Our Christmas Day

Here is a re-cap of our Christmas Day...

First, I woke up and came down stairs to find this!!

A Land Rover bike from my incredible husband! He said that now I will be the envy of all the farmers because Land Rover's are THE vehicle for farmers around here it seems. I just think it is a wonderful and thoughtful gift to a girl who can't drive yet and has no car. I feel a little guilty that he has given me so much! *sigh* He is so wonderful!

Our next Christmas Day adventure brought us to Caldwell and Maryann's for Christmas dinner. It was so so so yummy! I am still full from it. So here is what we had:

Appetizer:

Red Lentil soup

Garlic bread

Main Course:

Oven Roasted Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Potatoes

Turkey gravy

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

Stuffing (two different kinds)

Cranberry Sauce

Broccoli Bake (I made that one!)

Sausages

Bread sauce (a new experience for me...very tasty!)

Beverage: Shloer (pronounced "sh-lur" and very refreshingly fruity)

Dessert:

Trifle & Plum Pudding

Then it was off to open presents! This was Lilia's first Christmas and she was full of wonder at all the excitement. What a little doll! I held her during the entire first round of gift opening and it was such a pleasure!

Sarah got a new bike too! We all pitched in towards it and she was very happy!

Reuben got a little go-cart from Sarah. 

I made a little quilt for Lilia and finished it on Christmas morning! (typical procrastinator...will I never learn!?)

My dear mother-in-law held it up so I could take a picture. This picture is for you Mom! At your request. :)

Paul and Karen and their sweet kiddos! Christmas is so much more fun when kids are about! 

I am very grateful for my new Irish family. I was rather overwhelmed with the "blues" of not being home this Christmas with my family back in Minnesota, but my new family is so wonderful that I just can't be sad for very long. Thanks guys, for making my first Christmas away from home such a special one!

A homemade Christmas!

I had so much fun making Christmas presents this year. Since I am at home during the day these days, I have had tons of time to do things that I always thought would be fun to do if I had the time. Here are some of my baking endeavors...

Christmas cookies!

I thinned down the frosting enough so that I could use a paintbrush (a brand new one, mind you) to spread the frosting...I felt like Picasso in a bakery. Well, okay, so they weren't that fancy, but it was delicious fun! We gave these little packages of cookies to all of David's music students.

Then, I was reading my cousin, Erica's blog, and was inspired to try her recipe for biscotti. It was so yummy! Thanks Erica!

We used these in a gift to my wonderful parents-in-law. We gave them each their own jar so they wouldn't fight! Just kidding, I really can't imagine them fighting actually. They are both too sweet.

So now, it is 1:32am and Christmas is officially over. It was a wonderful day and I will be sure to post pictures of it tomorrow. The day ended with the most amazing gift ever!! A conversation with my WHOLE family back in Bemidji on Skype. They sang us some Christmas songs and we got to see each and every precious face and send them our love. That was a perfect ending to a lovely first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. God is good!

An Irish Christmas III

Our lovely "Charlie Brown" tree! It is sitting on our coffee table so that you can see it out our front window. It is scraggly and has large gapping holes and kind of short and just perfect!

So here she is!!!

And now with the lights off! 

Ta Da!

Ahhh, I just love how the lights sparkle and I love squinting my eyes and making them all blur together. Does anybody else ever do that? Is that weird? Hmmm, maybe I should just keep some things to myself. 

So my first Christmas Eve away from my family has been bitter-sweet. I miss all the wonderful traditions of going over to Grandma's house and all the sweet kiddos around. But at the same time, I am exited to be building new memories and traditions with my wonderful husband and his family too. It is good to remember what all these celebrations are about...Jesus, and His great gift of love for us. He is a wonderful reason to celebrate!

An Irish Christmas II

Come on in...you are very welcome to our home! Very glad you could stop by! 

Happy Christmas Eve!

I found these cedar boughs and holly leaves up on Sollus and made a wee wreath for our door. It was fun to make and I just love jingly bells! Every time we open our door they seem to say, "Merry Christmas!" (I know, I know! I am really corny...I woke up in this mood and it is just not going away so read on at your own risk!)

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-laaaa, la-la-la-la!" 

(These are especially for you Karen!)

I caught David in the living room enjoying our lovely tree and cozied up with a book. I am sure he just loves it when I burst in on him and start taking pictures of his book and other random objects. He has the patience of Job, that man! 

