Visit with the Greens

We had a special treat this week. Our good friends Charlotte and Gary came to visit us from Utah. They arrived Sunday morning after a long airplane ride, a bus ride from Dublin and a taxi ride to our flat. We were so happy when they finally arrived! We went to the Bangor Ward for church and enjoyed introducing them to our friends in the stake. The next morning we got an late start, but headed in the snow to Downpatrick. After finding Charlotte a camera card and exchanging euros to pounds...we went to the museum.

We can't believe all the snow we have had. It is unusually cold and snowy for this time of the year.

Birch dressed up as a viking. I think the clothes were meant for children.......luckily he got the helmet off!

Gary and Charlotte.

We stopped for a "cuppa" soup and enjoyed the white Irish countryside.

Our next stop was Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

This is where Saint Patrick is supposedly buried, although they really don't know the exact spot...it's somewhere close!

Gary at Saint Patrick's grave.



We then headed down the coast towards Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains. We tried to stop at Dundrum Castle, but we couldn't get up the hill because of the snow and ice. They really aren't equipped here for this snow and a lot of schools and shops had to close.

Quite a different scene than it was in the summertime with all the tourists. Birch and Gary ventured down to the beach to find Charlotte a green rock! It was cold....

but it was beautiful.

Charlotte bought her a new wool hat to keep warm!




We found this cute old outhouse. It's always fun to see the old buildings everywhere we travel.

After leaving Newcastle, we headed to Portadown. It was Gary's birthday so we stopped in Banbridge and had a wonderful Irish dinner. Steak and onion pie, lots of potatoes and of course trifle and pavlova for dessert.

We took the Greens to Family Home Evening in Portadown so they could meet our FHE Family. It was a fun evening and I am glad they got to meet our new friends here in Ireland!


The next day we went north to Carrick Furgus Castle.

This is suppose to be the best castle in Ireland. It is well preserved. They just discovered some new treasures here and a group of researchers were having a meeting to discuss the new findings!

We were glad the sun was shinning, but it was very cold!

View of the sea from the castle. Notice the princess sitting in the window.....

The king on his horse....

The walls were really thick.....since there were no glass windows in those days, they covered the windows with animal hides or tapestries too keep warm.

The banquet hall......

Charlotte and the guard.....





After leaving the castle we went downtown Belfast and took the city bus tour. It was very interesting as we rode through all the famous political places, saw the murals and famous buildings. But IT WAS FREEZING!!!!! In fact it was so cold on the bus that we only did half the tour. We'll leave the rest for a nice summer day!

Belfast was beautiful at night and we did enjoy a little shopping and the Christmas market that was set up all around city hall.

I didn't think it ever got this cold in Ireland! But thankfully we weren't in England or Scotland, they have it worse!!! In fact our Mission Zone meeting was cancelled this week because the Mission President couldn't get over here!

Fun, cold, windy night! On our way home we stopped for fish and chips. It was nice to be home where it was warm!

The next day we went to Giant's Ring on our way to Banbridge. It's just up the road from us.

It's a stone age monument.....

We went to Maloney's in Lurgan for a Ulster Fry breakfast, eggs, sausage, bacon, potato bread, soda bread, beans, mushrooms........we don't have them too often!

Merry Christmas!

We went to Ballydougan and then of course to the Linen shop where Charlotte went nuts! We love taking our friends there! I think we are their best customers!!!!

We had such a good visit with Charlotte and Gary and we are so glad they took time out of their busy lives to share a few days with us. Our families have had many great times together over the years and hope we can have many more. When we said goodbye last year to Charlotte we weren't sure if we would see her again, she has lung cancer.....but miracles happen every day and we cherish every moment we have with her! Friends and Family are the very best!!!!