7 Quicktakes Friday- The Week Before the Move

I'm actually going to do 8 quicktakes because I am going to share about the last 8 days instead of just the past week.  It's been a whirlwind of fun, crazy, and busy, let me tell you.....Let's start with the fun laaaaast Thursday at the beginning of the "farewells". 

1. Fond farewells

For months now, this wonderful group of moms that I connected with through the Blessed Is She regional group online has met once a month at a park in central Orange County to visit while the kids get some exercise and play together.  For my final BIS park date, the gals all brought snacks to share and we had a little potluck and got a little sad about having to part company.  Boo on that part. Hurray for the amazing friends. 

The wonderful gals in my Mother's Ministry at church, made the girls each a fleece blanket to take with us to the cooler weather in Colorado.  5 blankets in all because they made one for little Baby #5 too.  So thoughtful. 

Additionally, at group on Wednesday, the gals threw me a big going away party and brought delicious food to eat so we could just hang out and recall many fun memories and try not to cry.  :)  These women are some of the most loving and generous in the world, I'm convinced.  They gifted us with two new soft ice chests filled with snacks for our road trip and fun activities and books for the girls.  We are blessed indeed.  

 

(sweet tulips which are one of my favorites from childhood days when they grew in our yard--my favorite part of spring. They didn't know that part, of course... )

We also had our last Young Families Ministry group this week.  It's crazy to think that this ministry that we helped begin isn't going to be part of our lives anymore.  But hopefully there will be something similar at our new parish!

2. Phil Keaggy concert

Phil Keaggy is an incredible guitarist that Chris has enjoyed listening to since his childhood.  At some point during his career, he had a conversion and now his concerts are mostly at church venues. He openly sings songs with Christian lyrics that he's written since his conversion.  Phil has an amazing voice (even at his age) and is an incredible guitar player for those who care to listen and know much about the instrument.  For a couple like us who both play the guitar (Chris is far my superior, but I do play some), this date was a real treat.  Time spent together listening to a truly talented and extremely humble, funny, down-to-earth musician.  

 

(Chris took the Phil Keaggy pics)

He played this song at the concert titled "Mercy."  As a Catholic in this Year of Mercy, having just consecrated myself to God's merciful love, I was loving every second of it.  

This is another great example of some Phil Keaggy- instrumental this time.  We listen to his instrumental albums on the computer as we drift off to sleep, and play it for the girls as well (often instead of the somewhat annoying lullaby cds you find sometimes for kids).  Fantastic stuff.  

3. Billy and Joy's Wedding

 

My apologies for the terrible pictures.  I was too far away at the actual ceremony to get anything good, and it was pretty dark by the time I thought to snap another during the cake cutting at the reception.  Chris was a groomsman, so it was a very full and somewhat logistically challenging day since it was an adults only wedding (except flower girls and ring bearers), but we had a fun time visiting with friends and celebrating the Sacrament of Marriage with the lovely couple.  

4.  Test Rating

Last month, I passed training to score a new elementary test through the Educational Testing Service after they discontinued the CA test I had previously been scoring.  A session began this month, so I grabbed about 4 shifts before our move, so that they don't think I'm a flake.  It's been a bit challenging wearing so many different hats this week, but God is sustaining us and Chris and I aren't at all new to juggling schedules and some pretty intense time management and multi-tasking.  

My favorite sentence from my shift yesterday was: 

"This class feels like a cup of hot cocoa and we're all the sweet-sticky marshmallows."

5. Packing Progress

We are pretty much done.  

I'm serious.  Moving day is Monday, and we have just about everything boxed up or packed up for the moving truck.   What's left is being packed up for our family road trip, so we are nearly done thanks to God's grace, the help of kind friends for an hour here and there, the miracle of all 4 kids cooperating to let me pack everyday, and intense organization and packing days around here.   Considering we literally hadn't started packing until a week ago (when we returned from our CO house hunting trip), we are thrilled and amazed that we are already so near to being done. 

6. Dinner with friends

We've been invited to/had dinner with friends a few nights this week amidst all the other busyness.  This proved to be a nice break from all the stress of packing and a great opportunity to spend a little time with people whom we won't see in awhile.  :(  This move has been a very emotional one.  We are leaving a large community of friends who have become like family and who have loved and supported our family in amazing ways these past 2+ years here in Southern California. 

7. Kayla's Final Ballet "Recital"

Kayla's teacher, Miss Marisa, was gracious enough to suggest a "mini recital" so that Kayla could showcase the routine she's been learning the last several weeks at ballet class.  She let her borrow a fancy tutu and Kayla and a little boy in her class performed a sweet dance number for our family and Paul and Agnes.  It was so special and sweet.  We will miss our wonderful ballet studio here and most especially Kayla's amazing teacher for the past two years, Miss Marisa.  

 

                          

 

 

*BONUS*

8. Baby's Ultrasound

Yesterday, Chris and I got to take a break and see our sweet little baby #5 squirming and bouncing around in my womb.  (S)he was likely asleep when we first began, but after all the prodding, woke up and was pretty excited to move around and show us just how healthy and active (s)he is.  I am 19 weeks along and will be exactly halfway next week as we move into our new place in Colorado.  

