November 2024

Maggie had her first ukulele recital in November.

She played Santa Lucia.

Jim went to Disney for a conference.  He didn't actually go to the park, but stayed at the resort. Here is a picture from his run one day.

I coached Maggie's volleyball team. I think the girls had fun.

While Jim was in Florida, he caught up with his friend Dave one night. 

Jack played Laurie, the male lead, in Little Women. He was great!

We saw the show Friday night.

After the show, we had lemon bundt cake to celebrate Jim's birthday.

On Saturday night, Jim and I went to our parish auction. 

On Sunday, we saw the play again.  Lots of Jack's friend came to it as well. 

I'm pretty sure this is a football kicking contest in our front yard. 

I took pictures of Michael and Kathleen's family. 

Since I had my big camera out, I took a few pictures of Jack and Maggie when I got home.

Jim and I went to a surprise party for our friend Vinnie. It was a costume party at a karaoke bar.  We were Axl Rose and Slash. 

We went glamping again this year. I did not take a lot of pictures. The moms (minus Carol who came later) and Jack enjoyed a walk.

It's hard to tell what is going on in this picture, but we are watching the Notre Dame football game on the tv and the SLUH vs DeSmet soccer state championship game on the laptop. We had 2 SLUH graduates, 1 SLUH teacher, 1 SLUH senior, 2 SLUH freshmen, 1 8th grader who applied to SLUH, and 1 DeSmet senior in the room (and a few others).  We were excited when SLUH won!

A selfie with Carol!

The crew. We were missing a couple this year.

This could be the last year all four of our kids make it to glamping. 

Maggie showed Jim the contraption she made in REACH class. 

I took Patrick's family on a tour of his alma mater when they came to town for Thanksgiving. A lot has changed since he was last on campus. 

I got to catch up with Connie and her girls over Thanksgiving break and took their family pictures.

Jim usually runs the Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving. This year, Patrick and Lukas also ran. Here's Patrick.

Lukas is ready for a high five as he passes us.

Maggie is bundled up in her pink Comfy to cheer on her Daddy.

Go Jim!

You got this, Lukas!

Afterwards, my friends and I went on our own run, but made sure to take a picture by the finish line.

We hosted Thanksgiving brunch. Jim's hat was a hit! 

It looked so good on Bridget, Jim gave her the hat to keep.

A family picture before going to my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner.

These cousins put on a show for us.

Two Patricks. One chair. 

We were surprised by some snow on Saturday.

I told everyone to quickly put on something red or green and asked a neighbor to take our picture in the snow for our Christmas card.

We hosted the annual After the Turkey party with my family and this is the only picture we have from the night.

October 2024

A member of my running group turned 50 in early October so we celebrated!

We had dinner at Esca. It was so cute!

Maggie and her friends decided to be M&Ms for Halloween.  My mom helped them make their costumes. 

Jim went to Notre Dame for the Glee Club reunion. He had a great time!

He got to see Ryan and his girlfriend on Ryan's 21st birthday!

Shenanigans happened at home while Jim was away.

I went on a retreat for New Ignatian Educators. I met other Jesuit educators from across the country.

Jim and I went to dinner with friends to plan our trip to Ireland. We ordered cocktails and when the waiter brought them out I initially thought this might be my drink, but it was Jim's. So cute!

Maggie tried on Jim's new wig (for a costume party).

Jim and I took the kids, and some of Charlie's friends, to a football game. Patrick and Luke ran into Mr. Ben, the seminarian serving at our parish.

Maggie thought it was so funny to see Jim with hair in his high school portrait. 

Jim and I were able to get away for a night. We met friends at a winery and then went back to their house in Innsbrook. 

I saw Jack's kindergarten teacher at church. We had just been talking about her the night before. She was awesome!

Happy 15th birthday, Patrick!

Patrick was excited to get a personalized pillow from Nana and Papa.  If you squeeze it, you hear a message they recorded.

A sweet coloring book Meara made him.

Jim's Halloween costume this year.  Slash. Nailed it.

We hosted the Jambeque at our house this year. Jim's friend Eric played a few songs with Jim and Paul early on.

Maggie played and sang Riptide. 

She was awesome!

She was nervous, but did great!  We are so proud of her!

Here is a video of her performance.

I didn't take too many more pictures, but it was a fun day.  

Jeff's boys played as well.

The next morning was the SLUH Mother-Son Mass and Brunch. Here is Patrick with a group of freshmen. 

The only year with both of them in high school. 

Maggie's soccer team had a parent vs. child scrimmage and the girls wore their Halloween costumes. Maggie wore her panda costume from last year.

My mom took the kids to the Science Center on their day off school.  I met them during a break to say hello and for a quick picture. 

We went to a neighbor's house for a quick bite before trick-or-treating. 

Some of the neighborhood gang.

The M&Ms!

On our walk back from trick-or-treating, we ran into some other 5th grade girls.