Life is good here in Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams are sharing power. The British Army left the country last night after 38 years of conflict. The summer is bringing many new faces from around the world. People are coming to play at Corrymeela who have never left their neighborhood and Niki and I are planning two pilgrimages. Our first pilgrimage is going to be on the Isle of Iona. We plan to arrive on the island this Friday and on Tuesday take a free 7 hour pilgrimage tour of the island beginning at the Abbey. The second pilgrimage is going to be in Spain with Nathan and Kari Enns. The pilgrimage is to Santiago de Compostela and has been travelled by millions.
Time seems to be flying by. It's hard to believe we only have two more weeks left of work. We finish work on the 23rd of July and then have a retreat with the Long Term Volunteer team before saying goodbye. Goodbyes are common here at Corrymeela with over 8000 visitors this year alone, but the end of the year will be different. On the plus end we are finishing the year well. Niki and I now know Corrymeela like the back of our hands, we are getting to know very interesting people that have come up to volunteer for the summer, and Kristen and Philip are 
engaged.
engaged. As I mentioned in the last post I would write more about our family visits. Both of our families spent some time with us travelling in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, also both of our families spent time with us at Corrymeela. Niki's parents volunteered with us for the church and peace conference while at the center and my family stayed on site while taking day tours. There was much to see and do such as historical sites and beautiful scenery, but the most enjoyable was being together again with family.
On October 2nd we will arrive back in Calgary. When we get back we hope to catch up with everyone. We will be spending time in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan before the New Year and after that we tentatively plan to buy a house in Winnipeg.
