I am so excited to finally show these photos off! I work with Doug's mom Patty and she had gotten a hold of me to just do a few photos, but when she approached Doug about it, he mentioned he wouldn't mind getting a few photos of himself aside from the ones she needed. I was so excited! Doug is Patty's youngest and he is such a laid back kid!
Unfortunately, Doug and I had the HARDEST time getting photos actually taken! It rained...and rained...and rained! Plus he was getting ready to go on his mission so he was working really hard to save up money and our timing was just terrible. We ended up doing two different sessions - one with him and a few missionary pics he could send in with his paperwork and his cap and gown for graduation.
It took about another month to actually get the next part of his session scheduled and I was so excited with how those photos finally turned out! I haven't heard anything about his mission call yet, but I know he was hoping to go to Australia or Japan. I can concur with Australia, but he is sure brave to want to go to Japan! I think that would freak me out a little bit haha.
THANK YOU to both Patty and Doug for being SOOOOOOOO patient with me and the stupid weather! I couldn't have asked for better people to photograph :)
I looove this one :)
I love the lighting in this photo!
Again, thank you for being so patient! I hope you love them as much as I do :)
My relationship with the Hitesman family began all the way back when I was 13 in 8th grade and had Debbie for the fun task of 8th grade health class. I loved Mrs. Hitesman and she was one of those teachers who really understood and cared about her students - even those pesky Jr. High kids!
Her husband Matt did a lot of things with my mom out at the Craft Shop and so our relationship never really ended. I remember receiving embroidered towels when I went to college and graduation cards in the mail. Sweet things!
When Debbie contacted me about doing family photos I was super excited! I had been in the midst of doing senior session after senior session and doing a family session was going to be a good shake up and something I knew! The only problem was timing. And Utah seemed to be going crazy in the month of May. It rained. A lot. Like nonstop rain. Debbie's daughter Aumanae was going off on her mission very shortly so we had a very small window of opportunity to get photos and they had to be good or we wouldn't have time to go back and get more. We also had to be aware of being able to move Matt around.
Luckily I was able to find a really beautiful space that would work for all of it!
Aumanae was such a sweet girl! I'd never really met the Hitesman kids and they were both so polite and you could really see a connection between them. They were the best brother and sister pair I have ever met! Aumanae had been called to serve a mission in Russia (I am not even attempting to replicate the city name) and we were taking some missionary photos for her. This was a first for me! I've never done them and really didn't know what was the norm for them!
Aaron has recently returned from his mission and was looking at going to school down at Southern Utah University. We had such a fun time talking about what we love about Cedar City. He was quite shy at first, but I think eventually realized I wasn't giving up without getting a photo of him!
I am a huge fan of my clients have the final say in any editing/posting that I do, and therefore I am going to post some awesome photos, while still holding to requests from the family. I had a blast working with this family and hope to work with them in the future! I loved how these photos turned out and hope you all do too! :)
These two were always laughing!
Or making faces at each other...I love it!
I think what I loved most about these few photos was I asked Aumanae (I talk to all my clients while I shoot lol): What's the best thing about having a big brother? Aumanae: Oh, just everything, he's always been such a good big brother!
I've never seen a Book of Mormon in Russian before!
This is seriously one of my favorite photos ever!
We saw these flowers on the way out and just had to stop!
Thanks again Hitesman Family for letting me capture these moments in time for you! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do and I hope that Aumanae is doing fantastic in Russia!
Sunday, August 2nd
Today we went to our last Rangers game. It was a cup game against Peterhead and they actually did much much better than they did the last time, winning 3-0! We met up with David's friend Drew and a few others before the game to grab a drink and then walk down to the subway to head over to Ibrox.
We were farther in the corner with our seats, but we were on the front row, so we were able to lean on it and it made sitting in the hard seats a little less uncomfortable (no soccer stadium has excellent seats I've decided).
After the game, where most people leave early, we decided to sit for a little bit to let the subway line go down. We sat and then wandered the team store before heading down. The nice thing was that we got on the line immediately and were actually able to sit! Drew had invited us for drinks after the game, but we'd declined and ironically ended up at the train station at the exact same time.
