2010-11-28 Thanksgiving Weekend in Edinburgh

SNOW . . . SNOW . . . AND MORE SNOW!    Record-breaking early snows have closed and cancelled much of life here in Edinburgh this week.  We arrived a year ago to the worst winter in 30 years and the jinx goes on.  This major snowstorm was the earliest in Scotland in 17 years but everyone "tells" us that this is not typical.  Church was cancelled Sunday except for the 50 who arrived without getting the message (20 of us missionaries among those 50) so we held a short Sacrament meeting and then were all invited to the mission home for pancakes since the mission president and his wife couldn't get to their speaking destination.  The airport, schools, and many businesses and offices are closed and we couldn't get out of our flat (tiniest little hill out of our car park) to go to work at on Monday.  No matter . . . the archive gate was frozen shut and few others could get there either!  Ned shovelled and hacked at the ice later that day and all the missionaries made it in to work on Tuesday (though a majority of the Scottish employees didn't) but there are 5 new inches of snow this morning and we are all home again for the day.  We estimate we have had 18 inches of snow in 3 days . . . which is really unheard of in Scotland and they are just not prepared for that kind of storm.  With "tinfoil" weight cars, no all-season tires, and few snow plows, the world stops and everyone stays home and hunkers down.  But it is absolutely beautiful!!!  We are in a great location and can walk to our nice mall for any groceries we need and are warm, dry, and cozy.

Edinburgh missionaries shovel out the mission home car park after church.  Great kids!!!  Some of the outlying villages/suburbs around Edinburgh (where our bishop lives, for instance) have snowfall nearing 3 feet! 

Our mission president works on the long mission home drive.

YSA kids of the Edinburgh Ward after our mini-church block Sunday.  The lad on the middle right spoke for his missionary Sacrament meeting Sunday before leaving on his mission for Leeds, England.  Just a tiny congregation to see him off as he leaves for the missionfield Friday.  The girl in the stocking cap is our YSA president and the boy next to her is her counselor.  Terrific kids!!!  We have seen four of our YSA boys leave on missions from the Edinburgh Ward while we've been here.  The Edinburgh Stake is second in the European Area for number of missionaries currently out serving and our YSA president (Katie in the stocking cap) has just announced that she plans to serve a mission next spring.

A snowy night from our flat kitchen window with the lights of Edinburgh city in the background.  Christmas in Edinburgh is something everyone should see!  It's a fairyland of lights, delicious smells, skaters on the ice rink in Princes Street Gardens, and festive decorations that mingle with the ancient castle, St. Giles Cathedral and the old buildings for incredible beauty and timelessness.  Edinburgh was voted the most beautiful city to see at Christmastime in the UK.  It takes your breath away and transports you to another world at night during

the holiday season!

  

So what do you do when you're stuck in a little flat and can't get out to do your missionary work?  Well, of course you put up the Christmas tree . . . . and

make paper snowflakes . . . well his first didn't turn out much like a snowflake but he got much better . . .

. . . and snuggle up and quilt!

2010-11-21 "I Nuv Doze Guys"

We couldn't believe what our 26 month old grandson was saying in this video clip and we just had to share it!   It's bragging, but it's really worth watching!

I Nuv Doze Guys from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

2010-11-12 Unexpected Trip to England

Posted by Ned

In October of 1963 I was asked by President Thorne to dedicate an area now known as the Wharfe Valley for the building of a ward.  Two pairs of missionaries there in three months found five families that were brought into the Church and formed the nucleus of the new branch.  There are now third and fourth generations of one of the families in the branch and active members from all of the families blessing other areas of England, Ireland, and the USA.  The unexpected trip came as I was given permission from the Area President to attend and speak at the funeral of Sister Iris Shaw, who was the first member my companion and I "tracted out" as we started to form the new branch.  Sister Shaw has stayed active and involved in the Church, ultimately serving her own mission, as a widow, in the London Temple.  The service went well and was short.  Only the branch president and I were on the program.  In England they only have closed caskets and, at least at this funeral, there were no flowers.  I was humbled to have the opportunity to both open the door and close it on Sister Shaw's church life.

