We're Back!!!

This Party of Nine left for a vacation to the east coast on July 3rd. We spent the Fourth of July with Tim, Suzy, Aileen and Joe, and the Heusels (Suzy's family), in Steubeville, OH. Then we traveled to Manomet Beach, which is south of Plymouth, MA. We rented a little beach cottage in between Cape Cod and Boston, splitting our time between the two. Seventeen years and seven kids ago, Mike and I use to live in the Boston area. This trip brought back so many memories! In some ways it was like we never left....long lost memories would be triggered back to the forefront of our minds by the sight of a quaint little beach town, by the smell of the ocean, or by the local accent of certain words spoken. On the other hand, it was all different. Seeing the same sites with seven kids, after years have passed and new roads have been built up, made it all seem like a new experience! It's funny how time and kids will do that!

So, we really took in so many sights and sounds! We went whale watching from Provincetown, visited Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower, caught up with some old friends, explored the ocean, visited the salt marshes, caught daily Mass, just down the street, whenever we could, rode the subway to Boston to explore the city, and much much more! We ended our trip by attending the National Down Syndrome Convention in Boston. What a treat. We were able to meet many of my friends that I've come to know from my Down syndrome online forum. It was like seeing old friends for the first time!

We have pictures. Lots of pictures. Rather than trying to post them all at once, I'll post a few at a time over the next few days. So, Grandmas, be patient; you'll get to see lots of grand kids soaking up some great times in the next few days!!!

Here's a starter...our whole family just before we left Boston, with the skyline in the background.

Today is Half Way to Christmas, Which Means.....

...It's Teresa's birthday! Teresa is our little ray of sunshine, our little girl who always sees the cup half full, our talkative child who is full of optimism. Feeling down? Spend an hour or so with Teresa and you'll be counting your blessings, feeling chipper, in no time at all. She bounds out of bed each morning with a smile, ready to tackle the day ahead.




Our Teresa, named after Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Saint Teresa Benedicta and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (yes, all of them, we simply couldn't choose between them!), has always loved flowers. It just fits her personality so well. When she was younger, and even still now, she finds flowers irresistible. She has to take them in, smell them, pick them and gather them together into beautiful arrangements for her mother. With Teresa, even the dandelions are brought to life with beautiful arrangements!

One day this week I was heading out for an early morning walk, taking Erin along with me in the stroller. Teresa was up early and wanted to go. I warned her that I was going to walk an hour and she may have a hard time keeping up. She was still determined to go, so off we went. As we walked along, she talked and talked and talked some more. She jumped from subject to subject, explaining detailed events, all the while taking in all of her surroundings. She reminded me of a mix between Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna. Her mind raced. She explained that daisies smell like baby diapers but look beautiful. She wondered why snapping turtles snap. She contemplated what would happen to one's furniture if he or she died. She retold the fun she had at her friend Clare's house on Sunday. Each story was told with great enthusiasm and I cherished each one. Every now and then, she'd jog along, to keep up with my pace. And a few times along the way, she actually took a breath; maybe even ten. This is a child in great cardiovascular shape. How do I know this? Because as we were nearing the top of Snake Hill, the winding, steep hill that seems to go on and on, I noticed that she was not even slightly out of breath. She tackled Snake Hill all the while giving a detailed description of the Prince Caspian movie that she had seen two weeks before. I was catching my breath, walking in slow motion by the time we reached the top, and I hadn't spoken a word.

That's our Teresa. Our petite fourth daughter who has taken on the nickname Hoogaboos since she was a baby. She has brought us such joy! We love you Teresa! God blessed us when He sent you into our lives! HAPPY NINTH BIRTHDAY!

Time For Some Hair Cuts!

We had a family photo taken for our church this week. Some of us were very over due for hair cuts. Aidan in particular. Mike began cutting his overgrown mound of hair. Soon it turned into the mohawk look, which Moira make sure to capture on camera.






Then on to Erin's first cut, which was easy. I just trimmed the "stragglers". She actually loved getting her hair cut because she watched her Signing Times DVD the whole time.





And the finished product (as you can see in the photo, she stopped reading Famous Men of Rome just long enough to bother with the picture)...

Summer Fun

Bathing Beauties

Not sure about this!

Retreat (Moira)

This past week, Eileen and I went with some friends, the McDonalds, on a religious retreat to a convent about four hours from Green Bay. The sisters who were hosting it were a lot of fun!

One of the sisters we really enjoyed getting to know was Sister Margareta. She was very down to earth and funny. On the last day of the retreat, we did an art activity, making a poster collage of pictures and sayings from magazines. I came across a picture of our Uncle Tim, Aunt Suzy and little cousin Camille that went along with a story Tim had written for the Franciscan University of Stuebenville magazine. I cut the picture out and put it on my group's poster, proudly pointing out that these people were my family. Later, my group was showing off our poster to the sisters and the other girls, and again, I proudly pointed out our aunt, uncle and cousin. This time, Sister Margareta got excited, telling me she knew them and was good friends with Tim, and knew Suzy pretty well when they all attended college together at Franciscan U. After that funny coincidence she surprised Eileen and I again saying, "OH, and I also knew your Uncle Andy"! This got us soooo excited because we don't know many people, besides our family, who knew our Uncle Andy. He died when we were young. She went on to say how much she enjoyed being around him, and how funny he was. She also went so far as to say, "He was a true saint even before he died. It's funny how someone can just truly know things like that, and I knew it, knowing your Uncle"...That really touched us! It was a very nice "coincidental" highlight of the retreat for both Eileen and I.

