Had a good visit with Steve on Friday. He arrived about 3:45, well before dinner. I should mention, by the way, to those of you who haven't had dinner here since the new management took over, it appears that the big meal of the day is at mid-day. And there's just one main entree at lunch and dinner time. Friday it was on open face turkey sandwich - not good vegetarian fare. But there were enough alternate items available, so he didn't go hungry. Something else that affects visiting with Mom is a change in her meal time. The trays are being delivered later - about 5:45, even 6:00 sometimes. When we came back here, he showed me how to back up on a CD things I would hate to lose if the hard disc should crash. Their plans were to return to Georgia today. Then they go to Naples on Thursday and to Key West on Sunday until 6/11 and back to Georgia on the 13th. Megan and Steve will be visiting here on Friday the 5th, then again on Monday the 8th.

The Anding household is going through some changes.  First, Morgan is home from her semester in Austria and is with us to stay.  She has transfered from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio to Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.  She will be going into music and theatre.  Here is a little bit about her trip abroad.  I'll tell you about our other changes at a later date.

This is the Kartause, the old Carthusian monastery we lived in for the semester. Part of it runs as a hotel all year-round, the other part has been turned into dorms for the school year, used not only for our school (Franciscan University) but also for other international students from Eastern Europe, as well as for Ave Maria University in Naples. The King and Queen of Austria, Albrecht II of the Hapsburg dynasty and Johanna his wife, built it as their palace in 1332. It was a palace as well as a monastery while they lived in it, and they are now buried in the chapel of the Kartause. There is so much history involved here! It withstood the attacks of the Muslim Turks three times in the 16th century (the remains of the walls of defense are STILL there on the hill behind it!); Napoleon used the chapel as a stable for his horses during his campaign in Europe; during World War II many precious works of art were hidden here to protect them from the Nazis; and Soviet troops used the monastery as military barracks during their 10-year occupancy of Austria from 1945 to 1955! It was such an amazing and almost unfathomable privilege to live in such a medieval and historic place for 4 months!

(sorry for the crook in your neck! I'm not too versed in how to use this...)

This is me and my two roommates in our Austrian Dirndls! We had an Austrian Ball at the end of the semester - it was loads of fun.

This is the group I went to Barcelona with over Easter Break - it was beautiful! 

I thought I would post a few pictures of Jack. He is now a little over 2 months old and he weighs 13 lbs and is 24 ½ inches long. He is growing fast and is such a joy!

Shed

While not as important as births and baptisms, I just completed a 10 x 12 shed. It took about 6 weeks to build. My truck had a hose chewed through by a squirrel, so I wanted to get it into the garage, so had to put the tractor someplace else. The shed gives me room for all the lawn and garden stuff so our vehicles can be put in the garage.

Mike

Molly is born on Mother's Day!

We welcome Molly McKenzie Murphy to our family! She was born at 9:35am today and she weighed 6 pounds and is 18 inches long. She and mom are doing fine. We were there when Melissa and Dave and Molly came from the delivery room and we held her soon after. She is our tiny princess!

Erin's Baptism

Erin was baptised last Saturday morning in Arlington, VA. There were 11 babies and a 3-4 year old girl baptised that morning. Chris and Alison were the God parents. I actually got one picture of the water in mid pour.