Chestnuts and such

We have a huge, beautiful Chinese chestnut tree in our back yard...

...and the lovely fruits have begun to fall in droves (some roasted below).

Any good recipe ideas (aside from stuffing) for what to do with them? They're not bad on their own, but it would be nice to find a good soup or dessert recipe.

Frankie had her first CYO tennis lesson today. She did well apparently. Hopefully Lola can give her some pro tips!

Going all-out on game day with "Irishopoly", chili and fried cornbread.  Go Irish!

David and Rose's act

Barnum and Bailey will pay a pretty penny I'm sure.

Helpful spiritual nudges- 2Minutes2Virtue

The Diocese of Arlington has started a weekly series of 2 minute videos (of priests we know and love) that tackle short, specific ways to grow in virtue. Ordinary time in the Church year can be a little stagnant spiritually unless we're really making an effort, which I why I love the idea of this series. Here's one by Fr. Searby that I thought was helpful.

Hi

I'm back. We've got a lot of ground to cover since Easter, so without further ado...

Natalie and George got married April 11th.

The beautiful bride and groom reside in Arlington, and just returned from a safari honeymoon in Tanzania. When Nat sends me pictures of the giraffe giving birth while running, I will be sure to post.

Meanwhile, the Cooks spent spring and the beginning of summer packing up their house (where's Waldo?), gratefully getting ready to take up residence with Grandmommy and Pop-Pop after selling the house, and trusting that God would direct them to the next Casa Cook. 

Francesca, Julia, and Gracie received their First Holy Communion together on May 15th. Fr. Juan Puigbo was the perfect celebrant, getting these little girls' hearts ready to receive our Lord for the first time.

Beautiful little souls!

One of our last pancake breakfasts before Mass in this house!

We said good-bye to Donna Lane forever on June 19th, heading to Manassas, and then to Bethany Beach.

The July 4th that will go down in infamy...we waited for hours for a baseball game (which we couldn't see) to finish so the fireworks could start. We headed home around 10:30...no fireworks.  It was fun to wait in expectation though!

Our new house on Cherry Lane! Pop-Pop found it on Trulia, the first in a chain of many providential events. We went to see it, fell in love, and St. Joseph took it from there. The owners chose our offer over another higher one, the house fits so many little requirements I entrusted (and some I never even verbalized) to St. Joseph when we started our search, the owners left us a host of useful pieces of furniture, we're still 7 minutes from school and Dave's work, we're on a quiet street with lovely and welcoming neighbors, we're across the street from our library...seriously, the list goes on and on, and Dave and I are constantly pinching ourselves.

Celebrating our arrival with well supervised (ahem) fires...

...and fun kick-ball games in the yard (keeping the deer at bay).

The men-folk enjoy a shared birthday party every year, this year at our new place (the kids dining in our awesome retro breakfast nook). Many happy returns to Jackson, David and Pop-Pop! 

First day of school for our 1st and 3rd grader.

Whew! The short version in a nutshell. Dave and I owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for providing SO much aid to us as we sold our old house and bought our new place....beyond generous financial support, giving us a place to live while we looked for a house, taking Frankie and Teresa for a memorable stay in Cleveland while we settled and moved in. You are truly our heroes, and we pray God rewards you for so generously providing for your children and grandchildren. Thank you! 

Alleluia, He is risen!

Happy Easter to all! Congratulations to Jeff and Kate, who are celebrating their first Easter with their new little Easter bunny! We miss you all- sending lots of love your way. The birthday girl has a fever, but feeling the excitement of the day (and having gorged on nutella crepes and jelly beans), she's happy nonetheless.  

Holy Wednesday egg dying...

...to be eaten at our seder meal on Holy Thursday.

Rose's Easter birthday cake! It's nice to turn three on Easter Sunday. You get cake and ice cream, AND chocolate and jelly beans.

The spread. Fried rice not pictured, but included.

That's a big mouth.

Frankie looking elegant with her hair curled.

Love this pale purple dress from the Philippines. They don't make them this cute in the U.S.!

Graham's first Easter! It gets better, little guy. One more year until chocolate eggs.

Welcome baby Graham!!

A long overdue welcome to our newest cousin and nephew, Graham Michael, born March 20th! We can't wait to snuggle you someday soon! We've received picture updates since his birth through a shared iPhoto photo stream (thanks for doing that Jeff and Kate!) Some choice ones below.

This is magazine-worthy.

He's so cute!

Happy Birthday, Cara!

Happy Birthday to Cara, our wonderful and loving wife, mother, daughter and friend.

A little known fact about Cara: She was won years off of purgatory for nearly every person who reads this blog.  Matthew Kelly, in his book The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, talks about every great family having a “prayer giant.” Cara is our prayer giant.

I also want to acknowledge what all of us have come to know and appreciate about Cara vis-a-vis this blog: That she has become masterful at capturing the tone and meaning of the major events of our lives.  Only one with such a supernatural outlook as Cara can weave together such a beautiful narrative that will be (and currently is) a truly priceless gift to our children.

For me, there is no greater source of peace and strength here on earth than Cara.  I admire and look up to her more than any person I know, and that is an awesome thing to say about someone I have known for nearly 14 years.