St. Andrews

We took a bus across the bridge to a town called St. Andrews, which is known worldwide as the "home of golf." (Ryan had the chance to golf nearby Scotscraig last week with some coworkers.)

Thomas was so excited to ride on the bus, exclaiming to the amusment and wonderment of all those on board, "I've never been on a bus before." I can't remember if that is true or not...it probably is.
We wandered through the old streets and went in a few shops. It was amazingly beautiful.

We walked by the picturesque ruins of St Andrews Castle which stand on the rocky seashore. I kept thinking to myself how lucky we are to be here.






I don't know why I thought this was so funny, but this is the women's bathroom!

Everyone here has these neat plastic covers for their strollers. We need to invest in one for sure. The umbrella trick can only last for so long I'm sure!
St. Andrew's Cathedrial
In the evening it began to rain, just in time for dinner. We found a great little pizza place that let us wheel the stroller in next to our table since Thomas had fallen asleep.
After dinner they brought Nate a kids "cappichino" warm frothy milk dusted with chocolate minus the coffee!

Longest Day Ever...

My mom, the boys and I left for Scotland Wednesday morning. We flew to New York where we had a six hour layover and then got back on a plane for another seven hours. We finally arrived Thursday morning in Edinburgh. The kids did as good as can be expected for their ages. Nate was a wiggle bum, but Thomas was happy as long as he had a movie to watch.

Neck pillow or awesome hat?


Reading the saftey manuals, hmmm very interesting.


Nate catching some ZZZs.


I am so happy that Thomas is such a social little boy. He loved the layover in New York. He made friends with everyone waiting and I am sure he thought they were all there just to entertain him. He even befriended two teenage boys from Scotland on their way to Texas!!

They both did sleep almost the entire flight to Scotland, which was nice. There was an extra seat next to us, so Thomas was able to layout. Nate slept as long as I held him and didn't move (making it hard for me to get any sleep, but what do you do?!)

The CEO's personal driver of Ryan's company picked us up from the airport. Which was great because I don't think that after that long day of traveling we would have been able to get on a train or bus with all of our luggage and get ourselves to Dundee. We are all extremely tired and jet lagged, but SO HAPPY to see Ryan and finally be in Scotland!! It's beautiful from what we have seen so far!

Safe in Scotland

Ryan got his work documents on Friday and by Saturday morning he was on a plane to Scotland. He arrived safe and very tired but, missing all his luggage! And only to find out that his boss will be in Hong Kong for the next week!! He was still able to go into the office and get started though and has even already lined up an apartment for us.

We are so PROUD of our dad and already miss him like CRAZY! Nate has been walking around the house calling "Daddy?" And when Thomas asked where dad is, I told him that he is in Scotland and soon we would fly on an airplane, over the ocean, to be with him. His response was "Will the sharks get us?"

Tree House Museum

Today my cute mom and I took the boys to the children's museum in Ogden. We go to Discovery Gateway as much as we can when we are in town, to take advantage of our family pass. But, this was our first time to the "treehouse" and it was soo much fun! The kids loved pretending and dressing up in all the different costumes. (OK, so we all know that it was really Thomas who enjoyed the dressing up and me making Nate pose for the pictures. But, I couldn't resist, they are just both so darn cute.)

It was like a miniture job fair:)

Firefighters...


"You know, chillin'...ruling the country."


Dr. Nathan Douglas Bull & Dr. Thomas Owen Bull


Thomas as "Prince Philip." (We have been watching a lot of Sleeping Beauty.)
Nate doing a little gardening.

Life is full of Surprises

I think Ryan was always confident that he would get the right summer internship. My faith on the other hand wasn't quite as strong. It wasn't that I didn't believe in him, it is just that I seem to be lacking in the patience area lately. (I apologize to my boys.) After the last trimester ended and Ryan came back from London and we didn't have an intership, we decided that it would be best to just push through the summer and Ryan would graduate this August. Afterall, that would save us from moving multiple times.

Well, long story short, Ryan made some contacts while in London and was offered an intership in Dundee, SCOTLAND with a company called Alliance Trust. We are in Utah waiting for his work visa and hoping that all will go through. My mom, the boys and I already have our tickets to fly out July 3rd and just pray that Ryan gets there before we do and finds us all a place to live!! Ryan will leave as soon as he gets his visa. Life is full of surprises!

"Packin Up"

As we were packing up and getting everything ready to move out of our apartment, these where some of the things the boys did to keep themselves entertained...

Camped out in the empty closets. Complete with lantern.


Nate figured everything else was going in boxes, why not try it out himself?

Thomas colored not only on the boxes, but on the walls, cement patio and on Nathan, of course!


After packing up everything and cleaning, practically all in one day, (thanks Ashley and Matt for all your help!) I have the brilliant idea of just jumping in the car and heading up to Utah. Mind you it is 2am. Well, 13 hours and many potty breaks later (including pulling over to nap), we finally rolled in to good old Layton, Utah to once again live in the "Happy Shack." Gotta love my great ideas. The thought was that we should travel while the kids were sleeping. Good thought, but probably one that we will not try again;)

FOUND!!

Right before we left for Utah, I got a phone call from the Glendale Police Department that our Civic had been found! The crazy part is that the insurance company was just shy of one day from paying us. They said that we could decide to either take the money or the car. I wanted to see what condition the car was in before we decided. When we went down to the tow yard, the car looked like it had amazingly survived the whole ordeal, minus the stereo. We debated about what to do, but in the end we took the car. Then on the way home, the engine sounded like it had been replaced with a lawn mower and we began regretting our decision. (The insurance company would pay to have it fixed ONLY if we could prove that the repairs needed were exclusively from the theft...how do you do that??)We were leaving for Utah/London the next day, so there wasn't much we could do until we got back. Long story short, our catalitic converter had been cut out. We picked up the car today, new converter, new stereo, even detailed. I feel like I have a NEW car! I am just so happy to have our Civic back!