MORE SCOTLAND ADVENTURES

We went to Stirling Castle, which is about an hour away from us, Saturday. It's a beautiful castle, and I especially loved the green, verdant grounds.

This is a photo we took while walking through the streets of Stirling.

This is the Old Stirling Bridge over the River Forth. It dates back to around the 1500's. Before it was built, there were timber bridges,  and there was a huge battle with England fought near this spot in the 1290's.

We learned that the unicorn is actually the national animal, and has been for a very long time.

These two animals represent  alliance of James V and his queen, Mary DeGuise, from France. Their tongues sticking out means they are ready for battle.

View from the castle wall of the surrounding farmland. The little white specks are sheep grazing.

The famous Wallace Monument. We didn't go inside, but hiked up to the grounds and looked around. 

We had a very successful activity with the Young Adult group in our ward Sunday after church, where we served pancakes and called it a Linger Longer. Some of the YA's who come on Sunday are unable to come to FHE, so we thought this would be a good way to get them all together. The meal was simple, but they loved it. Most of them walk or ride the bus some distance to get to church, and I'm sure they appreciated having something to eat before heading home, and they loved the chance to visit and mingle.

 There was a Stake YA activity Saturday night at a nearby bowling alley. Most of (us) either don't bowl well or hadn't even done it before, so it was interesting! There was pizza too, and it seemed like they all had a good time. 

SCOTLAND CONTINUED

We're sorry to see three of these sisters leave during transfer week, but anxiousl to meet the new ones who are coming. This is  the district we are a part of, and we meet with them every Tuesday.

On our way home from the district meeting, which is in Livingston, we stopped at the Blackness Castle.

For our outing Saturday, we hiked up Arthur's Seat. 

There is an amazing view from up there!

This compass sits at the top, and shows what is visible from every direction.

This is Arthur's Seat

Scotland Continued...

Kinneil

Culross Abbey

Kinneil

Kinneil

Culross Abbey

The Kelpies

 We had a really successful Family Home Evening with our Young Adults Monday evening. The most we've had in attendance up until then was 7, and that was for laser tag and pizza. Monday, we played board games and had snacks, and 21 young adults showed up. They all seemed to have fun being together. 

More are coming, as the new semester begins. We're having fun getting to know them, and enjoy having them over for lunch so we can visit. I think they will do anything for food! There are several American students who come here for their Master's program because it only takes one year, where it might take two or three in the U.S. It ends up saving them money, plus they get to live in Europe! 

We visited some interesting places on our day off yesterday, including the Kelpies, which are giant sculptures of horeses heads situated on the Forth and Clyde canal in Falkirk. They are fairly new, created in 2014, and becoming a tourist attraction. You can even see them from the motorway (freeway). 

We also saw the little burough of Culross and the Kinneil House, which is bsically an old mansion.

STAKE CONFERENCE WEEKEND

 Saturday morning we drove to Portabello Beach and did our morning walk there. It's really pretty, but a lot different thatn the beaches where we live! It started raining while we were out, so we got soaked.

We saw this bench on someone's deck.

The "beach houses" are much older than what we are used to seeing!

The sky is amazing here.

Saturday afternoon, after our morning walk on the beach, we went to the leadership session of stake conference. We had been asked to speak on "Love, Share, and Invite." Fortunately, we got to go first, so I didn't have to stress about it very long!

We went hom between that session and the evening adult session, but they served dinner there for those who stayed. People come from long distances because the stake is quite spread out. There is just one ward in Edinburgh, so even people in our ward might travel across town by bus to attend church and activities.

The area authority who presided is from Denmark. I really enjoyed his talks. 

We met several new Young Adults this weekend. They are starting to return for school. The universities' fall semester start this week.