Random Recap of 2009

I am making myself go to bed before midnight (is my goal) so with 10 minutes to spare I am going to try to post the fastest recap of the year! It is one year ago today that our flight took off from Ireland. I remember calling my Grandmother from the airport to tell her I love her. With her being 92 that this might be the last time I am able to communicate with her while she is alive while on this continent. That proved to be true, because in March 2009 she passed away. What a blessing it was to knowingly say our goodbyes and while she was in good health.



We left with just our suitcases. We were organizing and repacking up until the last 30 minutes before we left. It was simply too expensive to take the things we planned to take in order to make our new home, HOME. So we took what we could.



It does not seem like a lot but the Lord had been really working on us especially the past couple weeks in showing us the difference between needs and wants.


I have to say, sitting here a year later we have all we need and more than we deserve (which is nothing-we deserve). We look around and are so blessed and cannot imagine that we moved here a year ago.

January: We arrived and looked for housing while staying at Leena and Mary's house (they were gracious to be bombarded by a family of four). We went to Mosbach, Germany for orientation and training with Operation Mobilization. We came back and got settled into our cottage at Portrunny in County Roscommon (in the midlands of Ireland).

February: We found out our family of 4 was going to be a family of 5. I think I skipped culture shock and just plain was in shock!!!! Connect Youth Event at Kilkenny College.

March: Started going to a local Moms and Tots group and meeting other moms in the community. Ludie gets involved with the Big Red Bus Outreach on Sundays at a local Mall.

April:FCA Golf Camp at Glasson with Anders Forsbrand (Ryder Cup Champion). Went up to Ballina, County Mayo to help with a youth outreach event.

May: Ludie shares his testimony in a church in Belfast. Get to ride the Logos Hope from Belfast to Dublin and stay on it a couple nights. Al McMillan from FBCW Missions Department and Steve Hyland, our SMP leader come for a vision trip.

June: Griffin starts soccer. Doing homeschool through the summer so we can take our summer break when the baby arrives. Logos Hope arrives in Cork. Ludie does evangelism training on it. Impact Ireland. Griffin goes to Art Camp at our local church.

July: Griffin goes to VBS. Impact Ireland lasts through until July 21st. Cross walk from Cork to Rahara Ireland, many lives touched by the message of the cross. Ludie joins the Core Leadership team for OM Ireland.

August:Immersion Ireland team arrives

September: Immersion Ireland Team

October: Immersion Ireland Team goes to their assigned locations throughout Ireland. Emily Grace born!!! Mom and Dad visit.

November: Ludie goes to Germany for OM leaders conference. God is working on his heart regarding evangelism.

December:Immersion Ireland team finishes their first semester! Much needed and enjoyed family break!

Well that is a fast recap that will be edited later but the kids have been sick this week and there is a lot to be done around the house tomorrow. I don't want to miss my time with God tomorrow before the house wakes up because I stayed up too late. Not because I am that "spiritual" but because I am NOT that "spiritual" and need the Lord's hand on my life more than ever!!!!

Catching Up with Pictures

Griffin and Ruth Anne snuggling watching a video on the computer.








Griffin is helping me now with the cooking. He loves to chop the vegetables (as inspired by the soup making in the movie: Desperaux. Ruthie loves to "shake shake" the spices and "stir stir stir"



We watched the Macy's Parade on live feed on the computer.









Thanksgiving dinner with the OM Ireland Team at the Bryants House









All the babies and mamas. Thank God the babies are finally here and all safe and healthy!








Ruthie helped me make an apple pie. All the flour was dumped out while I had my back turned. Luckily it landed on the table and not the floor!!!










We had the most rain that Ireland has seen in 1000 years. The flood waters were rising while Ludie was in Germany. Thank God for good neighbors (Dax and Sarah) that filled up the car with gas for me in case we needed to evacuate and did some grocery shopping so I did not have to take the kids out in the flood waters (Emily was 3 weeks old then). I was so thankful when Ludie got home. The water got up to one sheep pasture away from us from the bay off of Lough Ree-it is usually 3 sheep pastures away.






Griffin is the first to read the Bible to Ruthie. He read the story of Sampson to her. He is such a great big brother.










Thank God for a dog. He may leave a lot of hair all over the place, but he does clean up good after Ruthie. I was in the kitchen when I heard the box of cereal hit the floor.










Brazillian BBQ and great friends. What more could you ask?

