Monday, December 27, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas to Ewe!

...from Ireland with love!

Photos taken on our frosty Christmas Eve walk today!
So beautiful outside, but sooooo cold!! I have to say though, it's perfect weather for Christmas!
Merry Christmas
From the Darraghs!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

We have had several snow falls this year in Northern Ireland already and I love it. It reminds me so much of Minnesota, where I spent the first 29 winters of my life buried in snow from November until March every year! Although, Minnesota is suffering under -25 F temps lately (that's minus -31 celsius!) and I have to say I don't really miss that too much.

Mariah was in awe of all the white stuff!


Here is our house, sitting cozy in the pretty snow!


"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Psalm 51:7

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater."
Isaiah 55:10



Thursday, December 16, 2010

Friends

A little rugby baby!
The neighbor boys thought that Mariah should try on their rugby helmet. She looks like she could play the prop forward position for the team and take out the boys! Oh goodness, I hope she doesn't ever get that into her head as an idea.

We were HUGELY blessed by our friends with this early baby gift...a tandem stroller! Mariah and Christopher (his parents are the ones who gave us the gift) had to try it out one Sunday afternoon.

And here are a few pictures of Asher and Mariah, hamming it up!
Isn't he just the most precious thing?!
We are so thankful for friends like Andy and Laura. They are such an encouragement to us in our Christian walk and in things like parenting too. I really appreciate watching Laura as a mommy because she is really good at it and I learn a lot! Our kiddos are only a few months apart, so I think they enjoy each other's company too...


Thursday, December 09, 2010

Already in Daddy's wallet!

These were taken back in September...I'm a bit behind!

Mariah managed to get a hold of David's wallet and so I grabbed the camera being curious as to what she would do with it...



Straight to the cash! What a girl!

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Monday, November 01, 2010

Mariah's Birthday Party

I have been a VERY BAD GIRL and neglected this poor little blog for months now. I sort of feel guilty and sort of don't. I have been doing other things like being a mommy and trying to get at least one load of dishes done every day. You would think it wouldn't be that hard, but I seem to struggle at it somedays. David also insists that I take a nap every day when Mariah does, and I don't protest too much. He is so good to me! This pregnancy is going great and I feel really good. I will post a belly picture one of these days, but for now here is a little "catch-up on a few older photos...

I was attempting to load a little birthday video clip, but, alas, it won't work, so here are a few more pictures instead.

An attempt at a "kids picture"!

Rhiannon and Reuben put on a little play for us all after our dinner. It was adorable!

Mariah got a gigantic card from her Nanna and Grandad, which she played with for ages afterwards.
And to finish off, Mariah had her very first sleepover with her cousins! They are such great kids and I am so glad Mariah has them for cousins...she is a blessed little girl!

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Mariah turns ONE!


One year ago today, a sweet little blessing was placed into our arms and we began the amazing journey of parenthood. Every day, I thank the Lord for our beautiful little girl and the joy that she bring to our lives.

Here are a few of the results from our little "photo shoot" in honor of this special day...







"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."
Psalm 127:3-5

Happy Birthday, sweet Mariah! We love you!

Minnesota Summer: Part one

On the airplane...dicovering the joys of flying with a small child. She was actually very good, just extremely wiggly and constantly in motion! On the way home, she slept a lot and we really enjoyed that!


Our first stop was the 2010 Berge Family Reunion! Mariah got to meet over 100 Berge relatives!
Uncle Matt was among her favorites...


So many new cousins and wonderful to see the old ones as well. (I'm not implying that either of you are "old"...Karen and Kaye! You certainly aren't that!)

My sister Mindy is so beautiful, inside and out. You would never know that she was 7 months pregnant here, would you?

David was blessed with loads of opportunities to go fishing! There are such gorgeous lakes there and beautiful weather as well. Most days it was very warm and balmy.

Volleyball!

Here's our whole crew! What an amazing blessing it is to have such a wonderful family.

And after counting up, we realized that around 15 babies had been born since the last reunion (just two years ago)! So we gathered them all together for a picture...the Berge family lives on!!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

A Pirate Princess


My nephew, Reuben, celebrated his birthday a week ago with a costume party (or as they say here "fancy dress" party). Sarah and I went as a cowgirls and Mariah went as a pirate princess. Turns out, the adults weren't supposed to dress up. Oops...(cricket's chirping, awkwardness, etc) But oh well, the kids thought that we were hilarious, so that's good, I guess.

We decided sort of last minute to go, so I was desperately scrounging up this outfit for Mariah. I have to admit, though, that it was rather fun to do. I started with the stripy tights and the red head scarf and went from there. The white jaggy under skirt was from an old tank top that I was going to throw away. I cut up the bottom to make it look pirate-y and ragged. They belt is an old broken one of mine that I had saved (thank you grandma for teaching me to save everything in case I "might need it someday" and yes, I wash plastic "CoolWhip" containers). Anyway, back to the belt...I poked a new hole in it and cut it to fit her pudgy little middle.
The vest is cut from some scrap material and ironed to look like it has a collar. The whole thing required no sewing at all. It's amazing what you can throw together from stuff around the house. I totally thought this was fun...Mariah was wonderfully tolerant of it all.
Such a darling pirate princess. Love her to pieces!
Argh!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Beautiful Ireland

As we were driving home one evening and crested a hill, this was our view and it took my breath away. My photography skills are lacking and I could have been doing with a tripod in such low light, but you can get a bit of an idea anyway.

See that flat-topped mountain? That is Muckish. We climbed that together last year and one of those peaky mountains is Errigal which David and I climbed as our first outing together back in 2007!


Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Father's Day


On Father's Day we packed a little picnic lunch and headed down to the beach after church. It was a little windy, but warm and sunny. Just perfect!


I am so thankful for David and the wonderful daddy that he is to Mariah. He loves her so much and she definitely loves him too...just one look at her face when she sees him walk in the door says it loud and clear!






"...the glory of children is their fathers."
Prov 17:6

Thursday, June 17, 2010

All about weddings!

Two of David's friends have gotten married in the last month and thus I have found out that Irish weddings are lots of fun, but VERY long! The actual ceremony is pretty short and sweet, but then there is the picture taking and that usually takes several hours. (It's no big deal if you are close enough to go home, but if you have to wait around...it gets a bit long.) Then there is the meal which is usually very welcomed by that point.

It's all very Biblical really. Remember the story of the 10 virgins that fell asleep waiting for the bridal party to arrive? I can totally relate now!

Here are some photos of the first wedding we went to in May:

The Bride and Groom

Paul and Karen.
Paul was best man and did an excellent job on his speech!

My beautiful sister-in-law!

This was the menu! Yummy!

Trying to get Mariah to look at the camera!

Success at last!
Mariah is wearing the dress that my Mom made her. She got loads of comments on it! Thank you Mom!!

Here is Maryann with Mariah


Our friends, Brian and Tracie, also recently got married. Their wedding was beautiful and so much fun. They had a caleigh dance at their reception and I managed to capture a bit of it on video for you.


So that's a wee taste of an Irish wedding or two for you! Celebrating marriage is always wonderful.