Katie's Confirmation -- EDITED!

Lest we neglect the Bearcakes, it was a big year for Katie too!  She was finally able to receive Confirmation in June. 

Our pastor celebrated the Mass and administered the Sacrament.  As it turns out, it was the last Mass we would be able to celebrate with him, since he and his fellow Disciples were transferred to another parish later in the month.  We'll miss their order -- they were very good fathers to our parish.

Katie asked her godmother to be her sponsor, so thankfully Aunt Rachel and cousin Lucy were able to drive out and stay for a short visit.

cousins! (and friend)

Katie's friend the Hairdresser Extraordinaire arranged Katie's hair to look like something from anime.  Of course.

It did look super cute on her.

Even though we are all suffering through this plague in some way, it was good to be able to celebrate a major Sacrament together.

And to check that box off!  That's the last sacrament we're responsible for for her. :)

EDITED TO ADD:

I can't believe I forgot to mention Katie's Confirmation saints!  She chose St. Catherine of Bologna, the patron of artists, and St. Marina of Omura, a Japanese martyr.  Both are perfect for her.  Instead of writing a report about her saints, she made a posterboard:

California, here I come!

So in early September, my Uncle Ranger Dave became Uncle Deacon Dave!!  When I first heard that my retired California park ranger uncle was going to be ordained to the permanent diaconate in Sonoma, I hoped I would be able to make it.  And thanks to Mr. Pickles' superhero status, I was!  Sadly we are past the point where traveling by air all together as a family is within our normal means, so only a small representation of the Pickles was able to attend with me.  I decided to bring my bookend boys -- Jojo (oldest boy) and Dominic (youngest boy) -- while Mr. Pickles heroically stayed at home with the rest for the six days I was gone.

Sacrament season

This has been a busy year for us, Sacraments-of-Initiation-wise!  Of course, we started with Dominic's memorable Baptism last summer (you know, when he shrieked through the entire thing).

Then this spring on April 3, Divine Mercy Sunday, Joseph made his First Holy Communion!

such a happy day!

We did his Sacrament prep at home -- after Katie's First Communion we decided we needed to opt out of the circus of the big 1st Communion class Mass.  (It was really disgraceful how ill-behaved the adults in the congregation were, so we decided Never Again.)  So we conferred with our parish priests, and we both agreed that Divine Mercy Sunday would be a most appropriate day to make one's First Communion!  (We had thought about St. Joseph's feast day on March 19 -- also Miriam's birthday -- but we weren't quite ready in time.  He had made his first Confession in early March, so we wanted to make sure he had a couple opportunities to receive the graces of Confession before he received Jesus for the first time.)

he is so proud of his suit!

Several of our friends were able to come to the Mass, so we had a small party at the house afterwards.  And just so y'all can feel better about yourselves as homemakers and party-planners, despite the fact that we had known about it for WEEKS, I still wasn't fully prepared for the shindig.  Our friends generously helped out and brought extra donuts and fruit, so no one starved.  It was a lovely day, albeit a mite chilly, but the kids after getting loaded up on sugar went outside to run around anyway, while the grownups all stood around in the kitchen (natch) and drank Mr. Pickles' lattes and gabbed.  Everyone had a good time.

Finally, on April 26, Miriam received the Sacrament of Confirmation!

with her godfather

Miriam took the name Joseph as her Confirmation name.  And she asked the famous Aunt Katie to be her sponsor.  So Aunt Katie and Uncle Stefan and their two boys made the trek out from Ohio to spend time with us for a couple days.

yay for Aunt Katie!

The Confirmation Mass was late in the evening, so certain small people were very Done by the time we finally got a family shot:

one down, five to go!

 Even though we had a couple days with Katie and Stefan, I STILL feel like we didn't have enough time together!  They spent a good amount of time running around after their very busy toddler.  Andy and their 3yo got along swimmingly, though.  They both share a passion for all things vehicular.

So grateful to them all for making the trek out!  Miriam was very touched to learn that I was Katie's sponsor, back in the day!

Despite all the hustle and minor chaos that goes into ANY family celebration, we're able to remember at the core of it all what a gift the Sacraments are.  Miriam was relating to me just how she felt right after the moment of her Confirmation, and I've noticed a subtle change in Joseph's behavior in the last couple months.  Grace truly is transformative.  Glory be to God!

