A little introduction

I thought now might be a good time to tell you a bit more about my family! It occurred to me as I was posting about our Family Photo Christmas Tree Ornaments, that I haven’t properly introduced you to my better half and our seven (!) children. Buckle up! This is going to be a rapid fire 19 year history of our family, complete with less than quality photos.

Let’s start at the very beginning. After all, it’s a very good place to start!

James and I got married on June 21, 2003, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. I was a teacher at the parish school, and so we had a big “church wedding,” complete with students and their families, and many guests from near and far.

Our reception was at Woodlawn Plantation, the historic home given to Nelly Custis by her step-grandfather, George Washington. The Plantation and home were a gift to Nelly and her new husband, Washington’s nephew, Lawrence Lewis. Click on the Woodlawn Plantation link to see photos of the incredible home and grounds we got to enjoy for our reception!

Here’s a great photo of my parents and siblings from our wedding day. I’m the youngest of seven children.

After a honeymoon in Grenada, in the Caribbean, we moved into a little rental house, a 1940’s brick bungalow in McLean, Virginia. It was such a sweet little house. Eight months later, we were expecting our first born, David Joseph.

What a clueless couple of youngsters! Ah, the glory days.

Lucy Katherine was born twenty months later. When she was six weeks old, we moved into our friends’ beautiful 100 year old farm house on about an acre. We rented the house from them while they were working overseas and enjoyed having so much more space for our little ones to explore and play.

Stephen Timothy was born twenty months after Lucy. When Stephen was eight months old, we purchased our first home.

One year and 11 months later, Mary Clare Therese joined the crew.

Then, three years later, just five days after renewing our vows on our Tenth Wedding Anniversary, Jane Frances entered the world.

Just before Jane turned three, we moved our family here to Carmel, Indiana, but that’s another story for another blog post.

The year all five of our children were in one grade school, I found out I was expecting Anne Bernadette.

We traveled to France as a family during that pregnancy. What an adventure that was!

Anne Bernadette joined the family in September, 2019.

During the pandemic, we were quarantined for the two weeks before the kids’ two week Christmas Break. In other words, all eight of us were at home, with baby number seven in utero, for a month. Let’s just say things were feeling a bit crowded. When we found out that a bigger house with land, a pond, and a chicken coop, within walking distance to our church and grade school was on the market, we started staging our house. We also started praying with all of our might. God opened the door, once again, all we had to do was trust! We moved into our new home, and two weeks later, Karoline Elise was born!

I look in wonder at these photos, wonder at God’s incredible plan, and how I never could have dreamed it up myself. It truly amazes me that in a little less than two decades, James and I have built this life together. It hasn’t been easy all the time, but it hasn’t always been difficult either. The joys and the sorrows usually go hand in hand, especially when we’ve had to say good-bye to friends and family members over the years. But we have each other, and God’s love behind us all. It’s a wonderful life!

You can imagine that starting my business, Quite Contrary Events, and juggling all that having a big family entails, has been a big of a challenge, but so worth it! I am really, really happy that we made the decision to take the leap, and I appreciate the patience of my family as I pursue this dream of mine!