All grown up

Christopher is in his final year of high school.  We don't know what next year will bring, but we're just living in the moment right now.  We snapped a few photos at Newport on the Levee that I wanted to share here as a small preview.  

Wool Fest 2022

 We've been going to Wool Fest for years.  About 18 years to be precise.  We took our family out there this past weekend and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  We were missing Christopher this year because he opted to go with some friends up to the Renaissance Fair but that's to be expected.  Here's a photo of when we went in 2012 and several more from this past weekend. 

This is from 2012.  One one our trips to Wool Fest, there was a mishap where Lucy's blanket was left on the bus.  We tried to get it back, but alas it was never to be seen again.  If you notice, in this photo of Lucy in the back of the stroller, she has a blue blanket with her which as I write this I cannot recall if that was the blanket that was lost or the replacement.  Also, please take special note of Clara's pose with the straw coming out of her face. 

The kids are growing up so quickly!

The day after

 The Sunday after a band competition is rough.  Its particularly rough on a young 8th grader with all the physical and emotional strain that marching band puts on a person.  Fortunately on this particular morning we went to 11:30 mass so she got a little extra sleep but I'm not sure that sleeping propped up against your mother's chair is the best way to get rest. 

Youth Season 2022

 Clara didn't really have a specific objective when she came out deer hunting with me for youth season on Saturday.  She simply wanted to spend time with her dad (I think) and get outside.  Shooting the buck, field dressing it and getting to meet the most charming butchers in northern Kentucky were just a bonus.  

Moon photos

Some photos taken of the moon over consecutive nights using the long lens borrowed from Fr. Bolte. 

Family Celebration of Anniversary

 One of the traditions that has been started is involving the entire family in the celebration of our wedding anniversary.  We treat it kind of like a mini birthday celebration since our wedding anniversary is the beginning of our family.  One year we had a fancy dinner where we had to dress up, but this particular year we opted to just gather everyone together for dinner on the back deck and take a photo.  

Nineteen years

Today marks 19 years together as husband and wife for us. To celebrate we went downtown to Washington Park to check out a craft fair, then headed over to La Cantina for dinner before driving to see Shakespeare in the park. It was lovely time spent together.

Two stinky band kids

I was sitting at the table this evening after Chris and Sabrina returned from their first 12 hour band camp day. While I loved being with my two marching band kids, the smell will be hard to forget.

Getting ready for deer

This year I'm pre-setting a couple of trees with bolts so that I'll be ready to just climb up when deer season opens in a few weeks. Clara was kind enough to accompany me to the Deis Farm yesterday.

Daylilies

There are some daylilies that are planted in front of our house. Instinctively I pick the flowered heads off to encourage more growth. I learned this from years of watching my mom do the same thing to the daylilies she has in her back yard.

FC Cincinnati

We were given tickets to tonight's FC Cincinnati game vs Nashville Soccer Club. It was very entertaining and made a memory with Lucy, Clara and Pops. The game ended in a draw but was exciting for the entire 90 minutes.

Now whether Lucy took away any pointers for her own soccer game remains to be seen.

Late night stargazing

A few kids were gathered on the front lawn to gaze at the stars this evening. We saw a few satellites and heard strange sounds that went bump in the night. Good times …

Sisterly love

Molly was asked to mow the front lawn. After much cajoling and a few tears, she finally went out and started to mow.

And then she came back inside.

She said she wasn't strong enough to push the mower up the front hill.

So Lucy lent her a hand.

Nothing is new under the sun

In the bottom right corner of this photo is my grandfather, George Hessler.  This photo is from a Marydale Retreat which happened approximately 50 years ago and probably consisted of parishioners from St. Paul's Parish.  

Now in July, 2022, I look at this image and see something I hadn't realized before.  My grandfather is pictured along with the grandfather's of my sister-in-law Kelly and brother-in-law Mark.  I suspect that as I continue to study the faces and names in the image, more connections will emerge.  I am confident that these men had no idea that one day their children's children would be related to one another.  

