Cousins

Oh what to say? Four of my very favorite people just flew across the ocean away from us again. The boys and Catherine were here for a month, and I was getting pretty darn used to seeing them whenever I wanted. The last week of their visit, after Tony had joined them and we returned from South Dakota, we spent pretty much every day at Grandma and Grandpa's so the cousins could get to know each other. This was the first time they had seen each other in a year and a half, and it was certainly the first time they have actually played together. 

Max and Alexander had some important chats over their coloring book, and it was such a joy to hear them really talking to each other!  Zander is verbal beyond his years, so he kept right up with Max in conversational ability.

Alexander and Lucian are only six months apart in age, and they share a love of all things music, especially the Okee Dokee Brothers, guitars and banjos. We were serenaded time and again by the dynamic duo; my dad is hopeful that he has the makings of a band to rival the Radecki Family Band from my childhood. (Yes, back in the day, yours truly played some high-profile gigs at church auctions, YMCA events, and fundraisers. If you want my autograph, just ask). I think the boys will be ready to go on the road as soon as they can strum a real chord!

The four boys were in heaven playing games with Grandma, and I don't think she minded too much. My parents take this grandparent thing to a whole new level... they'll do anything for their grandkids! I think by the end of the visit they may have been ready for a little break (having five kids five-and-under in the house nearly full-time might do that) but you wouldn't know it by looking at them. They were going strong til the last.

We took the kids to the train museum in St. Paul with Great Grandpa, and everyone was enthralled with the exhibits. After watching the trains for awhile, we went to the Como Park Pavilion for a snack and a little exploring. Funny how it takes visitors from Austria to get us out into our own neighborhood! Lucian and Isaac had some nice moments together throughout the trip; they are both a little more laid-back than their older brothers, so even though there is quite an age difference, I think they really enjoyed each other.

Alexander fell head-over-heels for Audrey and just couldn't get enough of her! Every time he saw her, he wanted to shower her with affection. That girl... for now, she's the center of all sorts of positive attention. But just wait, little one. With four boys above you, there are all sorts of shenanigans to come!

Tony and Catherine, thank you for sharing so much of your time with us. I know that traveling is not easy, and being away from home for so long wreaks havoc on little bodies. A seven hour time change is hard enough on the most seasoned travelers, I can only imagine what it does to kids! But you did a beautiful job and you are wonderful parents. We miss you terribly, and we hope that someday we will meet you at the airport for a homecoming rather than just a visit. Until then, Max, Lucian and Audrey will try to wait patiently for the next chance to play with their cousins!

Comfort and Joy

There is much more to tell about our Christmas Extravaganza in South Dakota, but I'll try to keep it contained to the highlights. Much of the week was spent gathered at the kitchen table, either playing cards or eating delicious food. With fourteen people in the house, it's not surprising that we sometimes had three card games going simultaneously at times! The favorites were 500, Euchre, Cribbage and Yahtzee. By the end of the week, I felt like I could actually call myself a proficient card player! (For those of you who know me, yes, this means I finally got up the guts to bid).

When we did venture out of the house, we visited the City Center, a new area in downtown Rapid that boasts an ice rink in winter and water fountains in summer. The boys got their first taste of skating for the year, with the help of Uncles Liam and Patrick (and Daddy, of course). I stayed safely on the cement snapping pictures. Don't tell anyone, but I never really learned how to ice skate, and I feel it's just too late for me now. Oh well, somebody's gotta hold the camera!

Since the whole family was present, we made it a point to snap a family picture. We all went up to Dinosaur Park and had a grand old time! Who knew family pictures don't have to be horribly painful? The only downside was the freezing wind; I don't know if you can hear the teeth chattering when you look at the picture, but man-oh-man we did not want to linger for long. I escaped with Monica, Glenn, Megan and Audrey to Bully Blends after the shoot while the braver ones let the boys play on the dinosaurs for awhile. It went something like this: "Oh, I really wish I could stay and play, but Audrey will get so cold if we don't get her inside now."

Other memorable moments include Kelley's birthday, meeting Kelley's beau Tim, an early birthday bash for me, a movie with Kel and Megan (Les Miserables... I won't give you my full analysis here, but overall I loved it!), visiting our Goddaughter Gemma, meeting my friend Bridget's newest little one Felicity, and getting the Trask and Yantes boys together for a quick visit. All of this was underscored by a constant stream of mulled wine, of course. 

