education. I cried, but just a little!

Sister Call and I were asked to decorate the church foyer for the Building's 50th-anniversary celebration. We did the best we could with the time we had, which wasn't much! It was a pretty big deal and several members of Parliament attended. We shopped for decorations and ran to one store or another every day last week and then decorated on Thursday night. Friday was the big event and almost 200 people attended from all over Scotland. Did I mention that this was also exchange week for missionaries coming and going (Doesn't that seem to roll around fast?) It's every 6 weeks, but sure seems like the weeks just roll into one another. After taking the decorations down we readied ourselves for some wandering. Off to the National Miner's Museum. Now, this may sound boring, but it was actually one of my favorite things we have done. An actual miner was our tour guide and took us down to the mining shaft. A little freaky. Sister Call & I both have miners in our ancestry so this was an interesting adventure. I found out that the pasties the miners took down with them for their lunch were made with one side pudding (dessert) and the other half savory with meat.
I had never heard that before. I learned to make pasties from my husband's grandmother, Grandma Hansen.       

Because it was exchange week, we spent lots of extra hours at the mission office. We had 7 missionaries leave to go home and 13 new ones arrived. We usually help our mission president's
wife with some of the cooking, but this week the housekeeper/cook was not able to be there so we each sort of took a day of cooking & organized it. I planned dinner for 40 missionaries. I made Andy's (my son) Italian Sauce, cheated and bought the meatballs, had salad and my now famous garlic bread. Brownies and ice cream for dessert. I have posted some pictures of that fun day. Boy was I pooped! Well maybe I'll post some pictures, I'm having trouble with the computer & phone working together. Will have to post the mining pictures and the Italian dinner pictures some other time.

Of course, Scotland does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so the office staff will be in the office and cooking up a Thanksgiving dinner at the same time. Our President & Sister Donaldson are from England, so we are treating them to an "old-fashioned American Thanksgiving dinner." I am making baked corn, cranberry fluff, and pumpkin bread. I wish all of my American friends & family a very Happy Thanksgiving. To all my children, I love you and I will surely miss you.

PS: Turkeys are hard to find when the country doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving LOL


NOTE: Well, hello mother! how are you doing? Can you believe that I have been on my mission 7 months? My goodness, how time flies. It is fairly cold here now and lots of cold rain. Hoods & umbrellas are very useful. Hoods are easier, but really mess my hair up! I'm starting to calendar plans for Christmas while Lorre is here. We are going to see a stage play, Aladdin and, of course, to my favorite castle. It will be just the two of us for Christmas because my companion will have family here and they will be traveling during Christmas to Ireland. I have 2 days after Christmas off from the office. The day after Christmas is Boxer Day here, which is a national holiday. Lorre and I will be spending that day on the Royal Mile which is the mile between Edinburgh Castle and Holywood Palace, where the Queen of England stays while she is in Edinburgh. They fly a special flag when she is staying at the palace. So anyway it will be a fun time. Take care and stay well. Lots of love from your daughter.

NOTE: Hello Grayson. Sure was fun to talk with you and seeing the special things you brought back from Disney World. I loved that sword, but just remember not to hit the dogs with it because then you can't play with it. I think you will be making lots of interesting art-work at school for Thanksgiving and Christmas. you'll be able to bring it all home and decorate the house. If you can, take a ride around your neighborhood in your car on Thanksgiving day and pretend I'm with you. Then you can tell me all we saw together on the ride next time we talk on the phone. Well, I sure do love you. Be good and help mommy and daddy all you can. Love ggma


                                                                                   

Pictures of the building being built. Real Scottish Heather in the centerpiece

                                                                                       

5 new members==very special

 

Look better in person!!

My helpers!

A BUSY LIFE . . . but still some time for wanderings!

