the parish picnic

yesterday was our parish picnic
it was held at the home of the Knights of Columbus
i was impressed by all of the activities
this was my first "parish picnic"
in Santa Fe it was the "parish fiesta"
the fiesta was good
but not quite as elaborate as this picnic

we started out by having dinner
dinner was fried chicken and roast beef with liver dumplings
yes, liver dumplings
it's a ste genevieve tradition, i've heard
i noticed today that they sell "liver dumpling dough"
by the pound at the grocery store
are you wanting to know if i tried them?
the answer is, yes
brett and i both
they were GOOD!
sort of like really flavorful spaetzle
i'm sorry for not taking a picture
i'll get a good picture one of these days and post the recipe
i noticed that they had like 6 different recipes in the parish cookbook

ok, back to the picnic

the kids liked the petting zoo the best

ni was very affectionate to this sweet little blind llama

this was ni's first baby bull encounter

finn isn't so sure of the animals

he likes them, but needs boundaries

this group was great

very vintage country sounding, sort of patsy cline-ish

dancing old couples...very charming


this picture is for you, Grandpa!

...was surprised to see some color in the sky
this was taken at the corn field next to our house

St. Joseph statue on 4th street

Almighty God,

in your wisdom and love

you chose Joseph to be the husband of Mary,

the Mother of your Son.

As we enjoy his protection on earth

may we have the help of his prayers in heaven.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

happy 36 to brett!

after brett blew out the 36 candles on his birthday cake
darren and kim presented him with a more "earth friendly" cake
this card was addressed to "Al Gore"
brett instanly went into character (he does a perfect al gore)
talking about all of the horrors that went into producing this giant hamburger

if i could figure out how to post small videos
his Gore impersonation would be worth posting

we have a new baby in the family!

my sister maggie had girl #3 on august 22 (brett's b-day)
she came over last weekend with the 3 girls for the labor day holiday


this is precious little Claire Bernadette at 10 days old


here's little claire getting her first bath

i know this picture looks like the same girl, at 3 different ages

but it's Gwen 2, Laila 6, Claire 10 days

Uncle Darren's in town

"look mom, it's a chevy!"

Uncle Darren, showing Finn the engine on the chevy.

...Finn was in heaven
(FYI, darren is the planet's best mechanic)

a tree swing

ni has created a tree swing in our back yard

she used a scrap of wood and a long dog chain

the kids and i can't wait for brett to get a nice one installed
i'd like one on each side of the tree
because the sharing thing becomes very complex

walking into the light

this is our parish here in ste gen
founded in 1759

i was out for an early morning walk
and noticed that the parish doors were propped open
i took a shy little glance inside
and noticed the cathedral to be completely dark
except for the statue of Jesus directly in front of me
he was being illuminated by the light coming in from the open door
the strong beam of sun that was lighting Christ
seemed to push me into the space


as i walked the long legnth of the church
that warm sun on my back enhanced the presence of God around me

for me
this was Christ's welcome...to his home
it was as if he was saying, "here i am"