It was a full, fun week, and as always it was hard to leave. But we created some wonderful memories!

The boys loved being trapped in Uncle Patrick's Kid Jail

All three kids playing together!

Paul Yantes Jr. Family photo

Zooming with his uncles

Lucian tried for a little while, but wasn't too thrilled

Audrey stayed warm snuggling with Auntie Megan

By the end of the day, Max was scooting by himself!

Max and Lucian with their friends Joey (3 1/2) and Patrick (5 1/2)

A Celebration of New Life

Our trip to Rapid City included a beautiful baby shower for Monica, who is due in just a couple of weeks!  We are so thrilled and excited to be welcoming another member into the family, and our kids are well ready to meet their first Yantes cousin. All of the wonderful women of the Rapid City Catholic community came together to celebrate with Monica, to shower her with gifts and to pray for her upcoming delivery and the exciting journey she's about to begin. 

Monica, I am so blessed to have you in my life. Calling you my sister-in-law has never felt quite right- there seem to be some negative connotations involved with the term "in-law". So instead, I prefer to think of you, Kelley, and Megan as my sisters. And dear sister, I am thrilled beyond words that I will soon be sharing with you something that is so central to my life and identity: motherhood. It is a role you have always seen yourself in, and I am so thankful that God has blessed you and Glenn with this great gift. I hope to share the joyful moments with you as well as the difficult ones, the excitement and the tedium. I want you to call me when you are bursting with pride and when you are about to pull your hair out. Life is about to change forever, and change is not always be easy, but oh Monica, you radiate a grace and poise that I wish I had myself! You will be amazing.

You are a beautiful woman in every way. I know that you will be a beautiful mother; you were specially chosen by God for the tiny child you are soon to meet. Blessings on you and your growing family!

Merry Little Christmas

My mother-in-law Maureen is always very easy going about the holidays. She loves having her family around her, but she is quick to tell us to do what works best for our family.  If that means we don't strictly alternate years between families, that's fine with her. She just has one simple request: every so often, she would like her entire family to be present for a celebration. That was this year. All six Yantes kids (plus spouses and children) returned to Rapid City for Christmas.

Hallelujah!

With up to fourteen people in the house at any given moment, it was anything but a "little" Christmas. Their next door neighbor was kind enough to lend their house while they were out of town for the week, so everyone even had a bed to sleep in. But honestly, a bed was the only thing we used that house for; we were all desperate to spend as much time together as possible.

Our traveling day was the 23rd, so we were in town all of Christmas Eve day. We attended a celebration with Paul's grandparents, then we spruced up and walked to "midnight" Mass at 10:00. The snowflakes were so big and slow-falling that I felt like I was in a snow globe. It reminded me of Christmas five years ago, when we attended this same Mass at the Cathedral, had a beautiful snowfall and welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world! I can't believe that little boy is already five years old.

We sang the opening song, said the opening prayer, sat down, and all three kids promptly fell asleep for the remainder of the Mass. It was such a wonderful service, I almost felt bad that the kids were missing it... almost, but not enough to wake them up. It was nice to have my attention undivided for once.

We went home after church to stuff stockings, prepare for the morning, and hit the hay. Christmas morning came quickly for two excited little boys. We exchanged gifts and hugs, had a fabulous brunch, and basked in each others' company for the rest of the day. Christmas dinner was prime rib-- a Yantes family tradition that I didn't miss out on even when in the hospital with  Max five years ago! Although I must say, if given the choice, I preferred to eat it off of a plate at the table with the whole family rather than out of tupperware in a hospital bed. After dinner, we sang happy birthday to Max and he got to blow out some candles and open a few more presents (wrapped in birthday wrapping paper, mind you!).

We stayed in Rapid City for a whole week and just got home yesterday, but we had so many great adventures that I will close here for now at the close of the great feast of Christmas.

Hail, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning!
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing,
O come let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!

Lucian and his new banjo

Max does brain surgery on his human body kit

Audrey get 'stachified by her aunties and uncles

Happy birthday to Max! 

