First Half of September

Joseph built his Lego airplane all by himself.

Sauerkraut was done!

Unloading the crock of kraut.

Ready for sampling.

 

Anthony got his first baseball glove!

Yes, he's a lefty.

We saw Bishop Conley at the WSU Newman Center one Sunday.

We had brunch after the Mass with friends.

A good time was had by all.

Honeymoon In Italy

Ten years ago, on the Monday after our wedding, we flew to Rome, Italy to begin our honeymoon.  What a wonderful trip!  We stayed in Rome for two nights and Positano, Italy for six nights.  Following are some of the highlights of our trip.


On our first day in Rome we met up with Bishop Conley, who was a Monsignor at the time and working in Rome.  Monsignor Conley took us to the Scarpone Ristorante for our first meal in Italy:

Do we look jet lagged?

The next morning, on February 26, 2003, we got dressed in our wedding clothes and with our Sposi Novelli tickets in hand (thanks to Monsignor Conley!) we went to the Wednesday Papal Audience.  After a little mix-up because we did not have our actual marriage certificate, and with a little help from Archbishop Keleher, who happened to be there, we got seated in the right spot, and after Pope John Paul II's address, we waited our turn to go up.  Finally, we got our own brief time with the Pope.  We knelt in front of him, he gave me his hand, and put his other hand on Dan's head, and blessed us as newlyweds!  It was so awesome!

A moment we will never forget!

Afterwards, we walked around St. Peter's Square and took a few pictures.  A lot of people were staring, and some stopped to talk to us and ask us where we were from.  They guessed we were from Germany, Austria, Ireland, but no one guessed the USA.  Funny! 

I felt like a queen!

 On our third day, we had Mass with Monsignor Conley at the Transfiguration Altar in St. Peter's Cathedral, and then we rented a car to drive to Positano, Italy, which is on the Amalfi Coast.  On the way there, we stopped at Monte Cassino, the famous abbey of St. Benedict.  Unfortunately, they were about to close for a 3 hour siesta, so we did not get to be there long, but it was still neat to see.

Monte Cassino in the background.

 After a harrowing drive through Naples and a gorgeous drive along the Amalfi Coast, we arrived at Positano.

Positano is a beautiful place right on the sea, and in February, is not busy at all.  As you can see, it is built on a very steep hill, and it has a narrow, winding road that goes all the way through town.  It is not practical to drive because parking is very limited, so we walked everywhere.  In the picture below, you can see our hotel at the top (the red one - Casa Albertina), and to get down to the beach, it was about 300 steps, with little staircases and paths going through and around all the little buildings.  So fun to walk down.  Going up was another story!  The first night we ate at a restaurant on the beach, and after a 2 hour meal, we went back up all those stairs.  We thought we'd have a heart attack before we got back to our hotel!  After that, any time we needed to go up, we took the long, winding road instead. 

On the beach in Positano.

The view from our private balcony.

 On one of the days, we took a day trip to Capri.  We drove to Sorrento, then took a ferry to Capri.  At Capri, we bought tickets to see the famous Blue Grotto.  The only way to get there is by sea, so we got on board a little boat and when we got to the grotto, we all got into little rowboats to go inside the grotto.  Lights inside showed very blue water and the grotto looked blue from the reflection.  Our rower was singing Italian songs.  Very nice.  Then we spent the afternoon walking around Capri and seeing the sights.  It is a very beautiful island. 

Dan in Capri.

Another day, we took a day trip to Pompeii.  A fascinating place.

Dan in Pompeii.

Exploring Positano.

Janet in Positano.

We had a wonderful honeymoon!

Fun With Friends, Fabulous Food, and Fathers

Okay, so I am doing a weekend recap on Tuesday. Not too bad for me! If you read this blog much, I'm sure you know that I am usually behind and that I tend to blog in spurts. (I have a bunch of blog ideas jotted down, so if I ever really get on a roll, you are in for it!)

On Saturday we went to the WSU Newman Center Reunion, which really centered around Bishop Conley (pictured below with Dan), who was chaplain Fr. Conley of the Newman Center back when Dan attended college at WSU. The Reunion started with a Mass celebrated by the Bishop. NOTE TO GRANDMA B: Dan handled all the kids by himself during Mass, so I could sing in the choir. Not a small feat at 4:00 in the afternoon!

Then down in the Newman Center basement (which has been the scene of many festivities over the years), all were welcomed with dinner and remembrances, and lots of conversation. Dan got to talk to many old friends and I got to meet up with some women friends, some of whom I have gotten to know better via the internet (Dawn, for one!). There were a lot of kids there, so ours were a little overwhelmed, especially Joseph, but they eventually had a great time.
We got home late and crashed and it was the strangest thing to wake up on Sunday morning and not go to Mass. I can't remember the last time we've gone to a Saturday night Mass. We had a leisurely morning for Father's Day. It was still pretty wet out from the rain we got last week (2.5 inches in one day!) so Dan couldn't really do anything outside. So he read the Sunday paper, played with the kids, and then after lunch took a nap(sounds like a good day to me!).

Then Sunday evening we prepared a feast: Grilled steak and shrimp, with a big side salad and watermelon. And even a bottle of wine! Mmm. I prepared everything, but Dan grilled(he's much better at it, and we rarely get to have steak, so...). My brother, Fr. Brian, arrived in time for dinner. He had come to Wichita for a baptism on Sunday afternoon, and then got to come spend some time with us.

Here is a picture of Fr. Brian and the kids circling in for the kill. He had just arrived and gotten down on their level and they were taking full advantage.

Ooh, surprise move!

The kids were so wound up and excited when Fr. Brian came. They were busy showing him all their tricks (at the same time) and toys. It was funny. We enjoyed his visit very much!

Happy Baptism Day, Joseph!

2 years ago today, our Joseph was baptized. Here is a picture of the happy scene:
And a close-up of that big baby boy sleeping peacefully in his baptism gown, which was worn by both his father and big brother, Dominic, among many others.

Bishop James D. Conley

I was honored to be in Denver for the Episcopal Ordination of an old friend on May 30th, 2008, while mommy was with the kids at grandpa's and grandma's house in KC.

With Chaput as Archbishop and Conley as Auxiliary Bishop, expect great things to continue in Denver.