More pictures to come but the function key is not working at the moment!

Cultural Differences-the birth of Emily

Emily Grace is here! She was born on the 23rd of October at 11:10 am. She is 7 lbs 13 oz and 56 cm long! She is healthy and a very content baby girl!

I have had a lot of people ask me what the differences were in delivering here vs. the US. Well I will tell you our delivery story and you can see for yourself.

The contractions started at 4:30 am. I was awakened by the first contraction and knew by the horse kick in the belly that this was the day! So I went back to sleep and slept between contractions until they were about 15 minutes apart. We then got up around 7 am to get ready to go to the hospital. By the time we left for the hospital at 8 am the contractions were 5 minutes apart. It is a 40 minute drive to the hospital. We passed 3 tractors on the way. We even parked the car and walked instead of having Ludie drop me off at the door so that my contractions would keep on. I did not want them to stop and have to go back home.

In Ireland they give you a card that tracks your doctor (general practitioner) and hospital visit summary. We went to the labor ward, told them I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart (which were getting pretty painful by then), and told them of my history of fast labors with the previous 2 children, and gave them my card that had my info and medical record information. The hospital and doctors keep everything on a computer system where they can look up each other's notes, test results etc very easily. A system I have been very impressed with. They hooked me up to the monitors to check the baby's heartbeat and monitor the contractions. Then checked me and I was 5 cm dilated. (My first pelvic exam of the entire pregnancy). They told me I could walk the halls if I wanted to. I thought we were gone for longer but Ludie says it was only 15-20 minutes at the most that we walked the halls. When we came back I was 9 cm. Ludie was joking with me at 10:45 am asking me when I thought we would have the baby by. I said 11:15 am. He said 10:47 am. Then a HARD contraction came that made me yell out. The midwife quickly got out all the supplies needed. She just sat down at the end of the bed like she was my best friend and we talked for a bit between contractions. She told me when I was at 10 cm and then said it was time to push.I think in about 3 contractions Emily was born. Thank God because those 3 were not fun. They had gas and air hooked up for me to breathe in if I wanted pain relief. I did that about 3 times but it just made me feel funny and did not help so much with pain. They do offer epidurals and other pain relief options but I would just rather get it over with without dealing with the drug side effects.

I really loved the nurse midwife. It was calming to have her there and she was so sweet and calm. I told her if I am in any other country that if I ever were pregnant again I would come back to Ireland to have the baby. When Emily was born they wiped her off quickly and handed her to me to hold skin to skin. That was the first time that has happened. Usually they hand the baby to you but you have clothes between you or the baby is wrapped in a cloth. I was able to hold Emily and put the sheet over her and she did not cry one second once I held her and just got to hold her for about 20 minutes. Then they took her to weigh her while I got sutures. That was just so amazing!!!!

After some sutures from a doctor that talked too much, they put me in a wheel chair and took me to my room. There were 3 beds. One was filled with a lady that had been in labor since 10 pm the night before. I got in bed. The babies get to stay in the room with us, and husbands can stay during visiting hours unless you are in labor. They bring you tea and toast (pot of tea, toast with butter and jam, and yogurt) after you deliver. Ludie went to the local convenient store and got us some cajun chicken sandwich baguettes (it is like a little subway at the convenient stores where you can get sandwiches). So he came back with that. I ate half and saved the rest for the middle of the night.

Ludie brought the kids and my parents up to visit that night.They got there at 8pm. I did not see a nurse but once since I left labor and delivery. She stopped by to ask if I needed pain medication or not. I guess since I did not then there wasn't really anything else that was needed. They come if you need help and call them with the nurse button, but other than that, you just rest and enjoy your baby. They don't even check on the baby. If you think the baby needs anything or have a question you just ask, but other than that you are left to rest! The bathroom was across the hall and you just wheel the baby with you in their little cart to the restroom that has a bath (some have showers). Still the baby has not been bathed. That is not done until the next day so that the baby is not chilled and also is able to absorb some of the vernix (to protect it's skin). Something I was glad I knew before then.

I don't think my nurse call button worked so I walked down the hall to ask if I could be released the next day and they said yes as long as the pediatrician approved Emily to go home. So I ate dinner. Got to visit with the kids and my parents and then slept in 15 minute intervals the rest of the night. My poor roommate was in labor and Emily would not sleep in the crib so I held her and dozed. I am sure we were both a little more alert because of the tea that was brought with supper and at 10pm they brought tea and cake. Each pot of tea makes 3 cups of tea. I came home addicted to tea and toast with butter and jam. I love it and still crave it!

