Park Weather! Finally!

 Ah...The weather is finally getting nice enough to go to the park without roasting! 

I love these days!

Laura and the girls, packed up dinner and came down to New Braunfels to have a picnic tonight. It was such a nice evening, and they had so much fun, playing in the splash park, climbing trees, and just enjoying the nice day!

And Also....

 The yard has been a work in progress. 

I have big plans, but its still really hot out. 

We built a little shrine in the corner of the back yard, 

And Tim has taken out this tree.

This is currently the bane of our landscaping in the front yard. It is the concrete box that ATT put there when the place was built. Since then most of the soil in the front yard has washed away and it is slowly sinking. You would think that they would care about that. But that doesn't seem to be the case. I just want them to fix it so that I can make the yard look nice. It looks terrible right now. 

Catching Up

 

Well, I guess this will be like one of those Christmas letters that people send out, trying to update six months of details into a single post. 

If I am going to keep this blog, I guess I should probably try a little harder to post. I have gone back and forth. I feel like it's just a way to document the things that we are doing at this point. I doubt anyone is visiting here anymore, but I'll post pictures and catch up just the same. If it isn't deleted by Google at some point, family can come here someday and look back. 

So I last posted in June. And there have been lots of highlights since then!

Paul and Madi came to visit at the end of June, to attend a wedding for some friends and to spend time in Texas. It was really nice. Madi came earlier and we had a very nice time doing "girl stuff" and visiting with the Cookes. Paul came down in time for their anniversary, and they went to San Antonio for a couple of nights to celebrate. 

They took a couple of kids to Sea World in San Antonio!

After they left, I had to pack up and head to Maryland. 

Cora had some time with the Fam. 

I got to visit with Tim and some friends before heading up to the Theology of the Body Institute for my last required class! 

I graduated July 12th, and now I am working to complete the rest of the requirements for certification. I am currently reading the text of the audiences (again and completely) so that I can write a response journal. I am about a third of the way finished. I am so blessed by this amazing teaching! Such a gift to the world for our times. 

I wanted to stay longer to visit, but I needed to get back to Texas for a surgical consult at the Texas Cancer Center. I went to the dermatologist while Madi was here, and was told that the patch on my head that had been there for years and that several doctors, including Dr Kurgansky, a dermatologist in Maryland, had declared to be psoriasis, was, in fact, a basal cell carcinoma. How a PA in Texas could simply look at it and know that, while an actual doctor never bothered to biopsy it, is beyond me. By the time it was seen by the surgeon it had spread to the size of a fifty-cent piece. I saw the doctor on the 16th of July, and I was able to get in for the procedure on the 19th! It turned out to be a pretty complicated. They got all the cancer and then had to pull the scalp together to close up the space. I was asleep, but it must have been a pretty tough deal, because I had about 20 staples in the top of my head when I woke up. I spent the weekend on the couch, sleeping upright, and taking a lot of tylenol. After I took the bandages off and was able to take care of it, I just had to wait to see what the end result would be as far as scarring. I am still waiting. I lost quite a bit of my hair around it and I guess it will grow back. The doctor thinks so. I doubt the scar itself will diminish much, but we shall see. I am just glad to have it over with, but I really wish that Dr Kurgansky had been more proactive and it would have been so much smaller. 

In August, Paul and Madi moved to Cincinnati to start their new life there.

They also bought a car and took a little vacation. 

 Paul has an accounting job with a firm in the middle of town, and Madi is working at a Catholic school nearby teaching pre-K. It sounds like they are adjusting well. We want to head up there for a visit soon. 

And in August, Tim was finally able to move to Texas!!

Cora is so pleased!

Enjoying Full Moons and Sunrises

Helped Miles build this model! 

He arrived in the middle of the month and we are all settled in. He works in San Antonio part of the week, and at home the other half. It is so good to have him here!! I love having weekends together and he is enjoying catching up on time with the grandkids. 

I have been doing Spiritual Direction online several days a week. I love it so much. What an amazing gift to be able to walk with all these beautiful women on their journey with Jesus. I can't thank the Lord enough. I have also been helping out with RCIA at our parish, and I am leading a Bible Study through the Gospel of John on Mondays. I also still put in a few hours a week at the parish thrift shop. 

