Happy Birthday Gabriela!!

Three years ago we were all blessed with Gabriela - named after the Archangel Gabriel.

The Archangel Gabriel has been entrusted with the service of being a messenger to mankind. He came with the Lord’s good tidings of forthcoming miraculous events to the parents of St. John the Baptist, to the parents of the Holy Virgin Mary, and also to the Mother of God Herself and to St. Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel is the messenger of God’s Providence, the attendant of miracles and divine Mysteries. He is also believed to be the angel who comforted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When we are overcome with doubts, we ask the Archangel Gabriel to pray for us and we also ask for prayers for Gabriela as she marks her third year.

And now, a recap...

Let the party begin!

Birthday #1

Micaela's New Toy

Micaela's been really anxious to keep up with her brother & sisters lately - so we thought it was time to get her a "walker" toy. It's the cutest thing - a baby stroller that she can push around. It supports her and let's her walk forward without letting her go too fast. Plus, it's just the right size for her new baby doll to ride in. She's having a great time pushing it around - check it out!!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!!

Ok, it's Tae Kwon Do, but I can't think of a Tae Kwon Do song... In any case, a big hoot & a holler to Geneva and Frankie - they both passed their recent testing!! Geneva is now a first degree blue belt, and Frankie is now a second degree green belt!! Woo hoo!!

What I Did This Summer

This summer was a busy summer, but probably one of the best summers we've ever had. Weather wise, it was very mild in Austin the first half. We all spent a lot of time at the park and goofing around in the backyard. We stayed up late watching movies and went on late night drives for ice cream. We had the chance to spend a lot of time with our family and friends. Geneva went to Camp Bluebonnet for the first time and loved it! She wants to go again next year. We went to El Paso, Santa Fe, Taos, Cloudcroft & Ruidoso. All of them bee-uuuutiful. We shopped, ate and ate some more. At the beginning of the summer, we resolved not to take a vacation from our spiritual life, so we made it part of our vacation. We read books aloud to each other during our drives and found some new and beautiful places to go to Mass along the way. It was great! Here’s a small picture of it all…


During one of Geneva's performances at Camp Bluebonnet
Some friends...
and awesome counselors!

After a quick drive to El Paso, it was off to Santa Fe and Taos. We rented a house to stretch out in and we even grilled steaks while the kids played in the backyard. Going to Taos Pueblo is always a big treat for us. Frankie and the kids even played around and chatted with a cute little boy that lived at the Pueblo. The little boy took the time to explain to them the importance of the river and how the pueblo residents cared for it. It was nice.

Rafa & Gabriela checking on their baby sister

After a few days there, we headed back south. We took the kids fishing in Ruidoso with Grandpa Mike. It was the first time for Rafa & Gabriela. They had a great time. Geneva was the first to catch a fish, then we all finally managed to catch at least one. The fish were cleaned and bagged for us on-site, and then we drove back to Grandpa Mike’s and ate them! I don’t think I’d ever had fish that fresh. Very cool.

On another day we met Grandma Marty at a Pizza arcade, and while the kids didn’t actually eat much pizza, Rafa & Gabriela enjoyed riding on the mechanical horse. While I knew Gabriela would love it, I had no idea how much Rafa would too.

We headed on to Cloudcroft and Silver Lake. We drove through the mountains and shopped in the Village of Cloudcroft. At the lake the kids and Frankie took their shoes off and waded in the stream. Everyone got a kick out of that. The weather was beautiful and the smell of the campfires made it perfect.

There was a big family of hummingbirds at the entrance to Silver Lake.

It's hard to get four children to smile all at once.

Fortunately, Geneva and Micaela were always ready to flash a smile!

We met Grandma & Grandpa at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso. The little ones hung out with me feeding the ducks for a while and Frankie and Geneva went paddle boating on the lake. Later we joined Grandma & Grandpa at the huge buffet for dinner. That’s always fun. Rafa may have had too much fun though… Let me just say that he and Frankie needed new clothes before they left and that Rafa hasn’t eaten macaroni & cheese since…

Micaela - patient and smiling as ever!

We had a great time and it’s always hard to leave. The neat thing was that we convinced Grandma & Grandpa to come back with us to Austin as a treat for Grandma’s birthday. They did and we got to extend our vacation a few more days in Austin! Very nice.