Oswalds In Scotland

After Easter

2009-07-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Trey looked at our sad little blog this week and said "Easter, really Rachael, Easter?!" So I guess now that it is July I should probably get moving on some updates. So here is a quick overview of some of the Spring happenings Oswald style.
The children and I flew back into Edinburgh just in time to enjoy some amazing spring weather and celebrate Trey's birthday. The joy of our family reunion was quick as I boarded a plane for Atlanta less than a week after our return. My mom (aka Nana) and I did a quick switchero as I went to Atlanta for a work trip and she flew here to spend the week helping out around the house and most importantly with Emerson and Ward. For those of you who know my mom, you will not be surprised that in her week here she not only maintained the daily schedule but managed to squeeze in loads of sight seeing and outings with the kids. Their day at East Links farm is pictured below.
I am also very happy to report that the Scottish Spring was sunny and mild and provided us with so many opportunities to be outside enjoying friends and good weather. We had several barbeques with friends, unfortunately a few of them were farewells to North American families who have finished their work here. We wish them all well and a huge congratulations for finishing their time here, but will miss our friends.

Emerson in Princes Street Gardens.

2 little kiddos very happy to be home and playing with Daddy.

Ward and Mommy in Princes Street Gardens.

Celebrating Trey's birthday.

This photo was taken at East Links Farm with Nana & Trey while Rachael was in Atlanta for work. Please notice the cute little baby bunny on the left....she will reappear.

That's right- the familiar little bunny, only now she is on my kitchen floor! Her name is Isabel and Nana bought her for Emerson and Ward.

Nana with Ward and Emerson at the farm.

The day I flew in from Atlanta Emerson welcomed me home with a head injury. She crashed her scooter (without a helmet on) so we headed to the Children's hospital for a clean up and steri-strips.

One of Ward's favorite things- football. Portobello Beach in the background.

Love this shot of the kids at Portobello Beach. Emerson and Ward on a grey Scottish day.

Enjoying the time to play in the sand even though that water was freezing.

The view from our kitchen window after a Spring rain shower.

Emerson with her friend Hannah a few weeks before her family moved away.

Ward with two of his pals, Hannah and Titus. While this was a goodbye party, we are so grateful Wardie's little friends are sticking around.

Easter

2009-05-31T15:52:00.001-07:00

We had such a beautiful Easter this year. Amazing weather, great service at a chapel in the woods, beautiful Easter clothes from MyLu, egg hunt with the cousins, food, family, and fun. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if Trey could have been with us.

Papa followed in the footsteps of his own father (my Papaw) and dyed dozens of Easter eggs with the kids. Beautiful dark colors. We were very pleased with our end result. And Nana was particularly pleased that it was warm enough outside for us to take our project out on the patio instead of in her kitchen.

Dad was preaching at the chapel up in the mountains at the Cliffs of Glassy. We went to the service and Ward called to Papa (from the back) through the whole service - he wasn't quite sure why Papa was up front and unable to talk to him. As soon as the service was over, both children joined Papa at the door to shake hands and Emerson told everyone as the left "Thanks for coming, have a Happy Easter" as if she was the host of this little party. Following church we had a beautiful brunch complete with Vanilla French toast , blueberry scones, real American bacon, and loads of other choices- but I could have stopped with the French toast and been perfectly happy.

After a little nap our afternoon was filled with food, family, and fun. We invited all of the cousins that live in the Greenville area over for an Easter egg hunt, cook out, and marshmallow roast. It was a great treat to have my Aunt Dot and Uncle Bill drive down from North Carolina for the day. We don't have opportunities to see them very often so it was wonderful to have them with us. Such a beautiful and fun-filled day.

Spring Wrap up

2009-05-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have a huge collection of pictures from our Spring Break in South Carolina, but as you know if you have been checking the blog- it has taken me ages to post them. So here is a random sampling so that you can catch a glimpse of our fun and I can move on to more current happenings in the Oswald house.

Emerson driving the golf cart on her outing.

This is one happy little girl- a day with BOTH grandfathers all to herself!

My cousin Sarah who took care of Em and Ward while I was working. This is Emerson's sad farwell.

Little Wardie can always make Papa laugh.

Swimming with Nana and Papa.

The swingset at Nana & Papa's broke and we had to replace it. Emerson and Ward pitched in to help build the new swings.

Emerson showing off the new and improved swing set.

So sweet.

Ward helping Papa wash his "fast car".

Emerson cuddling with Aunt Kylie.

MyLu taking Ward and Beckett for a ride in the wagon.

Emerson and Oliver playing.

My favorite picture of my adorable blue eyed boy.

My sisters and I used to ride on my dad's feet like this. It was pretty fun to see my little ones doing it too.

Blowing bubbles in Granny's garden with Nathan and Mallory.

Soaking in Nana's giant bath tub.

Ward loves a good bubble bath.

The jets in the bathtub made the bubbles go a little crazy. It got so deep they could barely keep their heads out of the water.

Giving PopO some love.

Sorry for the wait....

2009-05-07T06:36:00.001-07:00

Ok, well I have been making a real effort to post more frequently and I have been carrying my camera more often. So now I have loads of good pics to post- they are even already on my computer (which is a bit shocking for me)...but no time to post them to the blog. A quick overview of why we have been so busy- I flew back to the UK with the kids in April, to get them back on UK time and Emerson back in school, just to turn around and fly back to Atlanta for the Orange Conference and a full week of work with the reThink Group. So now that I am finally back home in Scotland and our whole family is happily under one roof again, we are trying desperatly to get back in a routine. So many international flights in such a short span of time has proven to be more difficult than expected and I can not seem to knock the jet lag.
So, all that to say...more posts and pictures are coming. For those of you not on facebook, the Easter pictures are pretty cute, so I will put some here. We also have some great pics from Nana & Papa's house, time with PopO and MyLu, Trey's birthday, and our day at the seaside so stay tuned...

Happy Cows

2009-04-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest days we have had here was our day at the Happy Cow Creamery, a local dairy farm here in SC. If you know Ward, then you know that he has an obsession with tractors (and fast cars... but more on that later) so he was in pure heaven! It was a beautiful day, there were cows everywhere, Katie Storey came up for a visit from Atlanta, their cousins came along, we saw a baby calf born just hours before our arrival AND the day ended with a milk and ice cream tasting- it doesn't get much better than this!

This farm really is amazing. They use natural, hormone free, "Old timey" farming and pasteurization methods and their milk is not homogenized. Farmer Tom and his family that run the farm believe that these natural farming methods lead to happier cows and therefore better milk production. The USDA agrees and awarded Tom the national winner of the Award for Sustainable Farmer of the Year. We had a great time on the tractor tour of the grazing pastures, learning what kind of music the cows like to listen to while they are milked and seeing their one of a kind bottling factory built inside their silo. Now that they have their cows grazing naturally all year round, they no longer need this giant silo to store hay, so they had it repurposed by an innovative team of engineers as a bottling room! Such a fun day.

Ward face to face with a cow.

Ward loving this.

Checking out the mommy cows (there were 4 pregnant mommy cows up front).

Emerson so cool in her sun hat.

Nana with Emerson and Ward.

