Monastary life

Our Monastic Moments:

A bit out of order, but you get the idea.

We were not really encouraged to take pics of the chapel or where the nuns live.

Jimmy's b-day

Party Favors!

The electronic propeller hat that Papa and Theo made.......

so loud Jim can't hear with it on

Jim's nephew Ben (left) turned 21 that night!

We were impressed he wanted to hang with us.....

but we took care of him!

Jim receiving his benediction from Papa.

Brian's masterpiece cake.......

it was a black & tan under the frosting

Good ol' Papa grilling in the pooring rain

Warren putting his feak on.

... and Peter in his dress again.

The 4 sibs

Things that make me smile

Will's card to his Uncle Warren, 

although we'll never call him Warren again.

This is among my other favorites that I choose not to correct;

naver, naverhood, myselth

and noospaper.

Just hangin' on as long as I can

Rosy the Riveter?

No..... It's  Lucille Ball's apprentice.

Thanks to Nana and Papa, 

Emma is enthralled with her new DVD for her 12th b-day!

Any mother seeing her child with a gun in his hand 

rightfully freaks at some level (me, at all levels).

But look at that grin.

William could hardly talk after his "Daddy's" weekend at the cabin.

He was smiling that cheesy toothless grin, re-living his bb gun lessons from the weekend.

Looks like it was a real chore for the dads. 

Wow..... is about all I can say.

Emma receiving her  "peer mediator" certification.

Emma desperately wanted to go to a girl's school this year.

One of the reasons besides just being with only girls (her most important reason),

she/we wanted her to have some good chances at leadership kinds of things and not to get lost in the shuffle. She didn't get her wish, but

God has such a funny way of working things out!!!!

He really does......

drinking beer at most of our school events puts a smile on this mother's face!

First Day At St. Anthony's August 31,2009

Here we are at St. Anthony's.... 

First day of School.

Okay, so the truth is, after making sure all was good or at least seemed to be, I was the one who had to quickly scurry off the playground for I was the one in tears.  Me, the one who has never shed a tear at school drop-off, even when they went to kindergarten.  Despite the fact that I am hormonal, I'm praying that this transition will make for strong, wise children and not the set-up for therapy payments as they were traumatized by living in Renton and were forced to tuck in their shirts "or else"! and hit w/ rulers for they haven't made their first communion yet or said their Hail Mary in some twisted fashion, let alone freaked out by those creepy statues in the hallway.

On second thought, after a weekend of the boys bickering, maybe it is time for a little 

"Sister Mary Principal"  in their lives!

Here's Will.

I swear it felt like a class of 45 kids.

He better not give his little desk-mate any problems or he'll have more than 

"Sister-Mary-Principal" on his you-know-what!

Theo and Will... modeling uniforms last week for me...

Ain't they cute?!

Mount Rainier- Camp Shurman Aug 2009

What a beauty.....

 Jim's sister Sal(Mountain Goat) and Hubby Warren

See the trail?   Then follow it up that whole dirt ridge.

The elevation is getting to Jim.

Sadly those were some of the gifts we were 

delivering to the rangers up at Camp Shurman.

Jim and his sissy Sal

I can't remember if we were going up or down the beast at this point.

This is looking up Mount Rainier from Camp Shurman.

That tent shows where you would spend the night 

before waking to go for the summit

This is behind me from the previous shot....

Camp Shurman.

Wish I would've known about this as a summer job back in college.

Then again, it doesn't bring in much $,

Even ran into a Senator... Maria Cantwell.

Honestly, would never had recognized her if we weren't with Jim's

miss-know-it-all big sister:)

Taste of Glacier

AHHHHH uuuuuaahhh AHHHHH!

What a cute little CGS!

(tell us what you think a CGS is)

Great pals!

Remember, beauty is within.

But this is what happens when you go camping in the cold.... with bears!

The highline hike from Logan Pass

Hobo Pie Night..... dang yummy!

Black bear, Black bear, 

what do you see?

I see my paw prints on the 

back of your van!

Our swimming hole (river), right behind the Ryzenga's tent.

View of the girls from the Lodge.

Boy with fire.

Boy happy.

Morning moose hunt.

We just love these little coffee cups.......

Rob's the man.

Rob outdone.

Cooking in the rain!

Perfect tree for Caroline!

Dr. Seusse must have been here!

No rest for the weary.

Story time ......