Back in the Day . . .

So lately I have been reminiscing. Being around a sibling really helps and when we went to California we all had a blast talking about the good 'ol days. :) Robert and I laughed and laughed about all the ridiculous animals we had.  I swear we could have been considered an animal shelter. You name it we had it! Someday I will scan some of the pictures I have of the animals, but for now I wanted to post some old pictures to share. Enjoy and have a wonderful day! May Our Lady guide you and the Angels protect you. :)

Rhody! He was THE BEST DOG! Look how handsome and young he is here! Oh did I ever love him.

My first Christmas and my best friend in the whole world giving me a kiss!

Lucy Lewis (Schaper) and I!

Checking out Dottie Gallaher. Peter looks a lot like this right now :)

A boy with his boots and silly faces. Some things don't change. :) Clare simply looks like mischief here!

It didn't matter how simple and seemingly "poor" our life was, we were the happiest kids around! Mom and Dad sacrificed and sacrificed for us!

And where did that fourth baby come from? hehe. We love you Joe!

{this moment}

Gotta love cousin love!!! Does it bring back memories or what??!!

Confession to a Catholic Priest? Yes, Go to Confession

Why go to confession, you ask? Because God loves you and you need Him. Look at these trees and dwell for a minute. God loves you incredibly.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

He gave you a Father didn't He? A heavenly Father and an earthly father. You know they love you both, but God the Father loves you perfectly. You need Him.

forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

He will help you overcome obstacles. Only if you ask.

Thy will be done,

He will help you grow amidst the rocks. He will, simply trust the Heavenly Father.

But deliver us from evil. 

 For thine is the kingdom, 

Our Lord will bless you like he blesses the seals. If God loves them and takes care of them, what do you think Our Lord will do for you? You must ask in His name.

and the power, and the glory, 

God will wrap His muscular arm around you and protect you. Simply be docile and smile. You need His graces outpouring through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Go to Confession. 

for ever and ever. Amen

Addy's Spaghetti Faces

These pictures are all candid shots all I did was bring the camera over and she posed like a natural.

ENJOY!

And this is where she was found after being cleaned.

Priego, Spain!

Today I was attempting to look up directions for Mom and Dad for their trip to Spain, it was very unsuccessful for many reasons. But don't worry Mom, it will all workout in the end.

While I was looking I did find some beautiful pictures of the place where the entrance will be in Spain. It will be in Priego, Spain. The place where we are staying is a 17th or 18th century monastery, very beautiful, poor and really fun to explore in! I didn't find any photos of that but I did find photos of the beautiful church in town that the ceremony will take place in, here they are:

The main Altar with the beautiful Spanish art!

The town of Priego and surrounding valley, do you see the church steeple?

A closer view of the church.

Active Participation? Be Like Mary and the Angels ...

I wanted to pass this blog post along!

Canterbury Tales by Dr. Taylor Marshall: Active Participation? Be Like Mary and the Angels ...: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a participation in the eternal liturgy of Heaven at which Christ is the celebrant. Prior to Christ's death...

William's Baptism according to the Extraordinary Form

The pictures pale in comparison, but at least you will get a taste.

Baptized in the name of the Blessed Trinity

Blessings, exorcisms and prayers, the whole bit!

The candle represents the Light of Christ. We pray we will live up to this vocation as Godparents.

Our Lady will always guide and protect us. (St. Philomena has her back, too!)

The two reds bonded the entire weekend!

A shot of the crazy bunch. Gotta love 'em all!

The most pure and holy soul, our William Joseph!

Nathanial Lewis and Peter became buds :)

Grandpa couldn't handle all the commotion. hehe

That's it for now folks. Now celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of The Lord!    (Have that extra piece of cake!!)

Ascension by Copley

A mish-mosh of the Stonghold happenings...

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Wishing all you mother's out there a wonderful day and thank you for all your hard work and dedication you will be rewarded ten fold in heaven.

A special thanks to my lovely mother, whom I miss so much and am forever indebt to her constant example of how real moms love.

Mother's Day 2012 photo shot after Mass

 

This one is for Nana. Love and miss you, Nana! Everyone at Mass loved her dress.

 

Dinner at The Resi with our Home(of the Mother) girls!

Addy was kissing every statue she could find. Makes a momma proud :)

Helen and Addy showing some love to Baby Jesus.

Evening prayer

Addy's fan club.

 

A little bonus entertainment for today :)

California or Bust!

So we took a vacation! YES a vacation!!! It was glorious and I would like to share it with you.

We drove down to California for William's baptism. The most important day of his life and we wouldnt miss it for the world!
   I took so many pictures I don't know where to begin, so I will begin with the first picture I took: 

no caption needed, folks!

We haven't seen SUN like this in forever so we decided we were going to try to live it to the fullest! It was glorious. You don't realize what your missing till you dont get it. Thank you, Lord for California sun and buckets!

Bobby the big helper!

and Joyce the beautiful!

It was also Philomena Ruth's first Holy Communion. It was special to witness it!

Her middle name is Ruth, standing next to Grandma Ruth and my middle name is Ruth too. Yay for Ruth!

I was hoping to post more pictures tonight but its too late! I will post more later, but for now I wish you mothers a very holy and happy Mother's Day! Here is a beautiful statue of the Queen of Mothers to ponder on this day:

Look how peaceful and serene she is while nursing dear  Jesus. I love it!

Under the Florida Sun!



We have three large pots and one tomato plant in the small pot to the right.

About a month ago, the other candidates and I started our little garden with the help of Caroline's(a candidate) mom, she gave us everything! I thought you all would enjoy seeing these pictures.


One of the many squash flowers, I am actually not sure what type of squash it is we will have to see when it grows some more!

Basil, we love the fresh basil! We just pick a couple leaves and add it to the spaghetti sauce and it addes so much delicious flavor! It grows so fast and easy!

Our miraculous cucumbers! We thought that it had died becuase of one of the many torrential downpours we often have here in Florida, but after a couple days of sickness it sprouted up again very alive and vibrant! You can see the little baby cucumbers growing at the end of the flower!

Chives! (I think), I thought that chives had little purple flower at the top of them and ours don't so now I doubt that they are chives, maybe they are just little green onions which I can never tell the difference betweent the two anyway, so I don't really know but they are growing quite well despite the fact that they also almost died in the torrential downpour. Behind the chives you can see our other basil plants and the beautiful Florida sun, constantly shining down very brightly!

The little baby tomatoes! You should have seen me when I saw these after a couple days of not being at the house, I was ecstatic! I am very enthusiastic about this garden(more than any of the other girls, I might have an obsession), but it just brings me a lot of joy to see things grow!

Italian parsely!

I was having fun taking these photos, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

I love you and I am praying for you all!