Mission Basilica Door of Mercy!

You may have heard of "Holy Doors", and if you are like me you guess that they are some beautiful Church tradition and that there's a bit of research that must be done to educate yourself more on the subject. 

With the ease of the internet, I found a wonderful explanation on the Mission Basilica website in about 5 seconds.  

To give a brief explanation here, I have pasted a part of the explanation below (I have added some underlining for emphasis):

       "A holy door or porta sancta has been used since the fifteenth century as a ritual expression of            conversion. Pilgrims and penitents pass through it as a gesture of leaving the past behind and              crossing the threshold from sin to grace, from slavery to freedom, and from darkness to light.              Often these rituals are associated with prayer, pilgrimage, sacrifice, confession, and indulgences.

       But the door finds meaning only when the believer associates the door with Christ.

       Jesus is the Door!"

We are blessed to live quite near to the Mission Basilica, one of two locations in Orange County where a holy door can be found during the Year of Mercy.  Our dear friends, Jacinta and Scott organized an 'pilgrimage' (gave us a meeting date and time) to visit the holy door and complete the 11 Stations of Mercy at the Mission Basilica.  And it did end up being more of a pilgrimage than we thought it might be because the annual Swallows Day parade was taking place the same day, so we ended up having to park several miles away, hop onto a shuttle (a school bus) and walk about 1/2 a mile to the Basilica from there.  It was a nice little additional time and effort to make it feel like we had to "try" since ordinarily a trip to the Basilica is a quick easy hop for all of us from where we live and there is a parking lot right next to it.  

There ended up being three families who met to do our little pilgrimage together. 

 Here are some of us entering the door.  (Jacinta took these next two pictures)

I love Ava looking up at the picture here.  So sweet. 

Chris and Scott and Gregory heading through from darkness to light.  :)

Inside the Basilica (and outside too, since a few of the stations were outside) they designated certain pictures and shrines to be markers for the 11 Stations of Mercy:

Station 1: Welcome the Stranger

Station 2: Admonish the Sinner

Station 3: Counsel the Doubtful

Station 4: Forgive Offenses

Station 5: Comfort the Sick

Station 6: Visit the Imprisoned

Station 7: Bear Wrongs Patiently

Station 8: Feed the Hungry, Clothe the Naked, Give Drink to the Thirsty

Station 9: Instruct the Ignorant

Station 10: Comfort the Afflicted

Station 11: Bury the Dead, Pray for the Living and the Dead

You can find the stations to pray on your own wherever you are during this Year of Mercy here on the Basilica's website.  It has reflections on each station and a beautiful prayer to say for each as well.  

Jacinta took these next two sweet pictures as well. 

It was a beautiful little pilgrimage and a wonderful blessing for each of us and for our families during this Year of Mercy.  

As Pope Francis said, "There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God: this is Jesus"  

Especially in this Year of Mercy, may God continually remind us to show others mercy just as He has shown us such incredible mercy.  

Jesus, I trust in You.  Be Merciful to me, a sinner.

And here are just a few pictures of a bit of the Swallows Day parade that we caught after our pilgrimage.  

 

Here's sweet Gregory, "feeding the hungry".  hahaha

It's hard to see the 'swallows' they are swinging around in the wind....

Final Days as Disneyland Annual Passholders

Well the time has come when we just can't make Disneyland Annual Passes work in our budget because we have nothing else that we can cut out and no more ways to cut back.  We've always been extremely budget conscious, and for the past 2 years we've found ways to cut back (or in my case, work a few more hours at my side job) to make the passes possible, but the prices keep rising and we add another pass just about every year as a new child turns 3, so it's just not do-able for us anymore. 

 It was a difficult decision to make though because a downside of letting your passes expire is that you lose the benefits you had (like at least some discount each year for renewing the passes and being grandfathered in to still buy the parking pass which is no longer available).   But this year the price raise was significant (even for AP holders) compared to the first two years, plus I was laid off from my job scoring the high school exit exams this year because the test no longer exists.  SO, we knew it wasn't going to be possible, but we looked at every possible idea to keep them and checked and re-checked the budget.  No dice.  But hey, that's life, and we aren't looking back except to remember with fondness all the many fun memories we made as a family at Disneyland over the last 2 years.  

From Day One, Disneyland has been a fun adventure for our family.

Just take a look at the Disneyland label in the sidebar of our blog, and you will find many a post with bright eyes and smiling faces, princess encounters and thrilling rides, silly shows and spectacular parades and fireworks.  If you recall, it's even the place we chose to share our special news that Miss Sophie was coming....

 It's been a wonderful blessing for our family to live near Disneyland and be able to take advantage of our annual passes for 2 whole years.  We have all experienced the magic of Disney and have become closer as a family through the many fun, sometimes stressful, always memorable moments we've spent at Disneyland.  

So without further commentary on how much fun we've had together and how much we'll miss our time at Disney, let me just go ahead and share a bundle of pictures from our last days as annual pass holders. 