It was a pretty relaxed day and we enjoyed getting out.
Monday, August 3rd
Today we had decided to relax a little bit and then drive up to see Sam's brothers, George and Robbie, one last time. We had finally received our tree from home about a week ago, a few days after Eileen's wedding, but we hadn't really had time to get everyone's thumb prints! So we were kind of on a mission this week to get everyone we needed to before we had to leave.
We went to the mall to wander for a bit looking for souvenirs and then drove up to George's house first. It was good to see George, Janet, and Lewis one last time before we needed to leave. Their puppy Penny was in a more active mood and she was so adorable! We got everyone's thumb prints and then needed to head over to Robbie's.
We'd never been to Robbie's house before and it was quite nice! We got them to all do their thumb prints and then visited for a while. Caroline teaches the equivalent to 5th grade here in the US, there. We were talking about numbers of students and even decided we might set up a pen pal program between our two classes this year!
After we left, we decided to run over to Ian's house - who I'd also not met yet - to get his thumb print so that we wouldn't have to take our tree out on Saturday to catch everyone. It was quite late and I felt bad, but everyone was awake and we were able to tick off another friend that we needed to get thumb prints for.
Tuesday, August 4th
Originally we'd decided to do nothing today as Sam had a few appointments at the hospital, but we ended up going back to the Rangers store. David had had his eye on a coaching jacket and wanted to go back to check it out as they were having a pretty good sale at the time. It took a while to decide but he finally did and Sam and Linda ended up buying it for him. We had told them no, but they were not budging and it was very generous of them. Because David had gotten something they insisted that I do too.
It took forever to actually decide on what I wanted. Everything I had wanted just wouldn't fit my hips! I finally got a fleece sweater, it's quite nice and very warm and will be great for layering or just hanging out around the house in :)
We went home and hung out for most of the night, there wasn't much we needed to do anyway except hope that more of David's friends would drop by to stamp our tree.
Wednesday, August 5th
Today we didn't really do anything. Sam had more hospital appointments today so David and I just kinda hung out around the house. I wanted to take today to show you some of the funny size differences here in Scotland vs the US. This will be my last Scotland vs US post!
Food
I get that in Scotland most people don't have these gigantic fridges like we do here, but their food seems to suggest that they should never eat more than a cup of anything! Here are a few prime examples.
I'd never actually seen these kind of peaches, they were fascinating to me!
How does anyone make loads of cookies with this few chocolate chips??
Like I said, I'd been craving chips and salsa the WHOLE time we were there and this was as good as I could get when it came to size of the salsa jar. It fits in my hand people! That's not near enough salsa to keep any salsa loving person happy!
Drinks
Ok, here is the kicker, I love my McDonald's large Diet Cokes. I don't know what it is, but I do. They are just super refreshing and yummy and for a dollar you can't beat them! Seriously! Especially if you're my mom and you're in McDonald's and you can refill it (I don't know how she drinks hers down that quickly). I wanted to test out the idea and see if it was McDonald's in general or if it was just my Tooele one. So we stopped by McDonald's and I ordered a large Diet Coke. Needless to say, this was NOT what I was expecting (and they were not $1 either!).
That is the difference, ladies and gentlemen, between a small and a large. My large was HALF the size of my larges back home.
We had a pretty good day and it really was nice just to relax. Our anniversary is tomorrow so we're going out for that :)
Thursday, August 6th
Today we decided to see some of the cool things that are actually in Glasgow. I've been almost everywhere else, but actually exploring the sites of Glasgow was something we hadn't done yet. Sam and Linda decided to take us to the Kelvingrove Galleries (it is a lot like a museum). This was unlike any museum I had ever been in however. This museum had EVERYTHING from animals to Ancient Egypt to the Rain Forest to art and everything inbetween!
We were lucky because we arrived about quarter to 1 and they had a huge organ that was going to go on recital at 1.
They had two TV screens that you could watch everything that the organist was doing from. It was really really cool! There was another performance by a young group at 2 so we decided to wander around the museum and check things out.
