Another birthday, the pool & a "new to us" John Deere tractor. The boys have been on it non-stop since we got it (at a great deal thanks to craigslist)!

1st movie!

Jacob is no stranger to movies, but made his 1st visit to the movie theatre Wednesday (thanks to regals free summer movies). He loved Tale of Despereaux & sat there quite contently eating popcorn for over an hour. We had a great time!

Jacob is saying cheese in this picture. I told him not to say cheese & to just smile. He replied, "I want to say cheese, I love cheese, it's my favorite!"

IRELAND

Wow- what an amazing trip! Thank you all for praying and asking about it. A few details to share that definitely won't do my trip justice...

St. Patrick's Cathedral The Liffy (river going through the city that divides North & South Dublin)

our group

The city streets

the countryside (Greystone) & the Irish Sea

the Irish Seashore

Michael's cousin Amy and her husband, Jarod

What a blessing we all made it there and back safely (including our luggage). It was interesting to be away from Michael & the boys for 8 days. I definitely missed them. It was refreshing though to just be me and not focus on my responsibilities of mommy. I met lots of great new friends. I was also so encouraged by the stories of missionaries we met with about their calling to spread the love of Jesus in Ireland. Although I see the beauty & works of God all around me everyday, it was so amazing to see first hand the Lord working over 4000 miles around the world! Little tid bit... There are less than 1% of Irish (in the Republic of Ireland) who believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation. The Republic of Ireland is most of Irleand including Dublin, but Northern Ireland is part of the UK and is nearly an entriely separate country.

Michael's cousin & husband have lived in Belfast for 3 years and were able to come to Dublin for an afternoon to visit. How fun it was to see familiar faces in such a foreign place!