Serve one another

Last week was a busy one! So I don't forget, congratulations to #3, who cruised right through Beginner lessons and will be in Advanced Beginner with #2 in a few weeks. It is wonderful when the time arrives and the child is ready to pursue a goal. Sometimes I push the others and then I see one that is actually ready and think, why am I pushing them early? Society...boo on you ;0)

Of course she enjoyed herself on the last day...ug.

This was "fun day" in the deep end (thus the vest). He actually swims reasonably well without it.

Having gone through two weeks of lessons and an entire week of Maranatha (it was wonderful as always...worth the sleep deprivation), we promptly passed out early on Friday...Saturday was the day we'd all been waiting for!
 
We were up and out by 7:40 AM so that we could get our "favorite" seats at the Cathedral. They are the parents' favorite seats anyway, since a giant pillar slows down any little person prone to wander. Turns out the little people were quickly in dreamland but it's always good to prepare.

The big day had arrived...Ordination Day! Three men would become priests today and three men transitional deacons. We were here because we are blessed to be connected to one of the priests and one of the deacons. Adam is the son of our youngest's godparents and Ben has been our surly, devout, and always liturgically astute seminarian for the past year. We were full of joy to witness this major milestone in their vocation.

DH said it looks like some album cover for a German rock band. LOL. I like the Holy Family behind the not-quite-so-holy family (but then, they were two parents and only one, exceptional child)

The fish in the pond (look behind them in the above photo) were jumping like crazy...perhaps they also knew it was a special day.

Chatting with father-of-the-priest/godpapa before Mass began...see how nice and tidy he is? He did not look that way 4 hours later.

The Mass was only 3 hours so, with a nap, it wasn't unbearable. For those of us above the age of 10, it was amazing. What a beautiful thing to watch the established priests (and even those reasonably new) welcome the newest members of their vocation. It is a private club, for sure, yet how blessed we are that there are so many who are willing. What a glorious day to see the men who are not only called but who say "yes" and give their lives over to Christ and His Church. Wow.

This is a few years ago. The priest in the middle is our former (as of yesterday) Parochial Vicar, Fr. Ken. If you've never been to an Ordination, it gives you a good idea. It was a blessing to attend.

We didn't stay for the reception or new priest blessings. We knew we would see Fr. Adam later on and we were graced enough to be assigned a new priest to take Fr. Ken's place. That, in addition to the wonderful news that Deacon Ben would also return (woot, woot!).

Home, change, take #s 1-3 to Slovak language class. Cause, you know, why just hang out and have a nap? I was also dumb enough to run/walk a 5K while I was waiting (in the 88 degree/95% humidity afternoon). Yes, I do have friends with tiny children who run faster than me...I'm good with that ;0)

Back home, chill a bit then put the dress clothes back on...head out to the reception for Fr. Adam. What a wonderful evening. We got to share a table with the priest who baptized #2 then promptly moved away (perhaps he saw what was going to happen with this boy) and we all enjoyed a lovely Italian feast! The kids were even honored to sing The Magnificat with their friends as a gift to the Blessed Mother and new priest. They sang the version written by Fr. James Chepponis, who happened to be directing the Cathedral choir at the Ordination that very morning...don't you love the Holy Spirit?

I have no pictures of anything, sorry. I was just trying to soak up the moments as they happened... Oh, I do have two pictures and a funny story from the end of the night.

We were trying to make our exit quietly since the reception was still in full swing and we didn't want to disrupt anything. I was trying to do it then because, had we waited 10 minutes, it would have been our typical leave-with-hysterical-children-screaming-and-causing-a-scene-due-to-extreme-exhaustion. We almost made it.

A dear woman sitting at the table next to us jumps up and says, "Do you see her (#4's) dress? It's a perfect match with mine! How wonderful is that? You have to take a picture!" You can't say no to this person. You wouldn't want to. Her joy bubbles over and infects everyone in the immediate area.

After the photo op, she asked if the kids were allowed to have something, said, "let's see what I have in my purse," and proceeded to hand over a jumbo pack of glow sticks. It would take a mother of many kids to think about carrying such things around. They made for the perfect ending to such an amazing day...filled with God's love shown through so many different, wonderful servants.

The red, white and blue "fireflies" that came out just before bed.

Sunday was equally blessed. We attended the 11 AM Mass, the last for our beloved Fr. Ken. The kids have had such a wonderful time with him the last two years. They were able to substitute as altar servers and, apart from #1 nearly having a breakdown, it worked out wonderfully. It is sad to see him go but we know his new parish will benefit greatly from his role as Pastor.

We opted out of Adam's first Mass in his home parish because, after Saturday, we needed some solid family time. We found it at the pool. It's getting to be my favorite place.

papa bear and four of his cubs

little man and I needed to recover a bit from the busy week

We are blessed.