Sunday, March 31

JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TODAY, ALLELUIA

We had a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend with my extended family at our lakehouse this weekend

There was lots of loud talking (part of my Polish Catholic heritage), eruptions of billowing laughter, and lots of yummy food (Also, a part my Polish Catholic heritage)!! We shopped a little at granbury's biggest super store....Walmart and enjoyed lots of sitting around staring at the calm water (resting)

HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS
(most of these pics taken by Madison, with her new camera that she had been saving up for)

 Nicholas zip-lining across the yard
 We got this cool zip line from Grammy and Oompa last Christmas and boy do we love it!!

 Madison taking a pic of herself with her new camera
 Shelling right outside the house next to the lake
(notice Max IN the lake)
"wet Max"
(Kerry, Nicholas, Courtney)
 Nicholas and my 2 sweet nieces
 Getting in the water as far as we can without the water getting into our rain boots!  And then actually GETTING water inside of our rain boots (but it was fun!!)
 My precious niece, Courtney

Some more pictures captured by Madison's new camera.   She is quite the photog!!



She was continuously awed by how beautiful God's natural creations really are.  Madison and I always comment on how much fun our Lord must have had creating some of the amazing things of our world.....some so little and seemingly insignificant but so detailed and perfectly extraordinary!!   Her camera really showcased the rich colors and textures

SOME MORE WEEKEND ACTIVITIES

 The boys put together a model airplane to fly out over the lake
 Grandpa (My Daddy) and Nicholas enjoying some "guy time" on the porch while the plane was assembled
 The boys launching the airplane from the marina across the lake from our house
(we all sat outside to watch the plane take off)
Nana napping in the calm of the fresh lake air

Easter Morning

 Everyone was super tired.....went stayed up late and attended our Easter Vigil Mass at St. Francis Cabrini (our Granbury church)
We got to see many people Baptized and Confirmed into the Catholic church.  It was really powerful to see these adults in tears as they were Baptized!  What a beautiful Sacrament!!  This is what Easter is all about......I absolutely LOVE Easter Vigil!!  We go every year......what an amazing Climax to Lent!!

Even though the children were tired, they STILL managed to get up early to see what the Easter Bunny had left on his visit!!
Savannah Easter morning
 My mom and daddy watching the kids look to find where the Easter Bunny hid their Easter baskets
 In no time at all the kids were exploring their special treats
(lots of religious stuff to remind them of their precious Lord, Jesus)

 My love, Jeremy enjoying such a splendid morning
One more of Max.....doesn't he look like a puppy in this pic?!?!

EASTER EGG HUNT
NOT GREAT WEATHER FOR EASTER EGG HUNTING!!
Yikes!! a storm is blowing in from the West.....hurry outside and lets find all of the Easter eggs!
 Wow the Easter Bunny sure did leave LOTS of eggs for the children to hunt...It might have been one of the biggest Easter Egg Hunts in the world!!!

 The kids had an absolutely FABULOUS time....and the weather held out for them.....Thank you, Jesus
My sweet mom and dad (or Di and Jimmer as they so lovingly refer to each other) walking arm and arm back into the house after the hunt was complete.  Aren't they just adorable together in their jammies

God is so GREAT!! Not a drop of rain fell while we were hunting eggs!! Thank you, Jesus for such a memorable and pleasant morning....now let's get inside the house before the rains DO in fact come down!!

Discovering what treasures will be found in our Easter eggs

Many tiny treasures hidden in colorful plastic eggs....each one holds a secret!!

candy, stickers, rings, and a couple of matchbox cars were some of these treasures
 Each opened egg put a smile on the sweet faces of all of the cousins

Later That Afternoon

Sky cleared and the dads took all of the kids (even Max) on a hike in the afternoon


Then the smells of the turkey and fixings took over and everybody knew without a doubt that it was finally time for Easter Dinner!!
Jeremy made this fabulously juicy turkey in the Green Egg.  He really is a gifted chef! He worked on the prep for 2 days!!  It was a masterpiece!!
Our family's favorite "Delux Potato Casserole".....we have it at absolutely all holiday meals!!
Vegetables and stuffing.....Yummy!!
Nana with my mom and dad

It was a wonderful Easter weekend with the family.  These are the good times for sure! Times that I, along with my children, will remember for a lifetime

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!!!

