I decided to share some pics since the last time I shared pictures. You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
We went to see if we could find a Christmas Market and ended up finding China Town!
Joe putting up the Christmas tree. There were tons of Christmas decorations here from past missionaries. We enjoyed them for several weeks. One morning I woke up and felt impressed to give them to a single mom and little boy. They only had a stick for their tree! It was really heartwarming to see the joy it gave them.
I finally finished my picture. It's my version of "The Village Smithy" by Thomas Creswick. It was fun and I learned a lot!
The Gabels and us ready to see The Christmas Carol at a local church. With the stones in the church, it was almost colder than outside!
These people came out to that same church. They are members of our Ward and the two children are in our Primary class, Cecily and Jackson!
The Primary was in charge of decorating for the Ward Christmas Breakfast. Joe made pho Gingerbread houses out of cardboard.
For our Primary Activity Days, we made these cute snowmen out of socks. There were 10 children and 4 adults. It was a bit like herding cats, but we used these for the Ward Christmas Breakfast and then the children took them home!
Getting these houses ready for new renters is a lot of work and there is a lot of tedious work that is involve.
We were invited to go to a local community program and sing Christmas Carols to the 60+ crowd. It was fun!
The Relief Society at Church had a wreath making activity. Funny thing was, the lady in charged posted it on Facebook and there were tons of people that came that we had no idea who they were! lol!
Joe and I were in charge of the cookie decorating at the Ward Christmas Breakfast. I made about 70 cookies and the frosting. It worked out well and everyone enjoyed it...I hope!
This is St Nick riding his bike. We even saw a man playing a one-man band with cymbals, horn, flute and bagpipes. Pretty awesome!
This winter has been very cold. There is a lot of fog and it froze and it just looked beautiful!
We are working on a house that has been sitting vacant for a year after people have lived there for 25 years. There is so much that needs to be done. We are working with a decorator who keeps dreaming up ideas of what else we need to do! Joe is making a covering for some pipe.
Apparently, it doesn't get very cold here, and if it does it isn't very long. Well, this year saw record heat and now record cold! (Yay!) So far, it broke 6 different houses' pipes! The plumbing is not insulated and often in the attic with a large gravity flow tank.
We were racing around tearing out insulation and trying to fix the damage on top of all the remodeling that we were already doing, This is a pile of insulation that Joe pulled out of the attic and we put outside. Yuck!
One morning, I got up and snapped this pic of our tree and this beautiful sunrise!
Joe found the joy of 500 piece puzzles. Missionaries before us left a ton!
There is a lot of plaster repair to be done at some of these old homes. I'm attempting (and failed) at plastering. Joe finished!
Joe and I decided to get away for Christmas. We took 6 days and rode a train to Scotland about 4 hours away via speeding train. We decided on memories instead of presents. We sure had a lot of memories that we will not soon forget!
Inside Edinburgh cathedral
We took a "Hairy Coo" tour and stopped at this overflowing river along the way. I realized that "Hairy Coo" means "Hairy Cow"! That's how they say "cow"! lol! I really wanted to take a picture of these coos but the bus driver never slowed down or told us in time to get our cameras ready! It was an easy way to see a lot of Scotland.
In Scotland, a lot of people walk everywhere. We had to bundle up because it was so cold. I had on 2 pairs of gloves, thermals, scarfs, hat, coat, and my regular clothes and was barely ok. It rained on us and snowed! But Edinburgh, where we stayed had the best Christmas market I've ever seen and we loved the town!
At one of our stops on the tour, I took this beautiful pic of the Scottish landscape.
and this one. (well someone took it of us)Edinburgh castle cannon and hunky guy! They made this cannon especially deadly. The sign is right below the Uni (short for University-being interpreted as College) We look like we're having fun sporting the replica of the sword that killed a lot of people and the Scottish flag, but we're freezing! brrr! We saw the almost actual Loch Ness Monster. Scared Joe so much! He was so glad we were in the boat.
There are two gigantic horse heads. They represent the horses that pulled boats up the canal for trade long ago. Apparently, the parents tell the children that they are horse ghosts that carry away people when they go near the water and kill them and suck their souls out in order to keep the children away from the water. (Teaching them to swim might be nicer!)
Edinburgh Uni all lit up
That's the Harry Potter Bridge back there
The castle has two levels. It's a bit like a city-with a dungeon and jail...
I really don't think I'll ever forget that Christmas!
In Edinburgh castle. This is where the King entertained and showed off to his guests
How we like to pass the time...Whist!
Sorry, this is out of order. This is the Christmas Carol play. There was a cast of 5 and they picked a child out of the audience who said the line perfectly: God Bless Us Everyone!
This is the church where the play was. Most of the churches have cemeteries around them. Kinda looks like a good backdrop for Halloween.
I really wanted to post this last. It was such a full moon and so beautiful. Sometimes, I really miss home and my family and friends and it's nice to know that we can look up and see the same moon and stars! (Love you all!)
Well that's caught up on pictures. Hope all is well and know that we love you and are thinking of you all!
With great love,
Elder Joseph and Sister Gloria Smith
My Sister and her husband served in Scotland four years ago and were assigned to the Uni. They loved it so much! My brother in law has since passed but I can’t wait to show my sister your pictures. I’m certain it will bring back some fond memories for her. You guys are awesome! Thanks for sharing your adventures and hard work in England!
ReplyDelete