Scotland Memoirs

Here are some things that I will miss about Scotland:

1. Our incredible friends who allowed us to "do life" with them for 10 months.

2. Jake's face when I tell him that we are going to go see the boats

3. Aberdeen beach on a clear sunny day

4. Diet Coke

5. Not getting charged for incoming texts and calls

6. Good, fresh Haddock fish and chips

7. People who smile and say cheers at the check out stand

8. The sound of the seagulls every morning, afternoon and night

9. Playing golf at 10pm with Kent for free

10. Auntie Sophia at Gerard Street Baptist Church

11. Walking EVERYWHERE which...

12.  ...allows for one to eat as much european chocolate and not get fat!

13. Playing lacrosse with the Aberdeen Uni guys - a big thanks again!

14. bag piper music every friday at 1pm at King's College Chapel

15. Amazing cheese!

16. Incredible (cheap) lamb

17. The 80's remarkably still alive

18. hardly any Starbucks - we aren't coffee drinkers

19. The Aberdeen coast on a clear day

20.  Being in history - visiting all of the castles

21. The Harr - especially at Donnattor

22. Sunshine rain - basically, it is sunny but raining at the same time

23. Being so close to Europe

24. The multi-ethnic/multi-cultural city of Aberdeen

25.  Ash will miss all of the authentic Indian food

26. Everything is talked about over a pint!

27. Inexpensive European wine!

28. All of the home cooked meals - too expensive to eat out!

29. Living by a budget - yes, it is wise and good!

Some things I WONT miss in Scotland

1. dodging seagull poop

2. walking EVERYWHERE

3. late night walks up to Tesco to get Jake some milk for the morning

4. Um...conversion rate - enough said

5. Hamburgers or meatloaf burgers or whatever they actually are

6. Pizza - I mean come on, at least put some toppings on!

7. What is up with the macaroni and cheese?

8. You call that a steak!

9. Shanekwa - don't know, don't ask

10. Being far away from our families

11. Weird fashion

12. The mattresses

13. Sunny Rain - it does stink you know

14. Not having a clothes dryer

15. Not having a dish washer machine

Here's a little update:

We are leaving Aberdeen 4 weeks from tomorrow for Dublin where we will spend 3 days and then fly home to AZ on June 24th.  Our time here is almost over.  It's sad, but I am ready to be home.  I will miss a lot of things here, especially all of our wonderful friends.

jake is doing well, his favorite new movies are The Little Mermaid and Cars.  We also gave him a  major haircut with the clippers, he looks so cute and a little bit older:)  We'll post a picture of him soon.

My pregnancy is going well, though I am quite a bit more nauseated with this one than I was with Jake.

Our friends, James and Casey Simmons, are coming out for a visit in June!  It will be so fun to see them.  We will be having a couple Arbonne events and showing them some of the sights.

Speaking of nausea, I need to go lie down for a minute, not fun:(

later friends!

Parent's Big Visit

Derek's parents were in town for the last week and we all had a lot of fun. Jakey really enjoyed seeing his Grandma and Grandpa every morning - he would stand by the door and when it opened, he would put his hands under his legs, give a big power squat, and give a huge grin!

We had a great time visiting Fyvie Castle - the picture of it is below! It is an amazing castle and still is used for weddings and such. It got Ash and I thinking about what it would be like to grow up in a castle. Probably a bit different from we both grew up.

The flowers were blooming wonderfully in the botanical gardens. There is a reason why Aberdeen always wins the Britain in Bloom award. Jake had a love/hate relationship with the wood chipper though. He was so curious about the machine, but would run away when it started to chip the wood.

Finally, we had a great time at the beach. Ash and Derek's mom went to Costco to get our last haul from there, and Derek and his dad went to the beach with Jake. Jacob wanted to try to catch each wave as it went out, then he would stand in panic as the next one came back in. Plus, Jacob found out that sand is edible! Who knew!?

Anyways, we had a lot of fun and look forward to being around family again at the end of June.

Worshipping at St. Machars

The last few weeks Ashley and I have attended St. Machar's Cathedral Church for our Sunday worship. It has been a big change of pace to go from our normal Baptist church to a Church of Scotland Presbyterian Church. The church itself has been on the sight from about the sixth century in one form or another. The building as it stands today has some parts that are from the pre-Reformation time (c. 1560) with most of it being completed in the early 20th century. They have found a Celtic cross on the site that has been possibly dated back to the sixth or seventh century. Tradition has it that St. Ninian came here from St. Columba's monastery on Iona (still an active monastery by the way) as a mission to the Scottish Picks during the sixth century. The church is located just up the hill from the River Don, which is one of the two major rivers that mark out the North and South boundaries of the greater Aberdeen area (the Don is the northern border). It has withstood the religious wars of the Reformation and the following Cromwellian wars, the Jacobite civil wars, and finally WWII. Needless to say, it is very impressive.