Ward and Beckett having a "chat" while on our tractor ride.

Farmer Tom explaining how they keep these cows happy by letting them roam and graze year-round on sweet April grass- they have 12 "Aprils" at this farm by rotating the cows through different pastures.

Emerson in the milking barn learning about how they milk the cows.

Auntie Rachael with Ward, Beckett, Emerson & Oliver- sitting in the wheel of the giant tractor

Ward up close and personal with a real John Deere!

Ward enjoying his homemade chocolate ice cream at the end of the tour.

Katie and Ward sharing a sweet moment.

Ward and Emerson getting some tickles and cuddles from Katie.

Emerson and Katie have a very serious discussion... actually I think they were blowing dandelions, but they did have their fare share of serious conversations during the weekend.

Little Monkies

2009-04-12T18:26:00.001-07:00

Our second stop was South Carolina. Emerson didn't waste anytime making plans to get together with her cousin Oliver. I learned from my mistake at Katie's and decided I better have my camera ready to go every time these cute cousins got together. Here are a few pictures from our first week together.
The first time we got together Kylie brought the boys out to Nana & Papa's where we are staying. My kids are so excited to have so much outdoor space to roam. Nana & Papa have a great garden that is perfect for playing. Whether they are in the backyard or at Monkey Joe's indoor play place on a rainy Saturday, these kiddos have a ball together.

Such cute kids...I love this picture.

Monkies on the swingset.

Oliver giving Ward a push.

Emerson was all smiles.

Ward's not-so graceful landing.

Oliver on his way down the big slide.

Aunt Kylie helping Beckett down the slide.

Emerson and Oliver

The boys wrestling at home with Uncle Jake.

Silly faces.

Emerson getting some cuddle time with baby Asher.

1st stop- Memphis, TN

2009-04-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

In planning this little last minute trip I was very grateful that we were able to coordinate an entire week in Memphis with my younger sister Katie and her family. Because our family is so spread out, I usually get together with my sisters at my parents' house or on a family vacation so it was a rare treat to visit Kate in her own home. Also, for those of you who don't know Katie, she and her husband Daniel recently bought a beautiful new house and had their second baby girl at Christmas, so it seemed like an ideal time for a visit.
Our first few days were low key to allow us to get over jet lag and we wanted to be schedule free for a little while. We had quiet mornings and lounged around Katie's bedroom letting the kids watch cartoons. My kids were totally overwhelmed by the t.v. and the fact that you could change the channels (our tv is just an empty box that is used to play dvds) and they both decided they like colored Cheerios more than those boring multigrain ones that I usually give them.

We tried to keep things laid back and low key so we went to the park, took walks around the neighborhood, played in Aubrey's fun playroom. The big events of the week were Uncle Daniel's soccer game and the Memphis Zoo. We used Katie's camera at the soccer game so to see pictures of our trip to the game you will have to check out the Banks family blog. I have a few pics of the zoo.
We didn't maximize our "photo opportunities" and neither Katie nor I realized this until after the visit was over. Ward is currently sitting on my lap and helping me choose photos for this post. He is fairly insistent about a few of these...particularly the one of he and Aubrey in the wagon and the one of "Aubrey's Daddy" (aka: Uncle Daniel).

Ward was mesmorized by the t.v.

Aubrey wasn't quite awake yet for this picture and wasn't entirely sure she like Ward taking over her favorite chair.

Emerson was always eager to hold baby Sloane.

Aubrey and Ward at the zoo...totally impossible to get a picture with them both looking at me.

Ward was looking at the horses wondering why he couldn't touch them.

Uncle Daniel and Aubrey

Emerson and Ward loving the zoo and Em exhibiting some of her excellent Big Sister qualities

Emerson was totally disgusted by the hippos...she is way to girlie for this.

Just a reminder to check out www.danielandkatie.blogspot.com for more pictures. It is Katie's post from March 26th. She has much better pics from the visit.

World Travelers

2009-04-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

Aside from being away from Trey for several weeks the other downside to our US trip was having to travel with the kids by myself. The idea of heading towards new baby cousins, sunshine and some potential rest time made the risk worth it. We had a 20 hour trip including flight time and layovers and I have to say Emerson and Ward did a totally amazing job! Our layover was in the Amsterdam airport. This is a very kid-friendly airport and the indoor play time was a saving grace during this journey. They didn't sleep much...45 minutes for Em and 3 hours total for Wardie, but they had excellent behavior. Ward had a mini meltdown in the last leg but then crashed and slept for the last hour. Emerson was such a huge help and I was so proud of my big girl! In the end it was worth it and Emerson could not have been more excited to hold her baby cousin Sloane.

Feeding the Ducks

2009-03-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, the kids and I are currently in the US visiting family and extending Emerson's Spring Break (on the front end) in hopes of enjoying some Spring sunshine. While we have had a few beautiful sunny days, it now appears that we have brought the Scottish grey, rainy weather with us. Before I start adding the pictures of our fun time with family, I have one last post from our early spring in Scotland.

A few weeks ago on a Saturday some friends and I all had the same idea. We looked out the window and saw blue sky and got very excited. But oh, those blue skies can be deceiving! We headed up to Arthur's Seat for some kite flying, walking, feeding the ducks and some general outdoor fun. At first glance it seemed like a clear, cool, breezy day but once we got out there and got the kites up in the air we realized that it was too windy. As the cold air started blowing Emerson and Ward quickly abandoned the idea of kite flying and were eager to walk up to the pond and feed the ducks. We headed up the mountain with Emerson's friend Hannah and were soon followed by the kite-flying crew. Here are the pics from our beautiful, but COLD day!

Calling his friends over.

Ward's attempt to play golf on this windy day.

I love this view of the city.

The girls running in the wind.

Emerson taking a quick break on the walk up to the pond.

Hannah, Emerson, Benjamin & Alexander feeding the ducks.

Jeremiah, Sarah, and Hannah

Bev with Hannah, Jacob, Benjamin & Alexander

Emerson was reluctant to leave.

Ward was cold and ready to head home.

Girls Day Out

2009-03-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

During school breaks in Edinburgh, the museums, the city council and historic sites do a fabulous job of providing free or low cost activities for children. A few weeks ago there was the mid-term break and I had a week full of play dates and outings planned. In the weekend leading up to the break Ward caught a stomach bug that circulated through our family and back to Ward again and almost all of our fun outings for the week had to be canceled. By Friday of the break, Trey kept Ward so that Emerson and I could have a girls day out. Holyrood Palace was hosting a "Fashion Day". They did a great kid-friendly audio tour of the Palace which included a activity sheet and questions to help Emerson pick up on some of the fashion trends of previous residents of the palace. She toured the palace looking for clues in portraits and display clothes. At the end of the tour we went into the coach house where they had garments for the children to try on and a craft activity that allowed Emerson to use fabrics, feathers, sequins, glue, and glitter paint to design her own princess dress.
The finished project:

Emerson wearing a corset, bum role and ruff:
After the tour we hit the cafe for hot chocolate and a "jenormous" (Emerson's word) piece of cake.
Our walk home included some sight seeing along the Royal Mile. Emerson always loves to check out the statues. She likes to read the plaques to see who the statues represent and why that person. Sadly, I don't remember the details on this one....have to check some other time. Glad to know I'm just soaking in the rich history of our fine city!

