My brother Mark's birthday was December 2. He would have been 19 years old. Its our third year without him. Its hard not having someone to sing happy birthday to. I called my mother to wish her a "Happy Mark's Birthday" and we gave $19 to the Mark Park. It seems so little, yet all we can do. The boys and I said 19 Hail Mary's for him as well. On his 17th birthday I put together this slideshow for my family. It isn't much, but its what we have of him. Pictures bring back memories and keep him very much alive in our thoughts.
Today, for me, will you call a brother or sister. Tell them you love them. Remember a story from when you were growing up, share it. Tell them how much they mean to you. Tomorrow may be too late. Never leave the good things unsaid!!!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Launching of the USS Fort Worth
Blase, Stephen and Darren went to watch the launching of the USS Fort Worth on December 4th. It is a LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) built by Marinette Marine for the US Navy. Darren shot this video with our camera. It isn't very clear, but you get the idea of what a ship launch is like around here.
Hunting, Birthday, Thanksgiving
We spent 10 days in South Dakota around Thanksgiving. I prefer not to post where we aren't (home) when we aren't there. So, this is a "back post" of sorts.
A few people were commenting about how nice it was for us to make it home for Thanksgiving. The honest truth of the matter - we were home for Darren to hunt. The truth hurts. Sorry guys - you are important to us, but it takes 3 tags to make the trip worth it. (Just kidding, of course we came home to see family!!!)
Darren's hunting was a big reason we did pick Thanksgiving as our "vacation" home. He was getting three deer one way or another, even if they were just fawns. He went hunting with Roy, a friend of his family's, one day and came home with a Whitetail doe. The next hunting trips were with his brother, Brad. He shot one Muley buck, then turned and shot a Muley doe. THREE TAGS - FILLED! The buck was his biggest yet. He is having it mounted. I think we shall consider that his birthday gift from me. Don't you agree?? We spent his 35th birthday evening cleaning deer. It was the first time I had ever helped anyone clean a deer. I was afraid the smell would get to me, but I did just fine. I think I am a bit more thorough than Darren is though.
Thanksgiving morning we cleaned up the last deer, with Roy's help. Thanksgiving was also our 10th anniversary. Darren gave me 4 bags of Dove Chocolate and 2 rolls of Mentos. Couldn't have gotten a better gift. The boys watched the parade in the morning, we ate a HUGE lunch with Darren's family (minus his sister Sally and niece Emma), then vegged the rest of the afternoon.
Friday morning we drove up to my parents' house for a late Thanksgiving get together. Everyone in my family was present with good spirits. It was a great day. We ate and played games and teased each other. Wonderful memories!! We also had the "Second Annual Bestgen Family Dart Tournament". We drew numbers and paired up for some GREAT games. There are some serious dart throwers in our family! I was teamed with Andrew. We named our team "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb". For those of you who are curious - I was Dumb. Dirk had to sub for me on one of the games, so we included him on our medals.
For both tournaments I have made medals for everyone who played. This year we had 7 teams. We came up with cute names for the different places. First place - braggin' rights, second place - So close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, etc.. I liked 4th place which was "Stuck in the middle with you." Obviously from the picture, Andrew and I took 5th place. Not last, but not in the upper teams. Last year I was partners with Darren and we took 1st, undefeated. This year Darren was paired up with Paul. They took 1st, undefeated. Needless to say - Darren is the sought after teammate for next time!
Thanksgiving morning we cleaned up the last deer, with Roy's help. Thanksgiving was also our 10th anniversary. Darren gave me 4 bags of Dove Chocolate and 2 rolls of Mentos. Couldn't have gotten a better gift. The boys watched the parade in the morning, we ate a HUGE lunch with Darren's family (minus his sister Sally and niece Emma), then vegged the rest of the afternoon.Friday morning we drove up to my parents' house for a late Thanksgiving get together. Everyone in my family was present with good spirits. It was a great day. We ate and played games and teased each other. Wonderful memories!! We also had the "Second Annual Bestgen Family Dart Tournament". We drew numbers and paired up for some GREAT games. There are some serious dart throwers in our family! I was teamed with Andrew. We named our team "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb". For those of you who are curious - I was Dumb. Dirk had to sub for me on one of the games, so we included him on our medals.For both tournaments I have made medals for everyone who played. This year we had 7 teams. We came up with cute names for the different places. First place - braggin' rights, second place - So close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, etc.. I liked 4th place which was "Stuck in the middle with you." Obviously from the picture, Andrew and I took 5th place. Not last, but not in the upper teams. Last year I was partners with Darren and we took 1st, undefeated. This year Darren was paired up with Paul. They took 1st, undefeated. Needless to say - Darren is the sought after teammate for next time!.