What I liked best about the church service was its meditative nature and its focus on prayer. We easily prayed about 20 minutes of the hour long service and had much time to be quiet and reflective upon the Lord. The organ music was great, especially to ears that are used to guitars, drums, and the keyboard. We were also very impressed with the level of hospitality that was evident at the church and Ashley even went last Friday to their toddlers day out even with some of the ladies - Jakey even has a play date with one of the little boys!

Here are some pictures - there is also a video of Jakey playing ball that has no connection to the rest of this blog:

NEWS UPDATE!

Okay, well we have a few items of news. 1) we are officially flying home to AZ on June 24th!! We are very excited, but also a bit sad. We have been blessed with some great friends here who we will miss a ton. I am also sad to be leaving my business since it has been doing well. Derek is so sweet and supportive, he thinks if we stayed just 6 more months we would have a HUGE business here. But since neither of us feel a peace about staying longer (we prayed about it a lot), we are headed home and I will have to leave things in the hands of those here, but most importantly in God's hands. I am planning on coming back at least once a year to check on things.
2) we got our "LOST" buggy back! A month later! I got a random call from the Larnaka airport in Cyprus saying it had arrived there and they were sending it directly back to Aberdeen, we then got it a few days later. crazy! anyway, British Airways has reimbursed us for our new stroller so we are going to be passing our old one on to some friends.
3)here is our prayer request and praise news: I just found out I am pregnant!!! We are soooooo excited! But I am also a bit scared. Any woman who has ever experienced a miscarriage knows the fear I have during these early stages. I know a lot of people wait to tell people about pregnancy until after the 12th week to make sure things are fine, but I want to ask for prayer as early as possible. Please pray that all goes well. We will be coming home right as I enter my 2nd trimester so it's a good time to travel. Oh, here's something funny, my "due" date is right around December 28th! Happy Birthday Jesus:)
Anyway, we love you all!

Atlanta 4

Well, another day with Jakey means another day closer to when Momma comes home. I must admit, today I was wrestling with the little guy and realized how precious these few days are. Pretty soon I will go back to studying and working 40-50 hours a week and I will be longing simply to go on a walk with Jake at 1pm, or wrestle him or read him a book. Jake is a true blessing from God and helps me to realize how far I have left to go to be a good daddy. We miss you though Ash and Momma and can't wait for you to come back home.

We kinda vedged out today. We both stayed in our pj's today as it was cold and rainy all day. But we had fun eating pancakes for breakfast and toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch. Jake did so good today at lunch that he earned three potato chips as a reward! He was pretty good being obedient wise and seems to be responding pretty well. We will see what tomorrow brings. We will be going to St. Machar's Cathedral for church tomorrow so hopefully I will have some pictures to post on that.

The following picture is of Jake right after dinner in his pjs and the video is of us playing with his Ninny.

Atlana 2 and 3

Well, I missed yesterday (sorry Ash) but I did remember today. The last two days have been really good. Jakey seems to be doing a bit better with the new discipline that we have been working on. He still struggles at meal times, but is getting better. The Eilers have been dinner partners the last two nights and Jake always does great around his best girl Hannah. Here are some pictures and a video. We love you Ash and Mommy!

Here is a picture of the Eilers cooking their famous calzones. Also there is a picture of Jakey playing with a train.

Mommy in Atlanta part 1

Ashley is in Atlanta Georgia for the Arbonne National Convention until April 13th. From now and till then I will be posting pictures and a video or two of Jakey for mommy.

So Ash, all you missed out on was a very cold and wet morning. But, it cleared up enough around noon for a walk to the post office as well as some great play time after nap time. Then after a dinner where the battle of wills was won by daddy, the Jakester went for a bath. If you look closely you can notice on Jake's left arm some pen marks. Yep, Jakey found a black fountain pen and tattoed himself! Then it was a little play time before bed. We miss you mommy!