I never knew the life of a missionary could be so busy! We are in the office from 7 am - 5:30 pm. We are gone almost every evening teaching with the missionaries. We very seldom get back to our flat until around 8 pm. Saturdays we try to clean our flat early, do a little laundry and then head out for some wandering and lunch. We are determined to see everything there is to see in Scotland, and as much of Ireland as we can while serving our mission. But in the meantime, here are some other things that are going on. I've been asked to take a long-term assignment teaching the youth Sunday School class. They can;t extend an official calling to a full-time missionary but can make an assignment. My call is large 8-10 and is made up of primarily 17 yr olds. I have taught six weeks and I'm really enjoying it I've also been asked to head-up a committee for RS to take care of sending birthday cards, event calendar items, etc. to the RS sisters. My companion, Sister Call, is the organist and heads up the ward music as well as being the genealogy specialist. Our ward seems big, but most of the people are visitors--so we do feel like we are really needed. This week we have an assignment for the 50th celebration of our ward building. Lots of dignitaries are attending (some parliament members) so they have asked us to make the foyer look really special as a welcome/staging area. We are so busy during the week that our Saturdays are really important to us. Saturdays are the only days we can wear slacks & we appreciate that! Actually, we stay in our missionary attire with our badges on until we go to bed at night or 9 pm. You can believe me when I say that I'm usually in bed by 9 pm. :-). We do a lot of walking and lots of stairs, so we get plenty of exercise. No one has elevators, not even stores--so if a flat we are going to inspect is on the 3rd floor, it's all stairs! Sometimes it seems like a thousand steps--oh my gosh sometimes it's quite miserable. But my heart must be getting pretty strong!

The office has been very busy . . .with the colder weather coming on and the missionary flats all turning their heat on I've had to do what we call a "safe house" check on all 107 flats to make sure there fire alarms and CO detectors are working (and that they have both). Last year two Romanian missionaries died in their flat as a result of CO poisoning. Along the same lines, I have had many flats have their boilers (everyone has a boiler that heats the water for both heating and faucet/shower use) burst, leak or just plain stop working--so no heat or hot water until I get someone out to fix the boiler. I had to go into the office before church today to solve an emergency boiler problem. It all keeps me really busy, because along with all these "little problems" there are always new flats to find and some to close down. Does it sound like a crazy mission??? Well, I guess it might be, but I really do love it. Yes, a lot of it is temporal, but there is always spiritual mixed in.

Saturday's wanderings: We were on the way to see Edinburgh Castle, but never quite made it. We decided on the Oiink for lunch, which is down on the Royal Mile, which means you have to park far away and walk. They pull the meat off a whole pig and put it on a yummy roll with your choice of stuffing flavors and sauce. I will post a couple of pig pictures that I took outside the window. It was worth the walk and wait--it was delicious.

The Oiink - Really Yummy!

After lunch we started walking to the castle and found ourselves exploring every "Close" we came upon. A close is an alley dating back to the early 1800's where the really poor people lived. We found all kinds of interesting stuff and also some gardens that were completely hidden away. I took lots of pictures and as you view them just remember that these were taken in various closes. We never did make it to the castle--that's for another Saturday.

NOTE: Hi mom, just catching up with my blog and wondering how you've been doing. Anything interesting going on there? How about the family--what's new? It is starting to get a little cooler here, but milder than I expected it to be. I'm not wearing a winter coat yet, but will probably need to start this week. They say it has been an unusually warm fall and much drier than usual. Lorre is coming to visit on Christmas Eve. She will stay almost a week. I'm very excited. I'm really looking forward to showing her around Scotland. Matt and Jennifer are coming to visit in March for a week. Then Andy and Heather & children in I think May. I hope you are well and just remember I love you bunches mom!!

NOTE: Hi little Ainsley. how are you doing? Are you having a fun time at school? I was looking at pictures of you and Grayson on my telephone last night and couldn't believe how much you have grown. I love the picture of you in your dance class. Are you still going to dance classes? I also liked the video of you and Grayson at the beach running into the water. Is it too cold to go to the beach now? ggma loves you to pieces--here is a great big hug and kiss!!!

Love to all,
Sister Gifford

Lovely old building in background.--loved the plants found this in a close.

A close filled with old statues.

And another Saturday of WANDERINGS

After a busy two weeks in the office and no Saturday travel, we got up early Saturday morning, did our chores and located our GPS postal codes and off we went. About 20 minutes from Edinburgh we found a beautiful small (on the scale of castes) castle that people still live in part of the time (Lauriston Castle). Located right on the banks of the North Sea--it is beautiful. The grounds/gardens were really amazing. We walked several of the trails then left in a hurry to catch our ferry in a village named Queens Ferry to visit Inchcalm Island. It took about 30 min to reach the island. Inchcalm Island is famous for 3 reasons. 1st of all it has the ruins of a monastery dated back to the 1200's. 2nd it has become a natural habitat for several rare birds, including the Puffin (which we didn't get to see because they are only there between April & July.) The other birds we were careful to avoid because they were nesting and will attack--and they are pretty big birds!! The ruins of the monastery are some of my favorite ruins we've seen. I opted not to go to the top of these ruins when I heard them say we would have to climb on hands & knees through dark tunnels! Sister Call did it and was exhausted the rest of the trip! The 3rd reason is that the island was a fortress during WW1. There is a picture below of a tunnel that was used to transport ammunition. It was dark and scary, but I climbed the stairs to it and walked the tunnel through and then back again. The island is surrounded by the Forth River and was heavily used during the war. There are several islands in the Forth River and they are all call Inch . . . something. The pictures below are labeled so you will know castle from monastery ruins, which I guess is pretty obvious. 

