Summer Update

What a busy summer this has been! Just an update on what we've been up to...

The week before Fourth of July we got a fence put up! YAY! This is turning into my dream home! One thing at a time :)

One day we went to see the flooding at Rick's Boatyard. An historical event for sure. Uncle Mike with all his nephews and Mena.

Another weekend Tom and I took the kids to Des Moines. We stayed at a Ramada with a water park and the next day visited the Science center.

Happy Feet soccer camp. One hour, one night a week, 3 boys play soccer, less than a mile from our house. Also this spring we played family baseball at a neighbor friend's backyard park where there is a diamond. This is the extent of our formal sports. The rest of the summer has been full of made up ball games in the driveway/circle and swimming in our new pool! Above ground 14ft diameter, 3700 gallon. It's a lot to take care of but it's SO nice on these hot days. On June 2nd we bought a new van. Not a mini-van --no a 12 passenger bus! When we went camping earlier this spring we were stuffed into our old minivan. The ac went out ($700 worth of repairs) and we decided to just go ahead and upgrade since we will probably need one in another couple years when number 6 comes along and we could use the space anyway. Gas mpg isn't as good but we can fit our bikes and camping gear and wagon, coolers... anything else we need to bring. Of course it's never enough space :) I miss my driver's side passenger door but other than that it will do very well. It even fits in our garage!

The many faces of 7month old Mena... She is such a happy baby! She's almost crawling and she's gotten over her refusal of baby food. She has 2 bottom teeth and is working on the top ones now.

Tom and I celebrate 10 years of marriage on Thursday! We are going to Applebees with the kids. That was where we went on our first date over 12 years ago. At the end of August, baby and I will join him for a quick trip to California for a couple nights.

Hope you are having a great summer! May God bless us in our vocations and give us the strength to do the work He has set for us, being always thankful for the joy and peace that comes with doing His will.

Happy 5th Birthday Xavier!

April 10th was on a Sunday this year. On that day we had godparents and grandparents over for a small party. He got some fireman Megablocks, a Mater car ramp, a Starwars transformer, and a bubble machine. It was a fun afternoon!

Here he is with his twin Gabriel... and his brother Zachary..

and his bubble machine...

The icecream cake was something we will do again. It was a hit and really easy to order :)

Happy Birthday Xavier!

Blaise's First Communion day

April 3rd, 2011 ~ Blaise Alexander received his First Communion! He has been preparing for a long time for this day and it was finally here. For the last 9 days he has been praying a novena and making a "garden" of beautiful flowers representing virtues in his soul. Blaise's seriousness about this big step outweighed his excitement by far. He knows how important this sacrament is. He was almost nervous about it, but I know Jesus is pleased and so happy to get to come to Blaise. May He shower him with graces and grow Blaise into the strong virtuous man we know he will be. May his faith and love for Christ be strengthened, especially through these "little visits." We didn't get pictures of the Mass but here are some afterwards... There were 12 other children in his class. 2 girls and 11 boys. Here they are being enrolled in the scapular... and the miraculous medal:

My dad's sister on the left and my oldest brother James on the right. Mom and dad in the middle.

Immaculate Conception's First Communion class of 2011

Godparents Mr & Mrs Stock

Mena is really looking like her dad in this picture!

We thought Blaise couldn't get much higher than receiving our Lord for the first time. I guess we were wrong

Pilgrimage to Minnesota and Wisconsin

Tom had a three day weekend so we took an impromptu trip to St Paul/ Minneapolis to see the Cathederal (and Mall of America) and then to LaCross Wisconsin to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine. On the way, we even got to stop and visit our pastor in his home town and meet his family.

This is the cathedral in St Paul. It is a replica of St Peter's in Rome and is an amazing sight to see. We arrived an hour before 7am Mass started. I didn't get any pictures of the inside but here is the website. http://www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/ In the basement there is a LEGO Cathedral that fascinated the boys.

After Mass we went to IHOP and then over to the Mall of America. First stop... LEGO land!!!

...then a bit of time at Nickelodeon Universe http://www.nickelodeonuniverse.com/

We went to check in at the hotel, took our naps, had some turkey sandwiches and then went back to the Mall for the evening.

