One Year Ago Today.....

......the house was already hopping!!!!!! a quick breakfast and coffee was served....and people were readying for Ann and Peter's afternoon wedding!!!!

And here we are one year later and a fine son has been born to them!!! And this day is Holy Family Sunday and our love goes to you both!!!

love,

Dad and Mom

We're getting closer!

Christmas is almost here!
This is so exciting!
Ho, Ho, Ho!

Those two!

Patrick Joseph, 21 weeks old

Simon Paul, 12 weeks old

They are so big!

It's Old Outside!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Immaculate Mary your praises we sing!

The fairest flower of all !

drawing by: Margaret Royals

St. Nicholas ! ! Yeah!

Thank you St. Nicholas
for all your intercessions
on behalf of our family this year.
We have had a blessed year.

Please pray that we may celebrate this Christmas in a manner pleasing to God.

Good St. Nicholas
Whom God did send
Teach me of Jesus
My dearest friend.

Amen!

(4th century), Bishop of Myra (now in Turkey). His relics were brought Bari (Italy). Particularly after the tenth century, he has been honored by the whole church.

Dear St. Nicholas please pray for the intentions of Pope Benedict on the occcasion of his journey to Turkey and obtain the graces for us all to be authentic friends of all God's children.

It's cold outside!

Make sure you bundle up in layers before you step outside these days!

"Brrrr"

Happy Birthday Grandaddy--Que los cumpla feliz!

GranDaddy and Ann circa 1986 - We love you!

Happy Birthday James!

Have a wonderful day! With all our love.

Happy Birthday, James! Love, Margaret 

Feast of St. Andrew

Hello my family and friends,

Thursday, Nov. 30 we celebrate the feast of St. Andrew, apostle, whose name means 'strong and manly',a leader of men, and one who was crucified on the saltire cross - the diagonal cross- like an X ...

And our son, Andrew bears this name....this is his first St. Andrew's feast day celebrated as a holy priest of God....

Happy Feast Day, my son and my family and dear friends!!

"He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him."

love,

Dad

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend it has been! We were happy to see Father Drew and Tommy home with the rest of the Royals crew along with special visits from Aunt Mary, cousin Bryan, Caky Corcoran and Dan Vitz.
Mom prepared two pumpkin pies entirely from scratch with Margaret's help. Move over Libby's canned pumpkin pie filling! Mary made an apple pie that is sure to become her staple addition to the table. Elle made a yummy apple spice cake along with a new favorite: Monkey Balls. Caky's artichoke/spinach dip and Pete's red caviar dip dissappeared quickly. The turkey was perfect and carved beautifully by Dad and every one else contributed their huge appetites!
We are just happy to have these opportunities to come together as the whole family! Tommorrow (Sunday) is the Feast of Christ the King! Don't forget to save a piece of pie to celebrate that big feast!

Mom prepares the pumpkins for the yummy pies!

Aren't we so lucky to have Father Andrew and novice Dan Vitz as direct prayer lines to heaven?

Simon is feeling the sleepy effects of turkey!

Thank goodness Tommy and Drew have mastered our espresso machine for the rest of us!

A Fun Visit!

Mommy's good friend from college came to visit us for the past few days. Shannon helped mom give me a bath, sang me songs, and introduced me to another one of their friends, Jack, who entered the seminary here in DC.
After such a busy weekend mom let me sleep in a little...

Woohoooo! Naval Flight Officer it is !

Of course, James and John Paul want the fiercest looking fighter on the blog!! Tom reports that all his company got the billet they wanted. Those that wanted marine pilot, got it --the one that wanted marine groud, got it. Rich Pruce got Navy Seal, etc. The celebration began immediatley with those that got marines shaving their heads. Tommy had to help with that, until a buddy of his told him he had a flight suit in his room. Tom just had to go put it on! Once he was in proper garb he made his phone calls. What fun! AMGD







Here comes Tommy!




getting closer...







Ta da!






See how well he looks with the sword!

I'm A Big Kid Now!-- (sort of)

Patch continues to get bigger and interested in new things. Last Saturday when the weather was absolutely beautiful, we went for a stroller ride to the park. This was the first time that I sat Patch upright in the stroller. I was so proud of him for being a "big boy." As I was walking through the neighborhood, I kept wondering if people were noticing my grown up child... I was so excited. Patch also had his first ride in the park swings. I wasn't sure if he would be big enough, but he was! It took him a few pushes to get used to it, but then took to it like a pro.

He has also recently discovered his bouncer, which he LOVES. His little legs go wild and he starts baby-talking up a storm. Mike and I will just watch and laugh when he is playing away. Being a mom is FUN!

Down For the Count

Simon and Patch sound asleep for an afternoon siesta enabled their moms to have a little fiesta.

Mommy is learning how to blog.

My blog maternity leave is now officially over. Mommy Vitz is responsible for posting updates of little Simon! Simon has now mastered the art of the social smile. Nothing says good morning after a sleepless night like this...
Here was Simon during that sleepless night:

Nottingham is back on the blog, Yeah!

more to come!

The Love Hanging Out With Each Other...

Wait Til These Guys Grow Up!!

Gus Gleason + Patch Connolly + Ian Schneider = TROUBLE!

The Cousins

Happy Birthday Fr. Drew

We still love you even though you are now soooooooooooooooooo old!

My fun fam.

Spending the day with the family is so much fun.

On your marks...

Get set....

FLY PATRICK!!!

Hi. I'm Simon.

Hello everyone. I made my dad write to you all because he's been so lazy about sending out updates about how I'm doing. I'm already 3-weeks old now (don't worry, I'm not upset if you missed my big 3-week birthday bash) and I'm getting bigger. I've been feeling a little bit sick these past few days -- but that won't stop me feeling cheerful!

It's been a busy lifetime. We moved homes just a couple of weeks after I came out -- you can see the picture of mommy transfering me to our new home where I get my own bedroom -- score!




I've also gotten visits from my Papa Paul,

uncle Dan (soon to be my Godfather)

& mommy's good friend Ali.

It's fun being me! And pretty restful too!

Trip to Catoctin Orchard

Grandmommy, Mom, Aunt Mary and Aunt Maggie took Patrick to Catoctin Orchard today. We picked out pumpkins, walked in an apple orchard, bought baked goods and saw beautiful scenery. It is worth the drive out.

Grandmommy had taken Mary and Margaret out to the orchard earlier in the year before the apple trees had fruit in season. It was neat for the girls to see the change.

Aunt Mary was in charge of navigating. She kept us on the right track. The orchard is located in Thurmont, MD. Mary was familiar with the way since she had been to Emmitsburg many times.

Margaret especially enjoyed the route that Mary and Grandmommy had planned. After driving on 270 we spent a good deal on Rt 15. Margaret's 15th birthday was yesterday and she felt a special connection to the road!

It was a beautiful sunny day but we still had to bundle up a bit.
The trip was a success.

Check out the orchard at: http://www.catoctinmountainorchard.com/