Thursday, March 28

Wednesday, March 27

THE FIRST SPRING EVENING

Perfect evening to get out the camera and capture some candid family activity to document for life's memories

The kids were begging Jeremy and I to push them on the rope swing in the backyard

Daddy is the BEST pusher!!! He makes you feel like you are FLYING through the air!!!




I love my family!!  

Thank you, Lord for that first warm spring evening of the year!!! It just makes you feel so energized, almost as if it were the first springtime you had ever experienced!!  It's almost magical!! I love that!!

NICK LOVES HIS DADDY

Nicholas ALWAYS grabs the "Cabela's" magazine out of the mailbox to save for Daddy.
Nicholas loves everything that his Daddy loves......Daddies and sons are like that, you know!!

Anyway, this Cabela's magazine was no different.....he always takes it from the pile of mail, sets it aside and waits for Daddy walk in the door from work........then he says "Daddy, look what came today!!" and they look at it together.

Jeremy (Daddy) goes on a yearly fishing adventure with his dad and brother and little Nicholas is COUNTING down the days until he can be included with "the boys" for the trip.

After Nicholas looked through this issue of the Cabela's "Fly Fishing" addition, he tore out part of a page and started writing a note


He found a fishing boat built for 2 PEOPLE to sit in and fish together 
He put the picture into an envelope and wrote this on the outside of the envelope.....a note (and drawing) for his very special fishing buddy.....his Daddy

I love him so much.....he is such a special kid!! He loves everything Daddy!!
What a special love he has for his Daddy.  What a special relationship they have been blessed with.  This important relationship is the first flavor that little Nicholas will have of the "perfect" relationship he will enjoy with his Heavenly Father, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Our Lord gave Daddies such a special and important job.  As the spiritual head of their homes, they are to bring to their little ones, our sweet Jesus Christ and emulate that Love that Christ has for them.
God Bless our Daddies....and their sweet sons

Sunday, March 24

2 DATES WITH MY JEREMY

I was so excited to have TWO DATE NIGHTS with the love of my life this past weekend!! What an unexpected blessing!!  

Saturday night my SWEET SISTER, Kelley wanted my kids to come to Mass with them (they have a beautiful play of the "Passion of Jesus" during their Palm Sunday Mass) and to then spend the night at her house with all of the cousins......what a great opportunity for us to have a date night!!


SATURDAY NIGHT
We started the evening by going to Mass at our church and then met our friends Ron and Angela at Boi Na Braza (a Brazilian Steakhouse) for dinner.  What a fun evening filled with good food (lots of meat!),  blessed with good friends, and sprinkled with LOTS of laughs!!  Never a dull moment with Ron and Angela (they are our friends that we went to NYC with), we are always cracking each other up (we think that we are super funny)!
How a Brazilian steakhouse works is, you arrive and after being seated you fill your plate with tastey treats from their beautiful and HUGE grand buffet
I know.....right?!?!
Then, the waiter walk around with lots of different meats prepared in different (yummy) ways and you get to have as much as you want!  You can try everything....and we did!!
When we weren't just laughing at each other, we were giggling over how much MEAT there was to choose from!!
I felt like a princess at a fancy banquet!!  Then, I ate too much and felt sick....

(I don't have a pic of us and our friends to share from the evening.....it was awesome!! We were just too busy visiting to take a minute to capture this fun memory with a picture)

SUNDAY NIGHT
(me, Lori, Felix, and my Jer-bear)
We had Mavs tickets!  Another fun evening for Jeremy and I with our friends, Felix and Lori.....This evening was ALSO filled with lots of amazing food and a lot of laughs!  Isn't it funny how eating is such a part of socializing.  Sharing a meal with beloved friends is so intimate and joyful.

Lori and I had decided by about 2 quarter that we did not deserve those nice seats at the game because we were barely watching anything that we going on!!  We just couldn't stop talking to each other about this and that......So many subjects to discuss and so little time to discuss them all!  We always say that if we had hours of uninterrupted conversation, there would never be even one uncomfortable moment of silence and we would NEVER cover h all of the things that we needed to catch up on.  Aren't friends great!!!
btw.....The Mavs won!!

What an exceptional weekend this was
We are so blessed