Scotland Day 3 - Hanging Out (April 6th)

Thursday, April 30, 2009

A few pictures from the day...


Eva, Kyla and Jade hanging out at Gran's
Cuddling with Papa
Jade giving John "earrings"
Papa and his girls

Parental Set Up

Wednesday, April 29, 2009


It's 11:45pm and I've spent the last 3 hours putting together a play kitchen for my daughter's main 2nd birthday gift.  As I was making my 2nd cocktail of the evening (John was out with his soccer buddies), I was reminded of the story my dad likes to tell a lot....  


Let me preface this by saying, Christmas is and always has been my absolute favorite holiday.  And as a kid there was nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought us.  Anyway, I guess when I was 7 or 8 years old I woke up at 2am on Christmas Eve going into Christmas morning, and came into the living room to see if Santa had been there yet.  My parents had been putting together a Barbie Fashion Stage (although I wanted the Dream House, and refuse years later to ever forget this sad fact) and other Christmas presents from "Santa" for the last 5-6 hours and were completely exhausted and fed up.  My dad just yells "no Santa hasn't been here and get back to bed."  

I honestly don't really remember this happening, although I've heard the story so many times it feels like I do.  But now that I have children and my oldest is old enough to start getting "put together" toys that I understand how that story is one of my dad's favorites to tell.  As parents we deserve a little pat on the back for un-packaging 72 random unlabeled wooden pieces, reading not so obvious instructions and screwing teeny tiny screws into teenier tinier holes in the wee hours of the morning!  All so our kids can play make believe Barbie fashion shows or whip up a pretend gourmet meal.  So, thanks mom and dad.  You were the best!

After Christening Party

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

After Dylan's Christening, our family and friends all went to Robert's coffee shop for lunch (which was fantastic!).  The kids loved it as you can see by the pictures since they have two highland cows (Bruce and Wallace) and a playpark.  Special thanks to Mum, Dad and Robert for hosting the lunch!  

After the lunch, many of our family and friends came back to Mum and Dad's house for tea and cakes.  It was much more intimate and we were able to talk a bit more with people.  Plus Dylan could get into something a bit more comfy.  

Sorry the pictures are a bit out of order.

Papa and Kyla with the cows
Kyla feeding Wallace
Jade (cousin), Kyla and Caitlyn
Papa, his granddaughters and Caitlyn
Eva feeding Dylan
The Scott Siblings (Andrew, John, Janice and Robert)
The Scotts
Aunt Janice and Dylan
Aunt Marion and Aunt Shelia
Dylan and his Gran
Godfather Robert and Dylan
Jade and Dylan
Best Pals - Kyla and Jade

Dylan's Christening - April 5th

Dylan was Christened at the Overtown Parish Church on Sunday April 5th - the same place as Kyla and their dad - with our friend Pamela Buddie and John's brother Robert as his godparents.  The minister was very gracious and handled everything perfectly.  Kyla even got to help put the holy water into the bowl.  It was also Palm Sunday so the service was very kid oriented, which made the process very relaxing especially for our jet-lagged family and thankfully entertaining for a 2-year old.   Dylan wore the same Christening outfit as Kyla and looked so darling.  He was an angel through the entire service and slept most of it until the water was poured on his head.  We couldn't have been more proud of our little family.

In His Outfit

Dylan and Kyla
The Godparents:  Pamela and Robert
Our Family
Newly Christened
Kyla enjoyed the flowers and the Palm Sunday crosses

Happy 2nd Birthday Kyla!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Yes, I know we owe lots of Scotland footage, but we've been busy getting ready for Kyla's birthday today and birthday party this coming weekend.  Kyla had a great day today although she doesn't really like for us to sing "Happy Birthday" - she keeps saying "no, no no."  She's definitely a contradiction in liking the spotlight sometimes, but not at others.  

John and I can't believe our little girl is 2!!  And she definitely got the memo on how to be a 2 year old and test every boundary in sight!!  But she is also developing the cutest personality.  Her speech has come such a long way in the last month and she is really starting to communicate with us.  And smart cookie - when she can't find the words, she'll find a book with a picture of what she wants!  We can't wait to see what she has in store for us this year.  

Here are a few pictures from the day of opening gifts this morning and the birthday cupcakes after dinner.  Cupcakes are one of her very favorite things not only to eat, but to look at and read about.  Girl after my own heart!  Sadly, Kyla's "big gift" from mum-mum and daddy (as she likes to call us) didn't arrive in time, but hopefully it'll be here this week.  Shhhh.... it's a play kitchen.

Looking at the stash of gifts from family
Grumpy Gertrude face because I'm taking pictures

Playing with her legos from Gran & Papa
Getting good at opening presents
Ky got lots of books, since she LOVES to read
More pressies!
Using her new "doctor kit" on Daddy
Blowing out the candles
Happy Birthday to me!
Her 2 Year Old Face (oh the wheels are turning)


I have her 2 year video ready to go, but I want to add some pictures from her party this Sunday, so I'll post it after I upload those.  

We're Back and Andrew This One Is For You

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

So, we are back from Scotland after 17 great, but very long days!  I'm dedicating this post to my brother-in-law Andrew who says I post too many pictures and too few words.  Well, since I haven't downloaded the 400+ pictures from Scotland this post will be without any.  Personally I prefer the pictures over lots of blethering but that's me - Andrew must like to talk.  :)


Now onto the post....  we had an amazing time in Scotland and there will be dozens of posts regarding our trip in the next few days.  It was wonderful to see our family and friends again and we did a lot of local exploring while we were there.  Here are a few highlights:

1.  Dylan's christening
2.  Brother's Night Out (with wives and girlfriends)
3.  Girl's Night Out
4.  Visiting a Dairy Farm owned by Aunt Mary, Uncle Jim and their sons
5.  Holding a baby lamb at Aunt Marion's farm
6.  Date Night courtesy of Pamela and Stephen babysitting the kids
7.  Visiting our friends Graeme/Gaby and Ross/Jane
8.  Kyla's first sleep over with cousins Jade and Eva
9.  Kyla's never ending desire to play with Papa, Jade and Eva - even in the freezing cold
10.  Grocery Shopping at ASDA 

...and many more good times.  We can't wait to share our adventures with everyone.  We got some good pictures and some even better videos of our time in Scotland.  But first we've got 100's of loads of laundry to do, 100's of christening gifts to put away and a house to clean thanks to the cats who almost got sent to the pound Sunday night when we arrived home.  I promise I'll get to the posts this week.

That ok Andrew?


Getting Big

Wednesday, April 1, 2009







Goofy Girls