Holy Family Sunday

Yesterday I went down to Lacey to meet up with Jason and Katy at the Saint Martin's Abbey. Afterwards, I was going with them to help them move from their apartment to their new home.

Sitting in Church I was excited to see Father Benedict (Joey's namesake) was going to be giving the homily. Father Benedict is one of my favorite people and monk from Saint Martin's. He was my teacher, priest, and friend throughout my years in college and he has always been so good to Josh and I. Anyways, he gave an awesome and thought provoking homily yesterday and was nice enough to send it to me today.

He talks about about parents are the first teachers of love and that as a parent it is up to us to provide for our children a way to become wise and knowledgable through love. I thought it was a great homily and would like to share it. Thank you Father Benedict!

In an all too real piece of fiction, a little boy greets his father as he returns from work with a question: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The father is surprised and says: “Look, son, not even your mother knows. Don’t bother me now, I’m tired.” “But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour?” the boy insists. The father finally gives up and replies: “Twenty dollars.” “Okay, Daddy,” the boy continues, “Could you loan me ten dollars?” The father yells at him: “So that was the reason you asked how much I earn, right? Now, go to sleep and don’t bother me anymore!” At night the father thinks over what he said and starts feeling guilty. Maybe his son needed to buy something. Finally, he goes to his son's room. “Are you asleep, son?” asks the father. “No, Daddy. Why?” replies the boy. “Here's the money you asked for earlier,” the father said. “Thanks, Daddy!” replies the boy and receives the money. Then he reaches under his pillow and brings out some more money. “Now I have enough! Now I have twenty dollars!” says the boy to his father, “Daddy, could you sell me one hour of your time?” Today’s gospel has a message for this man and for all of us, and the message is that we need to invest more of our time and selves into our family life as laypeople and even our community life as monks.



During WWII the noted child psychoanalyst Anna Freud directed three nurseries, which housed young children
separated from their families. In War and Children she wrote:

The war acquires comparatively little significance
for children so long as it only threatens their lives,
disturbs their material comfort or cuts off their food rations. It becomes
enormously significant
the moment it breaks up family life and uproots
the first emotional attachments of the child within the family group. London
children, therefore, were on the whole much less upset by bombing than by
evacuation to the country as protection against it…. It is a known fact that
children will cling even to mothers who are continually cross and sometimes
cruel to them.

The regular presence of parents is a constant assurance of safety for every young child. The family,
no matter what its shortcomings, is the fundamental human connection. There are flaws in every human connection, but even the most fragile families tend to be more supportive to a young child than institutional upbringing. When I was eight my father died, in one sense he had already stopped being an essential part of the family, spending most his time drinking at bars.
My mother was ill and had to be operated on the summer after his death, and told myself who seven and my brother who was four that if she died she had arranged for us to be put into an orphanage where we would be taken care of. The Death of a father and the threat of impending death of a mother shaped in me PTS, Post-Traumatic Syndrome, when first I was told this, my response was “I did not serve in Vietnam,” and the psychiatrist said “You did not have to, the events in your childhood traumatized you.” I had never ever thought of that yet on further study abandonment issues are at the root of many individual’s problems.

Parents are the first teachers of love; their attachment to their children shows them that they are worthy of love, shows them how to love. It is very hard for a child to grow up without the caring support of that attachment. Luke shows us in today’s gospel how the parents of Jesus fulfill the requirements of their religious tradition, and how the child Jesus grows in wisdom and maturity under their care. To know the meaning of love, Jesus only has to consult his experience. This love will give him the security and the freedom which will enable him to become himself, and although he is more than Mary and Joseph can ever give him, their influence on him can never be underestimated .

In remembering the Holy Family, we look at our own family in gratitude for what we have received, or in understanding for what we have not gotten. The Feast of the Holy Family that we celebrate today is not an old feast – it was instituted in 1921. But Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, as a family, has always since the first scriptures acted as a model for all Christians. Each of us come from families or communities that consist of an assortment of weird and wonderful relatives or fellow community members. None of our families or communities is all holy; each is a mixture of all sorts of conflicts, compulsions and craziness that tests our love and forgiveness. But in the midst of all that, there is God. Mary had bad hair days, unlike all Renaissance paintings. Joseph somedays must have thrown up his hands when the work in his shop was not done just right and said to himself, “This kid is not going to make a carpenter,” and he didn’t. And Jesus himself was human, sinless but human, he had temptations, he had
the occasional headache. No family is perfect. When Jesus is lost in the Temple and Mary and Joseph have to go back and find him, I am sure they were a little fearsome and probably even peeved. Holy Family does not mean 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, but rather the search for God’s will in the midst of life’s trials.
I wonder if Jesus even tracked in mud after Mary had cleaned the house spotlessly. Food for thought.
It is the struggle that counts, the end result is up to God.

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Jesus with Family and Friends! Love to all!

Santa came to visit

On Saturday, Santa and our cities Fire and Police department came to visit all the kids in our neighborhood. It was really neat b/c they were playing Christmas music over their loudspeaker and their sirens were going off. Joey had been sleeping but I immedietely went upstairs to wake him up to meet Santa. Joey had not "met" Santa this year and I was kind of bummed that I didn't have a picture of the two.

I got Joey dressed and he was so excited when he saw all the trucks, cars, lights, and Santa. Joey and Santa got a picture together and Joey even got a present from him too. It was the perfect way to see Santa this year b/c we just had a fresh blanket of snow on the ground.

Christmas Cookies!!!

