Kucios & Kaledu 2014

This year for Christmas, one of Bronius' brother's came to visit with his family which meant we had the honor of hosting the very special Lithuanian Christmas Eve traditional feast called Kucios. We had such a lovely time with our Chicago family members!  Here we are with the lovely house warming gift they brought us. 

Ramune and I spent Christmas Eve preparing the feast while the boys were out enjoying the weather.

The boys love their cousin Mantas!!!

Bronius and his older brother Kazys. B is the youngest of 4 Motekaitis siblings who were all born and raised in Bryan/College Station once long ago. :) 

While we were at the children's Mass, Senele and Ramune finished preparations for the feast. Here is Dominic lighting the Christmas candle and Jonas putting the baby Jesus in the manger. Milo got to light the Christmas tree. :) 

We opened gifts to one another after the feast and then the midnight Mass crew left to sing in the choir and attend Mass.

Christmas pajamas and slippers courtesy of my sister Sarah and B's sister Milda!

                                      Christmas day we headed to Senele's for a delicious lunch.

And then some of my family came up from Houston to enjoy more revelry! Singing, stories, dancing, and spirits abounded!

                           Mom sang a beautiful French Christmas carol and Dad accompanied.

Dominic told us riddles from one of his favorite nightstand books.

And there's never a shortage of musicians on both sides of the family on special occasions!

We spent the 26th visiting my Dad on his birthday and the feast day of his patron saint, St. Stephen.  And then we headed to Galveston for more fun with the Motekaitis family.  Senele treated us to dinner and a show at Moody Gardens. It was such a lovely evening out! 

We got to do some neat things while in Galveston.  Dominic, Bronius, Kazys and Manigirdas got to visit the Johnson Space Center while Senele, Ramune, Milo, Jonas and I visited the Galveston's children's museum, Moody Mansion and the Rainforest Cafe.

                                        

                              

                              

We attended Mass at St. Patrick's church (and forgot our umbrellas under the pew there, too) :) It was a beautiful way to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family.  Dominic got to have a very special moment receiving communion there that he won't soon forget. 

We also celebrated Kazys and Ramune's 18th anniversary with them!

                                          Our last day at the beach house, El Flamboyan.

Our last stop in Galveston, Bishop's Palace. 

Here are the boys having a good time in the gift shop. :) 

Thank you Kazys for your excellent photography! Thank you to Senele for sponsoring such a wonderful weekend! We are so thankful for the gift and blessings of our faith and family. Wishing us all many happy, blessed and healthy days in 2015! 

December 2014

Some highlights of our December were hosting our Married Couple's group farewell party for the Buchan family, some of our dearest, oldest friends. I'm so thankful they haven't moved away too far!

 Milo has a small speaking part in his Teddy Bear Christmas program at school. 

I got a quick pic of Jonas at his school's Christmas party. :) 

  The boys piano recital. They both did so well, we were so proud. Later we found Dominic had a fever and we rushed after the recital to a dress rehearsal for Milo for his We Three Spies show. What a night! Video footage to come....

Milo before his We Three Spies performance, our parish's Christmas musical.  Bronius played in the pit and I helped as a stage manager.  We had so much fun as a family participating in this program!

We darted over to Houston to help our beloved Uncle Steve pack up his apartment and get ready for his move to Dallas. 

I wasn't able to photograph Dominic and Milo's class Christmas parties because Dominic was home sick, but he was able to assemble his gingerbread house at home so it made him feel much better! :)

We had a busy December but it was a very memorable one! :) 

Happy Royal 4th Birthday, Sir Jonas!

The day began with Dominic's elementary school Show Choir performance. Family came up from Houston, even Howie! It was a special time!

Since we were having a "knights and castle" theme this year, we lucked out with a castle bounce house!

Bronius was very proud of the pinata he made from scratch. It was definitely something to behold! :) 

           I had some help from my friends at the HEB bakery who made this delicious cake, but I added the "reinforcements," shall we say? :) 

More action shots of our knights and ladies trying to slay the dragon pinata!

Some shots of dear friends, Me with Melissa Buchan (who is moving away in a few weeks!!! Sad, sad day!) and Roy Rodriguez with daughter Dorothy.

Two of the most important ladies who make magic happen in my life!

       

                                      And a quick shot of my parents who painted these canvases for Jonas' birthday together.  I sometimes have to pinch myself when I realize how lucky I am! :)

          And the baby of our family is 4 years old, today. My how time flies. We are so thankful for this little boy and the zeal and joy he brings to our family.  My rose in winter, my Christmas baby, thanks be to God for our Jonas Raphael!

                                       

Red C Benefit, Chemistry Day, Character Day, Hallow's Eve, Veteran's Day program, Happy Birthday Senele and Farewell Hawkeye

We enjoyed a lovely date night out with our couples group benefitting the RED-C radio station.

             We had a great time at the TAMU Chemistry day on campus making potions and explosions! Senelis (Grandfather) Motekaitis, one of the TAMU Chemistry department's originals, would have been proud of them!

Character Day at school! Grandma Peggy made Milo a Skippy Jon Jones costume from scratch!!!

                                             
                                                 Halloween Carnival at Jonas' preschool

                                                     Hallow's Eve Supper at home

                                                  

                 Tron, Hawkeye the Avenger, Max from Where the Wild Things Are, a Spooky Witch and a Snarling Pirate! 

AMAZING Tribute to Veteran's on 11/11 at the boys school. Dominic had a special speaking part in the beginning. The music was powerful and brought us all to tears. Veterans were invited to stand at the front when their divisions were called. It was beautiful. I hope to post video soon!

                                       
                                                     Picture day with Mr. Dabb's at Jonas' preschool

Happy early Birthday to Senele! We went to Fritella's for a fireside supper and the Nutcracker afterwards! We are so thankful for her. :) 

And finally......a farewell to Hawkeye. This sweet little pup brought a lot of love to our home, but also....a lot of chaos. He was a good boy, but the energy of our children proved to be a real challenge in training him. It wasn't the feeding, walking and cleaning up after the dog that troubled us....but the fact that we couldn't properly train our puppy to be around our boys safely, or vice versa. We were VERY blessed to find someone who WAS, however, and moreover, someone who was able teach him how to hunt birds, which is what he was born to do as a hound. We will always think of Hawkeye fondly when we look at the holes in the backyard or find toys that have been gnawed on a little bit. :)  We pray our boy has a happy hunting life ahead of him!