The March Gang

Today is a special day for our baby boy.  He is 5 years old today.  Simeon is a great little boy.  He is so full of energy and life.  He runs full speed from the moment he gets up until he crashes into bed at night.  He is our little clown and is very quick witted.  He makes us laugh so much and is a great joy.  He believes in prayer and loves Jesus.  He wants to be a drummer when he grows up.  We gave him a set of toy drums for his birthday and he loves them.  He puts on the music and starts playing along with it.  He loves transformers and all the super heroes.  He has been a true blessing in our lives.  Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!!    Daddy and Mommy love you very much.

On the last day together with our family, we went to the Carrickfergus Castle.  We really like this castle and enjoy going to it, however, yesterday we battled the wind and rain all day.  So, we kinda ran through it fast.  We asked the workers at the castle where they would recommended eating.  They referred us to SoZo and it was excellent.  We all got something different and tried each others food.  Simeon ate all his soup and then ate most of my Irish Stew, and loved both.  They also told us about a great bakery and we went and bought sweets.  They were also excellent.  We walked the village of Carrickfergus and went into some very nice charity shops.  Peyton has decided to start collecting tea pots and tea cups.  She found a cute tea pot at one of the shops that is a wee sink with dishes on it.  Kirsten is now collecting spoons, but was not able to find one she wanted.  Simeon just collects all kinds of toys and more toys.

We then headed back to Bainbridge to do some shopping.  We walked in the village and Eleisha and Seneatha found some thing they could not live without.  Then we took them to the American outlet to the tea and coffee shop, because really you can not leave Ireland without a teapot and teacups.  We came home to fix supper and off to church.  We were privileged to have Bro. Shurte from Saint Cloud, FL. to minister to us.  He is here visiting the McFarland’s and will be ministering to us again on Sunday.  After church we made one last stop at Tesco to get all the last minute breads, cookies, and tea that everyone requested.

The kids and I slept in this morning while Riley took them to the airport.  They are now on their way back home.  We had a great time and was very glad to have them here.  We need family to visit us.  It helps the kids and the parents with the homesickness.

We have had a great week so far.  Friday we picked up Eleisha, Riley’s sister, and Seneatha, our cousin, from the airport.  We were about thirty minutes late and they were getting a little worried.  Since Friday we have been going non-stop.  Saturday we took them to “Wee Barney’s” for some traditional fish and chips.  Then walked all around the village of Portadown.  Sunday we were in church, where we had great services.  I now teach Sunday School so I had the kids to make Mother’s Day card, because it was “Mum’s Day” in Ireland.  Monday we went to Tollymore.  Eleisha slipped and fell on a rock and took Simeon down with her.  He got a bump on the head, and she got a skinned knee and jammed finger.  Peyton slipped and fell in the water, again.  She did the same thing last time we were there.  The kids love going there.  They have become quiet the little explorers.  We then traveled on up the coast for a while.  It rained off and on most of the day.  While driving along the coast we saw a beautiful rainbow.  God has made truly beautiful things and places for our enjoyment.

Today we went to Giant’s Causeway and to Dunluce Castle.  This time the trolley was going at the Causeway’s so we didn’t have to walk as much, which is great.  We have been walking our legs off, definitely burning lots of calories.  This was our first time at the Dunluce Castle and it was great.  It is just ruins, but a lot of fun to explore.  We walked down 113 steps to see where they would pull their ships under the castle for quick get aways from their enemies.  It was really neat, but that meant we had to walk back up those 113 steps.  Riley, Kirsten, Simeon, and I were the only ones who made that little trek.  Simeon rode on Riley’s back all the way back up the steps.  When we got up the steps he said “Man, we walked up all those steps.  I need a drink.”  He also told me yesterday that he was tired and he needed to “Recharge his batteries”, and then went to sleep.

It was rainy all day today.  We have learned that you just go, because if you waited for the sun you would be waiting a long, long time.

We are off to Carrick Fergus Castle tomorrow and who knows where else.  We have to cram a lot into a few short days.  We have really been enjoying having them here.  It is always great to have family with us.  We will be sad to see them leave on Thursday morning.

We gave the kids their birthday presents.  Peyton got a digital camera from all of us, and she loves it.  She has been taking pictures of everything.  She also received a journal from Uncle Lynn and Aunt Becky, and has been writing in it everyday.  Simeon, his birthday is the 27th,  got some transformer toys and shirts from his different Uncles and Aunts.  We got him a toy drum set and he loves them.  He plays on them all the time.  He tells us he is Greg, which is Greg Fowler our drummer at West Point.  He loves Greg and wants to play the drums like him.

To end on a great note!!!   We received reports from West Point.  Over the weekend they had a children’s revival, twenty kids received the Holy Ghost and six were baptized.  We are so excited about this.  God is truly an awesome God.

The last two weekends at our churches have been amazing.  Sis. Lynn Harvey was baptized a week ago Sunday.  We are so happy for this step she has taken.  We then traveled to Dublin where they had an awesome time worshipping and being blessed by God.  I am now teaching Sunday School class, so I was unable to hear the preaching, but by the way it sounded it was great.

This Sunday in Gilford the presence of the Lord was so awesome.  We started worshipping and everyone was getting a touch.  The young people started praying for each other.  Sasha got an amazing touch from the Lord.  I believe that God did a lot of unseen things in our midst.  We are getting ready to see amazing things happen in Ireland.

