Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays

Sunday night we celebrated Elizabeth's 9th and Pauly's 6th birthdays with the grandparents. Andrew and Shawna drove into town later in the evening. We had a lot of fun celebrating 2 great kids. We love you!

Andrew and George- the oldest and the youngest of the grandkids.

Everyone including George enjoyed the ribs. Good eats!

Grandpa P.J. had some quality time with Pauly and the new legos.

Wednesday was Elizabeth's official birthday. We had friends over for some swimming and yes more food and cake.

9 years ago our lives were forever changed when we became parents. We are so grateful for our beautiful children; they are truly blessings from the Lord. Elizabeth is becoming such a beautiful young lady. We are so proud of her and all her hard work; her nick name is " little mother" because she is so eager to help with the little ones and she is so good at it. We love you Elizabeth. May the Lord bless you through the years and may you grow in grace and love for the Lord.

Happy 6th Birthday Pauly!!!

It's hard to believe that 6 years have gone by.
I'm looking at these pictures with his baby book on my lap and just amazed at the handsome boy Pauly is turning out to be. He's by far not our easiest child, but we can definitely say the house is not the same when he's not around. Without a doubt, he is part of God's plan to get me to Heaven someday. He keeps us hoping.

Gabriella could not resist blowing out the candles. Of course Pauly did not think it was as cute as the rest of us, but he kept it cool. We relit the candles, sang a little more, and he was good to go.



We love you Pauly. May your love for Jesus grow as you grow. Mother Mary watch over Pauly and lead him to your beloved son Jesus.

Happy Birthday Boys...

Tonight we had our good friends over to celebrate Pauly's 6th birthday and their son Thomas' 4th birthday. Their official birthdays are this weekend, but we celebrated tonight. Lots of fun!

The dads and the kids got a little crazy with some water balloons. I will definitely be buying more. It was fun to watch who could move faster, the dads filling or the kids breaking. Thankfully, no one was injured in the making of these pictures.








To my surprise, I managed to pull off a pretty neat birthday cake. I love making the cakes for the kids' birthdays, and I usually only have a slight idea of what I am going to do. Definitely a work in the making when I decorate cakes. Well this cake was definitely spontaneous creativity; there was no plan only pure adrenaline. Thanks to some encouragement from my niece, I think dinosaur land came to life if I do say so myself. The boys loved it.

As if celebrating the boys' birthdays wasn't enough cause for excitement, we got to see one week old Rose Josephine Gertrude. She was a bundle of pure heaven. She is doing great; so tiny and precious. No shortage of love around here.

George looks like such a moose compared to little Rosie. We managed to keep him at a safe distance, but he sure tried.

Happy Birthday Myriah!

Tonight we got to celebrate Myriah's 15th birthday. May the Lord bless you in the years to come Myriah.

The kids got a swimming pool for their birthdays. A little small for a large group of kids, but they still had a lot of fun. Pauly was out numbered by girls 6 to 1, but he managed.

Kristina decided to take Myriah on at air hockey. This is my big garage sale find of the summer; $5 for an air hockey table is my kind of bargain. It was fun to hear "competetive" Kristina come out a little, but even better to hear her and the kids laughing together.


Gabriella tried her hand at some basketball while the big girls played air hockey. So cute; thankfully she didn't fall- this time.

Thanks for entrusting us with such an important event. We're so thankful to be a part of your lives.

3 weeks early, but she's here...

Today took an interesting twist. After listening to me rant a little, my ver pregnant girlfriend very casually says "I think I may have a slow leak." In my ever so calm fashion I say "WHAT" followed by "are you planning to go to the dr?" To which she replies "no I don't think so, there's a lot going on, I think I'll just wait and see what happens." Thankfully I was able to convince her to go to the hospital because 5 short hours later she delivered baby ?. They figured they still had some time to decide on a name, so for now she is nameless but ever so cute and precious. It was wonderful to hold a new little life in my arms; it restored a little of my joy today. Thank you Lord for this new little baby to love and hold. May she be richly blessed, and may she grow to love and serve You.

Feeling the weight of it...

