A trip home

This Summer we were blessed to be able to go back to Northern Ireland to visit my family. I was pretty anxious about the long trek back there, as I was going to be traveling with the boys on my own without daddy there to help and support!

After a delayed and missed flight we finally made it there! As our plane was making it's descent into Belfast International Airport, I took this picture :) I was home, it had been over 4 years and I had a feeling of excitement and anticipation, looking forward to seeing my parents smiling faces, hearing familiar accents, smells and sounds. It was all very exciting, we were tired and worn out from travelling for 2 days, it was raining but I didn't really care, I was "home"!

I was really struck again by the beauty of the Emerald Isle, one you don't always think about when you grow up there.  I found it very refreshing and enjoyed the spectacular sights. I had a hard time not taking scenery pictures as I wanted to have lots of picture memories when I got back to the US, my other home!

 Our days were fun filled times with family, lots of cousin time for the boys, catching up with friends and just really enjoying the Northern Irish way of life again :)

We were there for 3 weeks, on our last week Sabin was able to join us

  I always enjoy seeing Sabin take in and enjoy my home country's culture and history. One of our favorite days was spent on Rathlin Island, a small working island.

We enjoyed hiking, geocaching and just taking in the peace and rustic nature of the island. It was just a really beautiful and great day!

Sadly it was time to head back to Oregon. But we returned with suitcases full of goodies and a heart full of precious fun memories. We look forward to when we can return again, hopefully sooner than 4 years time.