Happy Belated Birthday to our "Baby"

It sure is hard not to smile whenever you see this silly, sweet face, isn't it?  Boy do we love this boy.  Our baby who's no longer a baby.  Four years old now.  I can hardly believe it.

I still remember being pregnant with this little guy.  Yikes.  My belly remembers too and has the stretch marks to prove it :)  My body has never been the same since, and neither has our family.  Isaiah brought a joyful and sweet dynamic that our family needed and he continues to make us laugh amidst the chaos that often threatens to consume us.  God knew we needed some comic relief to keep Paul and I from being too serious :)  Thank you, God.  When will I learn that You always know best?

This year, Isaiah had the simplest of birthdays and he was simply as happy as could be.  What a relief to this mother who always worries that she's not doing enough.  How I wish I had such a childlike heart that was so easy to please.  He had his brothers, some presents, and a big bowl of frozen yogurt (with a strange concoction of toppings of course)...  What more could a 4-year old want?

Here are some very belated pictures from his special day:

Too excited to eat his frozen yogurt with a bag of presents sitting so near :)

Happy about his new Lego sets!

I think it's funny that his favorite Lego Nexo Knight is Macy, the girl with red hair :)

Whenever I wear a pony tail, he asks me if I'm pretending to be Macy! :)

Happy Birthday, sweet Isaiah!

I know it's hard to believe,

but I love you more than you love your Legos!!!

Las Chicos Chicas

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there---especially my own amazing mom, a living saint named Theresa, who continues to guide me and my 3 older brothers to the Lord through her advice and constant prayers.  Here's a fun "then and now" photo of us :)  I am one blessed girl to have a family like this!!!

I am also one blessed girl to have a husband who lets me go on a girls' getaway to recharge my soul with a couple of my best friends (he not only lets me go, but encourages me!).  We went to a nearby hot springs resort called Chico---thus the name we gave ourselves: "Las Chicos Chicas." :)  This is the first time that I've done an overnight trip just for fun, just for myself.  In the past I've always felt too guilty to leave my family behind.  I've always thought I have to be on full-time mom duty, full-time sacrificing, in order to be the best mom possible.  But I am just starting to realize that sometimes being the best mom requires putting aside my "mom hat" and putting on a swimsuit instead! :)  

Slowly I'm beginning to learn that I shouldn't feel guilty about soaking up some natural Vitamin D, laughing out load with my friends, or relaxing long enough to listen to the Lord and find myself again so that I can be a better wife and mom and woman of God.  After all, how can we pour ourselves out in service to others if the pitcher of our soul has run dry?  So, hopefully this girlfriend getaway has taught me to give myself permission to recharge from time to time.  I give you readers permission too!  And if you live nearby, perhaps you could just tag along with me and mis amigas and join Las Chicos Chicas!  :)

Here's me and mi amiga Laura.  

Mi otro amiga, Beth, refused to be in any of the pictures.

She chose to be the group photographer instead :}

(she's a muy loca chica, but we still love her)

We stayed at our own little private cabin at Chico, which was perfect---

especially because we learned that there is a "ghost" that lives in the main lodge.

We prayed a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the resident ghost, 

so perhaps we helped her out (literally) :)

This was my first time to go to Chico.  I found it to be very Montana-esque---

rustic and lovely at the same time, very laid back and not too fancy...

perfecto para mi.

The food was MUY BIEN!!!

Spending time with my dearest friends without the stress of kiddos

was so good for all of our souls.

I think our husbands were worried that we wouldn't come back home :)

I have to admit it was hard to leave these hot springs--

they were like soaking in a hot bubble bath that never gets cold.

Ahhh...so nice.

Here is Laura saying, "What happens at Chico, stays at Chico!"

Here is the road that led to rejuvenation for Las Chicos Chicas.

I wonder what road we will take next year...

I wonder who else will join us...

What road is the right road for you to help you be the best version of yourself?

