Very Inspiring Ordination Video

Let’s pray for our Priests, especially now in the Year of the Priest.

Only In Alabama (For Me)

s it very common to see two snakes doing the matting dance?

I was coming home from work tonight and as I was driving I saw in the ditch on the side of the road two snakes wrap around each other doing the matting dance. I assumed they were doing the matting dance until I Google it to confirm. At first I kept on driving, but then I thought to myself, when would I get another chance to see it again. So, I stepped on the break, backed the car up and parked near the snakes (okay, 15 feet is considered near when you are dealing with snakes) and took couple of photos. Since I only took it with my iPhone camera, I couldn’t zoom it in and I wouldn’t dare to step outside the car to take a close up photo!

Very fascinating to watch if you ever get an opportunity to see it.

 

46 Years Wedding Anniversary

Congratulations to Papa & Mama (Michael's parents) on your 46 years wedding anniversary!

The gift for 46 years of wedding anniversary is supposedly an original poem, but since I’m not a poet, I will offer you the gift of prayer, the Magnificat prayer!

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed;
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm;
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
(Luke 1:46-55)

We love you and thank you for being faithful to your marriage vocation!

The Bird Cam – An Excellent Gift!

For my birthday I got a bird cam from Coby and the girls. Yes, this is  a camera specially made to capture photos or videos of birds at the bird feeder using the infrared sensor technology, it will only capture the videos and photos when the birds landed at the feeder. Of course we are not only seeing birds but also squirrels. But regardless of what animals the bird cam will capture, it is still very cool to be able to watch them very close up.

The YouTube below is one of the first video after I set up the bird cam, it captured a squirrel at our bird feeder. It gives me a whole new perspective watching a squirrel at our bird feeder.

Today’s Activity - Getting Buried

I’m always amazed with children how they can entertain themselves very inexpensively and still have fun. For those of you who have children, you know what I’m talking about! They can play and play, for example with an empty diaper box and turn it into a boat or a car. Or this picture, Rebecca was getting buried by every Lego and block pieces. They all took turns to get buried, and of course at the end our living room was full of Lego pieces and blocks which the living room was cleaned by the time I get home.

Weekend At The Callaway Gardens

We had a great weekend at the Callaway Gardens, and the weather really cooperated with us, little rain but didn’t ruin the fun. We bike and bike, swam in the swimming pool, swam at the man-made beach, swam at the pool again, bike some more.

Enjoy looking at the photos! More photo gallery at Callaway Gardens click here.

Can anyone name this flower?

At The Butterfly Center

At The Horticultural Center

At The Discovery Center

At The Horticultural Center

One of the 17 mile bike path

At Robin Lake Beach

Babywearing Is Awesome

I was totally convinced, when Coby told me she was going to get another baby carrier, I thought I was going to loose it. I mean we already have a “sling”, “moby-style wrap”, “mei tai”, and now this Ergo baby carrier. “Just try it", just try it”, those are the only words she said to me before I put them on. I tried the sling, which I thought it looks easy, but I didn’t really like it, both the moby-style wrap and the mei tai were just way too complex for me, you almost need an engineering degree to use them.

When we arrived at Callaway Gardens I tried the Ergo baby carrier, and I have to say, this is different! It’s easy to do, comfortable and I just love it. I guess it helped when Christiana actually felt a sleep within 20 minutes after I put her on.

I also carried Abigail on my back, like having a back pack.

Two thumbs up from me on the Ergo baby carrier!

Click here if you want to watch the Ergo baby carrier YouTube.

Mini Getaway On A Big Day

For my 44^th birthday my dear wife and the girls are taking me to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, about three hours South East of Birmingham. We are leaving in the morning of the 13^th and returning on Sunday. We are all looking forward to this mini getaway on my birthday weekend. Much needed getaway after weeks of hard & intense work at work!

Lots to see and lots to do, our bicycles are all tuned up and ready to be ridden. We will be biking until there is no tomorrow!

  

They Are Coming To Take Over The World

When I saw this in our backyard, I thought for sure I have to call Fox News for the big news of an Extraterrestrial alien in our backyard. I was thinking, they are probably here with the intention to fix the world hunger, the economy and to take our US President back to the planet he came from for some brain testing.

I hesitated to even come closer, because I didn’t want to ruin their plan, especially the last plan. But as I get closer and closer I realized it is only a mushroom. Darn it! That means we still have to deal with Obama for another 1262 days. Oh well, it’s nice to have a crazy wish during this crazy time.

This mushroom is quite big, it’s almost as big as a basketball.

Wednesday Series 12 – Why Men Don’t Live As Long As Women

No problem, I can see through the holes!

Propagating Roses Update

About four weeks ago I had blogged about my new hobby, planting roses and “propagating roses”, out of the three that made it only one is really doing well. You can see the picture on the left was taken July 6, approximately 8 inches high with no new growth yet.

Today, the same rose that I had propagated has a new growth and it grew to about 1.5 foot high and has a flower bud.

Too bad for the other two, but this is still exciting!

The Spirituality of A Fortune Cookie

Yesterday was Coby's Baptismal day and we went to P.F. Chang’s for lunch. It's an American Chinese food and we had their famous lettuce wrap among other things.
As you know, every time you go to a Chinese restaurant at the end you will get a fortune cookie, and every now and then you get one that makes you go, hhmm . . ., this could be me?!
This is the fortune I got today and I think it is totally me.

What do you think?

Amazing Cappella Jazz Choir

This YouTube was forwarded to me by Fr. Miguel Marie, amazing find Father, Thank you!

Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia and they are amazing. If you like the 80’s music, you remember the song Africa by Toto. This is what they are singing very beautifully and unique.

Have fun watching it! You will be watching it over and over and over again . . . at least that was the case at our house.

You can also watch the Bee Gees Medley by Perpetuum Jazzile.

Wednesday Series 11 – Why Men Don’t Live As Long As Women

Hey, he has a special license to drive that truck!

In Front Of Player Piano

We got invited to a friend’s house who owns a player piano. He actually rebuilt the player piano from the worst conditions you can imagine and it is working amazingly now (365 days later)

I never knew anything about player piano until I saw one and play with one. It is amazing and when you hear one, it makes you want to dance.

Enjoy watching Coby pumping the pedals on the player piano.

Wednesday Series 10 – Why Men Don’t Live As Long As Women

Hey, at least he strapped it down!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Today is Abigail’s big day, she turns three years old! Happy birthday to you Abigail! I can’t believe she is three years old. We had a small party with our close friends and the weather was a perfect ‘fall-liked’ weather to be able to do piñata outside.

Today is also a big day for this blog, we started this blog exactly a year ago on Abigail’s birthday.

Wednesday Series 9 – Why Men Don’t Live As Long As Women

Shouldn't he be wearing a life-jacket?

Wednesday Series 8 – Why Men Don’t Live As Long As Women

Isn't this a violation of the seatbelt laws?

Man Of God Versus Man Of The World

I was reflecting on the funerals of Pope John Paul II - a man of God and Michael Jackson - a man of the world. The simplicity of heaven and the extravagance of the world, the wooden casket versus the golden casket. The legacy that both men left behind, legacy that focuses on God and heaven versus legacy that focuses on men and the world.

Pope John Paul II Funeral	Michael Jackson Funeral

What do you want your funeral to be like?

UPDATE: After I finished this blog, we did our night prayers and read the following on Psalm 49 “Be not afraid when one becomes rich, when the wealth of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his wealth will not go down after him.”