Merry Christmas!

Many have already taken down their Christmas decorations or turned off their lights. We have just started celebrating (since Christmas Eve)! In the Catholic Church, we celebrate Advent in preparation for Christmas until the evening of Dec. 24. We then celebrate the Christmas Season for 8 straight days in a row! That's how big it is to us! Many keep their decorations up until Feb. 2 -- the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.

We hope that you all had a great Christmas. We did. Just being together, praying together, eating junk food together, trying out the new Christmas gifts . . . but most importantly, enjoying each other. We've said this many times -- we have so much more fun when all the Sisters are home from the schools. It's a good time!

We have certainly remembered all of you in our prayers of gratitude and love. God bless us, every one!

God's Beauty -- Have we opened our eyes and hearts to it?

Sr. Mary Jude renewed her vows for one year on Dec. 17. Congratulations!
May God continue to bless you with deeper intimacy and love!
May you be a bright witness of Jesus' Truth and Love and Joy!


Christmas Plays are among our favorite "jobs" of being involved in Catholic Schools!
What a delight . . .
Many times the students will have songs to sing and dance to, lines to memorize . . .
It's always one of our favorite things to watch during December.

2 Sisters were able to attend the ordination of a Benedictine Monk friend in Pecos, NM
this past week. Father, you're in our prayers!

On the way home from the ordination, we discovered the beautiful "Canadian River Canyon"
in New Mexico. What a surprise! Amazing how you live fairly close to some of these things
and do not even know that they are nearby.

This is alot like God and His Awesomeness! We have so many treasures nearby

(the Holy Scriptures, Adoration, the Holy Mass, His Love and Truth, and . . . so much more),
but we many times take them for granted or do not even know the depth of their beauty!

May we spend this Advent and Christmas asking God to draw us closer to Himself and
to open our eyes to His beauty that is so near to us!

Advent -- A Beautiful Time to Reflect

What a privilege it has been to be able to share some time with the beautiful married couples (pictured above) with their TOOLS groups! It has been a delight getting to know them better and helping them reflect on their vocations and being Centered on Christ!

We've had 2 Marriage Retreats this month! God is SO good!

Also above, we had a cookie decorating party yesterday. It's become a tradition for some local friends to bring their children to spend time with us decorating cookies for Christmas. What a blast that was! (The picture in the chapel was us praying before they went home.)

Families -- what an awesome time of year to have families here! May the Christ Child be born in our hearts in a new and powerful way this Advent and Christmas.

We're having a Christmas Novena of Masses said for all of you before Christmas. In this most powerful prayer (the Mass), we are asking for blessings and graces in an awesome and overabundant way! God bless you all!