Bear with me

Anna and Maggie adored these bears in the toy store in Ireland.  They wanted to take them home...but, besides costing about 80 Euro (about $100) each, they were a tad big for our suitcases!  So they enjoyed them in the store!

My posts will have a bit of 'randomness' to them until life gets sorted out a bit.  We had so many amazing experiences in Ireland, Germany, Spain, and Malta during the last 9 months.  However, since most of our travel happened in the last couple months, I hadn't had a chance to get caught up with posting until now.  I wish I could place the blog posts in their correct spots, but the computer automatically places them in the 'newest post' section.  So please 'bear' with me in all this.  :)

A Special Friend

We had great neighbors in Ireland...Leo and his granddaughter, Kayla.  We'd get to see her on weekends and have fun together.  Now that we are back in the States, our heart aches when we remember them and think how far we are away now.  When I think of Ireland, I think of this sweet, cherubic face!

Here is a picture of our neighbor friend.

That's a beautiful rainbow!  We miss you Kayla!!

Malta- Part 5

Family Times in Malta...

We had some special family times.  Here we are at Uncle Manuel's home.  From L to R:  Wolf,  Pops, Uncle Manuel, Uncle Willie

discussing life

Uncle Willie and our family

Cheers!

Lots of good times in Malta.  Here:  Resurrection Day 2014

Pops and Uncle Willie in our apartment

And at long last, our Miggiani relatives.  What a delight to finally see them all!  And what a friendly bunch!!

Malta- part 4

Here are some more random shots in Malta...

...actually, this was in Ireland, but it just seemed to look sweet here.

OK, now we're in Malta.

Coffee compliments of Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Willie

An interesting fact:  St. Paul's Bay is in the background.  It's where Paul (in the Bible) supposedly landed on 'Melita.'  It's the patch of land to the left with a cross and a rock on it.

So Malta!

Blogging in general

Hi everyone!

Today I made the time to 'refigure out' how to download pictures from my camera and blog again.  Moving from Ireland to Kansas required a lot of adjustments, and I've been a bit 'behind the curve.'  

Since my blog was originally meant as a journal of our time in Ireland, I wasn't sure what direction it should take now that we have returned to the States.

Or should I even blog?

I think I'll continue to write here, but I guess I'll just write about our life in general.  I'll continue writing in a 'family newsletter' sort of way and report anything particulary interesting.  

God bless each of you for reading this and taking an interest in our lives!

Driving Test Day

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Anna and Beth spent a couple days studying hard for the driving test paper exam.  Although Anna appears skeptical, she and Beth both passed the test!  Now they need to do 50 hours of driving in order to take the road test.  This has been a huge milestone for them.  Hadassah wanted to take the exam, too, but I told her she had to wait.

 You see, Beth is 16, Anna and Hadassah are 15, Ezra will be 15 soon, and Nehemiah is 14- basically ALL the right age to start this driving adventure.  However, to preserve my sanity, I decided I'd let them test according to age and go as a pair- oldest first, thus Beth and Anna.  From here out, they will go 2 by 2.  I figure,  if it worked for Noah, it'll work for me.

Our latest adventure...

Chicks!

Maggie peering in at the newly hatched Bantam chicks.  Beth in the background doing laundry. 

We ordered 15 from Murray McMurry's hatchery, and yet there were 3 bonus chicks in the box.

With much loving attention (see first picture), they are surviving and thriving in their first week.  They will eventually move out of my kitchen and live outside where they will freely roam.