Easter Recap

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

I hope all of you had a beautiful Easter celebration---and are continuing to celebrate until Easter officially ends on Pentecost Sunday!  We had a lovely Easter, although our plans for Easter Sunday changed at the last minute when Natey threw up in the middle of the night on Saturday.  I was so bummed because we were supposed to go to a dear friend's house (who has 7 kids) along with another great Catholic family (who has 8 kids), and I was really looking forward to the fellowship with these special friends.  But, it wasn't meant to be.  Once I decided to "offer it up" and "praise the Lord anyway," I quickly got over myself and my disappointment.  Natey and I stayed behind and had a very special Easter together while Paul took the rest of the crew to our friends' house (actually, it's a ginormous, gorgeous ranch, near Lincoln, MT).  The boys had a blast mountain biking all over the property (there's 100s of acres to explore), and there was also a fun Easter egg hunt for all the little ones.  Natey and I had our own Easter egg hunt around our very own gorgeous property.  He was as happy as can be, and it was a memory I will never forget spending that Easter with him all to myself :)  God is so good.  I recently heard the phrase that "our disappointments are God's appointments."  When things in life don't quite go the way we wanted and disappointment comes, it's usually an opportunity to grow closer to Christ, an appointment to unite our sorrows with His--which does so much good for our souls and perhaps other souls too as we share in Christ's redemptive suffering for the world.  What an amazing God we have, which seems so obvious at Easter as we remember that He sent His beloved Son to die to save us from our sins.  Thank you, God, for salvation, my beautiful boys, family, friends, Easter joys, and even for our disappointments!

 

Hope your Easter was filled with 

joy, 

heavenly graces, 

and even some candy too! :)

Divine Mercy Sunday---indulgences, promises, graces galore!

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday---probably my favorite feast day.   Did you know you can receive an indulgence on this special Feast Day of Divine Mercy?  To read more about that, click here.

Oh, how I wish I could express just how grateful I am that Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and asked her share the message of His infinite mercy with the world--and with me in particular!  It would be a very lengthy and heavy blog post if I tried to explain to you why I am so indebted to the Divine Mercy devotion, but I will briefly share that I believe the Divine Mercy Chaplet rescued my marriage and saved my soul from complete despair almost 3 years ago to the day.  That is why I am so passionate about spreading this devotion every chance I get!

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is so powerful--just trust me, it is!  Actually, don't trust me, trust Jesus, because He Himself gave us this powerful prayer in 1931!   And did you know that Jesus promised very special graces to those who even look upon the image of His Divine Mercy with devotion!?  Here are some of those promises straight from Our Savior's mouth that he spoke to St. Faustina:

Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus I trust in You.  I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. The two rays denote Blood and Water.  The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. (Diary of St. Faustina #47 and #299)

I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory. (Diary of St. Faustina #48)

I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature:  “Jesus, I trust in You." (Diary of St. Faustina #327)

By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls…(Diary of St. Faustina #742)

This painting is the "Original" painting done by the artist Eugene Kazimirowski in 1934.

It is said that when Faustina first saw the painting, she cried because it did not look nearly as beautiful as her beloved Savior looked when He appeared to her.

But who could ever capture the glory of God on canvas?

Aren't those promises AWESOME!?  ...Spared from hell, protected from God's just wrath, extra graces...  Truly, ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't get any better than that!  Our family has had a Divine Mercy picture in our house for years, but I had no idea of the special graces and promises associated with it until recently.  Once I heard about the graces, I went to our local Catholic book store and bought a whole bunch of them to give as gifts to some very special people in my life.  Perhaps God was pleased with my enthusiasm, because a few weeks later at a local fundraising banquet, there was a Divine Mercy canvas painting on the silent auction table, and of course I had to bid on it...  And the Lord in His infinite mercy and kindness let me win it...for only $25!  I was so thrilled!!!  Some people left the banquet with handmade quilts or gift certificates, and I left with Jesus in my arms! You can't beat that! :)  I was especially thrilled with the canvas print because it was the "original" Divine Mercy image, which is the one that we did not have in our home yet (there are a few different versions of the painting out there...you can read more about them HERE if you wish).  Our new painting is now in a very special place in our bedroom, so that my husband and I can look at it often and be reminded of the gift of Divine Mercy in our marriage. God is so very, very good!

