May Days

Greetings from Gastonia, NC! We, of course, have not written in some time, but we've been a little busy. On May 2nd, Garrison turned ONE! Can you believe it? We can't! Our baby boy is now walking and (like his sister) has become quite talkative. We were able to celebrate his birthday with a few close friends and our beloved Fr. Kieran (who also baptized Caitrin a few years ago). Garrison apparently enjoyed his first "cupcake" (okay, fine... it was actually a pumpkin muffin... just don't tell Garrison) since it was gone in about 60 seconds.

Several days later, on Mommy's birthday, we received a couple visitors. Our dear friends Kaitrin and Mary came down from VA for a quick weekend. We really enjoyed having them and catching up. We've said it before, but true friends are finer than gold! Brittany couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend (unless Ann could've come too).

We've also been busy with a visit from Gmama (Brittany's mom), a trip to Raleigh to see family & celebrate a family wedding (see above photo) and a variety of play dates with friends. We are really blessed with the friends we've made here and are delighted to see Caitrin start to develop friends too. It puts a huge smile on our faces each time we see Caitrin run to hug her friend Saija. Such innocence and pure joy!

Though the summer will be fairly slow for us, especially since the students are not on campus, we will only be taking one trip. Next week we'll be heading to Pensacola to celebrate the ordination of one of our dearest friends. Jimmy, a friend we made at FSU before we were even dating, will be ordained to the priesthood in June. We cannot express the delight we feel to know so many young, holy priests! Coincidentally, we will be in FL the same weekend that Brittany's brother and his family will be visiting from CO too. It has been over a year and a half since we've seen the Garrison girls, so we are really looking forward to our time together. Almost everyday Caitrin says, "My cousins are Audrey, Andrew and Leah." :)

We hope that everyone has a reflective Memorial Day as we offer up prayers of thanksgiving for the sacrifices so many men and women have made- and are making- for our freedom. Along with that, we will certainly be offering up more fervent prayers for our country (especially as the election approaches).