Saying Goodbye to Grandpa

On Monday, June 22nd, we held services for my Grandpa Morley. He died peacefully on June 14, 2009 of old age, surrounded by his 6 children and their spouses. A greater man than him is hard to find.

It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful tribute to his wonderful life.

Edinburgh Wrap-up

Howdy, Folks!

Well, we've been home for about a week now, and I feel like I'm just barely getting back on my feet! What a recovery!

Enjoy some of the beautiful Scotland scenery!

One last bucket of balls at the Peebles Hotel green:

The impenatrable Edinburgh castle

This water is the "Fifth of Firth" an estuary to the North Sea. Try saying that 5 times fast!

The Scots know how to garden!

One of the many cannons atop the castle.

This is the famous howitzer cannon, shot at precisely 1:00 every day except Sunday.

Boom!

We visited the Prison, used to hold enemies from the Revolutionary War.

Some etchings in the wooden door show the "Star-Spangled Banner" being flown over a ship. Take that!

Yeah! A rainstorm! Time to show off the great raincoat!

And now for souveniers: You just can't get away from the plaid!

Yes. We bought Eli playable bagpipes. oy.

Time to go home.

Say goodbye to the Motherland!

Wedding Extravaganza!!!

Wedding Day teaser

We don't have much time and we are finally in a place with an Internet connection...but here's a little teaser until I can get more pictures uploaded:

Eli in his Stewart Plaid Kilt

Where: Princess Diana Memorial Park in Kensington Park, London
When: Today, about 1:30 pm
Who: Now things are getting interesting!

Okay, let's cut to the chase:

We hung out at the park with Jake Gyllenhaal today. Erin, did you hear me? An Oscar-winning Celebrity. And I don't just have a story. I have PROOF, sistah. Proof. Check it.

Thank goodness I had kids to fake pose right under the pirate ship playground where Mr. Gyllenhaal was.

Oh, not good enough? Take that!

And THAT!
It's totally him, baby.
The first tip-off was the hat. I was like, dude, who wears a hat like that to the park with their kid? And now, look at the collar. Dead giveaway. And do you know what? When I got my camera out, he flinched. He was just a little TOO aware of a camera than a normal human would be.

Okay, so anyway, I digress. Let's see. We also visited Kensington Palace, bringing Madeline along with us. This is a statue of Queen Victoria, so we had our own little princesses do a curtsy.
Seeing the Sunken Gardens,

Here's the gates in front of the palace where people still put flowers in memory of Princess Diana.

And here's our own little king in front of William II statue. With a little princess head poking around the side...Tonight, we went out to dinner and a show with our lovely hosts, Shannon and Scott.
We went to Royal Albert Hall, a theater in the round, to see The King and I, starring Daniel Dae Kim, (from Lost) - it was just awesome. Tom, Vickie and Alan joined us as well. Wonderful night!

London Tower:

• The Crown Jewels (sorry, no pictures - the reflection of the bling could very well blind you)
• Yeoman Warder (beefeater) tour guide
• Eli's famous quote of the day: The guide was explaining that "since it is Monday, we will only be executing children...girls, actually...from Belgium...who are about ...nine?... years old...??" The little girl in question exhaled a sigh of relief and said, "I'm eight!" At which point, Eli piped up, pointed right at Lizzie and said loud enough for the crowd of about a hundred to hear, "SHE'S NINE!"

(This is the White Tower where Royalty lived for 500 years) (Tudor-style)



Paying Homage to Harry Potter: The impromptu hail storm!

St. Paul's Cathedral:

• "Feed the birds, tuppins a bag..."
• The Whispering Gallery
• Lisa, you'll be proud that even though I missed our Monday morning gym class, I got a workout climbing almost 400 stairs to the top of the cathedral! :)

Fish & Chips:

• Pass the tartar sauce
• Don't think about the $45 spent on this lunch -it ruins the appetite-
• Or that the children are throwing the "chips" to the pigeons...
  
  

"Paul" - a French Patissere that hires only French chefs. Ooh, la, la!



What's that you say? You say I have posted more pictures of my pastries than of St. Paul's? Hey, if you'd had the lemon tart, you'd post 4 pictures of it too! It's possible I felt something divine in that pastry. What an experience!

Globe Theater:

• "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo!"
• The juxtaposition of Shakespeare's Globe Theater next to the Tate Modern Museum of Art is so typical in London
• In our family re-enactment, Eli looks more like he's putting a hex on Lizzie. Those Montagues!

The British Library:
(This picture is from just outside)

Truly, the highlight of the day for me was the Treasures section of the British Library. You can keep your jewels and sceptres, Tower of London - the British Library is where the real treasures are.

• Handel's original Messiah Score in his own writing, opened to the page of "The Trumpet Shall Sound"
• Schubert's "An Die Musik" also in his own hand
• The First Gutenberg Bible printed in 1457
• An excerpt from Jane Austen's Persuasion in her own hand, with her writing table
• Leonardo da Vinci's original sketches
  
  Again, we weren't allowed to take any photography inside. Ah, but it was awe-inspiring. The mood was almost reverent in this section. These were treasures indeed.