The Blessings of Godparents

During Abigail's Baptism, Father asked her Godparents why we picked them.  There was a moment of awkwardness as they looked at each other and I tried to restrain myself from jumping in and answering for them!   They answered by stating their promise to pray for and bless Abigail.  


Now I'd like a chance to answer this question!

1.  Em is my "Sacrament buddy"!  I was her sponsor in RCIA.   We were maid/matrons of honor in each other's weddings.  We are their son's Godparents.  We're "Sacrament buddies!"
2. Tim and Em have been life-lines and prayer warriors for me when I could not be for myself.  They have stood by and up for me in life's highest and lowest times- and I know they will pray our daughter through her highs and lows as well.   
3. Tim and Emily are wholly committed to the Lord and His Catholic Church, and seek to do His will above all as they grow in His image.  This is reflected in their character, actions, knowledge, beliefs, marriage, family, friendships, community and beyond.  It is beautiful to see how people are drawn to them because of their joy, gentleness, interest in others and service.  We know Abigail will be drawn to them in the same way that we are, and that their love for each other will be sincere and genuine!

All my pictures with Tim include baby Abigail!  I'll have to wait to post those.    :(  But here's Em!

For a glimpse of their faithfulness and thoughtfulness, here are some things they did for Abigail's Baptism.  


They hosted her party afterwards.  Em had really wanted to host a shower for me, but due to distance and time restraints, it wasn't going to work.  So they offered to host the Baptism party.  BUT they were visiting from out of town and staying an hour and a half away!  It's a little tricky to host a party from ninety minutes away! No problem for this couple.  Their acts of service began through weeks of prep work and organization.  They planned a beautiful party for our sweet girl that perfectly captured the spirit of her Baptism.  


In lieu of party favors, there was a card stating, "In honor of Abigail's Baptism and in remembrance that we too have been welcomed into the family of God, a donation has been made for the care of orphans."

Tim and Emily sent Abigail an incredible present!  Hair bows with religious medals!  One for her Baptism, and one for Christmas.  They thoughtfully ordered the Christmas bow as a clip so that she can wear it for years to come!  Check out the website- Hairbows for Life!  Isn't this the sweetest thing ever!  I love these!!!!  

The Holy Family

Our Blessed Mother Baptismal Bow

Through the years, when faced with difficult decisions or trying times, I have created prayer cards to carry with me to pray through moments of pain.  (See HERE)  Knowing this, Emily incorporated this into Abigail's Baptismal present and party.  She created about twenty-thirty beautiful prayer cards with hand-written verses to bless Abigail.  They handed one to every person at the party and asked them to use it to pray a blessing over Abigail!  Here are a few:

What a joy to know how many blessings have been prayed over our sweet girl already!  We are using these cards to continue to bless Abigail every day.  Lord, hear our prayer!!


Thank you, Jesus, for such incredible Godparents for our girl.  We know that they will assist Abigail as she grows in faith, love and knowledge.  They will help us to fulfill our duty as parents to help Abigail grow into the image of Christ.  We are so grateful for their friendship, and for the blessing they are to our family.  


We love you Tim, Emily and kids!!!

Getting Caught Up...

I can hardly believe it is 2011!!!!  We spent the last two weeks traveling and spending times with friends and family.  What a blessing!!!  However we had very limited internet access!  I'm getting caught up now- on your blogs and on our end, too!  Here's a snapshot of our itinerary.


Day 1: Part one of our drive home to Texas.  Drove 6 hours and stopped to visit Barbie!  WHAT A JOY to meet Barbie, ALANA and her wonderful husband!!!  Barbie is even sweeter and more beautiful than appears on the blog- and Alana...well I really could eat her with a spoon!  She is absolutely precious!  It was adorable to see the babes staring at each other and Alana reaching for Abigail's hand!  And my husband really enjoyed Barbie's husband!  I love it when all four people get along!  Too bad we're not closer, Barbie!!!

Hopefully I will be able to reveal her beautiful face SOON!!!!

Day 2: Part two of our drive home- another ten hours in the car.  The first day of driving was hard, but Abigail did MUCH better day 2.  YEA!  


Days 3 and 4- relaxed!


Day 5- drove 45 minutes each way for dinner with friends!  SO sad but we both forgot our cameras and the iPhone picture just didn't turn out at all.  


Day 6- drove 45 minutes each way for lunch with a friend!


Day 7- Every year I make a *fancy* dinner for my immediate family.  We dined on prime rib with a roasted shallot port-reduction sauce, potato-bacon cake complete with Gruyère, Yorkshire pudding, spinach salad with a poppyseed vinaigrette, and molten chocolate cakes for desert!

This is actually my Mom and me at last year's dinner!  But it's pretty much the same thing!  

Day 8- Christmas eve Mass!  I cried and cried- rejoicing in our baby girl, remembering all the pasts Christmases I longed for her, and praying for all my blogging friends!


Day 9- CHRISTMAS!

Day 10- ABIGAIL'S BAPTISM!!!!!  More on this coming soon!

Day 11- Drove 2.5 hours to Oklahoma to visit friends.


Day 12- drove back!


Day 15- Tearful goodbyes as we headed home.  We drove 6 hours and spent New Year's Eve with two of my best college friends and their families.  


Day 16- HOME at last!  Another ten hours in the car and we have made a road warrior out of Abigail!


