All Souls Day

Every year on All Souls Day we head out to the cemetery in which my grandfather is buried. He passed away in 2011 and is buried nearby, and this is one of the few experiences our children have had with death. Every year that we go out there they seem to remember the visit from previous years and they plan to do a little more... This year the boys wanted to bring rags and towels to wipe off the grave marker, Beth brought some clippings from our garden, and they all knew they wanted to go walk through the babies' graves nearby to find siblings of some of their friends. 

My grandfather chose his plot because he wanted to be near the babies who had been buried there. He was wildly pro-life and every year I'm reminded of how his passion marked him even past his death. 

I can't help myself, but I always tear up as we walk through the markers of the children. Babies who were born still, 10 days old, 3 years old... The agony and sorrow of their parents is beyond comprehension to me.

Every year is a new opportunity for us to talk a little about life and death. To get over the "creepy" factor of bones being under the ground to the purpose of life- that our eternal souls live in heaven for ever. We are not bodies with a soul- we are souls with a temporary body.

I'm thankful that they're on their way to understanding that this life isn't all there is. Anytime I feel concerned that they're not learning enough in school, or getting enough "life experiences," I remind myself that there's more than what we see. And that the goal isn't Harvard- it's heaven. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, oh Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.  May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Happy All Saint's Day!

"Saints are just sinners who kept trying."

Today's homily brought tears to my eyes several times as he preached about the importance of our heavenly friends and intercessors. They walk with us, they worship with us during mass. They've lived the same lives we are living, and they've succeeded in joining Christ in heaven! The kids were invited to wear their Saint costumes- and he suggested that maybe one day a child would be dressed as them for All Saint's Day! 

St. Gianna, St. Luke, St. John Bosco, and St. Bernadette 

Some of our books and all of our Saint peg dolls. I hope to leave all of this up for a couple of weeks at least, so we can focus on reading these books.

Today the children could come to mass dressed in their saint costumes! This is only half of the children who dressed up.

Our Pilgrimage, Parts One and Two (Gulf Shores and DC)

We had our itinerary ready, more or less, for our two-week adventure away from home.  I had a list of prayer intentions from friends, and we had planned and packed and planned some more for a successful trip with our little ones.  We've taken long road trips before, but never anything this extreme, so I pulled some new ideas from Pinterest, packed up our meals in brown paper bags, purchased a few new fun items, and readied our audiobooks.  I may do a separate post on another day about some of our most successful "tools" for traveling with four children because I feel like a bit of a professional now!

The first leg of our trip took us to Gulf Shores, Alabama, where we stayed for two nights with our dear friends and their children.  10 kids and 4 adults in a three-bedroom condo- and yet I felt like we could have fit another person or two pretty easily!  I think this might have been Caeli's first time to really experience the ocean.  We all enjoyed lots of sand and sun, empty beaches, fishing, and late-night conversations.

I have so many photos, so I'll keep the words to a minimum!  I want to share what I am thankful for during this part of the trip!

For silly, happy babies in the backseat- as long as Mommy or Daddy sat nearby.  For the 8th seat in the back that allowed me to be there for her, and the miraculous appearance of a Fresh Market after a missed turn in Alabama.

State-line rest stops that give us the chance to run, beat trees with sticks, and look at new things.

 

Glee-filled baby smiles of her first real romp in the water!

  

Perfect weather.

 Sugar sand and water as clear as the sky.

My sweet little family, posing impatiently because of all the play that's left to be had.

 

Friends that hold a special place in our hearts, friends whom we deeply cherish.

  

The gift of a true, deep friendship that allows us to ponder in our hearts the meaning of this life.  The value of our children and the importance of family, the sharing of a community that not only introduces new experiences, but creates memories that will last forever.

 So many people, watching out for each other.  Wading in the still water, waiting for a bite.  

 Success!

 And success again! 

 Someone is thankful for her pacifier and a bit of quiet time in the sand.