Saturday we played more darts, just for fun, and ate leftovers. We emptied the totes full of gifts we brought and filled back up with gifts from others. Then we ate leftovers. Darren did a bit of shopping for Christmas with Brech. Did I mention we ate leftovers? Then we played more darts. Most of the family headed to a wedding reception for a good friend of the family. We babysat Sarah and Rebecca, played darts and ate more leftovers.
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Sunday we went to church and headed back to Darren's parents' house. We loaded up the trailer and got on the road. Darren was determined to beat the freezing rain that was headed toward Minnesota. We drove from Mike and Linda's all the way to Albert Lea, MN that night. Of course it took us until Midnight. We missed the freezing rain and made decent time. We were home before dark on Monday and had time to unload, put away and organize most of the things out of the totes and coolers.
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The vacation was fill of fun, stress, food and family. I am actually glad we aren't going to South Dakota for Christmas. I'm ready to stay home with my own family, our own issues and not so much food! :)
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Happy LATE, late Thanksgiving!!!
Winter Excitement
We woke to a few inches of snow this morning. The boys are begging to play in the snow. I plan to send them out when Brech lays down for a nap. How exciting!! Christmas just isn't Christmas without snow. Let's hope it sticks around for a couple weeks!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Happy St. Nicholas's Day To All
SURPRISE!! Look what we found in our shoes this morning!! Who would have thought St. Nicholas would leave such yummy treats in such stinky shoes?
The clementines we ate for breakfast (along with CoCo Wheats) and were rewarded with one piece of candy afterwards. Candy for breakfast?? Can it be St. Nicholas's Day everyday??
Here is what each boy found in his shoe - a candy cane, a chocolate St. Nicholas (who isn't very St. Nicholasy), three chocolate coins, one clementine (not so good according to Rex and Brech) and finally a coin with a saint's picture or prayer on it. For Blase - St. Therese of the Child Jesus, for Stephen - Act of Contrition, for Cormac - St. Michael, for Rex - St. Nicholas and for Brech - St. Padre Pio. What a great morning!St. Nicholas, pray for us!!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Monthly Prayers updated
December's theme in our house is Silence. You would think I would have picked Peace or Joy, but I picked Silence for many reasons.
Spiritually speaking - silence is a gateway to so many of the virtues. Without silence, humility would be unattainable. Without silence, patience would be much harder practice. The list goes on...
Little boy speaking - silence is a HARD task to accomplish. I think little boys would much rather move a pile of gravel with a sand shovel and a bucket than attempt to be silent! With Christmas approaching silence is even harder to accomplish. Wish lists are constantly updated and begging for the latest and best toys is consistent. Yes, silence is rough on little boys!!
In the prayer it says how there is so much noise in the world. I had the boys stop moving and talking - as silent as they possibly could be. During this brief period of silence we still heard a truck drive by, the heater turn on, the refrigerator running and the clock ticking. Even during our best attempt to be quiet - there was still noise. I used that moment as an example of how, even when we try, we are surrounded with noise. Even quiet noise is still noise.
We have talked about the best places to listen for God to talk to us. There are few places in this house were quiet remains for more than a moment. We discussed about listening for God just as we wake in the morning or right before we fall asleep at night. Also during our quiet time during the day, when there are no toys or TV allowed. Some places we thought of outside of our home include nature, with the sounds of God all around us, and church. Who dares to talk in church??
