Friday, January 29, 2010

January 21, 2010

4 apartments, 1 house, over 20 states visited, 7 countries, 2 degrees and one in progress, 2 cars, 2 children and 5 years later, we have celebrated our marriage in the temple.

David had previously declared that he wanted to be in charge of all of the big anniversaries, like the 1st, 5th, 10th and so on. So I kindly reminded him that I was planning on date night, nothing fancy, and he looked at me like I was crazy, he was going to study all next week. Then I reminded him that it was our 5th year anniversary and he jumped up to the challenge.

He planned the whole day and it was great.

He got a babysitter to come on Thursday morning and he whisked me away to Edinburgh, Scotland. He bought me a new outfit because I am getting low on pants that don't have holes in them and pretty much I am sick of all of my shirts, so it was refreshing to wear something new. It was quick train ride up there and we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and hit the town running.

It was such an amazing city, so unique.

We started off at the hill that overlooks the city, sea, and castle. We looked at a few of the monuments nearby and then headed to the queen's palace. It is the only residence of the Queen's outside of England. On the way there we stopped at an old cemetery, very old and unique. The oldest tomb we found was from 1806. We had lunch at a local cafe and then headed up the Royal mile. It is the mile from the palace to the castle.





It is lined with stores and churches. We stopped at the cathedral and really were able to enjoy the architecture and history in the old church. A man came and talked to us and gave us some history of the church and of some of the relics in the cathedral. My favorite was the English flag that was flown at the revolutionary war, against us.


We then continued on to the castle and it was very interesting. It was like their own little village inside the castle wall. There was a hospital and a church and a prison. My favorite part was the Honour of Scotland which is basically the sword, scepter and the crown of Scotland. It was interested to learn about the history how they signed the treaty with England and buried these Honours, then 100 years later it was discovered and brought back to their glory.





This was also the place that Mary Queen of Scots was crowned queen when she was 9 months old. That whole story is interesting also.
We were cold and tired by 5:00 and headed back to our hotel. David had gotten reservations for dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.
It was such a fun day to be just with husband, to walk around with my best friend and enjoy a new experience together. I love being with David and have missed him since he has started med school. I am grateful that he planned this day that was just him and I. He is so sweet, thoughtful, dedicated, determined, a great father and a good example of living the gospel. He is so appreciative of what I do and helps whenever he can or is home. I love him and I am glad that he chose me to have all of these adventures with.
HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Eliza goes to Primary

Today was Eliza's first day of primary. I was a little hesitant because she loves nursery so much, I didn't know how quickly she would adapt. She went to primary and stayed the whole time. She was great. She lead the music in and then the primary sang a song in Sacrament meeting and she went right to the front, with the baton and again lead the music. She was adorable.
Two weeks ago she had her first solo in sacrement meeting. She sang the whole first verse of "I am a child of God" by herself. It was amazing. She stepped up to the microphone and sang her little heart out. She asks me now if she can sing again. She loved it.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Global warming

Our Global Warming problems here in Newcastle

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas

Christmas eve was so great. We had our Christmas eve dinner and had tons of ham and mashed potatoes, lots of veggies, and shloer (like martinelli's). We invited several people over for dinner but no one showed up so we had a lot of left overs. We went with our friends, the Cave's, to her father's village. They have a tradition to come together as a village and sing carols at the town center. It was awesome. There was a brass band, lights, christmas tree, and a full town center. It was a perfect scene with the snow on the ground and Eliza and new best friend Evie singing and playing around. We went back to Louise's family's home for hot cocoa, roasted chestnuts and chocolate. It was such a great evening with warm memories.



Christmas morning was great. We have a video of the first 10 minutes of the morning so you can get an idea of our morning. Eliza has been looking forward to a blue crown and a pink trumpet. She has been asking for them for months so it was exciting to see her eyes when she finally got her desire. She wore the crown all day and carried her trumpet everywhere and even slept with it.






I love Christmas when something as small as a princess juice box makes Eliza happy.

I hope that eveyone had a great, safe, and happy Christmas filled with many warm memories.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Eliza turns 3

With all of the excitement of the cruise and the big boat and London, Eliza was still waiting for her third birthday. We have told Eliza that her birthday is after the big boat so she was excited for that. Even when we were on the boat she would tell people "I am not 3 yet" so when her birthday finally came it was exciting. She woke up in the morning and I told her she was three and she said "no I am not, I am not bigger yet". Then after breakfast she came in and said " ok I am bigger now. I am 3". We had a great birthday. We all went swimming and she loved it. The pool was a perfect depth for Eliza to walk around but still learn to swim. That night her friends came over and made the day seem very special. We had a tinklebell cake and great presents.

Truly Eliza was the greatest Christmas I have ever had. I still remember being in the hospital on Christmas Eve and the carolers came by and started to sing "come let us adore him". Tears came to my eyes because I wanted to adore my little girl. She has brought so much joy to my life. When she is asleep, I miss her. She is so obedient, gentle hearted and loves her brother. I love her twirls and dancing and wanting to dress up. I am grateful every day that Heavenly Father trusted us with this special spirit.

London

After our cruise we ported in Southampton and caught a bus up to London. We stayed in London for 3 days visiting one of my friends. It was awesome. We visited a big Christmas festival. Eliza rode on the swings, two times she loved it so much. We tried to take her out after her first ride and she did not want to get out, so she rode again. We walked down Oxford street and it was awesome, lights everywhere, windows decorated, and a little German market with brats and a brass band. It was so great!

We toured all day Monday and visited a lot of the touristy sites, not all because there are so many places to see in London. London is so fascinating with all of the architecture and history all over the city.

Monday, December 28, 2009

cute moments on the cruise

Eliza loved to dance on the boat. They had a couple of dance floors and live bands so she was in heaven. Here are a few pictures of her dancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw1wJSrh5MA

One night at dinner eliza was being really cute. She was singing jingle bells while eating ice cream. It was a riot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDPG0EF1pM4