Sunday Stroll

Last Sunday was actually a gorgeous day in Dublin so after Church we decided to go for a walk at the sea shore. It is only a 10 minute walk from our house which is great! The 'beach' isn't the classic SoCal beach that we are used to...much more rocky and not really lounge in the sand-able but it is still pretty and nice to be on the water. Easton chased a lot of dogs and kites and we chased Easton.



A shot of the houses on the beach




I just finished the book I had been reading and am on the market for another. Any suggestions? I am also in the midst of several projects...a quilt for Easton, painting some old picture frames and maybe attempting to make a quiet book for church. As most of you know I am not the craftiest girl but I'm stretching my soul (as Sarah would say) and trying to be more resourceful. any helpful hints on the quiet book would be welcome!

My Name is Katie and I'm a Chocoholic

So seriously. Of all the things there are to love about Ireland, I might love chocolate spread the most. This blessed concoction is not only an Irish delicacy. Years ago while I was a missionary in Spain I found Nocilla. It is a lot like Nutella but there are no hazelnuts...it is just pure, creamy, chocolate. I bought Nocilla on one of my first preparation days and shockingly enough downed the entire peanut butter sized jar in one day! The madness had to stop. I limited myself to one jar of Nocilla after each 6 months of my mission, which would give me 3 days of pure gluttony. I kept to my guns...mostly because I knew if I didn't I would come home 50 pounds heavier and pre-diabetic. Fast forward 4 years...Rob went out grocery shopping the first night we were here and among his purchases is a jar of familiar looking chocolate spread. In Ireland it is simply called 'chocolate spread' but I knew what this was. So again I finished a whole jar in about 36 hours and told Rob to never let me buy it again. And I haven't. But Rob did go to the store one more time and he brought with him another jar of my nemesis. I finished 3/4 of this jar and then threw it away after making Rob vow to never buy it again. If I come back a big as a house you all will know why.



In other food news...we accidentally bought asian black bean sauce instead of black beans for our chicken enchiladas...those ended up pretty interesting. And after searching for Crisco I finally found it under the name 'baking fat'. I wonder if anyone would buy it in the U.S. if we called it baking fat? Live and Learn.

The Mother of all Posts

Ok...there are quite a few items to cover in this post so I am warning you now it could get lengthy! We are officially moved to Ireland but before we got here, there were 3 weeks of living out of suitcases in 3 different states and multiple households...here is a recap of the mayhem:
We moved out of our apartment in L.A. and into a hotel for a few days while we wrapped everything up there. It was super swanky...we paid $8 for Easton's glass of milk! We also said goodbye to all of our friends and I cried like a baby. Here are a few pics of that and some of a little farewell party thrown for us before we left.


Me and my friend Heidi

Our good buddies the Roberts family

Easton and his BFF, Josh



Nicole and I showing our not too pregnant yet bellies


The Smiths. Minutes before Val and I were crying our eyes out

We went from L.A. to Ireland and left Easton with my parents for about a week while we finalized our house and furnished it as much as we could. I went back to Colorado and Rob stayed in Ireland for another week. In CO Easton had a blast without us being spoiled by his grandparents. Once I got there we played in the pool a lot, saw some farm animals, had some BBQ's, even took Easton on a bike ride in Breckenridge. Here are the pics

Easton sees the goat

Grandpa and Grandma Nancy with Easton in tow...Nathan and Lindsay should be proud (I also went on this bike ride lest anyone should call me lazy :)

Easton lounging at the pool

From Colorado we headed to SLC for Rob's sister, Juli's wedding. Rob met us there after working in L.A. for a few days and the festivities began. While in SLC we got to meet up with our good friends the Millers from and the Smiths from L.A. We also got to see our friends the Rosens. Other than that it was pretty much wedding mania. Mania isn't quite true. Juli is pretty laid back so mania was minimum. We had a great day. The sealing in the temple was great and the luncheon was super cute...done by the grooms sisters. Then we had the reception at the Lion House in downtown SLC. It was outside which was nice especially so the kids could roam and not break anything. We are really happy for Juli and Rob (yep, that's one more Rob in the family) and excited to have him in our fam.


Friends reunite. Beckham, Noah and Easton


Juli and the men in her life

The cousins

Easton workin' the bow tie

So that was it in the US of A and then we came over to Dublin. The flights over were not too bad. Easton did pretty well even though I had a minor breakdown at one point (I think right before or after we changed the 2nd dirty diaper in an airplane bathroom with no changing table) . We have now been here 4 days and we are just settling in and getting adjusted. We are trying to keep busy and trying to get our house all set and furnished. I am thrilled with our backyard and the washer and dryer and our neighborhood is really nice and quiet but also really close to the city center, where Rob works. Rob is doing great at work too. Here is a pic of our house here. It is pretty cute. I will post pics of the inside once we get organized.



So there you go...lots of pics and news...don't say I didn't warn you! Between moving in and playing with Easton I am reading a book I am loving called the Lemon Tree...a recommendation from Nicole and I am about to start a new quilt for Easton's toddler bed (when he'll actually be in said bed, who knows!). Keep us posted of all your news and we'll do the same!