Happy New Year!

Can you guess who fell asleep first? Last? ; ) let take a poll!

Holiday Mail for Heroes

So.... yet again, i am a bit behind on things these days.  Even though there are only a few days left to participate i would like share this with you.  If every one of us wrote and sent one note, can you imagine how many more soldiers and their families would receive a Christmas card this year? 
"For a fifth year, American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are partnering to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to send a touch of home this holiday season to members of our U.S. military, veterans and their families, many of whom will be far away from home this holiday season."
"All cards must be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9th. Cards postmarked after this date will unfortunately be returned to the sender. This deadline ensures enough time to sort and distribute cards before the holidays."

Send cards to the address below:

Holiday Mail For Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Card Guidelines

•All cards being sent in for 2011 Holiday Mail For Heroes program should be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9, 2011.

•Ensure that all cards are signed.

•Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.

•Only cards are being accepted. Do not send letters.

•Do not include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.

•Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing process.

•Please refrain from sending holiday cards with glitter. Many of these cards will be delivered to military and veterans medical facilities and the glitter could interfere with a patient’s recovery.

•We encourage participants to mail as many cards as they are comfortable sending. If you are mailing a large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing envelopes or use a flat rate box from the post office. Each card does not need its own envelope, as cards will be removed from all envelopes before distribution.
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You can check out the Red Cross Blog to find out more about this worthwhile program.

Memorial Day

We had a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend ...  Uncle Joe came home on Sunday.

No more beautiful moment could be found to remember those who have given their life for our own, than to welcome home some who fought beside them and in memory of them. 

Please continue to pray for our soldiers, and their families, as they lay down their lives daily so that we may live ours.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The 4th of July.  What a wonderful day for our nation.  A day when so many come together to celebrate...without the division of my thoughts vs yours.  We are one nation under God. 

Where else in the world do you have the RIGHT to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS?  You gotta love America. 

And yes, there are many things you don't have to love about it, but the reality is its just a great country, founded on principles so strong, faith and hope are at their root. 

We celebrated our country's birthday in a rather quiet manner this year.
We started our day with Mass.  A Marine carried in the American Flag while we sang the National Anthem.  Then, once Mass started, we sang a multitude of beautiful patriotic hymns - what a wonderful way to start our day!

And it was a day.... full of life, liberty, and the pursuit of fireflies...its simple but its happiness.

Red, White and Blue...

Sparklers?  Really?

This may not be too bad....

Can we do this every day? (yes, she asked for sparklers for a couple more days!)

And the fireflies....

The end of the day.

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!