An Incredible Day

Mother's Day has been a bittersweet day for me since I lost my mom in October of 1999. It has become somewhat less so since I have become a mom myself.
This Mother's Day was an incredible day, for so many reasons. The boys made their first communion and Gracie was baptized on this day.

Incredible that we made it to church on time, with everyone in their proper dress.


Incredible that Gracie was able to wear this BEAUTIFUL baptism gown that was loaned to us from my Godparents family. It is handmade and as if this wasn't enough, every baby that has worn it has their name embroidered into the lining. THANK YOU Aunt Laurie, for including us in this wonderful tradition!!

And here's Gracie modeling the rest of the outfit...



Incredible that she didn't make a fuss throughout the whole mass, and seemed to enjoy the holy water on her forehead...
Look at these 3 little faces-incredibly sweet!
Incredible that after many weeks of practice and lessons, the boys pulled it off and remembered what they were supposed to do. As did the rest of the group, for the most part, and it was a LARGE group of communion candidates-17 to be exact. Here is Ben doing a great job reading the first of the intercessions.

And here is the big group-I photoshopped out the horns....:)
And here's me, as a Eucharistic minister...I was under the impression that you needed to take a class to do this-but it was sprung upon me at the beginning of mass. Incredible that I didn't faint up on the altar from nerves....

Waiting for their wafers....

Showing off their banners they made for the occasion. Note Ben's nod to Star Wars....
Gracie's godparents are Uncle Terry and Aunt Denise-thank you so much, guys!

Incredible that Uncle Terry was able to make it-he and Lisa just had baby number four only 2 days before! Welcome to the world Miss Claire Marie!!
My beautiful sisters...
The day was incredibly chilly and I kept hoping it would warm up so we could eat on the deck, but no such luck. Here are cousins Sara, Matt and Courtney having fun in the basement.


Cousins Maryssa, Lauren, Bridget, Aunt Lee , Uncle Terry and Superman (aka Mark)

The kids table...
Chatting with Father Sean....
Great Aunt Rosemary and Nana....Incredible moms, grandmas, aunts and women, all of them. I am so blessed to have so many in my life, to help fill the void that losing my mom left.....
Ben and Daddy enjoying a new book...

Joshy opening some gifts...
Gracie enjoying some QT with Uncle Todd...
Gracie and Oma...Thank you Oma for babysitting Gracie so that I was able to help with the communion group. I could not have done it without you....And what incredible timing, as it turns out.....


Ben looking incredibly relaxed at the end of a busy day....

And here's the cake that I made for the occasion-the kids each got to choose the flavor for their respective layer (I chose carrot cake for Gracie's layer :), but, after lots of work, it turned out incredibly DRY....
All in all, it was a incredible day. Thank you to all of our wonderful family for making it the incredible day that it was!