Glasgow with friends

Hello again - another Resler family adventure here in scotland. We went to Glasgow (the biggest city in Scotland) last weekend for a night and it was great. Not only did we get a ridiculous deal on a rental car - we got a Caddie - but we also got a great deal on the Radisson. We got the room plus a scottish breakfast for a great deal. Plus, the hotel was right down town next to our friend Pete's church (we went there on Sunday for church). We had a great time meeting Pete's lovely new bride Sarah and had a great time. We had a great dinner on Saturday and a great time at their church on Sunday. Jakey even got into the spirit and was sharing his airplane and car with the other kids during Cresch. After church, Ash and I went to the Glasgow Green for some play time in the park then it was off to Glasgow Cathedral. We have pictures below!


There is a picture of all of us at dinner. Then there is one of Jakey playing under the Pirate ship in Glasgow Green. Then there is one of all of us in front of Glasgow Cathedral. A church has been there from 1136 with the Cathedral being there in one form or another from the 13th century. There is a picture of Jakey peering out at us from the window sill in our hotel room. Also, there is a picture of St. Mungo's tomb (c. 600ad) where you can see the massive granite buttresses that support the sanctuary above. There is also a picture of the cemetery behind the cathedral. Notice the tall monument on the left of John Knox!








A big thanks to Pete and Sarah for a great time!

Random Thoughts...

Hi, it's Ashley again. I have been thinking to blog a little more, so here goes. So you read about our adventure in Cypress, other than the "glitches" we ran into, it was a lovely holiday. We both would really love to go back someday, though sans kids;) We are so thankful for the opportunity to be on this side of the Atlantic, we just wish we could see it all. We went to Glasgow this weekend to visit my friend Peter and his new bride, Sara. We had such a great time! There is so much to see there that of course you need a lot of time to do it all. I am sure Derek will post some pics soon. We are trying to see as much of Scotland as we can, but we know we will come back. We have made so many friends here and I have a great Arbonne team growing here, so we will have to come back:) We have booked our flight to come home in June on the 24th. We fly out of Dublin, we are planning to spend a couple of days there since we LOVE Ireland. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been (so far). I can't believe we are coming home so soon. Our time here has just flown by so fast! We only have 2 1/2 months left! I am excited to come home to family, friends, my dog, our new house, Derek actually having a job; but there is so much we will miss here: our friends, the culture, the diversity, the chocolate, the cheese, being so close to the Ocean, the lush land, the Scottish accent (though I won't miss having to say "what" all the time;). Did I mention the chocolate? I will also miss building my business so actively here. I have had so much fun introducing Arbonne to the UK! I was nervous at first about how I would be received as an American selling a new product; but it has been great! Everyone is BLOWN away by the products! Since I was nervous before, I took things a little slower than I should have and now that I have so little time left I am trying to cram more in; oh well, I can't look back, just learn from my (many) mistakes and keep moving forward. I think by being out here pretty much on my own I have really been forced to grow a lot as a person in both my business and personal life. I have had to become much more focused and I can no longer blame anyone else or make excuses; I will only fail because of ME, it is no one else's fault when I do. Those failures that I have had so far have taught me this very poignantly and have caused me to get my butt in gear. I WILL succeed, I have no doubts about it. Derek and I are both so excited to see how my business will grow even after we leave; we LOVE the whole residual income and exponential growth thing!! It's BRILLIANT!!! We have decided that Arbonne will be our "tent-making" so we can pursue ministry without financial worry. I am sooooo thankful that I have a husband that is not only supportive of me with this business, but who actively participates in it. He is so fun to watch when he is talking about it to people:) Anyone who knows Derek can see why it would be fun to watch him talk about self-care products;) The best thing he does, though, is talk about the business because he sees the genius of it; and he's not exactly an idiot, he does have a business degree. To encourage anyone further that this is a very viable business, check with my dad who has YEARS of experience in VERY successful business; he thinks this is great! Ok, now I am releasing a teeny bit of frustration with skeptics...on to other stuff.
Jake is doing really well. Cute as ever! He loves "arpoons" (airplains), cars, "ooo-ooos" (trains), "hoo-hoos" (monkeys, particularly Curious George), Bob (Bob the Builder), and Little Einsteins (he LOVES the music). Oh, and he will sing "Jesus Loves Me" with us at bedtime, his contribution is singing the word "Bible" over and over. He is really beginning to put together a few words to form fragments that have meaning. It is so fun watching his development. He has the most infectious laugh, add that to his BIG brown eyes that sparkle with mischief and his great smile complete with dimple, and it is near impossible to stay mad at him. Though we are instituting more "time-outs"...so much fun;)
ok, it is late, I am tired. "Tommy need sleepy"
Love you all!
Ash

