If only pictures did justice...

This is just another view of Sandycove. I wish that pictures could actually capture how beautiful things really are!! Everyone just need to come see everything for themselves!!
A sign...haha
This is a street sign...all I know is i would get very lost if i could drive over here. And another thing I found kind of interesting is that instead of house numbers, there are house names...so Shortens live in Willowtree House.
An intersection...
Harvey always seems to get hungry when its time to go to bed...

I have probably posted a similar picture...but just another view of the atlantic. I absolutely love the ocean over here...and it's neat to have a view of it from so many different places.
I'm assuming this is an old barn of some sort...but i thought it looked kind of neat...so i took a picture.
Some pretty flowers on the way to Ballinspittle.
Harvey fresh out of the shower...
I went down the hall the other day looking for Harvey and Rhia...and this is what i found.

Sorry it's been so long....

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been very good about keeping things posted this past while...I will try to work on that. haha. Anyways...we've had really good weather the past week so I've been able to take the girls on quite a few walks and have found some beautiful views and other cool things too. So I'll post some pictures from my walks...and also some more cute ones of the kids! Hope everyone is doing well!!! Shirley is insistent on feeding herself...and this is the typical result. She's always hungry and this is probably why...more food ends up either on her or on the floor rather than in her mouth. =)
Shirley again...her legs are finally long enough to shuffle herself around in the little cars, so she's pretty pleased.
And one more of happy Shirley.
Harvey has decided lately that he like my bed...and apparently Frank too...more than his own. It's probably the nice heating pad that keeps it warm at night time!!
I took Rhia and Shirley on a walk the other day...and this was the beautiful view I found. It's called Sandycove and is about 3ish miles down the coast of where Nigel and Owlyn live...I could be wrong...but thats just a guess.

Pictures...

Rhia really is happier than she appears...but here she is with her doll. She decided her doll needed something to eat...so they were going to have a little snack.
This is a typical view of Shirley. She's starting to pull herself up on things, but can't quite stand by herself. But if anyone is around her, she will cry until you pick her up.
While we were eating dinner, Shirley was playing with the dish washer. She doesn't really seem that upset in the picture...but she was stuck and not to impressed.

Some more pictures...

Rhia, Shirley and I took a walk today since the sun was actually shinning...which seems to be a rare occurrence here in Ireland. But we walked down to Ballinspittle which is about a mile away.
We decided that Diva's coffee shop would be a good destination...so here is Shirley excited to get her picture taken, and Rhia. who recently decided that she didn't like pictures, on a big red couch and Diva's.
And here is Diva! The owner is actually from Seattle originally...so she knows what a coffee shop is supposed to be like =) They only have three latte flavors... vanilla, coconut, and amaretto, so i decided on coconut and it was probably one of the best lattes I've ever had. And the coffee shop is really cute inside and super cozy.
Apparently riding in a buggy is very exhausting. The road to Ballinspittle is down hill most of the way, but it's pretty gradual, so you don't notice it that much...that is until you're walking home having to push a buggy up a mile long hill =)
And here is Nigel and Olwyn's house...my home for the next while.

Maybe i'll just post pictures and tell a little about each one to explain what i've been up to these past few days...

This would be Shane, Rhia, and Harvey. Olwyn went and picked up a tank and all the things for the two turtles theyre getting...you see though, there are no turtles yet. Imagine how exciting the tanks going to be once the turtles actually get here!
Harvey getting ready to go swimming. Swimming hats are definitely a necessity...no questions.
Some how in the process of getting ready to go swimming, Shirley managed to take a little face dive resulting in a huge goose egg that is now all black and purple...but she's recovering.
In the car on the way to go swimming. Just in case we run into any water on the way there, it's important to be prepared with swimming hats!! i tried to move Rhias up so you could see her eyes, but she was insistent that her eyes needed covering.
Rhia and Harveys swim suits!!! Rhia looks very enthused to be swimming...and im not sure what Harveys looking at, but we had a good time in the pool.

This would be Rhia, drinking out of her cool new cup during day care. Olwyn has a day care/play group that she runs from their home, so monday through friday there are extra little kids running around.
Cormac and Rhia playing...he's normally really good with his brother and sisters and keeps them pretty entertained most of the time.
Shirley, super excited about something. It's been fun to watch her...i've only been here a little over a week, but she's doing more than when i first got here. Today she was pulling herself up on everything around her and also climbed up the step out of the den for the first time.
Just some cows... Cormac and I walked down to granny and grandads to go to the beach with their cousins. So we decided stopping and looking at the cows for awhile would be a good idea.
And the beautiful ocean again. It was incredibly windy and there was two wind surfers and then about 10 people surfing on the waves. There was also a girl running her horse and a bunch of others just walking around. I think the ocean is what makes me want people to come so bad!! it's so pretty and the scenery is so much different than beaches near home.

