Mario with his certificate and the holy card given to him by Father Craig Timmerman.

Mario made his first confession yesterday.  What a joy it is to see the thrill on a child’s face after having obtained this sacrament.  He was floating on air all day.  He lost his tooth the day before and looked so cute!  To celebrate, we made a nice Angel food cake and some home-made Butter Pecan Ice-cream.  Our priest, Fr. Craig Timmerman, is a very good teacher and we really enjoyed listening to him speak to Mario.

It was somewhat bitter-sweet for me since Mario is the last child of ours who will be receiving this sacrament.  Nine down, zero to go………so to speak.  He will receive his First Holy Communion in the spring.  I am reminded of what a blessing children are.  It’s not easy having a large family but the rewards are lasting!!  So are the empty pockets:)

Mario’s certificate!

On January the 20th we celebrated three birthdays.  Marisa, Jessica and Silvana all share the same birthday and this was the first year I can remember that we did not bake three cakes!  Marisa made an ice-cream cake with our own ice-cream.  It was very good and then we sang three separate birthday songs and each girl blew out her own candles.  That is a family tradition.

After eating the cake most of us headed out to do some bowling.  Caleb, who has only bowled one other time,  scored the best.  Talk about beginners luck!  Life is good and we thank God for His many blessings……..especially our children, and now our grandchildren.

Marisa, Jessica and Silvana share the same birthday!

Recently, we celebrated Blase’s baptism with a dinner and dance in the St. Leo Church basement.  His actual baptism was done just before Christmas.  It was fun, especially remembering how we had celebrated Frenchy and Peter’s wedding dance down in that same basement, around two and a half years ago.   It’s a joy seeing young couples being open to life.  It’s encouraging knowing several of these young couples, including Jessi and Luke:)

JoAnn Kruse, Blase Ryland, Francesca Ryland, Maggie holding little Kallie Jo Ryland.

It was hard to find a photo of Blase at his own party………which he mostly slept through.

Anya and Luke, Jessica and Kallie Jo at the dance.

The St. Leo church basement before the party.

The best part about the St. Leo church basement is the very large dance floor!!  Perfect for all kinds of dancing.

Celebrate life!

Kolbe Turbes and Kallie Jo Ryland kicking up their heels in style:)

Although I didn’t take a camera with, a bunch of us attended the March for Life last Monday.  It was a great day, although bitter cold.   When we took off that morning for the rally, it was minus 13 degrees.  I think it warmed up later to around minus 6 degrees. There was a good turnout and we were privileged to have Fr. Craig Timmerman in our bus.  He lead us in prayer and also a pro-life rosary.  It was good to visit with Fr. Tony as well at the Cathedral.