On the missionary side of things: We attended baptisms for three people on Wednesday evening. Two young men from Mainland China and a man in his 70's. The ward is growing!! We took sister missionaries out to eat on Thursday. Friday we had a big to-do in my official duties. One of the flats that the Elders live in had their boiler explode! The boilers are what holds and heats water to provide both hot water and water for the heating system. The water gushed into the flat below them and then to the flat below that. Of course, the Elders had flooding too, but not nearly as much damage as the other flats. Anyway, the fire department was called and they turned off the water in the building and the electricity. I had to evacuate the Elders and protect them from really irate landlords from the apartments below!! They were not happy campers and were just looking for someone to blame. Come to find out this had happened before with the previous elders, so I made the decision that it is time to close this flat and look for something new. It was a pretty hectic day, but we handled ourselves well if I do say so myself and fortunately, no one was injured. 

NOTE: My sister, Kay, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will have surgery this Thursday. It is early-stage and they are very hopeful that everything will work out. I'm asking for my family and friends to join Kay's family in prayers for her. She is a wonderful person who has been service oriented all her life. I wish her the very best of care and a bright, hopeful future. Love you, Kay

Inchcalm Monastery

Inchcalm Monastery

Sister Gifford at Lauriston Castle

 

Unusual tree!

New Queens Bridge spanning the Forth River - Queen
was here about a month ago for the opening.

All Steel Bridge over the Forth River

Our ferry "Maid of the Forth" to go to Inchcalm Island

Inchcalm monastery 

Part of the ruins of the Monastery

Busy days--catch-up bloggingI

Another 6 weeks have gone by and we have just finished transfer week. I think I explained that we have missionaries leaving their missions to go home and new missionaries coming in. This time it was 9 leaving and 15 new ones coming in. So then the fun begins! missionaries are transferred here and there and are assigned new companions. That means finding new flats and closing others. I love the excitement of this part of my calling. I continue to be blessed for my efforts and hope my family will look for the blessings in their own lives because of my service--they will be there I promise.

Last week two of the people we have been teaching with the missionaries were baptized,  Nikki and Bahadir. Both single & about the same age. So I'm thinking a little match-making may be in my future plans. They both have strong testimonies and have really been studying the Book of Mormon. It's wonderful to see peoples lives so enriched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I gave the opening prayer and stumbled through the whole thing--bless my heart for trying LOL. One of the talks was done completely in French (Bahadir is French). Such a beautiful language & I wish I could understand French.

My companion, Sister Call, had family visiting for a week so she was traveling with them for a few days. It was very strange to be alone for the weekend. I walked everywhere I went because she had the car. It was kind of nice as I felt like a real authentic Scottish person (everyone walks here). The streets are much safer here than in the US. People walk the streets at all hours of the night. I think one big difference is that guns are not allowed in the United Kingdom. Everybody walks, carry a backpack and always have a bag of groceries. Lots of small neighborhood stores and plenty of bus lines to take you anywhere you want to go. Parking is really nonexistent in Edinburgh (which, by-the-way has an "ah" sound at the end--Edinburgh(ah). So if you want to go somewhere & you don't know if there is parking for sure you take a bus. Colored hair seems to be really big here; like yellow, blue, red, pink. Women of all ages. Is that the case now in the US? I'm having technical problems again trying to place my pictures on my blog so this lone picture is it for this time. More pictures next time. Love to all, Sister Gifford, mom, grams & ggma

Some rugged Scottish shoreline

NOTE: Well lHi their mom--sure missing you. As it gets closer to the holidays I think of you and all the fun stuff (like candy making) you used to do at Christmas. I remember when you were going through the "craft" stage of your life and we all got Christmas decorated pringle cans with cutouts in the front for a panorama scene. I don't look at Pringles in the grocery stores without remembering that you and Dad ate a lot of Pringles just so you would have the cans LOL! So many memories and speaking of memories, have I ever told you how much I appreciate your "Life Story"? What a treasure it is for all of us. I hope you have a cheerful sweatshirt to wear for the holidays! Kay just might have to buy one for you. A cheerful sweatshirt to match the smile on your face. Bye for now--love you with all my heart. 

