December 9, 2020

Our family lost our very special Grandma Ingalls on December 9th.  She has been missed by many even outside of her family.  Neighbors, friends, and family gathered to celebrate her life on December 29th.  It was the fifth anniversary of Grandpa Ingalls' memorial service.

Sometimes I still think I should call Grandma for advice on a recipe.  I wish she had taught me how to can those old chickens.  Just yesterday I was thinking how I didn't think Grandma had come to the house to see the remodeled kitchen.  Some people just leave a deeper every day impact than others.  I was blessed to receive all of Grandma's important recipes and not so important newspaper cut out recipes.  I am happy to have a piece of her legacy I can pass on to my girls and nieces.

For Grandma's memorial video, please click the link below.

https://youtu.be/Y2beEjntXx4

July 3rd Fireworks in Town

We had a great pre-Fourth of July.  We had the cousins over to play so we ended up taking them to watch the fireworks.  It looks pretty bright in the picture, but it wasn't.  Silly flash.  I've included some of our favorite fireworks pictures.  The next day we had a potluck and fireworks show at the Mark Park.  Fourth of July is always about family and freedom.  So many in our family have fought for our freedoms.  It seems appropriate to spend the day celebrating with family!

 

Saturday Fun with Cousins

 Picnic in the grass and fun times outside!

Uncle Adam's Marry Day

My younger brother, Adam, got married to the love of his life - Kate - on April 25th.  They planned to get married this month in Sturgis, but God's ways are better than our ways.  They were married on St. Mark's feast day.  How beautiful and amazing that our brother Mark could be part of Adam's special day because of his patron saint's feast day.  God's ways are perfect.

 Brigid and Kiara have been looking forward to Adam's "Marry Day" since forever and two days!  They were disappointed that they wouldn't get to see it in person.

 We decided to have a tea party during the wedding (because it was at lunch time) so that made it a bit easier for the little girls to not be there in person.

 Dad, Mom, and Loman also came over to watch the wedding with us.

 Can you see our pictures in the pew?

 There's Aunt Kate!!

SOOO beautiful!!

 Ohhh, ADAM!!

 Brigid was talking about love and being married in typical girl fashion.

 Stephen took part in the tea party, too.  He's a good sport.

 So excited!!  "When are they gonna kiss, Mommy?"

 Kiara - "They didn't kiss.  I don't think they are married."

 Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Adam Bestgen!

Easter 2020

We are having a wonderful Easter.  The girls were the most impatient kids this morning.  Don't let these innocent smiles fool you...

 they were yelling for their brothers just moments before this.

 Blase had to serve Mass this morning, so he found his Easter basket first.

 Looks like there will be some fun in his future.

 Stephen pretending he had NO idea where his basket was.

Stephen pretending it is his long-lost box of targets. 

 Stephen pretending he's always wanted a St. Benedict Tiny Saint charm.

Okay, he might have been a little genuinely excited about this one.

 Cormac was typical Cormac....to the point.

 This is as excited as Cormac gets for pictures.

 Rex figured that his basket would be on his chair after all three of his older brothers' baskets were.

 St. John Bosco Tiny Saint charm for Rex.  That is our homeschool patron saint.

 Well, Brech...where's your basket?  Not on your chair?  Hummmm....

 Over there?

 How about there?

 Ohh, finally...found your basket!

 Gianna is wishing we had an oven right now to bake some cookies.

 Brigid could hardly contain herself.  Maybe it was a bit cruel to make the girls wait until the very end to look inside their baskets.

 A KITE!  HER VERY OWN FIRST KITE EVER!

Can you hear the excitement?

I'm sure the neighbors heard her.

Kiara was a bit more patient than Brigid, which is odd. 

 A KITE!!  I GOT A KITE TOO!!!!

 And a toothbrush!!!

 Way to get down to business, Rex.  Maybe you should try opening it first.

 Snow.  Snow.  Snow.  

 JELLY BEANS!!!

 MORE JELLY BEANS!!!

Can you tell what her favorite Easter candy is?

 That's a fair amount of snow for Easter Sunday.

 Easter egg hunting team -  Team September 23

 GO

 Rex hide the eggs and we couldn't find one of them so he was helping the kids.

 Can you see the missing egg, Brech?

LET THE KIPPING CONTEST BEGIN!

 She's sure she's got the winning egg!

 She didn't have the winning egg.

 Blase took a picture of me taking a selfie with the winning egg to share with my family.

It got really interesting when they started two-handed kipping!

Happy Easter everyone!  May God bless all of you!