Anyone out there?

I have no idea why my formatting has gone wacky, but here we go. If you are reading this hello and welcome back to an active Dirks fam blogsite.  I apologize for the absence, but hey it makes the heart grow fonder, eh?  We are back from Kilkenny, Ireland.  We have been back for almost three weeks now and it's been a whirlwind.    I have put together a massive blog post to hopefully make up for a whole Summer of limited internet access and as a result few postings.  We had an amazing trip with our MTW team (missions to the world).  There were highs and lows, new friends made, lessons learned, and a faithful God that remained and remains good and abounding in grace and patience with us. Ultimately we know we spent our summer exactly where he wanted us to be.

I love how the flowers and grass grow everywhere in Ireland.  Even the walls are fair game for new life.  (Spiritual analogy..perhaps?)

 This is Kilkenny Presbyterian Church, they are the reason we were brought to Ireland.  For those of you who don't know we were asked by MTW to mentor a group of American college students (Jacob, Megan, Katie and Rebecca) this Summer as they (and we) worked alongside this church.  We desired to reach the people of Kilkenny Ireland for Christ.   We put on Bible clubs, youth groups/trips, door to door evangelism, litter pick up, preaching (Tyler not me),  and the list goes on.

Why else would we pack up three small children and fly across the ocean?  Only crazy people do that sort of thing.

 But, we did have our fair share of fun.  We promised Maggie there would be Irish dancing and Ireland did not make us a fool.

 We also met some really fun people!  These lads were pretty cool and we spent a lot of time with them going hiking, playing and even taking a trip to the Dublin zoo.  We miss ya Owen and Gavin.

 Okay so the next few pics are scenery pics.  We did a little traveling around, but with three small children and one tiny car it wasn't high priority.  But thankfully to see a gorgeous site or view one, one only needed to drive.  Ireland is that beautiful and historical.  When we were in the car, and if I wasn't car sick due to the crazy narrow and curvy streets,  then my eyes would be glued to the passing countryside.  If I blinked I may miss an old castle or crazy old landmark.  This is Rock of Cashel in Cashel Ireland, from Medieval times.

 This is Cork, by the river.  We passed through here on our way back from Kilarney.

 Sheep were everywhere even on the road.

 The Muckross house in the Kilarney national park.  This may be the closest I get to Downton Abbey.

 This was our picnic site behind the house.

And this is how we toured the Kilarney National Park, via horse carriage or rather being pulled by "Molly Malone" our horse.

 This was our all knowing guide.  Funny story:  So while on said tour, Henry was asked if he had any questions as the trip was wrapping up.  Tyler and I had been firing off the questions up until then.  And he had a very profound question for our guide, it was this "what's bigger a dinosaur or a shark?"  I think our guides face says it all. Ha!

 The fam!

 This is us at Ladies View, a stop on the Ring of Kerry.

 We visited Bunratty castle and folk park, and got to pet these ginormous native Irish dogs.    I can't remember the breed name though, anyone?

 But, aside from the travels most of our time was spent here at the trampoline in the pastor's back garden.  That is when it wasn't raining.  And it rained perhaps 80% of our trip!

 Our here at the castle playground.

 That's the castle behind the supermodels.  Kilkenny Castle that is.

 Had to include a rain pic since that is what occurred almost every single day.

 Here's a cool shot of some of the shops in downtown Kilkenny.

Kilkenny is home to Smithwicks brewery, so of course we had to tour it.

And no tour would be complete without tasting the perfect pint!

 We spent a couple of afternoons out at Nore Valley Park, a fun place for kids to pet animals and play.

 perhaps you've heard of hurling?  I hadn't before being introduced to it by our new Irish friends.  Haven was a natural.

 Dunmore Caves...literally right down the street from our house.  A unique cave filled with history and geology.  One word, vikings.

 An old abandoned famine storage house.

 One of my favorite desolate places, Kells Priory.  To get there you simply stroll through a sheep pasture.

 And then you play hide and seek, or at least that's what we did.

 Planning on taking a trip to Ireland?  Want to swim while you are there, well then don't forget your swim cap.  No ones' allowed to swim without one.

 Kilkenny, view from the tower.

 To Tramore on one of the youth trips.

 A beautiful freezing beach...still Tramore.

 Tyler celebrated Father's day while we were over, so Henry insisted the following day be Brother's Day.  It was such a cute idea that we complied.

 Crafts during one of the many Bible clubs.

 Our favorite backyard Bible club at the Connors in Castlecomer!

 One morning on our way to Castlecomer we were delayed by these guys.

 Someone very special turned 1 while in Ireland! 

 Our little sweetie Haven!  She enjoyed cake with new friends and the spotlight.

 Soccer camp!  Who put this nut in charge?

 For our 8th anniversary Tyler and I headed to Inistioge. 

 The gardens here were beautiful.

 Glendaloch, where parts of Braveheart were filmed.

 Oh to climb on ancient ruins!

 Glendaloch again.

 Our Summer house..."the Wooden House."  If you look close enough you may see the giant rat that lived underneath us.

 Tried to see the Cliffs of Moher but all we saw was "moher" fog!

 But, it was a nice trip out there.

Bunratty castle

They may be young but they are quite the experienced travellers.