For those of you who haven't heard of them, Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that accepts ponytails 10 inches or longer and/or financial contributions in order to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to an illness or due to medical treatments to treat their condition. It takes 6-10 ponytails to make one wig! You can visit their website at http://www.locksoflove.org/ for more informaion.
Before:
After:
This is the shortest I've ever had my hair. I decided to go for a new style as well, so I got side sweeping bangs and layers too, which was another big step - but I love it! Most importantly, a child is now one step closer to having a wig, and to having their dignity and sense of identity restored!
"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.... This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God". - 2 Corinthians 9:7,12
On our way from Dublin to Killarney, we drove through Cashel and stopped to visit "The Rock of Cashel". An old stone fortress dating back to the 12th century.
That night after arriving in Killarney, we went out to a local favorite "Paddy's" for Valentine's Day dinner. We enjoyed smoked salmon with herbal cream cheese on milled bread (thankfully recommended by Jim when he went to Ireland), king prawns, roasted duck, tender sirloin steak and for dessert we shared some warm apple crumble with warm vanilla sauce and Toblerone cheesecake. It was delicious!! So much for New Year's resolutions... ;)
After staying the night at the beautiful Killarney Oaks Hotel and enjoying a full Irish breakfast the next morning, we set out in the car to drive "The Ring of Kerry" - Ireland's most beautiful countryside along the coast: 
There were sheep everywhere... in the fields, in the yards, on the roads.... I wanted to take one home as a souvenir but Kurt didn't think customs (or our landlord) would appreciate that idea.
We set back on the road through Limerick and back to Dublin. We wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher in county Claire but we were in a time crunch and weren't able to make it. As it was, we didn't arrive into Dublin until after 2100. We took a cab to Temple Bar (a main street in downtown Dublin with restaurants and pubs) and had some fresh oysters, fresh Atlantic seafood chowder and corned beef and cabbage. Kurt also found his Hard Rock Cafe and got his t-shirt :)
Ireland was a great trip but definitely requires more than three days! It would have been nice if we'd had a whole week to spend there... maybe next time! ;)
Here is Flat Stanley getting examined by one of our techs and by Dr. Morales:
Here is Flat Stanley waiting on a warmer for a baby to be born:
Watching the delivery must have been too much for him:
Luckily we were prepared and were able to help him out... "CLEAR!"
Flat Stanley wanted to see the OR, where all the c-sections occur. Here we are getting ready: 
Flat Stanley on the OR table:
He wanted to say hello to Landstuhl's security cameras... but got in trouble because security called and wanted to know what he was up to!
We arrived when it was dark out so we didn't see the mountains until we woke up. Here is the view from our balcony the next morning:
The mountains were beautiful. There was fresh powder and you could head down one trail, connect to another, and then to another, skiing all the way across the mountain, without reaching the bottom (don't worry Doug, we had a map!). It was beautiful!!! 
There were many places to stop on the trails to get a bite to eat of to have a glass of wine. Be ready to pay 40 Swiss Franks for lunch... but it was a beautiful view and your aching muscles will thank you for the rest! The first day was warm and the sun was out so everyone took advantage of the outdoor bar:
The second day was a lot colder and the sun was no where is sight. In fact, when you got to the top of the mountain, visibility was about 20 feet because it was blizzarding so hard. That made for an interesting ride. You couldn't tell if you were headed up or down until your knees were suddenly by your nose or until the ground dropped out from under you. I obviously don't have many photos from that day. Kurt is getting very good at skiing. This was only his 3rd time on skis and he has caught on so quickly! 
Kurt, the king of the mountain:
...and his queen...
The little wooden, Swiss homes were adorable!!! They had beautifully carved, wooden panels, lining their balconies. They had flowers in pots outside the windows with bows tied on them and each roof had about 2 feet of pure, white snow on them. They were darling!
Here were some of our skiing companions, Don and Robin Lech. 
Their home is beautiful! It used to be a barn and they renovated it into a home. It is unbelievable! Here is a guest room that overlooks the living room:
One of their many mantles... this is a hint of what every wall in every room looks like!
Our labor and delivery team! Not everyone was able to attend the party but here is a picture of the nurses that were there - Santa's little helpers:
We did the white elephant gift game. There were some very nice gifts there! Kurt was the first one to open a gift and he got "romantic rose" bubble bath and an exfoliating sponge... everyone got a good laugh from that! I got beer mugs... so we ended up swapping ;) 
We had a great time!