In honor of St. Patrick's day I thought I'd share a little bit of Ireland! Tyler served a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ireland. We had the chance to travel back there in 2006 and visit some of the places he served. It was a once in a lifetime trip! It was beautiful, the culture was so different and the food was pretty good. We had a great time, with a few hiccups along the way that made the trip unforgettable. The first night we were in Irelane we traveled north to Belfast.
It was right around Christmas time and they had a huge "Christmas around the world" market in the square. Delicious food from surrounding countries lined up booth after booth, hand made ornaments, christmas decorations and knick knacks. We had just one small problem. No money! We had been traveling for 24 hours, made a hotel switch last minute, (cause there was no way me and Tyler were going to sleep on a futon), walked around carrying our luggage in the rain, and then we found out no business excepted travelers checks. Our bank gave us some bad information. No one would except American money or take a credit/debit card either. No problem right? Just use an ATM. If I only knew my pin number for my credit card. Neither one of us had ever used an ATM before. Good thing my father in law was there to save the day. After multiple attempts at several different cards he finally guessed a pin number that worked! Yeah, we wouldn't starve after all! We had a great night sampling the different foods. My favorite was a strawberry tart from France. The rest of the trip went smoothly. We did have a few problems with a couple places I booked for us online, but we made the best of it. And the scenery totally made up for having to travel further than we had figured on. We drove all the way from the North to the Southern tip of Ireland. Tyler served around the whole island so everywhere we went he was able to show a thing or two about that area.
I couldn't get over how well the architecture blended in with the natural surroundings. My camera shutter was on overdrive.
We went to several cemeteries and cathedrals.
We also went to many castles. A few are famous and some we found along the road. This is a view of the scenery from atop Blarney Castle. After we had kissed the Blarney stone of course.
When we were in Southern Ireland this was the view from our condo deck. If you can't tell it was very overcast and cold that day. Oh wait, it's like that everyday.
This is a view of St. Patrick's Park. I figured I better included it since we just had a holiday in his name. :)
One of the highlights of the trip was meeting the family Tyler had baptized on his mission. Pauline was pregnant and about the time Tyler came home she had had her baby. They name him after Tyler. Someday we hope to go back again.
To finish my post I just have to give a shout out to the cutest Grandpa in the world. We just celebrated his 97th birthday. Up until a few months ago he was completely independent. He walked to the post office and grocery store everyday. He's been an amazing example to me and I admire his strenght. I love this candid photo of him walking with my nephew. Love you grandpa!
With a little bit of Irish luck maybe next time I post I will have an adoption update. I'll keep wearing my four leaf clover until then! Erin Go Bragh! (Gaelic for Ireland forever)
