Happy New Year {The Eve}

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us...

A gang of good boys, together on New Year's Eve, after Mass, to celebrate 

Kevin's 18th birthday (far L)

and to have a Foosball battle... well after bedtime

Chris on the ladder... miming?

Composing...

"Hey, we should compose ring tones!"

The sharing of rye bread: 

We take many small bites, torn from each person's slice, as a sign of friendship in the New Year...

We eat the rye bread with pickled herring at midnight,

which is an old Polish tradition, carried on faithfully by our slightly Polish 

(and fairly Scottish/Irish) boys and our guests each New Year.

Happy New Year!

On this day, we re-dedicate our family into the care of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his (and our) Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph.  May they continue to guide us, watch over us, protect us and inspire us to live as children of the light in this New Year.

"You may say that I'm a dreamer

but I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you will join us

and the world will be as one."

~JOHN LENNON

On this World Day of Peace:
Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me...

QUIZ

My little sister Molly and me on Christmas Eve

Question:
What do the following things have in common?

• 6 Scouts lost on a trail (who were supposed to be on a sidewalk)
• 1 new game's box chewed up by Rocky
• 1 kitchen faucet on the blink
• 1 forgotten wallet
• 1 cancelled ski day
• 3 passport applications delayed due to clerk's mathematical error
• 1 surprise expansion opportunity for business
• 1 traffic jam
• 1 kitchen piled high with dirty dishes
• 1 huge pile of dog puke
• 1 dead cell phone and
• a decapitated pigeon (probably by a possum) discovered by a distraught 10 year old owner

Any guesses?

Molly's boys, Niko (our Godson) and Mike pose with Zac on Christmas Eve

Answer:

These are all things that we've experienced in the past 30 hours (+/-)!

What a day...

It's about time to start a New Year, wouldn't you say?

My grandma (93) with her kids: Uncle Dan and my mom

It's amazing to compare 2010 with last year's Christmas Eve.  In December 2009, my Grandma was recovering from a broken neck, dislocated pelvis and other injuries after a fall down a flight of stairs at home.  Look at her now!  Goes to show the power of prayer!  

Success! {Great Gift from Joseph}

Remember Teaching Through Failure?

With Grandpa Cliff's tutoring, Joseph completed the building (stool) project for his Carpentry Merit Badge.

and he gave me the stool for Christmas!

What a great gift.  

In other great gift news, Tim surprised each of us with a round-trip ticket to Rome!

Cleverly tucked inside Rome and Italy travel books, Tim had wrapped our tickets to Rome!!!

Our trip will coincide with our 20th wedding anniversary, and it's a pilgrimage we have been dreaming of taking as a family for a long time.   To compliment the tickets, Tim's parents gifted us with a week at a resort of our choosing in Italy through their vacation time-share ownership.  Let the planning begin!

Today is the

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage. To destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.

You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers and fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong you own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself. ~from a sermon by bishop Saint Quodvultdeus about the Holy Innocents (+450AD)  taken from: http://saints.sqpn.com/holy-innocents/ 

Let us lift up our prayers today for the thousands of innocent babies who are killed every day by abortion.
Let us ask God to heal those who have been wounded by abortion, that they may come to know the everlasting peace of Christ and to immerse themselves in His endless mercy.  May we reach out to help mothers (and fathers) who are in crisis and to assist those who are suffering in their parenting, with our works and with our prayers.  Holy Innocents, Pray for Us!

Merry Christmas

Joseph and Peter (candle bearers) and Zachary (thurifer; incense bearer) serve at Christmas morning Mass, celebrated by Father Qui Thac, our beloved pastor.

I just read a beautiful blog post about Angels seen by a little girl near the altar at the midnight Christmas Mass... what a gift!  

I also found this inspirational message about protecting our families from danger, in a homily given on Holy Family Sunday (yesterday).

At our midnight Mass, Joseph and Peter sang "Gesu Bambino" during the prelude. They sang beautifully. 

May your Christmas Season be holy!

Christmas Eve {Flashback Friday}

‎"My little Jesus, 

tonight You will humble Yourself and become human for my sake, 

for all of us, 

and bear on You all the sin and suffering of this world 

so that we may have forever life! 

What greater love is to be found?" ~St. Therese

2008

Joseph, Peter and Zachary visit the Nativity Scene at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Christmas Day.

from the USCCB

Today our family will celebrate Christmas Eve with a whole crowd of cousins, ranging in age from 17 to 5 months, and with my grandma, who is 93!   We were up early baking oatmeal carmelitas, and organizing a few last minute details in preparation for what will be a 3-day celebration of Jesus' birth. 


At the midnight Christmas Mass, Joseph and Peter will be singing a prelude (their first time at Church), and Zachary and Joseph are servers.  Tomorrow morning, we will attend the 11AM Christmas Morning Mass, (by the boys' request we're attending two Christmas Masses) and all three boys will be serving.  Sunday my dad will join us for Mass, and spend the day with us.  


We wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and pray that you will draw nearer to Jesus each day in the coming New Year!




For anyone who is returning to the Church at Christmas, here's a great site to visit: http://www.catholicscomehome.org/  Also a great site for anyone who wants to simply learn more about the Catholic Church.  

Charlie's Shame {Pizza Box Gluttony}

Someone had a little too much fun at Tim's birthday party yesterday...

Charlie will eat absolutely anything, so why not a cardboard box with greasy pizza stains?

We dubbed his costume the new "cone of shame."

Yes, we are reporting Charlie to his vet today, and hope that treatment will be forthcoming.

At least pizza boxes don't require surgical removal (like the corn cobs Charlie chowed down a few years ago that had to be surgically removed by our uncle-brother vet, Craig).

We brought home Hot & Ready pizzas for lunch after celebrating Mass together yesterday (and confession).  Tim took the day off so we could spoil him.  We hosted a lasagna dinner topped off with lemon meringue pie to celebrate with Tim's parents.

We wondered why Ezra didn't come up to join in the dessert festivities, and when we went to check on him, we found him "reading" on his bed.  Must have been a very good book!

Precious Newborn {Baby Girl}

Last night, our Goddaughter, Hope, became a big sister!

Upon awakening, Peter made a card for the family, and gave baby girl (yet unnamed) her first rosary, plus $2.

Tim and Hannah read Peter's greeting.

Peter holds the new baby, while her big sisters Hannah and Hope, and mom, Nicole, look on.

Such joy!
Such perfection!
Praise God for the gift of another new life!

Nicole invited me to be present at this home birth, which was quite a gift.  My official title was videographer; Renee was the photographer, and Melissa, the Douala.   Nicole showed amazing strength and recollection during the birth, and using her self-taught hypnosis clearly allowed her to remain perfectly calm during the most painful moments of giving birth.
It looked like Tim would be delivering his daughter unassisted, the labor progressed so rapidly.  The midwife arrived in the nick of time, and Tim was able to 'catch' the baby.  Big sister, Hope, helped cut the cord!

This home birth was an amazing experience, and one I will not soon forget.
~~~~~~
My husband, Tim's birthday is today!  May God shower him with blessings on this day and everyday!