Goodbye, May!

May has been a month just chock full of milestones to our family! My heart is full....but my mind is very tired and I could truly use a couple of "do nothing" days to recharge! I definitely need to fit that in very soon!

I haven't joined in with 7 Quick Takes for a while, but it felt like a great way to wrap up May and jump into a new month.

So, without further ado....

#1 Celebrating Sacraments

Within a four day span, we celebrated two Confirmations and a First Communion!

Ellie and Peter

Luke

#2 Engagement!

My son, Jon, got engaged! We love his fiance, Marisa, and are super excited to enter this new stage in our life! The wedding date has been set! May 24, 2020! I share my thoughts on growing our family in a whole new way in this post. If you want the scoop on the details of engagement day and the surprise party we threw that night you can find that here!

Jon and Marisa

#3 Graduation Day

The day after Jon got engaged, both Jon and his brother, Andrew, graduated from college! Andrew graduated with a degree in computer science and has a full time job starting as soon as his background check goes through at the Underwater Naval Warfare Center, which is a great opportunity for him! Jon was fortunate to get an internship position and is pursuing a Master's Degree in ocean engineering from UNH come fall. 

Jay and I are very proud of both of them and can't believe that two more of our children are launching into adulthood!

#4:Mother's Day

The day after the graduation, which was the day after the engagement/party was Mother's Day. As you can imagine, I was pretty exhausted after two crazy and incredible days back to back. After a very nice, laid back potluck brunch with both our mothers and two of our sisters hosted by my sister-in-law, the only thing I wanted was to sit on the couch, take a nap, take a walk, not do any dishes all day and get pizza for dinner.  I'm happy to say that all my wishes came true that day and I was truly spoiled by all of my kids...and my hubby! 

#5: Catching Up With Friends

Some good friends that moved to Tennessee about 12 years ago came up for a visit. They have family in the area, but we haven't seen them in four years. It was great to catch up and the hours passed way too quickly!

Kate and Luke with Kolbe and Julia, who are also my God children:)

#6 Birthday Girl

Sarah turned 19 this month! I still have no idea how that could be possible! Poor Sarah, by the time we got to the 19th we were partied out and "caked" out. Thankfully, Sarah enjoyed her more low key birthday and asked for homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.(She loves biscuits!) Andrew's girlfriend, Liz, came over as well as Marisa and the night was spent with our teens and young adults playing lots of games together. I do love a full house!

Happy Birthday, Sarah

We also celebrated the Anniversary of Therese's birth. It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since we held her in our arms for those brief 16 days. We went and picked out flowers after Mass to make a bouquet and asked our pastor if we could place the flowers in a vase under the Divine Mercy picture in our parish. A very simple thing, but it made me feel good to honor her memory with Jay and some of her siblings.

#7: World Travellers, Field Trips, and Baseball games (oh,my)

My parents took Sarah and Jon to London and then a 5 day cruise that made stops in France, where they took an excursion to Normandy, and then Cork, Ireland. The cruise was a gift to Jon for his graduation and Sarah was invited to tag along! (Andrew is not a cruise type of guy so he got a different graduation gift!) Sarah LOVED the macaroons in France and they were both really moved in their visit to Normandy. (My grandfather was in a supply boat during the D Day battle, so there was a special connection for them as they visited the Omaha Beach.) 

Sarah and Jon on London Bridge..I asked Jon is he sang the song.(He did:)

Sarah with her macaroon

My parents and Sarah fly home today, while Jon is flying to Ireland to spend a couple of weeks touring the country on a trip he worked all last summer to save for. Mike is flying out tonight to meet Jon in Dublin for 10 days. On the home front, all these travels from my older kids means I've had to do lots more dishes(Ellie, too), walks with the dog, potty trips with the dog, taxi runs for kids and staples I forgot/ran out of, and had a house that feels very strange. 

The month also included a rafting trip for Jay and the high school youth group he runs(that Ellie is part of), a retreat day Jay ran for the 6th and 7th graders at our parish school, a much needed date night with another couple, a field trip for Kate, lots of baseball games for Luke, and probably a bunch of things I can't even remember! lol

Kate's field trip at the ocean on a beautiful Spring day!

Luke got his first Little League hit and was given the game ball!

Thank-you to May for holding all of these wonderful memories! June..you have some big shoes to fill!

Have a great weekend!