I went down the hall around 11 pm and got some Paracetamol (like Tylenol)from the nurses and they gave me another dose to take with me to take during the middle of the night. Then in the morning they brought breakfast. I then asked if a nurse could help me give Emily a bath and they did. The pediatrician came by to check Ruthie. And they said that if I felt I needed to see an OB I could but otherwise I was released to go when I wanted. I said no that I was fine. Ludie came and picked me up and brought the best Papa John's pizza I ever had. We ate it packed the bags. Turned in a form to register the birth. Got the baby's security tag deactivated and removed and went home!!!! No sign your life away in blood, waiting 5 hours to be released, just go walk out of the hospital and go home! Wow how different, but I really liked that part!

I did have to go to the doctor Sunday because of a lump in my leg that I was scared might be a blood clot. It was not. The doctor did not charge us for coming in. She checked it and it seems that it is just an inflammation of one of my varicose veins. Thank God! So we were able to stay home and not have to go back into the hospital on Griffin's 7th birthday! I am so thankful!

Today, a home health nurse came by to check on Emily and myself. It is so nice not to have to go to the doctor's office with all the sick people coming in too, and wait to see a doctor. She just came to the house and examined the two of us and did the heal prick genetic blood test on Emily. I love that aspect too. She will be back in a couple days.

I loved my experience but was thankful I was prepared by one of my American friends that just went through the experience herself. If I had not known what to expect I would have been on edge but was rather able to enjoy it.

May I also say that God's timing was just awesome! My parents arrived Thursday morning and I went into labor Friday morning. It was such a blessing to have them here to look after the kids knowing that they came for that reason. I could relax knowing that. They have been such a blessing along with Ludie taking care of the kids, doing the laundry and working to get it dry despite the rain. Ludie has been working around the house like crazy and has been just a strength through all this. I was able to come home the next day and on Sunday celebrate Griffin's birthday with him.

One thing that was very different for me through this was the antenatal care. You rotate your doc appts between the GP (general practitioner) and the hospital where you go to see the OB. I love the GP appts because they are close by and quick and usually more thorough. When you visit the hospital it is on a designated day for the antenatal clinic where you and 70 other women are all seen within a 4 hour period. You wait for 45 minutes to an hour. They call you in groups of 5 to go and sit in a hall. Then you get called in 1 by 1 to get your blood pressure and weight checked, and turn in your urine specimen. Then you go back out to the waiting room. Wait 45 minutes to another hour and then go in to see the OB. They ask you some questions. Do an ultrasound showing you the heartbeat. Then the visit is over with. So all in all between the waiting and the driving there and back you are gone about 5 hours so it really turns into an all day thing almost when you consider the work day and the time it takes for Ludie to get into work. That was an adjustment. But I have to say I am VERY thankful for the free care and good care I received. If it weren't for God using Pat (a midwife) to intervene and have my blood tested to find out I needed hormone replacement in the beginning, we would not likely be holding precious Emily today! I am so grateful to God for the pro-activeness of the Dr. Monahan, his staff and the midwives.

I am so thankful for the prayers of those that prayed for us during this time of cultural adjustment in moving to a new country and the pregnancy. There were many times I wondered how I could make it through this and the honest answer is I cannot and could not. It is only by the grace of God that we are here and so blessed today. I have learned to trust God in this. I have learned a lot about myself and where I need to be more cooperative with God in areas in my life (repent and trust Him). And there are just qualities about God that He has revealed through all of this. He has been faithful. He had held me together and carried me. He has surrounded me with people here and abroad that He has used to work in my life to grow and mature me and to intercede. I praise Him and give Him all the glory. Glory that only He deserves. And I thank Him for this perfect little precious gift that I never imagined I would be able to have. What a miracle our children are! Thank you God! Pictures coming soon.

A hard headed, slow reading woman.

