One year ago today...

...on another rainy, cloudy June 27th, a police officer came knocking on my door. With the words, "is there someplace we could talk?" my world started to unravel. So unexpectedly, Paul was called home to be with our heavenly Father. His life here on earth was done and we were to continue living without his physical presence here in our lives. It has been a tough year to say the least. So much my children and I have had to learn... how to fix and do the things Paul did; how to navigate the world of insurance forms, autopsies, social security, and title tranfers and most importantly; how to support and encourage each other when we all grieve so differently; how to enjoy being with one another again without Paul's laughter; how to sit and eat dinner as a family with his chair empty, and how to be a family in a single parent home. One year seems like such a brief moment. Some days the grief still sneaks in from no-where and catches us by surprise. BUT... we are moving forward. I am trying hard ot keep my promise to Paul that we will make him proud. We still cry at times, we still miss his presence. I think I have come to the conclusion that in some way a small part of that "grief" will stay with us forever. This has truley changed us, it's a part of us, it had formed us into the people we are today. We loved (and still love)Paul deeply, and so we hurt deeply. But, inspite of the hurt our hearts still feel at times, we choose to laugh, we choose to love, and we choose to go on living the lives God has laid out before us. We find hope in our faith, we find joy in the things we do together, and we find love in our family and friends!

Today two of Paul's brothers and their families and Paul's mother joined us at the cemetery. The military gives a footplate to a deceased vetran and today Paul's was placed in the ground. We each had an opportunity to sign the back of the footplate and Paul's brother Tim did a wonderful job making the cement slab the plate is now mounted to.







Then, today Tim, Steve, James and Myriah "planted" it.

It looks great!

After lunch here at the house, the three older kids joined Paul's mom for a cousin's wedding celebration (a wedding is not my first choice of activites for today, so I am glad the kids had a chance to go as I know they will have fun.) The younger kids and I will be joining Tim, Jen and Ava for some fun at a food fest. All in all, not a half bad day!

Thanks for all the love, support, and encouragement from all of our family and friends this past year. We would not have come this far without each and everyone of you! We love you all and pray for you often!

And now for today!

Today we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi. A day set aside to honor our Lord and His presence in the Holy Eucharist.

James served at Mass this morning and was able to serve during the Corpus Christi procession as well.

Catch up, part 4

Parade!! Yep, it's that time of year again. This year we had a few friends join us.

I think we mothers mostly thought "oh, what we do for our children!" But, despite all the effort put into it, I think we all enjoyed ourselves as well.


Don't my girls just look cute in their hats!

Catch up, part 3

I guess that brings us to the birthday pictures of Lawrence I had hoped to post a week ago (ok, maybe it's a little more than a week ago). All I can say is we have been so busy with our summer I haven't had time to post them (yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)


So, here he is, missing his top front teeth and looking as cute as ever!!

Catch up, part 2

Memorial Day was a little more special this year. There was a flag raising ceremony at the cemetery honoring the local men and women who have served our country and have died, as a vetran or in combat. These six flags are the flags that were presented to the families at the time of the funeral. Paul's flag is the 2nd one from the right. It was nice to have him honored!

Paul's brother, Tim (retired army) came in his dress uniform. He looked great and it meant a lot to me and to the kids as we knew he was dressed in his uniform to honor his brother. Paul's mother, Tim's wife and daughter, Paul's sister and her two children and a friend of Myriah's and her mother had joined us as well. It was great to have the support of family with us as we remembered Paul!

Of course, we had to stop by Paul's grave and "visit" for awhile. The kids and I each placed a flag near the headstone.


I absolutly love this picture of Lawrence spending time with his daddy!

I guess I'm a little behind!

Found more pictures in the camera than I had expected to find. Oh well, I have been busy with the kids and house and just haven't had much time for pictures and blogging. I'll see what I can get caught up on while I have a few moments.

First up... On May 3rd we celebrated Magdalene's 1st Communion and Myriah's Confirmation with family and friends. (Some dear friends graciously allowed the use of their home and garage. And other dear friends helped with shopping and preparing food. I couldn't have pulled it off without them! THANK YOU and thank the Lord for the blessings of friends!)
I just love how the cakes turned out. I wish I could take credit for it, but, I have to give that to Coborns grocery store.
The girls were very pleased with them as well.

And, of course, what's a celebration without friends!!

Number SIX!

My little man turned six today! His day started off with a dollar under his pillow from the tooth-fairy, as he is now missing both upper front teeth (what a cute toothless grin he has.) Then he was able to spend much of his day outside playing and riding his new bike. This evening, we had some family friends over for dinner, cupcakes, and games! Hopefully, tomorrow I can get some pictures posted. For now...

Happy Birthday, Teddy Bear. We love you dearly!