Part 2

This castle was in a little town off the main road. We just started driving off the beaten path and this is what we found. What a pleasant surprise huh?
Eva posing on the castle grounds.

My handsom boys.

This is one of the views from the castle.

Our day out in the Taunus mountains Part 1

We took a nice walk along a random trail today. We drove about 45 minutes outside Wiesbaden and just stopped at different places that looked interesting. It was a beautiful day.

This picture speaks volumes of both the kids personalities.

This was taken the other day during Eva's T-ball practice. Gabe always throws a huge fit if he doesn't get a turn to batt too. He's actually really good for such a little guy. Have any of you seen space balls? Does Big Helmet ring a bell when you see him with that hat?

Eva sportin' some serious attitude.

Just a random picture of the kids. I think they're pretty dang cute, but I'm a little partial. :)

Finally! The Ireland pictures

Ok, the long awaited pictures are here. I have been wanting to post my Ireland trip pictures on the web but haven't been able to. We (and by we, I mean Hans) left the camera in the rental car in Ireland. We called around everywhere trying to figure out where the camera was. I called Hertz and they told me it wasn't there. A few days later, I was still tough out of luck and very discouraged. I was so desperate at that point that I got on my knees and just begged Heavenly Father to help me locate my camera. It was quite a pathetic prayer actually. I was pretty much grovaling to him and insisting that he help me locate it. Well, he definately answered my prayer. No longer than an hour later, I got an email from Hertz saying they were sorry for the confusion, but they did have it. The man that cleaned the car out was off work the day I called and he forgot to mention to them that he had found the camera and put it in the safe-keep locker. They told me they would go ahead and UPS it to me! I was so shocked and grateful. My camera arrived safe and sound on Tuesday. :)) Hip Hip Hooray for Hertz rental car!!!

This is just one of the many blessings we recieved while in Ireland. Most of you know, but the landlady that owned the cottage we were staying in didn't charge us for the entire extra week we were there. She said she didn't want to take advantage of stranded travelers. I couldn't believe the kindness of this woman. There were many instances where other travelers were stranded, or ripped off for extending their rental cars, hotel rooms, flights, etc. The hertz car rental took off the outrageous drop off fee that was over $300 because we had to drop it off at a different location to catch a ferry. Not everyone was treated so kindly. We ended up only having to pay a total of around $230 for the entire two weeks we rented the car. There are other things like this that happened too.

This just really makes me realize that God is definately aware of our needs and difficulties. He took care of us and we were blessed beyond belief. I feel very blessed to be given the opportunity to travel and see the world. It has become a great passion in my life. Through these experiences, I get to see how lucky and blessed I truely am. I am so grateful to be an American and enjoy the freedoms I have. I'm especially grateful to have the gospel in my life. It fills that ever present void that seems to be in many lives around me. I'm so overjoyed to have something to shout about and something to stand up for. I'm grateful to be around so many different kinds of people who give a different perspective on life and make my testimony that much greater.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. It wasn't very green yet in Ireland. They were having lots of fires so the mountains were quite brown. With that being said, it is still the most beautiful place in the world. The pictures don't do it justice at all. I am kind of disappointed in how some of them turned out. I have to get better at the whole picture taking thing. I sure enjoy it though. Here's the link. Let me know if it works:

http://picasaweb.google.com/roberrabbit/0124

Lindsey

Happy Mother's Day Lindsey Surprise!

In honor of mother's day, here are some slightly crass Irish-inspired words.

There once was a mother named Lindsey
Whose quest it was to be fit-ly
Her husband thought she’s a hot mother
And frequently wanted to love her
That’s why all their beds became flimsy

There once was a lover from Philly
Who eloped for the name of Lokodi
She bore him six kids
A dear mother she is
But the kids she often smacks silly

There once was a daughter of a farmer
Blond hair and big chest a real charmer
She caught a man’s heart
Who would frequently fart
So after her mother she called him bumclapper

There once was woman of charm
Who handsome men liked to have on their arm
So when she eloped
With a dumb german bloke
Her parents suffered quite an alarm

There once was dark haired gypsy
Who had a penchant for getting tipsy
but he soon sobered up
and turned round his luck
with a wife so righteously sexy

;)