— 2 —
I had hoped to get out of town early Friday morning, but it ended up being nearly 11am before we left. When I asked my husband to stop in town, before getting on the freeway, so I could pick up some Moscato and Peach Schnapps he said, “Well that is a perfect Facebook update for you… ‘We are on our way to our new goddaughter’s baptism… First stop: Liquor Store!’” Ummm, yeah… When you put it that way…
— 3 —
After arriving in town, and dropping off our suitcases and sleeping bags at the home of some friends who graciously offered to host us, we headed to the golf course to meet David & Ursula and their family for a fundraiser/bbq. My older girls were so excited to see one of their own best friends again and it was the perfect opportunity for me to hold the baby!
We also got to see a couple other priests we knew, as well as meet the Bishop and Father Vuky, who would be concelebrating the Baptism Mass.
— 4 —
After dinner we headed to back to Ursula’s new home (they moved this month and now live right next to the church!) to drink sangria and not worry about all decorations, food and desserts for the 200 guests! make a shopping list so I could go to Costco in the morning for food, drinks, and desserts for the reception, while Sean and the boys helped set up tables and chairs in the back yard. The Peach Sangria was awesome! Here is the recipe:
~ Peach Sangria ~
1 bottle Moscato
1/3 bottle Peach Schnapps
1 liter bottle 7up (or Sprite)
Sliced fresh peaches
Stir all ingredients (except 7up) together in the fridge and let the fruit sit to absorb all of the delicious flavors, then add sprite just before serving. Yummm!
— 5 —
At that point it was getting really late and we headed back to the home where we would be staying. Little did our hostess know when I gave her a
Catholic Cuisine apron, and a couple other goodies as a thank you gift for her and her husband’s hospitality, that she would be wearing that apron all weekend long! 😉
Alecia was amazing! She stayed up late making some pasta salads to help with the party the next day, went shopping with me to Costco and Winco for the food for the party, made Chicken Salad Sandwiches to take as well, and also fed my own family amazing meals all weekend long!
I originally met Alecia when I was fourteen. She was my camp counselor (when she was about the age I am now!) at an MI camp. The following year I spent the night at her home for the first time on my way to World Youth Day in 1993! The rest of the group I was staying with was staying at a local gym, but I was weak from recovering from the flu and she took me home so I could sleep in a bed. I also became good friends with a couple of her boys during those summer camps when we were teenagers, and one of her boys headed to Christendom the year after I attended. So many great friends are made though Catholic Summer Camps!
Alecia has always been so thoughtful and caring. It was such a blessing to be able to take our children to meet her and they loved her just as much as I do! In fact, one of the first things that Snuggles said when we arrived home was “I want to go back to that house where we slept!”
— 6 —
I already posted a few pictures of the baptism, which was so very beautiful. You can find them here.
Here is one more picture of my beautiful friend and new goddaughter!
— 7 —
Sunday morning we headed into town to attend a a Solemn Pontifical Mass (1970 Missal) which was part of the
William Byrd Festival and featured Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices.
The Celebrant was the Most Reverend Basil Meeking, D.D., who is the Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Following Mass our children erupted with cheers when my phone announced “Calculating Route to the Lego Store…” Even though it wasn’t the way I had planned to surprise them with this first visit ever to a lego store, it was still quite the surprise!
One of the employees let them all build a minifigure to take home, in exchange for sorting some legos, and I let the boys fill a little container from the pick-a-brick section. Of course the older boys were the most excited to see the new
Tower of Orthanc in person.
After that we met up with David and Ursula at Red Robin before heading home… The waitress was wonderful and not at all overwhelmed by our “4 adults and 13 children!”
Originally I had hoped to head from the Baptism straight to Idaho so that our older boys could attend a summer camp at one of Sean’s brother’s parishes this week, but it was just too much to try and plan. Honestly it has taken me nearly all of this week to just recover from the weekend trip! Our summer has flown by and I still have so much I need to finish before our new school year begins on September 3rd… I better get back to my planning! I hope you all have a great weekend!
What fun! I am very interested in these Peach Sangrias. I was just talking to Ann Marie about another lady's night next month. I think these might need to make their way there too!
I've been thinking I need to host a "Back-to-School Bunco" night as soon as we all settle into our new schedules for the school year! Of course, it would give me the perfect opportunity to make Peach Sangrias again! 😉
We were at the celebration too! It was so wonderful to be surrounded by so many pro-life Catholic families! Glad you enjoyed Holy Rosary, we love it. 🙂
Jessica
What a fun QTs!! I so enjoyed the commentary as well as the pics! Your kids are just so photogenic! The baby is so sweet!
Love the schnapps quip! Funny….
Be well and God bless…happy you enjoyed your trip!
Those are the kinds of trips I love, where we see folks we love and miss and stay with other folks we love and miss. It creates this great sense of community for our family. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with your friends and friends that are like family!Blessings, Kyle