Melody's First Holy Communion

This weekend, Melody was privileged enough to receive our Lord in the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.  It was such a beautiful night and was extra special since both sets of grandparents, her Godparents, all her cousins, all her aunts and all but one uncle were there to celebrate with her.  What a blessing it is to live so close to family and to have them so active in our lives!!  

 Waiting before Mass begins....

Carrying up the gifts (notice Fone is the cross bearer)

Come, Lord Jesus!  

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, 

have mercy on us. 

 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, 

have mercy on us. 

 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, 

grant us peace. 

Amen!!

 Melody and her Godparents

 Melody and Father Tom Gibson

 Our Young crew with Father Tom

 

Beaming as a tabernacle for the Light of the World

 Her banner and Today I Made My First Communion book

 praying the "Hail Mary" after Mass

Let the celebration begin!!!  We had a lovely get-together with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and of course, LOTS of cousins to play with.  Here are pictures from our celebration at home....

dancing to Just Dance Kids 2 - so much fun!! 

"When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then.  When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now."  

-Blessed Mother Teresa Calcutta

A day trip to the water park

In continuing our celebration of Christmas and since Neil has a lengthy Christmas vacation, we took a day trip to Fun City, a water park that is close to us (about an hour and a half away).  It's always fun to splash around and get wet, especially when it's with cousins (unless you are Pookey who couldn't stand the cold water!)...

Thank you God for fun, family trips like this!! 

Celebrating Christmas 2011

Love came to a stable on that very special night to 

bring us out of darkness into His glorious light. 

 

We had a lovely Christmas celebration starting with Mass on Christmas Eve where Fone and Mario were both altar servers and Melody and Ariel sang in the children's choir.  It seems so strange sitting in a pew with only two children, but it is such an honor to be letting them serve our church in that way.  I am so proud of all that they are becoming!  

Here's some shots of the girls that I grabbed real quick before Mass started...

Christmas morning looks a little different at our house than most families because of St. Nicholas coming earlier to our family.  The kids woke up to the best Christmas present ever though - the Son of God, Jesus, born for us all!  The two little boys unwrapped our 2 Jesus figurines to place into our nativities.  Max and Pookey were so sweet and excited!  Thank you God for sending us your Son!! 

Next we celebrated at Neil's parents house with a brunch.  It's always a grand celebration when we get together because out of Neil and his brother, there are 14 children!  What a blessing large Catholic families are!  It definitely is hard work, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  The kids also performed a play of the Nativity - it was precious!  Here are some pictures...

Max loved his new friend for the day (a foreign exchange student from Spain who was staying with Neil's brother and his family) - the two of them were shepherds who got dressed up but never actually performed in the play - lol! 

Pookey and Mirr

the angels proclaiming the Good News that a Savior has been born

Mary with baby Jesus and Joseph

the 3 kings coming to adore the new Baby

the cast

my sweet niece

resting and watching a movie

Happy Birthday to Jesus!!

For dinner, we went to celebrate Christmas with my family.  With us four girls being so close (of friends and vicinity) it always makes for fun times with all the kids, husbands, us girls and our parents.  Here are some pictures from our evening Christmas celebration with my side of the family....

the whole crew

one of my sisters and her two kiddos

my baby sister with her 2, doh, I mean 3 kiddos (see that belly!!)    ;)

Happy Birthday Jesus!!