My birthday...

Today Esther, Aunt Hazel and Uncle Thomas all suprised me after breakfast with a necklace for my birthday! Then Aunt Hazel informed me that I was making dinner. She wanted sloppy joe's. So I got those made and also made some chocolate chip cookies. They said that ours are different so they wanted me to make them. They actually turned out pretty good consider I BUY the cookie dough at home! :-) After dinner, they suprised me again with a birthday cake!

Mom and dad called and then Krista called. Team Bentson sang Happy Birthday and then I got to talk to Abbie and Drew before their naps. I'm not sure where Evan and Owen were.

Tonight Esther, Samuel and I are going out for a little while.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Candy...

I hope you all have a sweet tooth because I am bringing back lots of sweets. The majority is going to Grandma but I did get a little something for everyone!! I have tested most everything and believe me... IT IS ALL GOOD!!!

I forgot to mention that I weighed the bag this in currently in... 30+ lbs!!

Guess where I had lunch today!

Today has been an absolutely beautiful day! I was up bright and early and went for a walk around the park and then over to get the paper. After breakfast I walked over to the store and got cans of caramel so I can make bannofee pie at home!! I saw Edith, Matthew and Rebecca on the way and Margaret works there so I chatter with her for a few minutes. Then I walked up to Aunt Christines for a visit. She was happy to see me again and told me to be sure to stop by again tomorrow.

I didn't get back to Thomas and Hazel's in time for lunch so I walked to SUBWAY and got a sandwich. You guessed it... Turkey and Ham on Italian Herbs and Cheese. It was really good!!

Uncle Thomas had his nap and once he got up we took him out for a walk. He was so glad to be out in the fresh air and sun. Let me tell ya, the hill in front of their house is HUGE when you are pushing a wheelchair. We walked over to the pharmacy and then he wanted to stop by Aunt Christines, so we did. She was so surprised to see him outside her door. He was very proud to get out of the wheelchair and walk in the house. We had a nice visit and once again as we were leaving, she told me to be sure to stop up tomorrow.

I plan to walk over to the store later to get the few things that I need to bring home. I wish I knew how many miles I put on in a day here!

Uncle Thomas

I thought that Uncle Thomas was overwhelmed with Iowa Hawkeye things on their last visit to the US so I thought I would even it out a bit with some Minnesota Gophers...
~It's not Attitude, we are that good.~

Good morning!

Well it is about 6:30am here and I have been awake since about 6:00. I figured I could update my blog quick while I am waiting for it to get light enough to go walking. The weather has been absolutely amazing since I have been here! It has only rained one day and it doesn't look like it is supposed to again before I leave. It is hard to believe that I only have four days left here.

Tuesday night I went over to Brian (Uncle Sammy's Son) and Ediths for dinner. Matthew (5) was in bed already and Rebecca (9) went to be soon after I got there. Margaret (Uncle Sammy's daughter) and Stephen were there. It was fun to catch up with all of them again. And the Banafee Pie was EXCELLENT!!! (Brian and Edith are the first picture and Stephen and Margaret are the second.)

Yesterday was a busy day. Lisa and I walked up to see Aunt Christine for a bit in the moring. We came back to Uncle Thomas and Aunt Hazel's and had lunch then Lisa left for the airport. Since I didn't walk in the morning, I went for an hour and a half walk in the afernoon. I walked out to the edge of town and got some nice pictures of the country. My cousin Margaret picked me up and took me to visit Uncle Sammy. Then I went to her house for dinner. It was a lot of fun to visit with her and her daughter Stephanie.

Today I will visit Aunt Christine again and show her all of my pictures that I have taken. She is going to Bill and Pauline's on Saturday for Easter. Not sure if I will see Bill and Pauline.

Esther returns tonight so we will have to see what kind of trouble we can cause in the next few days!!

I better get ready for my walk since it is now almost 7:00!

Killyleagh Castle

Lisa and I drove over to Killyleagh today to see Esther and so that I could finally see the castle where she works. It is huge! I feel sorry for Esther having to keep track of kids in that house. There are a ton of hiding spots and so many stairways you can easily get lost!! They have a beautiful view of Killyleagh, especially from the tower.

After about 17 years...

I finally got to see Samuel and his family. His wife Yvonne and children, Clare and Robert. Esther, Lisa and I drove to Bangor where Samuel lives. We had fun visiting about his trip to Orlando, FL (he just returned yesterday) and my stay so far in N.Ireland. Their kids were anxious to hang out with their friends since they had been away for two weeks. Samuel, Yvonne, Esther, Lisa and I went out for fish and chips. Yes-I ate them and it was really good. Yes - I had them with ketchup! Samuel said that they would come over either Thursday or Friday so I will see them again before I go.

Carrickfergus Castle

Today Uncle Thomas, Esther, Lisa and I went for a drive to Carrickfergus. (Aunt Hazel stayed home so she could keep an eye on our dinner) We didn't tour the castle as we did that last time I was here. Lisa and I walked around the castle and Esther and Uncle Thomas waited in the van for us. It was a beautiful shunshiny drive.

Belfast Giants

Last night Lisa, Phil and I went to the Belfast Giants hockey games. It was a good game. The Giants scored within the first 10 seconds of the start. After that it slowed down a bit. It was a quick game as it was over in just over 2 hours. The important thing is they won 3-1.