A couple of pics of the kids

Marc told me the other day that I needed to put some fresh pictures of the kids on the blog, so here we go...

Here's one of mom & the kids while we were getting ready to go somewhere:

Here's Leah hanging out on the couch with a new toy from McDonalds (we haven't been there in ages):

Here's Ian having a bit of a giggle at something (yes, he knows it's January in Germany & wears a fleece pullover over the t-shirt):

If I start to slack on picture posts, let me know!  Marc is usually the photographer & half the time I usually forget to take my camera places.  I'm trying to get better at it, but may need a few reminders.  

Hope the pics look ok!

Catherine

St. Wendel's Nativity Museum

Mom & I went to visit one of the nearby towns, St. Wendel to see their Nativity museum.  I will say that it really was amazing how many Nativities they have in just a few rooms.  

Here is a shot into one of the rooms:

All of those green boxes along the sides of the walls are Nativities as well as looking into the room beyond you can see a few more.  

Here is mom in front of a nativity set in an igloo.

Here is another one I found interesting of an artist in a studio with several nativities to be seen in it.

The nativities were from literally all over the world and made out of materials like straw, wood, a coconut, a dried out pomegranite, bone, and so much more.

Both mom & I were impressed & will remember our visit for a long time.

Catherine

I've had a call from Marc and an Update

He is hoping to have some internet access coming up.  I just wanted to let everyone know he has completed the second part of his journey safely & is getting ready for the third one.

He sounded well rested (he slept for 12 hours last night after not sleeping on the plane).  He is also in good spirits and was interested in hearing what was going on here.

Which, by the way, my Mom is visiting for a few weeks to help out a little.  I have my colonoscopy on Tuesday, so tomorrow is not going to be a good day for me with having to be on a liquid diet before the procedure.  Hopefully the Dr's will be able to figure out what if anything was the cause of my trip to the ER after Thanksgiving.

We have already taken her to Idar Oberstein, one of the nearby towns, and we went to church at the Episcopal Chapel this morning followed by the buffet at the nearby AFB.  Tomorrow Ian is back to Preschool in the afternoon.  Oh, and he is a soon-to-be Pre K boy.  He got into the new Pre Kindergarden program here, so he should be starting that by the end of the month.

Catherine

Marc has been Sighted in Georgia!

Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know that Marc has arrived safely in Georgia and is now with my Aunt & Uncle from Alabama.  They will be driving him around to take care of some last minute errands this afternoon/evening.  He has minimal phone access at this time (apparently all of the pay phones where he is staying are not working) & is hoping to get hooked in to some internet access some time tonight.  He will be working through the week with some pretty long hours and will fly out on Friday.

Catherine

The Southern Highlands of Scotland

Okay - so this was the absolute highlight of the trip for me (Marc)!  I have been wanting to see the Scottish Highlands for sometime, and as I've said before, it completely lived up to the romanticized notions of the place I've held for some time.

We got an early start and drove west to Glasgow and then north into the Highlands.  We started the adventure at Loch Lomond, kind of the unofficial gateway to the Highlands.  It is a pretty Loch (I suppose most are . . .), including a drive through some pretty remote spots. Check out my Flickr account for some photos of it - though some photos of the other Lochs are included below.  If you're really interested where these places are, some of my photos on Flickr are "tagged" - just look for the "map" link when you click on a photo and you'll see exactly where the photo was taken - at least to the best of my memory.

This first photo is of Ian and Leah in the Dukes Pass. Fantastic drive - another one of those where I wished for either more time to fully explore some of the pull offs, or an empty road with a fast car!  Gorgeous scenery and fun to drive.

This next shot is of Ian and Leah standing in front of a boat at Loch Venachar.  Beautiful Loch, but it marked the end of our Highland adventure.

Taken in the same spot as the photo above, only I'm standing on the other side of the boat, but basically same angle.

This one is Loch Achray - right after you come out of the Dukes Pass.  There is a grand old mansion on the other side of the Loch if you are in front of the white house pictured here.

The remainder of our trip was Christmas Day - we went to the church just next door to our cottage and celebrated there.  What fun - they really let their kids go unrestrained and everyone just rolls with it, no big deal that someone's 2 year old climbed up on the pulpit while the preacher was doing her thing.  In fact, she even joked about it.  Made me think about the old addage: it takes a village to raise a child . . .

The day after Christmas (Boxing Day) we went back to Edinburgh and explored some more.  Once again we were going to take a train, but since it was Boxing Day, no trains were running.  At all!  So we drove again - which was good for me as it meant we got to explore Holyrood Park.  We ate lunch at a pub - fantastic!  And we spent the remainder of the day shopping along Princes Street and in the trendy areas just north of Princes Street.

That pretty much closes out the story of our Scotland trip. I hope everyone has enjoyed the photos of the kids and our trip.  We hope everyone out there has had a Happy Christmas, and a wonderful start to the New Year!

Cheers!

Marc

PS.  Some of my favorite photos are also up on Sony's site - feel free to register and vote for my photos, as it might give me a chance to win some cool stuff from Sony - I am in the running for October and November.  Thanks!