Scotland Lochs

On Saturday we had the opportunity to travel to some of the countryside and see three different lochs (lakes). First we went to Loch Lomond. The weather was quite overcast at this point. We stopped to have some tea and scones (yumm!) and have a view of the town.

Luss Church, Loch Lomond

Mark and Rebecca in Loch Lomond

After every stop we changed cars so that all the Americans could ride with different Scottish hosts, it was a good way to get to know each couple.

Loch Long (Ship Lake)

Arrochar Church, Loch Long

Loch Fyne, city of Inveraray

Inveraray Castle

Laspic, Maggy, Kirsteen, Jen, Jenny, Rebecca, Mark (Krista)

We took a tour of the castle. Mark was impressed by the large armory.

Inveraray Bridge on Loch Fyne

A wee bit of snow atop a ben (mountain)

Black goats, the wee ones were adorable!

After our road trip we had fish and chips at Wilma and David's flat. We had a great day, it was a wee bit chilly, but it didn't rain. We thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in Scotland. Everyone we met was so friendly and we enjoyed all the hospitality we were treated to!

Glasgow

The second day of our trip to Scotland we toured and shopped around Glasgow, Kirsteen's home town. First we took a bus tour of the city on a double decker bus. It was raining on and off but that didn't stop Mark from sitting outside on the top level. It was worth the peril because when the rain let up he was able to take pictures that couldn't be taken from inside. The tour lasted nearly an hour and a half so we were able to see all of the main attractions there.

The city chamber in a square filled with monuments

The clock tower in merchant square

The Doulton Fountain, the largest terra-cotta fountain in the world, near the People's Palace

Glasgow University

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

A typical city street with classic architecture and lots of shopping

A classic building with a tin roof

After the tour we ate at a chinese buffet and went shopping. The girls found some interesting hats and were joined by a fun loving woman who wanted to be in the picture.

A rainbow seen from Kirsteen's church in the evening

In the evening we had a birthday party for Kirsteen at her church with her friends and family. After the nice meal there were three desserts to chose from, Mark had one of each plus an extra piece of his favorite, then we had cake. There certainly was never a shortage of food on our trip!

After dinner we played some fun games

And got tangled in a web of yarn. The most fun of the night came when our Scottish friends were making the plans for the next day, trying to figure out who was going, how many cars to take, what to do for food, what route to take, where to meet in the morning... we were all laughing uncontrollably by the end.

Edinburgh

This past weekend we had the opportunity to take a wee vacation to Scotland. It was a chance to meet more people involved with Heart 2 Heart Scotland and relax before the business of spring and summer ministry. We arrived late Wednesday night and left Sunday. Thursday we went to Edinburgh and spent the day there. We met Leslie for lunch at the Filling Station and after that we headed up to the castle.

Jen, Krista, Scottish man, Kirsteen, Rebecca, Jenny, and Mark behind the camera :)

The Edinburgh Castle, view from the bus

The Castle

One of the beautiful views from the castle

Another nice view

Scottish National War Memorial

The other side of the war memorial

Krista and Jenny, it was their first time in Scotland as well as ours

Mark and Rebecca being traditional tourists of the UK

Along the Royal Mile

St. Giles Cathedral

The Palace of Holyrood House (Royal Residence of the Queen)

And to top it all off, pink sheep! Sorry that the picture is not very good, but if you click on it, you will see the sheep a wee bit better. We had dinner at Wanda and Brian's house, a delicious meal and they even snuck some haggis into it!

Musical Lions

This week we worked at the baby hospital and the orphanage and stayed with the girls at the transition house two nights. Friday Princessa, the baby girl with the big smile from the last post, was gone from the hospital and the nurse that I asked didn't know where she'd gone. I missed her smile and playfulness, hopefully she went to a good home, I am hoping that someone knows.

At the orphanage we helped with the music class that Kirsteen leads. The lesson was about making music that sounds like certain animals. After listening to music we helped the kids color pictures of lions. Vic asked me what colors to use so his would look like real.

Alina just had fun coloring her imaginary lion.

The older kids learned about a famous general so they made shoulder boards that they decorated with felt, string, and beads.

The orphanage threw a birthday party for all of the kids that had a birthday this month. The new director has started this and will be doing one every month so all of the kids will have a birthday party. This is something that most of them have never had before so it is a big excitement for them.

We spent the weekend with the staff at the team house and enjoyed spending time with them. We went to the musical "Seusical" that the Bucuresti Christian Academy put on. It was really good and we got to see several kids from church sing in it. Rebecca came down with pinkeye toward the end of the week which she got from some of the babies. Thankfully it is going away already. Please continue to pray for health for us and the staff.

Ministry Time...

This week we were able to be involved in almost all of Heart 2 Heart's areas of ministry.  Monday we went to the orphanage to help with the programs there.  Not all of the kids had returned from spring break though so we mainly played games with those that were there.  We spent Monday night at the girls transition house and then worked with them in the yard on Tuesday morning.  That afternoon we went back to the orphanage and helped with the music class.  The rest of the week we went to the baby hospitals to love the babies there.  We were able to help at the old hospital again which was nice even though there are only a handful of kids there.  Saturday was the civil ceremony of marriage for two of the transition house graduates in Rosiori, so most of the staff went there to share in this special time.  The wedding will be in a few weeks but in Romania people need to have the civil ceremony in the town that they are from for their marriage to be official.  

Walking from the maxi-taxi stop to the metro station we had a chance to see some more sights.  This is Arcul de Triumf, a war monument similar to the one in France but not quite as big.  We drive past it on the way to church from the team house but this was one of the first times we were near it on foot.

There are lots of flowers going in all over town.  We enjoy seeing them as they give nice contrast to the tons and tons of concrete that make up the block buildings all around us.  We really enjoy seeing the tulips, we will miss seeing them in Holland this year.   

At the orphanage we let some of the kids try on our glasses, they always want to so we finally gave in.

We are getting to know the babies really well since we've been able to be there so often lately.  This is my girl, since she doesn't have a name and she's so cute we call her Princessa or Pebbles.  She has the biggest smile...

... which I finally caught on camera!  If only adoption were open here!

Rebecca is holding Ryan and Daniella, whom we named after our Canadian interns.

This is Bam Bam, we call him that because he flails around in his crib a lot and is very strong for his age.

This is Ramona...

... and her twin sister Ana-Maria.  They were at the hospital when we started and have stayed in our room the whole time.  

This is Kirsteen, a fellow missionary, with a boy from the other room.  You can see that we really enjoy the baby hospital ministry, what a blessing it is to help these kids in their early development, this time period will have lasting impact on their entire lives.

At the end of the week Rebecca came down with a cold and is still fighting the sore throat and congestion.  Please pray that this goes away quickly.  Please also pray for the planning of summer and fall ministry.  Summer is a busy time with camps and orphanage programs and in the fall we will have a specific ministry focus.