The Family that Prays Together .....

 This weekend, Dad took the kids to the Bay Area to join in the San Francisco Family Rosary Crusade.

They joined more than 1000 pilgrims at the Civic Center Plaza who gathered to pray 

the rosary together, asking God to bless our country, our community, and our families. 

The organizers had fashioned their crusade after the Rosary Rally 

held by Fr. Patrick Peyton back in October of 1961.

 

As you can see above, it was a monumental prayer gathering -- more than 500,000 Catholics and non-Catholics in Golden Gate Park -- including the governor of California and the city's mayor.

This weekend's gathering fell far short of the organizer's expectations as far as crowd size,

and did not include any political dignitaries... 

... but our family was grateful, nonetheless, for the opportunity to unite our voices with others, 

particularly invoking the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, 

praying for a return to Christian values in our country.

 The family agreed that one of the highlights of the gathering was seeing so many women religious.
Thank God for their witness and their faithfulness.

 We ask our Loving God to hear our appeals

 and we offer them through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Mother.

Big, Fat and Beautiful

Last Sunday, Dad decided to take the clan on an agricultural adventure. After mass, we drove up to the foothills to Patrick's Berry Farm in Camino for some berry pickin'. Everyone joined in the fun, moving down the rows hunting out the best berries. The definition of a good berry? According to Coco, it's one that is BIG, FAT and BEAUTIFUL!! She had a fine time racing up and down the rows, shouting this mantra at the top of her lungs. She'd only stop when she found such a berry and would pop it in her mouth bucket. By the end of the day, her face was smeared with lovely purple juice and her fingers were all sticky.

She finds a BIG, FAT and BEAUTIFUL berry

And runs to show Dad her find.

 

I think more berries went into her mouth than her bucket.

The other kids had their own share of fun and berry picking. We ended up with almost four pounds of a mix of different types of blackberries and golden raspberries.

The farm didn't only have berries. They also had some very gorgeous morning glories with a smattering of other flowers.  It was certainly a glorious day!