Memorial Day Weekend

Hoping everyone enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend. Most people seem to think of the holiday as an excuse to get out and throw together a barbeque. But it's important to remember the real reason for Memorial Day - namely to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives to preserve the many freedoms we enjoy in this country. We take a lot of those rights for granted but we should never take our fallen heroes for granted.

If we could...please take a moment to reflect and remember.

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Thanks.

As to my holiday weekend, Kate and I sallied forth to pay a visit to Colorado Springs where my uncle and two of my cousins from Thailand were visiting. My aunt was also supposed to be there - but some confusion with her travel visa meant that we missed seeing her. :-(

We spent the first evening (Friday) with my sister since my parents were flying into Denver with the Thai relatives late that night. We hadn't meant to stay up so late, but when my sister, my wife, and I get to talking, it's hard to stop. I think we called it night somewhere around 3am! We tried sleeping on an air mattress for the first time and slept quite comfortably - except that Dianna's cat Simon kept Kate up with his mischief.

The next morning was a lazy one - mostly because only the kids got any sleep. :-) Kate and I played with the kids Saturday afternoon, then we all headed down to my parents' house to hang out with the Thai relatives.





A group of us decided to go do a little shopping down at Ross and Target. I even managed to find an inexpensive PC repair toolkit - which means I don't have to call the city IT department whenever someone jams a pencil into a floppy disk drive. :-)

For dinner that night, we all ventured out to the Black-Eyed Pea. I thought my steak and Kate's burger were both undercooked, but otherwise the meal was okay. We had leftovers and Julie was gracious enough to add her artwork to the boxes.




On Sunday, after Kate and I got back from church, we took a trip up to the outlet stores in Castle Rock. I found some new shoes and a new shirt. Kate got herself a new Pyrex bread pan. It was nice to walk around for a little - even though the gray clouds, light drizzle, and cool breezes were not as comfortable for my Thai relatives as they were for me. :-)






In the evening, Mom collared Dianna and me to help prep a big 'buffet-style' dinner for everyone, which turned out to be rather fun. Dianna put together a complicated-looking Asian beef salad. (There's a name for it, but I can't recall it right now.) I made a spicy pork and bean chili along with a small amount of beef paprika. Mom made some traditional Thai food as well as some snackable veggies and fruit. Quite yummy says I.



We stayed up late that night watching the Food Network. I'm still not a fan of shows like Iron Chef or Chopped that turn cooking into some sort of hyper-dramatic competition. However, I do like watching what cooks can create in a short amount of time.

On Monday, Mom ordered Domino's for a big lunch and we all just enjoyed hanging out and talking. Kate and I headed out for Fort Collins in the afternoon, enjoying the greenery of Colorado all the way up I-25.




After that, it was a quick stop at King Soopers for the week's produce and any good sales...and that ended our weekend!

It was a lot of fun meeting and visiting with my Thai relatives this weekend. I'd never met my cousin Nooy...and I hadn't seen my cousin Thooy since we were both about a year old and I beaned him with my Tonka truck. :-)





Uncle Sawadee says he and Aunt Sopa may try making a visit to the States an annual event. That'd be cool. I hope I get a chance to see them when they visit next.

Thanks - as always - for reading and I hope you're having a great day.

Parish Priests Leaving

Kate and I found out on Sunday that both the priests that serve at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish will be moving to new assignments next month. Father Larry Christensen and
Father Tadeusz Kopczynski have both been re-appointed to other parishes in Colorado. Father Larry is headed to a church in Denver and Father Tadeusz will be going to Greeley.

I admit (and Kate agrees) that I'm really sad to see them go, especially Father Larry. Father Larry presided over our wedding almost four years ago, and he was so helpful and supportive before, after, and throughout the ceremony.




In fact, Father Larry was the priest that convinced me (indirectly) to start attending church regularly again. He has a wit and wisdom that shines through when he speaks - and he's never without a funny or profound anecdote to share during his homilies. He's a great orator and a joy to listen to - his words can make you chuckle as well as make you think.

Father Tadeusz came to us from Poland, and his tenure with SEAS was supposed to be three years. Well, three years appear to be up - the time just flew by. I love Father Tadeusz because he is so earnest and honest - so happy to be spreading the faith. I've really enjoyed having his at church.

We'll be getting two new priests to replace Father Larry and Father Tadeusz. Both men are "younger," as Father Larry quips. One is 37; the other is 28. Kate tells me that she's never had a priest that was younger than she was. Wonder if that just means we're getting older? :-)

In any case, Father Larry and Father Tadeusz will be missed at SEAS, I'm certain. I know Kate and I will definitely miss them. Any parish that gains either of these men will have a very fortunate congregation indeed!

Our best wishes go out to Father Larry and Father Tadeusz! Good luck in your new parishes and God bless you both!



And as always, thanks for reading...hope you're having a great day!