First few days in Glasgow...

Our first couple of days in Scotland was a time of recovering from flights and reconnecting with family. Both Candace and I had a long nap on our first afternoon, while the children helped their aunt put up Christmas decorations on the tree. It was wonderful to see my family again, and our three children immediately connected with their older cousins. 

We had the privilege of taking in a basketball game the first night we were in Glasgow. One of my nephews plays for the U-16 team of the Caledonian Gladiators. His team won 101 - 22, and Jesse scored around 20 of those points. Here he is scoring a basket. We were so proud! 

My sister's house is also a stone's throw from the centre of Glasgow, which gave us the opportunity to explore many of the Christmas Markets. The children even met Father Christmas and his elf assistant at one of the shopping centres in the city!

The Barclay's Bank building on the Clyde River.

Walking over the Squiggly Bridge into town.

Blue sky peeking through the almost-constant cloud cover.

Fun at the Christmas Market. Anya takes Barbie's car for a spin!

Shirley and Eliza enjoy Santa's Runaway Train.

Riaan and Candace prepare to enter the Grinch's lair!

Fun with remote-controlled cars at Hamleys.

Family selfie. Someone was tired!

Beautiful Christmas tree at Buchanan Galleries.

Eliza and Riaan meet Santa. :)

Flights to Scotland...

Back in September, Candace and I first entertained the thought of travelling to Scotland and spending Christmas with my sister and her family. We're the northern hemisphere Crawfords, after all, and it felt somewhat fitting that we should be together for Christmas. We took advantage of extremely inexpensive flights with Icelandair - that landed us in Glasgow a mere 8.5 hours after departing Detroit (including a stop in Reykjavik - pictured below)! 

Despite being delayed departing Detroit and only just making our gate in time for the second and final flight to Glasgow, our flights were largely uneventful. We arrived safely at Glasgow Airport at 10h00 in the morning on Friday, 13th December. My sister was waiting at the airport to welcome this weary but excited family again. Eliza ran ahead of me and gave Shirl the biggest hug. She dearly missed her auntie!

Thursday 12th December dawned snowy in Detroit... But thankfully the airport is more than capable of clearing snow.

Safely checked-in and awaiting our first flight to Reykjavik.

Climbing away from Detroit.

Eliza was so excited to have her own television for the best part of five hours. :)

The Icelandair Boeing 737-MAX 8 that took us to Iceland.

Approaching Glasgow on the final flight.

Happy reunions with my sister at Glasgow Airport. What a wonderful visit we were to have!

Candace's Birthday...

Hot on the heels of Riaan's birthday on Saturday, December 7th, was Candace's birthday on Monday, December 9th. We had a pretty low-key day, as a result of upcoming travels. But it was good to celebrate this lovely lady who really is the backbone of our family and who means so much to each one of us. :)