New Hiding Spot

I was doing a few things around the house and thought the boys were being too quiet upstairs, I had to find out what they were up to. I walked upstairs and saw nothing, could not find them so this became a game of hide and seek. After calling and looking around for a while, I heard a few noises coming from Landon's closet. Opening the door, this is what I found...

These guys were officially camping out in there! They are having fun having this new "hiding" spot in the house!

BONFIRE Night in Aberdeen

On Friday night we went to Kemnay, Scotland for the annual lighting of the Bonfire and Fireworks show and then on Saturday night we went to Banchory, Scotland for another Bonfire and Fireworks show. Both are nearby towns. We enjoyed watching the amazing fireworks displays both nights and the Bonfires as well. The last time I went to a Bonfire was in Aggieland back in 1998. I was reminded of how much I wish Texas A&M would bring Bonfire back! It fell when I was a Sophomore in 1999. On a side night, we even watched the AGGIES beat OU this weekend, via Slingbox. The last time I saw this happen was in 2002 when I was in Graduate School at A&M. Watch out, the AGGIES are back! 

A little history: "Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, is an annual celebration held primarily in Great Britain, on or about the evening of 5 November. Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfire. Historically, the celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, a secret plan to overthrow the king."

Arrival of the "Container"

Its finally here....our 20 foot cargo "Container" has arrived! It traveled from Texas by sea to arrive in Belgium and then at our door.  The shipment arrived after 5 weeks of traveling, which was right on time! I think 50 percent of the container was consumed by the kids toys, 25 percent photos, decor and accessories, and the other 25 percent was clothing and our favorite food items such as Velveeta and Rotel that we can not purchase here in the UK. Our furniture from our home in Sugar Land was put into a Storage Unit there since the house here is furnished. I was so excited to get some of the things that "felt" like home. Trent and Landon were bouncing off the walls, it was like Christmas for them.  I know we were all happy to look around and see a few comforts from home.

We have been very Blessed that Jon had this opportunity to take this position with his business. He is doing great and enjoying it.   God has truly been with us throughout this process, and we continue to have faith knowing that He is there with us each and every day. I know I mostly post about the fun and exciting things from our move, but I have to say it has been quite difficult leaving the security and comfort we had back home. There are new challenges we face everyday here and things we are still in the process of finalizing, including selling our home. I get very frustrated at times here that I can not understand some people who have the heavy accents and well they just can't understand me either! Jon is challenged with new labor laws and a new work culture.  Trent and Landon, well they are having too much fun I think, and THAT makes me Happy! They do miss their family and friends back home and love to talk on the phone and Skype. We have been very busy since moving day but we have been trying to take time to enjoy ourselves and learn about the country. Now if we could just move our family and friends here with us, I would LOVE it :) Miss you all!!

Crathes Castle and Castle Fraser

Amazing! We visited two Castles close to Aberdeen this weekend and from the Castles to the Castle Gardens and fall backdrops, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. It is such a pretty time of the year in Aberdeen, from the colorful trees full of red, green, yellow and orange leaves and evergreen trees to the beautiful rivers running through the Highlands. Crathes Castle and Castle Fraser are within 20 miles of Aberdeen and built in the 15th century! We loved seeing the history, the paintings, the hand carved ceilings. Trent and Landon on the other hand love running on the open lawns of the Castles and play areas. Here are some pictures from this weekend.

Halloween in Scotland

Trick or Treating in Scotland is a lot like that in Texas. The Hollis family invited us over for dinner along with the Wood family. Kids dress in costumes and go from door to door to collect candy, however here they are asked to tell a joke or do a trick. We practiced a joke but the kids were so anxious to run from house to house that we ended up using our typical "Trick or Treat" saying at the door. Trent, Landon, Brantley and Brady were all running so fast for the first time this Halloween we could hardly keep up! They had lots of candy! On a side note, I noticed that they received lots of "Haribo" gummy bears in their buckets at the end of the night. It reminded me of the times that my Aunt Mary from Germany used to send us the Haribo gummy bears when we were kids. These gummy bears are popular in the UK.

Our loot...notice the different types of candy

"Trunk" or Treat

This evening we attended the "Trunk" or Treat Halloween festival at the school. This is where people decorated the trunks of their cars for Halloween and the children would Trick or Treat from car to car. There were even little carnival games at some of the cars. So cute! We enjoyed the haunted house in the library as well. Trent and Landon had a lot of fun dressing up as Spiderman and Batman and getting candy of course!

Halloween Party at our International School

Have no fear, Batman and Spiderman will be living in our house for Halloween this weekend.
Today the boys were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes to school for their Halloween party. They enjoyed the food and fun games the class played. They even had a parade wearing their costumes. Trent was really not wanting many pictures today, hopefully I will get a good one in their costumes this weekend.

They were excited after school to come home and find a package waiting for them that arrived in the mail. We love packages! They were very excited to open it up and find goodies and bubble wrap...so much fun! Thanks Nanny and Paw Paw! We also opened up our other gifts from grandparents that were sent in our air shipment for Halloween. Thanks Gamma and Gampa! We are enjoying all the candy and toys from you all.

Love, Trent and Landon

Football Fun in Aberdeen, Scotland

Our boys are adjusting well to our move to Scotland and have taken on a new activity this week here...Football. It is what we call "Soccer" in the United States so it is not exactly new to them. Trent has played competitively for the previous 2 years and Landon playing this Fall. We joined a local soccer class here called "Footstars" in which each of them has their own class and lessons. Trent had his first class yesterday and Landon had his class today, they enjoyed it very much and said they can't wait to go back next week. The coaches Gwen and Mike are awesome and teaching them so many new skills, each week the class has a different theme which makes it fun for the boys. 

This afternoon it was so pretty and not as cold so we played at the playground at school. For dinner I cooked Chili and it was so nice to have some food that reminded us of home! While staying at the hotel I craved Chicken Noodle Soup and Chili and couldn't wait to make them when we moved in.  We made homemade Chicken Noodle Soup earlier this week, I have not found it anywhere here. I hope to post a blog soon about the food here, it is very different to me. The biggest change....no Mexican food restaurants (well at least nothing like what we had in Sugar Land!).

Its Pumpkin Carving time! Halloween is right around the corner (Sunday) and we decided to carve our pumpkins this evening. I looked everywhere and could not find any of those fancy little pumpkin carving kits with the stencils which was so easy, so we had to go back to just using things we had around the house. Trent designed his pumpkin and Landon helped with his. They also helped clean the pumpkins out and take out all the seeds. We were going to roast them as usual but our oven is not working, can't wait to figure that out :) One thing ready for Halloween at the Richards house - Jack O' Lanterns - Check!