Nicholas' First Communion

On May 14th Nicholas made his First Communion!  He has been so excited over the past year while preparing for this very special day!  It was such a blessing to have Nana, Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Mindy, Cousins Sandy, Carol, Matthew and Kristin, Cousins Kevin and Kristina and Chris and Christy with their kids, plus many local friends join us in witnessing such a monumental day in Nicholas' life.  The afternoon mass at Saint Peter Chanel was just lovely, and Monsignor's homily, tying in Our Lady of Fatima's 100th anniversary, was spot on!  When it came time for communion, Shawn and I were able to formally present Nicholas to Monsignor and receive communion along with  him.  It was so beautiful!  How thankful we are for our faith, our freedom to practice it here in our country safely, and for our wonderful family, friends and parish community who all help provide the love and support for our son's growth!   God bless you Nicholas!  May Christ's real presence in your life through the Eucharist, be your source of strength, guidance, and peace,  now and always!

Our parish had about 150 children receiving their first communion over 3 special masses on the weekend.  This was the group picture of all those at his mass.  Many of Nicholas' good friends were here with him.

Celebrating at the cookie reception afterward with his sweet little friend, Julianne.

With his one of his teachers, Mrs. Sullivan.

Nana is so happy for you Nicholas!

With Monsignor and his godmother, Aunt Mindy.

With cousins Chris, Christy, Carter & Collin

Congrats from the cousins Kevin, Kristina, Gianna, Theresa, Elizabeth, and Chiara.

So great cousins Carol, Sandy, Matthew and Kristin could be there!

With his Godmother, Aunt Mindy...it was so very special she was able to fly in from KC to be here for Nicholas! 

Blessing cup time at the reception afterward in our home.  The Nicolosi and Boyle families also joined us here to celebrate.

The BBQ feast

It happened to also be Mother's Day!!!  How special to be with Mom on this day for the first time in a long while.  So special Shawn's Mom was also here, and so bummed we did not get a picture of the 2 of them!

A very nice Bible from Aunt Mindy

A scapular and some books from Grandma and Grandpa

The Friday following Nicholas' First Communion Day, the Queen of Angels school mass is dedicated to the First  Communicants.  Because we are an archdiocean school, and the children each make their first communion with their respective parishes, not all the classmates necessarily get to celebrate together, even though as a second grade class, they have done all their preparations for the sacraments together.  So it is so nice that the school holds this special school mass for them!  They processed in with their first communion clothes and all had special roles in the mass.  This was actually Nicholas' "second" communion.

Nicholas read the first reading.

Queen of Angels second grade.

A special reception is held at the school after the mass.  Here he is with Mrs. Carlin, the principal.

With good friend Caroline Schoenecke.

With Nya and Maren

With Maren, Joey and Charlie

With Connor, Kaitlin and Hadley

With Caleb

With Mrs. Sullivan, his parapro

With Mrs. Henderson, his teacher.

With Joey, Caroline Schuup, Caroline Schoenecke and Julianne.

And then, after the reception, the second grade got out of school for the rest of the day and had a pool party to celebrate together!!  so fun!