Jolly Ole' Scotland!

I am super, incredibly, behind in my blogging because what you're about to see happened back in October. Wow. So, my main squeeze was deployed and Kase-face had been wanting to go to Scotland! So, we headed over to the land of the Scots during the first weekend of October. I figured it was a safe destination since everyone spoke English! 

The first day we were there we took a tour up into the Highlands and to the Loch Ness. It was so beautiful in the Highlands (that's anything north of Edinburgh) and it was right around Fall time so there were so beautiful colors. We only stopped a few times before we got up to the lakes. But each stop was picture worthy. 

Our tour guide's name was Shelbie and she was hilarious. Apparently Scots are not ashamed about how much alcohol they drink, as it is a common topic of humor for them. I also learned about haggis and black pudding (both of which are super unappetizing to me) - the only food I fell in love with over there was their shortbread and a fudge-like dessert called tablets (melts-in-your-mouth yummy!). Lastly, I fell in love with Highland Cows. I didn't see any up close and personal, only in passing (while stuck on a bus) so, I didn't get any pictures. But, I want a Highland Cow. They're adorable. 

Alright, the Highlands … shall we? 

Here we are - all ready to go touring!!

Our first stop was in a little town (that I don't remember the name of) and we had a few minutes to stretch and wander. We came across these old men fishing. Apparently, the fishing in Scotland is amazing and people will pay thousands of British Pounds to fish in the streams. Crazy! 

Then we found an old cemetery. What is it about cemeteries that are so intriguing? This one was so fun. Some of the headstones had dates back to the 1800s! 

Back on the bus, we headed up the windy roads to the Highlands. 

 I loved that bridge!!! It was part of a walking trail that people could walk for miles and miles and miles! 

Scotland is a very cloudy, drizzly place. The Scots think its beautiful weather apparently! But one of the times we were out of the bus, just enough sun shined through the clouds to give us a rainbow! It was perfect. 

And this!? Picture perfect. The bridge? And the cute little house? With the waterfall on the mountain!? *sigh* Scotland, you're killing me.

(Harry Potter sidebar: the hills just opposite of this picture were where the scenes for Hagrid's Hut were all filmed. As we drove past you could see the circle of trees that surrounded his hut. So fun!) 

The next stop was one of the highest mountains in Scotland. On a clear day, you can see for miles and miles if you hiked to the top. Obviously, it was not a clear day when we were there and about 75% of the mountain is covered in fog in this picture. 

Then … finally! We made it to Loch Ness. Before we went to Scotland, I was not a believer in the Loch Ness monster but, boy are those Scots convincing!! I am about 95% sure there is something living in that lake! We took a boat cruise around the lake and one of the workers told us he has seen things on the radar at least 7 times. We asked the driver if he has ever seen anything and he said when he started working there 6 years ago, he saw something poke it's head out of the water. There are plenty of sightings of Miss Nessie that have me convinced! The Loch is also incredibly deep (lots of room to hide!) … you could fit 3 airplanes, wing to wing, and they wouldn't come out of the water! And Big Ben could be covered completely by the water. Crazy deep. A scary. Eeks! 

(Please note the Asian, behind us, throwing the peace sign up…ha!) 

Standing in the Loch Ness!!

I figured a boat cruise would be the best way to have a Nessie sighting … so off we went! 

Look! The Loch Ness Monster!!!!! 

(they had cute little stickers on the windows that made it look like Nessie was swimming next to the boat. So clever.) 

Sadly, we didn't have any REAL monster sighting while we were there. Kason was kinda bummed. But, it was still a beautiful lake and area. The town it's in was adorable, I was wishing we had more time to wander around. 

After Loch Ness we headed back down the mountains! We stopped at this memorial for WWII Soldiers. 

And this … is my last picture of the actual Highlands :( 

We did make one last stop in a town called Pitlochry. A cute, quaint little town where we loaded up with croissants, candy and chips in a box. 

We sat in the parking lot by the bus eating our food and hanging out … Kason was such a fun traveling partner during this trip!! We had a blast together. 

And just for good measure -- here's Kason as a ginger! HA! This picture makes me laugh every single time. 

August & September

So much of our life is captured by my phone and I don't usually take the time to put them on the blog but, those are the little things that matter most because they make us a family, they create our memories and the little things are what we are doing day after day as a family!

Most of these pictures are from August/September ...

Bowling as a family the night before Brad deployed.

Right before Kason said good night - talk about a tear jerker!! Tears were definitely shed ... 

Love this ... he's rarely serious! 

First day of 1st grade!!

A couple weeks after our husband's left, my friend Charee & I put together a trampoline. 

Never. Again. 

That thing was a pain! Although ... I am pretty proud of us for doing it sans husbands!

Flea Market shopping ... 

he really wanted the hat & I think he was serious!

Kason & I took a trip to Ramstein Air Force Base for their annual Bazaar - we had to eat some Macaroni Grille while we were there...

