New Year and all that

Of course, it's the New Year. The holidays have come and are almost gone, and it's a great time to make new changes. What are your changes you hope to make this year?

2011 was a wonderful year for us. Yes, my husband was gone for part of it, but it was still fabulous. My kids finished a year of preschool and loved every bit of it. My brother got married to a wonderful Catholic girl whom I love so much! They also had their first baby, our sweet Goddaughter whom I cannot wait to me. My husband came home, we went on a one month vacation across the country and saw many people we love and had not seen in a year, and won't see for a long time. Then we made the huge move overseas to Germany, and finally got our "own" place in September after not having a place of our own since May 2010. And to top it all of, we got to spend 10 days in Rome, spending time with Jon's brother and watching his ordination. It was fabulous and I cannot be more thankful for all the blessings God has given us.

My new resolutions for 2012 focus around the fact that we have nothing in the future, no big plans. No babies coming, no moves, no traveling, etc. As far as we can tell at this time, 2012 looks to be pretty boring. (And yes, I do realize that can change very easily, but I think every year since we've been married, we've gone in expecting at least one big change.) So now is the time to start some things I've been wanting to start in our home. Here's my 'resolutions' or changes that I can think of.

1) Create more of a schedule and organization in our home. I want to make sure we eat around the same time each day, that I get up at a decent time, that we begin preschool finally, and other things of that nature.

2) Create meal plans to help me be better about dinners, and start to eat healthier. I'd also like to work out, but there are some other health things I need to look in to first.

3) Learn more about my faith, read the Bible and other Christian books and really grow in my faith. This also includes praying more and seeking God in more than I currently do.

4) Blog more- haha, don't laugh ;-)

5) Otherwise, spend less time on the internet. I installed Nanny Chrome tonight to prevent me from accessing my favorite two websites most of the day. Hopefully it helps to keep me accountable, since I can't keep myself accountable.

6) Take better control of my diabetes.

Here's to 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

German New Year

Here's some very interesting info about the New Year in Germany! Thought I'd pass it on, if you're curious.

Church History

So I didn't get back the next day to write more about day 3. And to be honest, I'm not going to write about it now either. But it is something "spiritual" if you will.

Ever since we were in Rome, learning about a lot of the history of the Church, I've been dying to know more about the history. I remembered that we had a book on our bookshelf that I should dust off. I haven't read a book in a LONG time. It's just not so possible with children, and honestly, come 8pm, the last thing I want to do is read and think more. I want auto pilot, and tend to just browse the web or tv. But last night, there was nothing on tv, and nothing seemed interesting enough on the internet, not even blogging. (Weird, huh??)

So I picked up the book, and couldn't put it down. In fact, I kept going "Honey, listen to this! Oh, listen to this part too!" as I basically reread everything I read to him. The book is entitled The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History by John Vidmar, OP. It's great, because it gives you the history, pretty thoroughly, but not too much that you get bogged down and bored. It's also wonderful because now, when they're talking about the Catacombs, or the Circus Maximus, or St. Peter's Square, or about Nero, etc. I know WHERE they're talking about. I've tried to read this book before, and just got a little lost with the places.

But there was one part that blew me away. And I don't mean it as an offense to anyone, but given my past, it seriously did. When Christianity was still in the beginnings, around the year 180, a man named Celsus set out to destroy Christianity, asking questions like "Why should God come to earth, to learn about it? to make it right? Why didn't He come sooner? etc."

There was also a man named Marcion who had questioned the authority and value of the Old Testament, the book of Acts, and Revelation.

There were Christian responses to these attacks by men who likely knew one or more of the original apostles personally. There's a lot more information about this I could discuss, but this is the part that blew me away. The final thing that was created because of the controversy brought on by Celsus and Marcion was the canon, or authorized list of books of Scripture. There were three principles that were created for deciding which books were to be regarded as Sacred Scripture. Directly from the book The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History by John Vidmar, OP.

1) the book had to go back to apostolic times, at the latest;

2) the book had to be highly esteemed from an early date;

3) the guarantors of this were the bishops who could trace their origins back to the apostles.

Thus, defenders of the "scripture alone" are faced with the dilemma that the "scriptures" were defined by the bishops or by what Catholics call "tradition."

After reading this, I just sat there in awe and amazement. When I first began studying Catholicism, one of my biggest reasons in considering it was that it was from the beginning. The Catholic Church is what dates back to Jesus Himself. Yes, it's not perfect. Just like any church, it's leaders on earth are human. It's seen bad times. But it had remained.