They then traveled to Dublin where Riley ministered to them.  The kids and I didn’t go, because Simeon was sick, but apparently we missed a great service.  They had a great altar service for about an hour.  People were getting blessed and needs were meet.

God is such a great and awesome God.  He always knows what we need, when we need it.  He knows all and I am so glad He has control of my life.  I couldn’t imagine a life without Him.  To God be all the glory!!!

Bro. Mac., Riley, and Dennis, our Aimer from Herrick, IL., have been very busy the last two weeks working around the church.  They got the caravan, or as we would say house trailer, taken apart and destroyed.  They finished getting the AIM flat back in working order.  Dennis has been staying with us for the last two weeks until the flat was fixed.  He took his stuff to move into it today.  We have enjoyed having Dennis with us.  Boy, can he eat.

We are so excited!!!  Eleisha, Riley’s sister, and our cousin Seneatha are flying in Friday for a week.  We can’t wait to see them.  We have many fun things that we want to do within a few short days.

Thank you to everyone who left comments for Peyton.  You made her day even more special.  Thank you for caring enough to want to wish her a Happy Birthday.  You are very great people.  We love you all.

I would like to wish our first born daughter a very Happy Birthday today.  Peyton is 12 years old today.  She is very excited about this birthday, because she is now in the youth group age.  Although, we don’t have a youth here she is still excited.   I want to take this time to thank you Peyton, for being a great young lady.  I know God is going to use you mightily.  Sometimes, you would rather be back home in Doniphan, but God sees your sacrifice and will honor and bless you for it.  You have been great through all this.  Thank you baby, and Happy Birthday.  Daddy and I love you very much!!!

Happy 12th Birthday!!!

I will post another blog tomorrow, but I wanted to dedicate this one to Peyton.

Yesterday we took a field trip to Tollymore National Forest and Newcastle.  Since it was technically a school day we deemed it an official school field trip.  We had a lot of fun and seen a lot of beautiful scenery.  We went with the McFarland’s (Bro. & Sis. Mac, Shawna, Ashley and Caleb)  and our newly arrived AIM’er Dennis Conway.  Dennis is from a great church pastored by Jermery and Tom Suey in Herrick Illinois.  Dennis traveled back with us from the Men’s Conference and is going to be with us for a couple of months.

The kids had a blast on the trip.  Tollymore looks like you walked into a Robin Hood fairy tale.  There is a stream that runs through the park, and it is beautiful.  Peyton found out first hand how cold the water can be in March.  She and Caleb were out exploring ahead of the rest of us and she slipped and fell in.  Because those two were out running around we didn’t get many pictures of her.

After Tollymore we headed off to Newcastle and drove down the coast.  We stopped at the harbor and watched the fishing boats come in.  We also got to watch about five seals play in the harbor.  The kids thought that was really cool and have been talking about it ever since.  After we left the harbor we drove on down the coast and enjoyed the rest of the day.  Believe it our not the day started out with crazy weather.  Within an hour we saw hail, sleet, snow, rain and then sunshine.  We were glad to see the sun as it turned out to be a wonderful day.

Take a look at our Flickr site to see all our photos of the day and as always we love your comments.

Our Flickr Site

A few or our favorites:

I am back in Ireland after spending a week in Herrick, Illinois.  I didn’t get to make it down to South East Missouri and I wish I could have, but time just didn’t allow it.  Seven of us from Ireland were able to attend the conference and we had a great time.  We were able to hear some awesome preaching from T.F. Tenney, Anthony Mangun, Thomas Suey and David Shatwell.  We also enjoyed some great music and worship services.  Bro. Tom Suey and his son Jeremy are the host pastors of the conference and every year it seems to just get bigger.  This year there were over 700 men who attended.

Kyle Harvey was one of the men who got to come with us.  He is our very own bagpiper and used to compete professionally.  He is awesome and he played at the conference.  Needless to say he was a huge hit and did an excellent job.  My Dad also showed up for the conference and I was glad I got to spend time with him.  He and I shared a hotel room and other than his snoring we had a great time.   I also got to see my second cousin Bobby Gentry and his son Marcus.  I was happy for that as well I just wish we could have had more time to visit.

Tara and the kids survived another week without me, which I didn’t have any doubts that they would.  I was very glad to get home to them.  The kids were happy too and I am pretty sure Tara was as well.  Towards the end of the week I got an email from Tara that made me laugh out loud.  Tara said that the kids were getting pretty rowdy and stressing her out.  She had to get on to them several times and even sent them to their rooms for a little while.  Later that night they sat down for dinner and Simeon prayed for the meal.  After asking for blessings on the food he said “Oh and God please help Mommy to calm down”.  Tara quickly followed by asking God to please help Simeon not be a brat.  He is our in house comedian and always keeps us laughing.

I almost forgot we are also happy to have with us for the next couple of months Dennis Conway.  He is from Bro. Suey’s church and is here as an AIM’er.  He is staying with us for a few days until we are able to get the AIM Flat in order.  We moved it a few weeks ago on the church property and still haven’t’ got the power and water hooked back up.  This guy is amazing and his testimony is just as amazing.  We are glad he is here and welcome the extra help.

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Herrick this past week…