Happy Birthday/First Communion!!

The weekend was a celebration of Tanner's birthday as well as Sierra's first Communion so as usual, the Winges and Lorentzs did it up right. We headed to Jeff City through biblical downpours on Saturday. Per Denene and Dave's suggestions, we stopped in Columbia and had lunch at gourmet deli Pickleman's. They have delicious sandwiches as evidenced by the Buffalo Chicken I had and the Asiago Chicken Keith had. Met up with the family that night in downtown Jeff City at Greek pizzeria Arris. They have several excellent combinations for their pizzas; all named after various Greek deities. We had the Achilles and the Hercules along with the best Greek salad I've had yet as well as some luscious baklava.

The official celebration occurred on Sunday. Miss Sierra's first Communion was at the kid's Catholic School and our girl was a radiant angel. This event was also poignant for me as the first time I came to Jeff City for an extended family event was for Sierra's christening....so here we are celebrating another milestone for our girl. She's pictured with the other children experiencing their first Communion as well as her brother Tanner and her cousin Kaitlyn. I admit, despite my ten-year affiliation with this family, I'm still relatively naive concerning Catholic tradition. I wasn't sure what to wear or what an appropriate gift was for a first Communion. I asked if it was ok if I just sat there and did nothing to which Keith thought I should try to participate. I stood at the right times, didn't have to kneel as we were in the back of the church and didn't embarrass myself.....unlike the Catholic funeral I attended last year. At a quiet, reflective moment in that particular service, the priest burst forth in song:"BeeeHOLLLLLD THE MEEESTERIEEES OF LIFFFEEE!!!!" and it was so loud and startling that I got the giggles and I couldn't get them under control. Yeah...at a funeral. This time, I was just relieved that when the priest slung the holy water my way, it didn't sizzle on contact.

We retired afterwards to Kim and Dave's house for the party for Tanner's birthday and the first Communion "afterparty" where we were joined by Keith's cousin Jill(Sierra's godparent),her husband Chris and their kids as well as cousin Rhonda(Tanner's godparent), her husband Brett and daughter Morgan. Dave grilled some burgers and dogs and served those with pasta salad and some awesome spicy baked beans. The kids opened their gifts and we had cake and ice cream. The cake was the first Happy Birthday/First Communion cake I'd seen. Shortly after noon, I'd sipped on one homemade wine and was soon sampling two of Dave's homemade beers, one German and one chocolate, both of which I liked. Sipping(although not with wine) was the activity of the moment as demonstrated by Jill's youngest daughter Lindsay in the video below.

It was a great weekend all told. Some of the Catholic traditions may confound me but the family celebrations are always a good time....