Last Saturday Joey and I trekked our way over to Yelm to make and decorate Christmas Cookies with my Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law. Mom, Katy and I had so much fun doing this. Its been so long since I've decorated cookies. In total we made 5-6 different types of cookies. I was in charge of the gingerbread cookies which I cut into gingerbread men and decorated them. There was one for each person in our family. Katy made a very interesting Chai cookie that gave off a real punch of flavor. I said it tasted like Holiday spice cookies, Katy said it left a bad aftertaste in her mouth. Mom made the sugar cookies and got together all the decor for them. We had a blast doing our "Christmas Thing" and I hope this becomes a tradition. Thanks Mom for putting this together!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Yesterday we woke up to a tiny bit of snow, but it quickly vanished. All day I was anticipating the weather prediction of snow to come. I was disappointed when I went to bed last night to really no snow, but surprise, surprise, we woke up to a blanket of snow.

I took Joey out to his "first snow." There wasn't much last year, plus he couldn't walk. At first Joey was hesitant, but after a minute he quickly ran off and galloped in the snow. There wasn't a lot of snow, but enough to admire its beauty. After a much needed nap for both Mommy and Joey, we awoke to a fresh new blanket of snow. It snowed and snowed from 3pm-6pm. Josh came home early and we went out to play and also to take a walk around the neighborhood.

It's so refreshing to watch Joey in all of his excitement. He ran from snowman to snowman, to kids playing, to light displays expressing his excitment. It was neat b/c he played with these "older" kids for awhile and they were so nice to him and showing him to roll a snowball and to build a snowman. I do hope it snows tomorrow again, but not before I can run to the post office. I need to get my Christmas cards out before its too late!

A Callon Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

It's another year celebrating the Christmas Season and I have to say that Josh and I absolutely love Christmas and all things that come with it. Whether it be snow, lights, egg nog, parties, we can't ever seem to get enough of it and we always find ourselves eager at the beginning of November to roll in the season.

As always I decorated the inside while Josh tackled the outdoors. For the inside I had to modify the decorations since Joey is prone to touching things and being "too curious." You will notice on our Christmas tree that decorations are more on the top part of the tree and also there is the presence of the old baby gate making its debut as a perimeter tree/presents protector. I made the mistake last week of putting some presents down on the outside of the gate and Joey promptly opened them. I learned my lesson.

The outdoor decoration process proved to be difficult and very festive. Josh's competitive nature pushes him to always have the most lights in the neighborhood. When he thought we were done with the lights outside he was swayed differently. After one of our nightly "Christmas light walks" he found several houses had put lights on the second stories of their homes. In our neighborhood it is very hard to get them on the second story b/c of the pitched roofs. Of course that didn't stop Josh from risking life and limb and putting lights up top as well. We even have an unspoken "lights battle" going on with the neighbor down the street. When we put up more lights, they put up more lights. Its funny b/c its not what the season is all about, but none the less Holiday lighting is so much fun!

Here are some indoor/outdoor pictures of our decorations.











The Outdoor lights pictures aren't as good b/c I found it difficult to take a good picture of it.

Happy 3 Year Anniversary

Today marks Josh and I's 3 year anniversary as a married couple. Total we've been together 5. It has been an amazing time being together as a couple. I couldn't be happier with Josh and I love him so much.

I can't believe 3 years ago today was our wedding day. It still seems like just last week we were married. Every year we make our "family picture" at Christmas time (since it's so close to our anniversary)

Here are 4 Christmas's of wedded bliss!

Christmas 2005 - We were in Hawaii on our Honeymoon during Christmas Time.



Christmas 2006 - Almost 6 months Pregnant with Joey



Christmas 2007 - Joey's first Christmas



Christmas 2008 - At our Christmas Party wearing Ugly Christmas sweaters.

A Family Dinner and a Play

This past Sunday we went out to a play and dinner with Josh's family. It was so much fun. We caught Scrooge at a local playhouse in Lakewood. The play was very good. The stage set up was different, as we were all sitting around the stage. So the stage was in the middle. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the storyline of Scrooge, but just watching it again is a really good reminder that we can't go through life being negative and cranky about everything. We begin to miss out on so much when the negative things begin to control our lives.

After the play we all went to dinner at the Olive Garden. We got to sit in the family room with the big dining room table. It was so neat b/c I've never got to sit there before. We dined on appetizers, food and drinks and it was so much fun. My brother was kind enough to watch Joseph while we got to all hang out with the adults.

The family shot.



Mom and Me



Dad ate too much!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a blast this year as usual!

We went to both families this year for a double dose of dinner, drinks, and turkey! =)

We have a lot to be thankful for this year.
I have to say I am so proud of my brother-in-law, Zack. You've made it a long ways brother and we couldn't be more proud of you.

The Callon family Turkey day consisted of several flights in Dad's new airplane. He took me around Yelm and I even flew over the local Walmart. Josh took several flights with his Dad. He could only take one person at a time, since the plane is smaller then his other one.
After a delicious dinner we played for the 2nd annual Callon Cup. It became a tradition last year when we played for the cup (A Christmas Bear attached to the base of a Coke Cup) in a Family Jeopardy game. Zack won last year so he was responsible for creating this years game, Pictionary (Callon style). Guess who WON????

ME!!!

Which means I have to make a new game next year. Hopefully I will come up with some good ideas.

We didn't take any family pictures this year at both houses. Whoops. Of course we got pics of Joseph though! =)

Joseph watching Mickey Mouse on Uncle Robb's phone




He's got personality

Christmas Tree Farm

The day after Thanksgiving my brother, Joseph and I went to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our trees. It was so much fun and I never realized that there are a couple of farms right near our house. Joseph had a blast. He got a little muddy and wet, but was excited to see the trees and run around freely!










Cody's truck with my tree and his tree. Of course mine is the huge one!