Lauren's 1st Communion

 Lauren and her banner.

 Lauren and her sweet friend, Emmeline

 1st Communion Cake

 Our growing family

Our family picture would not be complete without Aunt Joanie, Uncle Paul, and Ryan. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

The special day finally came. After a whole year of preparing, including me attending 10 RE classes, 2 meetings, and a retreat, Lauren made her 1st Communion. It was a beautiful day and a bit emotional as I remembered that my mom was there in spirit. She would have been so very proud of Lauren. My aunt and I held back tears as she mentioned that to me the night before.

I just don't know what I would do without Aunt Joanie and Uncle Paul. I grew up with BIG family celebrations for all holidays and every one of my cousin's births, baptisms, 1st Communions, confirmations, and graduations. Those are truly the best memories of my childhood. I had always dreamed of having a big family and sharing all of life's accomplishments with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.... but that wasn't God's plan for my family. Somehow, my aunt, uncle, and cousins fill in the gaps. They come 4 hours to share their faith and love with my kids. They play anything the kids want to play and give them their undivided attention for hours and hours. Each and every one of my children feel so special when they are around and as you can imagine, Stephen and I can let our guard down and relax a little. We enjoy celebrating mass with them and I love how my children behave and participate in mass when they are with us. Every time they leave, Stephen and I wish we lived closer. I try to plan in my head some way we can close the gap between College Station and Gladewater. For now, we will have to wait until the 4th of July to see them again and make new memories.