I wish I was able to tell everyone in the whole world about Jesus' infinite mercy and how He is just longing for souls to come to Him with trust and confidence in His mercy!   No sin is greater than His love and mercy!  And when we ask Him to wash away our sins in the ocean of His mercy, not only does He completely forgive our sins, but He also gives us the grace to completely forgive others!  Yes, even those who have sinned against us and completely broken our hearts...we can forgive them because Jesus has forgiven us when we have sinned and broken His heart.  God's mercy on us begets our mercy on others.  What a priceless gift.  What a saving grace.  I am eternally grateful.  Please help me to spread Faustina's message of Jesus' infinite love and mercy with our world so desperately in need of that message!  Perhaps you would consider buying some Divine Mercy holy cards or pictures and giving them away as gifts...  Or buy one for your own home if you don't have one yet...remember the special promises given to those who have a Divine Mercy image in their homes?  But above all, pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as often as you can---your soul and the souls of countless others will benefit beyond belief!

One tradition that our family started a couple of years ago is to do a Family Consecration to Merciful Love on Divine Mercy Sunday.  Fr. Michael Gaitley wrote a beautiful consecration prayer in his book "Consoling the Heart of Jesus," and it's also in his book "33 Days to Merciful Love."  Tonight we will gather all the kids around the Divine Mercy image, light some candles, and pray this prayer.  Perhaps your family would want to join us in doing the same.  

A Family Offering to Merciful Love

Jesus, you said to St. Faustina: 

The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!(1074). You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart. Oh, how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to so many proofs of love! My Heart drinks only of the ingratitude and forgetfulness of souls living in the world. They have time for everything, but they have no time to come to Me for graces (367). My daughter, take the graces that others spurn; take as many as you can carry (454). I want to give myself to souls and to fill them with My love, but few there are who want to accept all the graces My love has intended for them. My grace is not lost; if the soul for whom it was intended does not accept it, another soul takes it (1017).

Lord Jesus, if you want to pour your mercy out on souls, how much more must you desire to pour it out on whole families, especially in our time when so many families reject you. Therefore, we the ______________ Family offer ourselves to your merciful love and ask for the graces and mercy that other families refuse. We ask this in order to console your Heart and because we need your mercy. Fill us with your mercy, Lord. Please forgive us our sins, and give us the grace to be merciful to one another in our deeds, words, and prayers. May the rays of mercy that go forth from your Heart reign in our home and in our hearts. Please make our home a place where your mercy can rest and where we, too, can find rest in your mercy. Bless us with your mercy when we leave our home and bless us again when we return. Bless everyone we meet with the mercy you pour into our hearts. Especially bless those who visit our home — may they experience your mercy here.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us to faithfully live our Offering to God's Merciful Love. We give ourselves to you and ask you to share with us your Immaculate Heart. Help us to accept your Son's mercy with your own openness of heart at the Annunciation. Help us to be grateful for God's mercy with your own joyful heart at the Visitation. Help us to trust in God's mercy, especially during times of darkness, with your own steadfast faith at Calvary. Finally, Mary, protect and preserve our family in love, so that one day we may rejoice together with you and all the saints in the communion of the eternal Family of Love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Faustina, pray for us.

St. Thérèse, pray for us.

Also, for those who aren't familiar with the Chaplet, here's how you pray it:


Optional Opening Prayer:
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! (x3)

Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostle's Creed

On each “Our Father” bead of the rosary, pray:
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Concluding prayer:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (x3)

Optional Closing Prayer:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion--inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

Happy Birthday Michael Hollis!

Michael turned 14 this month--on April 3rd to be exact.  Ever since the day he was born, this boy has kept us on our toes.  When I was 8 months pregnant with Michael, his Navy daddy got sent on a mission to Afghanistan with no definitive return date on the schedule, so I headed to South Dakota to be with my parents just in case Paul didn't make it back in time for the delivery.  Surprisingly for the military, Paul's mission finished earlier than expected, so when he surprised me by arriving in South Dakota a couple of weeks before Michael's due date, Michael decided it was time to be born earlier than expected :)  He was born 14 hours after Paul made it home (poor jet-lagged daddy)!  My labor went so fast that by the time I got to the hospital, it was too late for an epidural (poor pain-intolerant mommy)!  Michael must have really wanted to meet his daddy!  It was love at first sight.  He looked like a little angel with fuzzy red hair.  So we named him after an angel.  We almost named him Justin, but now I'm glad his patron saint is St. Michael, because this kid needs all the protection he can get!  :)  Michael was the fussiest baby we ever had---boy, he threw us for a loop after having such a easy first-born baby.  If Michael had been born first, I'm not sure we would have had more children...God duped us :)  Michael continues to throw us for a loop almost daily, especially as he sorts through his teenage hormones, but thankfully Paul and I both like rollercoasters :)  Don't get me wrong, he is a super-great, fun, holy kid, and we are so proud of the young man he is becoming.  He is competitive yet kind, talented yet humble, so good in sports and school, and such a great helper around the house.  I can't imagine our family without our Michael in it!  All that being said, we'd gladly accept prayers for parenting this teenager and prayers for him to grow closer to Christ with each passing year.  ;)

