Brungardt Family Reunion

Looks like something's going on here.

It's the Brungardt Family Reunion!

There was a big water slide for the kids to play on.

Anne helped her little cousin.

Anthony went crazy.

Cousins had a blast.

Lots of food and fun inside as well.

Bishop Brungardt said Mass late in the afternoon.

Dan and his mom.

Bishop John Brungardt gave the kids a juggling lesson.

In the evening, the family all came out to watch fireworks.

A Prince of the Church?

The other day, when I was looking at our pictures from Bishop Brungardt's ordination, Joseph came and stood by me. 

Joseph:  I want to see when he gets his hat.

Me:  Would you want to be a bishop someday, Joseph?

Joseph:  No, I want to be a prince!

The Ordination of a Bishop, Part II

Anthony and Dan with Bishop-elect John Balthasar Brungardt

The day of the ordination was a very long and busy one.  We did not sleep in (imagine that, with kids in a hotel room!).  We ate breakfast at the hotel, and then it was back to our rooms to get everyone dressed in their Sunday best and pack up. 



"Anne might be smiling, but all I want to know is when do we get to eat?"

  After we were all dressed and the car was packed, we checked out of our hotel room and drove to the Knights of Columbus Hall for the Luncheon.   They were smart and seated us at the back of the hall, along with Dan's brother and his family.  Farthest from the bishops, closest to the bathrooms.  :)  I think we were the only families there with little kids.  When they brought us our plates of food, there in front of each of us, including the kids, was a large portion of prime rib, along with side dishes.  Let's just say, Dan ate a lot of prime rib!   Someone donated the prime rib and it was delicious. 



Anthony walked up and down the pew for the first hour or so that we were in it, moving the missalettes about and throwing them on the floor.  At least he did not figure out that he could open them up and rip pages.


The ordination started at 2:00, which, as any parent of little ones knows, is not a good time of day to sit in a pew for a long time.  We had to get there early so we could sit in the family section, so our total pew time was almost 4 hours!  The older kids did amazingly well.  Anthony slept for the middle two hours in my arms and had to be taken out a couple of times, including the last 30 minutes.  I would never have said we could pull that off, but it worked. 



Bishop-elect Brungardt processing in. 

There was a long procession coming in.  They had four entrance songs, if that tells you anything!  We were lucky to have seats on the main aisle, only 4 rows from the front, so we had an excellent view.




The laying on of hands by the other bishops.




Newly ordained Bishop John B. Brungardt sits in his episcopal chair.




The new bishop stops to bless his family.

What a wonderful experience!  We were blessed to be able to be there. 

Not too long after the ordination was over, we had to load everyone into the car and head back home.  Let's just say it was a loooooonnnng trip.  Poor Anthony had just about had it and he let us know for a lot of the way back.  We had to stop twice, but at least the roads were fine until we got to our local dirt roads, which were covered with snow.  We finally pulled into our driveway at 9:30pm, happy to be home.

Overall, we had a good trip.

Congratulations to Bishop John B. Brungardt, the new bishop of the Dodge City Diocese! 

The Ordination of a Bishop, Part I

Burning off some energy at the hotel.

 Last week at this very time, we were on our way to Dodge City during a snowstorm, so that we could attend the ordination of Dan's cousin, Bishop-elect John Brungardt.  The night before we left, we had mostly decided that we shouldn't go because of the weather.  When we got up last Tuesday morning, we seemed confirmed in that decision as it was continuing to snow and the wind was blowing hard, creating drifts.  It was also very cold, with wind chill temperatures well below zero.

Anthony explores the hotel room.

However, we had also decided to rent a large SUV to make our trip easier in the freezing cold and snow, so Dan thought he might as well go get it and see how the roads really were.  When he came back, he said it wasn't as bad as he had thought, so we loaded up and left.  The drive through Wichita was the worst part, mostly due to the fierce wind, which was blowing snow across the roads, making it hard to see.  The road itself was not slick at all, otherwise we would not have gone.




The kids were most excited to get to stay in a hotel!

Anthony helped out by sleeping for an hour and a half in the car, and the rest of the kids did well, thanks to the DVD player and lots of snacks. We did not stop at all on the way there. 




Oh, how did this picture get in here?  It's from our basement.




Just kidding.  Some of the decor at the hotel. 





We ate dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant.  The menu was mostly in Spanish!  It was yummy.  Some of Dan's family were there as well, in case you counted the kids. :) 

After dinner, Dan took the kids and I back to the hotel, then he went to the Evening Prayer at the Old Cathedral, followed by a reception at the Depot Theater.  The kids got to hang out with their cousins, watch cartoons and eat lots of snacks.  And they got to take a bath at the hotel.  Everything is more fun at a hotel, you know!

Happy boy!  No clothes and free rein of the hotel room!  Woo-hoo!

We had two hotel rooms, with a door between, so the 4 big kids had their own room, while Dan, Anthony, and I had the other.  It worked out really well, and we all got to sleep, well, other than Anthony's multiple awakenings.

Coming up, tomorrow hopefully:  The ordination!