Bible in a Year

I did it! I’m a few days in to 2022, but I did it. I finished listening to the Bible in a Year podcast from Fr. Mike Schmitz.

I’m 44 and this is the first time in my life I have gone through the entire Bible. I learned SO much and am extremely grateful to have been able to learn more about God’s word and my faith.

Standing on the Word of God – 2022

Our parish’s sanctuary has been expanded and part of the remodel involves new flooring. Before the marble is installed, parishioners were given a chance to write a verse on the concrete. (We did this a few years ago prior to the new carpet installed.) Philippians 3: 20, 21 is the verse that is on Astrid’s marker. ❤️ I didn’t realize this until just now when I found my 2017 post, but Phil 3:20 is the verse I chose back then, too.

Christmas Day 2021

Christmas morning was spent at home.

Here are the “read” gifts they received. This year we opted for “practical use” material.

The “want” gifts.

ETA 12/27/21: Shecklet #1 finished his LEGO set in no time, Shecklet #2 can’t wait to use his new ski gloves (he wore a hole in his old ones,) Shecklet #3 found the perfect place in her room for the fuzzy purple rug, and Shecklet #3 has been having fun taking pictures with her camera.

The “share” gift. I may or may not have gone a little overboard here, but the deal I got on Perler beads was too good. 40,000 beads should keep them busy for a while, right?!?

After lunch, we headed south to spend the afternoon/evening with Jake’s family. Everyone was there – including Tippi!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2021

We attended 4pm mass at our parish to celebrate Christmas. Aunt Larissa joined us for mass and afterwards we had heavy appetizers for dinner. Jake returned to church to run the cameras for streaming the 10pm mass.

PPFL – Astrid’s Story

Prenatal Partners for Life was a huge support to us during our pregnancy with Astrid as well as the time after her death. Mary, the founder of PPFL, asked if I would write about our time with Astrid for her to use in their fall newsletter. I was honored to be able to share about the short life of our little girl and the impact she continues to have on all of us.

Friends since…

The later 2000’s. The adults met at SJB when there were only 4 kids between the 6 of us. Now we have 10!

It was a lovely day for a walk at Bunker Regional Park followed by dinner out for just the adults. Lots of laughs, which were welcomed by everyone.

Airsoft afternoon

Friends from church invited the guys to play airsoft this afternoon. They came home sweaty and tired and excited to play again.

40 years – COSP

Our church celebrated its 40th anniversary this summer, culminating in a parish picnic. I helped at the outdoor photo booth. These lovey ladies came by for a few pics.

Off to camp!

Extreme Faith Camp 2021! Watch out, here comes this quartet!

There are seven boys signed up to attend camp at Trout Lake Camp from our parish. Just seven! And these four make up over half of that number! (In comparison, there are 18 girls going – that’s over a 2:1 ratio.) There are other parishes joining ours for the week, but due to covid, they will be limiting the amount of crossover between groups.

I hope this week is full of fun, growing in friendship, and deepening of faith for all of the kids, but especially these young men. See you on Friday, guys!