April was a busy one! Part II

Judah had his First Confession on April 14th!  

Freshly Confessed!

 

Celebratory Ice Cream Cones!

The very next day his sponsor for his Confirmation arrived with his family, our friends from the DC area!  Everyone was very excited about this visit and it meant a lot of fun outing trips around San Antonio and, of course, some BBQ and Mexican food!

Judah was looking sharp in his three piece suite.

Before Mass

    The day of his First Communion and Confirmation was April 18th, 2021 I took him early to have his pictures taken and get organized for the special Mass.  The rest of the crew came behind us shortly to get good seats.  Brian actually snagged the best seats ever and we were the first tow rows behind the First Communicants and Confirmandi.  Best seats ever!  The vicar general was there instead of the bishop and it was a very nice Mass.  Five down and only one to go!

After the Mass!

Judah and his sponsor

All the kids!

Our Family

Just the Girls

Judah with his cake and gift of the St. George and the Dragon mug that Isaac and I collaborated on.

Isaac drew the dragon, and I did the rest.  It's on my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/listing/979478686/st-george-the-dragon-mug?ref=shop_home_active_1

We celebrated afterwards at our house with smoked chickens, baked beans, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, dip, and cake!

One of the days, we took our guests to the Alamo and the River Walk.

The kids on the River Walk

Drew liked this red tunnel.

One of the days we went to Mass at the Mission of Divine Mercy and then ate barbecue at Black's.

Blacks BBQ

One of the days we relaxed a bit and went to Lupe Tortilla's for dinner.

Lupe Tortillas, the best beef fajitas ever

Isaac, after taking a giant bite of a really hot pepper

The kids all watching old videos of themselves.

One of the days, we went to Fredericksburg to Mass at the old, beautiful church there.  We had a German meal and did some shopping.

What a fun week!

Confirmation Day Finally Arrives

 It was scheduled, and then it was rescheduled.  It was a public Mass, and then it was a private Mass with only three guests per child receiving the sacrament allowed to attend.  In the end though, it all worked out, and it was a beautiful Mass.  Our oldest four children were able to receive the sacrament of Confirmation on the same day, June 14th, 2020.  In our parish, the children typically receive Confirmation and then First Communion in the same Mass in 2nd grade.  Now we are all caught up and ready to start preparing Judah to receive both next year.

Our oldest four ready to head to the church

Two of their sponsors were able to come despite all the craziness with the virus.  Isaac's and Drew's sponsors spent the weekend with us.  Hannah and Genevieve had a proxy stand in for their sponsors. 

We had to be there 45 minutes before and the Mass was a full two hours long with the bishop present.  We were there right through lunch, from 12:15 - 3:15pm.  The little boys were so very good even though they were thirsty the entire time.

 After Mass, we picked up Duck Donuts and headed home to eat spaghetti for dinner with our visitors.  We opened presents and I was so happy that my gifts did arrive on time despite initially telling me they'd be a couple days late.  I drew each of their patron saints and used markers to color them in nice and bright.  Then I ordered them on mugs from Snapfish.  They turned out very nicely.

Hannah's Confirmation saint is St. Dorothy of Cesarea

Genevieve's saint is St. Catherine of Siena

Drew's saint is St. Edward the Confessor

Isaac's saint is St. Francis of Assisi

Here are the mugs...

My husband liked the finished product so much, he now thinks I need to start an online business of religious drawings on t-shirts and mugs, but I wouldn't know where to start.  I told him that I hate the post office, and he said he'd mail them for me.  :)  I'm thinking I am not tech savvy enough for this, but maybe one day I'll find the time to try my hand at it.  For now, I am keeping very busy with a big surprise "project," for lack of a better word.