A busy weekend

Anastasia read to Luke and Megan after midnight on Saturday when the Rogers arrived. Megan heard Stasia reading to Luke and quickly joined them, knowing that she would be allowed to stay up later.


L to R: Christine & Marina, Dn. John & Megan, Matthew & Hannah, Anastasia & Luke.

From Left to Right: Marina (7 months), Megan (2 years), Luke (22 months), Hannah (3 weeks)
Marina weighs 19lbs. Luke weighs 23lbs. She almost pinned him in a wrestling match.


We had a busy weekend. Eric came back from DC on Friday night with a bunch of free junk from his conference. He gave us a DVD called "Ancient Sunrise" that shows the sunrise at different places such as Stonehenge, the Mayan Pyramids, etc. Basically, it's like the Yule Log Fire for the rest of the year. Anyway, we deported Eric and Diana back to Alaska on Saturday morning, even though Diana did everything possible to throw out her back so that she would have to stay. She was wrestling with Luke, holding Hannah in her carseat at church on Friday, twisting and bending in ways that are not fit for any human body, etc. She had no such luck in delaying her return to Alaska. They made it home with no problems.

So we had some peace on Saturday. I worked on my homily for much of the day, so I wasn't much fun. Anastasia made some killer good veggie soup, which she parlayed into shrimp and veggie soup on Sunday. Mmm, delish. Around 11pm, Dn. John and Christine Rogers showed up at our door with Megan and Marina (don't worry--we knew they were coming). They flew into Pittsburg on Friday, stayed with Fr. Stephen Lourie (formerly of St. John's, now in Altoona, PA), then drove 4 hours Saturday night after Vespers to get to our house. Luke had been sleeping since we left Vespers, and was even sleeping in his overcoat because he didn't want to put his pajamas on. Well, he woke up when the Rogers arrived, so he and Megan ate some chicken and played until midnight. Luke didn't fall asleep until 1am or later.

Dn. John went to church with me Sunday morning, as we arose at early dawn and departed the house in peace. We had a good lunch after liturgy with Fr. Ted and Dn. Methodios, and made it back to the house around 2pm. Stasia and Christine stayed home from church with the kiddos, and had a fun morning. The afternoon was nice as the weather warmed up and we played outside with the kids.

The Rogers left for SC this morning and have a 15 hour day ahead of them.

So today is Stasia's first day at home alone with the two kids. She emailed and said it's going well, that Luke has been an angel. Apparently he has been playing on the Rogers' air mattress in the living room, using it as a slide off the couch all morning.

Only two more weeks before Fr. Stephen and Sally come to baptize Hannah, and only about 8 weeks before we head out of this place for the summer. Sacramento and Alaska, here we come.

--Matthew