The 2008 Season

Chance and De'Ann's Wedding

On July 15th we headed to New Mexico with Randall and Carley for the wedding of Chance and De'Ann. We flew into Roswell where Erik and Randall grew up and took a drive down memory lane. Carley commented that the town was far too obsessed with aliens, as there were even alien murals drawn on the Wal-Mart building.

From Roswell we went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso where Erik, Randall, Chance, and Curtis (Chance's dad) kept up the pre-wedding golf tradition. It is a beautiful place in the mountains owned by the Apache Indian Tribe. On Thursday we took in a couple of horse races at Ruidoso Downs & then made our way to Portales.

In Portales we met up with the Butler and Luce clans and had a family dinner at De'Ann's grandparents' ranch. The rehearsal party was a rodeo and when the sun set, the cowboys pulled up their trucks and turned on the headlights so that they could see the calves in the arena. It was awesome!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we are so blessed to have De'Ann in the family!

Christ our Hope

Mass with Pope Benedict XIV

April 17, 2008

Nationals Stadium

Washington, D.C.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. On Thursday, April 17th, 2008 I had the great fortune to attend the Papal Mass at Nationals' Stadium. Each parish in our diocese was given a ticket allotment based on membership. St. Theresa's had 123 tickets and opted to distribute them through a lottery. The Belknap Family got one ticket and then we could decide who in the family would use the ticket. All names were submitted to the diocese so that background checks could be done.

The parish chartered a bus to take us downtown to RFK stadium to catch a shuttle to Nationals' stadium. We left Ashburn at 6:30am, pulled into RFK at 8:30 and were in the gates by 9:00. The Mass started at 10:00am. It was a gorgeous day with a glorious blue sky and a slight breeze. The atmosphere in the park was surreal. Each attendee received a "goodie" bag from the Diocese of Washington that had a program for the Mass, a small papal flag, and some publications featuring the Holy Father. There was an area where confessions were being heard as well as several musical groups that entertained the arriving crowds.

Around 9:30, the Pope emerged and took a spin around the field in his "pope mobile." There was an audible, collective gasp from the crowd as the first sections saw him. As he made his way around, that gasp was like a wave.

This is a video of the processional. Sorry for the shakiness as I was a little emotional. Even though I couldn't see the alter from my seat, it did not detract from the beauty of the Mass.

The Holy Father's message for the people of the United States has been one of "Christ our Hope." He spoke of the need for evangelizing and constant conversion to our Lord Jesus Christ in order to strengthen the world in "a time [when] we see clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of God." In his message of "Christ our Hope" he said that the U.S. has always been a place of hope for people of all faiths from around the world who came here for greater opportunity. And despite times in which not all shared in the freedoms of this country, there were those who with great hope fought to change that- "hope for the future, is very much a part of the American character. And the Christian virtue of hope — the hope poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the hope which supernaturally purifies and corrects our aspirations by focusing them on the Lord and his saving plan — that hope has also marked, and continues to mark, the life of the Catholic community in this country."

Lord send out your spirit and renew the face of the Earth. Ps 104:30

Happy New Year!

The holiday season offered Erik and I a lot of quality family time! We left on the 22nd with Duffy in tow for Jacksonville to celebrate Christmas. Lauren and AJ hosted Christmas Eve dinner where Lauren's gumbo could give Paula Dean a run for her money. Carole gave Chase a box of percussion instruments so we all burned off a few calories as we were drafted into his never ending Christmas parade. It was a blast!

After our stay in Jacksonville, we traveled back to Virginia ahead of the family who arrived the next day so that we could all celebrate my Aunt Barbara's and her twin sister Kay's 70th birthday! I hope that I have half the energy of those two remarkable women when I reach 70! It was a blessing to have the families together for a happy occasion.

Randall, Amy, Carley, and Bailey came over for a pre-New Year's family dinner. We took turns playing the kids in Wii. I'm not sure who had more fun, we'll have to let the pictures be the evidence. Carley is a pro at bowling, and Bailey loves the baseball.

Enjoy the photos and come visit soon!