NOTE:  Hi Zach! What's happening? I've been thinking about you and your college adventure. I hope you are settling in and feeling confident that you can do it all!! I know how capable you are and completely able to all that is required of you. Have you been back home for a weekend yet? I'll bet the two siblings are really missing you. Did they save your room for you or did Michael take it over LOL!!? So what is your favorite class this semester? Do you have a car? Wow, I can't believe I'm writing to Zach the college student. Boy the years sure do go by fast. I'm having a wonderful time here in Scotland. The people are wonderful and I am making more friends at church and getting more involved in the community. We are encouraged to do as much service for others as we can fit into our busy schedules. Right now I am helping the youth to put together hygiene kits for children in Africa.

So text me or send me an email. Your mom can provide you with the details. Give the family my love and consider yourself hugged! Love, grams

Thoughts and Wanderings . . .

Here are a few notes about Scotland:

• All desserts are referred to as "puddings." Took me a few times of refusing puddings to realize I was really missing out on dessert!
• Would you like to stay for tea, yes? Tea means supper or evening meal and almost all questions end with "yes." (most times tea is not even served)
• Everything is "a wee" bit of this or that (ie, a wee child, a wee walk, a wee car, etc.
• A "round-about" is where cars go around about in circles and fly off at different angles onto other roads. They are everywhere, even on the major highways. I will never understand them!!
• Why do the car GPS's have to have deep Scottish accents? LOL 
• When cooking with recipes we weigh everything rather than measuring. Everyone has a "food scales."
• The ovens are not in Fahrenheit, so we use charts to figure oven temps out. Hit and miss to say the least.
• Stove/oven, washing machine, and fridge/freezer are all considered "white goods."
• A cow is a "coo."
• A YIELD sign reads: "Give away"
• Leaving each town/village a sign will say: "Haste ye Back"

Good news in the missionary service--our investigator that we've been helping teach, Nicky, is going to be baptized after all. She said her life wasn't as happy and satisfying when she stopped coming to church and meeting with missionaries. She is set for October. We attended a very sweet baptism last evening, a young Chinese girl. I think I mentioned that we have a large number of Chinese members in our ward and they have a Sunday School in their language. The Chinese population in Edinburgh is very large, partly due to the UNI here (Universty of Edinburgh - a very international school)

The mission office is very busy--I don't have the most important job (all important), but I'm probably the most consistently busy out of all the staff. I'm the Housing Coordinator (probably mentioned this before), so I am either opening new flats or closing down flats that we are no longer going to use. I handle all of the utilities for these flats, sometimes even semi-furnishing them. I love the housing part of my position although at transfer time (every 6 weeks) when the mission president tells me he needs 5 new flats ASAP I panic a little. Then I remember that the Lord is at the helm of this mission I serve in and things will get done. It's pretty amazing that I can find a place, have the closest missionaries go view it and get the contract signed and returned in a matter of a few days. I'm thinking of going into the real estate market when I return home LOL. 

Today I taught the 14-16-year-old Sunday School class at church. We talked about the Blessings from Heaven and how we block them from raining down on us by putting up an umbrella. The analogy was "what are the umbrellas we have in our lives that keep the blessings from raining down on us?" My visual aid was a black umbrella up with things taped all over it that might keep the blessings of our Heavenly Father from raining down on us.

Wanderings: Saturday we left early for a 1 1/2 hr. drive to St. Andrews. For the non-golfers, that is where golf originated in the 1800's. The original course is still played on and I don't think it was my imagination that there was a feel about the grounds. OK, I'll admit it, we snuck unto the grounds at the point of the famous old bridge (always shown on tv during major tournaments) so we could take a picture of each of us on the bridge! Eat your hearts out all you golfers!! And I won't say what I bought or who for . . . but I did visit the official golf pro shop for a few purchases. We also visited the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral which dates back to 757 AD. It was amazing. Hope my pictures post nicely. We were told that the best fish & chips in all of Scotland were to be found in St. Andrews at a restaurant called the "The Tail End." So we tried it--maybe 2nd best!

NOTE: Hello mom, how's it going with you? I hope you're doing fine and enjoying life. I also hope you don't pick up a cold as the weather starts to change. I know you usually get one humdinger every year. I don't think it is fair that we should get a cold or "bug" when we get older--do you?! I have really been busy and haven't had the chance to blog as much as I would like. Last Saturday all the senior missionaries got together and the women made candy. Actually, one of the couples showed us how to make their recipe for toffee. Reminded me of when we used to get together with you and make the hard rock candy. So yummy. Probably nobody makes it anymore. I know I haven't make it in over 20 years. The weather is starting to change here. The trees do turn and the days are getting shorter. I bought some winter boots and a heavier coat last weekend. I'm set for whatever comes my way. Give mom a giant hug for me Kay, and mom you might as well give Kay a big hug for me!! Love you bunches.

