Seth and Jessica for Ireland

Pancake Tuesday

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:38:35 +0000

We’re all happy to be getting settled back in to our home and life in Ireland. One thing that makes the boys happy is our pancake mornings, and today is actually “Pancake Tuesday” in Ireland. Pancake Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday, so it’s the same thing as “Fat Tuesday” in America, which is called that because it’s the day that you eat rich foods (including pancakes) before you start fasting for Lent. Irish pancakes are not the same as American pancakes, though, as the picture below will prove:

Trust me, these pancakes are incredibly delicious, especially with a little lemon and suger on them. However, when we have pancakes at our house, they usually look more like this:

Made It!

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:49:18 +0000

This might not be the way most folks choose to spend Valentine’s Day, but we made it home and we’re so thankful that the trip went quite well!
Here’s a random fact: today is a special day in Ireland… not only is it Valentine’s, but it’s Valentine’s on a leapyear, which traditionally means that today it’s okay for women to propose to men. Don’t believe me? Just watch the movie “Leapyear”.
You want more? Well, did you know that there are actually 14 different St. Valentine’s canonized by the Catholic church? I bet you didn’t.

Heading Home

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:37:02 +0000

Today we’re driving to Georgia where we’ll visit one more church on Sunday before we fly out of Atlanta on Monday headed for Ireland (we’ll actually arrive on Tuesday, which is Valentine’s Day… romantic, I know!). We’ll miss everyone here, but we’re also excited to be able to get back to our home, church, friends and work in Ireland!

Life In A Wind Tunnel

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:35:04 +0000

While we’re in Alabama we’re staying with Seth’s folks, and last week while we were away in Georgia the refrigerator decided to spring a leak and spend all night soaking the floor. The result was that when we came back, the kitchen was torn out completely and there were huge fans and dehumidifiers all over the place. These are the powerful, dry-things-up fans, so walking around downstairs was like stepping in to a noisy wind tunnel where you have to speak very loudly. Interesting days to say the least. Thankfully, the fans are off now, but their work was futile – the floor will have to be replaced. Also one of the top cabinets that was left up in the kitchen decided it wanted to join the others that had been removed, and that decision was announced loudly by its breaking contents at 4am one morning. But the real kicker is this: all this time we’ve somehow continued to have delicious homemade meals!

A Girl On The Way!

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:58:26 +0000

As you can clearly see, Rebekah Grace is obviously a cutie. The doc says she’s healthy, too. She’s also got a VERY excited big brother in Daniel, another big brother who is just confused about what in the world is going on, and two happy parents who are a little nervous trying to figure out what to do with a girl!

January Summer

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:14:18 +0000

We’ve had a wonderful week in Georgia! As you can see, we got to visit a cool museum with friends, plus we’ve been hugely encouraged by the people and churches we have been able to visit with. And if that’s not enough, the temperatures during the day are pretty much the same as our summer temps in Ireland, so we’re really enjoying having a second summer in January!

Georgia

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:46:23 +0000

Yesterday we road tripped to Georgia where we’re staying with some good friends. In the week we’re here, we’ll get to be at four different churches! Last night kicked it off when Seth got to speak to lots of AWANA kids at a Wednesday night service. Fun times. We’re so thankful for these opportunities, and for flexible children!

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:29:55 +0000

Cousins

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:44:22 +0000

It’s been a pile of fun for Daniel and David to spend time with their cousins, even if the company does get a little heavy for Dad sometimes…

Eating In Alabama

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:58:03 +0000

It’s been loads of fun having Stephen and Ilyas here with us in Alabama. We’ve definitely had some cultural moments, many of them having to do with food. On the way home from the airport, Ilyas asked for “chips” at McDonalds, and when they said they didn’t have any it took a minute to realize they are called “fries” here! The all-you-can-eat buffet was a first, Ilyas said “I’ll never need to eat again”, but Stephen asked “can we come back tomorrow?” They think American cities are very spread out, have an awful lot of restaurants, and that it’s strange that people drive everywhere, but they’ve definitely enjoyed the price and quantity of the food here. Better go now… it’s time to eat.