So after the retreat we went to our friends' Grandparent's house for the night, where we had much fun! Then we became road warriors for the four.....er, aaaah six hour ride home. Because of some flooding in near-by WI towns, there was a lot of detours and traffic which added two hours onto our ride. We kept our patience and made the best of it, laughing the whole way home!

Two Peas in a Pod

Cousins and best buddies, Margaret and Molly Grace

Bobble-head baby

Happy Father's Day!!!

We love you Dad!
From all the little arrows in your quiver - Moira, Eileen, Bridget, Teresa, Aidan, Molly Grace and Erin

(We're working in getting a picture of Dad with ALL of the kids :)

Eliminating Down Syndrome...One Baby at a Time

I usually try to keep the posts on our little blog (which is really just a family scrap book) very light. I want our blog to just be a fun place for photos and family fun. However, given the seriousness of this topic, and how closely it impacts our hearts here, I feel the duty to educate, and to ask for prayers. So, here goes...

There will soon be available a new, noninvasive, prenatal test that is near 100% accurate in diagnosing unborn babies with Down syndrome. This test will involve a simple blood draw from the mother in the early weeks of pregnancy. It will most likely replace the more invasive tests of amniocentesis and CVS, which are currently offered in the second trimester. In addition to this highly acclaimed new testing, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) have new recommendations for who should receive this testing. Instead of the previous smaller group of advanced maternal age mothers, it is now recommended that all mothers get the screenings and/or diagnostic tests for Ds. Evidently, there were too many babies slipping through the cracks with the old recommendations (80% of babies with Ds are born to mothers under the age of 35). For the average person, this may all sound well and good. After all, in one sense, we can all benefit from knowing more information. One may think of how far medicine has come and how helpful it is that parents can know earlier that their child has Down syndrome.

However, statistics tell us that 90-94% of prenatally diagnosed babies with Down syndrome are aborted. And it has been documented (and I can tell you first hand as well) that when most doctors deliver the news, or rather "break" the news, to parents that their child has Ds, it is done with a bias. The diagnosis is typically delivered without any up-to-date information on Ds, without any Ds support contacts provided, and often times without compassion. The news IS delivered with an assumption that the parents will prudently, and even unselfishly abort their child. I know of many parents who have been told that their child will never walk, talk or go to school. Parents have been told that their child will suffer and not live to adulthood (the average person with Ds now lives well into their late 50's and even 60's). There is pressure from the medical community to "do the right thing".

As you can tell, I am not very excited about these "medical advancements". It inevitably means that there will be less children in this world like our sweet Erin. In fact, if the abortion rate reaches 95%, as it is in Europe, we may be seeing very, very few children with Ds...the last generation. Imagine the support and help our kids could have if the millions of dollars spent on seek and destroy methods in medicine could be used for legitimate research and therapies. And with less of our children here, it will impact the medical care that those living will receive. And of course I cannot even begin to measure how many lives our children have touched for the better and how they've made our world a better place.

All of this does make me ask the question...Why? Why is there a eugenics holocaust going on in our country, and around the world, against people with disabilities? Why is there such a push to do away with the individuals who are disabled, rather than the disability? Is it because sweet children like Erin fill our prisons and commit serious crimes? Is it because they aren't loved by their parents? I think not. Is it about the almighty dollar? Maybe. Or is it because our generation of parents are demanding the "perfect" child, and the doctors and researcher are following along, very much willing to play God, out of fear of lawsuits? More likely. Another answer would probably be that 30+ years of abortion on demand in this country has left us numb; we are accustomed to treating the unborn with less dignity and respect than they rightly deserve.

It is my prayer that others will come to see the blessings that come with parenting a child with Down syndrome. In my perfect world, I would hope that everyone could experience the special charm and love that we have experienced, either as parents themselves, or in knowing someone with Ds. I truly believe that Erin is a gift for the world. We are sure smitten with her!

Molly Grace Has a New Look

We've been slackin' off on the job of blogging! Life is busy for most people this time of year and we are no exception. The kids are finishing up all of their last assignments for school and taking some end of the year assessments. We should be finished with almost everything by the end of next week!

In the meantime the little kids are taking full advantage of summer weather. We had the kiddie pool out today, the driveway is filled with beautiful chalk art work and the bikes and scooters are getting lots of action. And of course toads....Aidan found seven yesterday. He's already looking forward to August when our woods are filled with the little green peeper frogs!

And now for the post title - Molly Grace's haircut. She really likes her new look. The day she got it cut she said, "Mom, when my hairs grows can I get it cut again just like this?" It does really seem to fit her, doesn't it?!

Irish Dance Recital

We had our big recital this past weekend. The stage was great, but dark, and therefore I couldn't get any good pictures of the girls dancing. Here are a few candid shots taken after the performance...


For those wondering, Moira's new dress fit perfectly