More pics and flowers

here are the videos

More pictures and videos part 2

Finally Pictures and a video part 1

Here are some pictures of our trip to Cyprus

Finally

We have our buggy! We were able to get a buggy on Wednesday. We got there 10 minutes before closing (since they had a half day on Wednesday) at 1pm. Finally we are able to settle down. Today Ashley finally got the chance to laz around the pool and soak up the sun. I got in with Jake and we played in the big pool. It was cold since it is a sun heated pool, but the sun was out and it wasn't too windy. We played and had fun! Afterwards, Jake had a nice 3 hour nap. We are hoping to actually do some sight-seeing tomorrow. Or, we can just hang out on our last day here. Who knows, we are on vacation.

Another day...

Well, we are still loving it here even though our search for a "buggy," or "push chair," or "stroller," has turned into a quest. We have found a two places in Pafos that sell strollers, but they are always closed. Whether it is 10:30am or 2:45pm, they have been closed each day. We will try tomorrow and since British Airways will be reimbursing us, we will be looking for a really good one. Not having one is starting to become a big issue as Jakey has decided that he doesn't like to walk ALL THE TIME. Plus, we would like to go and visit ruins and it is easier if we don't have to worry about him taking off and playing with all of the old stuff! But...we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves and are having a very relaxed time. Jake loves the pool, and we will go swimming a little later today.

Cheers to all!

WE MADE IT!!!!

