Remembering Ireland

I thought in honor of St Patty's Day we would take a trip down memory lane. These pictures are all from A#1's trip to Ireland this past summer. Watching all of the festivities has been exciting for me this year because I can recognize some of the places A#1 has been. The clover is from the Irish farm they visited.

On the ferry on their way to Ireland. What an adventure he had!!!

Blarney Castle. A#1 kissed the Blarney Stone and received the gift of gab. This was one of his favorite days because they got to explore the castle on their own.

For a young man that played percussion instruments for 7 years in school, playing the Irish drums was exciting.

Absolutely one of my most favorite pictures of the whole trip. On the farm they played in the mud bog. Talking to A#1 you will find out this was one of the best times he has ever had. The boy LOVES pants and shorts with LOTS of pockets because he has LOTS of "stuff". The first time we looked at this picture it hit me at just how much this is him. His pockets are always full of something, this time it was LOTS of mud!!

Look at that smile!!!

Repelling off of a castle in Ireland. A little scary for me, a lot of fun for him.

Somewhere in Ireland. I love that the Lord allowed him to travel here to learn so much and to even learn about his heritage.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all. For now me and A#3 are going on a hunt for a leprechauns. I hear they are sneaky little guys.

2008 A year in review

January 10, 2008 - The year started off horrible with the loss of our Pastor's 19 year old son, Sam. Man oh man do we miss you Sammy!

February 23, 2008 - A#1 celebrated his 18 th birthday. We surprised him with a ride in a plane like the one's he will be learning to fly while in college.

March 2008 - I had to have a very unexpected laser eye surgery due to a tear in my retina, not once but twice!
April 15, 2008 - Me and W.B. celebrated 19 years of marriage

A#1 went to his Senior Prom -
May 29, 2008 - Our best friends in the whole wide great ole big world came to visit from Texas

May 31, 2008 - A#2 turns 8

June 1, 2008 - A#1 Graduated from high school with honorsJune 8, 2008 - A new member of the family is born, Mr Noah

July 7, 2008 - A#1 leaves on a 3 week trip to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales

The rest of us head to the Outer Banks -

August 15, 2008 - A#1 leaves for college, Liberty University

August 18, 2008 - A#2 starts 3rd grade & A#3 goes to pre-school

September 29, 2008 - I hit my 50 pound weight loss mark!

October 19, 2008 - A#3 turns 4

November 4, 2008 Time to vote

December 9, 2008 - A#1 finishes his first semester of college with a 99.2%. You Rock A!

More journeys for the weekend

A#1 has tons more pictures left but of course there is only so much I can tell you about them. We continue our journey in Ireland at the Maritime Museum.


When A#1 was younger he was fascinated with the Titanic. He watched every movie, read every book and had every computer program. He still likes to learn about it. He thought the exhibits were so cool.

These are actually from the ship.

Stay with us as we will be moving on to Scotland next!

Our journey continues

As our journey continues, I wanted to show you A#1's pictures as they moved thru Wales. Since A#1 is away at college studying his brains out, it's hard for me to tell you exactly what each picture is so I will do my very best. At the bottom of the post you will see that I copied part of his itenerary so to give you a better description of everything he witnessed. ENJOY the scenery. That boy is so blessed!!!!



A castle in Wales as they are traveling. Can you imagine driving down the highway and then, hello there's a castle!

A highland Welsh village.

Whoa!

Going to the copper mines.

The coppersmith (I guess that's what you call them) is making an ax out of this.

Taking the tram in Wales.

So here is their itenerary- maybe this will help:

BANGOR, WALES • Travel to Llanberis, a quaint village at the foot of Mount Snowdon, once the slate quarrying capital of the world and the ancestral home of Thomas Jefferson. Visit the Welsh Slate Museum, followed by a short walk to the spectacular site of Dolbadarn castle, the last refuge of the Welsh princes. • Continue along the spectacular Llanberis Pass to the village of Beddgelert. Learn about the legends of Arthur and Merlin connected with this beautiful and mysterious valley. • Visit Conway, one of the finest medieval walled towns in Europe, dominated by Edward Longshanks' magnificent castle. Take a short battlement walk and admire the views around you! • Take a tram ride up to the Great Orme Copper Mine. One of the country’s most important archaeological sites, the mine dates back over 3000 years to the Bronze Age. During the orientation, gain valuable insight into the time-honored mining and smelting process. • During your time in Wales, you may notice the distinct Welsh language. In some areas, it is still the primary language and today you will learn some basic phrases in this Celtic language.

Cool huh? There's lots more to go. Sorry this is taking so long but as usual, the Blaine's are always very busy!

Somewhere in Ireland

I really wish I could explain these picture to you but I CAN"T!! All I know is they are in Ireland. A#1 came home this weekend from college and I should've had him sit down with me to do this but we just simply ran out of time. When he was getting ready to drive back he said it just went too fast Mom!! I AGREE!!! Way too fast. It was so good having him home though. A#3 had a difficult time when he left.



Driving thru Ireland. Look at the village! Can you just imagine stopping by for a visit?

Mountains of green!!!

The hat's from Ireland that's how I know where he is. You will see the Scotland hat soon. By the way, I did teach the child to wear his black socks with his balck tennis shoes. As smart as he is he just can't get that.

I shouldn't complain because at least he got someone to take his picture!! Very good A#1. I'm proud of you, white socks and all.

There that's better, can't see the socks :) Just his smile.

Green, green and more green.

I like this picture! Enjoy! Hopefully I can share more details on the next few.

Let's continue, shall we?

It's been awhile since we went on our journey with A#1 so I thought it was about time we get back to where we left off. Can you see those people hanging from that tower? Yep, he's one of them. This was one of their adventures in Ireland. Repelling off of a castle tower. Of course, he loved it!!
This one makes me realize just how high up they were. Hope those ropes are strong!

There goes Isreal. A#1 said this was a great day and he really had to overcome a few things so he could take the plunge, so to speak.

Good job A#1!!!! How cool was this time in your life. All I could think of was The Amazing Race tv show and how all the "old" moms like me would be so embarassed to have all that stuff strapped to our big ole butts. Oh well, I would do it anyway!!!!

Add ons

Warning- lots of pictures ahead! One of A#1's leaders sent some pictures today. Thank you so much V. These are events that I have already posted on so I hope you enjoy!



Our delegation ready to leave for D.C.

Our leaders and bus drivers.

Finally arrived in Heathrow.

What a great bunch of kids!

Beautiful stained glass in one of the cathedrals.

A "bath" in Bath.

Wales.

One of the first places in Ireland they visited was Waterford Crystal. You should see the GORGEOUS crystal necklace A#1 gave me! It is a Celtic Cross. He brought one home for all of the special women in his life. Me, his 3 grandmothers and his great grandmother. We all love them.

Not sure why A#1 doesn't have any pictures of this because it was one of his faves. Hurling! A#1 is not your typical american boy as in that he is not a football fan. Rugby and hurling are a completley different story however.

Here are the rest of the Irish drummers. I think this is a cool picture!

Here's Ms. V's shot of the clover. Beautiful!

And her pics of the mud bog. There he is again climbing out just so he can jump back in.

Look at their faces. Every single one of them!!!!

Isreal wore the perfect shirt for this event! Sorry but we are Hokie fans in this house!

There he goes getting ready to jump!

Thanks again for the new pics. The journey will continue later on!