After the funeral, we gathered in the cultural hall with the family and friends and had a great reunion.  Later in the evening we had dinner at the Wheatley Arms, pictured above, with some great close friends that have descended from the branch.

After the dinner we went to Chorley, England, stayed at the Accommodation Center and the next day attended a session at the Preston Temple (which actually is located in Chorley, but Preston is a large city nearby).  A very special, unexpected trip.

2010-10-30 Heaven Must Be Like this Autumn P-Day!

Autumn is beautiful everywhere but we have perhaps never spent a more perfect fall day than our recent Saturday going north to Perthshire.  It was calm, dry and relatively warm and the autumn leaves were at their peak and stunningly beautiful.  We walked and talked and drove and listened to our Scottish music and wished the day would never end.   

Driving north along the River Tay.

I (Linda) took this picture while we were driving and leaning across the car through Ned's rolled-up driver's window.  It was such a picturesque scene and we didn't dream it would ever turn out as we were going fast.  Doesn't it look like a jigsaw puzzle picture?  Scenes like this are all over Scotland!

Scottish names are so fun and unique!  This is the gorgeous walk we took in the Loch Tummel area.  This week we have also traveled on Blinkbonny and Tullibody Roads for more unique names.  Killiecrankie Pass is a natural dividing line in this part of Scotland separating the Highlands from the Lowlands through the centuries. 

  

The trestle train bridge along the River Garry.  Trains going north travel daily on this bridge.

Intensely colored leaves along the walk. 

Here's the train bridge from the bottom looking up.  It's 54 feet high and a beautiful structure.  We love the stone bridges throughout the country.

Few people were out walking on this gorgeous day so we had the path mostly to ourselves.  Wouldn't you love to walk here daily?   

Love this Scottish moss on the stone walls.

River Garry

The river from high above on the Garry Bridge.

My handsome man is just about as nice as the autumn colors!

More color.

Isn't this a gorgeous photo?!

Queen's View at Loch Tummel.  After our Killiecrankie walk, we barely made it to Loch Tummel before dark (which you will remember comes very early in Scotland).  This view high above the loch is named after Queen Victoria when she visited this spot in the 1800's.  Sheep and cows were in the green fields, the grass rolled right into the loch and the leaves were gorgeous as the sun was setting.  No way to do the scene justice via a photo! 

Loch Tummel at sunset!  The Killiecrankie/Tummel area has risen to one of our top three favorite spots in Scotland after this weekend!

2010-10-09 Senior Office Sisters in Dunfermline

One of the things here that we have enjoyed is a CAR!  The Senior Sisters in the Mission Office are on the old shank's pony-on foot.  We've spent a delightful couple of P-days taking them to places they might not get to without a car . . . like Dunfermline: birthplace of Andrew Carnegie (Car-nay-gie if you're Scot), burial site of a host of Scottish kings, and location of a large cathedral and ruins of an abbey and royal palace. We just enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Here we are standing in the doorway of Andrew Carnegie's birthplace.  He was born to a cloth maker whose factory was on the first floor and who lived in a single room upstairs, where Andrew was born.  When the industrial revolution began, cloth making was automated and Andrew's dad was out of business.  With nothing, they immigrated to America.

Andrew Carnegie started to give away his money when he was thirty-three.  This is the first of the Carnegie libraries.  There is a fascinating story of the beautiful Pittencrieff park he bought here too - which he donated to Dunfermline.  Story at end of this blog.

The pink structure down the street is the Abbot's House.  The Abbot of Dunfermline Abbey would have lived here.  Now they serve a smashing lunch!  This narrow cobbled street is indicative of charming old Dunfermline.  Love it!

This is the "new" part of the Dunfermline cathedral.  The old part was built about 1500.

The impressive pulpit, with the organ and stained glass window behind, makes an inspiring sight. 

Under the altar lies the remains of Robert the Bruce, the most revered King in Scottish history (1306).  Only his heart is missing, which went with the Crusaders and was eventually buried at Melrose Abbey in the Borders.

