Christmas 2021

 We spend the weekend before Christmas in South Bend with the Sullivan clan.  We rented a house for all the Iowa Sullivans.  I think Becca was not happy to have her picture taken.

Mary was very happy to see her bestie!

All the girl cousins at one table minus one...

...and all the boy cousins at another.

There was also some ice-skating at an adjacent rink.

Mary didn't have any trouble finding a lap to sit in. 

We went to Mass Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Then on Christmas morn we opening our gifts.  Mary was very excited to get a Baby Yoda sleep mask.

But George was even MORE excited to get a Star Wars Legions game.

Thanks Aunt Pat!

When then took a trip to St. Louis to see the Hatton side of the family.  Becca and I got to bound on the couch.

The cousins on this side are little (ages 1 and almost 3) but equally delightful as all the other cousins.  Here is an attempt to get 7 kids to share a couch and look at the camera.

Mike enjoyed some time with our old friend Gweny.  The pandemic has made her very white.

All in all, we had a lovely Christmas.  Thank you to all our siblings for sharing your wonderful children with us.  it is always a blessing to see happy, healthy children with their amazing, loving parents and grandparents.  Merry Christmas to you all.

Tis the Season

Its that time of year where little child sing on a big stage for the all the world to hear.  I got an inside look at the production.  Here is Mary's class practicing.

Here is the St. Pat's band, you can see Becca in the middle with the red sweater on.

Mary will kick off the pictures from the concert.  I was busy being a teacher so thank you Mike for all the pics!

The 3rd and 4th grade did the ABC of Christmas.

The 8th grades did a new twist on the 12 Days of Christmas.

Patrick's whole school (all 34 of them) performed a choir concert the next night.  No, he does not smile.

The Kindergarteners and 4th grades put on a production of the 5 Glorious Mysteries at school.  

Although there was a Mary in each mystery, our Mary got to go first.

Here is the whole cast, both classes.  They did a really great job.

 

That's it for now.  Mike may add to the pictures later this week so come back and see.

Annual Tree Hunt

It was time once again to go tree hunting.  This year we went a week early than normal because of the activities schedule.  Enjoy.

I know Becca is hiding in this near-by tree, but I'm not sure why Mary is running around it.

Cecilia's turn to cut.

Becca is so weird!

So we brought the tree home.  While Mike and Patrick were busy figuring out the tree stand (which later broke), Becca got weird again.

It was Mary's first time to put the angel on top of the tree.

Good job!

Mike thought it would be nice to get a picture of the kids in front of the tree.  Tilly thought Becca needed some loving.

We did manage to get some nice shots.

More to come soon.