After we finished taking these photos and walked hand in hand up the Mile, she sweetly said, "Mommy, thanks so much for bringing me today. This was the best outing EVER!"

Snow Days

2009-03-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden the sun is out in Scotland, but we had a long winter and snow as recently as a week ago. Here are a few pictures of our snowy winter.
On this first big snow day, Emerson earned the right to tell her grandchildren (some 60+ years from now....) "When I was a little girl I had to walk 2 miles to school in the snow". She can't quite add on the "barefoot" part of that legendary tale, but she did walk the mile and a half to school and back without a single complaint. On the way home, it was snowing so hard we could barely see. Ward on the other hand stayed totally dry under his buggy cover.

Later in the day it cleared up enough for snowball fights and building snowmen with our neighbors. Trey and his baseball skills from years gone by were making him quite a threat to the neighborhood boys who were all good sports and were quick to shoot right back.

Stirling

2009-02-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

We made some time to take a quick day trip to Stirling before PopO and Mylu had to leave. It was a fun way to round out their visit with us. My kids always love any excuse to hop on a train. Stirling is close and has a fabulous castle. We also took a tour of Argyle's lodging. Ward was not a big fan of this entire outing. The total absence of a nap was just too much for my little guy to bare. Emerson on the other hand thought it was super and has already asked to go back to the pink house. Sounds great to me since I barely made it past the front door. I got to hang out with my precocious little buddy while everyone else did the tour.

Emerson was really into her audio tour guide. She actually really listens to these, it is amazing! Hopefully she will remember atleast a little bit from these experiences.

Trey and Lynda hanging out in the gardens of Stirling Castle.

William Wallace Monument

Stirling Bridge

Argyle's Lodging

Doesn't Ward look like he's having a ball?

PopO outside Argyle's Lodging

Ward sneaking around during the tour- his bright spot in the day.

Christmas...in February?

2009-02-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

We were thrilled to host Trey's parents Bobby & Lynda for Christmas. Emerson and Ward were so excited to have PopO and Mylu with us and show them around town. I figured that since we have already passed Valentine's Day I better go ahead and get these pictures up.

Emerson waited on PopO and Mylu to go visit Santa.

Ward was not so sure about Santa and needed a little cheering up from Daddy.

Our ride on the Santa train in Princes Street Garden

Downtown at the Christmas festival

Everybody dressed up for Christmas Eve services.

The kids and PopO checking out Ward's car garage from Santa.

Christmas morning cuties

Why sit in the car when you can climb on it...without your pants!

End of Christmas Day- a very sleepy Emerson & Kit in matching nightgowns

Ward getting some love

Emerson on the Royal Mile with PopO and Mylu

Ruthie on her first trip to Starbucks.

Ward hijacked my milkshake

Emerson and Ward outside enjoying their new gifts:

Cambridge

2009-02-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

A few shots from our trip to Cambridge in November.

2 very tired travelers
Emerson perked up for a solo shot

Below: Emerson in the courtyard of Clare College

The famous clock...of course I can not remember the name....
In Front of King's College

London Phase 2

2009-01-26T03:06:00.000-08:00

I am calling this Phase 2 because the first half of London was Trey working and the kids and I exploring. Phase 2 was family time. So here are a couple of the shots from our time together. I decided not to add captions to each shot (as it would have taken me ages and this is already so late) so here is what you are seeing: Evening window shopping on Regent Street, a day at the museums, dinner with dear friends, Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Trafalgar Square and our independent traveler at King's Cross Station.

The Silver Lining...London

2009-01-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

My last update told you that I had a computer crisis that lasted the entire month of November. While it was endlessly frustrating to be without my computer for so long, this challenge did indeed have a silver lining! While I was unable to work my regular schedule the kids and I had the flexibility to go with Trey on a research trip to London. As soon as I realized my computer was going to be gone for a while we planned the trip within 3 days...got on the phone to book a hotel and walked down to Waverly Station to buy some train tickets. I checked out a book from the library and let Emerson decide what she wanted to do for the entire week. While Trey spent his days at the libraries reading the pages of Nehemiah's journals, Emerson, Ward & I got to see the sights.

Emerson's plan for Day 1- The Pirate ship in Kensington Gardens. This amazing play park is part of the Princess Diana Memorial Gardens. Because these beautiful gardens are the place that J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan there is a Lost boys theme to the park, complete with pirate ship, teepees, and wooden fort. We were so pleased to get to meet up with Laura and Sophie so that Sophie could play with my little reds. Laura filled me in on all the helpful tips for navigating the tube with 2 kids. We were blessed with blue skies and a great day.
The ship.

The top of the mast.

Emerson at the top.

Blue eyed baby.

Ward found a "lost boy" carved into the tree.

Having fun together.

Emerson's Day 2 Plan- The London Eye. The Eye was only about 2 blocks from our hotel. It surrounded by a boardwalk with street performers and very convenient to a park. It was a really fun day to play outside. Emerson and Ward loved the Eye, this is Emerson's primary memory from our trip. We all had an amazing day and there were so many fabulous pictures that it was very difficult to choose.

My world traveler.

Playin' it cool.

Hanging out under the "eye".

Look Mom, no hands!

Emerson pushing Ward on the swing.Emerson took the photo of Ward and I. I thought she did pretty well...Ward wasn't so sure.Emerson befriended the living statue.

Day 3- Playdate at Sophie's house. This was perfect timing as it was typical British weather, grey, rainy and cold. It was so wonderful to visit with Matt & Laura and it was so fun to have a day to let the kids just play and relax. We were sad that Jack couldn't play too, but of course being mid-week, he needed to go to school.

Computer-less

2008-11-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

Just as I was gearing myself up to be a better blogger and post more frequently my harddrive crashed. I have spent the entire month of November computer-less. It has been a complete departure from our normal lives as I have been unable to work and being so far from friends and family the computer really becomes our life line.

Normally a hard drive could be repaired quickly, however my situation is somewhat complicated by my location. Because my computer is still under warranty in the US it seemed logical to send it to the US for repairs rather than pay in the UK....although now that my laptop is stuck in the customs system I am doubting that plan. My computer re-entered the UK on the 15th of Nov but has still not been released by the customs department because they are reviewing the paperwork (all 3 pages of it!!!). Trey has been working diligently which means I have rarely had the opportunity to use his laptop, giving me precious little computer time at all in the last month and have therefore been absent from blogging and facebook.

I am hoping that as we enter December the new month will bring good luck and the customs department will have a wonderful wave of Christmas cheer and send my computer on it's merry way. Here's to hoping!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Emerson and Ward loved getting dressed up to go Trick or Treating. Emerson dressed up as Cinderella (what else but a princess??) and Ward was a turtle. Here are some of our best pics from tonight's main event.

Emerson trying to be very still while I fixed her hair.

Emerson loves to dress up.

Ward's not so sure about this.

Ward's face once he realized there were sweets involved.

Emerson checking out her sweeties.

The pile just wouldn't do for this little perfectionist...wonder where she gets that?!

