St. Mary's Church ~ New Haven...

Congratulations

Julia Noel Christie

on receiving your First Holy Communion in May.

You prepared your heart well.

May you continue to come to the table of the Lord

to receive Him in this holy way as often as you can

throughout your life.

We love you honey!

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him."

John 6:56

We miss you, BJ!

Water Babies

You two little chickadees are becoming quite compatible lately. Tubby time and bed time seem to be your favorite activities of late. Perhaps you've developed this strong bond because you are roommates! Perhaps it's because you see a great divide between yourselves ("Team Little") and the your older sisters ("Christie Bigs"). Whatever the reason, it's a sheer delight for daddy and I to see you playing, giggling and snuggling together. You both have so much spunk and personality that you must have gotten from your lovely mother.

Now that Miss Marysia has her very own "big girl bed", suddenly her little friend in the crib across the room is very interested in "Mimi bed." So tonight we tried to sing some songs in Mimi's bed together. But there was way too much giggling so Mommy put the littlest of the littles back into her crib. As I walked out of the room, I clutched my heart as I heard Mimi say to her baby sis, "Shhhh, it's time for bed now...lie back down in your crib. Mimi will sing you your songs."

Lord, thank you for these precious moments.

Forgive me for all of the times I'm too busy cleaning.

Julia & Mommy...on Retreat

This past week, Julia and I went down to our favorite place...The Convent of St. Birgitta. It's so beautiful, quiet and peaceful there. I hated to leave! We had the house to ourselves and the sisters gave Julia lots of time and attention...and she loved every minute of it.

Julia, you are growing so quickly. What happened to the little baby with the huge brown eyes? I was so blessed to have this special time away with you. The highlight of the trip for me was seeing you kneeling in the chapel with all of the sisters around you during Adoration. You are so grown up to stay with them all by yourself. They loved being with you. I hope we can go again next year.

This is your belated 5th birthday gift and a special mommy daughter overnight in preparation for your First Holy Communion this Sunday...Jesus is waiting to draw close to you in the Holy Eucharist.

Some Highlights to Remember:

1. Cooking in the kitchen with Sister Gina

2. Mass offered just for you and the other First Holy Communicants in the chapel

3. Going for a walk in the morning before we left

4. The hot fudge sundaes from Sister Floriana

5. Pictures on our private balcony

6. Throwing pebbles into the water

7. Mother Eunice's special gift to you (not to be opened until Sunday)