Baptism weekend

We have had a busy September. Before our trip to Ireland, we invited friends and family to come celebrate Tomas’ baptism over Labor Day weekend. It was a crazy and fun-filled weekend. Our friends Laurie & Travis arrived on Thursday with their 3 kiddos after a long 2 day drive from Colorado. Laurie and Travis are Tomas’ Godparents and are now officially part of our family. We had so much fun with them and watching all the kids together. We cancelled Cata’s therapies on Friday so she could enjoy the guests! Friday we met the crew at the Children’s Museum for a fun-filled and exhausting morning.

Cata just about made it to the car and then as soon as she was strapped in, this is what I saw:

My parents flew in late Thursday night and after my dad gave a lecture Friday morning, they joined us for an afternoon of craziness. My sister also arrived Friday with her daughter, Sophia. Laurie, Travis & company came over as did our friends N&DH with their 3 kiddos. Friday night dinner consisted of 9 adults and 9 children aged 3 and under. It was a blast! Cata loved having all the kids around – she doesn’t get to see much of other kids as she has so much therapy. The one hard part was watching how she was not able to interact with the other kids in play like she would have liked to. But she still enjoyed herself and I loved watching some of the group moments:

Saturday morning started off with a visit to the State Fair. 8am sharp(-ish) the same crew met up at the Fairgrounds for a morning of exploration. Just about anything you want fried and on a stick was available, in addition to the animals to pet, the 12 piglets being born while we were in the barn (we saw the last one!), giant slide on a rug, merry-go-round…the fun goes on and on at the State Fair.

The funnies thing about this pictures is that Laurie was a vegetarian when we met :) Haha - now this is her littlest munchkin enjoying Laurie's leftovers.

And...beer on a stick - clever, no?

And of course this fun-filled morning again tired Catalina out:

Saturday afternoon was more mellow, just the family. My other sister arrived as well as my in-laws and we all did a quiet dinner at our house. We missed my brother being with us, but he called in to say hello. Sarah & Dave arrived with their 2 kiddos to join in the fun.

The grandma's enjoying Tomas

Grandpa taking his turn.

Cata excited to see her godmother and dear Auntie Alicia

Is that an attempt at a crawl? The excitement got him going!

How sweet - what a little cuddle bug she is.

Finally, the baptism was on Sunday. It was a nice, simple ceremony. Laurie & Travis joined us in welcoming Tomas into the church. Tomas kept a very close eye on the priest as water was poured over his head, but no screams or cries! At least none from Tomas – the other kids that were being asked to sit patiently in a church…not so much :)

(sorry for the dark pictures - I had no time to process)

Can't see T but he is there...

The family!

The special boy.

After the ceremony we headed back to our house again for a lunch. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather so we could be outside. The craziness with the kids continued:

Finnley chasing her date, Bryson, around - they were really cute together!

she LOVES her swing - and abuelo too

The Jackman

Well after dark and after the kid’s bedtime, the party came to a close. It was one of the best days we have had in quite some time. It reminded us of our “Caca Cruisaders” days (long story, 4 couples from med school and we all have kids the same age). We missed the 4^th Cruisaders this weekend, Mel & Brad, but we are excited to see them in a few weeks!

Until next time...