I just loved Elise's smile in this one

And Ava's attitude in this one.  Playing shy....

 

Nothing is more terrifying than....Belle?  Really, Sophie?  She's so friendly with everyone she meets that I thought she'd love to get out of the carrier and meet the princesses.  Boy was I ever wrong.  Stranger Danger!!

 
Iridessa

Tink!

Elise is afraid of so many rides at Disneyland, but she has also made great strides in the 2 years we've been going.  She has conquered her fears of a good many rides even though there are still a lot that she cries at the very mention of it (half of them she's never even tried, she's just our cautious little scaredy-pants.  :)

But I was SO proud of her for going on the Silly Swings Symphony with me.  And though she was a little frightened at the beginning of the ride as we soared into the air, she quickly adjusted and went on them during her Disneyland date with Daddy recently too...

Oh my gosh, isn't this just the cutest?

Just a week or two before our passes expired, we had Kayla wear her hiking boots so that she'd be the tallest she could possibly be to see if she could ride Indiana Jones.  She was tall enough.  And though she was a little apprehensive about the snakes and spiders :P , she went on it with first Chris, then me, and had a blast!

dark, but there's our proof!

I mentioned that Chris took Elise on a Daddy date.  Back in June, he had taken Kayla on a Disneyland date for her birthday (just keep scrolling down till you get to that part...).  When we realized we wouldn't be able to swing the Disneyland passes this year, we hurried to make Daddy dates for Elise and Ava possible too.  Here are some pictures Chris took during his afternoon with Elise.  I can't tell you how happy these make my heart.  

Riding Jingles (the ever-favorite pony of all three girls and apparently of Walt Disney too) on King Arthur's Carousel

This is true love because Chris HATES the teacups.  Generally that is a ride I take any of the kids who want to go on.  But it was Elise's day, and he is an amazing dad. 

What's a daddy date without Ghirardelli ice cream?

Awwww

Bumper cars!

 

As I mentioned, Elise isn't into a lot of the rides, but she has her favorites (see above) and she loves to watch the entertainment.  On the left is the Disneyland Marching Band.  They played just before her beloved parade began.  And of course, there's always the ducks to watch if you have a spare moment.

Ava's daddy date was a brief one (she'll have to get her ice cream treat outside the park some weekend with Daddy....there just wasn't enough time to fit it all in).   It was brief, but she rode several rides with Chris; just the two of them, off on their own for awhile, and she LOVED every minute of it.  

 

As you can see, she also got a coveted ride on Jingles.  

But her favorite was Mickey's Go-Coaster in Toon Town.  It's the only roller coaster she's big enough to ride on (if she and Elise were reverse ages, I am certain we would have found her to be another roller coaster lover like Kayla is, but now we'll have to wait a little longer to see).   It's a small roller coaster, but it twists and turns and goes fast enough to give the little riders an idea of what a bigger roller coaster would be like.  I tried to get a picture when she went on it again the other day, but only Chris was visible.  

At any rate, I'm told that both times she giggled and put her hands up, and just had herself a blast with her daddy.  

 In the last month, we were able to catch a number of our favorite shows one last time and see all three of the parades again.  And of course, we caught the fireworks a time or two because I'm not entirely sure that there is a fireworks show better than those put on by Disney.  Wow. 

 

As you can see, that was a beautiful day for weather too.  :)

Kayla and I went on a little mini-date too for a couple hours one day.  Because I was largely pregnant and/or carrying/nursing a baby for a good part of the time we had our passes, I went on far fewer rides with our little daredevil, so Chris suggested we have a last hurrah!  

I finally got to ride Space Mountain with the new Star Wars overlay.  

I rode Grizzly River Run (the water ride) for the first time ever.  It was not a hot day, so I had to beg Kayla to go on it with me because she was not excited to possibly get wet, but it was my only chance to (possibly ever) get to ride it, so she gave in.  And we only got a little bit wet, there you go.  

 

Kayla also wanted to complete all the steps to get her Junior Explorer Badge at the Redwood Challenge Course.  And she did.  Here she is on the tire swing and the rock climbing wall.  

With 4 little girls, you know we visited a lot of princesses during our last few visits to Disneyland...

 

 

 

 

And now we arrive at our very last day.  

We were lucky enough to visit a character we've never ever visited before on our way into the park. 

The Fairy Godmother. 

We didn't have time for many pictures because we were too busy making the most of our last evening at Disneyland, but (OF COURSE!) we rode the Carousel.  

and we went on Dumbo, which we hadn't been on in forever.  (nice face, Ava!)

Behind us in the yellow Dumbo were these goofballs

We did a lot on our final evening, but I don't need to get into all of it.  The many happy, smiling, silly, goofy pictures above in this post tell more than I ever could in words about all that we experienced at Disneyland in the past few years.  

We will certainly miss it, but we are looking forward to the adventure of many new and exciting endeavors together outside the park too.  

"Laughter is timeless, 

imagination has no age, 

and dreams are forever."

-Walt Disney