Sugar and Spice

'Tis the season!! My mom recently set the boys up with a gingerbread house kit, and they went to town decorating and munching until the candy was all but gone. Lucian, lover of all-things-glue and all-things-sugar, was pretty excited about the prospect of gluing candy to gingerbread using frosting. Just too good to be true! The poor kid, though, has asked to eat his finished gingerbread house every day since he made it. I have tried to explain that they are just for decoration now, but what kind of sick joke is that? Gingerbread cookie with frosting and candy is... a decoration??

I think he'll be OK, though, because... 'tis also the season for Christmas cookie baking! We whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies a few nights back to start things off, and some time next week we will hunker down and make our annual treat, pecan tassies. Combine that with St. Nicholas' gifts earlier this month, treats from other families, and many cashiers' habits of giving out sweet snacks to kids in the checkout lane, and our kids will be well-sugared for weeks to come.

Oh! Snow!

I kind of forgot that Minnesota usually gets a major snow pile dumped on us in December... we missed out on it last year, but this year did not disappoint! Last winter, we were able to scrape together enough snow for one snowman once, and we never even made it sledding or skating because it was just so darn warm. But I think things are looking up this year. We got about a foot of snow this weekend, and Max is spending all of his spare time rediscovering our backyard. He was outside from 7:00 to 9:00 pm last night while Paul and Megan worked on shoveling.  (Poor me, I was stuck inside the dry, warm house with two dry, warm children and in my own dry, warm clothes...) As of yet, the snow hasn't been ideal for snowman making, but Max has taken to carrying a carrot around with him in the backyard in case circumstances suddenly change.

I remember loving the snow as a kid, and I never minded the huge hassle of snowpants, boots, mittens, hats, and jackets. But now, I'd just as soon stay inside and watch from a warm kitchen as Max tromps through waist-deep piles of white. Thankfully, he doesn't mind as long as I'm available to help in an emergency situation. Actually, as I was writing this, I heard a scream from outside. When I went to investigate, I found that he had managed to wedge himself between the deck and the railing. In the summer, he can easily climb through the space, but he just learned the hard way that winter gear adds quite a bit of bulk!

Welcome back to Minnesota, snow! We missed you in our yard last year... but we've got enough to last us awhile. You can take a break now.

Rest in Peace

We said goodbye to my Great Grandmother on Monday. At ninety-nine years old, God called her home peacefully in her sleep with her daughter (my grandma) and two of her grandchildren (my mom and uncle) at her side.

Great Grandma Martha Lanoue was a firecracker with a great sense of humor! When we were kids, we would get to go see her whenever we went to visit my mom's parents in Marshall. We would make a beeline for the etched glass candy jar that she kept stocked for us, and then we would entertain ourselves with dominos (in the winter) or paintbrushes and water (in the summer). My mom credits her with teaching her how to cook; she was famous for her slickers (kind of like dumplings) and Belgian cookies.

Years later, Grandma Lanoue was able to attend our wedding at Holy Redeemer, the same church that she and my Great Grandpa Buck were married in... along with my grandparents and my parents! She also got to meet all three of our kids, even Audrey just a few months ago.

As she got older, she did start to get a few things mixed up- she was an avid Twins fan, and she was thoroughly convinced that my mom had married pitcher Brad Radke. She sometimes didn't know what year it was, and she had been telling people she was 100 years old for about a decade. But she always knew who my mom was. Whenever we would go to visit her, she would take one look at my mom and her eyes would fill with tears. "Oh Lori!" she would say as she pulled her close.

At the wake and funeral, there were tears of course, but there was such a spirit of joy since we all knew Grandma had left behind her wheelchair and was now dancing in Heaven with Jesus. I was on the program to sing a solo during the Communion meditation, one of Grandma's favorite hymns, but the morning of the funeral my dad mentioned that maybe- just maybe- my Grandma Moorse would like to sing with me! "Ohh, no I couldn't do that!" she said. But after practicing a few times with her and my mom, we decided to make it a three-generation trio! I'm sure Great Grandma loved it!

After the funeral and reception, we all ended up at the Wooden Nickel- a local watering hole that we also visited the night before my wedding- reminiscing about the old bowling alley Grandma and Grandpa used to own, the cheap wine they used to drink, and a life well-lived by a woman well-loved.

Grandma, we will miss you, but we know you are at rest now. Max keeps telling me he can't wait to see you again when he gets to Heaven!

Grandma's 99th Birthday