MERRY CHRISTMAS or should I say HAPPY CHRISTMAS. That is what they say here in Ireland. They also eat things like spiced beef and nasty things with blood drippings and stomach lining. We made some eggnog and took it to a neighbours house for them to try because you cannot buy it here. We have found most of the things we eat at Christmas so dinner should be normal in that situation. We will miss family and friends but we will survive. We will miss our traditional Christmas Eve service as we will have our service at 12 noon followed by a pot luck but that will be a nice gathering I'm sure. They don't have Boxing Day here but they do have St. Stevens day instead. Here are some pics of the newest members of our family. Once again Merry Christmas, remembering the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Roundabouts, ARG!!!
I thought that roundabouts would be my folley but as it turns out it was Gary that had the first incident. He was on his way to a mens night out with some of the fellows from the church. They were to see a movie and then go for dessert. It all seemed like a safe, simple evening out. Gary had decided to walk to the village (Ballincollig, about 30 min walk) to get some fresh air and enjoy the fact that it was not raining. Side issue; we have only had 2 rain free days since the beginning of November. The problem is there are no crosswalks on a roundabout and in Ireland the cars have right of way, everywhere, even in parking lots they don't slow down for you. Gary had to time it right to cross. The pic is similar to the one he was trying to cross, from the bottom right across three sections.He was sure the traffic was circulating around so the merging traffic had to wait so, he started to cross one section when all of the sudden he was hit and ended up on top of the cars hood. He was not injured but was severly POed. He yelled at the driver "what the h*** are you doing?" The young fellow obviously was a little freaked out and said nothing. He really had no where to go if he had pulled out into the roundabout so knew he was in fault. Gary decided to not confront him any further and just carried on. He enjoyed the movie, The Nativity, and decided to get a ride home, just to be safe.

Last week Gary was asked to pray for the opening of the new Bank of Ireland here in Ballincollig. He was to be joined by Father George the Catholic Priest and Reverend Ruth the Church of Ireland(Anglican) minister. But Father George was a no show. Reverend Ruth was a riot. She was like the minister in the show Vicar of Dibley. Part of Ruth's prayer was if people show up with guns that the guns jam and not go off. Gary was not sure what it all meant because there is possibly some superstition attatched to this but it says in the Bible to pray about everything so Gary did it in that spirit. It was also a wonderful chance to connect with the big wigs of Ballincollig and some people of the community. These pics are of the new bank that Gary is standing infront of and across the street is the old bank that was in the rows with all the old buildings. It was the white one. The other pic is of more new construction. All the new construction is on one side of the street and they are tearing down a wall that is hundreds of years old to do it. Gary is leaning on a piece of that wall. They are keeping pieces of it here and there.

My girls are standing infront of our Victorian style fireplace. It is my favorite feature in the house and one of the few things we have had no trouble with. Liz Bryce asked me to send a pic of it with me infront of it but I decided the twins were better accents than me. We got bold and painted a feature wall in a plum burgandy colour and I must say I was inspired by the Nixons livingroom colour, thanks we love it. The lights on the wall were just installed lately when the shed was wired. We waited 4 months for them to be installed but now they are melting off the wall. I was so excited when they went up. They suited the fireplace so perfectly. Now we have to get them off the wall and take them to the store where we bought them so they can rebuild them. But at least it is for free. The only issue is Gary being trusted to wire them back on. Cross your fingers that the house does not burn down.

I think it is time to have a few more pics of my new grand baby, Danai. Tianna had a professional photographer ask her if she would model for her before and after Danai was born for free to build her portfolio. Of course Tianna said yes. So here are a couple.