My Mom and Me

We have not posted on our blog, or on facebook, in FOREVER! I am not sure if we even have any readers still. We have had a fabulous summer traveling all over England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. I am feeling ambitious to start posting again so that we can feel closer to all of our family and friends who we miss so much. Tonight I started thumbing through our millions of photos from the summer, having no idea where to begin. Then, I was inspired by this photo:

It really tickled me to see how similar I look to my Mom. (This picture was taken in the famous Betty's Bakery in Harrogate.) My parents came to visit us this past July, and we had a fabulous time. So, here are a few pics of me and my mom from the summer.
This is my Mom and I climbing Fairy Glen, in the town of Uig, on the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. Now, I wouldn't normally post such an unflattering picture of myself, but in the spirit of the theme of the post ... we even walk the same!

My Mom is petrified of heights. This is something she shares in common with Luke. It was quite an accomplishment for her to make it to the top. She scooted the whole way down.
Josh is to be thanked for capturing these lovely images. Ha, Ha, Ha.
This is my Mom and I in Robin Hood's Bay, England.
This is my Mom and I with our handsome hubbys. We wouldn't be the same without them. This picture was taken at the Eilean Donan castle, Scotland.

My Mom and I had a great time shopping for Polish pottery, Uig pottery, green glass, Wedgwood exclusives, Whitby Jet jewlery, Nottingham lace, and loads of other cute stuff. We like the same things.

My Mom goes by Granny, and I think I will go by Granny too. I loved my Granny, and my kids love their Granny.

Colors of Spring

The trees are awash with the blossoms of Spring. The daffodils have come and gone and now the bluebells are carpeting the woods near our home.

Are you feeling the fever? Please post a comment and include a link to your Spring pics.

Spofforth Castle & Plumpton Rocks (or wearing the boys out so Mom can rest at home)

Here we are at Spofforth castle — the manor house of the powerful Percy family who later built Alnwick — the Harry Potter castle.



On the way home, we noticed a sign for Plumpton Rocks and decided to investigate. We soon found ourselves squeezing through the crevasses of the large moss-covered rock formations. Although quite a bit smaller than Brimham Rocks, Plumpton’s formations overlook a small lake and wooded area of tall trees. We hiked around the lake and climb to the top of the rocks for a view of the surrounding area. Both boys had a grand time chopping trees with their sticks, poking their sticks in the water, and using their sticks to find cob webs inside the smooth cave walls.




After all our hiking the boys needed a nap. Back at home, Luke has been telling us that a troll and a monster live in his dress closet with him. They are his friends. Sometimes they eat dinner with him. They like Pez for dinner.

Red Nose Day

The boys were up early on Friday morning excited for Red Nose Day at Isaac’s school. The idea is to dress funny for money, or in other words, save your school uniform for a day and donate the money for charity.

Fair Maids and Crocuses

Spring has started and I am intrigued with the small white flowers blooming near grave sites at the village churches and along people’s garden fences and the white, yellow and purple flowers growing around Harrogate. A friend told us that the flowers are called snowdrops and crocuses respectively. Further research unveiled that Monks laid snowdrops on the altar and they were associated with the date of February 2nd, known as Candlemas Day and were once known as Candlemas Bells. Other names given to snowdrops include Fair Maids of February, Purification Flower, Snow-flower and White Ladies. I managed to snap a few pictures of the snowdrops in Dacre Banks.




We did some shopping in Harrogate this weekend and when the boys got restless we walked over to Parliament Street for a treat at Bettys. Their giant chocolate easter eggs were on display. Isaac and Luke got white chocolate swan lollipops, Dionne had a caramel shorty, and Josh tried a rhubarb and marzipan tart. We enjoyed our treats next to the long belts of white and lavender crocus flowers blooming along the Stray.

Spring Picnic at Conisbrough Castle

A section from my journal:

"The next day, we woke to the first day of spring weather after the long winter season. The small yellow, purple, and white flowers are starting to pop out of the ground. Dionne was asked to speak in sacrament meeting on the subject of Charity at the last minute and needed some quiet time to work on her talk, so I drove the boys down to Conisbrough castle outside of Doncaster for the afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon at the castle. We ate a picnic lunch on the green lawn under the view of the large 97-foot high circular keep. After lunch the boys run did their customary running around and climbing on the stone walls before we climbed to the top of the Earl’s Keep. Isaac quickly darted up the spiraling staircase and I held Luke’s hand as he climbed, repeating “big step, small step, big step” and so on. We were treated to a grand view of the surrounding town and countryside."