However, since beginning this post, I was going to say more, and realized I was wrong. I was going to say Until the 1500s, Catholicism was the only religion. I am now wondering more about Orthodoxy. It appears that Catholicism and Orthodoxy were together until 1054, when there was the East-West Schism. I am interested in eventually researching that more, but for now, will continue on reading this book to learn what I can about the religion I've embraced. Either way, for the first thousand years, this was Christianity. It's amazing to see how the Scriptures were originally picked.

My moments of peace and quiet I had trying to write this are long gone, and now I can't concentrate to write more. Will have to come back to this later to make sure it makes sense ;-)

Ordination Mass- Long and Picture Heavy

Day 3 was THE day, December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, the whole reason we had all traveled to Rome. My husband and I were there, my husband's sister-in-law, my husband's parents, his brother, wife and 3 kids, 5 of his other brothers, one of his sisters with her husband and one of their children, and one of my husband's other sisters. (My husband is one of 14 children.)

The setting was the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. We didn't get a 'tour' of this church, so I can't tell you anything special about the building itself. But it was beautiful! Thankfully there was a professional photographer. All of the pictures to begin with, during the ordination, were provided on a CD afterwards. Here are a few pictures of the altar.

All the men sitting on each side in white are the ones about to be ordained.

Here is Jon's brother, as Deacon Nathan, before the ceremony.

Here they are entering the Basilica.

Here is a picture of the other seminarians behind the altar. The chair behind them is the Pope's chair, a chair that he sits in after being made Pope, and makes him "officially" the Pope.

The mass was amazing.

The Cardinal laying his hands on Nathan.

Father Alvaro putting the vestments on Father Nathan.

Father Nathan accepting the patent and chalice from the Cardinal.

The Cardinal telling Father Nathan congratulations.

Preparing for the Liturgy of the Word.

An amazing sight. All the men in black and white cassocks are the other seminarians.

Body of Christ.Blood of Christ.

The new priests participating in the first consecration.

All of the new priests!!! Congratulations to all of them!!

I cannot begin to express how amazing this whole thing was! It was mostly done in Italian and Latin, but thankfully they provided books that had the Italian, Latin, Spanish and English. One of the readings was in English and one or two songs, including "Here I am, Lord" which is Father Nathan's "theme" if you will. Meaning, they had a video before the mass started and that was what his said. "Here I am Lord."

Up until this point, I had never met Jon's brother, Nathan. Everyone else had not seen him since 2005, and Jon hadn't seen him since 2002. Here are a few pictures of the first time everyone saw each other.

We were the first ones to see him. Here is Mary, her daughter, Jon and Emma with Fr. Nathan (all siblings)

Brian and Nathan embracing.

Looking at each other. Such a tender moment.

Greg and Father Nathan hugging.

Father Nathan can't believe how much Greg's grown haha!

Father Nathan holding one of his nieces.

Mom and Father Nathan. Tears were flowing from all because of the sweetness.

Father Nathan and his dad.

Dad kissing Father Nathan's consecrated hands.

Father Nathan giving his parents a blessing.

And the last picture, not really related, but taken after the mass, is us, in front of St. Thomas.

I apologize that this was so picture heavy, but I felt pictures were much better in showing you what all happened. There are many more pictures, which my husband is in the process of posting on a new family website, www.16millers.com. Feel free to check it out if you want to see more pictures. I'll tell you more about the rest of Day 3 tomorrow, along with Father Nathan's first mass. I think the ordination and the first mass were equally as beautiful, in two totally different ways. But you'll have to read tomorrow about that. ;-)

When in Rome-Days 1 & 2

This past month has been super busy with the holidays, family in town, and traveling. The biggest part of the past month was that my husband and I got to spend ten days in Rome, alone. And the best part? It was so we could experience my brother-in-law's ordination!

Let me back up a bit. My parents were kind enough to fly to Germany and stay with our kids while we were gone. They were here a total of 20 days, and we were able to spend Christmas together. We left for Rome on Saturday, December 10. When we arrived, we immediately went to the San Callisto Catacombs. There we had mass in a very small chapel, which was an incredible experience. We also went down in the catacombs, but unfortunately were unable to take any pictures. Here is one of us at the entrance though.

This is the little chapel where we had mass the first day.

After the catacombs, we visited the Basilica of San Clemente. This Basilica is 3 layers, the basement being an ancient mithraeum, and the middle layer being a 4th century church, with the current Basilica built on top of that. We were able to travel all the way in to the mithraeum, but have no pictures because of how dark it was in there. Here is one picture from inside the Basilica.

On Sunday, we went to the Colosseum. We learned that every year the Pope says the Stations of the Cross here.

Several of us grabbed a quick picture in front of the Arch of Constantine while running to the bus.

