A day on the farm...

A couple of weeks ago, Joe took a job that required him to look after the cows and cats of a small farm not far from us. He went every morning and evening to feed them, and we joined him on Saturday morning. We felt very proud of Daddy and his farming skills. Dan loved the cows and was so excited to feed them. In fact, ever since Daddy had the job of feeding the cows Dan says "feed da cows" when Joe leaves for work. Ha!

AGA discovery! Well, our day just had to start out right with Saturday morning pancakes. The couple Joe was working for let us use their kitchen and their very unique AGA stove. I have never seen one before, but it is a stove/oven that stays on all the time by using a different type of fuel (wish I knew more). One of the benefits is that the kitchen stays very warm throughout cold winters here...big plus! It was an adventure cooking on it, and this picture is pretty bad but I think you can get the idea.





"Hello cow!"

After stuffing ourselves with pancakes and feedding the cows, we headed to the backyard to pick some apples! (We were given permission for this also). It was great! I've always wanted to do this but never had the opportunity. We are still enjoying our harvest to this day.

Our Church

This is a view of our church from the field right next to the cottage. We are just about a quarter of a mile from the church, so walking is still an option!

A peek inside...

This is our living room where most of the action in our cottage takes place. We are loving it...especially the view out the window.

Another view of the living room with Dan in front of the fireplace. We do have central heat; however, we will also be lighting daily fires for extra warmth in this fireplace. Coming from Texas where fires are for aesthetics, not warmth, we have alot to learn. I must say though that Joe is off to a great start on this front and has kept us nice and warm plenty of mornings and evenings already.

I am LOVING this new kitchen. My friends from St. Andrews will appreciate this...it has TWO freezers (refrigerators tend to be tiny here in the UK!), a dishwasher, a laundry room with washer AND dryer (these are scarce too), lots of cookware and gadgets, and counterspace....yay!

A view from the kitchen sink. I'm apparently speaking to Dan about something of grave importance! :)

A happy Dan in his new home.

We've arrived!

Well, we have actually been here about a week and a half but just got our internet up and running. We have had such a nice welcome here in Kiltarlity. The people have been so sweet and we are very encouraged and excited about our time here.

Here she is! This is our new home in the quaint town of Kiltarlity in the Highlands of Scotland. We are loving this cottage and already feel at home in it. What a blessing!

A view from further away...

I love this sidewalk up to our front door. It's so cozy and a nice welcome...even on a rainy day :)

The garden behind our house contains a very old home. It was the home of our landlord's father and a fun view from the kitchen window. On around the corner and through the gate live some geese, an old tractor and plenty to thrill the heart of a wee Dan!

This is the driveway up to our cottage and the view as you look out from it. We love it!!! There are often cows in the field furthest in this picture and Dan loves spotting them from the sofa in our living room. His newest joke is to tell me that cows say, "Baaaaaaa..." Haha!

Let me introduce our "new" car. We are so happy to have it and are getting use to the left side of things for a change.

This is the garden at the side of the house. Our clothes will hang on the line here :)

Here is a field behind our house. We love the views.

Au Revoir Paris!

On our last day, we decided to celebrate our month in Paris by going to a creperie. Joe and I both got our first crepes and fell in love! I think it's maybe a good think that we didn't discover them until our last day because our pocket books and wastelines may have suffered a bit :)

Dan enjoyed a sucker and bites of our crepes and was quite a happy camper. He is very willing to pose for pictures these days....he always bursts out with "Cheeeeeeeeeez!"

One last cute pic of Dan in our bedroom here in Paris. He loves this book and loves the fact that it is warm enough to run around in a diaper!

I don't quite know how to sum up our time here. It has truly been a blessing and we've loved getting to spend so much time in Paris. We've developed routines and feel like we have really gotten to know "our area" here. We head out tomorrow and fly back to Scotland. We will be there for a night and then head straight on to Kiltarlity to start our time there. We are so excited to get settled and see the cottage that will be our home! We'll post pictures soon!

Saturday Morning Rest...

We went inside the Louvre the first weekend we were here, but we took a trip back to the grounds yesterday morning.


We had a nice relaxing morning in the gardens of the Palace Royale. We found some great reclining chairs in front of the fountain and took it easy.

Dan caught on and chose a chair for pure relaxation. Not without his stick, of course!

Meet our Flatmates!

Here we are! This month we have shared a three-bedroom apartment with two other families. It really has worked out great! From the left and on around the table there is Amber, Paul, Emily, Jim, Jonah, Joe, and Dan. Ruby is missed in this picture. She is the precious 4 month old daughter of Amber and Paul. We have had "house dinners" once a week since we've been here and really enjoyed them. This was our night to cook and we had a great time.

Alot of time has been spent in the morning and before bedtime in this spot. We love the main room in the flat and the boys have their own spot to play.

Happy boys!

Many, many hugs have been shared this month between Dan and Jonah. So sweet!