melted smoosh

in Krakow in June, Nick and Cece took the trip of a lifetime along with a group from our priest friend's parish. for years, Father Aron has led pilgrimages to Europe for his confirmation class and their families, supported by incredible events throughout the year (he really puts the fun in fundraising). this year, they planned a twelve-day trip to Eastern Europe, visiting religious sites in Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia. our whole family was invited, and in a different season of life, I would have loved for all six of us to go! but we already did the two-toddlers-in-Europe thing once when we were young and crazy. for logistical reasons (not least being that Nick's services as organist for daily mass were requested), we decided that Nick would go with the older girls and I would stay home with the younger ones. from the very first time we brought up the idea of the trip, Cece was all in, and Greta was adamantly not interested. Nick and I debated about whether o...

I'm too lazy to take photos of these individual things so I'm sprinkling in a few of my favourite nature photos from my camera roll!  Hope, British Columbia (August 2025) 1) a ginormous baking sheet. 15x21 inches to be exact -- it takes up an entire oven rack and it is phenomenal for baking just about anything from bacon, chicken tenders, bratwurst, and full sheet pan dinners to cookies. I consider dinner a failure if we don't have enough leftovers to eat for lunch the next day, and with six hungry people in the house, I was using two normal size baking sheets shoved next to each other or staggered on different oven racks and it just makes my life easier to put it all on one pan. bonus, my parchment paper fits perfectly on the larger pan so I no longer have to fold over the excess and hoping the folded part doesn't unfurl while cooking and start smoking against the hot oven wall! 

1) wedding! on the first weekend in June, Nick's cousin was married in an absolutely beautiful ceremony (he played the organ for the wedding, and then chauffeured some of the family to the reception in the station wagon). it's always so much fun to spend time with his family, and the reception venue was stunning -- held in the grand hall of the train station, which has since been converted into apartments and an event space. 

this is a strong contender for the 2025 Christmas card the last day of school was Friday, May 30, and the very next day, we dropped off Greta and Cece with Nick's parents to drive down to Ocean City, MD, first thing Sunday morning, while Nick and I followed with the babies after Nick played for two morning masses. I've been to Ocean City once before, during the summer of 2020 when social distancing rules were still in effect -- most restaurants were open for takeout only, and those that were open for dine-in required patrons to wear masks while walking to their tables. it was fun to go back and have a more normal beach experience! many thanks to Nick's parents for generously inviting us to come along.