Looking Forward

We have so much to be thankful for, and we are looking forward to so much in the coming days, weeks and months.  Below is a list of our top five things, events, seasons that we are looking forward to!

1.  The canonization of Blessed Pope John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II.  They will be canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday which is April 27.  There are millions of people who have flocked to Rome for this special time in the Catholic Church.  There is a group of pilgrims from St. Thomas More, our CO parish, who will be attending the canonizations.  I am a little jealous as we did consider attending.  Since we will be watching the canonizations from Colorado, I thought it would be really fun to have a little party to celebrate until I found out that the party would have to begin at 2:30 AM.  Well, we will have a celebration, but it will be be just us two…:).  You can watch on EWTN via live stream or find it on your television (if you get EWTN).  The website is www.ewtn.com

We did not win the Catholic Vote "Roman Getaway"…boo :(

2.  BIRTHDAY SEASON---for our family begins NOW!  Kerry and I have May birthdays; John and Pat have June birthdays; Clay and Suzanne have August birthdays.  We have a few more sprinkled in around these months, so it makes for a very fun Spring/Summer.  Lots of celebrating.  

Dad gets two for the price of one :)!

John loves to surprise me!

His traditional strawberry cake!  This was SIX years ago...

3.  SUMMER--We are so looking forward to this summer!  We are expecting very special house guests for two months.  We have the entire two months booked with swimming, biking, concerts, lots of ice cream eating, sidewalk chalk decorating, kite flying, and one big cross country road trip!  We are leaving Colorado and heading to Missouri, down to Arkansas, down to Louisiana and over to Florida.  Need I say more?  We may or may not be meeting some special princesses along the way :).  

4.  Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre Annual Meeting in October--Last year, we were invested into this Order.  It was a very special honor for us and just a neat time meeting people from AR, TX, OK and LA who share the same love and passion for our Church and want to protect the Church in the Holy Land.  We were definitely the youngest being invested, and we were definitely very nervous.  This year, we don't have to worry about processing in, going up two by two, John being Knighted and me receiving a blessing, etc, etc, etc.  This year, we will be enjoying ourselves!

Cardinal O'Brien-last year after Mass--women on one side and men on the other.

A very full Church with all eyes on me-makes for a very nervous Tracy!

Notice the sword--held by the priest--that was just used to knight John.  No pressure!

5.  Lots of Possible International Travel--There is a very good chance we will be traveling to Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe in the coming months.  As if monthly trips to Arkansas with scattered trips to California, Louisiana, New York, Dallas and Boston didn't keep us busy, we are going to add some international travel.  It is all good, and we are excited about the potential.  John's company has invested in a Hollywood movie that will be filming in Germany.  They have asked the producers to come for some of the filming, and there is a good chance we will go.  John's partners are considering a business retreat in Torino, Italy to coincide with the Salone del Gusto event.  This is an annual event for foodies through the region's "digestible fare."  All I can say to that is, yes please!  Our last potential travel date would take us to the Baltic region of Eastern Europe.  Since Dad is from Lithuania, and I am relatively familiar with the culture of Eastern Europe, I am especially excited for this trip.  This trip is very high on our priority list!  More on this later...

I hope I am better about blog updates in 2014!  We are so busy, and sometimes it is hard to stop and write, but I am always so happy when I do.  It is fun to go back and look at what we have been doing--especially as the years go by.

Peace!