LOTS OF CELEBRATING!

The past week we celebrated New Years, our #2 Son's birthday, their anniversary and just being together as a family and watching 5 grandchildren (ages 1 1/2 to 9). What fun we had and lots of goodies to eat also.

Granddaughter Em pouring sparkling grape juice for Miss Ella Bella who was ready to party!
Two of my sweet daughters-in-law huddled in the kitchen to compare parenting notes--or maybe recipes??

Sons #4 and #2 with their dad.

Son #2 getting ready to blow out candles on his birthday cake. How many candles are on that cake??
Miss Ella Bella next to Soph, taking a BIG bite of birthday cake.
Soph and Grandson #2 wrestling on the floor.
Son #2 unwrapping "the clock" that belonged to Mother. He was pleased to inherit "the clock" that all the grandchildren remember seeing at her house.

Learning to Wii??
Grandson #2 conked out towards the end of the celebration and I enjoyed the cuddle time.
Before we all left for home we tried to get a picture of ALL the grandchildren who gathered for the festivities. Unfortunately Grandson #2 was more interested in watching all those girls than posing for my pictures!
But the girls did pose nicely for me. Such a sweet group of girls!

FAMILY TIME

We had Mother's funeral this past weekend and had so many good friends and family members join us for several days. Saturday night we had a Vigil Prayer Service and story telling with friends and relatives telling their favorite Mary C, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Gram stories. Three of my boys made video tapes of the story telling and I watched one last night. It was wonderful!!

Sunday our parish priest celebrated the Mass of Resurrection for Mother and his remarks were wonderful--not to mention that he flew in from a meeting just for her funeral and flew back when the ceremony was over. That was such a considerate thing to do for our family!

All weekend our house was full of people. We had all three children and spouses here. We had all 12 of Mother's grandchildren and spouses here and we had all 12 great grandchildren here, plus cousins and friends. Luckily it was beautiful weather so the children played in our big backyard. One of our sons got small pumpkins and hid them in the wooded part of our backyard and led the little ones on a pumpkin patch hunt. Then his wife helped the children decorate their pumpkins to take home. Other children pulled out all the play dishes and a number of them "cooked up a storm" while some got busy with the sidewalk chalk on our patio. The older ones played football and soccer on the grassy part of the yard while adults either sat and watched or joined in the fun and games.

And, of course, we did what our family does best--we ate and ate and ate--thanks to all the wonderful neighbors and friends who provided several bountiful feasts for us! Pictures will follow later! I promise--when I catch up with a few other things around here.

BREATHE, BREATHE

The pace around here is definitely picking up and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Family members are on their way from nearby and as far away as Egypt. Our WHOLE immediate family will gather this weekend for a marvelous celebration of Mother's life.

Tomorrow night we will have a Vigil Service (a prayer service our parish priest suggested) and a session of story telling. Guess you might know that I figured out a way to gather stories from this huge family of ours. A couple of our boys will bring video cameras to record the stories for posterity. And I am sure that we will have a zillion photos snapped during the two-three days we spend together. A priest who is a dear friend is doing the Vigil Service.

The funeral is Sunday afternoon. Our priest is in Houston for the weekend, but is very kindly flying in for a couple of hours before returning to his meeting. It has been marvelous how so many people have bent way over backwards to make this celebration a nice one. Even the church secretary worked overtime making the worship aid beautiful for the funeral, using a family photo on the back page and a design that looks like Mother's exquisite needlework on the front.

I am so touched by all the love that has been extended to our family at this time. Thanks to all of you dear people!