Unexpected

This weekend, my little family joined my parents, siblings and their babies in Nebraska to say good-bye to a dear friend of our family.  His name was Joe Bauer and he was my sister, Katie's, godfather.  I'm borrowing what my other sister, Millie, wrote the day he died. 

Joe Bauer died this evening at 5:30 p.m. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace. Joe loved Notre Dame football, shortwave radio, and Czech and Latin jokes (like, semper ubi sububi). He and my dad were instrumental in moving St. Wenceslaus parish across Omaha in the 1970s so it could thrive. He insisted on eating with a real napkin and real silverware, and his four sisters lovingly took care of that for him every day. Take a moment to pray for your godparents.  


While the trip to Nebraska was unexpected, it brought us a lot of beautiful things.  We had been planning a trip there for late April, but it went almost without question that we would go to the funeral (we were lucky enough not to have anything else pressing this week).

So we combined our planned trip with this unexpected one.  Much of my family was able to come, and it was wonderful to be together.  My siblings are amazing aunts and uncles and even better parents.  So, there was my joy, right smack in the middle of a sad time.

I was able to finally introduce Miss Anni to her great-grandmother, as well as my godparents (my godmother happens to be Joe's sister).  I cherish family (and the Bauers have always been family to us) and I want my babies to know their family as much as possible.

Nugget also celebrated a rite of passage of sorts when we went to the Bohemian Cafe in Omaha.  We've been going there since as long as I can remember and every few years, at least a couple of us make it back.  One of my sister's classmates even works there, so we always get to catch up as we delve into delicious Czech meals (if you ever go, the boiled beef is to. die. for.)  Now, they may never let us back in after the mess Anni left, but at least she made it once.

While we were there, we stayed with some friends, and Anni and this adorable little boy became best friends (which is good, because his mother and I started planning their wedding when she found out she was having a boy).

And Nugget displayed some new tricks and quirks.

The wave: done especially well in her backseat mirror when she could see Daddy reflected from the rear-view mirror. 

And, when she gets lifted in the air, she now does hilarious kicks with those crazy flexible legs.

 And, last but not least, we got to celebrate lots of new life.  This family has been connected to us in numerous ways (Sarah was my RD at one point, Jeff was Daniel's and they are my nephew's godparents) and they've added two beautiful babies since we last were able to see them.  Pizza and catching up with an amazing family?  Amazing.   

As I said, it really was a crazy, unexpected whirlwind of a trip.  Despite a lot of sadness, there was a lot of joy to be found in our family, friends and the anticipation of a new soul in heaven.