We also went to St. Paul Outside the Walls. This is one of the four major Basillicas in Rome, and it was beautiful. St. Paul is believed to be buried under the main alter, and you can see part of his tomb. This was the first church built after Constantine legalized Christianity in Rome in 313 AD. The amazing thing about this is even if you aren't Catholic, you believe in Paul (who was Saul) and can catch a glimpse of Christian history here.

A little blurry, but still, a picture of us in the Basilica.

All of the Popes are on the wall in this church. Here's the current Pope Benedict.

Sunday evening was completed with a 'retreat' to prepare us for the ordination on the following day. There was a bit telling us what to expect, along with confession and mass at the seminary where Jon's brother, Nathan, is studying. The school is the Center for Higher Studies of the Legionaries of Christ Rome.

Well, that's all I have time for right now, as my 1 year old is sitting on my lap and not wanting to let me type. I'll have to write about the other 8 days later. ;-)

Today, I miss America

Today... I miss America. I miss drive thru ATMs. We have ONE drive thru ATM here, and I have YET to go to it and have it work. I went to that one today, didn't work. I went to two walk up ATMs, one didn't work, and one was out of USD (but had Euros... not what I needed!) I finally gave up and went to the dreaded Base exchange and bought some gift ribbon, the only thing I could think of needing, to get cash back. I hate that any time I need money, I need to drag all three children out of the car to go inside when it's 35 degrees Fahrenheit out!

I miss America, because some places understand that when we go to fill out forms, our "state" is Armed Forces Europe. Other places don't. So, in order to attend a luncheon in Rome, I had to be able to pay in Italian or German, or call an Italian phone number (international fees) and talk to someone who may or may not speak English... or do a wire transfer for $35. I ended up calling my mom and saying "Can I transfer you money and you sign us up with your bank account?" Because THAT was the 'easiest' option. That's after I had to send her shopping for my 15mo who needs 24mo clothes and has none because her sister was in 24 mo in the summer, and it costs SO MUCH to go shopping here and it's not like you can just run to walmart or target and see what's on clearance.

I miss knowing where I'm going, and understanding where I'm going and the road signs. Today, my GPS took me on a 23 min drive, that I figured out I could get home much fast, and made it home in less than 15 minutes on the way back, all because I had no clue where this specific village was.

I simply miss American things. Maybe we're spoiled. Maybe I hate change. Maybe I hate the unknown, but dang, today, i'm emotional and miss America.

Castles, Gardens, and Household Goods

So much has been going on and I haven't had time to update, ahh! So, this will be a semi-brief post, with lots of information.

First, we got our household goods about two weeks ago. We now have everything of ours. We were blessed in that the only 'severe' damage was the glass on our microwave was shattered and a $20 bookcase was really busted. No biggies! YAY!

The basement was finally taken care of, no more graffiti and mold! Thank GOD! They also fixed the stairs out front and other things. We feel like it's much more liveable now.

Sunday before last, we decided to take our kids to a local castle. It wasn't super fancy, mostly ruins, but we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed ourselves. Here are a few of the pictures we took.

On Saturday, the base did Trick or Treating. It was incredibly packed, but the kids had a blast. This was the best picture we were able to get. We had a dog, a bumble bee, and a butterfly. Afterwards, we put the kids to bed and my good friend and neighbor, Gigi, and another of her friends, all went to the Haunted Tent City on base. The line was incredibly long, but it was a fun experience. I think had I not been leading the way for the truly scared behind me, it would have been more scary ;-)

Then this past Sunday, we took them to the Dinosaur Garden with one of our friends and her two sons. It's an awesome Garden that was decorated in a Storybook theme. We really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the whole thing because my husband got called in to work. We're excited to go back next summer when it opens back up and see the whole place. Here's a few pictures of that as well.

Hansel and Gretel

Then on Monday night, we went to the All Saints Vigil Mass.

The kids were able to dress up as a Saint. Here, we have St. Lucia, St. Lydia, and St. Bernard. ;-) That was Jon's idea. I thought it was funny and cleaver. Father C was laughing when we said he was St. Bernard.

We are slowly getting settled in to our place now. The craft room needs a lot of help, I have a lot of things to list on our local craigslist, and we need to hang pictures. Otherwise, that's about it. The apartment is never really clean for more than an hour, but that's what happens with three little ones. I have huge hopes to start working on doing some preschool homeschooling in the coming weeks, now that we're almost settled. I'm also trying to get all our Christmas shopping done now, so that we can spend the Christmas season going to local Christmas markets and because we leave for 10 days prior to Christmas to go to Rome for my brother-in-laws ordination.

And now, I must get busy folding the seven loads of laundry that are waiting for me. :)