Elijah Turns 6

Elijah loves having bonfires. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.

An armor set from Grandpa and Grandma!

My little knights!

A letter from cousin Kyle arrived right on his birthday!

Our Friend Donna!

Donna, the boys and I just wanted to wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope it is a day (and year) filled with blessings.


I'm thanking God for you today. He gave you such a joyful and kind spirit.

You are a joy to be around and we love you!




P.S. If you all would like you could visit Donna's blog and wish her a happy birthday too!

Crystal's Bridal Shower

Just a quick note before I go to my dress fitting. This is the first time i'll see my dress and try it on. I pray it fits!!! The wedding is on Saturday!

Here are a couple pictures from the shower yesterday. We set up the room with a beach theme. There were beach umbrellas and beach towels and sand buckets to hold the chips.

This is Crystal's good friend, and the one who introduced Andrew to Crystal, surprised her by flying in from Texas to attend the bridal shower.

We had a game and then Andrew shared a devotional from the bible. After that we had a Pampered Chef demonstration. Andrew and Crystal helped make these delicious chicken squares.

Then people ordered items off the wish list for Andrew and Crystal.

Ethan took a record nap during the shower. Here's Sherri seeing him again for the first time! I don't know who was happier.

Andrew and Crystal with the cake.

Opening Gifts

My sister, Ethan and I after the shower.

Here's Michelle and I with our boys. They are only one week apart in age.

Mrs. C and E!

Thanks for coming along to the shower! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Friday Fun

Last Friday night the youth from church had a BBQ. It was a fun night.

I just wanted to share some of the fun trampoline photos.

George

RuthMatthew

Geoff

A Town I'd Love to Explore Better

Donaghadee, Northern Irleand

On Thursday Joanne and Will picked us up and took us to Donaghadee.

It's a beautiful coastal town with a light house and harbor.

Lots of space to stretch those legs!

And swings! Here's Will and Joanne enjoying the swings.

If only the health invader could see us now. She would not be able to say we are "so isolated down here". Let me give you a quick rundown of our past week.

*Sunday May 31- we went to church like usual in the morning and evening.
*Monday was spent at home cleaning up and getting back to normal after the weekend.
*Tuesday we celebrated my mother in laws birthday.
*Wednesday Ruth and George visited for the afternoon.
*Thursday we were out with Joanne and Will. (the above post)
*Friday was a BBQ for the youth over at a church members home. (photos on facebook if your interested)
*Saturday was busy with Geoff being off and going over to Ruth's house that evening.
*Sunday was church again.
*Monday Geoff took off work. We took Ethan to the doctors to have his belly button looked at. And I did most of my packing for this trip. I leave tomorrow morning.
*Tuesday- today- Donna and Ruth visited all day.
*And tomorrow I leave for two weeks to Florida.

Wednesday's Adventures

Ruth, George and Elijah

You'll see from these pictures that we do have sunshine in Northern Ireland! We've had lots of it this week! It's been so nice. The boys and i have been out side a lot this week and have really enjoyed it. It's not too hot or too cold, it feels just right to us!

On Wednesday the brother/sister duo Ruth and George came over for the afternoon. They drove all the way from the other side of Belfast to get here. I thought it was so nice of them to come all that way just for us.

When they arrived they handed a bag to Elijah and look what was in side!

A bow and arrows!

I'm writing this two days later and as i type Elijah is still shooting everything in sight. Yesterday he was stalking a poor unsuspecting cat that happened to wander through our garden while Elijah was on the hunt!

There were also two water guns in the bag which got put to good use that after noon too! You'll see those pictures later!

I hope George doesn't mind me using his pictures for this post! Almost all of these photos came from his beautiful brand new Nikon D700. They turned out waaay better than mine did since my camera settings were off and my photos turned out really dark or else really bright! Frustrating.

Check out his new web site...

http://www.gmcstudios.co.uk

and come back and tell me if you recognize anybody.

George is starting a photography business so he's the man to go to if you're in need of some beautiful portraits! Granted you have to be here in Northern Ireland too since he's based here in Belfast.
Our walk took us around Sketrick Island which is home to Sketrick Castle. What remains of the castle at least.

The path took us through some fields and we stopped to look at the cows and the pretty view of the water.


Ethan hung out in his new sling. Here he is drooling on my arm. Gotta love it.


Imagine our surprise as we walked by another field and what should trot over for some lovin' but these two long eared donkeys!


Elijah needed some persuading by Ruth that they weren't going to eat him, just the grass in his hand.


But once he saw they were safe he had fun feeding them the greener grass from the our side of the fence.
They weren't interested in the buttercups though.



Can i say "BRRR!" That water was cold!

But once you got in and your feet turned bright red and went numb it wasn't so bad. =)


Me thinking i'll stay warm and dry in the sun two minuets before i went in. Ethan snoozin'.

There were jelly fish in there!

Elijah climbing anything around like usual.


George is his buddy.


Yup, any one who will chase him around the garden with water guns is cool in Elijah's eyes!

Thanks again George and Ruth for coming to visit! And for letting me use your photos!

Don't forget to come back and tell me who you know on Georges photography web site!