NOTE:  Hello Maxton! how are you doing? Your grandma misses you a whole bunch. I wanted you to know how handsome you looked in the picture with your dad and sisters. I loved that shirt and tie. Hope it still fits you when I come home from my mission so I can see you in it.  So, how is the soccer doing? Are you playing any particular position? Or do they move you around for the experience? What kinds of things are you studying in school this year? I'll bet if you have a science class that it is probably your favorite. I know how you like to explore with nature stuff and do experiments! I can't wait for you to come to Scotland. You will love exploring the old castle ruins and finding out the history of each of them. They all have wonderful stories about them. I've seen 10 or more castles and have many more to go. So be safe and send me a note in the mail when you have time. Love you a whole bunch, grams.

and more wanderings . . . .

Grayfriar's Bobby's gravesite

Yes the author of Harry Potter books really did write her stories here.

"Bobby"

Now here is a picture of the "Elephant House"

where the author of the Harry Potter books wrote much 

of the book's contents.

                a character from Harry Potter books

The pub behind the dog is called Greyfriar's Bobby. The dog statue is in honor of Greyfriar's dog "Bobby" there is a story behind the pub & dog, but first let me tell you that if you rub Bobby's nose you will receive all the luck you need! The story is that when Greyfriar died the dog laid on his grave every day for 14 yrs and died there. There are children's books about it. It's a true story and here is a picture of Bobby's grave. There is a church with a really old cemetary right next to the pub and Bobby is buried there. This is right in Edinburgh and many people stop by every day to get their share of good luck by rubbing his nose. The other amazing story about the cemetary is that some of the characters in the Harry Potter books were named after people's names on the really old headstones. I'll try to post a couple of pictures.

Sorry my pictures are all over the blog. . . pictures & blog not working too well together tonight. Hopefully you can match pics to the stories.

Today we visited Linlithgow Palace today which is the oldest palace ruins in Scotland. It was the summer palace and vacation place for Mary Queen of Scots. Very well preserved--pictures below. This was about 45 min. from Edinburgh. We climbed many steep winding staircases and we were happy for the exercise (too much office sitting time). The grounds were beautiful and provided a place for people to picnic and even take boats out on the lake behind the palace. We also saw Linlithgow Chapel (pictures posted). Built in the 1600's.

One of the highlights of our weekend was Friday evening when we helped teach an investigator who only speaks French. So we hooked him up through Skype with two of our French speaking missionaries and they taught most of the lesson to him. Couldn't understand a word they were saying, but it was still a spiritual experience.                                                 Thanks to all those who have sent letters--I've loved them. Goodbye for now, Sister Gifford

Old Cemetary
 how many Harry Potter names were born here?

Linlithgow Palace--and yes, we climbed all the way to the top! 

Add caption

Mary Queen of Scots

Linlithgow Palace courtyard 

NOTE: Hi mom--what's up with you? I hope you are enjoying life. Do you still listen to your books on tape? When my companion and I travel we listen to books in the car. We are starting to see wee touches of fall here--some of the trees are starting to turn, the temperature has dropped a few degrees, and the heat has come on in our flat. Today I was checking out the winter coats and boots in the store here--guess I will have to get used to my first cold winter in such a long time! I don't mind the cold weather, its the long-dark days I dread the most. It will be dark when I get to the office and dark when I leave. That's no fun!! Love you a whole bunch--consider yourself hugged.

NOTE: Hi there Rylee Jane--how are you my little sweetheart? I suppose you are in school now for at least a week or two and your life has become very busy. Are you doing any sports? I loved your first day of school picture. You and Michael both look so grown-up. What grade are you in now? I should remember, but you know how it is when you get older--the memory doesn't always perform like it should LOL! I'm sure you don't have that problem. My mission is going very well, and it's hard to believe that I have been in Scotland almost 5 months. My plan is to visit all my grandchildren when my mission ends, I'm going to stay a week with each family whether they want me or not LOL! I'll work my way from New York down to my home in North Carolina, visiting one set of grandkids after another. That includes great-grandchildren too. I sure hope you have a great school year. Write me a letter if you have time. Michael too. Love you lots. gramma G