Our first Christmas in Scotland

Our first Christmas in Scotland was great. We were blessed with three special visitors: Grandpa and Grandma Coutts and Uncle Jeff! We had lots of fun, despite the unexpected ice and snow that kept us from sharing our "normal" life with them. Here we are at Dunnottar Castle on the North Sea.

Christmas holidays began with a bang! Not only was December 18th the last day of school, Brady's birthday and birthday party, but it was also the day it started to snow! It snowed and snowed and snowed. We ended up with ice and snow on the ground for over 4 weeks (apparently this doesn't happen often) and it seemed that nobody here knew what to do with it. The boys were due back at school on January 5th but school was cancelled because of the snow that was on the ground. They did get to go to school on the 6th, but they weren't allowed to have recess outside until the snow was gone, which was more than a bit frustrating for them, especially for Elijah!

December 23rd: We took the bus downtown and managed to shuffle-skate our way around a bit. Here is a shot of the boys with Grandpa (and Uncle Jeff and Jesse behind) at the end of Union Street.

December 24th: Here we are in our annual Christmas pyjamas, sent from Grandpa and Grandma Zed.

December 26th: A beautiful day at the sea.

December 29th: Here are the boys with Grandpa and Grandma Coutts on the train to Edinburgh. It was a fun trip (we love travelling by train) and it was nice to stay in a hotel for a night!

Edinburgh Castle

As the sun was setting, Jesse and Matty were mesmerized by the lights.

The boys sure love their Uncle Jeff.

Our last group photo (taken at the hotel the night before Jeff left for home). Matty was just so sad to say goodbye to Uncle Jeff!