And finally, one of my favorite ornaments...

This was a gift from the Beighley hunting crew ladies. I was incredibly touched by their thoughtfulness and I think it looks stunning on our tree! I will be sure to post a picture of our tree soon. I keep forgetting to do it at night when the lights show up best. So...more to come!! 

An Irish Christmas

Many people have been asking me what it is like to celebrate Christmas over here in Ireland, so I thought I would do a few posts to actually show you. This is what Ireland looks like at Christmas time...green, green, GREEN!!!

Our house is down there among all those other white ones. This hill that I have climbed is called Sollus, which means "light" and overlooks our valley.

On the road up, I felt as if I were walking in a beautiful green fairy land...

They say that you can see Scotland from the top. Can't say that I did but I guess I wouldn't really know if I had. Anyway, it certainly is a breathtaking view! 

AND!! you know that song..."the holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown..."? Well on Sollus, they grow together, intertwining themselves together. So lovely! 

So Merry Christmas everyone! 

From David and Melanie in Ireland

More Christmas posts to come!

Thanksgiving

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I just wanted to show you a few highlights from our Irish Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is NOT a holiday here, of course, but we celebrated anyway with me making my very first Thanksgiving meal. I was scared out of my wits and was praying that it would be edible. God is good and it turned out pretty good. 

Here is a picture of David's plate before the gravy was applied...

So...what am I most thankful for you ask? Well, I know it is hard for you to believe this, but I am so SO thankful for my wonderful handsome husband who I love more and more every day! So maybe that isn't a surprise to some of you but here is a slightly more random thing I am thankful for...

It has been frosty and cold in Ireland quite a bit this winter so far and most people are saying that it is the worst winter they have had in a long time. 

But secretly, deep in my heart, I am so very thankful for every bit of frosty whiteness that appears. It makes me feel more at home when everything is white during winter. It just seems right!

Having the clothes freeze to the clothesline was a bit weird though!

I seriously could have let the jeans stand up by themselves! It was so cool! (The neighbor's probably thought I was coo-coo parading through my backyard taking pictures of my clothes on the line but oh well.)

Karen's Visit!

In November, my cousin Karen came all the way to Ireland to visit us! I was so happy that she could come! It was a true blessing to have her here for two whole weeks. She is the kind of person that anyone would just love to have around because she is full of so much joy of the Lord and has a contagious excitement for life. I love you Karen!

We took some time and visited Dublin!

My favorite part of Dublin is St. Stephens Park, right in the middle of the city. There are fountains, ponds, wee bridges, and quiet benches to sit in and contemplate life or, as in our case, to rest our pooped out legs!

Karen also graced us with her cooking skills on several occasions and boy, did we reaped the benefits! It was oh-so-yummy! She is amazing.

Thanks for the wonderful time Karen! We miss you!

Climbing Muckish

David had a whole week of holiday from teaching at the end of October, so we made the most of it and went mountain climbing on Muckish! We took the "Miner's Path" and found it to be a wonderfully challenging adventure. It was a beautiful clear day too, so that made it even better! 

My fearless and handsome guide, who also carried the pack the whole way. What a man!

There is some fascinating history on this mountain. I guess back during World War II, this area was mined for the quartz sand, which they used to make binocular lenses.

See the sand! It is pure white and seems so out of place on the mountain.

Finally we reached the summit! Ahhhh....Look at that view!

So then we hunkered down in the rocks, away from the wind and cooked ourselves up some grub! Why is it that food tastes SO good when you first climb a mountain and then cook it over an open fire before eating it? Yum!

From the top of Muckish, we could see Errigal which is where David and I first climbed together on my first trip over to Ireland, one year and 4 months ago! Such beautiful memories!

Hiking in Ness Woods

I would like you to meet one of my new friends here in Ireland, Ramona. She also teaches violin and has the most wonderful personality. I so enjoying being with her and experiencing her joy for life! A few days after my birthday, she picked me up and we went for a lovely hike in Ness Woods, just outside of Derry. It was an enchanting walk through a stunning patch of Ireland!

She was trying to get her son, Xander, to look at me but he was far more interested in the stunning flora.

 

It was gorgeous!

Here is Xander, ignoring me again. I think he is really cute--like a model baby! 