Weekend Away

2008-10-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Well blog readers- hold on to your hats, this is a current post! I have decided to skip over the 400+ backlogged pictures that I just downloaded off of my camera and jump ahead to current life. Maybe along the way I'll try to get back to some of those end of summer/early fall happenings but with the way things have been going on our little blog here, I was likely to never catch up. So here we are, with an update from this very weekend!...

Emerson has been on Autumn Break from school this week, and we had discussed plans to travel from the beginning of the school year. But, with Trey's recent research trip to Washington DC and all the other things we've been juggling lately, we felt like organizing a mini-vacation was too much. After a week of rainy cold days spent indoors, though, we felt the need to get out of the city. So, at the last minute, we rented a car and hit the road for two days . On day 1 of our little adventure, we headed through the country. The forcast called for rain and snow, but we had a clear, crisp autumn day. Our drive in the country was beautiful as we headed south toward the Scottish border. We spent Friday checking out the sites around Dumfries.

We took in Caerverlock Castle. The castle itself is mostly ruins but it has a huge mote which sets it apart. One of the castles we visited over the summer had a mote, but it no longer had water in it, this however, was the real deal.

Our second stop was the New Abbey Corn Mill. Of course we are in Scotland so they are not exactly milling corn. "Corn" just means the primary grain, so here that would be oats. The mill is only operational during the summer months so we did not get to see it in working order. We got to walk through all three levels of the mill and we were the only ones there, so we got the whole mill to ourselves. On the way out of town Emerson and I hit the National Museum of Costumes.

On Day 2 of our little expedition we went to the Almond Valley Heritage Center. It is a farm in Livingston, just 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh. Unfortunately our weather wasn't nearly as cooperative. Thankfully the farm had lots of indoor activities for the kids. We did get a short break in the rain to let them ride the little tractors. Ward has a tractor obsession so we'd like to go back this Spring when the weather is better and ride on the real tractor!

The City We Love

2008-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

We have really grown to love this beautiful city. It was a delight to share it with our family in August. We hope to share it with many of you during our time here. For those of you that will not get to come over, I will share a few more of our photos from our vacation. Being on "vacation" here gave me a great excuse to carry a camera around town (which totally embarrasses Trey). Below is an assortment of some of our favorite sites...hiking Arthur's Seat, views from Edinburgh Castle, the great flower clock, flowers on the Mound and carousel in Princes Street Gardens.

Military Tattoo

2008-08-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

During the month of August, in addition to the Fringe (Arts Festival) Edinburgh also has the Military Tattoo. We have heard of this famous show for many years, but have never had a chance to go. We were hoping to go with our family, but since tickets have been sold out for more than 6 months, it didn't look like it was going to happen. Luckily, a few weeks before my family was arriving, we found out about a last minute way to get tickets. They sell half price tickets for the dress rehearsal night, which just happened to be the day the fam was flying in. So rather than giving anyone time to get over their jet-lag we decided to jump right in a go to a late-night show on day one. Normally, you are not supposed to take pictures during the Tattoo, but on dress rehearsal night, we were allowed...hurrah...another benefit of half price tickets!

Hundreds of Pipers!

Emerson's favorite part of the show- the dancers.

Katie and Daniel, enjoying a rainy welcome to Scotland.

The firework finale...I loved them in person, but can't say that I am too sad that Tattoo month is over since I have been hearing these from my home every night for a month.

Edinburgh Festival

2008-08-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh's International Arts Festival kicked off with the arrival of the Hemphill-clan. Edinburgh will never be the same! We toured Scotland for 2 weeks...all 12 of us... Nana, Papa, both of my sisters, their hubbies, and children. We started off our holiday by vacationing right here in our own city.

It was pretty funny to be a tourist here in town. We packed our suitcases and went to stay in a great hotel less than 2 miles from our own flat. Our downtown flats gave us a great view of all of the street-performers lining the Royal Mile. So without further ado, here is a sampling of the 1200!!!! pictures that my dad and I took. (They will come in several posts....

Street Performers:

Emerson and Lois taking their chance to perform:

Julie's Visit

2008-08-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it sort of goes without saying that I have let myself get way too far behind on posting to our blog. Now I am a little overwhelmed at the prospect of getting caught up on posts. We have had so many great adventures and travels this summer, so we are excited to share some of our memories with you. Hopefully one or two of you out there are still reading our updates and checking out our pictures.

In July, our dear friend Julie came over from Atlanta for a visit. Her husband, Marty, wasn't able to join us for this trip (working too hard) so we will look forward to showing him the sights on a future vacation. It was fun getting to show Julie some of our favorite parts of town. Emerson was in absolute heaven to have JuJu here for the week. Not only did Julie take her swimming twice in a week (a rare treat for us), and bring a suitcase full of early birthday gifts for Miss Em, but she was Emerson's personal playmate for the entire week. Julie was so patient to pal around with our dramatic little red-head and played the longest continual game of house that I have ever seen. Emerson amazingly stayed in character for days at a time!

Emerson at Greyfriar's Bobby.

Showing Julie New College (Trey's school). This is inside the courtyard.

JuJu and Emerson posing on the Leith Walk.

Julie chatting with my friend Kath and Emerson during our playdate at the park.

Ward making his way through Princes Street Gardens.

Having fun with Julie at the park.

Julie's travel plans were delayed so we got a bonus couple of days with her. We decided to make the most of our extra weekend by taking a quick train trip to North Berwick with our friends John and Erinn. Some of you may remember that we went to North Berwick in the winter with my parents, so you may recognize a few of the views. It is an adorable coastal town with a beautiful beach and cute shops. We were luck to have good timing and the tide was out so the kiddos got to search in the tidal pools. Then we took a local bus to Direlton Gardens. The Direlton Castle is in ruins, but still well worth seeing but the main attraction here is the Gardens. They are in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest herbaceous border and (if I remember correctly) the oldest continually tended garden. It really was breathtaking...unfortunately my pictures to post are pretty limited. My camera battery died about 5 minutes after we arrived at Direlton. We will have to make another trip out there soon so I can take some pictures...just sad that Julie won't be here to go along this time! We had a great visit.

John, Lauren, Trey, and Ward in North Berwick.

Beautiful girls.

Emerson exploring the coast.

Tidal pools.

Dramatic skies.

The lone shot of Direlton Gardens.

Ward's First Birthday

2008-07-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

Our big boy turned one on May 31st. We had Ward's party on his actual birthday but due to the computer issues mentioned in a previous post, have not managed to get the photos up until now. We had a fun little party out in the garden behind our flat building. We were glad to have so many of our friends join us for the big day. Ward almost slept through the party....finally we decided to go ahead and wake him up. I think the combination of having just woken up and having so many people paying attention to just him was a little overwhelming so he spent half of the party just looking confused. That is until we got to the presents and chocolate cupcakes!
His present from us was a little ride on car, which once he got it, he just sat on it for the rest of the party. I think he was afraid to get up in case one of the other children decided to take a turn. The other children didn't seem to mind too much, since this freed them up to help open his other gifts! Children's birthday parties always make me laugh, when you have like 5 or 6 children all trying to unwrap the same gift. Their enthusiasm is really great!

Not moving from the car.

Sleepy Birthday boy.

