It will be hard to better this trip!   Thank you to all who participated and helped us celebrate.  This was a delightful and fun-filled romp in the Highlands that has, up until now, rendered me nearly incapable of putting anything coherent and intelligible in print.  We have had some lovely letters helping to express the bewilderment and affection for this gathering, so with so much encouragement, I should be able to pull it all together.  Here goes.

The occasion was to Christen two little boys.  We wanted to do this in Scotland, as that is where Blaise was Christened in a tiny and delightful church on the edge of Loch Shiel and where we got married at Ackergill.  We have found that Scotland is a remarkable venue for the gathering of family and friends and for celebrations that seem to reach rather remarkable proportions.  It is not about throwing money at, but rather about picking the right spot and then doing some judicious planning.  The country delivers the rest.

  This is our third time gathering in the country of my wife’s ancestry and it smiled upon us again for this occasion.   Of course, you really just need a small ceremony to Christen a person, let alone two; but we have been through so much and come so far, we wanted to make it a bigger family event.  Maybe it was an opportunity for a mini-reunion of family and friends since the wedding, which itself was the party to end all parties, as everyone who went continues to speak of it in near mythological terms.

We have now uploaded the photos and you can find them in 2 formats - a simple collection via this site, or you can go to the “downloadable photos” tab above and go to my “MobileMe” site.    I like this one better, but felt I would give the options, as one loads faster (smaller photo size) than the other (bigger photos for downloading).  Additionally, we put a small “blog” together that we call an “Event Log” to read about our adventures.  There is more to add and I have asked Clare to compose as well to fill-in where my memory lapses. 

I want to thank Lucy Tanner, our Photographer.  She did a really great job.  She captured 3,000 photos, but since we are not pretty enough (as a group that is - Lucy said it, not me...), she whittled that lot down to 1,585.  Since I am certainly not attractive enough (yes, she did say...), I whittled the rest down to 400.  By adding my own shots and those of Victoria Marr and Michele Bowman, the number climbed back up a little, to over 550. 

We also want to thank all of you for making the trip.  I am certain it was worth it, but still.  it was a bit of a hike, we know.  We want to extend our extra-special thanks to Scott’s Parents for making the trip and braving the Airlines all the way from Santa Fe and Scott’s brother Christian, who always makes the effort and is such a great person to have around.   We also want to thank Tristan & Noah’s Godparents (the Fowlers & the Brandons) for taking this responsibility.  We love you and really appreciate your thoughtfulness. 

Additionally, we wish to thank our lovely nanny, Nicola (Nikki) Ashton, for taking such great care of the boys, and in turn, allowing us to enjoy ourselves and be at peace.  Nikki only joined us on a temporary basis before she takes up another post.   We have tried to keep her, but she is one of those rare nannies that is actually sought out by the “great and the good”, as such has committed to takes-up a rather high-powered position with a VIP family.  We tried everything we could, but she made a commitment and we totally respect her for it.  We will miss her dearly.  Again, thank you! 

Lastly, we wish to thank the staff at Ardanaiseig Hotel for being so polite and working so diligently to make this event so special.  The food was fantastic and the service splendid.