Recently I've been participating in the "Bible in a Year" podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz of Ascension Presents.  Yesterday we started the book of Ecclesiastes which includes verses about King Solomon's vanity.  Fr. Mike states that the word vanity as translated in the Bible is probably more closely translated to the word vapor to help us understand the writer's meaning.  He points out that vapor exists for a very short time and then disappears.  He continues to explain that the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes is calling us to recognize that if we live for the things of this world, we will never be satisfied for as it is written in Ecclesiastes Chapter 1, Verse 8 "The eye is not satisfied by seeing nor has the ear enough of hearing."  He goes on to reflect that some day your decedents will no longer remember your name or know anything about you.  So if everything will fade away, Fr. Mike suggests that we must concentrate on those things that are eternal such as our relationship with God.  

I'm sure these men on this retreat had a relationship with God and they probably felt very close to him after this weekend together.  I'm sure at that stage in their lives they had a variety of pursuits that were worldly or mundane as they strived to provide for their families.  It is amazing to me that even though we're reflecting on this single image 50 years later, this photo and this retreat still serves a purpose of reminding us about how great God's love is for us.  How eternal his word is yesterday, today and forever.  

Chris and I at Grays Arch

We took a 6 mile hike down at Red River Gorge this evening. We hiked the LONG way to get to Grays Arch with 20+ of our St Tim's Youth Ministry friends. Chris and I snapped this photo while underneath Grays Arch to mark the occasion.

Red River Gorge

Clara snapped this photo today down at the Slade Rest Area and Visitors Center.

We went to Red River Gorge for a 6 mile hike. We took Gus but Molly stayed back with Phyllis to bake things.

It's a very quiet house this evening.

Florence Fireworks

 The city of Florence displayed their best fireworks last night.  We invited some friends and attempted to shoot some firework photographs.  After some quick work in post, here's the best image commemorating the evening's Fireworks.  

Memorial Day Parade 2022

Christopher played in the Boone County Schools SUPER Band today at the Florence Memorial Day Parade.  He marched alongside kids from all the Boone County public schools starting at Boone County High School and finishing at the Florence Government Center.  Its always amazing when high school kids get together and play some amazing music. 

Spring Soccer

 Lucy's coach has commented to both of us independently how much Lucy has improved during this soccer season.  She's generally playing defense either as a fullback or goalie.  Here are a few photos from her most recent soccer game.  

Hemorrhaging Cash

 About 10-15 days ago the check engine light was flashing on Annette's van.  This usually means a cylinder is mis-firing.  Turns out we had oil fouled spark plugs on our 6 year old, 90k mile Honda Odyssey.  For the non-mechanical members of our tiny audience, this means that oil is getting into a part of the engine that its not supposed to.  We took the van to the dealership where they told us it would cost $1,000 to tear down the engine and get an independent inspector to evaluate whether or not this problem was covered by the extended warranty.  If it wasn't covered, the cost to rebuild the motor would be around $5300.  We checked with a couple other shops and it seemed like the best direction was to get the dealership started on tearing down the engine hoping that it was covered by our extended warranty. 

Fortunately, Honda decided to cover the cost of rebuilding the motor.  We just had to pay for the timing belt, water pump, oil change and a few other maintenance items that would have to be done at 100k miles anyway.  Total out of pocket was around $1500. 

At this point we thought we were out of the woods.  Little did we know what the 'woods' had in store for us.  

At about 4:30 a.m. Friday May 20, a bolt of lightning struck the 70' tall oak tree in our backyard.  Fortunately the tree is still standing as of the time when I'm writing this blog but its days are numbered.  We had two tree companies come out and take a look.  The first said the job was too dangerous and they referred us to another company.  The second company gave us a price and agreed to take down the tree and haul it away on Monday, May 23.  We are hopeful they're going to get the job done tomorrow because while the tree is still standing all of the girls have been sleeping in the basement.  

The estimate to take down and haul away the tree is around $3500.  We're considering selling tickets to the neighbors to help recoup some of the money.  Holy moly!