We have had a nice, quiet week. The weather has been pretty nice, with some sunny and warmish days and a little rain thrown in to green things up. I have been trying to remember to take pictures as things happen around here and in our lives.

On Friday I took Cora over to Perryville park to enjoy the beautiful day! We saw lots of birds, and so many people fishing! In fact I saw these guys taking out this little fishing kayak, with a motor! It was really neat. I am not sure what they were all going out for, but I hope they had good luck!

My flowers are blooming and so pretty right now. The Rhubarb is coming along nicely as well! Tim is loving the new mower (well, loving might be an overstatement) and the lawn is coming in really nicely!

Cora is enjoying the warmer weather and all the squirrels that are all over the place! 

Speaking of Cora, she got a bath and a clip to get her all ready for the road trip to TN! She hates baths so much...but it was necessary. 

Last night, after Benediction, Fr Francis blessed our friend Ed's new truck! It was nice to be able to pray with them. We have so many wonderful friends at St Patrick's! What a blessing! There is a lot going on and it's all good! We have a baby shower for the pregnancy centers coming up in May, and then our next Marriage Enrichment event! I am reading and getting ready for school in June. I can't wait to see what the next course will bring! I can't wait to be together with all the wonderful people in our class! What a special group we have. 

Paul is wrapping up school already! We will be picking him up on May 7th! I can't believe it! His first year in the bag! 

Tomorrow we are heading to Tennessee for a short vacation and recon trip. We'll look around and I'll take a bunch of pictures! 

Sights Around Town

 Cora and I got out into a beautiful Spring day yesterday! We had a wonderful walk around town. Havre de Grace was busting with activity. So many people out in their yards, at the park, and out walking. 

The sun was shining, although it was a bit chilly. 

Here are a few pictures.

I also got a picture of this neat relief that is on the wall of one of the businesses in town.

It was a good day for Cora to chase balls around the yard, and to get some other work done. 

We had Bible study at our house last night and it was so good. Going through the book of Revelation is quite a journey, but I am so grateful for the way that it illuminates our experience in the Mass. 

Alleluia! The Good News!

 Yes, I have fallen behind, but this will be a big catch-up, with lots of pictures, and it's EASTER!! A perfect time to begin again! 

Praise be to God! What a glorious season. 

Coming out of Lent, winter, and things that weigh us down, we find Spring, New Life and Jesus, risen and Glorious! In this I find all my hope. There will be renewal and there will be grace for the Truth to be found again. Thank you Lord!

So much has been going on! I am excited for the warmer weather. We have had some truly beautiful days. The chill has returned for a few days, but it is on it's way out. 

Things are blooming all over the place! 

The flowering pear is putting on a great show, and the flox in the flower beds is just beautiful. It's short and sweet, but I love it while it's in bloom. 

Cora has been having a blast in the yard. She is really loving the game of fetch. I love it too, because it wears her out! We have also been walking downtown and she has tons of energy, so I am extending the distance gradually. 

We moved the futon out of the office, because there was no way to comfortably watch TV in the basement. We moved two chairs up to the office and Cora made herself right at home in one of them, so I guess she approves. 

Last week was Holy Week, and it was really nice. We had morning Mass for the first three days of the week, but then, because of Triduum, we had Morning Prayer Thursday and Friday, and that was wonderful. Paul and Madi came down for Easter and were here on Thursday for dinner and then we went to Mass. It was so nice to have them here. 

Good Friday was very good indeed. We had morning prayer again and then we had the 3:00 service and veneration of the cross. What a blessing!

Saturday was Madi's birthday! We were blest to be able to celebrate with her! We had a salmon dinner and then apple pie and ice cream cake for dessert, with a couple of candles of course. 

Then we went off to Easter Vigil Mass! It was just wonderful. Five people were received into the church! It was such a blessed time. I love this parish so much.

Later we went over to the Hoppels and had a great visit! The Andrews were there, and Deacon Jerry with them! That was so nice! Jerry will be ordained in June! Such an exciting time for their family. 

Austin, Maria and little Lou were there as well and I got to hold him. He is such a cuddly little guy! 

It was a great day. 

It is such a great season! Hoping to post a lot more, and a lot sooner!

Happy Birthday Paul (and Cora)

 It's been a fun week! We have had some decent weather, at least for playing out in the yard, and we have had a couple of birthday celebrations. 

On Thursday Cora turned one! That's pretty momentous when you are as small as she is. We didn't go too crazy, but it was also Luna's birthday, so Danielle pulled out all the stops and made a doggy birthday cake. I gave Luna a few little treats, and Danielle gave me a photo mug with pics of the pups and even one of Maggie with them. It was so sweet. They had a great time tearing all over the house. 

On Saturday we headed up to Ohio to see Paul for his birthday. It was a great weekend. Brendan came along, and he got to hang out with his brother on campus. 

Tim and I had a hotel not too far away and it was nice to be able to go back and forth easily. We went to dinner on Saturday night with some of his friends, which was just wonderful. We went to Bennigan's, a restaurant across from the school. I bumped into Shannon, one of the people who runs the School for Spiritual Direction! It's a small Catholic world. We had good food and got to know Paul's friends. That was really nice. Then Time and I went back to our hotel and the guys went to hang out with more friends. Cora had come along and she was just such a good sport. She was a perfect lady the whole time. She stayed in her crate in the room while we went to dinner, and was quiet and well behaved. Such a great traveler. 

Yesterday, Paul's actual birthday, Madi was able to join us! 

She had been on retreat the day before, so we didn't get to see her. We met at the school and then drove over to Weirton, a town close by in West Virginia. We went to a Byzantine Mass there, which was wonderful, and then went to a place called Tudor's Biscuit World, which may be the only business in town that is actually booming. It was great though. We had some of Paul's friends with us too. After we went back to the school we took a cake in to Madi's dorm and sang happy birthday. 

Then we went up to TJ Maxx where we looked for cheap stuff. As we were getting ready to leave Brendan realized that he was missing his bag, with all his ID and other things. We went back to the school to look, but we didn't find it. He is still hopeful that it will turn up, but has to  cancel cards and protect his ID just in case.