Many of our friends from Blacket Avenue joining us for the celebration.

This girl LOVES a party!

Gotta love the cupcakes.

Ward and his friend Titus.

Birthday Portraits

2008-06-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

For fear that you will all stop reading our blog, I feel this very urgent need to post something! For those of you who don't know what is going on, we have had some crazy circumstances. We moved flats (more on that later) and didn't have internet for weeks. Once we got the internet back my computer died. Which means all of my pictures are on my old computer. Thankfully we do have two sources of pictures: we had professional pictures done while we were in the States and Ward's 1st Birthday photos were still on the camera and they will follow in another post.

We were very blessed to have Jana Candler in Greenville, SC do Emerson's 1st birthday portraits a few years ago. Trey and I were delighted that our Spring trip to SC coincided with the month of Ward's birthday so that we could have Jana do Ward's pictures as well. Emerson never misses a photo opportunity and of course we wanted to have pictures of them together. Since Katie and Aubrey were with us in Greenville, we had a great time getting the portraits done together.

The results were absolutely beautiful. Jana did a great job of capturing the kids. Her photos show their personality and humor. You can watch the slideshow on her blog. When you get to the blog, choose the May 2nd post entitled "Sweet Cousins". http://www.janacandlerphoto.blogspot.com/

Fun with Family

2008-05-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

While we were in the US, we did our best to cram in as much family time as possible, while enjoying the warm, sunny weather and Nana & Papa's kid-friendly garden. Aunt Katie and Aubrey came from Memphis. We had play dates with Oliver & Beckett and Nathan & Mallory, and also had a little "pre"birthday celebration for Aubrey and Ward....kind of alot in a week when you add in the trips to the pool, gardening, golfing, and other "leisure" activities. We sure missed cousin Lois, who visited Nana & Papa a few weeks before our arrival. We are looking forward to some more good family time when the Hemphill clan comes to Scotland this summer. Hopefully on that trip we'll get a few pictures with Papa...since he is usually the one behind the camera.

Ward and Aubrey getting reacquainted...she's a little scared of him.

Gardening with Nana & Papa...somebody's gotta keep that place looking good!

Emerson playing golf with Daddy and Papa.

Wardie getting ready to head to the pool.

Leisurely breakfast on the patio. "Friend-Katie" (Katie Storey) and "Ju-Ju" (Julie Hile) who are our "extended" family drove up from Atlanta to spend the night and celebrate the early birthdays.

Emerson and Oliver being silly. These two love to spend time together.

Aubrey and Ward checking out the cupcakes.

Sorry PopO, this is MY cupcake!

Openning a few gifts with Nana & Mommy.

Posing for a photo with PopO and Mylu.

Isle of Palms

2008-05-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

May has been a busy month! As many of you know, we flew to the US at the end of April for the Orange Conference. While I (Rachael) was working, Trey took the kids to the Isle of Palms to enjoy a little R & R with his family. I can't say that everything went according to plan. While Trey and the kids did in fact make it to the beach, it turned out to be a little more stressful for everyone than we had originally expected. Jetlagged and missing mommy, Ward was a little clingy which kept Trey pretty busy. But as you can tell from the pictures...Emerson barely noticed I was gone. She was so delighted to be with Oliver, Beckett, Aunt Kylie, Uncle Jake, PopO and Mylu AND spending time at the beach that nothing could dampen her spirits. I will mention that without the family photographer along for this beach outing, there were not quite as many pictures to share as I would have hoped....but as I already mentioned, Trey's hands were pretty full...not including the camera.

Picnic with Friends

2008-04-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

We don't get to see blue sky very often around here but when we do, we take full advantage of it. While the kids were out of school on Spring holiday, we had a remarkably sunny (and slightly warm) day. At 8:30 a.m. when I saw the sun, I immediately sent an email to all of my Tea Group friends and invited them and their families to join us for a picnic. Miraculously, by the time we headed out for Arthur's Seat at lunch time the sun was still shining!

For those of you who haven't yet been to Scotland, there is this little mountain (or maybe it's just a hill...not sure) called Arthur's Seat which is in a very central part of the city. It is great for a short day hike and boasts beautiful views of the city and the sea. One day soon we hope to walk Arthur's Seat with Emerson (we've been trying to build up her stamina so she can make it on her own) so we'll have some pictures from the top. In the meantime, we are very blessed to enjoy views of Arthur's Seat from our flat. The grassy spot surrounding Arthur's Seat and the Crags was our picnic spot on this fine day since it is such a short walk from Blacket Avenue.

Adrian & Colleen with their children and those familiar red heads.

The perfect picnic spot! Again, there is Adrian & Colleen and also my friend Bev...too many kids in this crowd to name them all.

Emerson and Ward picnicing with Edinburgh city center in the background.

Emerson going for a little run.

Emerson and her friend Hannah.

A great view of the Crags. Andrej and Sarah playing frisbee.

Ward with his "American" football.

Ward walking with Mommy.

Easter in York

2008-04-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

After a month of ear aches, sinus infections, and general illness, we decided it would do us all good to get out of the flat and take in some fresh air. So, we took advantage of the long Easter weekend and headed south...well, a little bit south...to York, England.

Emerson has been asking for a train trip ever since our arrival in Scotland last fall. This was a great opportunity since York is only about 2.5 hours by train. When Trey and I said we were going to York for the weekend, Emerson squealed with delight..."OH! New York!...I have been wanting to go there!" (I used to be a frequent Today show watcher when we lived in Atlanta) Trey told her it wasn't New York, it was just York. She paused with that typical Emerson expression that includes serious thought. She then perked up and said "So we are going to OLD York! That's good too." So Good Friday morning we loaded up and headed to Waverly Station.

When we left Edinburgh, the sky was blue and the air was crisp and comfortable... several hours later, when we settled into The Limes, our B&B, and were about to head out for a little site-seeing, we noticed that it had started to snow. And, this was just a precurser... It snowed the entire weekend, which is why we don't have too many photos of this lovely little town. The other little dissappointing fact was that our train ride and fresh air weren't quite as effective as antibiotics when it came to curing our ailments. So, we spent a little more time at the B&B, something I' m sure delighted our host family!!!

Saturday Sightseeing:

York's narrow streets.

Emerson our little traveler.

Inside the Minster.

Enthusiastic Ward

The high points of our journey were that York is lovely (even when cold). The entire city is surrounded by a grassy embankment topped by stone walls. At this time of year they are set of beautifully by thousands of daffodils all around the city. I hope you can manage to make this out in some of our pictures. We also enjoyed the York Minster which is one of the highlights of the city's architecture. We went to Easter services here, again following in the path of our general weekend, not quite as glorious and worshipful as we had anticipated since Emerson fell off of her chair and busted her lip on the stone floor and Ward cried through much of the service..aah! We had a great time at the Castle Museum, which has an entire city street built inside and gives children the opportunity to "experience" history by trying on and touching things rather than just looking at them behind glass. And on a personal note, Ward's 2-3 steps turned into real walking which is really fun.

Easter Sunday:

Ward walking...if only he would walk toward the camera!

Cutie Easter clothes, compliments of MyLu and PopO. You can't really get the full effect in the picture, but they were really cute and even coordinated (which we never do around here).