As Christ's birthday approaches we will talk about the peace and quiet that surrounded the manger that night. The awe and wonder felt by the shepherds who were blessed with a visit to the newborn King. We will discuss the beauty of silence and detachment from the world during a time when most kids think about what presents they are receiving (not what they can give back to Our Lord). I am sure our house will still be noisy, but at least we attempted to grow closer to God through a few moments of silence.
Our small prayer for the month asks Jesus to bless all the children in the world. I wanted to bring the boys to a point where they see how blessed they are to have parents, a home, gifts under the tree and the ability to help others. So often they forget how lucky they are with what they already have. I want them to do what they can for others, even if it is just a short prayer.
May Our Lord bless you this month with a new appreciation for Silence. May you be blessed with the grace to tune out the world and tune in Our Lord's words, spoken just to you.
Spiritually speaking - silence is a gateway to so many of the virtues. Without silence, humility would be unattainable. Without silence, patience would be much harder practice. The list goes on...
Little boy speaking - silence is a HARD task to accomplish. I think little boys would much rather move a pile of gravel with a sand shovel and a bucket than attempt to be silent! With Christmas approaching silence is even harder to accomplish. Wish lists are constantly updated and begging for the latest and best toys is consistent. Yes, silence is rough on little boys!!
In the prayer it says how there is so much noise in the world. I had the boys stop moving and talking - as silent as they possibly could be. During this brief period of silence we still heard a truck drive by, the heater turn on, the refrigerator running and the clock ticking. Even during our best attempt to be quiet - there was still noise. I used that moment as an example of how, even when we try, we are surrounded with noise. Even quiet noise is still noise.
We have talked about the best places to listen for God to talk to us. There are few places in this house were quiet remains for more than a moment. We discussed about listening for God just as we wake in the morning or right before we fall asleep at night. Also during our quiet time during the day, when there are no toys or TV allowed. Some places we thought of outside of our home include nature, with the sounds of God all around us, and church. Who dares to talk in church??
As Christ's birthday approaches we will talk about the peace and quiet that surrounded the manger that night. The awe and wonder felt by the shepherds who were blessed with a visit to the newborn King. We will discuss the beauty of silence and detachment from the world during a time when most kids think about what presents they are receiving (not what they can give back to Our Lord). I am sure our house will still be noisy, but at least we attempted to grow closer to God through a few moments of silence.
Our small prayer for the month asks Jesus to bless all the children in the world. I wanted to bring the boys to a point where they see how blessed they are to have parents, a home, gifts under the tree and the ability to help others. So often they forget how lucky they are with what they already have. I want them to do what they can for others, even if it is just a short prayer.
May Our Lord bless you this month with a new appreciation for Silence. May you be blessed with the grace to tune out the world and tune in Our Lord's words, spoken just to you.
Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie
Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-0 Pumpkin Spice Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed
1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1/2 cup Planters Pecan Halves
1 Tbsp. honey
Beat milk, dry pudding mixes and cinnamon with wire whisk until well blended. Spread 1 1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping to remaining pudding mixture; stir gently. Spoon over layer in crust; top with remaining whipped topping.
Refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook pecans and honey in skillet on medium-low heat 2 to 4 minutes or until pecans are caramelized, stirring frequently. Spread onto sheet of waxed paper, separating larger clusters. Cool. Sprinkle over pie just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Makes 10 servings, one slice each.
KAREN'S NOTES - I skipped the pecans and honey step. It tasted just fine without them. YUMMY!!!!!
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-0 Pumpkin Spice Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed
1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1/2 cup Planters Pecan Halves
1 Tbsp. honey
Beat milk, dry pudding mixes and cinnamon with wire whisk until well blended. Spread 1 1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping to remaining pudding mixture; stir gently. Spoon over layer in crust; top with remaining whipped topping.
Refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook pecans and honey in skillet on medium-low heat 2 to 4 minutes or until pecans are caramelized, stirring frequently. Spread onto sheet of waxed paper, separating larger clusters. Cool. Sprinkle over pie just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Makes 10 servings, one slice each.
KAREN'S NOTES - I skipped the pecans and honey step. It tasted just fine without them. YUMMY!!!!!
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