Day 8

Kristen posing on the steps of an unsuspecting building. I love this picture.
Shawna, Nathaniel, David, Kristen, and Ashley in font of a very colorful building in Banbridge. Lovely colors in Ireland.

Here are a couple of the pictures of the furniture that we bought...

The biggest wardrobe (above)...And a phone table (below).

Elayna is keeping up with the blog.

Dawson on what we call the "billy cart." He loves this thing. The only problem is that he can't reach the pedals so we have to push him.

Yesterday, we went shopping in Banbridge. The weather was perfect. Then we came home and played games with the kids. It was a nice relaxing day.

Elayna is feeling better. She isn't running fever anymore! Thanks for praying.

Settlement

We are getting settled into our house now. We spent the night here for the first time last night. It is crazy here. NO mirrors in the bathrooms. No closets in the rooms. The refrigerator is tiny. I guess that is why they call everything "wee" here. It is a wee refrigerator. And the washer/dryer combo is too funny for wee words. It is about the size of a dishwasher. We'll have to buy one though, because the owner didn't leave it in the house.

Elayna is running a fever. We'll probably bring her to the doctor today. She has been running fever since Sunday. I thought it was her teeth or a cold because her nose is running, but it makes me nervous with her urinary tract problem. Pray. And we'll keep you posted.

Yesterday,
David drove miles away to pickup a bed from a warehouse. Very expensive to buy a bed. The mattress is so cheap that the springs are almost visible on your skin when you wake up. I'm pretty sure that David had markings on his face this morning when we woke up. LOL

We had church last night. Well, some of us did. I stayed home with Elayna, and Ashley McFarland stayed home sick too. David played the guitar and taught the Bible study.

Shawna and I went shopping for hangers and food. The food here doesn't have as many preservatives. Therefore, you have to go shopping more often. Bread is definitely different. And they don't have Lil' Debbie! Yikes. I thought that I knew what bland was, but now I really know.

Will try and post pics later today. The neighbor here is so nice. He let us use his wireless connection info so that we wouldn't be without communication. We are still waiting for them to come and hook our phone up.

Lots of love!

Blessings

Nathaniel and Dawson. Having fun together. Nate is very patient with Dawson.
Shawna Mansfield and Dawson. One of his new best friends. She is really great with him.

We had a great time today (Monday...a random bank holiday so we couldn't get our phone turned on yet). We went to a thrift shop (which is not at all like ours in the states...but are really very nice with true antiques for a bargain) today and bought some great furniture. And really it was practically given to us....a real blessing from God. We got two super nice wardrobes (because they don't have closets here), an antique phone table, and some other odds and ends all for $100! I will put pics up online soon. Everyone here worked so hard to get that furniture loaded up and moved in! We'll have to cook some Jambalaya for them as soon as we get settled.

The house is really coming together. We really like the furniture that the Macs had for us. It goes perfect with the house.

Tomorrow, we hope to get our phone turned on, and stay the night in our new house.

Church went really well on Sunday. We had 18 people there. Yeah! It's not 800 but close. LOL. We have been in smaller services. It is customary here to have coffee or tea with biscuits (cookies) after church and visit awhile. The Irish talk so fast. I have a hard time following everything that they say. But one of the ladies kept saying how "bright" Elayna is. I guess that she means that she is smart and not referring to her skin color. LOL. I don't know how she can tell that she is smart by just looking at her. But of-course she is really smart.

Shawna Mansfield is an AIMer here for the summer. She is AWESOME! I feel like her and I have been friends forever. I'm already missing her knowing that she is leaving when summer is up.

Ashley & Caleb McFarland are really sweet. They too have made us feel at home.

The McFarland's nephew, Nathaniel, is here too for the summer. He really helps with the handyman work. It was nice to have him here today to help us move.

The McFarlands are coming at the end of June! Wahoo. We can't wait.

Bear shaped Bologna...everyone needs some of that. LOL

Elayna, that sweet baby girl.

David & Kristen, happily ever after.

Dawson, tired after a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

I Met the Nettles

For all of Ireland's beautiful country side, who would have known it contains something called nettles? Now I know all to well!

Dawson and I set out across a large field to walk up a beautiful hill across the way. It was picturesque and inviting. We came to a barbed wire fence that was about waist high and I set Dawson on the other side. As I climbed on the top strand of barbed wire in my effort to hop the fence, the strand gave way and I fell back into a growth of these nettles.

I immediately knew something was wrong. It felt like a thousand needles had punctured my arms and hands. I tried to brush the pesky stickers away, but there was nothing there. No, I had been "stung" as it were. Almost immediately large whelps appeared, not unlike those received from the common bee sting.

Fortunately, there was a local Irishman back at the house and he showed me a plant that serves as an antidote to the miserable nettle bite. The whelps are mostly gone, though I have had a tingling sensation for hours.

Now I just have to wait for the barbed wire gash in my leg to heal.

Battle scars, friends, battle scars....

Home!

We're here! What an incredible feeling as we flew over Ireland and landed in Belfast...the entire time I just kept feeling like I had made it home. Farrah told me she was feeling the same way!