Both kids are sick with fevers now. Griffin was doing better this morning but has lapsed a little.
I have been working on reading through the Bible. Before I sound super spiritual, I want you to know I started when Griffin was 3. He is about to turn 7. I would read some and do a Bible study, then read some more. But really this past year I just got hung up in Job. I prayed Ps 129 that God would search my heart and find any anxious way in me and help me to repent and turn it back to Him. Well. Let me say I ran from that book a little. I have a hard time wrapping my head around how God allowed Job to suffer those huge things. Well at the hospital today to visit the OB for a regular checkup (usually takes about 3 hours) I pulled out my Bible to read it. Low and behold I realized I only had 3 chapters of Job left. Well those effected me greatly! It put in perspective how powerful God is. How he truly is in control of everything. When I combine those facts with the facts of the Old Testament showing how long suffering He is towards us, and the facts of the New Testament of what lengths He goes to to save us eternally (which I take for granted often) and daily through circumstances I can do nothing but glorify Him. Did I freak out some yesterday? Yes. But not as much as before. I was quicker to see that my non-trust and worrying is a sin.

I have also come to realize (through the help of 2 wise, godly women) that when I do fret and have worry that I am concentrating on myself and not others around me and not on God. God will handle all our circumstances. We are where God placed us and I really need to sometimes get a reality grip that this is our life. This is not just the two years He sent us here. I have been thinking with the mentality that when we return, life is going to go back to normal. And if I were home I know that things would not be perfect but I have a tendency to think that way just because it is in my comfort zone. It has been such a burden lifted to just say, 'okay God, here we are. This is how life is. And there are people here to help us out when we need it. They have made that overwhelmingly clear. All I have to do is put aside my pride and ask them." So this is where I am. Growing. Sometimes willingly, sometimes reluctantly. I am thankful though for a God that loves us and is patient with us.

I have also learned that I should not expect earth to be heaven. Things are not perfect here so when they do get out of whack and bad things happen, I have to trust in Him who is really in control in all circumstances, the good and the bad.

Baby's Room

It has been about 1 1/2 weeks since Ludie asked me to go pick out paint so he could get the baby's room ready. I have not done so for various reasons. Mainly, energy level. By the time I do what needs to be done to keep the house running, the kids fed and clothed and homeschool, the day is over. Ludie has also been working late the majority of nights since then. In a couple weeks that should slow down some. I finally picked out he paint and the theme. I am modelling it after Marjolein Bastin's drawings from Nature's Sketchbook. I have some cards from here from Hallmark that I am going to frame. It also just happens that the bed in the baby's room has a duvet on it that already matches the picture.

I also want to have Ludie make some grapevine wreathes and then I'll decorate them to go with the theme of the room with feathers, birds nests and eggs. However I don't know where to get that kind of stuff but I am sure it will turn up. I got this idea from Rebekah Gregg's blog and The Nester's blog (both on my blog roll). Here are some pics of what Rebekah did which were very inspiring. I love doing this because I think I can do this for a small dime and I have wanted to use these colors for decorating for years!

Don't let the blue fool you. We also have Ruthie's pink stroller the baby will use. We have no idea if the baby will be a boy or girl so go figure! We'll just have to wait 4 more weeks, Lord willing and see!

A Simple but Wonderful Day

Whew what a day! We had a great day but a busy day. It was Ludie's 39th birthday today.

It started out with getting the kids and myself ready to go to the store to buy some lemon extract for the pound cake I have never made before (or any cake for that matter from scratch and not a box), Last week there was lemon extract at the store. This week there was not. So then we finally left the store and got home to have 1 hour to mix up a cake that needed 1 hour of baking time and then leave to go meet Ludie for lunch. Impossible you say? I was only 15 minutes late. I had a brain bubble and had to call my sister to ask her how many cups of butter was one stick of butter when I should have asked how many oz? So then I just guestimated and put it in, but it was too cold so I used the blender to chop up the butter and then finally got the other ingredients added in. I cut the recipe in half because my pan is a lot smaller than my mom's and the cake would have overflowed. I knew that did not mean cut the cooking time in half but we also have a convection oven which cuts off baking time so go figure how long the cake should stay in. ....why do I try to do things like this under a time crunch or when we have other people over usually? Maybe I am just daring...or stupid. Don't say a thing!

So anyway the cake got baked! It did not fall. The outside was crusty but the inside was moist. We were only 15 minutes late for lunch at Ludie's work. We were just in time to serve dessert though. Griffin decorated the cake. I left the lemon glaze at home so Mary improvised and saved the day with custard she found in the fridge and lemon marmalade she mixed with custard and heated up in the microwave. I never would have thought of that. I am so thankful because the cake really needed that. BTW Catherine, I will replace your custard and marmalade this week.

