January Blues

We had so much fun during the holidays that January hit us like a ton-o-bricks. And man do we have the January Blues! Thank goodness tomorrow is a new day and a new month!

Here's a not so quick re-cap of the FUN.

First up, Santa visits Charlie at school. Yippee, yahoo! He enjoyed a game of musical chairs, pass the parcel and a disco while waiting for the Jolly Old Man. Charlie knows nothing of waiting in line at Northpark Mall or the Dallas Arboretum to see Santa. By golly, he comes to school during the Christmas party. Brilliant all around!

Next, during one of our snowed in days, we ventured to the frozen pond around the corner for a little pond walking and bird/duck feeding. The boys thought this was EXCELLENT. (FYI..our school never closed but we did skip a few days as they were running a skeleton crew and left it up to the parents to turn up if it was safe to travel. They didn't have to say that to me twice!)

Then, we had a sweet surprise from Mims, she was kidnapping Gramps and coming to Scotland for Christmas! Right on. After a slight delay in Amsterdam due to the crazy snow, they made it to Glasgow and we hit the ground running. We went to Edinburgh for Cooking School for the boys and friends and a very civilized grown up lunch for the grown ups! It was delightful. Thanks Gramps!

Next up, the boys finished school, Scott tied up things at work and Mims, Gramps and I did a little shopping and running around. We enjoyed lots of kitchen time together and then Mims and Gramps were a huge help preparing for our traditional last day of school cookie decorating party and lunch! Crazy and fun.

Finally with the boys out of school (on the 23rd), we spent the last few days before Christmas cooking and relaxing. We watched movies, went to the Pantomime (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime), and cooked and cooked!

On Christmas Eve, Charlie was supposed to be Joesph in the church nativity but he was running a fever. With a little arm wrestling, Ethan kindly stepped in. Christopher played the role of one of the wisemen. We enjoyed the service, then home for neighborhood caroling, sprinkling of reindeer food, and finally a Christmas Eve Family Celebration!

Christmas morning was full of excitement with the boys and full of way to much stuff! How did that happen?? Anyway, we are grateful and we all enjoyed a fun day with new treasures. And the Nicol Clan was especially grateful to have Mims and Gramps to share the day with.

Mims and Gramps left bright and early Boxing Day and were thankfully not flying though Atlanta so they made it home safe and sound. Thank you again for coming to Scotland!

My friend Vanessa and her son Adam planned to arrive in Glasgow Boxing Day night but they unfortunately were travelling though Atlanta. So, they were delayed by a day but made it on the 27th in time for the Edinburgh vs Glasgow Rugby Match! Yahoo! They were only here for 4 nights but boy did we cram in the fun. Rugby, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile, A pub Lunch, Museums, shopping, relaxing, game playing, movie watching and a party with friends. Vanessa and Adam, it was too short but we loved your visit! Thank you for coming.

And last but not least, we had one last visitor. Harry Archibald Robert Watson stayed with the Nicol Clan for the first week in January and we kinda liked him. Harry is the 18 month old son of dear friends that were travelling to New Zealand for a wedding. They have 3 children and needed to divide and conquer for their 2 weeks away. And we were happy to take the littlest squirt for the first week. The boys were out of school on MTW. I don't remember what we did but it was full and fun. Then everyone went back to school and Harry went to stay with his Auntie on the weekend. Each of the boys has said they miss him! Having a baby around is pretty special.

PS. This is Harry's sister Georgia and she carpools with us to school so we were even lucky to have 2 of the Watson kiddos for short bursts. And Harry was slightly confused about why Grandma was picking up Georgia and dropping her off so much!

So see, January, you never stood a chance! So long and farewell dark, wet, grey and blue days!

O Christmas Tree

We found a beauty this year!

The boys started with their collectables from Mims and Gramps.

And Charlie took his role of chief decorator seriously.

Angus is just thankful to have his domain back.

I think this might be one of my favourite days of the year.

Scruffy

Check this out.

Is this one of the cutest puppies you've ever seen? We had the privilege of keeping 10 week old Scruffy for the weekend and man oh man, is he cute! The boys and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am not so sure about Scott or Angus!

Monachyle Mohr

For our 15th Wedding Anniversary, Scott surprised me with a trip to this country house hotel for a landscape photography course.

http://mhor.net/mhor/

We traveled through the beautiful snowy hills northwest of Glasgow and ended up in this remote, winter wonderland. Situated on Loch Voil, Monachyle Mohr transports it's guests to another world. With 14 cleverly appointed rooms and one award winning chef, it is a boutique hotel like none other. Add to that an award winning professional photographer and it made for one of the most relaxing and rewarding getaways to date!

We arrived early Sunday morning to start our course. We studied our camera and it's capabilities. We learned about exposure, composition, shutter speed and much more. After a delicious lunch, we began the practical work. With 3 other participants, we wandered out onto the hotel property in an effort to put our theory to practice. I think Scott is a natural and I am a slow learner! It was fun to practice though, especially with this stunning scenery.

We enjoyed drinks in the tiny bar after the days' work, and we shared a table with another couple on the course for dinner. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. The food is all local and the flavours were amazing.

The next morning brought too much fog for a sunrise practical session so we headed back to the classroom shortly after breakfast. I think taking your camera off automatic takes lots and lots of practice. And lots and lots of time to delete all of the not so great photos off your camera!

Unfortunately, our time was cut short on the second day because a snowstorm hit Glasgow and we received a call from the babysitter to say she could not make it to the school. And once we spoke to other parents back home, we decided we needed to get on the road. (Some of our friends were stuck on the motorway for 12 hours)

http://www.heraldscotland.com:80/news/home-news/chaos-on-scotland-s-roads-as-blizzards-batter-country-1.1072840

So the course did not end like we'd hoped and we missed our last practical session, but it certainly wet our appetite to learn more about our camera! But we cherished the 36 hours we did have. And we have a new favourite Scottish hotel.

We made it home safe and sound. And the boys walked home from school after no one was able to collect them. NICE.

Monachyle Mohr, we will be back!