Such sweet kisses.

York Minster in the snow.

This is Emerson huddled on Trey's shoulders crying "I'm really freezin" all the way from the Minster to the Castle Museum.

Peek A Boo

2008-03-19T15:09:00.001-07:00

I have decided that Ward thinks life is a constant game of Peek A Boo. He seems to be playing all of the time. He will peek around doors, from behind his plate at dinner, over the rails of his crib. It is great! It means he is constantly giggling because he just finds it endlessly facinating. When I was washing dishes the other day, I noticed him playing peek a boo with the curtains and was able to grab the camera fast enough to get a couple of shots. So here they are...enjoy!

Emerson is Going Green

2008-03-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

I know that most of you think of Emerson's color as red...but she is in fact going green. Our little Miss is becoming very eco friendly! Her art is the most obvious contribution to "earth-friendliness". She used to go through several pieces of paper, barely making a mark on most of them. Now when she wants to paint or make something, I find her digging through our recycling bin looking for materials. Often when I am about to throw something away she'll say, "No Mom, I can use that!". She loves arts and crafts. Her school is often recycling and reusing materials. We have also been doing a lot of recycling at home and she loves to help with this.

This pair of glasses that Emerson and Trey made together using flexi straws and papertowel rolls are my favorite so far. She has also been busily working on Easter egg holders. These are basically egg cartons that Emerson has been decorating to hold her Easter eggs once she dyes them.

The other area that Emerson has shown a green streak is her increased willingness to walk around town. For those of you who know Emerson, nothing escapes her notice. Top of that list is the fact that we no longer have a car so therefore we walk or ride a bus and Trey has a bike. We have spent many of these walks talking about why we now walk. A few days ago she informed me that when she grows up and is a "nurse-mommy" (her chosen profession) she is going to ride a bike to the "hos-a-pital". We are still working on the distance that she is able to go before her little legs give out, but we are proud of her recent efforts to stretch those legs. Here are a couple of fun pics of our walk home from ballet this week. These were taken on Blacket Avenue (our road).

8 Month Old Ward

2008-02-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

Every mom knows that once you have children everything seems to move at warp speed. I can hardly believe that Ward is already 8 months old. Of course the fact that he moves around all the time is helping to convince me! Ward is like one constant ball of activity...the minute we put him down, he is making tracks. He crawls faster and faster by the day. He pulls up on anything that he can get his hands on and cruises successfully all over the flat.

Our family room has had to be baracaded...the footstools are in front of the dvd player, exersaucer is in front of the bookcases and a chair in front of the printer. He heads straight for outlets, paper, remotes, etc....you know, anything he probably shouldn't have and our bathroom door stays closed at all times. He is so much fun. Ward smiles and laughs most of the time- especially when his big sister or Daddy are nearby. Emerson has managed really well with his new found freedom and has been really good about sharing her toys.

On the rare occasion that Ward does sit down, he usually sits like this- on his knees.

Crawling...his knees are literally red from all the crawling.

Pulling up.

Showing off...only one hand!

All smiles.

Caught in the act- trying to get to the computer.

Taking all of the books off of the shelf- a daily activity.

He loves taking things out of the cupboards. In this picture he was playing Peek-A-Boo with the parchment paper.

Emerson at School

2008-02-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

In January Emerson began school at St. Leonard's Nursery. We visited several schools after our arrival in the fall and St Leonard's was our first choice. We feel very blessed that she was given a place in the afternoon class. The city of Edinburgh has several "public" nursery schools (which are like American preschools) and children who are 3 and 4 years old can apply for a half day program. She started on January 15th and absolutely LOVES it!

A very excited Emerson on her first day of school. This is in front of the door to our flat.

Inside St. Leonard's on her first day...we are working on the picture face:)

St. Leonard's is a great little school near downtown, close to the main University. They have big open classrooms with beautiful windows looking out onto the garden. I have taken some pictures of the garden, but I will take some more once everything starts blooming this spring. St. Leonard's is an Eco school so the children learn a lot about conserving, recycling, and being healthy. They do lots of planting and spend a good bit of time outdoors.

This is the way we go into school each day- through the garden gate. You can see all of the classroom windows. Emerson's class is the green door on the left in this photo.

Another picture of the garden, I think it is more interesting in person...we'll work on some better pics this spring.

In her first few weeks of school Emerson got to celebrate Burns Day (Robert Burns's Birthday) by tasting haggis and learning several Scottish nursery rhymes. Trey and I got quite a kick out of listening to Emerson say her poems at the dinner table....she is becoming aware of the Scottish accent now that she is around locals for a good bit of the day. For example her poem that begins "round about" she says roon aboot, because that is how her teacher taught it to her. Her class also celebrated Pancake Day. Who knew pancakes had their own holiday?! I had to do a little online research for this one because I couldn't believe there really is a Pancake day. The technical holiday is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, but the common name is Pancake Day. I guess as the story goes, on Shrove Tuesday you are supposed to use up all of the sweet ingredients in your pantry by making a big batch of pancakes before the start of Lent.

This is how we walk to school...Ward in his stroller, rainshield down on most days and Emerson on her buggy board. This is the corner of our street Blacket Avenue.

Emerson's starting school has been good for Ward and I too. It gives us a great excuse to get out of the flat for a little bit each day when we walk Emerson to school after lunch. Trey picks her up and walks her home (most days she ends up riding on his shoulders). We have walked her to school in all kinds of weather...rain (of course), wind that practically blows the stroller off of the sidewalk, snow, sleet, fog, and sunshine. The best was the day that we had ALL of these in one walk!

North Berwick

2008-02-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

Since it is February I thought I better get crackin on finishing up my Christmas photos...that's right, I said Christmas. This is the last set that I will publish from 2007...I'm thinking it is about time to jump into the new year.

North Berwick is a small town about 30 minutes east of Edinburgh. We intended to have a quiet, low-key Saturday at home, but on a whim we decided to take a day trip. For those of you who know my parents this is not shocking, since they find it nearly impossible to sit still. It resulted in a great day walking the Scottish coast line, scouting golf courses for our summer vacation, and taking in Tantallon Castle.

Emerson with North Berwick in the background.

Beautiful girl...with a real smile- unlike the silly "picture"smile in the next pic.Emerson and her Papa.One of the few beaches in Scotland with sand.

Papa looking for shells.

This bluff is actually the edge of a golf course... I'd hate to lose my golf ball on this hole!

Tantallon Castle with 2 very tired children. Check out that lighthouse in the background.

A super cute tea room where we stopped for a snack. Emerson was delighted when her hot chocolate came and it was larger than a soup bowl.

Anstruther & St. Andrews

2008-02-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

While we had the rental car for our holiday to the castle, we also took a few little side trips. For those of you who have never been to Scotland I thought I would post these photos seperately from our family Christmas photos so you will be able to easily tell what is what. I also have a little ulterior motive...like trying to entice a few friends and family members to come for a visit. This is such a beautiful country.

