Home Sweet Home

'Scotland 2' just never seemed to happen...so we'll tie it all together now that we are home. We left a CD with a lot of our photo's on in Scotland, so we'll have to post some more photo's another time...

We had a GREAT time. It was wonderful to see family and old friends - some that I haven't seen for about 12 years since I left home. We visited the church that I grew up in and took a quick drive around my old neighborhood to show Ang the house we lived in till I was 17. I had forgotten how beautiful Scotland is...or possibly just never appreciated because it was all I really knew. Scotland is truly a beautiful country. This pic is of Stirling Castle.

We spent most of our time at my parents house in Saltcoats on the south-west coast of Scotland. My dad currently pastors a church there. They live in a house right on the sea with incredible views of Arran (a mountainous island) and the Firth of Clyde. They let us borrow one of their cars - if it was just me and Ang, we took the Smart Car - what a sweet car. We laughed every time we returned to the parking lot...it's small - very small.

We spent a week in Perth staying with Jaime and Phil (Sister and Bro-in-law) where we had the opportunity to record some music with Phil. Phil is an incredible musician and sound engineer and helped us to produce a sound which I am truly amazed at. Thanks Phil! Hopefully the CD will be complete in a couple of weeks after it has all been mixed and mastered. At some point it will be available to everyone if anyone is interested :) These pics are nephews David and Daniel, niece Leah, and our three.

My parents offered to look after the kids for a couple of days so that Ang and I could get away on a 'real' vacation. We found a great airline called Ryan Air who fly out of the local airport to destinations all over Europe. It was sooooo cheap to fly! We ended up choosing Spain as I have an Aunt and Uncle there who I have not seen since I left home. It was great to spend some time with them as an adult (instead of being the adolescent nephew), and they treated us to free accommodation and most of our meals. Thanks Irene! Along with our $60 round trip flights, this made for a fantastic, CHEAP, vacation. These are pics of downtown Malaga which has an incredible bull fighting arena. Spain was warm and beautiful...

It was also great to be able to celebrate Hannah's first birthday with my family, since they have always been so far away for the kids' birthdays. We had a little party for her at my parents' house, and the rest of the family made the journey to celebrate with us. It made for a wonderful last day in Scotland. Happy Birthday, Hannah!!

Truly an incredible month. Flying was difficult with three kids as I'm sure you can imagine. I think it will be a while before we do it again...as we will have four kids soon! It was a blessing in disguise to be recently out of work so that we could take a whole month to go. This is Robert the Bruce (Ang) storming Stirling Castle...

So now that we are home, life will slowly get back to 'normal'. The job search continues. Being back home in Ohio makes us realize how much we love living here. Not for Ohio (by any means), but for the friends and family that we have here. We are so happy that God placed us here, and continue to feel completely assured that this is where God wants us for now - unemployed and all...

Oh yeah, I became a U.S. citizen today. A subject for another day...

And, we find out tomorrow whether our new one is a boy or a girl - CRAZY!