A Child of God

This weekend, our family gathered in Muskegon for a very special event...Madison's first communion. We were so lucky to have family from the Detroit area and from Lansing make the trip. Thank you to all of you that traveled to share in this blessed day. It would not have been the same without you.

Scott's Aunt Barbara and her two kids, Jason and Lisa (pictured left is Aunt Barbara, Lisa, Sammi and Ali), were able to come in on Friday night and spend the whole weekend with us. Our girls are always so excited to see Aunt Barbara (because she ALWAYS knows where Grandma hides the chocolate), Jason (because he will NOT say no to these girls...even if it means reading the same book a thousand times or lifting Alison up into the sky until his arms are about to fall off) and Lisa (because in her soft-spoken ways she gives the girls her undivided attention - always!). Scott and I are so lucky to have the Trombley's in our lives. Aunt Barbara is always the first to call and ask how she can help. No matter what she has going on in her life, she always finds time to send not only each of the girls a card for every holiday, but to Scott and I as well. If we don't say it enough (and I know we don't) we appreciate all you do for us and for the girls:)

We were also so grateful to have Scott's Grandma (or Busia - polish for grandmother - as we call her) visit us on Saturday and Sunday with his Aunt Betty and Uncle Don. Aunt Betty and Uncle Don are also so good to us and to our kids. The girls always giggle when they get a card from Aunt Betty because they know the first thing I do is grab for the vacuum! She always puts those little confetti things in the cards and the girls just love ripping the envelopes open so they spill out all over. Vacuuming is a small price to pay to see such delight in their eyes. Thank you to both of you for making this weekend special and for bringing Busia all this way. Unfortunately, Scott's Grandfather (or Dziadzi - polish for grandfather), couldn't make the trip due to some health issues. We missed him greatly and are praying for his continued improvement. As a side note, Busia always makes me laugh when she comes over because she really doesn't like our dog and she's not really good at hiding it. Scott encourages Churchill to sit by her and "love her all up". I think you can almost see Busia's skin crawl in this picture!!

Madison's Godparents were both with her on Sunday as well. My cousin, Stephanie "Nene" as our girls call her, and Scott's brother, Jeff, were on hand to help out and see their godchild make her first communion. Jeff - thank you for coming all the way from Lansing and for helping keep the chaos to a low grumble on Sunday morning. We were so glad to have you and Jen there with us. Nene - thank you for helping make the day special for Madison. She loves both of you so much and is so happy that you were there.

It has been a lot of work on Madison's part for this event and I give her a lot of credit. She has jumped from Girl Scouts at 3:30 to children's choir at 5:30 to CCD at 6:30 almost every Wednesday. All school year her Wednesday nights have been consumed with activity. She hasn't really complained, she hasn't let her grades slide. She has been excited to learn the teachings of the church and to celebrate the traditions that we as a Catholic family honor.

As I mentioned once before in a post about Maddie, it has been a delight to see her grow emotionally and spiritually this past year. I believe her knowledge and spirit has permeated our entire family. We pray a little bit more openly. We sit down to dinner as a family more often. And I think we talk more about the stuff in life that makes a difference - being good to people, loving our friends and family just a bit more today than yesterday and forgiving people, even when we are still hurting.

Madison thanked Scott and I for throwing her a party for her first communion and doing all the "hard work" on Sunday. But the "thank you" really goes to her - for sharing with us her journey through the church and for blessing us with her goodness and spirit.