December 2009

Posing for a Christmas card picture - this was the

first time this season that it snowed enough to

go sledding and build things in our yard.


Megan brought her friend to the BYU Christmas

party since Joshua had to collect food for the Scout

food drive.


Megan and her friend after perfoming in their

band concert. They had to sit out while the choir

and orchestras played their songs.


We had a great Ward Christmas Party where we

had to dress up in biblical attire, get food from the

"market" set up around the gym, and then eat on

our blankets on the floor. The nativity was performed

on the stage after we ate.

We just love sledding at Rock Canyon Park!

The kids found a snow cave there.

Megan made a gingerbread house with

her Activity Days friends.

Joshua had a concert with his new band

at Dixon Middle School.

Megan sang Spanish songs in another

Christmas concert.

Joshua loves basketball, and practices

in our church gym sometimes. His Jr.

Jazz season has started already.


The kids had fun at Jumping Jacks in Springville -

I don't know how Megan ended up blurry.

Here's a better picture of Megan.

A Christmas tradition - we put a straw into Jesus'

manger for every good deed we notice each other doing.

We had a great time skating at our mortgage

company's skating night at 7 Peaks Arena.

Zachary got to where he didn't need my help with

the "walker" - it's great for beginners.

The Sunday before Christmas after Church

We had a family dinner and nativity at our house.

Christmas morning - Zachary loves his new

bike and wii light saber controller.

Megan loves her new camera and other fun things.

Joshua loves his new bike.

We all love our new couch in the basement.

Megan had fun doing her puzzle.

Seeing the lights at Temple Square

Back at Rock Canyon Park with Megan's friends,

while Joshua went to Trafalga to mini golf with his

friends.

Cute hat made by a nice aunt

Eddie skiing with Joshua and Megan on New Year's Eve

(they also went on Dec. 23rd without a camera)

Meeting our new niece on New Year's Eve

November 2009

The kids enjoyed the first snow - we had to take
down the trampoline after their last fun on it.


Joshua earned his Star - on track to earn his
Eagle in one more year!

Eddie went to conferences in Washington D.C. and

New York on two different weekends in November,

and had Stake Conference to put on. Joshua got sick,

then I got sick, then Zachary got sick (Megan also got

sick while we were gone - why do we all get sick at

separate times -gotta love dragging it out:). It was a hard

month, and hard to prepare for our trip to the U.K., but I

still got to see "New Moon" with Eddie's sisters right before

leaving and managed to pack everything in carry-on luggage.

Eddie and I went to England and Scotland during

Thanksgiving week - he had his advanced law

graduation and we celebrated our 14th anniversary -

we left the kids thanks to Eddie's sisters and friends!

Here's the Museum of Natural History we saw on our

way to church in London - beautiful architecture.

Eddie in the Museum of Science in London - we

stopped in since we were a little early for church,

and the museum was free. It was also cold and

rainy - good thing we had raincoats.

The next day was a bit rainy, too, but we rode

the tour bus and got off at the Tower of London

The crown jewels are in this building - no photos

allowed inside.

The kings' bedchamber inside a turret.

The kings' throne - maybe King Edward sat here.

A view of the Tower Bridge from the castle wall.

A view of the Tower Palace from the other side

of the wall. We saw mostly armor and weapons

inside, but no photos allowed.

A castle wall leading to a turret. We saw

etchings in the walls made by prisoners.

Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth resides.

I bought a hat, since it was so windy, cold and rainy.

A view of Trafalgar Square from the top of a

double-decker tour bus - we got front row seats

on the top deck, covered section - great views!

A view at night from the bus top.

At Speaker's Corner where President Hinckley

spoke on his mission - too bad it's too dark to see.

Eddie's wearing an "Arsenal" scarf he bought

there since he studied a case about the maker of

the scarves during his advanced law studies.

Big Ben by the Parliament building.

Westminster Abbey - no photos allowed inside,

but we saw several kings' and queens' graves,

and memorials to Shakespeare, Handel, Jane

Austen, etc.

We got to go on a boat ride on the River Thames.

Here's a double decker bus that we rode on.

We also rode the subway everywhere.

Leaving London on a train to Edinburgh.

We rented a car in Edinburgh and drove to

Inverness, where Loch Ness is located. Eddie

had a crazy time driving on the wrong side of the

car, the wrong side of the road, with a stick shift

on the wrong side, and in a bad storm most of the

way in the dark (3 hour drive).

We made it to Castle Stuart, where we stayed

the night in the top level seen at the front of this

picture, with three turrets and a section sticking

out in the rear of the castle that was our bathroom.

There were no other guests at this time, so we got

the best room available.

They gave us the honeymoon suite with this

wonderful king-sized four poster bed.

This turret had the dressing area.

This was our fireplace, with a turret off of it that

had several books to read.

This turret was the game room, with a wig

and princess hat for pretending to be Rapunzel.

Our bathroom.

The billiard room, with the largest pool table

I've ever seen.

The Great Hall, where weddings are sometimes

performed.

The drawing room, decorated for Christmas.

We looked through books about castles and

family plaids, and had treats and drinks in here.

The dining room, where we had a huge breakfast -

that turned out to be our Thanksgiving feast for

the day. This room was decorated for a children's

party to be held later that day.

On top of the castle.

Our hostess took our picture as we were leaving

the castle - their miniature ponies were so cute!

We drove to Loch Ness, but had no luck in

seeing Nessie, the Loch Ness monster:)

We did see Urquhart Castle ruins on the lake.

We drove back to Edinburgh and toured

Edinburgh Castle, built on a hill at one end of

the road called "The Royal Mile". We got to see

the crown jewels of Scotland - no photos allowed.


Eddie's graduation from the University of Edinburgh

was the next day. This was inside where graduation

was held. I sat in a balcony to watch.

When the graduates were called forward, they

received a tap on the head with a special hat.

The outside of the building where graduation

was held.

Outside the building again.

Outside the Law School building.

In the courtyard of the Law School.


At the other end of "The Royal Mile" was the

Holyrood Castle, where Queen Elizabeth comes

to stay a couple times a year. We got to tour

inside, since she was not visiting at the time, but

no photos were allowed inside.

The gatehouse for the castle.


We went to a dinner with some other graduates

at a great restaurant called "B'est".

We had our last fun in the "The Scotsman" hotel

pool and hot tub. The pool had a metal floor and

sides - too hard to see with the bad lighting - I'd

never seen such a pool before - it was beautiful.

Then we flew home the next morning.

Here are Joshua and Megan with their aunts, uncles,

and cousins on Thanksgiving - nice picture! Too bad

Zachary wouldn't pose with them!