Happy Birthday, Lito!

We went to Lito and Lita's house Sunday to celebrate Lito's birthday. There were so many family members there that we have not seen in a long time. It was nice to spend the day with everyone.

 

 And one of his gifts was a Mariachi band in the afternoon! So Lita had Sombreros ready for everyone.

 

Fun times

It's never a dull moment around here. The weather finally cooperated this week for our Friday park play group. We have missed it with all the crazy cold fronts blowing in on Thursday night lately.

 

I went to throw something in the trash and found a little guest sleeping there. With the help of the kids, Austin caught the possum, and we sent him off with animal control to be relocated. But until they picked him up, the kids had a grand time with it. Cecilia even woke up from nap saying she missed it! :p

A very sweet friend gave us some tickets to the Aggie game. We couldn't pass up a chance to go, though it required a lot of schedule juggling. Allia opted to stay home and catch up on some R&R, so the other girls brought a friend.

 Just like old times. ;) (It was really cold way up there!)

At the end of the game we headed to first deck to check out the view from the really good seats!

Big weekend

We had a lot to do this weekend! Saturday, Allia went to a high school swim meet in town and swam amazing in her 2 events. Stephen and Gloria had their fall retreat at church. Then Sunday the 4 big swimmers and Austin went to a swim meet in the morning. Everyone made some great improvements except Allia, who couldn't quite top her performance from the previous day. Then we were off to RE, youth group where I served on the meal team for the evening, and Mariana's ice skating practice for Christmas show. Whew!

Happy All Saints Day!

We went to the Vigil Mass for All Saints, as is our tradition. It seems like the little ones always get wiggly right at the consecration. So I usually try to get their attention on the altar, and we talk about what is happening. Cecilia was especially spunky that evening. So as she started to distract the other kids, I asked her, "Cecilia, where is Jesus?" She replied, "I know he's right there, Momma, but he doesn't need me right now." I tried to tell her he really wanted her attention and love, but she was insistent that he didn't need her! :p

The older kids trick or treated with some friends after mass and dinner. The younger ones gave out candy at Pawpaw and Manah's house and had so much fun with it! Cecilia kept saying, "That was a cweepy one" when someone came in a scary costume.

Our friends held their annual Saint party the next afternoon. So many great saints attended!

Austin had a staging job to attend to, but the rest of us enjoyed some smores after dinner.

 She insisted on making her own "building," of course.

 We had the great blessing of attending the All Souls High Mass in Latin, where Austin and the schola sang. It was beautiful! We may have to make that a family tradition to attend. This little cutie was so good!

 And we had some nice weather to round out the weekend, so Austin started teaching Sebastian to ride his bike without training wheels. It will probably take a few more sessions but they made a good start!