Then we got home and Ludie's favorite dessert is pumpkin pie...cold pumpkin pie. Well I have yet to find a frozen pie crust in Ireland, or graham crackers. I made my own pie crust and realized I have no pie plates so I put them in cake pans and made the pie. Then cleaned up a little bit, played with the kids between all of this and then we had some friends over that cooked supper.

Ming Yu, MiAe, and Jen He are all from South Korea. They made "firemeat". It is steak sliced up and cooked with soysauce, garlic, pears and sugar. It is sweet and so good. I have never seen Griffin get seconds with an Asian dish but he did tonight!!! However I did not know we needed rice, I thought noodles would be okay. So I had to make a quick run to the store and get some rice. I have never driven so fast down the bog road as I did that night. However, I did find Doritos and had not had that since we came here 9 months ago so I snagged a bag of that (bonus!) Our Korean friends broke cultural tradition to leave the rest of the team and come celebrate Ludie's birthday and have dinner with us. I am so thankful they did that even though I know that was very uncomfortable for them. I am so grateful for them making such an effort. Ming Yu prayed the blessing in Korean and I don't know half of what he said but I have never heard or felt passion in prayer like that in a long time from all 3 of our friends. They are true prayer warriors. They are usually put in an English "world" and to hear them (my eyes were closed) praying to their Abba Father on our behalf as a family was amazing!

The night wsa topped off by gifts we had bought for his birthday, including an Elvis coffee mug and Shawshank Redemption DVD (one of his favorite movies). We also got to talk to Aunt Lissie back home, Ludie's family that skyped and sang "Happy Birthday" and also to his crazy brother, Marty. Marty even recorded a video of his students celebrating Ludie's birthday and sent it to him.

That night when we were getting ready for bed, he told me it was his best birthday ever. I cannot imagine how something so simple could have that much of an effect but he seemed honest!

Wow! I am amazed at how full a day can get with such simple things as baking that can take all day. I was in so much pain by bedtime from going and going all day but it was worth it. Happy Birthday baby. I am glad it was a special day for you. You do such a great job the other 364 days making sure we have great days and taking care of us. We love you and look forwards to many more years.

Random pics

Just wanted to post these pics. I forgot to tell you that we had an OM ladies brunch at our house a couple of weeks ago. Ludie was out of town so I thought that was the perfect time for a ladies event. Here are some pics from that. Aster and Sarah just had their babies within this past week. I am the only one left. I am excited but still in denial. I am excited about having another baby and always wanted 5, but am amazed because for a long time we did not think we would have one.

Oh and this last picture is of Hunter, our new dog. I blogged about him earlier but got a better pic of him so I thought I would post it for you dog lovers.

Record entries in one day!

Just note that I added 3 posts today. I did them separately by subjects in case you did not have time to read one long one you could pick and chose what you want to read. Enjoy!

Learning to Knit in Ireland

I went to my first Ladie's Bible Study at our church fellowship. I was the only one there with kids this time. (I pray that we are not a disruption). This is my first time going because Ruthie's nap schedule has changed, allowing me more flexibility in the morning time. The group gets together at 10:30 am. Well the posted time is 10:30 am but because we are in Ireland and things are more flexible here, as I was getting ready to leave at 11 am from the church because no one was there, everyone walks in. Note to self: I will do errands first next time and then come at 11 am. Mary, who is the neatest and one of my most favorite people in Ireland makes the tea and brings in the cart with biscuits (she is in the second picture). We hang out a bit and chat. Then the ladies pull out the knitting supplies. While the ladies knit, Carol reads to us. Each week she is reading a chapter from Elizabeth George's A Woman After God's Own Heart. I am so excited because I love that book. Jeannine Kennedy lead our Sunday School class in that study over six years ago. It was a life changing book for me and I am sure will be so again as I will glean probably different parts that I missed before.

I love hearing Carol read. (the lady in the top picture) I told her I could just tape her and send home the tape and have people listening to it over and over again just to hear her accent. The ladies are teaching me how to knit. They tried today but I was so brain dead I could not wrap my head around it. We are doing baby hats and it was a pattern they were doing instead of a standard stitch (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it), so next week they are going to just teach me the standard stitch and then let me do a scarf. I am so excited about learning to knit in Ireland. How cool is that for bragging rights?