Okay, so this is Ashley, I am attempting my first ever blogging experience. So, we made it! We are in Cypress and our Holiday has officially begun! Getting here was an adventure all on its own!! I will begin with leaving Aberdeen on Friday. Our dear friend, Mary, drove us through TERRIBLE weather to the airport, it felt like we were going to get blown over any minute and God was pelting us with what appeared to be "Dippin' Dots," remember those? Well, they don't feel so great getting blown into your face from ten different directions. Just a side note, the wind in Scotland does not blow in one direction, it blows in at least 5 at any given time! So, needless, to say we were glad to be leaving to head for the warm and sunny climate of Cypress. We have no problems checking in and the flight from Aberdeen to London Heathrow was fairly uneventful, until we get off the plane and wait for our luggage. Oh, on the plane we did learn that we no longer need to use the car seat since Jake is now 2, I thought he did since he was still so small, but that was good news since it is one less thing we were going to have to lug on the next flight. Anyway, we get all of our luggage no problem. But we begin to wait and wait for our stroller. We took it out the plane (or the steps outside that go up into the plane) in Abderdeen where is was taken from us by a grounds crew to be stored below the plane, this is normal and we have done it several times. Well, this time, something went terribly wrong. In the 20 feet from the base of the stairs to the luggage compartment on the plane, it was apparently lost! How? you ask. We have no earthly idea! The poor guy at Heathrow was as helpful as possible, but it wasn't his fault. He called Aberdeen, he called our gate we came in on. No one had any clue where it was. They only had one double stroller left for us to use, which we turned down because we though certainly they would find it by the next morning before we leave for Cypress....Plus, we didn't want to bother with a double stroller. He took our number and hotel info and promised to call if it was found. Later that night, no call. The next morning we call Heathrow, they haven't heard anything. We try Aberdeen, apparently their baggage service department is closed on the weekends, or something like that. We go to the airport for our 9:40am flight, we have to wake Jake up early, but he slept well through the night so he did fine. He had to walk quite a bit, but we figured that is good for him, it will make him grow up a little. (we are trying to find the silver lining). We check in and find out our flight is delayed a little bit, not too bad. The airline gives us a voucher for about 6 pounds each to get food and drinks. That's actually pretty good since not all their airport food is too expensive. We go to hang out for a bit in the center of the airport, they don't post your gate until 1 hour before the flight boards. There are plenty of shops and eateries to keep us occupied. Oh, BTW, security was a breeze, especially without the stroller, so that was kind of nice. We finally decide to go eat at a little cafe. We give Jake some milk, and then some food, nothing heavy. We then made the grave mistake of giving him juice too soon after his milk. He threw up all over himself, it was a mess! Fortunately, Derek had decided to pack some extra clothes in our diaper bag, so we were set. Derek took him to the bathroom to clean him up and I cleaned up the mess at our table. We figured it was better that he did this before we got on the plane. We look up at the flights to see ours has been delayed a bit again. Okay, we can handle that. We decide to finish eating our meal at the cafe. We ask the waiter for some water in Jake's sippy cup, to help get the yucky taste out of his mouth and get some fluids. It takes a while, but he finally returns with it. I had a weird feeling about it, but didn't say anything. Next thing I know, Jake is screaming and steam is flying in his face. I run around the table and grab the sippy cup from him. It was filled with boiling water! The pressure had built up and when he went to take a sip it blew up in his face. The poor little guy was so scared and he still has some minor burns from it. Apparently there was a mix up when the waiter asked the girl behind the bar for water in it and she filled it with the hot water. The cup is so insulated that it only felt a little warm to the touch on the outside, so no one knew. The poor girl was so upset by the accident (she was crazy busy behind the counter and just made a mistake), she was crying for a long time. The manager came out and called the paramedic, just as a precaution. Jake was fine, just some minor surface burns on the side of his face, mostly he was just scared. We had our meal comped and we got the information of the general manager. I think they were a little afraid we would suel; that is not something we would have done. If there had been any medical costs, then we would have had them pay for that, but we are not exactly the suing type, it was just an accident. We went over to show the girl that Jake was okay and to offer her some comfort; she was extremely shaken. Anyway, after all the drama at the cafe we go to sit down. Then more fabulous news, apparently our plane was broken down and they couldn't fix it without a new part being flown in from Manchester. Our 9:40am flight was now schedule to about 6pm! There were a lot of families with children around us and some of the kids played together. There was a little table with some toys on it by us that Jake loved. He was such a trooper!! He never cried, unless he took him away from the toys. He couldn't take a nap since we didn't have his stroller and lying down on the bench didn't work for him since it was so loud and so much going on. We had some kids shows on our computer that he watched and some books. They had a toy store and I bought him a new Thomas train since he was being so good. Then, our flight gets delayed again. We finally get to board our plane around 9:40pm!! Our flight had been delayed 12 hours!!! Jake didn't sleep at all during that time and he had been up since 6:30am. He did so great!! We get on the plane and he does well, he eventually sleeps for about 2 and a half hours of the flight (supposed to be a little over 4 hours, but the pilot booked it and we got there in about 3 and a half hours). Then he woke up screaming. It was hard to console him, but he calmed down a little bit. Then freaked out again. Then calmed down, then his ears hurt as we descended. All in all, I'd say he was due a good cry. So we get to the Larnaka airport, which is about 2 hours from Pafos. We wait for a long time to get out rental car, and get the last one they have, a van. Oh well, no extra charge. We load up and head out. (quick note: it is a lot cheaper to fly into Larnaka than Pafos). Derek is driving and Jake falls asleep. I try to stay awake, but struggle towards the end. The sun comes up as we are driving. (Cypress is 2 hours later than the UK, so it was about 5am when we left the airport driving). It is a lovely Island. We get a little lost once in Pafos, but we find our resort. We had called them from London to let them know we would be late and they had set up the cot for Jake already. we got in, got some milk for him from the shop that wasn't supposed to be open yet, and went to bed. We rested the whole day and enjoyed the resort. The food is fabulous!!! Everyone here is very nice. Our place is very nice, too! we have a great room, it has a separate living and sleeping area and a little kitchen. The floors are all marble. It is not super fancy, but very nice. The pool is great, which Jake just loves; he went in with Daddy this afternoon. Earlier we explored Pafos to find a store to buy a new stroller. We found it, but it was closed so we will go back tomorrow. British Air has officially lost our stroller and will compensate us for a new one. I have no problem buying a very nice one! For the inconvenience we have had, I think we deserve it! Also, Cypress Air is supposed to offer some sort of compensation, we just need to file a complaint or something. Apparently, others who have flown with them say they are very accomodating, so it shouldn't be a problem. We will be adding some pics soon so you can all see this lovely place! I am so blown away that we are actually staying in a city that the Apostle Paul did!!! The weather is great, though a bit dusty today, apparently there is a wind coming in from Egypt causing it. How cool!! We are very close to Israel, too! I should get going so we can go get dinner. We will keep you posted on our continuing adventure. we love you all!

Jakey's birthday party

Well, Jakey's big birthday party day came and went. Some of his best friends showed up: Hannah Eilers and Peter Reed. Also, his friend Ethan came as well. We all had a great day and wish that all of you could have come. Here are some pictures and a video. Below is a picture of Jake and his buddies; also, a nice picture of Derek's Oreo chocolate cake; there is a picture of Jakey eating his third Thomas the tank engine cupcake, as well as a picture of Jake oogling his new thomas books.

