A Very Busy Day

On the day after Halloween, which is All Saints' Day, we started our very busy day by going to the Open House at Dan's work, which is Beechcraft (part of Textron Aviation).  We got to tour some of one of the buildings, play all kinds of carnival games, and eat lunch.  There was no picture-taking allowed inside the building, but outside there were airplanes to look at!

Posed in front of one of the airplanes.

This one's got teeth!

We got to go inside a business jet.

More airplanes.

Dan explained the parts of the plane to the kids.

We had a fun time checking out Daddy's work!

 That same day, in the evening, we went to our homeschool group's All Saints' Party.  I helped the kids come up with saint costumes to wear. 

Anthony as St. George, Catherine as St. Agnes, Joseph as St. Joseph, Anne as the Blessed Mother, Dominic as St. Dominic.

Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus.

Lining up for the Saint march.

Off they go.

Oh, when the Saints go marching in...

Time for games!

St. Anthony's Lost and Found.

Another St. George with his very large dragon!

Anthony was thrilled to get his hand painted.

Ten Years!

Ten years ago today, Dan and I were married!  The years have gone by fast.  We've had eight children, three of whom are already in heaven.  We bought our dream place out in the country.  We've had lots of adventures and fun times together.  Here's to the next 10 years together!

One of our engagement pictures.

At our wedding rehearsal.

Taking the formal photos on our wedding day.

The wedding Mass in progress.

Saying our vows.

Exchanging rings.

Newly married!

The happy couple.

Arriving at the reception hall.

Cutting the cake.

Our first toast.

After a fabulous Wedding March, we had our first dance.  We danced to "When You Say Nothing At All," by Alison Krauss.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Dan's birthday!  As well it is Padre Pio's feast day.  And it's also 10 years to the day that Dan asked me to marry him!  Dan always says that he picked his birthday so he would remember the day.  You'll have to ask him whether he remembered or not!

Padre Pio, pray for us.

Our Date

On Saturday evening, we dropped the kids off at Dan's brother's house (thanks Al and Brenda!), and went out on a date!

We went to Chester's Chophouse and Wine Bar, somewhere new to us.  It was wonderful, but not cheap.

Neither one of us could remember when exactly we went on a date last.  For sure, we know it was sometime before Anthony, and he is almost two! 

Here we are, looking like newlyweds!

The menu:  Appetizer:  Raw Oysters - Dan
                                      Mussels - Janet
                   Wine:  Merlot for Dan and Pinot Noir for Janet
                   Entree: New York Strip Steak with Lobster Tail - Dan
                                Filet Mignon - Janet
                   Sides:   Brussel Sprout Slaw and Ginger Snow Peas
                   Dessert: Chocolate Bread Pudding and Chester's Irish Coffee - Dan
                                 Creme Brulee Trio - Janet

Wow, what a meal!  It reminded us of some of the meals we ate on our honeymoon in Italy, not necessarily the food, but the attentive service and the leisurely meal.  We never felt rushed and the whole meal lasted over an hour and a half.   It was expensive, just like our honeymoon meals, but we've been waiting a few years for this one!

Not quite the Amalfi Coast, but we'll take it!

A wonderful Anniversary celebration!

A Winter Project

First Daddy built some shelves.

Then he painted the shelves and put them in the girls' room.  Now nearly all their toys are on these shelves.  I should have taken an "after" picture.  The shelves really help them to keep their room cleaner.  Hooray!

Shoe Storage

Look at what Dan made for me not long ago:

Custom made to fit the space under the coat rack, this has solved our shoe clutter/storage problem.  Each child has his/her own section and is responsible for keeping his or her shoes in it.  Hooray for handy husbands!

Daddy And The Kids

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Dan with the kids in the garden.

Today is also the feast of St. Padre Pio, who is the House of Brungardt patron saint.

St. Padre Pio, pray for us!

Happy Birthday, Dan!

The Big 4-0!

We celebrated Dan's birthday this week and it was a fun-filled day. Dan had the day off and we started by sleeping in (til 7:30!). Then it was donuts for breakfast(which I got at the grocery store the night before-Krispy Kremes even)!

After a lazy, fun morning, ... well, we did do some school, I guess that's fun, but not lazy! Anyway, after lunch, we had cupcakes(which I got at the store the night before) and boy, did the kids love those, as you can see:


Everyone got a candle in their cupcake and we all sang Happy Birthday to Daddy. You would think I would have gotten a picture of that, but I didn't. So you'll have to do with looking at some messy kids:

Also that morning I made some Creme Brulee, with the stirring help of the boys. It was intended to be for dessert after dinner, as that is Dan's favorite dessert. However, we went out for dinner and everyone was too full when we got back home. So we had them after dinner the next night. In this shot, right before dinner, I had just sprinkled sugar on the top and torched them with that handy-dandy little butane torch you can see there.

I told Dan I was going to post this picture on the blog before I even took the picture and obviously he didn't care. It is pretty sad that this is the only picture I took of him on his birthday. And the sadder part is that it was actually the next day. Oops.

Catherine is ready to dig in. Joseph, however, did not waste any time for some silly picture.

And the other side of the table, with Dominic showing off his creme brulee while Anne looks on.

Happy Birthday, Daddy Dan!

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!

A New Blog and A New Baby

Dan has decided that I have taken over our blog too much (heh, heh, heh), so he has started his own blog, Haus of Brungardt. Check it out! Now I don't have to feel guilty anymore for being behind on blogging about some of the garden stuff he's been doing.


Other news:

Dan is now a great-uncle! His niece just this week had a baby boy named Michael Joseph. So, potentially, if we are blessed with more children, his great-nephew will be older than some of his children. Congratulations to April and Kerry, proud mama and papa!