A few pictures from Kinsale

some pretty flowers...

All the sail boats.

One of the streets in Kinsale.

These sculptures are for sale...maybe i should bring one home.

Apparently this is where the "poor people" park there boats. A ways up the road in a different harbor there are bigger yacht type boats that belong to all the "rich people".

A few more buildings and a little courtyard area.

Probably the ugliest vehicle you will ever see.

Sunday/Monday

Hi again! It seems like I've been here way longer than 5 days, but im definitely enjoying myself. The kids keep me busy, but they are a lot of fun and are getting a lot more comfortable around me.

Yesterday morning we went to meeting at Nigels parents house. There are so many kids in the meeting...I think i counted 12 under the age of 9. Its a very nice meeting though, i still have a hard time understanding the accents, but it's getting better. After meeting we came home and had lunch and then just hung out until the gospel meeting at 7:30. Edgar Lowe is in their field along with a new brother who just started in the work at convention time in July this year. I think Edgar must have been at a convention at home because he looks really familiar and his name is familiar as well. I think they are coming for dinner on saturday, so i will have to ask him. After gospel meeting we went to Nigels parents for tea and quiche and then came home and put the kids to bed. The kids have all had a head cold thats going around and i ended up with is too, so i went to bed fairly early last night in hopes that i could sleep it off.

Today was my day off, so i slept most of the morning which helped with my cold quite a bit. Then in the afternoon Nigel gave me a ride to Kinsale, so I walked around for a few hours and looked at all the different shops. Its definitely a touristy town and the prices reflect it, but it was still nice and i was able to get a few things. I found it kind of strange though because when you walk into a shop, no one greets you. They just kind of stare at you, so it was somewhat awkward. It was pretty overcast today though, and it started raining so i went into a little cafe called vista. The girl working came and asked me what i wanted to drink, so i asked her if they had a drink menu and she said no...so i just said tea. I figured that was a safe bet. So she brought me my tea and a little menu, so i got some bread and hummous and read my book for awhile to kill some time.

Nigel picked me up from Kinsale around 6, and then we made a quick stop so he could repair someones lawn mower. Leaving their house we drove down the narrowest road yet...the mirrors on both sides of the van where hitting the brush on the side of the road. But the best part was the speed limit was 80kmh. Its very easy to get nervous while riding in the car becasue first of all, your sitting on the opposite side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road, but the roads are extremely narrow and people drive so fast...or maybe it just seems fast to me. =)

When we got home, the kids had just finish dinner and were playing. Cormac wasnt home, but Harvey and Rhia were running around playing. Shirley has a new fake cry that she does, and she keeps it up until someone picks her up. It seems that she is always either laughing or crying...theres not a lot inbetween, but luckily theres more laughing. Shirley went to bed around 7:30 and Rhia and Harvey around 8:00, so now ill probably just read my new book or go to bed fairly soon.

I took some pictures in Kinsale today. The pictures do absolutely no justice, but you can kind of see what im enjoying!

A Few Pictures...

this was early on in the flight

this is somewhere else during the flight also...

The Atlantic Ocean!

Shirley must be pretty excited to be at the beach!

Cormac and Harvey playing in the waves

Ireland!

Hi Everyone! I made it safely to Ireland Thursday morning at about 4:45am. Both of my flights were good and we actually arrived early to both New York and Dublin. I sat by a girl from New York on the way to Dublin who was aroung my age and had lived in Ireland all last year, so it was nice to talk to her about a few things! After ariving in Dublin, I went through customs with no problems and then took about a 5 hour bus ride from Dublin to Cork. Nigel and Rhia came and picked me up from the bus station and we headed to Kinsale which is about 30 minutes away.

It's so beautiful here. It's really green like at home, but it looks so much different. Driving into Kinsale was probably my favorite thing so far. The little town is so cute...all the building are fun colors and its right on the water, so there are tons of sail boats. Ill try to get a picture next time im there so you can all see it!

Nigel and Olwyn live really close to the ocean, so last night Olywn, the kids and I all went to the beach. The waters definitely not warm by any means, but the kids still like it and all the sand. I even had the privelege of getting fairly wet thanks to Cormac. = )

After the beach, we took Cormac and Harvey to stay at their grandparents who live about two minutes away, so i got to meet Nigels mom and aunt, along with two of his brothers, his sister in law and her three kids.

After coming back home and unpacking, i was definitely ready for bed. I get confused with all the time differences, but i think i had been up for over 24 hours...so a bed was sounding pretty good. I think Harvey thought so too, he decided to come home from his grandparents and thought sleeping with me would be a pretty good idea. After about 30 minutes we were able to convince him that his bed would probably be best. = )

So today i woke up around 9:30. We all had breakfast and did some painting and read a few books. Now the kids are playing with play-doh and Shirley just got up from a nap. Ill try and post some pictures soon and keep my blog updated as well!

Hope everyone is doing well.