Catching Up: Christmas in Montana!

I still have catching up to do, so bear with me as I recap Christmas 2014. Over 4 months late...I'm almost done catching up!

Since we spent Thanksgiving in Chicago (also celebrating Christmas with my family), we spent actual Christmas in Montana with Bryan's family! We drove up from Denver a few days before Christmas, and were able to stay until the 29th.

Bryan's brother and his family also came for Christmas, so the house was full of babies and toddlers and it was so much fun. James was still really little (not quite three months old yet), so even though he couldn't really play with his cousins, they loved holding him and trying to play with him!

Bryan's parents' home is right next to a state park in Montana, so from every window, you see a beautiful view of the badlands. It's such a peaceful place and, especially with the snow and chilly weather, it's so cozy! We spent a lot of our time relaxing with family, playing games, watching movies and just spending time together. That was a blessing!

Christmas Day came quickly! We went to Mass altogether at 9am, and then came home for donuts, brunch, and gifts. We spent the rest of the morning checking out our gifts and playing with the kids before Christmas dinner. The afternoon and evening were much of the same! Lots of quality time. James had a wonderful and blessed first Christmas!

We also got to celebrate our first anniversary while in Montana, on December 28! We went out for Mexican while the grandparents watched James. It was a special treat for our first year of marriage!

We left for home the next morning. It was sunny and the weather looked good in Montana as we started driving, but as the evening came on in Wyoming, the roads were getting more snowy--to the point of near white-out conditions. We were still a few hours from Denver when we made the call to pull over and stay overnight in Cheyenne. Though we were eager to get home after about a week away and we also needed to unpack and repack right away for SEEK, staying in Cheyenne turned out to be a fun (and probably life-saving!) little adventure. We didn't do any sightseeing or touristy things, but we just enjoyed a break from the routine. We treated ourselves to takeout pizza in our room, watched some tv, and then went to bed early. After a quick breakfast in the morning, we were off to continue making our way home, in much safer conditions.

After just a quick 1.5 day recovery, we were ready for SEEK...recap coming soon!

Holy Week & Easter 2015

Happy Easter! Even though Easter Sunday was over a week ago, it will still be the Easter season for a few more weeks. So we can keep celebrating!

We had a packed Holy Week and Easter this year, but it was so good and fruitful. Bryan was off of work for Holy Thursday and Good Friday, so we were able to prepare and celebrate all together the whole time!

James & Daddy ready for Holy Thursday!

Holy Thursday started out like any other day. It was gloomy, and actually started snowing in the evening before Mass. We did work around the house and ran some quick errands before taking a ride to Red Rocks to try and get James to nap quickly before Mass. Red Rocks, despite the rain/snow/gloom, was so beautiful. We have to go back when we can get out of the car and walk around. But it was good preparation for the Mass ahead, as we got to see God's glory in the beauty of nature. Holy Thursday falls in the middle of Holy Week and, even though we focus so much on Jesus' Passion and death, Holy Thursday is a true celebration and a really positive recognition of the priesthood that Jesus established.

I would say that we totally lucked out with Holy Thursday Mass at our parish. Most churches have Mass for Holy Thursday around 7pm, which would be pushing it for James' bedtime (and patience!), but our parish had Mass at 5:30pm. We lasted the whole Mass with just a little fussiness at the end, but overall, James did great! We were home in time for bed without much meltdown.

Good Friday was much more solemn in tone, even though the weather had significantly improved. We did not have much planned for this day, mostly since the Good Friday service is at 3pm, right in the middle of the day. We went to that and, again, James did pretty well. Holy Saturday was also a pretty somber day. We hung around the house, played with James, and did some prepping to host Easter dinner at our apartment. We went to bed eager for the next day's festivities!

Easter morning came with a visit from the Easter Bunny for all three of us, and donuts for Bryan & me! After giving up donuts for Lent, I was so excited for my donut! We got ready quickly to go to Mass at the Cathedral at 10:30am. I am so glad that we decided to do that! It was so beautiful! We made sure to get there extra early to get a parking spot and a seat, because we figured it would be crowded. We were right. When we got there, the earlier Mass was getting out, so we were able to nab a parking spot in the lot next to the Cathedral. That was just the first of many Easter blessings! Inside the church, the pews were already filling up, but we saw a spot that was partially blocked by a large column. Do you know who doesn't care about the view? James!

Bryan and I could see the altar perfectly, so we just put James' car seat next to us behind the column. The church got so packed, however, that we ended up moving it out of the way to make (very tight) room for 3 more people! It was standing room only by the time Mass started. Mass was absolutely beautiful. The music was perfect for Easter, and the Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Aquila! We were able to say hi to him quickly after Mass before he had to get to another obligation. Christmas and Easter are two of the busiest days of the year for priests.