Looking at the remains of the Royal Palace, with the Abbey ruins in the background.

This gives the visitor some idea of what the ground floor of the Palace would have looked like - this is a part that still stands.

Pictured above is the "old" cathedral, with the "new" one attached behind.  The spires on the new were inspired from King Robert's crown.  The words "King Robert the Bruce" are written on the four sides of the spire.  Pittencrieff Park is just across the street from the cathedral.

When Andrew was young, the Laird of Pittencrieff would not allow anyone onto his property in Dunfermline that included a beautiful wooded glen and crooked stream and many, many acres.  Pressure from the community (led by Carnegie's mother's family) eventually forced the Laird to open his lands to the public for one day each year, with the exception of the Carnegie's, who were still denied access.  After Andrew Carnegie acquired his wealth, this property came up for sale and he purchased it and donated it to the city so that no one would be denied the beauty of the glen ever again.  It is 76 acres in the heart of Dunfermline that includes woods, winding stream, playgrounds and huge lawns and walks that the public continues to enjoy today.  Carnegie said that no title he ever earned meant more to him than that of Laird of Pittencrieff.

16-21 September 2010 - Visitors from Virginia

For those following our blog closely, we're sure you thought we quit!  But it's just been an incredibly busy 6 weeks as missionaries and now we're playing catch-up.  Mike, Katie and their two oldest children, Brooke and Megan, came to spend a long weekend with us and it was "absolutely brilliant" to have them here (aren't we sounding more and more Scottish?).  We had such fun and couldn't believe how tall the girls had grown in nearly a year.  We ran like crazy to take in as much as possible in our long holiday weekend and here are the pictures to prove it. 

Bagpiper on Prince's Street in downtown Edinburgh

Sir Walter Scott's Monument in Edinburgh - we climbed the 284 steps to the top for a grand view of the city.

Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile.  A must-see in the city.

Great Scottish hero-King Robert the Bruce with four lowly peasants seated below.  At Stirling Castle.

King Mike and Queen Katie at Stirling Castle

Brooke and Megan at Loch Lomond with Ben Lomond in the background.

Can you imagine any cuter granddaughters?  AND we have 7 others to match them! 

Grandpa's specialty - skipping rocks.  No one is better . . . and some people thought he wasted his youth!  The village of Luss on Loch Lomond.   

We were lucky enough to have Megan here for her 9th birthday.  The whole weekend was a grand party!  A birthday we hope she will never forget.

Crammond Island walk.  The island is in the Firth of Forth just 10 minutes from our flat and twice each day when the tide is low, you can walk a mile to reach it on a narrow causeway that is buried under 9 ft. of seawater during high tide.  There is a 4-hour window to get out and back to the island when the tide goes out.  The causeway was built during WWII to keep German submarines from coming up the River Forth. 

Tantallon Castle on the North Sea near North Berwick.  Very windy day, but bright sun and beautiful clouds.  Have we ever mentioned that Scotland has stunning clouds and bluer than blue skies when it isn't grey and "dreich" (Scottish for a dismal day).

Tantallon Castle with the North Sea in background.   

Hope this picture gives some perspective of how high these castles were.  Can you imagine the work that went into creating this in 1300 AD?

Scott's View in the Borders (The Borders is the name for an area like a county in the southeast of Scotland down to the English border.)   It was Sir Walter Scott's favorite view of Scotland and is one of ours.  The River Tweed can barely be seen on the far right of the picture as it meanders through the countryside.

Dryburgh Abbey - one of the most peaceful places in all of Scotland.  Located in the Borders near Scott's View, it is an isolated abbey in the country on the River Tweed.

Melrose Abbey - home of the Cistercian monks and one of the best preserved ruins and most successful abbeys in Scotland.  The abbeys and castles took a big hit from England during the Reformation, and especially those in the Borders so Melrose is a cherished gem.  The girls are listening to an audio tour about the abbey.

All good things must come to an end.  Mike and Katie and girls happy to come . . . Grandma sad to see them go as they catch the train at our local train station.  But it didn't take long for us to put our missionary hats back on and the memories of our time together made it all worth it.