September was a time of settling into the ministry year. Bible Studies started, RCIA started, I was asked to give a talk on Matrimony at Laura and Andrew's church. I have been back and forth to the surgeon as I heal from the surgery and I am also working through some other health issues, nothing big, just me at my age. I have found that the doctors here are really proactive. They don't "watch it and see what it does". So I have been seeing my GP off and on to iron things out. 

School started! This is Lucy's Senior year of High School! Unbelievable.

Last week the kids had a day off school on Friday so we took a trip to the coast and found a beach just off of Corpus Christi. we enjoyed a beautiful day! The weather was so nice. The water was warm and except for the jellyfish it was lovely. I think the jellyfish were God's way of keeping people out of the water, because the rip currents were really bad. We parked on the beach, set up the tent, and had a very nice time!

Graduation!!

 We were so blest to attend Paul and Madi's graduation from Franciscan University!

Paul Graduated Magna Cum Laude, and he earned it!! He has worked very hard, and he has a great job lined up. 

Madi has her degree in education, and she will be teaching pre-K at a wonderful Catholic School in Cincinnati. 

So proud of both of them!!

(Thought I had posted this)

A Beautiful April!

 I've been keeping busy for sure. Working in the yard, and doing things around the house. I have also been working at the Thrift shop at the Parish and I have met a wonderful group of new friends at one of the senior living places in New Braunfels. We are doing a Bible study on the Gospel of John! 

Went to a few ball games and Cora has been enjoying her walks in the park!

God is so good!

Marching Through Spring!

 March was a very busy month. Lent and then Easter. 

The flowers blooming all over the place! In the park, and even in the yard. 

Molly had a birthday party out at Barkley Meadows, a park near Austin. It was cold and very rainy, but everyone had a good time!

Soft Ball for Claire and track for Max! 

The Big Picture

 It has now been six months since the Lord provided the answer to where we are called to serve Him.

Sometimes I start to feel a little anxious. I know that we are supposed to be here and I know that He has provided everything that this situation is made of. The thing that I start to feel nervous about is that Tim is still not able to join me here. He is still in Maryland, and while that seems to be a good situation, for lots of reasons, it is lasting a lot longer than I thought it would, and there is still no end date. Lord, what is this? 

But then I was reading through the end of my Bible study this morning and the reflection was about trusting God's plan, when you can't see how it's going to play out. 

Like Joseph, who was told in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and head to Egypt. He was told to go live in a new place, and he knew that the messenger was trustworthy, so he went. Did he get there, and wonder, "Is this really what you want Lord?" Well, obviously it was, and he was given many signs and indications, how long to stay and when to go back. 

We know that we heard right. There have been just too many things that only the Lord could have done, and so much affirmation in prayer. 

The "big three" things for me, that are coalescing somehow, are my journey through Theology of the Body, my walk with God as a Spiritual Director, and this move to a new place, and a new parish and archdiocese. All works of God in my life, all a calling to a particular mission, and all pointing to my place in the vineyard. 

I was an enthusiastic homeschooling mom. I loved it, and it was a call that I answered as long as He kept pointing that way. The kids grew up and moved on in life and as that was happening, unbeknownst to me, there was already a new passion taking up space in my heart. 

It started with that invitation by Fr Dale to go to the first course at the Theology of the Body Institute. I can't even describe the way that has changed my life, and my heart. My entire understanding of what it means to be a human being in relationship with God and other people. I am so humbled every day by the grace that has poured out of that teaching. I am so, so grateful, and I want to introduce it to anyone that is ready to hear it. 

After a few years of study in that teaching, I was invited to look at becoming a Spiritual Director. Oh my goodness. What a gift. Every meeting with a directee is an encounter with the heart of a person and the Heart of God. It is an inexpressible privilege. I am still constantly amazed that He has given me this gift of seeing His love for His daughters. Every one of them loves Him so much, and they are seeking to be closer, and that just delights Him! Making Him happy is my greatest joy. 

A couple of years ago I thought I knew what I would be doing, and where. I knew that I would eventually be certified in TOB, after a long time.... and I would finish the Spiritual Direction course and be certified there too. It seemed like the two were/are a perfect fit. 

