made for JOY: Quick Takes

We've been busy, busy, busy! Here are some highlights from the last week and a half.

--- 1 ---

We have started a new Wednesday routine that the kids and I are really enjoying. Our neighborhood coffee shop has muffins for $1 (usually $2.05) and free refills on coffee on Wednesdays, so we've been stopping on the way home from Mass, since we walk right past it on our way home. I splurge on a mid-week coffee and we share some muffins -- they're ginormous. Some Wednesdays one of the Brothers will join us; some weeks Father joins us. Last week, Father had some friends from California visiting for his installation Mass and they joined us too. Her sons were such kind boys (my girls are used to the rougher kind and were very pleasantly surprised). And she put The Baby to sleep! in a coffee shop! I'm supposed to pray that if it's God's will her husband will consider a move to Minnesota. They would be a great addition to our parish.

--- 2 ---

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course. We spent the first half of the day in the car driving to Milwaukee. It was a very easy trip! The kids were playing nicely and even The Baby was content. We shared a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with friends. The kids continued to play nicely, which is a change (it's usually boys versus girls with this group). And after the kids were in bed, we stayed up too late visiting. We had a wonderful time! I am so grateful to have these friends in my life. No matter how much my family and friends love me and try to help, no one understands my life better right now than another wife of a graduate student with young kids. Thanks so much, Abe and Janet!

--- 3---

Friday we spent most of the day driving to Columbus, Ohio. We were able to get together for a very nice visit with our friend Bishop Campbell at his residence before Mass at the Cathedral Saturday evening. When he was an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, we had a tradition of having him over for dinner shortly after the birth of each child, and so we have a picture of him holding each child. We now have one of him and The Baby to add to our collection.

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Sunday was the Older Girl's big competition day. She placed 13th out of 70! She was very pleased, and we were very proud of her. To see the tears of joy in her eyes was something I will never forget -- I don't think I've ever seen her so happy.

with her classmates

with her teacher

--- 5 ---

Monday was a thirteen-hour haul to get home -- not as pleasant as the trip out. Tuesday we went on our annual hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Last year we got a Balsam; this year I had to go back to a Frazer Fir, the cadillac of Christmas trees I've heard it called -- it smells good, you don't bleed when decorating it, it has many small branches to hold our many (!) ornaments, and it doesn't lose needles easily, even when we have it up from the First Sunday of Advent through Epiphany!