11 Rosemount, Herons Wood, Carrigaline, Co. Cork

(The following was written right before we flew from Ireland to Sydney, Australia.)

This past week has been so difficult for me. There was a part of me that was excited about our new adventure, (I am truly grateful for the opportunity to live in Sydney, Australia). However, a part of me was not ready to leave my home in Ireland. I will always love and remember 11 Rosemount, Herons Wood, Carrigaline Co. Cork. I will always cherish my two years here. We were loved and taken care of, had so many happy memories, epic adventures, and made "forever friends". Ireland is such a beautiful island and I feel lucky that we were able to drive around and see so much of the beauty that Ireland has to offer. I love the beaches, the long walks, castles, forts and ruins, boat rides, islands, rope bridges, cliffs, parks, national parks, long drives in tunnels of green vines and trees, and so much more. But, even more beautiful are the people who live there, and I have been fortunate to have made so many dear friends whom I will miss very much.

I will miss the many adventures with Stan and the boys as we traveled around the beautiful island of Ireland. I will also miss my days out and adventures with my good friends. We did so many fun things together. We took our children and went on nature walks in various parks, went on hikes, discovered new beaches, returned again to favorite ones, and walked along cliff's edges, sea sides, and through forests and forts. I will also just miss my friends coming over to just hang out. The kids would run wild on the rainy days, and we adults would have a good chat. I was never board or lacked friendship. I was surrounded by people that I loved, and that loved me.

The day we left our home in Ireland, Stan and I were up early filling up the skip that had arrived to throw away what was left inside. We had a really good friend just show up and helped us clean and finish up the last days work. We had visitors from all my dear friends from church, Gregory's school, and neighbors all week. It was hard to say goodbye to all my friends and their sweet kids. Stan watched the boys one night and a bunch of us went out to dinner to my favorite restaurant. It was such a fun night!

I will also miss the "coffee mornings." In Ireland I was asked all the time by my friends and neighbors to come over for coffee. I soon realized that being invited over for coffee didn't mean I had to drink it :) Before I left a good friend and neighbor held a proper Irish tea party for me. There was traditional coffee and teas, but also herbal peppermint tea and some lovely almond flour cake and sliced vegetables. Everyone was so accommodating in respecting my beliefs and supporting me with my #scdiet.

I lived around such lovely ladies, and my boys always had someone to play with. All the neighborhood children would come over and my boys would go over to all their homes. And often everyone just played together outside on the green. It was the perfect situation for young ones, unlimited supply of kids and toys to play with. The day we left it was raining pretty hard, but some of my friends and their kids were outside with umbrellas waving us off.

It was hard to even see and drive as I tried to keep up with Stan who was in the taxi ahead because of the rain and the tears that were blurring my vision.

I will miss Ireland's rainy days, misty mornings, small roads, green everything, happy people, dear friends, yummy bakeries, pub grub, fish and chips, all the natural beauty, beaches and cold ocean water, gentle waves to swim in, bank holidays, Ryanair, stormy weather, reading good books next to a warm fire listening to the rain hit the ground, and the incredible adventures I've had are just a small reason why I love Ireland! I'm no longer there, and I don't know how long it will be until I return, but I know that one day I will come back. It won't be the same, things change, people come and go, and that makes me sad, but I am so very grateful for the time that I did have, and also for the incredible memories and the friendships made. These memories and friendships will last a lifetime, and I am so grateful for that.

A last second picture of Stan and I in front of our home in Ireland right before we left.

When the boys no longer had their bunkbeds we made it a party in their room. A big bed on the floor, candy, video games. The boys loved their multi-day sleepover!

We got to go to Rob's birthday party a few days before departure! Gregory, Rob, and Mark were great friends!

A week before we left, we had a primary party! Here are all the children from our church in Cork. We had races on the track and went rock climbing. The children loved it!

We had fish and chips one last time at Lennox's in town the night before we left! I had never eaten at Lennox's before, and I'm glad I got to taste the goodness before we left.

One last goodbye! We all love the Roy's so much! We spent a lot of time together the past two years, and I don't know when we'll see these guys next. This was a hard goodbye...

This was another really hard goodbye. We all love the Peter's too. We spent a lot of time with these guys, and traveled around on bank holidays exploring Ireland together. I will miss them so much, and it was terrible to say goodbye. Megan is also American, and she has family in Utah so I know that we will see each other again. It won't be the same, we won't hang out everyday like before and so saying goodbye was very hard.

At our hotel, so tired from the move. The boys were great! They kept telling me that it would be okay, and not to cry. I should be the one comforting them, but I am grateful for their love and willingness to move without a fuss. I truly have great children!

Two weeks before we left Ireland, we made a quick trip to Paris. It really was so great to be there again, so even though leaving Ireland was terrible for me... at least I have all the good memories and adventures to remember! Europe has always been good to me, and I'll be back!