When we got home from Mass, we made a delicious Easter brunch (since we had only eaten donuts earlier...) and then we had to get ready for company! We had Bryan's teammates as well as a dear friend from college over for the afternoon. We played cards, everyone got to play with James, we ate lots of food, enjoyed some Easter wine & dessert, and all around celebrated Jesus' Resurrection. It was a beautiful, warm day and even though we weren't with our extended families, we were blessed to spend the day with each other and wonderful friends.

I hope you continue to celebrate Easter with some special treats and prayers of thanksgiving! I know we are! God bless you!

Catching Up: Family Christmas 2014

My family celebrates Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. This has been the tradition for as long as I can remember. We go up to a hotel in Wisconsin and spend the weekend playing games, hanging out, eating lots of food and spending plenty of quality time together. It is a fun tradition that the whole family looks forward to all year long. This year was particularly special for us, since it was James' first time! 

We traveled back to Chicago from Denver for Thanksgiving and the weekend, and James was great on his first airplane trip! Since we wouldn't be in Chicago for actual Christmas, this was our Christmas celebration with my side of the family. Everyone loved seeing James, and for most of my extended family, it was their first time meeting him! He got plenty of attention all weekend and even though he won't remember it at all, we'll have those special memories of introducing him to some of our loved ones--people who loved James

before they met him!

My great-aunt with (almost) all of her great-grandchildren and James, her great-grandnephew!

Some of the gifts for the babies!

James with his great grand-aunt Peggy

Late night games with the cousins

Though it was definitely different this year, having a baby with us, it was so much fun to catch up with everyone and enjoy our family's company. We stayed up later than we should have, but for once a year, we can make some exceptions! There are over a dozen babies in the family now, so it's fun to be with the cousins and watch all the little ones grow up together! We can't wait for next year already!

Life Updated!

Yikes...someone has not kept up with her end of the blogging bargain. Life got in the way again, and here we are. No updates in weeks at least. I'm still convincing myself that I will make this blog more of a priority! Not only is this a wonderful way to share our lives (and to share cute pictures of James!) with our families, friends and mission partners, but it's also a scrapbook of our memories as a new family! I want to hold on to these memories while they're still fresh in mind!

We have been busy with a growing little guy on our hands! James will be 5 months old this week (so expect some pictures & fun facts in a few days!) and he is all over the place. Even though he can't crawl yet, he flips himself over as soon as he's put on the ground, and from there he scoots in a circle until he sees or can reach what he wants. It's so cute! But it's keeping us on our toes! Gone are the days where I could lay him on his play mat and take a quick shower, knowing he'd be entertained for five minutes and in exactly the same spot that I left him!

As Denver slowly flip flops from gorgeous weather to typical winter weather, we try to take advantage of the nice days when we can. Even though snow piles and slush prevent us from walking around our neighborhood like we usually do, we can still visit local outdoor malls and trails for fresh air and exercise. And when it's too cold or snowy to go outside, we love hibernating, playing with James and reading or catching up on Netflix! We have taken a couple of adventures this winter, but we're enjoying where we're at and so happy to watch our baby grow up right in front of us!

In addition to hopefully posting regularly with James' monthly updates, our family's adventures and all that God throws us in between, I have a couple of significant events from the past few months that I want to immortalize here. So seemingly outdated news like Christmas, SEEK and some others will be popping up just so that I have them all together for the future!

Thanks for being patient! And for loving us and our son so much!

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was almost two months ago now...but with a newborn, time to write on the blog does not come as frequently as I would like! When there is laundry, dishes, meals to cook, groceries to buy and a baby to take care of, I unfortunately don't have the time I'd like to devote to this little space on the Internet! But I am working on creating better habits with writing, and hope to be posting more often! Not only is this a way to stay connected with family, friends and our mission partners, but it's also a great way to remember our lives now as new parents with James!

Anyway, for Thanksgiving we braved our first time flying with an infant and traveled to visit my family in Chicago. We did not know what to expect--either James would hate flying and scream the whole way to Chicago, or he would be a happy baby as he normally is. We prepared for the worst, but to our pleasant surprise, he did great! He slept pretty much the whole way, and then at the very end of the flights woke up to eat. He didn't cry or fuss, even though it was a long day of traveling. We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday evening, before Thanksgiving. We settled in and let James play with his uncles and grandparents!

James fast asleep on his first flight!

Thanksgiving morning we "ran" a Turkey Trot 5k in Chicago with my mom and brothers. Bryan, James and I walked the whole way, soaking up the cold but very sunny morning back in the city where we met! When we finished, we met up with everyone at a local bar for a Thanksgiving morning cocktail.

Babes in bars

The rest of Thanksgiving was spent at my parent's house, eating and enjoying each other's company. It was a fairly quiet day, while everyone played with James and spent time with their favorite nephew & grandson!

Uncle Neil with his beloved nephew!

The calm Thanksgiving was a nice prelude to the rest of our weekend in the Midwest. We were resting and preparing ourselves for the crazy weekend in Wisconsin with my extended family, to celebrate Christmas! It deserves a whole post of its very own.