My parents celebrated 39 years of marriage this past Saturday and are still going strong. They have brought 6 children into the world to spread their love, and now have 15 grandchildren. May God continue to bless them as they bring Jesus to each other through the beautiful Sacrament of Marriage!
I love you Mom and Dad!!!!
May God continue to bless you two!!
(this picture was from last year though - we were all too busy holding baby Anthony to get a recent one)
And, the second celebration was my grandparents 66th wedding anniversary. (you may remember the 65th celebration pictures from last year). They are still going strong in their marriage, and we are thankful for every year that we are able to celebrate another year with them for only God knows which one will be the last. So these celebrations are definitely a treasure to all who can make it! Here are some pictures of their special day.....
My mom is the one with a towel draped on her shoulder - lol! Always ready to work/serve!
5 sweet kids of my cousin, Paula (they are missing their oldest brother though)
Pookey with his second cousin
more family....
2 of the great-grandsons
2 of my crew (Mario and Melody), a nephew of mine, and another one of the great-granddaughters
my sweet niece and my sweet Ariel
Lunchtime!!!
Lunchtime!!
my cousin Amy's, sweet little guy and my big sister in the background
the whole gang!
just a handful of the great-grandchildren
the happy couple!
my cousin Vicky's, sweet little guy
Pookey
my dad in the middle, Uncle Tom (left) and Uncle Keith (right)
“Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19
As a family we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet a few times each week as our evening prayers, so we understand the beauty and power in the mercy of Our Lord and call upon this gift often. It becomes especially meaningful when we have a specific person to pray for... either someone near death or someone who has recently died. This past weekend, we attended the burial of my Grandpa Morris and will continue prayers for his soul. And, the next day, we celebrated the 66th Wedding Anniversary of my Grandma and Grandpa Hamerlinck - who live in a nursing home and their health is slowly declining as well. Up until a couple years ago, I was blessed to have all four of my grandparents living and them being involved in mine and my family's lives. And, I have to say again, what a HUGE blessing it was! My sweet Grandma Morris passed away a year-and-a-half ago. And, her husband, my grandfather, gave out his last breath in this life just last Thursday night. I try my best to visit my grandparents (in the nursing home) often, because I don't know when they will be called to their true home.
And, also a prayer for a peaceful passing for my Grandma and Grandpa Hamerlinck when they are called to their true home...
PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH
O Blessed Joseph, you gave your last breath in the loving embrace of Jesus and Mary. When the seal of death shall close Grandpa and Grandma Hamerlinck's life, come with Jesus and Mary to aid them. Obtain for them this solace for that hour - to die with their holy arms around them. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I commend their soul, living and dying, into your sacred arms. Amen.
If you haven't heard this song yet, be sure to listen to it. We've been listening to it a lot in our house the past week.
We are more or less done with our 2011-2012 school-year, and I always try to tie everything together and include a little of each subject in a folder, along with a report card. I saw this idea from Jessica's year-end plans and decided that this idea would make a great cover for our folders. I spent some time on Pic Monkey last night and today and this is the finished product. I only did the 4 big kids, and will hopefully get to Max and Pookey within the next week....
What do you think?? Did they turn out alright? Please share some of your year-end plans....
...to the company that employs my husband, 2 of our brothers-in-law, my retired father, and my retired father-in-law - John Deere!!!
"I will never put my name on a product that does not have the best that is in me." -John Deere
The company is going all out and truly cherishing their employees in helping them celebrate their 175th birthday. Today was the celebration for the branch of the company where Neil works. The food was great! The activities drew my kids in so much that they didn't want to leave - bouncy houses, cotton candy, crafts, snow cones, carnival games, popcorn, etc.... and we didn't have to pay a thing!! It was one of the fanciest birthday parties we have ever been to!! We all walked away feeling blessed to be part of a such a wonderful company, who not only works their hardest to put their best into products, but also cares for their employees. Here are some pictures from our celebration today.... (note - the blurry pictures.... it was sprinkling when we got there, so I purposely left my camera in the van for fear it would get poured on. We had our phones with us though to take pictures, although not the best quality)
Fone and Mario riding the charter bus to the party
Ariel and Melody riding the charter bus on the way back
Fone with 3 of the MANY bouncy houses (in the background)
Fone and Max waiting in line
Fone and Pookey jumping away
Fone and Pookey
Melody, Max, and Ariel making bed necklaces and bracelets
Melody, Fone, Ariel, Mario, and Max crafting with sand art
the sand art was such a hit and turned out so well that we had to hang them up as soon as we got home!
