Our Visit to Cromarty Firth

Andrew had a meeting at this fun Restaurant Fowlis Storehouse. This is a great spot to spot seals:) So we tagged along and spent time hunting for all sorts of birds and seals (and Gideon hunted for grass:)) along the firth line. The boys and I had a wonderful time together eating lunch and enjoying a sunny day. Oh, and Andrew had a good meeting.

Visit to Fort William

Andrew preached at a lovely United Free Church in Fort William. They have a vacant manse and invited us up earlier so we could enjoy the area. We had a wonderful time and the boys enjoyed exploring (Gideon and I stayed home and took a nap:( The highlight was the unexpected up close and personal viewing of a helicopter! It was so close that it nearly blew Andrew over.
The church received us well and Andrew preached two services of powerful messages, and the praise and worship was awesome. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK

Gaius being Gaius throwing stones!

RUNNNNN its about to take off!!!!

Andrew said the power of the wind from the helicopter literally blew him back and gave Gaius a bit of a fright.

GASOLINE PRICES

To all my US friends feeling the pain of your gas prices let me enlighten you as to our prices over here in Scotland. We paid almost $10.00 for 1 gallon!!!!!!!! And we live in the country were it takes 30 min to get to any real shopping and most activities.

To All the Priceless Women Out There

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'
She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?'
'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered,

'Well, today I didn't do it.'
I have no idea who's house this is but I had to laugh out loud and could not resist attaching it to this post!
***Thank You Rachel for this I had to share it with the blog world!***

10 PM and Still Light

I drove home from Thursday night Bible study (we stayed later chatting) after 10pm and had no need to turn on the headlights in the car! Mind you, it's not even summer!
We are also having a very hard time getting Gaius to go to sleep as he is wired at night.
Ahh the joy of living up this far north:)

Beach Trip to Rosemarki Beach

I have officially become one of those parents who take tons of photos of their kids and expects the world to love looking at them! Oh Well! Hope you enjoy them none the less.
We have had a few really great days, nice and warm and very sunny so we had to go to the beach!

"Go long daddy" Future football player; we will save this one for the magazines if Gaius wins a Heisman trophy;)

Gaius and his girlfriend hanging out at the beach, what a great day!

The kids and the dads exploring.

Gideon's first touch of the icy water.

Father and son. Gaius was given a short hair cut and people are telling me that he looks a lot like Andrew.

Time Out!

Time Out is a ministry of a Church of Scotland in Inverness (Hilton). Gaius loves the creche (nursery) and today Gideon proved to love it also. I must admit that I checked on Gideon about every 10mins as this was the first time I have ever left him in a nursery. They both did great and I was able to enjoy some mosaic time and hanging out with good adult company. Is this a photo of a six month old or a sixty year old?!

Gaius having some fun with play dough.

Traffic Jam

We have had quite the traffic jam in our bath tub these past few days. Andrew and I had the pleasure of baby sitting our friends' two wonderful children while their parents enjoyed celebrating their 10th anniversary. Andrew was giving Gaius and Gideon a bath and their two kids wanted in too! Poor Gideon was the only one who suffered--dunked twice:(

Tonight we had our good Aussie friends over and Andrew gave Gaius a bath and their two kids wanted a bath also, so in they went! This photo is of Gaius and his best girl taking a bath together - which abruptly ended when Gaius dumped her out of the baby tub head first into the water! Boys, nothing but trouble!

May 2008 NEWSLETTER Update

It is hard to believe that it is May 2008! We have been in Scotland for quite some time and feel at home, though of course we miss "home."

We must start this update with a BIG thank you to all of those who have supported us for these past years and another BIG thank you to those who responded so generously to our recent financial need. We are thrilled to see what the Lord has in store for us and will continue to press on serving him faithfully in Kiltarlity Scotland.

Since we returned home from our visit back to the States things have been non-stop. We have been hit with one illness after another, including Gaius getting the chickenpox! Though the most pressing illness is Eleanor who had taken a bad fall back in February and her back has never recovered. The doctors have also found that her liver is not functioning properly and it is proving to be quite difficult to diagnose. Please remember her in your prayers as she is having to live with constant pain. We praise the Lord for His grace throughout this challenging time.

Andrew is very busy with everything from preaching and teaching to studying and writing for his PhD. The Lord in His grace continues to bless us as we serve Him in the church (KFC) and support the furtherance of the gospel in the community and supporting other churches in the city and surrounding areas.

Eleanor is now leading another Bible study (on top of the Thursday evening one) on Monday afternoon. This is a wonderful group of ladies from the community who attend a number of different churches in the area. They will begin studying on the topic of Prayer next Monday.

Gaius is growing like a weed. He is enjoying "school." Eleanor has started homeschooling Gaius - teaching everything from Bible stories to colours and letters. We have a lot of fun with all sorts of things. His favorite book right now is, "The Incredibles" and his baby "Bible". It seems like every day he adds at least 10 words into his vocabulary.

Gideon is a little adorable chub who smiles all day long. He is sitting up and grabbing everything he can reach for. He looks on as Gaius plays and is desperate to get "stuck into it" (Australian saying). He LOVES books and enjoys his food, especially fruit!

I think that covers it all...please continue to remember us in your prayers as we sure need it every day!

Blessings in Christ,

Andrew, Eleanor, Gaius, and Gideon.

Just For Fun Kid Photos!

Gideon in his new walker--a.k.a. mommy's life saver. This is so helpful as my back is giving me lots of pain esp. when walking/holding kids.

A tub in a tub. A fun way to bath both kids together!

Solid Food and Gideon!

I have started Gideon on solid food (slooowly) and he seems to love it. He and I have an exciting and fun time together each night. We play a fun game called "In and Out". It goes a little something like this...I put the food in front of him, he leans forward and sucks a bit off, I wait with bated breath to do the "scrape" when his cute little tongue pushes that food right back out! I am there ready and waiting to scrape/scoop and try again! There is lots of smiling and laughing from both parties! Today was his first time to have lunch and dinner...rice and fruit!

A Sunny Day in Inverness!

Its rare, so when we have one we try to make the most of it! These photos are taken at a large park in the city.