As unhappy as David looks, I needed him to stand next to this to show the size!
These were weird...
When the time got closer, we headed down to watch the young group of kids playing. There is a special name for their music and group...but I honestly couldn't spell it if I tried. They were good, but they were lacking some more oompf to their sound sadly!
After we left the museum we went home to kind of rest and get ready to go out for dinner. Sam and Linda treated us dinner at the Burnbrae Inn. They all had fish and chips and I had a burger...I know, I'm a sucker for burgers...I don't honestly know why! It was very very nice food and we enjoyed getting out to spend some time with his parents. Overall it was a great day! Friday, August 7th
Tonight was our final night to really do anything with other family members. We had planned a night in with David's Granny Pat and Linda's brother and his wife, Stephen and Carol. I attempted to make truffles and we cooked a TON of food! Eileen and Paul came over as well and we all got to talk and hang out. The guys played darts and we ate tons of food!
Stephen and Carol were very nice and gave us a very sweet gift, a little wood carving that has a sweet saying on it about life. It was very nice to get to meet more of David's family and just see what his life was like growing up with all these amazing people.
We enjoyed the food and had so many different varieties of everything that there was always something for everyone. It was a good day overall, and it was nice to meet some more of David's family, sadly right before we were scheduled to leave, but still!
Saturday, August 8th
So the first night that David went out with his friends, we both kinda assumed that it would be just a guys night out! Apparently everyone was disappointed that I wasn't with him that time, so we planned one more night out before we left. This time I was coming :)
We went down to O'Neal's in Merchant City in Glasgow early to watch one of the soccer games that was on. It was ridiculously crowded! There were no seats and we began to worry about what that would mean when everyone who said they'd be there showed up. All of a sudden this lady grabbed me and I was about to be like, uh excuse me?! when she was like, we're leaving, would you like our seats? It wasn't ideal seating for the TV screen, but it was a table and we took it. Everyone kept buying us drinks, which was nice, but I tried to stick to Diet Coke and water and one of David's friends said jokingly later, are you pregnant? HA! Not a chance haha. I just have yet to find a Scottish beer that I prefer and I hate the way that mixed drinks make my mouth taste.
I was able to meet so many more people as the night progressed, but this time, it was the other way around. None of the guys brought their girlfriends/wives out because they didn't think I'd be coming out! Luckily some of them were scheduled to come out later (around 10) but I was totally crashing the boy party until that time.
It was fun getting to know more of David's friends from his childhood and the only complaint I had all night was that it was really really loud. Eventually I was starving because we'd had dinner around 4, but the kitchen was closed. I asked if we could leave, and it was really hard for all of the guys. I will never underestimate the things that David has given up to live with me in America. His friends are a huge part of his life and I feel awful that he can't see them as much as he'd prefer. Luckily, most of everyone else was about to head out as well. Andrew, Drew, and Ian tagged along with us and we went in search of food.
Let me tell you! Walking the streets of Glasgow with 4 men who are slightly intoxicated is not my idea of an adventure, especially because I had no sense of direction at all! It took us at least 20 minutes to find food and then another 20 to find a taxi. We made it home and dropped in to bed around 1:45 (even though we left the pub around 11:30). Regardless it was a great night out!
Sunday, August 9th
So today was our last true day out with everyone and there were still a few key figures who had not had the chance to get their thumb prints on our tree! We made arrangements to go out and get them from them at their houses and David's parents graciously obliged driving us. We were able to chat with everyone and say our final goodbyes before we headed home.
When we got back, we figured we'd just get packing out of the way since I hate it and David wasn't feeling like packing at all. I packed first and was able to get just about everything in my case, luckily!
After packing, we had made plans to have a final chippy for dinner with Eileen, Paul, Sam, and Linda and watch the Disney movie Brave - because none of them had seen it (even though it's all set in Scotland)!!!
I decided to go all out and ordered a sausage supper with a half pizza that I shared with Linda. I figured if I were going to go out, it better be with a bang (or a massive stomach, who knows). Everyone thoroughly loved Brave - even the guys who were skeptical. I love Brave, but I love Disney in general.