A few shots of St. Andrews:

Anstruther:

Kilconquhar Castle

2008-01-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

This year we had to explain that not only would Santa be able to find us in Scotland...but he and his reindeer would also be able to find Emerson and Ward at Kilconquhar Castle, which is a far cry from our little flat. We had a couple of days of luxury while my parents were over visiting. As much as my Mom & Dad would have loved to spend their entire vacation on our bunkbeds, they made the sacrifice for Trey and I. They wanted us to have a few days of "vacation" too. It was really nice to have someone else do the Christmas dinner...and especially the Christmas dinner dishes! Kilconquhar Castle is North of Edinburgh, near St. Andrews. It is an old estate that has been turned into a time-share resort, complete with a fitness center, indoor swimming pool, and equestrian center. Emerson, mom and I went horseback riding on Boxing Day. Emerson got to ride a pony named Pepsi. I think she grinned from ear to ear the entire time. And yes...Santa did manage to deliver a few gifts to our little cuties. Emerson was amazed that she had only asked for a pink camera and paint but Santa brought her a few extra things as well. There are several photos of our little budding photographer below.

Christmas in Edinburgh

2008-01-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

Ok for those of you have been waiting on pins and needles...here it is finally! I really have been meaning to update with our Christmas news and photos. We had such a great visit with Nana and Papa and then launched straight into a new family routine with Emerson's new school, ballet, Ward crawling all over the place so my "blog" time has been a little limited lately.

I figured that since it is a month late, I just need to do what ever I need to do to get the update done. So I am going to take the hundreds of photos that my dad took during their nearly 2 week stay and try to whittle them down into some sort of useable fashion so here goes....

Edinburgh is wonderful at Christmas. Downtown there is a quirkly little German village filled with crafts, art, and food. In the area around the Christmas village there are loads of fair rides such as a giant ferris wheel and carousel. There is an outdoor ice skating rink in Princes Street Gardens, live reindeer and a teepee that houses Santa. Yes, you read that correctly...a teepee. I am not really sure why because we didn't go into see Santa, but we did nearly everything else. The festive lights and all of these attractions make it a pretty exciting place to be at Christmas time. Emerson had been looking longingly at the ferris wheel for atleast a month, but we told her she had to wait until Nana & Papa came to ride.

Emerson enjoying the views from the 7-story high ferris wheel. Jenners, Edinburgh's oldest and most famous department store, in the background.A ride on the carosel.

Ward staying warm on a very cold day.Emerson LOVES the Pipers.One of our favorite spots in the city: Hope Park.Emerson and Nana playing at the park.

A view of The Meadows and Arthur's Seat in the background.
Waiting for our bus to church.Our little model- Emerson walking (and posing) on her way to the bus.My boys...looking an awful lot alike!...all we need is a Santa suit for Trey...

Christmas Cuties

2007-12-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

This post doesn't have a specific purpose other than to show you some of the cute photos of our kiddies enjoying these weeks leading up to Christmas. We have had a really great time enjoying the spirit of the season.

Ward has joined the bedtime routine so we are loving the family snuggle time. We read part of the Christmas story, a storybook or two and Emerson has become a fan of story-telling in addition to her nightly reading. This is really stretching Mommy & Daddy's creative skills!

We have been baking a lot, Emerson has helped build and decorate a gingerbread house, cut out gingerbread men, make sweet bread for some gifts and tomorrow we are making a birthday cake for Jesus. Some days she bakes up her own concoctions in her kitchen.

This year, we experienced the benefits of an artificial tree for the first time (radiator heat makes a real tree pretty impractical) so we bought one that was pre-lit...our Christmas present to Trey- who HATES wrestling with the lights. This also enabled Emerson to take a very active role in decorating the tree.

And finally Ward, enjoying a day of shopping with Mommy on Princes Street. We were very grateful that PopO and Mylu gave us a new stroller for Christmas so he could nap and enjoy the shopping in style!

Washing Machine

2007-12-19T01:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early to the Oswald home in the form of a washing machine. For many of you a washing machine may not seem all that exciting, but around here it is pretty big news. Emerson was mesmerized by the fact that she could watch the clothes- this is quite a novelty. Of course this has led to a recently realization that I am going to have to cut back on my daily quotient of sweets now that I am not carrying our laundry (along with Ward) up and down 3 flights of stairs. I guess some sacrifices are worth it!

St Andrews Day at the Castle

2007-12-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Scotland recently celebrated St Andrews Day. While I am not totally sure what this holiday is for, I was quite pleased to learn it means free admission to the National Historic properties. (Trey says it has something to do with church history and the cathedral in St Andrews, but that's not as interesting for our purposes here.) So we headed out for a day at the Edinburgh Castle. For those of you who have never been to Scotland, eventually we will need to get some better Castle pictures up on the blog. As you can see it was a rainy, cold day so the view from the top was not as dazzling as it usually is.

Emerson had already made one trip to see the Castle, but that was before her 2nd birthday. Needless to say, she doesn't remember that visit. Before leaving Atlanta, however, Emerson was given a book called This is Edinburgh. It is a fantastic book that has been teaching her some of the great secrets of of this wonderful city that we live in...including some details about the Castle. While the rain prevented us from enjoying some aspects of our visit, Emerson was very pleased that she got to see the "jewry" translation: jewelry...by which she means the Crown Jewels. We also opted for the other indoor activity- the War Museum. While this would ordinarily be a disaster with a 3 year old...Emerson was shockingly interested. She wanted to know the details of each uniform and why they had different types of helmets (Trey says she is the real future scholar in the family). As I was trying to move her along through the displays she kept asking me to stop and read her the plaques- she never ceases to amaze me (again, Trey says Emerson is way smarter than he is - which, he adds, is not saying a whole lot)!

So despite the fog and rain, it was a great day. We love this city and look forward to exploring it with our children. (Trey says if you want a fairly good description of the view of Princes St from the castle, read the 1960s or 70s novel Marathon Man... And, hopes you are all doing well... whoever you are that reads this. He thinks he's funny.)

Thanksgiving on a smaller scale

2007-11-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

Well our Thanksgiving this year was less of an ordeal than the major US celebrations loaded with family, friends, food, and football. We did most of those things- minus the football (which of course is not available here) but on a much smaller scale than we usually do in America. You may notice the absence of the fancy centerpiece complete with pumpkins and autumn leaves. Good thing the decorations and football aren't what Thanksgiving is really about...although some may beg to differ about the football part.

We started by convincing Trey to take the day off from his studies so that we spent the whole day as a family. We invited our friends Ryan and Adrian Weimer and their adorable daughter Annabel (notice those amazing ringlets) to share in our feast. It can be challenging to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in a miniature oven....I honestly think the Pottery Barn kids pretend ovens are the same size as mine. That being said, Adrian and I divided up the cooking and she brought several delicious dishes. Don't think I felt a little bit guilty about this considering that she is 8 months pregnant, has a two year old, that her husband had been out of the country for a week, and oh yeah... just happens to be finishing her PhD dissertation from Harvard!!! Some of you know that Ryan was my sister Tina's Inner Varsity co-leader at Wake Forest so it has been fun to connect with them here.

I have also included a couple of pics of our preparation. Emerson made a very fancy Thanksgiving picture with her markers, glue, scissors and special Thanksgiving stickers that Nana sent her in the mail. She also had a great time making her first pumpkin pie. Ward just joined us for the photo op, and tried to sneak a taste real food whenever he could. We hope all of your celebrations were as fun and laid back as ours!