It is hauntingly beautiful in there. All along the paths as you walk, you can hear water rushing, but you can't see it because the trees and plants grow so thick!

And it was...a very nice day! Thank you Ramona!

My birthday

For my birthday, my wonderful husband got to "scheming"...

...and came up with a wonderful plan for the day! We jumped in the car and took off for a delightful day in County Donegal! This is our favorite part of Ireland. 

As we were walking around this cute little fishing village, David spotted this restaurant called Mellys! So in we went and feasted on fish and chips! I will never forget it!

Next, we found ourselves on a beautiful beach with not a soul in sight and enjoyed the crashing waves and each other's company.

It was a wonderful birthday! I am most thankful for the gift of this wonderful man in my life! God is so good to me!

Summer Update: Mom & Dad's visit

One thing that greatly eased the pain of saying goodbye to everyone back home was knowing that my parents were going to come over soon after settling into our new home. There was an Irish wedding reception held for David and I at the beginning of September for all his family and friends to attend. My parents were able to fly over and be here for that! I was so happy that they could come! (I don't have any pictures of the actual reception though...so sorry!)

I love you Dad and Mom!

We also had this couple, Graham & Cassie from Wales, come over and stay with us for the reception as well. We had some great time playing music together!

Caldwell and Maryanne took us all to see the Giant's Causeway. Dad and I climbed up on the fascinating rock formations.

(Classic Dad pose! We have pictures of him doing this over many a cliff and precarious point!)

Then we went to the Glenveagh Castle and boy, was it beautiful there. Mom and I explored some of the gardens and I just couldn't take enough pictures! It was such an enchanting place.

And THEN, we celebrated two very milestone birthdays! Dad and Maryanne were both celebrating their 60th birthdays! (By the way, we had a much nicer desert than those dinky little cream puffs...! That was just for the candles.) :) 

All too soon it was time for them to head back home. I was so happy that they were here though and could see were we live and meet the people that are so much a part of my life now. I am looking forward to the next visit!

Summer Update: Holland!

After our week of VBS, it was time to say goodbye to my family and friends. It was a bitter-sweet time. I was so excited to be married and going to live in a new and beautiful country with my husband and yet, I was sad to have to leave behind so many that I love dearly. It is good to know that you are in Gods will though, over wise it would be unbearable! So we packed our bags and headed for our new home....

We had a short one-day stay over in Ireland before heading off once again. This time we went to Holland for two weeks. David was playing with the worship team for the big Operation Mobilization conference. There were many new missionary families and individuals there getting training before heading off into their field of service for the next two years or so. It was a very exciting atmosphere. Holland was beautiful!

David and I were recruited as mock airport personal during a training day. 

There were so many different cultures represented. I was fascinated by it all!

I spent most of my days working in the "creche" (nursery). Most of the kids spoke two or three languages. I was completely impressed and felt a little bad that I have barely mastered one. It was good fun though, trying to communicate with each other! 

We were able to do a bit of exploring and found some friendly cows.

Everyone in Holland rides bikes it seems so we just had to find some ourselves and try to look as "native" as possible. Only problem was, our bikes were ancient and make squeaky sounds as we went along. Oh well, it was still fun.

We biked to this little town and rested near a lovely canal. The sun was shining and there was a group of old men near us chattering away in Dutch. Then the bells went off and started playing a hymn!...I was charmed and completely amazed by the beauty of God's diverse creation. Gorgeous! 

Summer Update: VBS

My last week as Children's Ministry Coordinator at the Covenant Church found me deep into VBS. Our theme was Jerusalem Marketplace and it was so much fun! Thankfully, I had a TON of help since I was on my honeymoon the week before it. Here is a little taste of our week...

Everyone dressed in Bible days costume. Here we are...the VERY newly married Mr. and Mrs.!

David was the rabbi! And the kids LOVED him! I think they thought that all rabbis must have Irish accents!

Here is adorable little Elijah, enjoying the marketplace!

Whole families took part in this VBS which made it very unique. Moms, dads, grandpas, and grandmas were all there taking part. Here is Alisa with her boys.

Paying good attention in school with Rabbi David!

Elianna is practicing her Hebrew letters on her clay tablet!

We even had real animals! It was the most fun I have ever had at a VBS! Thanks to everyone who helped out and pitched in to make it possible. I don't think any of us will soon be forgetting what it may have been like when Jesus walked this earth.