Sad, but no St. Andrews

Due to our upcoming trip to Cyprus on March 22, we have decided to not go to St. Andrews. Plus, my LAX game got canceled anyways. So we are sticking it out here in Aberdeen. Ash is doing great and is excited about going to the Arbonne National convention in Atlanta in April. I believe the dates are April 9-14th or something like that. Totally sweet for her but stinks for me. I would love to simply get a taste of some nice American culture.

The more that I am here, the more I realize that I love being an American. There are many great things about the UK (like not getting charged for incoming calls and texts on the cell phone) but I am an American at heart. It has caused me to think a bit about how each of us is shaped by our culture. Even our religious views are relative to our culture. The Christian culture here has a different feel than in America. On the theological level, they fight different battles here in theology than in the states. It has really helped to expand my view of a godly community I can tell you that!

Here are some funny pictures of Jake who will be turning 2 next Monday, 10th. Amazing!

Here is Jake and Hannah playing some good ol' fashion football - notice Jake's big kick is no where near the ball. But as they say here, aces for trying!



Here is Jake helping mom with her Arbonne party!



Here is a picture of Jake making sure he understands the basic essentials of Liberation Theology - he also is helping out his friend Mary with her book review!



Here is the first fist-bump of the Resler boys!

Update and promotion

Well, February has flown by and we are still experiencing incredible weather! It is again sunny and in the 40's. I think that we have had only one or two rainy days in the last two weeks! I even got a sun burn on my face last Saturday when our Lacrosse team played against Stirling (which we won in double OT - I almost had to go to the hospital becomes I am too old for this). Jakey actually got to see me score a goal! Afterwards, Ash said that he shouted "yeah Daddy!". How is that for awesome.

We will be going down to St. Andrews again next weekend to get away from here a bit and for my lacrosse game. It should be really fun.

Okay here is my promotion for a friend of mine who just recently published his first book, "Piccolo, the Grey Robe." It is a young adult fantasy book (think Harry Potter for genre) for middle schoolers and follows a young girl as she challenges a very Patriarchal culture and an all-boys school in their views of girls and those that Just don't-fit-in. It is an age-appropriate book that focuses on friendship, courage, and loyalty as she and a few of her friends (outcasts themselves) face challenges of various kinds. It is a good book and you can find it on barnesandnobles.com and on booksamillion.com. Here is the cover art work.

Just a Hello

Hi, I am Jakey, what is your name?

Search for Nessie!

Well, our holiday after our Christmas Holiday and before School begins (being a student has its perks!) was spent in Inverness with two friends of ours. Mary and Natalie came with us as we went in search of a little R&R near the fabled waters of Loch Ness. I must say, Inverness is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to (this is Derek speaking). They just recently graduated from town status to city status and it shows. They have some of the city with a large Tesco (Think Target with more of a food emphasis) and a B&Q (their version of Home Depot) as well as some other signs of modernity (some chain restaurants). However, they have all of the charm of a small town with a beautiful river walk (River Ness) and with lights in the trees and everything.

We stayed at a great B&B (4star) for little to no money and loved walking along the river. Even Jake got a kick out of walking around it one night! They have restaurants that overlook the river and give you a since of romance.

Our big trip was a ferry down Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle. The ferrymen were friendly and no before you ask, we did not see Nessy. But I did see fish jumping which made my fisherman's heart cry out for a pole! But Jake loved the ferry and had a great time. The views were amazing as you can see by the pictures and the castle was even more beautiful. Historically, it is one of the most fought over castles in Scotland as it has had numerous residents on up till the late 17th century. It finally was blown up in 1689 by those who didn't want their enemies to have a fortified castle to occupy. Since that time, it was used as a quarry for local towns. But much still remains and some of it dates back to the 12th century Pics who built a fort here. So that is to say, a lot happened here. Just as a historical note, Edward the Longshanks occupied the fort in 1303 with English forces but was ousted by Robert the Bruce in 1306.

Overall, our trip was great and we are glad that we went. The weather was awesome with no rain and with temperatures in the high 40's. I have been thinking of something ever since: I am in awe of the beauty mankind can make with its own hands. But as I looked out over the castle battlements, I realized that mankind's best still crumbled before the awesome creative genius of God.