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Jings – 8 years since Fiona and Richard were married ;-)

So it’s a special day for Fiona and Richard today!!! I can’t believe its actually 8 years since they were married. They are an ace couple and a delight to spend time with – very special – it’s a real pleasure know them – but then I am biased! 😉

I was kind of busy that day so was not able to take many photos – but I have a few in my album which were taken by other people. Enjoy!


I have published the photos I have in my Facebook account click here to view – enjoy the memories……

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary


I wanted to use this post to wish our good friends David and Judith and Alan and Lynda all of Gods blessings on the occassion of their respective wedding anniversaries on the 4th August 2009. For D and J it’s 30 and for L and A its 36 years.

I am sure that you might be able to tell which couple has been married longer!! On the other hand they all do seem to have weathered very well!

Anniversary Celebration with our family


The 8th July is our wedding anniversary as I reported in the last post to my blog. Mary and I had a very pleasant treat that same evening when our kids took us out for a meal at the Broadstraik Inn, Elrick. Our whole family was there including Fiona and her husband Richard, Linda, Philip and his girl friend Laura ( missing from the above photo – we need to get that fixed). Laura is the most recent addition to the family pool and she is a real delight to have around 😉 We have to dogs too – Hollie and Abbie – they definitely becoming part of the family too.

Back to the family meal, we had a really enjoyable evening and the food and company was excellent – to be recommended if you are into rather large portions! I had Surf and Turf – first time for many years and it was brilliant 😉

I just wanted to note that having a relatively long marriage is a delight in its self – but having family like the one we have been blessed with is a real privilege without a doubt. Every one of them is unique and make their special contribution to the whole. It is a real privilege to have seen each of our kids mature from the little babies they were (vague memories of the first few weeks of life, interrupted sleep for feeding etc…)! Of course none of us are perfect and we all exhibit less ideal traits from time to time (infrequently I should add) – but the fact is that are all still essential parts of the whole family unit and we would be much poorer without any one of them 😉 Because we are family together we are there for each other at any time and the support provided starts from being paternal ( from parent to child ) but as ttime pass we start to see the support becoming a two way flow.

Who could have predicted all those 32 years ago that we would be where we are today? But there you go! We must continue to live each day to the max and never unduely worry about the future taking pleasure people that we are blessed to be surrounded with. A family starts of as a very close group of people but as the years pass, physical distance can become a separator but its wonderful to know that when we get together its like we were never apart 😉 Happily, we are able to do this on a fairly regular intervals and every time we are together serves as precious reminder of relationship that bind us together – where ever we happen to be.

Today Linda will head back to Glasgow where she lives and works for now and we will be apart again – but not for too long 😉

Another great occassion so roll on the next time we are able to get together as a family again 😉

Mizpah

“It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.”
Genesis ch 31 v 49

Wedding Anniversary – 32 years together


Well today is a very special day – it is our wedding anniversary. Mary and I have been happily together for 32 years and were engaged for about 3 years before that! So its kind of a landmark day!!! I just wanted to mark this special day by taking a few moments to thank Mary for her loyalty and for being not only my wife but “bestest” companion all these years.

From my point of view it’s been a wonderful time with so many special memories to reflect on! We have shared many experiences ranging from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows – that is what life is made up of after all.

I remember our first date as if it was yesterday! There is a story to tell – but not here 😉 The notable thing is that I had ‘fancied’ Mary for a couple of years when I would have seen here at the annual Church Youth Christmas parties. Mary was from Peterhead and I was from Fraserburgh and we attended each others respective church parties. The young folk in the church did this on mass – they were great times 😉 I however thought that she was much older then me ;-)!!!!! Actually, she is about 6 months younger – I thought that it was inappropriate for a loon ( term for boy in Fraserburgh) to go out with a quine ( term for girl ) who was older ( old fashioned idea really! )

In any case when I discovered that she might be younger than me, it was all downhill from there on!!!! We dated for the first time and never looked back since then. We have had so many good times together – too many to recount!

We married in Peterhead on the 8th July 1977 and moved into our one bedroom flat in Aberdeen. After two further years of study ( I was the student and Mary was the bread winner) we then moved to the Scottish Borders where we lived in Tweedbank for 10 years when I was working at a school there as a “Techie Teacher”. Our family started whilst there when we had out first of three children – Fiona – at who’s wedding the above photo was taken. Linda and Philip followed in due course too!!! Philip the youngest is now almost 20 – now that is scary!!!!.

It is amazing to reflect over all these years and to appreciate that love really does grow stronger as the years go by. On the occasion of our first wedding anniversary I gave Mary a gold ingot – the type you wear around your neck. I had the following bible text engraved on the back of it.

Ruth Chapter 1 Vs 16 which says “for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God”

This was representative of my commitment to Mary as my life partner. And this feeling still stands today – we have been so fortunate to have enjoyed so many favours over the years in terms of the opportunities that have come our way! But one thing is certain and that is that we have been blessed in ways that we could not have predicted and teh good time have certainly out weighed the bad times! I thank God for being our compass and guide at all times and in particular for bringing us together all those years ago! It certainly was love at first sight for me and that love is stronger today that is was then 😉

So the last 32 have been better than I could have imagined 😉 and I now look forward to many more years together – God willing of course.

Luv you more each day Mary – James xx

Another year – now time flies!!!

Well it’s that time again 😉

It is a year since the last time we celebrated this occasion. Need a clue? If so click below! But if you know – just read on!!!

Click here for big clue

Last year is was a special occasion of course – but then every opportunity we have to celebrate this occasion is special! 31 years – dear me!!!! Seems like a life time for sure! This time we are very far apart but it is still a happy time! To be honest each year that passes life gets sweeter! Now, I know that sounds like a convenient saying – but in our case it is really true.

It’s wonderful to have had the opportunity to share my life with Mary all these years! We have so much to look back on with happiness and real joy. In some ways I feels just like yesterday when we lead the wedding procession, at a bit of a gallop, around the Rescue Hall in Peterhead – if you were there you will know what I mean 😉

I just wanted to acknowledge this moment in a more unusual way!

Happy anniversary Mary and thanks for being my rock throughout each and every one of our 31 years of happy and fulfilling married life!