I took the sun for granted last week.

I felt the need to confess that. 

While I actually do enjoy the rain and cooler weather, I did not realize that our trip to Stirling Castle last week would be the last time I really saw the sun in quite some time.  Pictures below.

A door for people who are Sarah-sized.

The ceiling in the Great Hall is crafted in the likeness of a Viking longboat.

James standing in King James bedroom

Queen's Bedchamber

A view to the south (the direction we'd all be looking if the English were invading!).

The castle is set on the parapet of a large cliff.

The Great Hall (right) was recently renovated.  The coloring is called "King's Gold" and will eventually wear into the gray that colors the rest of the castle.

The chapel where Mary was crowned Queen of Scots in the 16th Century.

Sarah & Jenny enjoyed the afternoon while James & I explored the castle.

Statue of James V, the man who built the castle into its full magnificence.

Stirling Castle

We continue to enjoy our time with the Dunfermline Link folks.  Dinner with Margaret & Ruth Patton was nice.  We enjoyed hearing Margaret's stories, and Ruth's parakeet was quite entertaining.  We also shared a spectacular lamb dinner with the Hills (Mark, Liz, & Sarah).  Their dog, Sophie, made us realize how much we miss our boy Boone!

Perhaps the highlight of the week was the Marshmallow war we had with the Altmans yesterday!  Apparently the Moore family (Luke & Julie) fashioned marshmallow guns during their stay last summer.    After much preparation and anticipation, the battle commenced.  It was initially everyone vs. Mike & Keenan, but we convinced Josh to join the 'dark side'.  This is him unloading on Sarah: 



This morning at church Sarah had the opportunity to share a bit of her testimony while I gave the message.  It was good for us to share what the Lord had put on our hearts.  We realize that while we've spent the bulk of our time building relationships and working with students in the local schools, we haven't really posted any pictures of these events!  While we can't take pictures in the schools, we will try and make more of an effort to who you the wonderful people who have been hosting us!

Had a beautiful walk with the McGimpseys along the shores of Loch Leven the other day.  Really gorgeous fields of this yellow flower called oilseed or rapeseed.  I've included the pictures below.  We've really enjoyed our time at James & Jenny's place as we've found we have a lot in common. 

Sarah and I continue to meet with students in both primary & secondary schools in the area.  We had previously connected with a couple of primary classes via email.  They were excited to meet us in person as we shared in a question/answer session about the United States.  They seemed to take an interest in storms, particularly tornadoes!  In turn they shared with us some presentations on their home kingdom (like a county) of Fife.

Sometimes back home we get these punks who come in from places like Vail, Colorado or Portland, Oregon and tell us that the Appalachian Mountains aren't real mountains on account of their height.  If that be the case then I suggest that any man under 6' tall isn't a real man.

It's often difficult to distinguish between mountains and hills, though, isn't it?  The subjectivity is astounding.  I've always believed that if I can run up the side of an incline without taking a breather, then it's a hill; that no person can literally run up a mountainside in one quick burst.  I guess that doesn't do much to settle the subjectivity of the matter since your aerobic capacity may vary considerably.  For instance, I consider pulling myself out of these tiny British cars to be exercise (I'm 6'2'' and am, therefore, a real man).

Well, to conclude our stay with Paul and Kathy Bridson they took us to a region of Central Scotland called the Trossachs.  We hiked up what I consider to be a small mountain because I was certainly out of breath when we reached the top.  The views, however, were extraordinary!  What an incredible way to see Central Scotland, and I mean we literally could see ALL of Central Scotland, as far as the Forth Bridge!  Here are some of the views.



 Above is a look out over Stirling (Braveheart anyone?).  Stirling Castle sits atop that hill in the middle of the picture.
 Those of you who hiked around Loch Lomond with us last summer will be interested in the above pic as that is Ben Lomond peeking above the horizon in the distance.



This is Paul and Kathy Bridson with their grandson Rory.  What a generous family.  They were so hospitable, and I'm glad they were our first host family in Scotland; made us feel right at home.

This week we are staying with James and Jenny McGimpsey -- the couple that led the N. Ireland trip.  We've enjoyed building a friendship with them.  Last night we bonded over an indulgence of Belgian Chocolate and "Downton Abbey."  Great fun!  Tonight the girls will join a baby shower for Abby Brown while the guys join the youth at an event in Edinburgh called Powerpoint.  Should be a good evening.

For those of you wondering, we are, in fact, getting quite a bit of work done here in the U.K.  I'm keeping up with school prep. for August and spend much of my free time reading ancient history. There are plenty of ministry opportunities, as well.  We got to hang out with some teenage students during their lunch hour at school the past couple of weeks.  I can't post pictures due to protection regulations, but know that it is a great opportunity to minister to these guys (yes, all guys).  Sarah and I are also enjoying the Link small groups.  Prayer group meets on Tuesday nights and house groups meet on Wednesdays.  Great time of intercession and fellowship.

That's all for now.  Hope all is well with you, wherever you may be -- except for those of you in Vail or Portland: You need to sit down and do some serious thinkin'.

Here are some photos Sarah took at the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.  We had a really nice time with the Bridsons and their granddaughter Katie.











Here are some shots we took in the glen near Dunfermline Abbey with Maureen Altman.

I (Keenan) learned a valuable lesson this past weekend: Belfast residents get worked up when you refer to their land as Ireland. "NORTHERN IRELAND! NORTHERN IRELAND!" is the response I got (both times) while speaking in front of a group. The Dunfermline Link youth group invited us to join them on a weekend trip to Belfast. James and Jenny McGimpsey, natives of N. Ireland living in D'fermline, host the youth house group every week and wanted to connect some of the young Linkers with their friends, family, & church back home in Belfast. Sarah and I were privileged to go along with the group. We drove across the country to board a ferry south of Glasgow. The 2 hour journey across the Irish Sea was immaculate. James makes this trip on a regular basis and said this was some of the best weather he'd ever had. Sarah captured some marvelous pictures of the sunset from the deck.












 We were greeted by Stephen & his wife, Paula. After loading the cars, we went on a late-evening tour of Belfast, which included a look at the Titanic dockyards & museum. The ship was constructed in Belfast. Below you can see some of the museum & ramp pictures.

Above is a scale outline (in blue) of where the Titanic would have sat before being slipped into the harbor. While the group stayed with Stephen and Paula, Sarah and I were housed with another very hospitable couple. Riley and Tanya live west of the city and have a beautiful view over the valley and the city below.












On Saturday we joined the group on a tour of the northern coastline, which included the Giant's Causeway. It was really a great time of fellowship with the D-Link youth as well as with our hosts. Several of the youth I had met on a trip to Scotland last summer. Really a great group!


Our hosts' church welcomed us for a youth event Saturday night as well as worship on Sunday morning. It was great to see the Scotland youth making friends with the N. Irish youth. They really hit it off. Lord willing this will be just the beginning of their friendship. The youth leaders from both countries seem interested in continuing this relationship. A truly memorable first weekend in the U.K.