Week in Review: A New Church, A New Fundraiser and A New Meal

Happy Friday!  

Our church had a big, huge renovation over the summer and was just finished last weekend in order to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of our parish.  The Bishop came and said Mass and everything looked so beautiful.  I am so very proud of our pastor (a young, faithful Franciscan University grad) for his vision and commitment to this overwhelming project.  I was on the Finance Committee for about ten years at our parish (recently retired) where this was dreamed of and finally financed, so it is very near and dear to my heart.  Maggie and I both had the thought about how beautiful her wedding mass will be here one day!

Before:

Pretty but plain and beige, the ceilings were just white.

After:

The altar was taken from a nearby church that was closed down.

The Martin boys served, along with lots of others!

My family who was there for the Vigil Mass.  Who will be standing here in another 100 years?

Our friend, Fr. Cook, came to say Mass and had just lost his crown!  He took this selfie, what a nut!

The reopening of our church after having masses held in the school gym all summer, was just the balm our souls needed this past week.  

Andrew is starting a GoFundMe for his mission trip to Arizona in March.  He was originally planning to go to Africa, but wants to wait another year to do that medical mission.  Thank you for your prayers and donations if you are able.

Soccer boys + their Manager

I tried a new recipe this week...well truthfully I tried two new recipes but one was a big fail so we won't even talk about it.  This one was a Coconut Chicken Dumpling Ramen Bake.  It was a hit!  My kids love Asian food.  I'll have to type out the recipe because I screenshot it from social media.

Phil made chicken cutlets and pasta with an alfredo sauce, and Brendan said "This looks like a gourmet meal".  It tasted like one too!

I bought Caramel Dip for all of the apples we currently have on hand, but they prefer to eat the fruit without it.  Noted!

Phil arrived home from work one day this week to find a leak in our upstairs bathroom that was coming through our kitchen ceiling.  Ugh.  We have a plumber coming and a call to our insurance company to assess the damage.  But for now we only have one bathroom to use, so pray for us :)

Brendan started Swim Team this week!  He swims on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an hour.  Declan continues with Soccer practice for one hour per week and then one game per week.  Maggie has Volleyball six days a week and Xander has Cross Country five/six days per week.  Only four kids living at home but they each chose a completely different sport!  Luckily Maggie can drive herself, I'm responsible for picking up Xander after practices, and Phil takes Brendan and Declan to their practices and works out during them.  A parent's life:

Only two more weekends of The Ice Cream Cottage being open this season - squeal!  I hope you all have a great weekend!!