Growing Boy

2007-11-14T00:34:00.000-08:00

In the last week Ward has gone from swaying like a little weeble-wobble to sitting well. He can now reach in about any direction to grab a toy and pull himself back up without toppling over. These milestones are so much fun. He is enjoying a different vantage point. Since his excersaucer has been stuck on a ship for the past few months, he has spent most of his time on a playmat and doing tummy time. He is definitely loving sitting up so he can look around the room.

I am not sure if you can tell from the picture or not, but most of the shelves behind Emerson and Ward are still empty. That is because we still don't have our boxes. We did finally talk to the UK moving company yesterday and they are scheduled to deliver them next Monday. Just in the nick of time since it will be much easier to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with a few mixing bowls and measuring spoons.

I am also including a pic of Emerson's beloved sparkly "high heels" which she calls "clonky shoes" because of the delightful sound that they make. She had been wearing my shoes pretty much on a daily basis until Trey and I decided for the good of our downstairs neighbors, she needed a smaller pair. Thus the very exciting purchase of Emerson's own high heels. So here they are in all of their sparkling glory, which Em thinks is very much like the glass slippers worn by Cinderella! While I am on the topic of our little lady- a quick update on our school situation. We have now interviewed at 3 schools (2 public, 1 private). We are expecting to hear back by the end of the week from St. Leonards, which is our 1st choice. Because it is not the start of a term and most students would have added their name to the waiting list on their 2nd birthdays for a 3 year old spot, we are not entirely hopeful. Nevertheless, we feel this would be a great place for Emerson so we are praying that she will get a place.

Trick or Treat

2007-11-07T03:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween was incredibly fun this year. Emerson loves to play dress up so it was extra special for her to be able to wear her dress up clothes out and about. She chose to be Tinker Bell. Ward was a Georgia Bulldog football player. (Following family tradition since Emerson was a Bulldog cheerleader last year). As you can see from the pictures Emerson and I made her treat bag this year since we didn't exactly pack her plush pumpkin treat bag that she has used in previous years. She loves to cut and paste so it made a great craft project and helped to spread the celebration through the day. She also got to wear makeup which was just the ultimate for our girly-girl!

Trick or Treating is a little different when you are going door to door instead of house to house. A few of the costumes worn by older kids were a little scary for her so she was very glad to have Daddy along for "protection". I think that the candy made it all worthwhile for her. She is now happily brushing her teeth several times a day in an attempt to negotiate extra treats from her bag.

Time to Play

2007-11-07T01:36:00.000-08:00

Well, as expected life is certainly a lot less hectic here in Edinburgh. I honestly think that just the absence of a car has given us more time on our hands. Needless to say, we do not miss the Atlanta traffic. When our internet went down a week ago, it really multiplied our time since I was completely unable to work. While this was a tremendous problem and now I am totally backlogged, it gave me some great family time. We have enjoyed playing in the garden outside of our flat. Emerson wants to go out at every waking minute. When she is not outside, she is perched on her stool at our kitchen window, watching the other children play.

It has also given us time to start Ward's first foods. You can see in the photo that his first day eating rice he was looking a little unsure. By day two, he was full throttle and now he has successfully moved onto peas, carrots, and will start sweet potatoes tonight. Emerson has enjoyed helping me make his food and is always wanting to help hold the spoon. This makes me a little nervous. Ward is such an eager eater, he dives for the spoon each time he sees it. I am afraid she is going to jab him in the back of the throat and gag him- probably not the best. Now that Ward is getting a little bit older and more active, Emerson is all the more willing to jump in and play with him. He is totally enamoured with his big sister. He gives a huge grin whenever he sees her and watches her constantly.

Of course, now that we have regained access to the outside world after what felt like an eternity (8 whole days!!!!) it is back to work for me. Trey of course never stopped working since they didn't shut down the library in honor of my internet crisis. Even so, we are both workng joyfully as we are very grateful for our current tasks and our higher quality family time that life on Blacket Avenue has provided.

Across the Pond

2007-10-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we are here and pretty settled in. Both of the children did well on the plane. Emerson was delighted with the "goodie" bag provided by Delta- particularly the face mask that enabled her to get some serious beauty sleep while in the air.

We have been greeted by amazing autumn weather. In fact, we are getting a little bit spoiled- blue skies, crisp sunny days, and falling leaves. We have very little of the gray, soggy days that we were expecting. It has been a blessing to have this transition as we learn our way around our new neighborhood.

In typical Rachael fashion, I didn't let any dust settle under my feet when we arrived. My mom was with me for a week so I decided to maximize every moment of her help. We dropped our suitcases by the flat, took a look around and headed off to Ikea for a marathon 5 hour shopping trip. Our purchases were delivered the next morning at 9am and Trey immediately got to work assembling our furniture. Mom was a huge help as we tried to fill up our flat, stock the pantry, help the kids adjust to the new time zone, etc. We were sad to see her go last week, but are so pleased to have our family unit back under the same roof.

We like our flat and particularly our building. It is a great community of international graduate students with families so there are loads of children and a great back garden for playing. Emerson has enjoyed watching other children play from our kitchen window each afternoon. After a few days she worked up the courage to go out and meet a few children and now she is eager to play outside at any free moment.

We were expecting a 3 bedroom flat, however, when we arrived quickly learned that that meant no family room. So we have modified our space and Emerson and Ward are sharing a room so that our 3rd bedroom is a family room. Because I am working for home this space is essential since it serves as an office for me, playroom for the children, and sitting room for all of us. We also found out a couple of days after we got here, that the University has been renovating the flats. Most of them have had a complete overhaul (new kitchens: floor to ceiling, new furniture, paint, drapes, etc). As you can probably see, though, we managed to be assigned an unrefurbished flat. So, we are enjoying the luxuries of the 70's and thirty years worth of short-stay tenants. All joking aside... because it's not funny to mommy:) we feel very privileged to have a great deal of space, lots of windows, trees, and green space so close to the city.

2 weeks in Kiawah

2007-10-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Our final two weeks in the States have been spent in Kiawah Island, SC with my family. Emerson, Ward and I are enjoying some R&R while Trey is already hard at work in our sparcely furnished student flat. Emerson and her cousin Lois have had a great time jumping waves, building sand castles and riding bikes. Ward pretty much sticks to his typical baby routine- eating, sleeping...you know the rest. I have enjoyed having lots of eager hands to snuggle, hold, and help out with the little ones.

Both of my sisters have been here with their families. We have had great benefits from having our babies in "pairs". Emerson and Lois are only a few weeks apart, as are Ward and Aubrey. This makes for great play partners. We have had some great girl time before we spread out all over the map. The boys (Daniel, Brett, and Dad) have missed having Trey here- not only for his excellent company but because he is the fourth player in all of their beach games. Emerson, Ward, and I have missed having our Daddy and feel a little guilty enjoying these lovely accomodations, sunshine, and beach time while he is in Scotland making preparations for our arrival. We have been blessed to have this time and are getting very excited about our travel to our new home in Edinburgh next week.