More Snow

Isaac shoveled the walk.
Luke ate 12 snowballs.
Dad went sight-seeing.
Mom stayed inside.

Spitting Contest at Middleham

Hi Everyone, Dionne arose early today to host an Eight is Great pancake breakfast for all the primary children turning eight this year. Dionne gave a talk on baptism which included stories about Peter and the apostles baptizing 3,000 on the day of Pentecost and Heber C. Kimball baptizing until 4 am in the nearby villages of Chatburn and Downham. After Dionne returned home, we tried some Stilton and Wensleydale cheeses with bits of fruit on cream crackers with our lunch before driving out to the Wensleydale area to explore Middleham Castle. We decided to take the scenic back roads home through the North Yorkshire Dales National Park. The winding road took us through small moss-covered villages up to snow-covered hilltops with free-range sheep grazing near streams and then back down again through the villages of Kettlewell and Grassington. Isaac and Luke's Spitting Videos at Middleham



Sheep Herding in the North Yorshire Dales National Park

New Years William Wallace Tour

On News Years Day, we set out in freezing fog for a William Wallace tour in Scotland to Falkirk, Bannockburn, and Stirling. It was a beautiful drive as we passed ghostly ruins and white-laced oak trees and stone fences in the fog.

The lowland sun melted the clouds away by the time we reached Falkirk. We stopped at the Falkirk Wheel, even though it was closed, for a brisk walk along the River Forth.

Next we found our way to the Callendar House built near the first Battle of Falkirk in 1298. We were amazed to see that the abandoned Callendar house and grounds were surrounded by so many council housing towers. We ate a pack lunch on the council grounds and played on the children’s playground for a few minutes.

A few more miles toward Stirling, we found the Bannockburn Heritage Centre where we walked to the Robert the Bruce, King of Scots monument. A large flag pole marked a nearby spot where Robert the Bruce planted his Standard when the Scottish patriots under his command vanquished the Army of Edward II of England after the Battle of Bannockburn on the 24th of June 1314.

The monument also had a quotation that I found inspiring that read “We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honour but only and alone we fight for freedom which no good man surrenders but with his life.”

Finally, we headed into Stiling and found the Stirling Highland Hotel on the castle rock only meters down the hill from Stirling Castle. The hotel was once the Old Grammar School and I felt like I was checking into Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry as we walked through the stone hallways with checkered floors. We passed the Scholars Restaurant and Headmasters Study on the way to our room on the 3rd floor.

The next morning after breakfast, we walked up to the castle stopping to see view the Old Town Jail, Church of the Holy Rude, and Mar’s Wark. Luke was resisting a tour of the castle until Mom and Dad purchased him a lollypop which pepped him up a bit.
Stirling Castle is very similar to Edinburgh with its great French chateau-style palace built upon an impregnable crag fortified with inner and outer defenses. Isaac and I walked up and down the stairs on the outer rear wall of the castle, while Dionne and Luke learned more about the symbolism of the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.


We also toured Argyll’s Lodging down the street from the castle. The grand residence belong to William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, in the 1630s until it was purchased by Archibald Campbell, the 9yh Earl of Argyll in 1666 and became known as Argyll’s Lodging.

A few historical facts about life in the 1600s that I recall from our guide are:

1. Stirling is the center for the cattle trade in Scotland even to this day—the tour guide even remembered cattle being driven down the city streets to market as a boy.


2. Meat had to be heavily salted to preserve it and was then boiled to make it edible again


3. The boy whose duty it was to be roasted next to the great kitchen fireplace and turn the enormous iron spit all day long was called the ‘spit boy’—a dreadful job indeed!


4. The well water was impure and had to be converted into mead for drinking—even women and children drunk a mild beer from breakfast to dinner.


5. The original standard for a Scottish pint was three times the size of an English pint and was unearthed in Stirling.


6. The large, carved wooden banister was significant sign of status and luxury compared to the tight, narrow stone staircases in the nearby castle.


7. Archibald Campbell believed his status was higher than even the king through the royal purple wall and bed hangings in his bedroom—the dye was created by crushing thousands of small snails.


8. A new innovation of the time were en-suite toilets in the bedroom, which had a padded seat and silver bowl underneath to be emptied out the window by servants and flowed down hill to the poor people—thus the top of the castle rock stayed smelling nice from the valley breeze.

This little holiday turned out to be one of our nicest family trips thus far and Dionne and I are starting to feel like we are gaining a grasp of Scottish history