Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy 60th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

On May 6th, 1950, Don and Marilyn were married in Gesu Catholic Church in Toledo, OH.

60 years later, with 6 children (myself, my sisters - Diane, Sandi, Deby and Tina, and my brother, Don Jr.), 11 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren, they have a large, loving family that still surrounds them.  This group photo, including much of the family, was taken at my Mom's 80th birthday party this past January.

Earlier today, we got together to take them to dinner for their Anniversary celebration.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Nicolas' Confirmation

On Wednesday, Nicolas was confirmed in the Catholic Church by Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, MI. 

He was nervous, but everything went really well.  His sponsor was the school chaplain, Fr. Charles.  Father is a wonderful person, and he was very helpful in preparing Nicolas for his Confirmation.

We're so proud of Nicolas!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Days 3 & 4 -- Cincinnati, OH

Well, the last 2 days have been a whirlwind of activity!  We finished up our adventure in Kentucky with a hike to the natural bridge

and a shopping trip to the Visitor Center.

Mr. M doesn't look TOO tired, does he?

Then it was back to the Lodge to pack up  and get loaded up in the cars.  We really enjoyed our stay at Carter Caves State Park -- it was a great program, and we all had a wonderful time!

Then it was on the road to Cincinnati . . . we arrived in the late afternoon, and our first stop was the Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  No pictures allowed there, but it was very inspiring and educational.  After getting checked into the hotel, we enjoyed dinner at Skyline Chili and met up with Sister at the Observatory.  What a great program -- we were able to see Venus, the International Space Station as it passed overhead, and a satellite.  We also had a great view of Saturn through a gigantic telescope in the observatory building -- it was definitely worth the long line!

It was a warm night, so we treated the kids (and ourselves!) to ice cream on the way back to the hotel.

On Saturday, our first stop was the Cincinnati History Museum -- tons to see there, and we all learned a lot about the involvement of Cincinnati in the Westward Expansion and Industrial Revolution.

But I think Greg might be staying up too late at night!

Next stop was the Basilica -- it was beautiful!

We learned all about its history and architecture on our tour, and then stayed for Mass.

Hey, this would be a great ride back to Michigan!

After a pizza party, we burned off some energy by bowling.  We were a pretty rowdy group, but all in good fun!

That was it -- back to the hotel and to bed, and this morning we're packing up for the trip back to Ann Arbor.  I think it was a really good trip, and all the kids had fun together!