Happy 21st Birthday Moira!!!

It's been twenty-one of the best years of our lives, thanks to you, Moira.  We love you and are very proud of you.  Here's a photo to remind us just how quickly those 21 years have gone.  And some things never change...

Ohio Visit (August 2011)

We were able to stay for a long weekend with Tim and Suzy when we took Moira to FUS in late August.  It's always such a fun visit for everyone in Steubenville!  It was an emotional weekend.  Dropping off your first child, 11 hours away from home, is not easy for anyone.  We were a bunch of blubbering messes the day we left.  We were so blubbery, in fact, that I didn't get ANY pictures of Moira and her dorm room.  I think I might be able to snag a few off Facebook from Moira's wonderful roommate Brooke, or her Brooke's mom, Chris. Moira got really lucky in the roommate department!  Brooke is a lovely, fun girl from Appleton, just 20 minutes from us!  God is so good to have planned that little detail.


The kids were able to have tons of fun with cousins Aileen, Joe and Mara.  Here's Molly Grace, holding one of the cousin's kittens.

Erin and Marian

The gang...our kids, the cousins, and the cousin's cousins (Luke and Anne's kids)

Mara and Erin, having fun together

 

Saying goodbye to Moira was more difficult that we imagined.  But she is doing great and really loves FUS.  She has settled in beautifully and has made so many great friends.  Having Tim and Suzy nearby makes a world of difference!

 When we were leaving, giving our last good-byes, Molly Grace said, "Moira, just please don't marry a smoker".  Only she said, "smokah" because she's still working on those "r's".  LOL.  So far so good; Moira has taken Molly Grace's advice to heart.  We'll update several years down the road...



 

 On the way home we detoured to spend a couple days at Crystal Lake.  It was the perfect way to end the summer before the kids started school the following week.  It was a bonus that we were able to see Uncle Jeff, Mark and Erin too!  Always so nice to see them!

 Seamus particularly loved walking around Grandma and Grandpa's cottage with the clickity Barbie high heals.  Oh dear.

University Days/Visit with Cousins

In mid-June, Mike, Moira, friend Genna, Eileen and Teresa traveled to Steubenville for FUS's University Days.  That means we're getting closer to Moira's departure to college.  Like it or not, that day is fast approaching. They had a very nice visit with Tim, Suzy and family, had a great visit to FUS and did a little sight seeing in Pittsburgh. 

Here's darling Cousin Mara!

Moira and Joe with the kittens

Moira and Genna, who will also be attending FUS!

Eileen and Moira

Happy Easter!

We had a very nice Easter weekend (with the exception of a flood in the basement and a fire in the kitchen....more on that in a minute). Pat and Anna arrived on Saturday night, and since Mike and I are not in prime shape to tackle the late Vigil Mass with little kids, Anna kindly took our oldest three girls to the Cathedral Easter Vigil Mass. It was beautiful.  The rest of us went to Mass in the morning after the Easter egg hunt.

Here are some pictures...

Erin crawling under the table to get her basket

Beautiful roses - thank you Anna!

Seamus has that sugar for breakfast look on his face

Aidan, patiently posing for a picture before digging in

Chocolate AND a sugary center - yuck

The favorite gift!

A cake from Mr. Walker, which was delicious!  So...I started cutting it before someone thought to get a picture :)

Another picture just because they are awesome!

Eileen's strawberry pretzel dessert - yum!

So, now onto the drama.  Somewhere between Friday night and Saturday morning, our sump pump got caught up on some pipes, or something, and stopped working.  It didn't take long for the basement to become soaked, with 1-4 inches of water in various places.  We quickly moved anything that we could save to a dry spot and Mike quickly fixed the sump pump.  Most of the standing water was pumped out pretty quickly, and thankfully, nothing of great value was lost. The carpeting was completely soaked, so that will need to be replaced. We sort of just put the basement on "hold" to enjoy our weekend, and there was really not much we could do anyway, except run the fans and dehumidifier. We spend this past weekend ripping out our carpeting and throwing away our destroyed junk. The worst part was the smell, which started on Monday.  It is just about cleared out now.

Now, onto the mini-fire.  Being the oldest child, Moira has found her toothbrush in undesirable locations more than a few times, thanks to the shenanigans of her little siblings. She is used to this.  She knows to either get a new toothbrush or boil it.  On Sunday, she chose to boil it. Then she chose to watch a movie. ha ha.  Several minutes later, toxic fumes where pouring out of the "toothbrush pan" into our kitchen.  You would not believe how bad the fumes are from an incinerated toothbrush!  Seriously, you could hardly breathe!  All that remained in the pan was a bit of dust.  It was so bad we all needed to evacuate the house for a while.  Mike had all the fans going and the windows open.

Never a dull moment, I tell you!

The Seamer-boy, ready to take on the flood!

Regardless of the drama, we really did have a great weekend.  We are so thankful for so many blessings!

More Pictutes from Moira's 18th Birthday Party

A friend sent some more pictures of Moira and Father Eric's birthday bash.  (Thanks, Stacie!!!)  We miss our friends who recently moved back to Madison.  Our girls were their babysitters here in GB, and you can see how happy they all were to see each other again! 

Moira, Bridget, Eileen holding our Goddaughter Katharine, and Molly Grace

Teresa, Molly Grace, Maria and Erin

Eileen and Katharine

Maria and Moira

Timmy, Mark and Aidan

Teresa, Aidan, Seamus and Maria

Me, Nicolas and Tim

Mike and Erin

Happy 18th Birthday Moira!!!

Moira had a really special 18th birthday celebration!  Ever since she was quite young, we have tried to get together with Father Eric on April 4th, because they share a birthday on this day!  This year, Father Eric turned 50, so it called for a grand party.  Father, Pastor of Saint Paul's at UW Madison, planned a big birthday bash and we celebrated with his friends, our families, many of his students there, and some of our long-time friends from Madison. (I do have more pictures coming...)

The following day, we headed back to Green Bay so Moira could vote for the first time!


It sure is amazing having an 18 year old!  Moira is a fabulous daughter.  She has made us so very proud over the years....and she will continue to share her gifts with the world.  She plans to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville next fall to study nursing.

We love you very much, Moira!!!


Here is blast from the past....Moira and her cousin Owen (who turned 18 in December).  I believe they are age 5 here.  Wow, does time fly!  God bless you both, Moira and Owen!!!

Welcome Home, Lombardi Trophy!

As you can see, I'm still quite behind on blogging...Better late than never, I say!

Moira loves her job. In February, she had a very fun opportunity (employee perks!) to get a little photo op with the Lombardi trophy! Yes, this is the real deal! The replicas will go behind the glass case, which you can see in some of the photos.

Moira is counting her blessings that she was able to be an employee during this Superbowl season.  What a great opportunity it has been!  Did I mention that she LOVES her job?

March for Life

Mike and the girls attended the March for Life in Washington DC this past January!  It was such a great experience for them all!  Patrick, Anna and Tim traveled with them.  They will hold these memories for many years to come!


Other families members wished they could have gone along.  Here's Stow-Away Number One....

And Stow-Away Number Two...

They flew out of Milwaukee to Pittsburgh, where Tim met up with them.  Of course they had to stop at the Hofbrauhaus!

Once in DC, they went to Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  Beautiful!

I'm not sure what the final numbers were at the March, but estimates were between 100,000 and 200,000.  At least.

I'm pretty sure the girls have more pictures which I will try to put on soon....