For his birthday, all Michael wanted was to invite his best buddy from school over to hang out (I was going to call it a playdate, but I don't think teenagers call it that anymore).  They played basketball, had an airsoft gun battle, ate lots of pizza, and seemed content as can be.  I didn't get very many pictures so as not to embarrass my teenager in front of his friend :}

 Dearest Michael,

Your daddy and I love you... 

more than every basketball you've ever shot, 

more than every baseball you've ever thrown...
more than you'll ever know--
until you have a child of your own.

Medjugorje Message to Mirjana---SHINE with LOVE!

April 2nd Message to Mirjana

"Dear children, apostles of my love, it is up to you to spread the love of my Son to all those who have not come to know it; you, the little lights of the world, whom I am teaching with motherly love to shine clearly with full brilliance. Prayer will help you, because prayer saves you, prayer saves the world. Therefore, my children, pray with words, feelings, merciful love and sacrifice. My Son has shown you the way - He who became incarnate and made of me the first chalice, with His exalted sacrifice He has shown you how you need to love. Therefore, my children, do not be afraid to speak the truth. Do not be afraid to change yourself and the world by spreading love, by doing everything for my Son to be known and loved by loving others in Him. As a mother I am always with you. I am imploring my Son to help you for love to reign in your life - love that lives, love that draws, love which gives life. I am teaching you such love - pure love. It is up to you, my apostles, to recognize it, live it and spread it. Pray with feeling for your shepherds so that they can witness my Son with love. Thank you."

Farewell Winter, Hello Spring!

Did you know that the word "Lent" actually is derived from the Middle English word "lente" which means "Spring"?  At first that struck me as odd, but now I'm beginning to see how that is truly fitting.  This Lent has been a beautiful one for me so far...  The extra fasting and extra praying, coupled with the snow melting and the buds budding has awakened new life and joy in my soul.  Or perhaps it's just the sunshine adding some much needed Vitamin D in my body.  Likely all of the above.  I hope your Lent and Springtime seasons are filling your soul with new life and joy as well!  

Here are our final pictures of winter weather and our new pictures of the first signs of Spring:

Farewell cool snowman--we'll build you again next winter!

Farewell snow in the valley (within days all the snow around our house was gone too)

Farewell to my cool new Sorel boots and hello to my trail running shoes!

Farewell to Paul's new winter toy.

Now he's taken the plow off and can play with it all Spring, Summer, and Fall too.

Hello swing!

Isaiah was so happy to be able to play outside without his hat, gloves, and snowpants again!

He loves getting a "helicopter spin" in the swing :)

Hello hiking trail around our property---it's so good to see you again!

Hello sweet boys who love to bond outside in the Spring weather!

Hello tree buds bursting with new life!

Hello chickens who can finally venture outside their coop.

And soon we'll be saying hello to some cute new baby chicks in May--yay!

Hello Crossbill and other birds too swift to capture with my camera--

it's a delight to see you all again and hear your songs outside our windows.

HELLO SPRING!!

I'm so glad you're finally here!

And for you literary lovers out there, here are a couple of famous poems about Spring:

Spring (an excerpt)

by William Blake

Sound the flute!
Now it’s mute!
Bird’s delight,
Day and night,
Nightingale,
In the dale,
Lark in sky,—
Merrily,
Merrily merrily, to welcome in the year.

Little boy,
Full of joy;
Little girl,
Sweet and small;
Cock does crow,
So do you;
Merry voice,
Infant noise;
Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orcahrd white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.