P.S. The kids learned this song at their Vacation Bible School.  I think they will never, ever be able to forget the Sacraments now.  Nor will you, if you watch! :)

Dominic's baptism

Pictures!  Pictures!

Dominic was baptized the last Saturday in August.  He was just three weeks old.  We asked Mr. Pickles' sister and Mrs. Pickles' brother to be godparents, and they were both able to trek across the country from the Middle West and the Far West, respectively.  When the other sibling and the parents on Mrs. Pickles' side heard that, they made a point of coming too, so it was a real family reunion!

all that fuss for me??

Katie's First Communion

Our bitsy girl made her first Holy Communion in May. (Do you think it's too late to send the invitations?)

It's funny how precedents get set. She wanted special shoes with heels like Miriam had (but which we weren't able to find in time, weep weep), and she wanted her hair put in rag curls like Miriam's was (which we did).

She was so ready to receive Jesus.

I was so happy Miriam's dress fit and didn't need alterations!

 This moment before the Mass was hilarious -- all the girls were oohing and ahhing over each other's dresses, tripping around the room excitedly, while all the boys sat around looking uncomfortable and just dying for the things to start happening already.

Because Katie was one of the smallest in her class, she was second in the procession and got to sit in the very front row!  I have to admit I was impressed with how well she behaved herself in Mass (it's always a crap shoot with her). :)  All the kids were very sweet and pious and well-behaved.  The congregation, however....  I swear I've never been to a louder Mass in my entire life, even on Easter Sunday.  It was SO disturbing that it makes one seriously think of asking for a private first Communion from now on.  Either that or hiring ushers with military training.

And then the party afterwards was a madhouse.  Fortunately all the kids got to eat first, since they were starving.  By the time we finally got to the line, though, it had been strip-mined.  So after saying a few quick congratulations to some of our friends we headed home for a private celebration. 

We stopped at the grocery store and Katie got to pick whatever treats she wanted.  Then for dessert after dinner I made cupcakes to decorate.  One of our containers of sprinkles had some shapes that actually looked like little crosses, which Katie was very excited about.  So even though I did no planning whatsoever (maternal guilt maternal guilt maternal guilt), she was still very pleased with her special day!

I'm so happy we made the decision to put her in CCD a year early -- she was really ready for this moment.  I'm thankful that she can receive all the graces she needs to help her grow into the person God designed her to be!

Pagan No More!

As most of our readers know (since they were there), :) Daniel was baptized this past Sunday.

He wore the baptism outfit I had made for Joseph. (although I couldn't fasten it in the back!)


Our wonderful pastor performed the baptism, and my brother Dave and his lovely wife Katie are the godparents.

Daniel slept for a good bit of it, then woke up ravenously hungry. Here he's mad that he isn't eating immediately.

We had oodles of family and friends attend -- it was lovely! Although at various times I questioned the wisdom of planning a mini-family reunion at 3 weeks postpartum, I had many willing hands to help out which made it possible.

I wish I had taken a picture of everyone -- I still can't believe we fit over 30 people in our house! Also, I apologize to all the attendees for not having the presence of mind to turn the a/c much lower than it was -- blame the mommy scatterbrain. :)

This is what Dan thought of the whole business.

Hooray for sanctifying grace!

Miriam's First Communion Day!

Wow, that last post was a downer. Let's cheer things up a bit. Nothing like the celebration of a Sacrament to do that. :)

So remember the Ingalls girls? That was practice for Miriam's First Communion hairdo.

(taken from the 5yo POV) I made the mistake of trying to brush out the curls. Holy frizz, Batman!

Nicely tamed and ringleted and sprayed within an inch of its life.


So excited for her big moment!


This was after the Mass, with her class. She was just radiant.


Mr. Pickles and I had our favorite wedding photo taken here, so we thought it was appropriate to commemorate another big family sacrament here as well.

After Mass we had a small party at our house.

a very homemade cake :) (This was taken before Joseph climbed onto the table and pushed the "jewels" all the way down into the cake.)

Here Miriam is opening presents surrounded by an admiring throng.

Congratulations, little lady!