Why 2018 was Homeric*

Let me explain.

No, there is too much.

Let me sum up.

                                             - Inigo Montoya

January 3, 2018

Lillian Eleanor Davis is born.

The second daughter, third child of our first son,

Paul and his beautiful wife, Nicole.

Such an angel, ohmygoodness!

She was 7 lbs, 4 oz and 19" long.

The whole family: Paul and Nicole, Gavin, Evelyn, and Lillian

*Also:  In December, Paul (with a full heart) retires his military career as a Captain in the United
States Marine Corps, takes a private sector job, and makes a cross country move with his family from Florida (a long drive from Iowa!) to Minnesota (a hop-skip-jump at only 6 hours away for us grandparents!)

*  And, no less important: Paul receives his MBA from the University of North Carolina in the fall of 2018!

February 11, 2018

Our number four son, Dominic, marries our dear friend, Monica. 

So many blessings in this marriage already! They're so perfect for one another!

(Stay tuned about these two. More below!)

The whole kit and kaboodle, including grandchildren, grandparents, spouses

and Auntie Linda at Dominic and Monica's wedding.

February 18th, 2018

Sr. Maria Antonia (formerly Theresa Philomena) receives the black veil, 

the first step into the Congregation of Mater Dei ( headquartered

 here in Iowa and affiliated with the Congregationof Maria Regina Immaculata). 

All of Sister Maria Antonia's new sisters, her family in Religion. 

May 3, 2018

Our number three son, formerly known as Johanath Charles,

is ordained to the priesthood as a Religious Father of the CMRI. 

Here you see the moment of consecration, Bp. Mark Pivarunas presiding.

Fr. Philip Marie Davis, CMRI, at the Consecration of the Wine, his first Mass, May 4, 2018

(It was glorious!) 

* Also in the new year (much to our delight), Fr. Philip is transferred to Paul and Nicole's parish in Minnesota! It's not a long drive for us to see both our boys (and Paul's family), and it makes us happy that they're together. No telling how long it'll last, but it's golden for right now. :)


May, 2018

Child number seven, Catherine, graduates from high school and snags a boyfriend,

Louis, who happens to be Michelle's (child #5) brother in law. Everyone approves.
(And aren't they so cute?) Cathy also landed a full-time job at Hobby Lobby.
 (Can I hear a Huzzah! fellow-crafters!?)

June 2018

Number five child, Michelle, and her husband and children move to Nebraska!

Less than an hour away from the Iowa homestead!

Mommom and Dandad are very very happy about this.

Pictured here: on Dandad's lap, Daria; on Mommom's lap, Ella

August 11, 2018

Second son, Kevin, marries sweet, lovely Ina in Uberlingen, Germany. The nuptial high Mass

and bestowal of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony is officiated by Kevvy's brother,

Fr. Philip Marie, his best friend, Fr. Carlos Borja, and his good friend and pastor, Fr. Johannes Heine.

Words cannot describe the beauty of this Mass, the church, the countryside, the reception... 
Every little thing is perfect and amazing!

Love these two! Wish they lived closer! They've set up housekeeping in Germany.

(I've got tons of photos of our European trip to share at some point. Keep checking in!)

August 31, 2018

Daria and Ella get a baby sister! Claudia Cecilia is born and gets to be baptized

by her uncle, Fr. Philip. Mommom gets to play proxy Godmother and hold

baby Claudia at the big moment.  (photo montage courtesy of Michelle)
<3 12="" 20="" 7="" and="" at="" came="" div="" in="" lbs="" long.="" oz="" she="">

Michelle and Ben's littlest cherub. 

Almost five and a half months old now.

September, 2018

Anna, child number eight, turns sixteen and decides it's time

 to move on from homeschooling (seeing as everyone else is doing the same thing),

and enters Mater Dei Academy as a junior (where her brothers and Michelle

 went for high school). My loss = Sr. Gertrude's gain...

We kinda like this beautiful girl. Just a smidge.

(She's doing great!)

Also in September

Children numbers nine and ten, Gabe and William, decide they want to give the Minor 

Seminary in Rathdrum, Idaho a try this year (2018-19) instead of next. And how is a Mom 
to say "no" to that? I couldn't possibly have, and though I miss them like crazy, they're both doing great,
 pulling As and B sand becoming independent and mature young men. (sniff!) We're all very proud of them!

Gabe's taken up juggling! He's a pro now!

And William -- is just William.

Thank goodness!

 December 13, 2018

Last, but not least, this sugarplum finishes off our year of amazing

and wonderful things: Dominic and Michelle's first baby,

Margaret Mary Anne Davis: 8 lbs, 6 oz and 20" long.

Our seventh grandchild, sixth grand daughter!

Doncha love it? Another new little Catholic family. <3 td="">

And there you have it.
2018 in a nutshell. Still more like a coconut shell, even when it's summarized, I guess, but this is as bare bones as I can excavate. There's so much more!Believe me, there are stories and rumors of stories and jokes and pranks and miraculous saves behind every one of the year's milestones! But this gives you an idea, at least, of why other things took precedence over blogging this past year.

Things have calmed down considerably in 2019, though. So far. I think. As you've gathered, I'm sure, I'm pretty much home alone these days. The boys are in Idaho most of the year now,  Anna is in school most of the day, and I'll only get to see Cathy and Dan when they're not at work. Which is weird. But it's all good. I'm working (or, more aptly not working) to kick the Lyme's Disease I contracted last fall (something else that happened), so I'm not up to getting a paying job at this point. I have time now (theoretically) to loll around, get healthy, and blog. And other stuff, too, I imagine. I'll let you know about that as it comes up.  I'll share some of the photos I collected on our European adventures, at some point here, too, and I  have a backlog of memes and links and random thoughts to share -- a lot of them based on this new phase of our lives right now -- and goofiness where ever I can find it, of course.  Keep checking back to see what I'm in the mood to post as the days go by!

And, do please leave comments! Bloggers live for comments! Keep in mind, if you're coming from facebook that II won't see them on my FB link, as I'm on hiatus there, but I'll see them over here. Don't be shy!

I'm determined to get this ball rolling again. This is going to be fun!

* Homeric

adjective

Ho·​mer·​ic | \ hō-ˈmer-ik \

Definition of Homeric

1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of the Greek poet Homer, his age, or his writings

2 : of epic proportions : heroic