Ireland

In June we took a trip to Ireland and NYC with my Grandma Johnson and Cousin Rachel - it was such a great trip.   Rachel was celebrating her graduation from high school.  We started with a red-eye flight to NYC, and spent 2.5 days there seeing all we could.   And then another red eye to Dublin where Steve drove us from Dublin, out to Kilenard, then down to Kilarney for two days - which was a great adventure for all - in particular Rachel :).  Then we drove north to Galway for two days, and then up to Northern Ireland, visited the Giant's Causeway, and then back down to Dublin.  

Blarney Castle - We all climbed to the top and kissed the stone of course!

Torc Waterfall - with Grandma and Rachel - off the Ring of Kerry

Cliffs of Moher - my favorite spot in Ireland

Rachel at the Cliffs of Moher

Kylemoor Abbey - so picturesque 

Just relaxing with Rachel, Grandma and Steve on the walk to the English Garden at Kylemoor Abbey

Kilmeinham Gaol - or Jail - on our last day in Ireland

Our Driver and trusty car for the trip

Chicago

During the Fall of 2012 we went to the Mid-West - Steve had never been to the Mid-West at all and I had never been to Chicago it was definitely on our bucket list. Originally we had planned to go to the BYU - Notre Dame Game with Steve's parents but about a week before our trip Steve's mom had a sudden heart attack - it turned out to be okay and she is doing well - but we had to switch up the trip a bit and instead of taking them with us and touring Nauvoo prior to the game - we decided to go to Chicago, since we would be so close - we loved it - one of our favorite cities. 

 

It was cold but not too cold - we walked and walked and toured and toured for the two days we had in Chicago - tried two different times of deep dish at Giordano's (our favorite) and Lou Malnati's also good.   We had Chicago popcorn, Chicago hot dogs - took a boat ride, it was definitely a city we will visit again.

After Chicago we headed to Notre Dame area and since we were so close we figured we needed to drop by Michigan and cross another state off the list - neither of us had been to Michigan before so we went to Benton Harbor did a little shopping - drove around walked out to this light house.  It was beautiful - but as we were there we noticed all the closed plants etc.   and so we did a little research the median income in Benton Harber was around $20,000 per year - it's funny how we don't think that there is poverty in the United States.

Then on Saturday we made it to Notre Dame - the game was great - the campus and stadium were awesome, and the fans were all nice.  BYU even came close to beating Notre Dame - which means even more now that the season is over and Notre Dame finished regular season play undefeated.

After the game Saturday night we drove back down to Indianapolis which is where we flew in and out of and we decided Sunday to take in the Colts vs. Browns game - we had great seats, and a good time.  Although we both thought the atmosphere at Notre Dame had a little more excitement event though it had far less technology.  

After the Colts game we had the evening to explore Indianapolis - Steve had never been, and I had only been there once for work so we had some Steak and Shake (one of our favorites) walked around town, and even went on a haunted tour of President Benjamin Harrison's home. 

We were definitely sad that Steve's parents couldn't join us and we will be taking a trip with them this spring.  But, it was definitely a lemonade from lemons situation - because we had an incredible trip.