(Sea) Lions and Redwoods and Knights of Columbus, Oh My!

Our relatively calm life took the backseat (pardon the pun) for about 10 days while we set out for a road-tripping adventure - and what an adventure it was!

The first lesson we had in adventuring was that road trips post-children are very different from road trips pre-children. All of the touristy attractions along the way (conveniently located at opportune times in between towns, with all of their bathrooms and diaper changing stations) make so much more sense now. Once we adjusted to the slower pace, we had a lot of fun just being the cheesy tourists we've never been before. We even drove through a Redwood! (I'd attach the picture, but it's still on Evan's phone. It pretty much looked like this though. With a car top carrier. )

Our daughter adored staying in hotels. Every night there was a new room to explore, new outlets to find, and new drawers to learn how to open! Her favorite hotel pastime was definitely playing in the pools - although breakfast buffets were also a pretty big hit. And sea lions. And once we reached our beach house, sand. Really, when you're one, everything is pretty amazing. It's an incredible gift of parenthood to be able to recapture and share in that amazement.

Eventually, after several days of adventuring through aquariums and visiting friends and stopping for the iconic Portland donut, we reached our intended goal for the journey - my family home, and the preparations for my older brother's ordination to the priesthood.

It was a beautiful, chaotic, powerful, and exhausting blur of a weekend. There was lots of hugging and catching up, scurrying around to get from event to event, and some really amazing liturgies. The ordination itself was a beautiful thing to witness - watching eight men lay down their lives for Christ, surrounded by the support of all the priests of the Archdiocese was awesome beyond words. Seeing my brother take his vows, knowing in that moment how happy, excited, and the million other emotions he must have been feeling he was, was something I'll never forget. And, of course, my little girl thought that the Knights of Columbus, with their colorful capes and shiny swords, were the coolest thing ever!

And then there was my brother's first mass. I'm so grateful that we were able to be there to share in his first celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The joy and excitement he shared with the congregation was palpable, even from way up in the choir loft! (I'm sure I'll write plenty of posts about music ministry at some point.)

Out of all of the blur, and the beautiful celebrations, and parties, and joyful events - there is one part of the weekend in particular that I will always treasure. The night before the ordination, my brother invited the family to share in his own version of a bachelor party - a holy hour in the church we all grew up in. It was getting to be late, past the baby's bedtime - but he encouraged all three of us to attend for as long as we could.

We have a chatty baby who loves to sing. There's no sugar coating her love for the acoustics of a church. And in that mostly empty church, surrounded by family, she made a joyful noise to the Lord, singing and praising as only she knows how. Knowing that my brother appreciated, welcomed, and celebrated her prayers along with his during his final night of preparation, still brings tears to my eyes. The love of children and encouragement of their participation in the Christian life is a tremendous gift he brings to the priesthood, and to all of the parents he will shepherd.

Our trip came to a restful close, and we unloaded our car back at the apartment. Everything is much the same as it was before our trip, and yet I'm amazed at the differences that happened in a week. Our little girl learned several new words, like "dog" (which I think is every four legged furry creature - not bad!) and she rushes down the hallway in excitement calling "Dad!" when Evan's keys turn in the door. She's a week older, a week wiser, and life continues to stroll along.