We drove to the McFarlands and had lunch and then slept for 2 hours. Then we went over and viewed our house and signed the papers. It's everything we were promised and we really like it!

Still trying to deal with jet lag, but otherwise we are feeling great. We are so excited!

Send Off

David preached (I don't understood why the past tense of "preach" isn't "praught" because "teach" is "taught"....anyways...) at a sweet church in New Roads Sunday morning pastored by Brother Cole. We had a wonderful service. It is so nice to visit at a church that makes you feel at home. And what a beautiful little town that is. I wonder where the people out there work?? It seems so far from everything.

And then David "praught" at our church Sunday night. (Yes, we had a very busy Sunday. Needless, to say the kids were worn out on Monday. I think that Elayna slept most of the day.) Brother Johnson and the church gave us a great farewell. We feel so loved! It is awesome to be a part of a wonderful church family. We will hold each of you dear to our hearts.

We are leaving Baton Rouge around 10:30 and departing from New Orleans at 2:30 on Thursday (good Lord willing). Please keep us in your prayers that we will have a nice and easy trip to Belfast.

Oh by the way, we received our Visas by UPS today! Thank you Jesus!

We appreciate your prayers! And God Bless!

House & Surprise Party

Lots of people have wanted to see the house where we will be living in Ireland. Here is the link:

http://www.letsrentni.co.uk/main.htm

Once on the website click: Properties (the red tab at the top)
Then: Donaghcloney
Then: Click on the red brick house that says "Donaghcloney Let Agreed"

We are so excited! Dawson is looking forward to getting a new bed (maybe he'll sleep in it all night...lol). We are trying to prepare Dawson for the move. So, we have been telling him about our great move that is about to take place. At one point he said, "maybe I'll get a new guitar in Ireland." We all know that he doesn't need another one. He already has 6. But 'tis true that we are only taking one with us. He probably does need at least one more. (Smile)

Kristen's school friends threw her a surprise going away party today. It was very nice! She truly was surprised.

Lots more packing and cleaning to do around here, but I think I'll get a few hours of sleep tonight and start over in the morning.

Wow...

Wow! You are good. You all must have really touched God with our prayer requests! Today, we were able to get partial insurance for Elayna, and we received an email that stated that we should receive our Visas on Tuesday (whew - that is cutting it close).

We really appreciate your prayers!

Just a little stressed....

In case you all have not noticed, we are moving out of the country in 7 days! Think about it...moving a family of five over seas. Wow! You KNOW my house looks like a hurricane hit it. So, please don't judge the mess as me being a slouchy house wife. I am trying to take care of a baby, toddler, and teenager while packing to move to the great Emerald Isle. And by the way, I don't think that either of the three kids have really clued in to this fact. They sure haven't stopped demanding time from me! To think they still expect to be fed, and entertained. Thank God for the good help that we have during all of this chaos!

Please pray:
1. Elayna has been denied insurance (twice) due to her previous condition with her urinary tract. We really need to have her covered.

2. And pray that our Visas will arrive before departure date...because we can't leave without them. (fake smile)

Thanks! And lots of love!

Rev. & Mrs. Bunch

The Bunch Boys

"Weather" Or Not...Here We Come

This is too funny. Check out this site for the average temperatures in Belfast.
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USME0024
We are so not use to cold weather. LOL. I guess we'll get use to it! I'm glad that we are getting some warm weather before we leave.

RSS Updates

To anyone who is tech minded and likes to use RSS feeds, I wanted to point out that you can subscribe to our blog by clicking on the subscribe link at the bottom of the page.

For those of you who may not know but are interested, all you have to do is set up a page to receive your updates (such as My Yahoo) and any time you log in you will be able to see if anything new is happening at iBunch.

It's helpful if you normally surf many sites and just want to check us out when there is something new.

The Bunch Ladies - Easter Pics

Rolling

We're rolling....someone forgot to tell us that there would be more to do than there are hours in the day. But thanks to our families, church family, and friends, it is starting to come together.

Last Friday was my last day at LWCC...it was really a day of mixed emotions. I am not only excited about going to Ireland, but also about walking into my calling of full time ministry. But at the same time, it is not easy to leave an environment and friends that have been a part of my life for the last nine years.

But I've really felt God's assurance every step of the way, and He is working in our lives - visibly.

Last Sunday night I had the opportunity to minister at the Hispanic church that is affiliated with FPCDS. God's Spirit really was there in a great way, and Pastor Curtis and his family were such a blessing to us.

Then on Tuesday night I was invited to attend the prayer group in Holden. All I can say is "wow"...what a powerful prayer meeting. Everyone should attend it at least once. We had a supernatural move of the Spirit and left that place feeling blessed and commissioned to go do the work of God.

New Layout!

Welcome to the all new iBunch! We decided to do a new layout....and you'll probably see even more changes when Farrah gets finished with it!

So many exciting things are happening now as we count down to departure date (May 22nd)! We are waiting on our visas, and we are beginning the process of moving out/storing/packing....

God has blessed us in so many ways....!

Godspeed,
dB