This flying visitor looks red-dy for Pentecost today! It is a migrating Western Tanager. We mark our family calendar to remind us to be on the lookout for these beautiful birds. Our house is in their flight path in mid-May each year.
Recognized for his soon-to-be earned AA degree with 60-some other high school 'Running Start' students, Zachary (somewhat reluctantly) took his place of honor on the stage at Whatcom Community College. Each student had a moment in the spotlight where his academic and other successes were outlined and his plans for the future were announced. After Zachary's introduction, a collective gasp was heard in the auditorium. Seriously. This kid is amazing. May God be praised!
If I had to guess, I would say goldfinch, the state bird here in Washington. But maybe it is a female warbler migrating with her mate? Ryan? There was a time on our home school when identifying birds was very high on our to-do list. We listened to recordings of bird calls to further assist our identification efforts.
Time with the twins is more fun than ever, as they have grown into playing together and say many words and are better at expressing their wants and needs. Their mom brings them to play at least once each week, and last week we even had a sleep-over. Luke must have missed the memo about the sleep part, and he had more of a scream-over. But Leia slept through all his hysterics and we remember well his dislike for naps and bedtime from the many months he lived with us as our foster son. They are so dear to us, even when they are screaming.
One more funeral, bringing our total to three this week. May Belia rest in peace. Every moment with our pastor is a gift, especially as we prepare for his departure from our parish in one week. I am especially grateful that we made the decision to center our home school schedule around daily worship, giving us all the chance to be students of Father Qui Thac. His pastoral ministry, solid teaching and bringing us Jesus every day has blessed us profoundly during these past six years. He will be missed.
As he prepares to enter the Benedictine Monastery, our pastor has gradually and continually been getting rid of all his stuff. He will have no personal property as a monk, and therefor has no need for his things. After the funeral on Friday, the boys helped him take his vestments to his car, to be donated to the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry Chaplain. Father Qui Thac's emptying of his closets, drawers and shelves serves as a great reminder for us all that we can't take it with us in the end. So there's no use being too attached to it now. Let it go.
The second annual Iwo Jima float at our local Ski2Sea Grand Parade featured two of our boys, and two sets of brothers from our close home school and Scouting friends. The Marine Auxiliary sponsored the float which won either 'best green float' or 'best Memorial Day themed float' (we aren't exactly sure).
The boys love being able to play military and dress up like heroes for the day again this year. We sat along the route and cheered for them as they passed us by. Free hamburgers grilled by the Harley Davidson shop a few blocks away made lunch a snap. Happy Memorial Day all.
No comments:
Post a Comment