It is amazing to get to know these women and their lives and how God has worked in their lives. It reminds me of what Pastor Bobby from Lifesong Las Vegas said one time: When you grow up in the Bible Belt in America, everyone knows the standard answers but when you have Christ work in your life in a place like Las Vegas, where the answers are not standard, the power of a changed life through a personal relationship with Christ is undeniable. The stories I have learned and more I cannot wait to learn and someday tell you are amazing!!!!

Maternity care in Ireland

I cannot remember if I mentioned it in a previous post but am too tired to look, I can barely focus on the screen right now, BUT our new neighbors are Dax and Sarah Bryant, OM Ireland team members from Las Vegas. Well Sarah is the 2nd of the 4 of us pregnant OM'ers on the team to have a baby. She has had so many contractions that I am just glad for her sake the baby is finally here. I always joke that I think that God's way of not letting us not be scared about what we are about to go through is by allowing us to be so miserable by the 9th month we could care less if the baby came out of our nose! Well we finally got the call at 2:52 am Friday night. Sarah was in labor and so Ludie went to their house to watch the boys. Sarah and Dax left the house at 3 am to go to the hospital. The hospital is 40 minutes away, but they made it in 30! (Go Dax!). Then we got a text at 4;25 te baby had been born at 4:05 am! ....25 minutes after they got to the hospital. I am telling this only because I am so amazed. The husbands can be in the hospital during delivery but they cannot stay the night and have to come during visitor hours after the baby is born. At 6 am, Ludie came back in. I ran to the door asking who was watching the boys, he said that Dax was home. (The fastest hospital trip ever!!!!) I think that should go in some Guiness book of world records.

For the Americans reading this there are many similarities and differences in having a baby in Ireland. I am sure I can tell you more when I have our baby, Lord willing, only 5 more weeks of baking time to go. Let me start off by saying we are GRATEFUL for the health care in Ireland and because of the pro-activeness in the beginning of this pregnancy of the medical professionals, I was able to receive the diagnosis and hormones needed to sustain this pregnancy, all praise to God!

First of all, there is no "pelvic exams" until you are in labor unless there is something wrong that needs to be checked and even then they may not do a pelvic exam. Ultrasounds are at every hospital visit, but it is a quick check. (Here is the baby, here is the heartbeat.) You rotate every other check with your General Practitioner and the hospital. At the hospital the Ob's check you out but the nurse midwives are the ones that deliver the babies, and if there is complications, the pediatrician comes in. Afterwards, the baby is well checked on and you can get checked if you need to or suspect any problems.

For your first child you can stay in the hospital with a normal delivery up to 5 days, for additional children only up to 3 but can leave within 24 hours if you so choose and are okay, as well as the baby.

The nurses wipe the baby off when it is born but it is up to you to give it a bath and fully clean the baby. It is also highly recommended that alcohol swabs are not used on the umbilical cord area, nothing is to be used. You do get tea and biscuits (cookies) for a snack in the evening (yeah!).

I have started showing some signs that this pregnancy is getting closer to the due date. I cannot be up for too long periods of time because of my varicose veins. Ouch! I feel so sorry for the kids because I don't feel like they are getting all the attention I would love to shower them with, but they are doing well and are playing well together.

Ireland Immersion Team is Here

The Ireland Immersion team has arrived! This is what the FBCW people would call the GAP students, students that have come over here for a college school year term to be Immersed in to the Irish culture. Their time here starts off in classes taught by local pastors and lay people as well as OM staff. Some classes include hermeneutics (how to study the Bible), History of Ireland and the church, Review of the entire Bible, etc. I taught the history of the church from the time of the Apostles to the rule of Constantine (a Roman emperor that converted to Christianity. They are even taking classes on Time Management, and going through the "Way of the Master" evangelism training course. The classes are so exciting I want to sit in on them all. The students are also taking field trips. One that they took that I would like to go on is Clonmacnoise where they learned about the history of Christianity in Ireland. (I wish one day the single people on the team could babysit the kids and let the married couples go on these tours that the wives miss out on so that we can learn all this too-just an idea. It's hard going to places like that with kids and still get the info in.). :)

The history from the Apostles to Constantine talked about what the early church was like during the times of the beginnings of the church. Heresies that the church battled at that time and persecution during that time. Then how did the church change as a result of the Roman emperor converting to Christianity and persecution stopping. What was good and bad about this. My favorite part was the activity we did where the students listed out the heresies and what was believed and then looked up Scripture individually and together to discuss why that was a heresy and what the truth of the Bible was. Oh I learned so much and loved teaching that class. I don't know if the students liked it but I got a lot out of it.