 

I'm thankful to have been standing next to him in a quick moment of terror, thankful that a quick pinch is all he felt.  That the sting ray left me alone so I could aide him.

 

The ray that stung Luke?  We'll never know.

(Not dead!)

  

 

Sweet children whose friendships know no age boundaries.  True friendships that I pray will last a lifetime.

 

Beach time naps for sleepy girls.

  

 

 The summoning of gulls.

 This man, my life, my husband.  Another chance to stick our toes in the sand together.

My sweet baby, almost 21 months.  Her tanned, beautiful skin.  Exhausted by sun, sand, and water. 

The chance to make up new games, make new memories.

A beautiful sunset that you just wouldn't believe, and children's silhouettes even more beautiful.

 

  The chance to take the intentions of family, friends, and followers to Jesus and beg 

Him for answers to your prayers.

The next leg of our trip took us to a tiny town in North Carolina, where my mother played an excellent hostess and put all fourteen of us up for a few short hours.  Ryan and I dread the interstate between Mobile and Montgomery, but coming up to Atlanta always feels like a bit of a landmark on the drive.  We shared children amongst the vehicles; we took two of theirs and they took two of ours.  It made the drive so simple when they each had a new face to look at.  Luke and Fina made silly faces at each other for at least an hour! 

After a day filled with traveling, we managed to stay up late chatting, wake up relatively early, and hit the road again.  This time, we split up- they went a little northwest and we went a little northeast.  Our destination was the northwest tip of Delaware, and the drive was beautiful.  
 

We arrived to happy cousins a little after dinnertime, drank wine and gobbled up dinner, found legos to play with, and eventually went to bed.

The next morning was Wednesday.  Back in the car again, but this time just Ryan and me!  Our two-hour trip took felt like nothing as we drove into Washington DC to attend holy mass with our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  That day, he canonized Saint Junipero Serra, founder of many of the missions in California.  We met our friends, drove into town together, and hopped on a charted bus that took us to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  (Ryan and I had been here once before, when Beth and Luke were little in 2009.) We had tickets to a standing-room area, which was a blessing in disguise!  We didn't realize Pope Francis would drive on the street in his pope-mobile, so once we realized what was happening I encouraged Ryan to run to see him while I held our standing-room area.  He was able to be caught up in the moment of all the people, got some great pictures, then ran back to me to hold our spot! The mass was completely in Spanish, though I was able to mostly see the screens to see the translation of his homily.

 

Our view during mass wasn't fantastic, but I did enjoy being by the full orchestra and the several choirs that were there.  We were also standing right behind one of the cameras that filmed mass, and that was very distracting yet intriguing for me to watch!  Before mass started, we talked to the man who moved the camera arm around, and he told us a little about how they filmed.  It reminded me of when I went to Rome in 1998 and we found a Swiss Guard who would chat with us about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.  I also noticed the security around the top of the dome. I love it!

 

  

 

Toward the end of mass, would you believe we ran into someone we knew?  Of the 25,000 people there, I turned around and was face-to-face with a friend's sister and her husband.  This world is small!


After mass was over, we took our bus back to the hotel.  We had been offered the chance to purchase tickets to a bishop's reception after mass, which included over 200 bishops and cardinals who were ready to unwind after a busy day!  I had snuck off to the bathroom and when I came out, I walked into a hallway flooded with bishops and cardinals.  I was a little overwhelmed and starstruck so I just stood there for a minute and soaked it all in.

I walked back to find our group and I realized I recognized a bishop- it was Bishop Mike Sis, my beloved pastor from St. Mary's in College Station!  I skipped up to him and gave him a big hug, which I realized later might have been completely inappropriate!  We sat by him during the reception and had the chance to chat and catch up a bit, and it was such an honor and pleasure to speak with him.

That night, we stayed up late (again) then crashed on a blow-up mattress on the floor of our generous hosts. We left by 9 the next morning to drive back to Delaware- and I'll post more photos of that portion of the trip soon!