In other news-
TPR- termination of parental rights is scheduled for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5!!!!!  Of course, the date can always change at the last minute, but we've been counting down the days.  This will be a huge sigh of relief!  And I'm hoping to be able to post pictures after this!  Please pray that all will go as anticipated on Wednesday!

Chuck E. Cheese!

I was recently able to spend time with one of my very best friends and her family.  You might remember them from my Godson's Baptism pictures and Hannah's Pantie Party post!  Look how big they've gotten in just a couple of months! 

We went to Chuck E. Cheese and had a blast taking turns playing games with Hannah and holding Caleb.  Look how beautiful they are!! 

Hannah has mastered the process of game-playing. 

First you insert the token,

play the game,

and collect your tickets!

It's fun to enjoy the rides sometimes, too.  They may not give you tickets, but who wouldn't want to go around the clock?!

If  you're VERY blessed, you get to meet Chuck himself!  He might even let you touch his nose!

And WHO KNEW that ol' Chuck was a master artist?  Check THIS out:

Can't wait until the next time I get to see you guys! 

Fondue with Friends!

For those of you who are new, last year my husband spent 7 months working in Europe.  As soon as school ended, I joined him, and we had a blast!  One of the highlights of the trip for me was taking a bus to Gruyere, Switzerland, where they make Gruyere cheese.  Oh yes- authentic Gruyere cheese.  It was INCREDIBLE!  Then we hopped on a train and rode through the Alps to a chocolate factory that we toured and, of course, sampled!  You can read about it and see pictures here. 

On that trip, I bought a couple vacuumed-sealed packages of Gruyere.  We had one fondue party when we returned home with my family and our dear friends Emily, Tim and Ashley.  For my birthday, Emily gave me a fondue pot of my own! 

So I had one package of Gruyere left.  And I was holding out.  I did not want to open it for just anyone!  I was waiting for real "food friends" who could appreciate it's awesomeness! 

In the military, it's not uncommon to make wonderful new friends, only to have them move a couple months later.  Such is the case with Melissa and Patrick.  Melissa is a real, authentic, beautiful Catholic woman and her friendship has been a real blessing and source of grace.  They have three amazing daughters- a five year old and twin (almost!) three year olds and it is a blessing to spend time with them!  We are so sad to see them go, but before they left, we busted out the Gruyere cheese and had a fondue party!

For starters we had Gruyere and Swiss fondue, with fabulous baguettes, crisp green apple slices, carrots and broccoli.

For our main course we had beef and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms.  (We used green onion and chive cream cheese, and dipped the mushrooms in a batter before we cooked them in the oil.)

And for desert we had dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and marshmallows. 

We love our food friends! 

*Melissa, I'll "see you in the Eucharist"!*

Caleb's Baptism

We were so honored to be asked to serve as Caleb's Godparents.  It felt natural, since we'd been praying for him since before we even knew about him!  He was born a few states away, and we were so anxious to meet this little guy!  Due to many circumstances, they decided to Baptise him right away.  We were EXTRA thankful to get to meet him while he was still so tiny!

I caught this sweet trio in Mass before the Baptism!  I think she likes him!

We love you, Caleb and promise to be faithful to the Lord and to be active in your faith life.  You will always be in our prayers.

Hannah's Pantie Party!

I have gotten behind in posting picture of events.  And Hannah's "Pantie Party" was quite the event.  All the big girls were there.  To bribe encourage Hannah with potty training, her Mom had the amazingly fabulous idea to celebrate with a pantie party!  When she successfully used the potty for #2, they would buy her big girl panties and have a party.  Amazingly, she conquered this major achievement right after her brother was born, resulting a party and lots of attention- which is nice when the attention is suddenly diverted away from you!  Even better- we got to attend since we were in town for her brother's Baptism!

I gave Hannah the button I wore when my two brothers were born.  I'd held on to it for all these years and discovered it among my things recently. How fun to pass it on!

Hannah is VERY happy about her new panties! 

She's the princess!

Hey!  Where'd she go?  OH!  THERE she is!!

I love this precious family!

We love our neighbors!

Our friends and neighbors are getting ready to move.  We have so enjoyed spending time with and getting to know them.  I'm dreading them leaving.  Michelle and I feel like Lucy and Ethel!  It will be so lonely when they're gone, and without this little munchkin, the house will be so quiet!  She's our little "house baby"! 

Doctor of Thinkology...

Earlier in the month, our friend and neighbor graduated with her Ph.D.!  It was so exciting!  Did you know that when you're friends and family of a Ph.D. candidate you get special seats?  Yep!  You have to show your ticket to get into the special section.  We had beautiful (hot) weather to celebrate this great day!

Wizard of Oz: They have one thing you haven't got: a diploma. Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Universitartus Committiartum E Pluribus Unum, I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of ThD.

Scarecrow: ThD?

Wizard of Oz: That's... Doctor of Thinkology.

She looks so smart!  (She is!)

(And to continue with the Wizard of Oz quotes...)

Scarecrow: The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Oh joy! Rapture! I got a brain! How can I ever thank you enough?


Wizard of Oz: You can't.

(One of my top five movies.  Maybe #1.  Who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz?!)

Meet Caleb!

I am already in love with my God-son!

We're such proud God-parents!

Isn't he beautiful?