Dominic and Xavier next to Woody

The next morning we packed up, went to Mass at Holy Trinity and then drove to Winona where our pastor is from. http://www.visitwinona.com/

After a short visit, tour of the town, and lunch at Beano's for some wonderfully unique sandwiches, we headed to Lacrosse for our final pilgrimage stop. http://www.guadalupeshrine.org/ It was cold and a little rainy but, hey, it's a pilgrimage. And it was well worth the 1\2 mile! What a beautiful church! I didn't even think to take a picture.

...but we got plenty of pictures of the SPAM Museum on the way back :) The Hormel plant is in Austin and we were driving right through. It was a really fun and interactive museum! Much more than expected. Admission was free and we learned all we could ever want to know about SPAM!

Blaise on the assembly line...

Mena is 3 months on this trip and showing her sweet personality.

That night we made it back in time for the Cub Scout Pack meeting with our guest speaker Alex Henery --record breaking Nebraska kicker!

And today we celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation! What a fruitful week it's been!

It's a GIRL!!!

We have a GIRL!!!

Philomena Marie

12-17-10

6#1oz

21 inches

Philomena has been a name we have been thinking of since before we were married. Well, Tom liked it a lot. It grew on me. Now there is no doubt. This girl was meant to be a Philomena. I agreed to the name when hearing what she will go by : Mena! I love it and it fits perfectly.



Not only is Philomena named after a beautiful saint who is very close to our Lord, but it has Greek, and Italian ties. "Meena" is a popular Korean name meaning beautiful. and I just found out that there are many women named Philomena in Ireland!

Anyway. She wasn't due until the 23rd but I was trying to go into labor early. On my way up to my 39week appointment I decided to take the stairs and jog up. By the time I got in to see the doc I was 3cm and 70%effaced. During one of the contractions, which were 2.5min apart, her heart rate dropped. That concerned the doc enough to monitor me for a while and then send me over to labor and delivery. I was in LABOR!! Yay!

My brother came over to watch the boys while Tom hurried to the hospital and hoped he could get off work that night. A couple hours after they put me on the IV fluids, my contractions had noticeably started slowing down. So pitocin was started at 8pm. At 11pm my water was broken. Active labor started at 1:30 when I hit 6cm. Next thing we knew it was nearly 3am and I was 9cm. At that point the doctor was called. He came right in, and caught the baby. 3:06am! 2pushes! As far as labors go, this one was as easy as it gets (minus the epidural of course) I don't know if I would have had time for one if I had wanted one anyway. What a blessing! Stacey my labor and delivery nurse.

Dominic is a big brother again!

and Zachary is a big brother for the first time! He calls her Philomena

but it sounds like "Pretty Mena"


Xavier holding Mena for the first time

Blaise is more excited to meet her than anyone. He has been talking to her in the womb pretty regularly and telling her how much he wants to meet her.

Mena Marie Day1
We left the hospital Saturday afternoon and welcomed our new daughter home.

She was a little jaundiced when we brought her home so she would sit in front of the window with a heater nearby.

Mena's first bath was December 23rd, the day after her cord came off. She ENJOYED the warm water in our bathroom sink. She's so precious.

At a young age, Saint Philomena died a martyr's death instead of denying our Lord and giving herself to Diocletian. He had her imprisoned, scourged, thrown into the Tiber with an anchor, then dragged through the streets of Rome. She was even shot with arrows but they all missed. Nothing worked until he finally had her beheaded. In the meantime, many people came to Christ because of her Christian fortitude and our Lord's protection of her.

St Philomena, pray for us.

A Christmas Baptism

Philomena was baptized into the life of Christ on Christmas Day after the 10:30 Mass by Father Brancich. Meg and Shane Knopp are her godparents.


And Dominic got to serve!

All the prayers and rituals involved in the traditional baptism have such deep meaning. From the actual entrance into the church to the dedication at the end. Oh I'm a sucker for anyone's baptism but especially of my own children. Is there anything more beautiful than bringing a soul to Christ? Thank God for this great blessing!