Visits and Visitors!

This week we went for a visit to the Tollymore campground. The Keery's were camping there. We took Lynda Ross with us. It was a nice ride through the Mourne Mountains.

It was fun to see camping in Ireland. Not much different than Minnesota except no mosquitoes!!

Jacob and Matthew eating their lunch. They just got back from a wee hike to the river....where they fell in!!! Such cute wee boys!!

Holly on the tire swing. It was a very nice relaxing day and we enjoyed the change of pace.

Friday we had a very fun day. Our good friends Marianne and Dennis were in Dublin for a couple of weeks. Marianne was here on a business trip. They caught the bus and we picked them up in Banbridge. It was so fun to see them! We had a successful trip to the Ferguson Linen Center and then went to E&B's to get lunch. Since it was raining, we came back to our home to eat and visit.

Later we went to the Tanaghmore Gardens.

We enjoyed catching up on all the news from home and about their life in Wisconsin.

There are many wood sculptures throughout the gardens. This one represents the potato famine.

This picture is for Dylan and Kade! See, we have alligators here too!!!

Pinocchio, for Vincent!

We had fun running through the rock maze. It reminded us of the corn maze we went to with Baylie, Bryndie and Payton.

Interesting sculptures. After the gardens we drove them around the town and went out to see Lough Neagh.

They were going to leave to catch the bus at 5:30, but ended up leaving on the 8:30 bus! We had such a wonderful time.

Again, WE LOVE VISITORS!!!!

A Week with Jason

Last week Jason was here. It was fun to spend time with him and show him a wee bit of Northern Ireland! We found a beautiful clump of Shamrocks!

This was Jason's first trip to Northern Ireland, although he has been in the Republic many times and has seen more than us! We picked him up in Banbridge Monday morning. Went shopping so he could pick out the fun things he wanted to eat.....Monday night he joined us for our Family Home Evening. It was fun to have him meet the members of the ward.

Tuesday we headed for the Mourne Mountains.

Our first stop was Spelga Dam.

Look! I found a little Leprechaun!

It's very quiet and very beautiful at the top of the mountains.

The stone fences go for miles and miles. It amazes me that they are all hand built. There is an art to building them so they don't fall down. I would love one around my yard in Anoka!!!!!

Next we went to Newcastle. Jason and his dad decided to climb Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. The guide at the information desk said it would take 5 hours total, up and down. After finding something to eat, they started up the mountain at 4 p.m. I stayed in town to shop! Around 8 p.m., they were back. They didn't make it quite to the top. They didn't want to get stuck coming down the mountain after dark. They did get a good workout.

Back on the beach at Newcastle.

We had fun taking pictures of ourselves in this big reflection ball.

Wednesday we had a zone conference in Belfast so we dropped Jason off on a corner and he spent the day exploring the city. He caught the train back to Lurgan that night.

Thursday we headed up the Antrim coast. It was drizzling, raining and didn't look like it was going to be a very nice day. But it was beautiful anyway.

The clouds were very low.

Just before we got to the Rope Bridge......The Sun came out!!!!! Another beautiful day!!!

Jason and Mom!

Beautiful views everywhere you look. First stop the Rope Bridge.

This time I only went about half way down to the bridge.....Birch and Jason went on, crossed the bridge and met me back on top.

Again, the water was so clear!

We then made our way to the Giant's Causeway, the Mussendin temple and on to Londonderry. Of course, my camera died.........I was pretty frustrated but Jason did get some good pictures.

It was a great day. We drove home through the Sparrin Mountains.

Friday we went to Mount Stewart. Mount Stewart was a home of royalty, now owned by the National Trust. The home and gardens were very beautiful.

We took the tour of the home.

Jason and the royal carriage.

We spent a lot of time in the gardens. There are plants and trees from all over the world growing there.

The back of the house.....

The front of the house......

More gardens......

Harp and shamrocks......

Jason in the garden...... maybe he'll change professions someday and go into landscaping!!!!

After leaving Mount Stewart we headed for Crawfordsburn.

We had a wonderful dinner at the old inn......

Then went over to Crawfordsburn Park.....






Saturday, Jason wanted to run a half marathon from Belfast to Lisburn. We got there early and it was fun to meet the other runners and those in charge. When they found out Jason was from America they made the announcement to the group. Everyone clapped!!!!!

Jason with Lord Mayor of Belfast and Dame Mary Peters, Olympic gold medalist.

He was even interview by BBC sports!!!!!

Getting ready to run.

Coming in first! (after running 2 extra miles because they didn't mark where he was suppose to turn around!)




That afternoon we went to the ward BBQ to celebrate July 24th. There was a great turnout and again it was fun to introduce Jason to all of our new friends.




Sunday we went to church. In the evening we went visiting the Roberts and Brother Donnelly.

The Roberts live in this 100 year old cottage. I love it!!!

Monday morning we dropped Jason off at the bus station in Banbridge and he was off to Dublin for the day. He left for France on Tuesday, continuing his summer tour through Europe. He'll be back in August to see us again before leaving to go home. WE LOVE VISITORS!!!!!!

July12th continued.....

We got up Monday morning and headed to Tandragee. We had breakfast with the Weirs, then headed west towards Enniskillen. We were lucky to have another beautiful day for an outing. Along the way we passed several towns getting ready for their parades. It was fun to see everyone dressed up with their marching instruments.

I took these pictures from the car window since we didn't want to stop. Lots of bagpipes!

Our first stop was the Marble Arch Caves. Usually you can take a little boat into the caves but since the water was too high, we had to hike down the back way. We were able to enter the caves and take the tour.

They were pretty large caves that were discovered in the 1800's.

We had a lot of fun with Diane and Robert. They are really fun people to be with and have become very good friends.

Caves.....

I think we were the only ones in the group that kept stopping to take pictures!

More cave.......

The figure right in the middle is the cave's guardian angel.

We all made it out safe and sound and even made it up the 150 steps to the top!

We left the caves and then headed to Belleek! I was so excited! I have been patiently waiting to go there and was so happy when it was on the agenda for the day!

Here we are! Belleek Pottery, established in 1847!

Beautiful building.

We asked how much this piece was......the girl told us it was priceless....It has the Belleek symbols on it, the harp, the wolf hound, a castle and shamrocks.

All the pottery is handmade.

It was fun to watch them put it together and paint it.

The basket pieces were pretty fragile. We enjoyed the tour and then really enjoyed the gift shop! There were a lot of really nice pieces. It was hard to make decisions!!!!

The men waited patiently outside.....I enjoyed every minute I was there! (In fact I wouldn't mind going back...good thing it's not closer!)

We then headed for home. The scenery was beautiful and it was fun to see a different part of the Island. We stopped for dinner at a nice hotel. It did start to rain which was OK since the day was almost done!

We passed this field of wild flowers.....

A beautiful scene to end a beautiful day! We made it home safe and sound! Which was good since we passed a burnt car in Armagh, and the helicopters were circling.......