Happy Thanksgiving and Happy St. Andrew's Day!

Hi all,

Hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had an early one a week ago with a few fellow Americans at our flat. We couldn't do it the day of because they don't celebrate the Turkey Day in the UK (sensitive topic here!) and I was travelling for work up to Edinburgh, Scotland.

So we did get a little taste of the Scottish national holiday called St. Andrew's Day, (Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland) that falls on November 30th each year. Basically, the extent of our involvement in the holiday included free admission into the Edinburgh Castle and we got to see some fireworks over the Castle Saturday evening!

So, without further ado, I'll let the photos speak for me....

Here is one that I'm including from London because we had a visitor a few weeks ago and as promised, all our visitors get their photos plastered on the blog, whether they like it or not. This victim was very cooperative! It's our friend Tim Russo from college and he was in London for work. We got to spend an ever so lovely grey and rainy London Sunday with him!

So here starts our weekend in Scotland. My camera battery was low so I didn't get to take as many photos as I wanted! One thing that I didn't get a picture of has such a good story - I wish I had something to back it up! On Saturday morning, we decided to walk from our hotel to the Old Town and we happened upon a little local farmers market. We were walking along the stalls and I noticed a woman buying something and she looked familiar. She was with a man and two young children and it took me a minute to decide who it was but when I did, I had Chad check her out to see if he agreed. I am pretty sure it was J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books!! No one else around paid any attention to her but I promise it was her! Of course, I had to do some research and she has a home outside of Edinburgh and extended family that live there! I'll never know if it was really her but it's a good story!

Here is a view of the Edinburgh Castle, which is one of the main tourist attractions of the city. It's up on a hill overlooking the city and is at one end of the Royal Mile. At the other end is Holyrood Palace and is where the Queen stays when she is in town.

First we made our way up the hill to the castle and did our tourist thing. It was a pretty cold day but we powered through it and got to see the high points!! Chad and I are what you call efficient tourists - we do the sights but get them done in record time so we can enjoy the local atmosphere (aka - sitting down and resting and enjoying a good meal!) We didn't try haggis (sorry Andy!) but had some good Scottish beef!

Here I am with a lion statute at the Castle and below is Chad next to a statute of Adam Smith on the Royal Mile. For all you geeks out there, you know that Adam Smith is the "Father of Modern Economics" - Chad is an avid reader of the Economist and was excited to see this landmark. Look at the smile on his face - it makes me laugh (love you honey!)

So we hiked down the mile and ended up at the Palace and took a few shots...

The main entrance.

A Royal light fixture!




Pretty old Palace!

We then took a walk back towards town up Calton Road to see another view of the city at Sunset.....

It was about 4:30!

Oh - I thought this road sign was cute! It was on the ground and wasn't of much use but I just liked it!

We finished the day by doing a little shopping and heading back to the hotel for a low key evening. We spotted the fireworks from our room because we had a view of the castle - the photo is not so great but I've included in anyway!

So that sums up our winter Scottish experience!

Now we're heading to bed and getting ready for another fun filled work week! It's amazing because Christmas is going to be here before we know it. Chad actually leaves a week from today to head back for the Holidays - he has a training in Orlando the week after this week and then is going to work from the US the following week and then it's Christmas! Time is flying!

Ta ta for now!! xoxox, Kari

November Wedding Weekends!

To all you blog readers out there (I know for certain there are a handful of you!) I am sure you are dying with anticipation to see what we've been getting on with lately (Don't I sound British?)! Well it has been quite exciting and there are so many pictures to share!!

Chad's brother Luke and his fiancee Erin were married on November 1, 2008 in Wooster, Ohio. Chad and I were both in the wedding and it was so much fun - here's the proof!




My new sister-in-law Erin and I getting ready for the rehearsal!



Rehearsal dinner festivities - Chad and his parents with Miss Makenzie at the end!




The rehearsal was on Halloween and the wait staff was all dressed up. Here's the happy couple with characters from the Wizard of Oz!




Luke points out that the exact spot of where they first met. It was at the restaurant where we had the rehearsal dinner.




Congrats Erin and Luke - but wait - that isn't Luke! It's his friend Trent. He was nice enough to be a stand in because I had to have a picture of the sign!





The mother of the groom (aka Linda) and Mackenzie, cousin of the groom and the most mature 11 year old I've ever met, and she had the best dance moves of the night!




I had to get a close up of my bouquet!





Luke and Erin at the reception.




Chad and Luke's friend Corby. I told him that he'd be making an appearance on the blog!




Cutting the cake!




Linda and Keith.




Chad and his grandparents.



Ahh - cute brothers!


The following weekend, my cousin Amber and her husband Ryan had a reception to celebrate their wedding, which was a smaller wedding that was a few weeks earlier. Chad didn't come along but I was so happy that I was able to make the trip!




My cousin Tiffany's little girl Audrey - she's 2 and she loves music! She wants a violin for Christmas so she's improvising with a baby guitar for now!




I helped set up things for the reception - the favors were fall apples!




Pretty fall colors with my aunt's creative touch.




Pumpkins galore - and an "S" for Stewart - Ambo's new last name!




The girls working hard!




Marya sweeping up!




Aunt C - always arranging something!




The happy couple!




The first group to hit the dance floor - Carolyn, Joe and Audrey!




Amber and Ryan doing a Polish tradition that involved bread butter, vodka and a sweet message that I can't quite remember - but it had to do with a lifetime of happiness!




Cute girls!


We had such a great time seeing our family and friends celebrate these weddings! What an exciting time!!


This weekend has been nice and relaxing one with not much going on. I found a restaurant (self proclaimed American brasserie) in Mayfair that makes hamburgers with American beef - so that's what we did for a late lunch/early dinner and it was goo-ood! We're doing Thanksgiving next weekend and then we'll be in Edinburgh, Scotland the following weekend to celebrate my milestone of a birthday! I really can't believe it's the end of November. We'll be heading back to the US for Christmas before we know it!



Hope everyone is doing well!


xoxox, Kari and Chad