Happy Belated St. Patrick's day

Dave's dad was born in Ireland and didn't come to America until he was an adult, Dave is first generation Irish-American. In 1998, we traveled to Ireland with Dave's dad,mom, both brothers, their wives and children. Dave's dad should us where he grew up ( his sister in law still live in his childhood house), we saw the one room school he went to, met a lot of family, did a lot of touring. I was so amazed in all the different shades of green, the friendliness of people and the slow pace life. We would go in pubs and be there for 2 hours before we were done with our meals. In Ireland you don't rush like we do here and you don't expect your food 15 minutes after you walk in. The sconces were unbelievable good. One of the many highlights is St. Patrick's Mountain (Crough Patrick). Across the street from the mountain was the Famine Ship. This is a steel statue which depicts skeletons fluttering from masts in place of sails. The artwork depicts the suffering of the Irish people during the famine period of the late nineteenth century. This is the mountain that St. Patrick climbed and where he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Pilgrims climb this mountain the last weekend in August in droves. Sometimes the numbers of pilgrims are in the thousands. The basis for the pilgrimage is to atone for ones sins. At the base of the neighboring mountain is a statue, around which the pilgrim must walk saying certain prayers. The path then leads directly to the peak of the neighboring mountain. The going on the first leg was fairly steep and very rocky, the rocks being planted deeply into the earth. I believe it took us 2.5 hours or so to climb it. Dave's dad at the age 72 made it to the top with Dave and I. The rest of the family decline to climb that far. What an amazing sight on the top of the mountain and his grave (I believe) is on the top. What a great feeling. The cliff of Morhar was stunning to. It was a wonderful trip and to be able to see where his dad is from what awesome. We hope to make it back to Ireland some day. Another thing is it didn't get dark until close to midnight and started to get light again around 4 in the morning, so we were totally off on when to go to bed...
Jade took her permit test today and past on the first try. She will practice driving for the next 6 months before taking driver test. We are so proud of you Jade.

This past Tuesday, the younger girls' school had a rollerskating party, they all had a blast and didn't fall to much. Above picture is Monika and you can tell she is in the spring mood, the capri's are out now.
Jenny a little unsure originally, but got good at it by the end of the night

Monika with one of her best friends Eliza. They had a lot of fun together

Jenny had a lot of fun with her friends too

Katie cruising like an pro. She was going so fast that I had a hard time capturing a clear picture of her.

We are still waiting to get our fingerprint appointment. I am trying to remain positive and not question God's plans. I am grateful to God for opening a door to allow us to become parents again and honor that he picked Erin to be our daughter. Grant letters will go this weekend and we are praying that we will be successful with some of them. If not, I believe another door will open for us, I just don't know what it is at this time. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful support system.