I am so impressed with this group of students. They are deep thinkers and are not afraid to ask the hard questions and are excited to learn. There are 3 S. Koreans, a German, a Sweed and 5 Americans on the team.

You can keep up with the Immersion team via Facebook. Just type in Immersion Ireland. PS if you are wondering, this is what God put on our hearts to come over and do in Ireland. He has also expanded that too, but this is the original "plan" that we knew of.

Summer 2009

So much has happened this summer I don't know where to start! I cannot believe that the last post was a month ago! This summer has been great in many ways. Last week we had some family time which was WONDERFUL!!!! Ludie and the entire OM team has been going going going really since May but it has been non-stop, something everyday since the beginning of July. That is good! That is what we are here for, well not for being busy but for working hard at what God has called us to do. Above is the picture of the 12 cups of blackberries Griffin and Ludie picked (and the bushes are not even full yet, they are getting there, those were just the first pick of the "crop". They are wild blackberries that grow on the side of the road. The plum tree in our yard is full and Ludie and Griffin just filled up one of those big bowls with plums. I feel like Bubba Gump: "We gonna be havin some plum tart, plum muffins, plum jelly...". (and I love it!)

This summer Griffin got to participate in Art Camp offered at the church we attend. He loved it! He is into hip hop dancing and each day got to do dance, drama, crafts and music. The theme was Joshua and the battle of Jericho. You can see him in the picture of their end of week drama of Joshua. He was one of the guards. It is amazing to come to a place and expect to work with others, but to benefit from the work that is done in your own family is such a blessing.










Griffin and Ruthie also got to participate for the first time with the Big Red Bus. She loved the puppet shows and he loved the games. She even learned the dance moves to a song that we Have to listen to and dance to daily per her request. She has really started talking a lot and as you can see her hair has really started to thicken and grow. I can almost put it in a ponytail.








Ludie walked up to us while we were at the Big Red Bus and I just teared up at the thought of having our whole family here working with and enjoying the bus. You'll see a picture I took from the upstairs of the bus of Ludie sharing the Gospel with a group outside the bus.











During our family time we spent some of it working around the house. I can keep the house running but there is a huge difference when the man of the house is here handling things. Can I get an Amen!? There are just some things a woman can't do-or doesn't want to do. :) He gets the hard stuff.

We also got an opportunity to go to the Dublin Zoo. We took the train there which was fun for us all. It cost less to ride the train than it did to drive there. We also enjoyed just playing with the kids, and the kids enjoyed not being strapped into car seats. We had to walk from the train station, through Phoenix Park (beautiful flowers!), to the zoo. What an adventure for us all. We ended the day with supper that we picked up and ate on the train ride back. Ludie taught me what a Doner Kebab is. I am hooked!

















We also went to the opposite coast to Galway via train (our favorite way to travel now!). We spent the day in Salt Hill at the aquarium where we got to pet sting rays, dog fish, and hold starfish. And like every trip we have made to an aquarium since I have known and been married to Ludie, Ludie made me scream in the middle of it by picking up a dog fish out of the tank. At least I did not splash anyone this time. We walked back to the train station. A storm came up for a couple minutes while we were walking, and it felt like being a on a roller coaster while it was raining. We had to duck behind a stone wall to stay dry from the rain going sideways. After it passed though we saw the biggest and brightest rainbow we've ever seen. I learned that I cannot walk fast anywhere for a length of time as I start to have hard contractions.



































The last day of our family time we went to pick up the newest member of our family. His name is Hunter. He is an English Spaniel mix (we think with Greyhound). We found him via the internet for an offer free to a good home from a man that was moving from the country to the city. He is fully house-trained and lets you know when he needs to go outside and he is great with the kids. He took off today into the neighbors yard. He jumped the stone wall and proceeded for 30 minutes to chase the sparrows while I kept yelling for him to come here! Then finally I said "sit". And he did! Well okay then, now I know how to get him. However when he is chasing the birds there is no way to catch him. I think he's faster than a horse! The neighbors scared him half to death when he scared them, and he won't be running towards their house anytime soon. He had been hanging around the house well when we took him out so I thought I would take the leash off, and off he went! Down the lane and straight into their house. They did not know him yet but can you imagine a dog as big as a greyhound running into your house full speed?