OK, so then He started giving us this idea that we should sell that home where we had been so happy for so long. Where I thought that I would be hosting Bible Studies and small group meetings well into old age. No, He gently put it onto our hearts that we needed to sell. And we did. And we needed to move to a place that He would show us. And that is just exactly what has happened, for me. Knowing that we have the home that He had prepared for us, in the new Archdiocese and parish, in the great state of Texas, I have absolute confidence that the three things that have been His desire for me will bear fruit, because we have been put here by Him. I just want Tim to be here too. And he is sure that it is God's will that it will happen. We just have to wait for that miracle of "Now". I have no doubt that it will be very clear that it was the work of God. That's how it has been all the way through this. 

So I will keep learning, and doing my best to walk in the way that He has set for me. And Tim will do the same, and one of these days, we'll be doing it here, together. And it will be wonderful. 

Icy Texas!

 Wow. I guess this is the cold snap that we needed to kill all those mosquitos and flies...

Over the weekend the talk was all about the temperatures that would be in the teens, wind chill and ice buildup. 

Saturday evening the wind picked up, and it seemed like this wasn't going to pass by, so I pulling in the hose, and the grill, and covered up the aloe plants. I don't know if even that will save them. 

Yesterday was pretty cold, in the 20s, and today the high will be 30 and the low 16. Tomorrow is more of the same. If they make it I will be very surprised. 

Today I am just staying in. I did my prayers, and then I had a Spiritual Direction session online. I am sad that I didn't get to mass, but there seemed to be the potential for ice. Tomorrow should be better so I will definitely get to mass in the morning. 

I have some projects to work on, and more football this afternoon. I am really hoping that there will be warmer temps coming for the weekend. 

December and Welcome to 2024

 December was a whirlwind, but such a blessed time. 

Dad was staying with the Cookes and so we saw a lot of him and he seems to be doing so well! He is 83 and shooting for a hundred, which certainly seems doable! 

The boys, on the other end of the spectrum, turned 11. They got a Foosball table, and I gave them a gift of paint for their room. They are doing an F1 theme in there. Part of their Christmas from me was to go up to a Kart track in Austin to race. They had a blast. 

Madi had the idea and gave a Karting gift card to Paul, and I got one for Brendan and Tim. They all went up and had a great time. 

Tim brought Paul and Madi and Brendan down from the north. It was so good to have all of them under this roof!! I am so glad that we have plenty of room in the house. We had wonderful meals, we played lots of games, and Madi and I shared some recipes. What a great way to bring this house into the family. 

Masterpiece

Making their cookie tree "Carl" 

Hide and Seek....winning....

Gatherin'

Patio Lights for nights outside

Dusk in New Braunfels

We also spent time up in Kyle. That is also a home that is so familiar and warm. I love being there and spending time with the kids, dogs, and all the great things that everyone is doing. Madi and I baked a ton of cookies with Laura and we were able to share many of them. Dad bought steaks for everyone. We went out to dinner with the Cookes on Christmas eve. It is a special tradition and I hope we are part of it for many years to come. 

Nertz, of course.

Laura finished the stockings that she had been Cross-stitching for Paul and Madi's first Christmas together. They came out so nice! She worked so hard on them. 

I made bowl cozies for some people, and I am going to make some more, but I have to get back t o my machine. 

Also, Tim got me a Cricut for Christmas!! Was I ever surprised!! I am thinking of all the things that I can do around here, and the gifts that I can make! I want to make hand made gifts for each person for next year. I need to make a list of what and for who, and get started now. I just feel like something hand made is a nice thing to remember someone by. 

Cora had a great Christmas. I was in the kitchen preparing something, and I heard something going on over by the tree. She was pulling her stocking out from behind all the presents, and she flipped it over and over until all the stuff came out. Her nose is so amazing. She could smell the tennis balls in their package and wouldn't be satisfied until she had peeled and destroyed all three of them. She likes that even better than treats.

And we were so glad to host Christmas dinner here. The table was full, and THAT is a good feeling!

Of course, we missed the ones we love who couldn't be with us, but they are in our thoughts and prayers, and maybe next year we can add a few chairs and I'll have even more people in the pictures!!