A Trip to England

This week we made a trip across the sea to England. It was a pretty short flight, about 40 minutes. We landed in Liverpool. Here we are by the Yellow Submarine......

There were five Young Women and ten adult members of the ward on the trip.

It was fun to watch the English taxi's as we were waiting for our rental cars.

Then off we went! Headed down the motorway to Preston, where we anxiously scanned the horizon for the Preston Temple.

We arrived safely and what a beautiful temple. We checked into the accommodation center which is right on the temple grounds along with the Mission Training Center (everyone thought we were missionaries there...) the distribution center, Family History Center and a beautiful stake center. Everything is very convenient and just a short walk from the temple.


First thing on the agenda was lunch, since we had left at 6:30 a.m. Everyone was starving!

We had lunch at the Bowling Green. Fun place with a great carvery! Gammon, turkey, roast beef, turnips, carrots, peas, onions, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, gravey, pastry cups, stuffing balls.....about like Ireland!

We then headed back to the temple. I went shopping with Emma and Chris for the rest of the meals, while everyone rested up for our first session at the temple.

The weather was beautiful and the fall leaves were brilliant as we made our way to the temple.
It was John Adair's first time to the temple and what a great experience for him.

This is the MTC with the accommodation center in the background.

Mission Training Center

Swans on the pond......Brother Donnelly enjoyed talking to the gardeners and got some ideas for his garden!

Elder Holt. We really enjoyed the Temple grounds.

Sister Holt. Archway leading to the Temple.

Sister and Elder Holt at the Preston Temple!

Group shot...oops! minus Brother Donnelly.......

Elder Holt and I stayed late one night. It was beautiful until we got caught in the rain!

It was a great trip. We enjoyed being at the temple and associating with such wonderful saints. We hope we can go again while we are here on our mission.

Simple Favorites

These are a few of our favorite things...... Tree tunnels that are beautiful, especially with the leaves changing.......

Safe Home....when we leave the homes of our friends, they say "Safe Home" instead of good-bye. We love it!

Love the red "post boxes"......Trying to figure out how to take one home............

Old, old things, like this padlock on the cemetery gate......

And of course good friends and fun places to eat!

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Monday, our Prep-Day, we headed to Dublin with the McBrides to celebrate Canada's Thanksgiving with the senior couples in the mission.

The Hancocks, McBrides, Cards and Neely's are all from Canada. Elder and Sister Hancock organized the day and it was very festive!

We enjoyed visiting while the food was being prepared....

It's always nice to hear how others are doing around the isle. We give each other encouragement and support which is needed now and then......

The dinner was wonderful. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn, several salads, cranberries, and hot rolls from the corner bakery.

Of course pumpkin pie for dessert....made from scratch, since they don't have canned pumpkin here! I couldn't find cranberries either and ended up with dried cranberries in my salad! It worked!!!!

There were even beautiful china plates in the church kitchen that were a perfect Thanksgiving match!!!

After we ate, we sang Oh Canada, a few Thanksgiving hymns and told what we were thankful for. The Stowers, the newest couple were thankful for watermelons.....When they arrived in Scotland, President Griffith sent them on their way to Waterford, Ireland. They didn't know where they were going, caught the ferry to Belfast, and started driving south. They stopped at a pub and a kind man helped them find a room for the night. The next day, they were driving through Dublin, lost and frustrated when they spotted Elder and Sister Card carrying a watermelon down the street. They knew their prayers had been answered....The Cards had been prompted to go to the market and buy a watermelon even though they didn't need one. We are all so thankful for the tiny miracles and tender mercies that we experience every day.

Of course, Elder Holt couldn't resist after finding a basketball. He had to shoot a few baskets with Elder Gielman and Elder McDowell! (a good way to get out of doing dishes!)

We had a wonderful day with new friends, and look forward to November when America celebrates Thanksgiving!

The Rolfs Visit Ireland

Last week we had a special treat! Our good friends, Larry and Teresa came to visit from America. Larry always said they would visit us on our mission wherever we went. They we sure glad we were sent to Ireland and not Iowa! We picked them up in Banbridge and went to lunch at Ballydougan. They were good sports even though they had been on a plane all night!

We showed them around Lurgana and Portadown and went to our favorite Tanaghmore Gardens. The leaves are changing and it was a beautiful day.

Beautiful begonias.....

They found their first wee leprechaun.

After a good nights sleep, they were ready for a trip up the Antrim coast.
We were lucky again to have beautiful weather.

Teresa was very excited to cross the rope bridge.

Birch and Larry

Linda and Teresa (we didn't plan on both wearing green!)

Next we went to the Giant's Causeway. We are getting pretty good at showing people the sites in Northern Ireland!

We love the ocean.

We left the Causeway after finding some cute souvenirs in the souvenir shop!

Birch and Larry at the Wee Cottage......they were glad it was closed so the women couldn't shop!

Dunluce Castle

More castle.....

We had a nice ride home and went to Maloney's for fish and chips!

The next day it was raining. Birch and Larry wanted to golf, but knowing Ireland, we knew it would clear up after we went to the Irish Linen Factory! I always find plenty to buy at the Linen shop. I can't wait to get home and set the table with my tablecloths, placemats and runners!!!!!

The men dropped Teresa and I off in Portadown to shop while they headed for the golf course. We had a great time going in and out the little shops and found some great buys! Birch and Larry had a good time too.

Teresa in front of the church in Portadown.





We went to dinner at the Oxford Grill. A good day with good friends and good food!

Saturday we headed south to Dublin to take the Rolfs to their hotel before they began their bus tour of southern Ireland. We stopped at Monasterboice. Larry wanted to see an old cemetery and that's about as old as it gets!!!!

Some of the gravestones are so old they are crumbling away and yet it is still used today.

Teresa coming out of the old abbey.

Larry and Teresa on the round tower...

Some of the oldest high crosses around.....

We then went to New Grange. We weren't able to see the burial grounds. The tours were all sold out. But we had a good time in the visitors center and checking it out in the telescope.

We had a wonderful visit and we are so glad the Rolfs were able to come. We have now been with them on three continents! North America, Australia, and Europe!