Today marks 2 weeks, and I am really feeling the weight of Paul's death. I'm sad, angry, frustrated... I am honored to be able to walk this journey of grief with Kristina and the kids, but I just hate it and have to keep reminding myself that it is true. At times it hits me, this is not a movie or family I am counseling. This is my sister in Christ who's heart has been shredded. This is no short term thing that I can just speak a quick truth and make her feel better. I feel so selfish to talk about my feelings when I know the enormity for Kristina and the kids, and yet I know I am grieving too. I am in a whole new world of being a wife and mother to my own family while trying to in some small way ease the pain and help another family, desperately trying to provide some kind of stability. It is only by God's grace that I am finding the wisdom to know when to be quiet and just listen or the words to say when needed and the energy to balance two families. I am at such a loss. Kristina was the one I always went to when I needed truth to be spoken to me, when I was overwhelmed and needed a friend. We were never both down at the same time. I know the Lord wants Him to be enough for me, and He wants me to go to Him for my truth and inspiration, and yet I can hardly find the words to say to Him. Why did this have to be the way to get our attention? I have so many questions,fears and thoughts now. I know the Lord has a plan and He loves us, but this doesn't feel like love.Thank you all so much for your prayers for Kristina and her family; keep them coming. Despite what she thinks, she is enduring this time of trial with amazing courage and strength. I am witnessing God's grace and mercies as well as an enormous amount of anguish. Last night I was able to get Kristina to leave the house. We visited the cemetery and then went to adoration. Just too intense and painful to even find the words to describe. Please, please pray for them especially Kristina. She has such a tough road ahead as the reality and finality of it all continues to set in. And please pray for me that I have the wisdom, courage, strength and compassion to walk along side her and the kids. Please pray that I might be able to fight the fear of "what's next?" - "who's next?"

Stopping to catch my breath and collect my thoughts for a minute or at least trying to...

Do you ever spend a lot of time working on something only to have it disappear? That's what just happened to the post I was working on. Frustration is an understatement right now. I had worked hard to get out what I wanted to say, and now I have to figure it all out again, ugh. The pictures above were supposed to go down below, but I can't seem to get them to cooperate and move or delete.

Ok, so maybe I'm having some anger issues tonight, but I think that is allowed considering the stress I've been under. To say the last few weeks have been a roller coaster of events and emotions is an understatement to say the least. Who would have thought that one night could be filled with such extremes. Little did I know that at about the same moment that my husband and I were witnessing my good high school friend say "I do" and begin her new life together with her husband, my dear friend Krisitina was getting a knock on the door with the words that would shatter and alter her world forever. My heart was filled with such joy to watch Angie and her new husband float through their reception full of so many goals and dreams, and then my heart was filled with an anguish I have never felt before as I got word of Paul's death.

When I called her that night not knowing what I would say when she picked up the phone, her first words were "oh, I hoped you wouldn't find out until after your parent's party tomorrow." I could hardly believe that at the worst moment of her life she would be thinking of me wanting me to enjoy myself. How could I possibly enjoy the party when my heart was aching so much for her and the kids? And yet I knew this party was something I had been looking forward to for so long.

Despite the sadness in my heart, we had a wonderful party for my parent's 50th anniversary on the 28th. There were a few showers, but overall the weather was great. My parents had a great time; the had a great turn out and got to see a lot of their good friends from over the years. My mom looked beautiful and my dad looked dapper as usual. My favorite part was watching them dance together ( a party is never complete with out some polka music). Despite their "individual"styles, when they dance together they take on a special sparkle; they are graceful and move with ease in unison- two really do become one. It was a precious moment watching them glide along smiling and talking with each other like no one else was around. I wish I could have caught a picture, but my camera man was busy driving kids around town trying to get them a nap. They used to dance on roller skates, and have continued to dance over the years. It has always been fun to watch them dance together, but this time felt especially nice. They get tired more quickly than they used to, but it was wonderful to see. I pray the Lord blesses them with many more happy years together.

My dad was so thoughtful and wanted any leftover food to go to Kristina and the kids. I was glad to comply. I knew the days ahead would be tough.

Paul's funeral was a beautiful tribute to the man he was. I have never attended a military burial. Wow was it something. Two of Paul's brothers are in the military, and to watch them fold their brother's flag and present it to Kristina was too intense for words, and then hearing the gunshots-ugh. So much respect, so much reverence and honor.

I have been blessed with the privilege of walking along side Kristina and her children during their grief. To say I am being stretched is an understatement, but I made a promise to Paul that I would be there for them, we as a family will be there for them. I hope that I am in some way able to ease the pain by sharing in her journey.Please continue to pray for the repose of Paul's soul and for Kristina and the family as they face reality without Paul.