NOVEMBER, THANKSGIVING

The senior missionaries in Edinburgh got together and made a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday. We also invited about 12 younger misionaries. It was a really nice time to be thankful, eat, and visit together.

I"m getting a little better at drawing Highland Coos.

For FHE Monday, we did some turkey bowling again, like we did last year. Those who weren't bowling created some turkey art.

Leif asked Lizzy, who is an artist, to draw a turkey with a human face, adn she came up with this.

I love the charity shops here in Scotland. They are set up like regular stores or boutiques, but with all second hand stuff. People here really like to recycle and reuse things, so everyone shops there.They also sell Christmas and other cards that you can't find anywherre else. I especially like the cow ones.

Abby's family went to Houston for a little holiday. They went to the beach and to the space center.

 

Glasgow trip

We had a really nice outing yesterday. Since we were going to the ceilidh in Glasgow that evening, we made a day trip out of it and saw some of the west coast of Scotland. This is the beach in Ayr.

The River Ayr is stunning! We had to just stand on the bridge and look at it for awhile. 

We got to see some sheep. I've missed them!

This is the cottage where Robert Burns was born, in Ayr. It has a thatched roof that's about 18 inches thick. It couldn't possibly be the original one, but maybe just what they used to look like.

Sam and his girlfriend, Aaron, and Sister Collier visiting with us at the dance.

Here is Aaron getting ready to go.

FHE Monday- Julia, Holly, Fin, John, Romik, me.

Romik loves us! We like him a lot too.

Kelsey sent me this cool painting she did of her and Madelyn. 

 

November...

The blindfolded waffle-making FHE was a big hit. 

By the end of the eveing, ten missionaries had showed up, but we still had plenty of waffles, amazing.y.

Our Saturday outing was to Musselburgh beach. It's about an hour bus ride away, and also close to charity shops, so we went to some of them too.

With plenty of red brick pieces on the beach, we were able to make our first attempt at a highland beach coo.

These people were digging up the beach, looking for bait. We're not sure if they use it themselves or sell it to fishermen. 

Princes Street, from the bus

Charles at District Council

Our new district leader, Elder Francis.

Our YA friend, Aaron, got his Patriarchal Blessing last Sunday and invited us to be there with him. He also invited the bishop and Silvia,and Erika and Ondres and their baby. 

He should be receiving his mission call any day now.

I am really impressed with Lizzy's artwork. She is amazingly talented, both artistically and musically. She plans to make a trip to the U.S. this summer, so we may get to see her. She wants to investigate liberals and conservatives in the U.S. and see how they might come together. Maybe she can actually find a solution!

 

Guy Fawkes Day in Dumfries and the Poppy Appeal with the missionaries

 

We had a stake YA activity in Dumfries Saturday, November 5, which was Guy Fawkes Day. We only had four YA's from Edinburgh go, including Jason and Haley, the YA reps, but there were a lot there from Dumfries. It's almost two hours away, so transportation was an issue.

President Goodare built an amazing bonfire on their property so we could fully celebrate.

After lunch and some time to visit, we went to the nearby ice skating rink

Charles dared to go out and he did great, despite the fact that he hasn't skated in decades.

This was just the gathering in the building. After skating, we had snacks and played Murder in the Dark and Sardines.

This is in the Goodare's kitchen, making hot chocolate and chile dogs. I noticed they had rubber boots of all sizes on their back porch, probably because it is muddy outside. However, that night they probably had lots of cleaning to do afterward because of all the wet shoes worn inside.

We did the Poppy Appeal last year, so didn't want to miss the fun this year. The weather was really bad the day before, but ended up pretty nice that day. 

We found another corner on the Royal Mile to stand on, but not the same one we had last year.

This guy is in his 90's, but he was a winner of Britain's got Talent. I don't know which year, but he still sounds really good.

We spent a little time after lunch in St. Andrew's Square, where there were some festivities. People were generous with their donations there.

We met up with Andrea and Iain at their house for dinner last Tuesday. 

Aaron got his Patriarchal blessing yesterday, and invited us to come with him. If we were the only ones there, we would have been able to go in with him, but as it was, we wouldn't all fit into the stake president's office! This is the Bishop and Silvia and Erika and Ondres and their baby- Aaron's closest friends. His mission papers have been turned in for a few days now, so it won't be long before we find out wherre he is headed on his mission. He will be great wherever he goes!