For Papa and Grandmama!

Shortly after our return from Ireland, not only did we have Bubbly Sarah with us, giving the girls her shoes, but Aunt 'Shell and cousins arrived. 9 of the 10 cousins were together. Unfortunately, getting 9 cousins together also means pictures that look like these....
Oh, how I tried. This past week when I was looking at these pictures, I could only laugh.

I am grateful for pictures like these. Because it means the cousins are laughing and enjoying the company of each other. They were just too busy trying to fill every minute they had with one another. They new their time together would be short. It means they are cousins, they don't see each other as girls or boys. Which is good thing since our cousins consist of only girls! They hold their own with the hockey playing, rambunctious, wild boys they find in Kansas! Cousins are the next best thing to siblings!

Friday Fun !

Days after I returned from Ireland, we were blessed to enjoy the company of our bubbly neice Sarah. She moved in for 5 days while she waited to board a flight that would whisk her away to Hawaii and her new life with the man she loves.
But first she had to weed out her luggage. She just had too much to take. To my daughters' delight she decided to leave behind shoes!

This led to 2 discoveries. Bubbly Neice's shoes fit my 8 year old and 13 year old daughters. Which led to this photo. Bubbly Neice is 21! She has tiny feet.
Can you pick which feet belong to Little Princess and Fun Mom!

The second discovery belongs to the Big-O-Daddy-O.
This past week he felt compelled to ask me how many pairs of shoes a girl must have?
That was just too much to take. I quickly told him he was asking the wrong person.
Dialed the phone to mom of a beautiful little 3 year old princess.... Her response,
At least 30 pairs!
She quickly asked him, "Are you having girl issues?"
At least we didn't call up Miss Bubbles in Hawaii....

Ross Castle ~ Killarney, Ireland

All I can say about this place, is this guy had one awesome view from his castle in every direction. Way back when, I would have wanted to be good friends with the owners! :)

Wicklow Mountains

Glendalough, translated means 'The glen and 2 lakes'
The fall colors were breathtaking. I was completely suprised by the beauty of all the colors. When I envision Ireland, I imagine emerald green. It is afterall the Emerald Isle. However, every where I looked there was beautiful color and vistas.
We stopped to visit the bell tower (or sometimes referred to as round tower) and the surrounding grounds.
The entrance to the grounds is a large archway. When entering to the right is a stone wall. Engraved in the stone is a cross. This cross was a symbol to all who entered that they were entering a place of sanctuary. This just caused such a stirring in my heart, that the image of the cross would announce you are entering a place of sanctuary.

Ireland ~ They are here!

This is a video of some random shots early in the trip!

Coming Soon....

I have gone through about a third of my pictures from Ireland.
Pics will be coming soon. Before Christmas at least.
My neice is in Hawaii now. Beautiful temperatures in the 80s and loving the seashore and all that is tropical. Most of all her fiance!
My sister and neices are safely back home in Colorado until they hear beckoning from Canada. So 2 down and 1 to go. We begin moving the parents to their new home...no, not the retirement home. They have promised no retirement homes. They would rather hike into the wilderness with just each other and the clothes on their back. Hike until they can no more and then curl up and fall asleep together. Ahhhh, they make it sound so idyllic.
I am sure hoping it is their last move for a while.

After being home a week, Daddy's Buddy has admitted he missed me for 2 days, not just one. Maybe in another week I will be up to 3 days. Hockey Player, is starting to acknowledge he wants me around. I announced today I was moving back to Ireland to get away from the bickering and he started hollering, "NOOOOOOOOO, nOOOOOOO Ireland." I got a big hug. He want me to stick around. Isn't that sweet.
Big O Daddy O is still walking around saying, "It definitely takes two, it takes two." and my favorite, "I really appreciate you, I love you! "

Good to be home.

We're Baaaack !

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy ! ~ Little Princes was glad to see me, she missed me.
Moooooommmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ~ Flutter Nutter was happy to see me.
Daddy's Buddy ran, he didn't want a hug. When asked if he missed me, his response, "One day." (Told dad later, he replied, "Must have been the day he got into trouble with me.)
I asked Hockey Player if he missed me, "I dunno know." Later, he asked me to trim his nails. He indicated that he was glad I was home to do so, cause last time I was gone, dad didn't so good of a job at trimming nails.
Big O Daddy O, he missed me. He even told me how much he appreciated me. By Tuesday (a week into the trip) he was toast.

3 out of 5 not so bad.
Fun Mom and I had a wonderful time. Pictures to come. Took about 700. Fun Mom took over a 1000, LOL. She was shutter happy. We traveled over 1000 miles in Ireland and Northern Ireland in 7 days. Very glad we kept journals because the days began to blur together.