It was a really hard night afterwards, just because this would be our final goodbye to Paul and Eileen. It really began to feel real that night. After we said goodbye I tried Skyping my mom and she told me just to cry and get it all out. I am very much still torn between countries, and think it's probably the hardest part about being married to someone from another country. David and I went to bed rather early so that we could get up early and start our long journey back home.
Monday, August 10th
Today we got up around 5 am so that we could get last minute items packed and ready to head to the airport for 6:30.
It was a very hard goodbye to say to David's parents. Not something either of us was truly prepared for.
After saying goodbye, we headed in to the airport to check our bags. We found out that our carry ons were too heavy and started transferring everything to the main bags, but then we were told that we could check our carry ons for free because the flights were all so booked, so I don't understand why the attendant made us transfer things anyway.
Anyway, we boarded our flight to Amsterdam which was quite short actually, and it was a nice flight. Everything was spoken in Dutch and English which was different to listen to. When we arrived in the Amsterdam airport I was shocked at just how big it was! We had to taxi in on the plane for about 8 minutes! Once we landed we noticed that we were supposed to be in gate D1 which was right by where we had come off our previous plane! We felt lucky and went to the bathroom and got treats.
Ok, I get it, not the best example, but I felt like everything was fascinating to read in Dutch.
Then we jumped in a line that had started to form. It was huge and was taking absolutely forever - especially in the hindsight that we only had about an hour till our flight was scheduled to leave. We were almost to the front when an attendant asked everyone going to Minneapolis and Detroit to come with her. She took us out of the line and to another line. This was an expediated line, thank heaven, but we were still really confused because there wasn't actually a boarding gate in the D1 area. When we got to the customs lady, she told us we needed to go to gate D57...allllllll the way and the heck down the other end of the airport.
Needless to say we had to literally run as quick as we could - it took us at least 10 minutes to get to the gate and we were nearly late. We jumped in line and when we got to the front, were greeted with the news that our tickets were not allowing us to board the plane and we'd have to get in another line that people had been told the same thing - with no clue why we weren't allowed to board.
Eventually we were allowed to board but it was easily quarter after 1 when we took off - 15 minutes later than we were supposed to. I will never fly through the Amsterdam airport again, that was an absolute nightmare!
Our flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis was actually really nice - we were fed very, very well! First we got peanuts/pretzels and a drink. then we got dinner, then we got a snack box, then we got a calzone and ice cream, and finally more peanuts/pretzels!! I was able to watch quite a few movies I'd been intrigued with and got to see the coolest thing when we were over Hudson Bay.
Ice crystals on my window don't let you see the ice islands very well, but they're so cool!
Look at all that ice!
Our flight landed late in Minneapolis because of the late take off, but it was totally ok because we had originally had a 3 hour wait. We rechecked all our baggage, except for our carry ons because we didn't think they'd take them again. I had packed extra clothes in my carry on so that I could change after the 9 hour flight, so we went to the bathrooms to freshen up and then found our gate and waited. Funnily enough, they asked people if they'd be willing to check their carry ons - without charge - so we volunteered again.
Unfortunately the moment I got on the flight my head started to pound...a stupid migraine was coming on. I took an excredrin and tried to sleep, something I can't do on planes. This flight seemed to last forever and was the first one that I had to sit next to someone who wasn't David (he was the window, I was the middle seat). The poor guy on the aisle was driving me crazy too because he kept fidgeting.
We landed in Salt Lake around 7:10 pm (2 am Scotland time) and grabbed our bags. My mom was there to pick us up and we dropped David off with the bags at home and she and I went out to grab dinner.
It was a really long day, one that I was up for a total 24+ hours. Not what I was hoping for, but it is what it is. I slept really well...until 2 am. Then I was awake, and luckily was able to get back to sleep!
Our trip to Scotland was one I will always remember, and while it will be a while before we can get back again, I look forward to the day that we get to go back! Thank you to all the friends and family members who were so kind and generous on our visit, you are all amazing people and I'm so lucky to have gotten to meet you!
