Saturday...Almost time to head home!

Well I would like to PTL for holding the rain off today! It was supposed to start raining at 5:30pm and it did not start until 10:00pm. Us guys had a great day today! Along with the girls.

I'll start with the girls. Linda texted Denny a few times today, and we could tell that she was excited. God has done amazing things in Navan, at the ladies retreat. At the beginning of the day, us guys were planning on going to Bray, but since we saw it was going to rain on the forecast we went to plan B. Plan B was that we were going to Ballymun to clean up a flat that Michael (Me-haul) will use for his work. ( Ann here...plan B was actually plan A...but they can think whatever they want)

Michael works with little children, for an outreach center. The flat we cleaned was broken into and ransacked by teenagers. It was sad, but an awesome way to evangelize. After Ballymun, we went to a mall in Blanchardstown. The mall was huge, but me being a guy, there was absolutely nothing there that appealed to me. We were planning on being there for two hours, but we couldn't take it any longer, so we got lunch from Burger King, and went to the largest park in Ireland, Phoenix Park. It was a beautiful park, and we all enjoyed a much more gratifying meal than McDonald's! After the park, Denny had an idea of taking us to another castle. I thought it would be like 45 minutes from where we live, but it is only about 5 minutes away. The castle is called Ardgillan Castle, and I'm guessing it was built in the 17th century. The garden and fields there were breath taking! Not to mention the perfect view of the Irish Sea (Atlanitc Ocean) from the castle. We went home after the castle and had a quick supper. After supper, we set off for Navan for a concert we put on for the Ladies Retreat. I got to see my new friend that I made there yesterday. He is a little black Jack Russell Terrier, who I named Rocco. I love that little pup. I also made new friends while warming up on my trumpet. I warmed up playing Carnival of Venice, and a herd of Irish Cattle came and watched me intently. It was hilarious!!! There will be pictures! (This truly was the funniest thing ever. As Mike played the cows started running towards him. He stopped and they stopped coming. He started playing again and they started running until they got the the fence and they all just lined up in a row to listen to him.)

The concert went very well, we sang a couple church songs, and Jim and Ruth played a few classical songs, and I sang just like Louis Armstrong in What a Wonderful World. After the concert, Ann kicked us out, because the ladies were going to have ice cream sundaes. When Ann said that, all of the ladies had pity on us, but Ann still made us leave. (Ann here...as you can tell I am such the bad guy on the team) And right now I am going to be quite frank. We (the guys) went to Mickey D's and had ourselves our own Sundaes and they were delicious, far better than the ones in the US. Take that Ann. Ann here again...I am the one who asked Denny to make sure he took them for ice cream since they didn't get to stay for sundaes....but again...they can think what they want! :)

So, tomorrow is our last full day here, and if you guys could pray for us as we bring this trip that God has blessed us with to an end, that would be great! Also, pray for us to have a safe trip home, pray especially for Ann and me, we both are terrified to fly. Take care and God Bless!!!!
Love,Michael and the 2008 Ireland team