Yes, we are a little crazy

 I debated the title of this post:  Yes, we are a little crazy; Some grainy photos of a momentous occasion; or, Where are Isaac's siblings?  Ultimately I decided on the first title because driving 1600km on a Thursday night and then 1600 km on the following Monday with two adults, one 20 month old and a 38-week pregnant mother is a little crazy.  However, we felt strongly about making it to the priestly ordination of a very good friend of ours (and former NET teammate); and so Dave, Dave's sister, Isaac and I made the trip to Halifax over the long weekend.  The drive was long and tiring and more than a little uncomfortable but it was well worth it.  And so I can now introduce you to Fr. Craig Cameron of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.  Wow.

 Here he is being vested by Fr. Zach Romanowsky.  Fr. Craig was a stylish layman and I imagine that he will be a stylish priest.  Well, at least his shoes will always be up to date.

 More Fr. Craig.

 Fr. Craig receiving the applause of the congregation.  The Basilica was packed that day and I would estimate that 60% of the congregation was under 35 years of age.  Both Fr. Craig and the congregation were a tremendous sign of hope for the Church.  The ordination brought tears to my eyes and heartfelt thanks that we were able to be there.  I had felt quite nervous about setting out on such a trek just hours before departure.  However, the Lord has ways of quelling our fears.  In my case, He has to speak very loudly.  So, along came a surprise visit from Fr. Hattie in the morning who blessed the van and prayed for our journey.  Shortly following our afternoon nap, Fr. Galen popped by to drop off some food and he gathered the family around the van and prayed for our safety and well-being.  Once we dropped the four oldest off at Dave's parents we stopped at Tim Horton's in Renfrew where we bumped into three members of Madonna House who offered to pray for our journey.  I definitely felt well taken care of.  To top things off, after the ordination we ran into the mother of Fr. Mike Goring (who was only ordained to the Diocese of Pembroke two weeks ago).  She, her husband and Fr. Mike had traveled to Halifax for the ordination of Fr. Craig.  She told me that she hadn't been able to sleep on Thursday night so she had spent the night praying for our travel.  Wow.  How can I doubt the Lord's care?

 During the ordination and the supper that night my parents looked after Isaac.  He enjoyed the beautiful weather as well as this little bike which he rode through the forget-me-nots in the back garden.  Ten years ago I wore those forget-me-nots in my hair when Dave and I were married.  Ten years later my fifth child rode a bike through them.

 Isaac really did miss his siblings.  Each time that he heard the sound of kids in restaurants he would pop up from the booth, wave and say hi hoping that he might recognise one of them as a brother or sister.  He did find this little guy in the backyard of my parents' neighbour's house.  Isaac stood so mournfully at the garden fence that the neighbours invited him over where he sat in the sandbox and threw sand onto their lawn.

 He eventually returned home where he posed for cute photos and ingested the chemicals from pressure-treated wood.

 Hi!

My parents' house is three stories, unlike our bungalow, so the view from my old bedroom was a real treat for this little guy.  Perhaps he imagined that he could spot his siblings from such a height.

So that I don't leave you wondering:  I came back from Halifax very pregnant, no worse for wear and hoping that this pregnancy goes overdue as the to-do list exceeds the time left on the baby counter.