March 18th

Happy U.K. Mothering Day!

Poulnabrone Portal Tomb - Carbon dated around 3000 B.C.!!!

The Cliffs of Moher

12th Century Abbey across the lake from our B&B

Blarney Castle

Ballyseede Castle

The green here is indescribable!

A bunch of good ol' seniors

Thirteenth Century Claregalway Franciscan Friary

Bunratty Castle

Hmmmm. So many photos! Which ones to share?

We had some young friends visit us last weekend. A childhood friend of Jana's, Brittany Volquardsen from Humble, Texas and her friend Sally from England flew over for the weekend. They are both attending school in Aberystwyth, Wales. We took them to some of the spots that we love here in Northern Ireland. They got to enjoy our YSA at an activity, the Giant's Causeway, lunch at a quaint place in Ballintoy Harbour at White Park Bay, the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, then over to Boojum, our favorite Mexican Big Burrito place. Took them to a branch conference in Antrim. We had a good time and hope they will come back and visit us again soon!

Adam got introduced to Eve this week. He's an investigator and she's one of our YSAs. Just thought that was kind of a fun thing. Wonder how many Adams are married to Eves in this day and age? (Just a random thought.)

We had an added bonus this week of getting to go on a Senior Couples Retreat to the Republic. We drove south to the Bunratty Castle. It has a pretty amazing history. (I suggest you Google it.) The first dwellings to occupy the site, in 970 A.D. were part of a Viking trading camp. Many sieges. . . The present structure was completed by the MacNamara family around 1425. The castle is now famous for its medieval banquets (where you have to eat your meal with only your hands and a sharp knife.) We enjoyed music along with our meal by the "Bunratty Castle Entertainers". We drove down and toured the Dingle Peninsula. Stopped many times to take amazing photos of the incredible scenery. Drove onto and wandered around Inch Beach. I have never been to a beach that has such a gradual walk to the water when the tide is out. We had fun collecting shells. Went to the Ballyseede Castle, built in 1821. It is used today as a hotel and first class restaurant. We went on to County Cork and the Blarney Castle. I was the only one of our group sucker enough to be talked into kissing the Blarney Stone, not an easy feat seeing as you have to be held upside down to accomplish this. Kissing the Blarney Stone is said to "bring about a charm on the kisser, a gift of tongues to spin tales and songs to mesmerize others." Who couldn't use a bit of that? ;) Can't see coming all this way and let that opportunity pass me by! Our last night we stayed at the Lakeside Country Lodge outside of Ennis. Great place with a scenic view of a 12th century abbey across a lake. We then headed to the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. They rise up 702 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Pretty spectacular. The weather wasn't exactly clear, but at least it wasn't too windy or rainy. We ended the tour by stopping by the Poulnabrone Burial Tomb, carbon dated at 3000 B.C. Yep, that's old!!! How in the world did they stack those rock slabs!?!

Some excitement. We were called by one of the YSA that had just left the Centre after an activity who had seen a man laying by the side of the road. Several more of us came to the scene. He was in his early 20's. He was just laying there. He had a little trickle of blood going down the side of his face. I thought he might have been shot. (Not exactly uncommon in a city.) At first it didn't look like he was breathing, but then thankfully we could see that he was. Elder Blick called the police. The man started to move, then got up. We tried to keep him there with us. He was really hard to understand. VERY DRUNK!!! He kept trying to get away. Acted a little embarrassed. When our backs were turned for a brief second, he started quickly walking away. Elder Blick called after him to wait, but he just kept walking rapidly and weaving a lot down Ormeau Road. One of the girls with us was really panicked about letting him go. I was worried too, thinking he could easily stagger out into the road and get hit by a car. So she and her boyfriend tried to follow him, but he lost them. He had just that much of a head start. The ambulance finally came on the scene and Elder Blick talked to them. They went on down the road trying to find him with no success. I hope he was able to find his way home. It wasn't exactly a warm night. 5 Celsius (41 degrees.) But it's out of our hands. Have I mentioned that I hate alcohol and what it does to people?

How was St. Patrick's Day from the land where it all began you ask? Well, we were good little obedient missionaries and avoided crowds like our mission president asked us to. The only thing we did besides go for a wee dander (that means walk, if you remember from a past blog where I told you what dander meant) was write in our journals, work on the blog, study, prepare a talk and study some more. There can be sectarian violence around here on holidays, so we were asked not to take any chances. So we can't really tell you how St.Paddy's Day is celebrated here. We've heard from the locals that it's celebrated more in the US than here.

We celebrated "Mothering Day" yesterday by speaking in church. We're two months ahead of you, our dear US friends.

Such a fun and eventful week.

We love and miss you!

Until next time.

Mum B.

fringe - bangs

queue (pronounced Q) - line "The queue forms here."

dear - expensive