Caerlaverock Castle

This was our last day in Scotland ( I learned from the last time that I should do these in reverse order). Our children are obsessed with castles, if we go on a trip, we have to go to a castle. There is no way around if we want to avoid tantrums. We don't mind, because we end up finding some pretty awesome ones.
First off, we were impressed that this had quite the moat around it. You could tell straight away that it was nothing to be messed with, as it appeared very deep in certain areas. This made me a little nervous, because there were no protective bars or anything of the sort preventing my monkey like children from falling in. Luckily, we survived the trip and it was great fun.
This castle was originally built around 1280 and was a important strategic place of interest for Edward I. After the besiege by Edward I in 1300 the castle remained in English possession until the keeper switched alliances to Robert the Bruce. The triangular shape of the castle structure was a different from any we have seen, which made it all the more fasinating.
Carter is our child who is fascinated with Scotland and likes to learn all these facts about the castles. I don't know which things stick, but at least his interest in history is peeked.
The castle eventually evolved to be a mansion and that is when the intricate stone work was done. That was a surprise to find, and I thought it was beautiful!

That wall that my children are sitting on, about 6 inches from there knees was the edge of the castle and the moat waiting for a swimmer. I was pretty sure that one of my children were going to fall in, and I did not want to follow them. So I had a few mild heart attacks watching them get dangerously close to the edge, but felt good that they felt confident enough in themselves to get that close.

Because we visited the castle on a cold Monday afternoon when school was still in session we had the luck to have the place pretty much all to ourselves. The people that were there left shortly after we got there, and the kids had the run of the place. This made for a perfect afternoon, we had left Glasgow with snow falling and had sun by the time we got to the castle.

Mike and I love this picture of Taylor and Brennan and if only our little fireball Taylor could stay that somber all the time. :) Brennan was sad because we were going in for lunch and he wanted to stay out in the cold, windy weather. So we started to walk away making our point that we needed to go in, Taylor ran over and put her arm around him and started walking to us. We took a couple pictures to remember this moment, and while I was taking the picture Mike leaned over and whispered, "she is going to yell at you when she gets here."

I replied, "yes, I know."

Taylor walked up about 5 feet from me you could visibly see the fire in her eyes light and out came, "What is your problem?!"

Mike and I started laughing, which got us in greater trouble.

Taylor went on and on about how we left Brennan and he was sad and we should have been with him etc... It was a classic moment of Taylorism.

Just for fun

Seriously, they beat us by one point. So they are officially the third set of missionaries to beat us at this wonderful game. We really need to work on getting to know one another all over again apparently. Maybe it is because we have more time to sift through for answers.

Carter was having a sleepover during the holiday break and Taylor felt left out. So I was playing with her hair when Brennan got all upset about me not putting anything in his hair. So for just a night Taylor thought she had a sister :)

Yes, one day I'm sure he will look back and want me to burn these pictures. :)

Promoted to Tech Sergeant

December 30th Mike had his promotion ceremony for the promotion to Tech Sergeant. At the last minute we decided that taking all the kids was going to be super disruptive. Carter came along because Mike had asked him to help with the tacking on of his new stripe. Carter had been practicing his punches all week and was very excited, and a little nervous, to be up in front and punching Mike.

Carter took the opportunity to congratulate the promotees after the ceremony. He went through the line and shook all their hands saying congratulations and well done. It was very sweet to see him be so grown up on that day.

So proud of Mike for his hard work and dedication to the Air Force. He works diligently at his job and certainly deserved this promotion. It was a neat experience to have Carter be so excited about his dad's new badge. He was thrilled to be there and support his great dad.

Late Christmas

With the late package arriving the kids were able to hook back on to Skype and let Grandma watch them open their presents. It was really exciting for the kids, late Christmas' are awesome!

Holiday season

It seems as if the holiday season gives us plenty of excuses to have some parties, and with our new home and the space it provides we did just that. We had many gatherings with plenty of food and celebration. Elder Hales and Brennan waiting for the game of dominoes Mexican Train to start.

Mischievous Mason

Elder Pulotu's birthday was on the 27th. In his effort to keep it a secret we thought it was the 29th. The party was still fun, and we are grateful for all he has done for our family.

Will we ever take a serious picture with these guys?

Happy Birthday to Hollie!

This was a year of being spoiled by my dear sweet husband. He knows how much I wanted to get to a gym and how impossible it was becoming. So in our lovely 'home office bungalow' in the back garden we now have our own little gym.

Carter went on a little trip with Mike to get me a few gifts from the children. He chose this cute little pot holder for a table, it folds into a tiny little thing, it is awesome.

Also this adorable little pan that is perfect for frying my eggs. It makes it the perfect size to go on my toast, I love it. It was a perfect little birthday with my family. Mike surprised me with a cake during on Boxing Day party with friends. I didn't get a picture of the lovely cake or friends who sang me wonderful birthday song! Thanks to all those people who made it a special day for me.

More Spoilin'

We had a great time on Christmas night Skyping with our families, the kids thought it was great to see their grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. We were spoiled with many packages and treasures from over the pond. We were so grateful for all the wonderful gifts and also grateful for the wonderful modern technology so we could share in the moment with our families.

Lightsaber Crazy!!!

Let the Star Wars obsession begin, we had such a great time with the many lightsabers that the family recieved for Christmas. We also had a bit of fun with the camera to get some pretty wicked shots of the good time we were having.