We have only 8 weeks left to go in the pregnancy (after this weekend). We are working on getting ready for the baby to come. I am excited and cannot imagine what it will be like when he or she finally gets here. We have a couple girls names picked out but are still having trouble with boys names. No telling though! You'll just have to wait until it comes to find out. (PS We don't know whether it is a boy or a girl).

Oh...and one bit of exciting news is that fellow OM'ers Dax and Sarah are our next door neighbors! We love it. Pray for them though, they have to put up with us. :)

What a week!

I have always wanted the hang out house and now we have it. It has been a prayer of mine that our kids friends would want to be at our house and that we would have the hang out house. Well, it turns out that God has answered our prayers. In the one mile radius around our house, the only boys that are close to Griffin's age are right within our "village" as they call it. When we moved here there seemed to be no children around so we would go to the playground by the marina and play there. It turns out that our neighbor's grandson visits most days out of the week and our other neighbor's son comes and stays a couple days out of the week. They have a blast together. On a rainy day this week I was overwhelmed with the amount of dust and cobwebs that collect around here. I get tired very easily so I have to watch how much I do (however I regret that my thighs are showing the effects-oh well. I will have to start walking after the baby is born). So anyway, I was praying that God would just send someone to clean my house or give me ideas of how to get it done. The dust on the baseboards look like they could just get up and walk away. Well, Kevin that is over almost everyday loves to hoover (vaccuum), so I asked him if he would hoover the baseboards on half the house, and then Griffin wanted to wipe the baseboards on the other half of the house. I paid them for doing this. It is not a big house but it sure helped my back!!! Ruthie even pitched in by putting the dishes away. She loves to dust and put dishes away. She even puts her dirty diapers (nappies) in the trash can (rubbish bin). I usually do homeschool while she naps so cleaning is done while she is awake, but it is like trying to work harder and faster cleaning and putting stuff away than she can undo what has been done.


. Because of my laziness on matching socks, when they are dry I just stick them in a bag. Well our family ran out of socks so we had a stock matching contest. Both participants got candy but the winner with the most pairs got extra gummies.

Ludie had a couple days off this week. He has been working (as well as the rest of the OM team) day and night for at least the past 3 weeks. It has been so good to have him home. I hugged him so much, he asked "what did you do?". The first day he just chilled and spent special time with the kids. Griffin has been eating it up. They made a pallette and watched Clone Wars and fought with light sabers. He also put up a post for the hammock we gave him for Father's Day. I think Griffin is more excited than anything!


Dax and Sarah Bryant from Las Vegas are joining the OM team on Monday. They are flying out Sunday with a 7 hour lay over in Chicago. She is 7 1/2 months pregnant and they have a 2 year old and 4 year old. I am so excited about them coming. I think just to be able to help someone else and make their transition easier based on the things I have learned or mistakes that I have learned from.

Anyway, there was a car donated to OM for them to use so we went to Kilkenny today to pick it up. We made a family outing out of it and went to Kilkenny Castle. We had a picnic, rolled down hills, played on the playground, climbed trees and toured the castle, oh and had some ice cream of course!!! Mmmm! It was such a great day! I love my family! The last picture is one of my favorite house on the way to Kilkenny. It has a thatch roof. It was not a good place to stop and take a picture so I had to do a drive by shot.





The last thing to mention was what happened in the middle of the week. I don't really know how to put this in a blog without just seeming like something in passing, because it is all but that. This week our friend and Sunday School Class member from FBCW passed away. At the age of 42 he died in his sleep of a massive heart attack. My heart just aches for Teresa and the kids. Please keep them in your prayers. I am so thankful and praise God that there is no doubt that Todd is in the presence of Jesus Christ. He dressed up as Elvis at a Sunday School Class fundraiser to help us raise funds to come to serve with OM in Ireland. My disc that has that picture is in storage back home. If anyone has a picture, please send it to me and I will post it. Todd and Teresa were and are some of our favorite people in our Sunday School class. We always sat right in front of them and joined on the same Sunday. Todd loved racing and had a prized Home Depot racing helmet that he willingly gave up for a abused children's Christian charity. That is just the kind of guy he was. He was always laid back with a smile on his face and you just felt comfortable around him. We are blessed to have known him.