We have sent lots of these over the last month! The picture Kason drew was too adorable not to document - it's a picture of all of us sitting around the dinner table ... 

This? Can't even write words to express how sweet it was! 

This hangs on our bathroom mirror to remind me that I can do hard things and that even if deployment is struggle, if I stay strong, we'll all come out on top! 

And I love little reminders like this that we are only a small little piece of this big beautiful world that was created just for us ... 

We also have done a lot of this the past 6 weeks ... I am so grateful for Skype & FaceTime!!!

I don't talk enough about these lovely ladies here ... Charee and Mary Anne have been my rock(s) since moving here! They are absolutely incredible and I couldn't ask for better friends ... Mary Anne is leaving soon and it's killing me! But, I know their family is moving on to amazing opportunities so, it's hard to stayed bummed for too long. Bottom line: I love these girls! 

Our new little nephew, Brevik! 

Erika & Jordan (Brad's sister and hubs) had this cute little guy back in July. I love him already and just wish I could snuggle him! 

Soccer FINALLY started around here ... Kason is a natural. 

He scored the first goal of the game in the first game of the season! 

We have since changed teams and he now sports a yellow shirt for soccer. But, regardless, he's loving it and I'm loving watching him! 

This past Saturday Kason did a kid's Spur Ride ... they fired real military grade weapons (with blanks of course!) and got to eat MRE's. Kason loved the MRE ... weirdo. Brad said the one he got was one of the most disgusting ones out there. Double weirdo! 

And that's a wrap. Happy October!!

Tough Mudder

Back in July, Brad ran a Tough Mudder with his platoon. The race is something like 12 miles and then has obstacles every miles. (It's been awhile, I don't remember the specifics) Brad loved it though - I told him it solidified his "meat head" status ;) (jk, I don' really think my husband is a meat head but, I did think the Tough Mudder was a meat head convention...)

Moving on ... 

Not all of his platoon ran the race but, here are the guys that did (I'm not even going to try naming all of them)

Do you like their camo daisy-dukes? Nice, huh? 

The obstacles were so spread out Kason and I only made it to see a couple of them ...

This was the obstacle I was most excited about - Electro-shock therapy! I guess it's not as bad as it sounds but, it was the final obstacle and all the guys made it to the end! 

There were a couple other groups from our Squadron that also ran in the Tough Mudder - this is mostly everyone that was there:

I love this guy - missing him like crazy but, love looking back on these moments and remembering the memories we have been able to make and looking forward to the many memories we still get to make! He's a good man - so glad I get to stand by his side for eternity. 

Recent Happenin's

I feel like I haven't even had time lately to blog! Which is crazy considering I have more free time than before. Regardless, here's what's been happening in the life of us: 

1) Brad deployed (Blah. Gross. Not cool.) He left August 25th bright and early at 2am in the morning. I drove him to his office, we said a quick final prayer and then said good-bye for 9 months. Now, it seems like that was an eternity ago. But, thinking about it floods me with the emotions of that night. He has almost been gone for a month now and this just seems normal. He is doing good and he's busy so that's nice. We get to talk every day for the most part which is a huge blessing! 

All in all - we're surviving deployment number 1! 

2) Kason started first grade. What. The. Heck. Why is he getting older!? It's killing me. After the fiasco of last years kindergarten teacher, we really wanted to make sure he had a good teacher and classroom environment. We got him into the multi-age classroom this year, which means there is first, second and third graders all in the same class. It's beneficial because the students are required to push themselves & learn how to be self starters. It's also helpful because if a student is succeeding in one area of their grade level then they can move up to the next grade level. It's fantastic! Plus, for Kason it has been really good to have older kids model the appropriate behavior in a classroom setting. His teacher told me, "I'm SO glad you put him in multi-age!" ... That seriously almost brought me to tears. Plus, Kason adores his teacher, which I couldn't be happier about!

3) I started school! Yep. I am taking one Undergraduate class at Utah State University online. I am hoping to eventually get my Bachelor's degree in Psychology. So, I am taking the intro to psych class they have. It's been good so far but, man I forgot how much work college classes are! 

4) Kason started soccer. He only has it twice a week but, that's two times a week that we are home late and have to rush through dinner and homework and hurry him off to bed. BUT - Kason loves it. And he honestly is pretty good, it's been fun watching him and I'm hoping he'll stick with it. I miss playing soccer so much so I will live vicariously through him. 

5) I started teaching piano again. It's been a few years so I'm a little rusty in the teaching department but, some friends of ours from the ward wanted a teacher for their 4 kids so, I decided it would be a good opportunity for me. I go to their house once a week, teach their 4 kids while Kason plays and then we eat dinner with them and head home! They're an amazing family so in reality it's more of a blessing for us than them, I think ;) 

I also started Shakeology and doing the Insanity work-outs so between all of that, plus normal life stuff, life gets a little crazy around here. But, in reality I am grateful for it because it helps the days go by much much faster and it''s helping time fly by! 

Until next time ...