Remembering Two Mile House, Naas

It is a bittersweet goodbye we must say to this wonderful experience.  We are beyond grateful we had the opportunity to see many beautiful areas of Ireland and so many other places within Europe.  But for us, it was the Irish people that made this such a very special time.  We can't wait to come back.

 

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.  May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

 

 

 

 

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers –
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours –
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends,
Each day your whole life through.

Time to say Farewell to Ireland...

We arrived back to Ireland on December 30th and finished packing for our departure on January 1st.  The last minute rush of getting everything done was tiring, but we made sure to say some final goodbyes to dear friends.

 

Eli so enjoyed being friends with Harry M.

 

Sophie's classmates made this thoughtful board for her wishing her well back in America. 

Great friends!

Kaitlan had one last, fun day with Therese.

Thankful for this silly pal!

 

 Sophie and Eli took an art class in December and this was one of their projects.

Clay creatures.

 

 Our last night in TMH was spent with the first people we met when we arrived.  The Behan-Cahill family and Granny Alice are treasured friends we will never forgwt.

Bernie was my life-saver friend, inviting me into her home that first week of school and telling me all about the Irish life.  So very thankful for her.

Jack was Eli's first Irish buddy and a joy to have over for play dates.

Hard to say goodbye to such lovely people.

 

 

But here we are....amazingly, we packed all our belongings and are headed for our next adventure.

And Finally, Prague

 

We decided to fit in one more European trip before we headed back to the U.S.

Prague, Czech Republic was on Kam's list of must-sees.  And we were not disappointed.  Prague is a beautiful city full of old buildings tightly fitted together.  It was very easy to tour around by foot and see all the major sights.

 

Our home for the long weekend trip.  The apartment was on the first floor with our window located above the green wreath.

 

Prague is home to the largest European castle and the oldest working clock.

The first day we walked to the Charles Bridge and toured the Prague Castle grounds.

 

 

 The Castle is on the top of a hill and so we had a long staircase to climb to reach the area.

We arrived just in time to see the noon changing of the guard ceremony.

 

 Housed on the castle grounds is also St. Vitus Cathedral.

 

The views from the other buildings on site were amazing.

 

 There was so much to see around the castle.  Such a lovely area of the city.

 In the evening, we walked down to Old Town and visited some of the Christmas stalls.  The warm Trdelnik pastry was our favorite treat that we ate everyday.

 The next day we walked to the Jewish Quarter in Prague.  This area includes the high-end shopping district and the old synagogues and cemeteries.

"Its torrid history dates back to the 13th century, when the Jewish community in Prague were ordered to vacate their disparate homes and settle in one area." -pragueexperience.com

The cemeteries were closed on the day we visited the area, but 

we were able to get a least a  little peek.

Estates Theatre was where Mozart's operas were performed.  This statue sits outside of the theatre.



 

 We toured through the Communism Museum looking at the displays and watching film documenting the revolutions of Prague.

 

 We found an ice-skating rink and the kids HAD to give it a try.  So much fun!

 

We finished the day with a climb up the Astronomical Clock Tower to see the beautiful Old Town all lit up.  The views of the whole city were breathtaking, but the Prague Castle was magnificent!

 

 Dinner at a fun train restaurant.  Oh, the faces....

 

Prague National Museum on Wenceslas Square

 Such a beautiful city.

On our last day, we walked along the river on our way to the National Theatre

to see the Nutcracker ballet.

We specifically looked for the Dancing House to see it's amazing architecture. 

The Theatre inside and out.

The ballet ended up being a combination of the Nutcracker and The Christmas Carol.  Very good!

Just a few more shots.

 

 

 We found the Choco Café across the street from our apartment.

Good thing we don't permanently live here.

Time to go....

This is our travel look.

 Farewell to a beautiful city.  So thankful for the visit.

It's Christmas in Ireland

We started the Christmas season off with another beautiful school carol service at the local church.

Sophie's class was part of the concert. Such a lovely evening. 

 

Des, Teresa, and baby Isla came over for a Christmas visit before they left for Mayo.  We have so enjoyed getting to know sweet Isla and her fantastic parents.  We exchanged gifts and were surprised by the overwhelmingly thoughtful present for Kamron and Eli of a signed Mayo jersey.  Our favorite football team!  So thankful for these friends.

 As we were getting ready for bed on our Christmas eve, Eli pulled out his first tooth.  

 

Our Christmas eve tradition of new PJ's continues.  All ready for bed!

 

We actually moved Christmas up a day since we had people to visit

and were leaving for our trip to Prague on the 26th.

We enjoyed a quiet morning opening up gifts and playing together.  This year the kids gave gifts to each other and were excited to see the reactions.  Kamron and Eli put together his gift of a small engine which took most of the morning.  It worked....kind of.

 

 

On Christmas morning, we attended mass with our local village community and then visited with friends.  We went to the O'Boyles' home and Eli was able to say his goodbyes to his good buddy, Darragh.  They enjoyed many play dates over the past 15 months.  What a great friend! 

 

We finished the day with a lovely dinner with the Kennedy family.

Ray, Audrey, Steven, and Louise graciously invited us to their home and it was a delight to spend the afternoon with them. So blessed by our Irish friends!

And the Goodbyes Begin

The kids wanted to have goodbye fun with their friends before Christmas break from school.

They all decided to have bowling parties with their classmates and it was a great, loud fun!

Eli has enjoyed loads of play dates and activities with the boys from his class.

Such good friends!

 

Sophie's class is full of sweet girls. They will be greatly missed.

 Kaitlan can't get enough of her new classmates from Piper's Hill.  She is so thankful to have made such good friends this school year.  It will be hard to say goodbye.

 

I had a special farewell tea/coffee morning with some ladies from TMH village as well.  They have been so welcoming and I'm thankful to call these ladies friends.  I will greatly miss seeing them on a daily basis.