May photos.

 Our May has been quite the busy month. Coming off Easter break and my trip to Istanbul, Andrew and I had papers to write, Andrew's thesis, and final school activities to attend to. I tried my best to leave my studies/music planning for after bedtime to make sure our boys got enough Mama attention. We have been blessed with the best girls for babysitters, but focused attentive parents is still required! Michael and Dominic have been the best troopers this semester and are becoming best buds, and partners in crime...

 Afternoon walk through fields adjacent to Trumau. The boys like to find walking sticks to carry on their adventures. Dominic always imitates Michael in whatever manly things Michael does; its quite cute.

I thought I had spotted rows of lilac bushes - sure enough!

 Little boy blue on a rainy Sunday walk to Mass.

Birthday dinner for our Chinese friend, Annemarie. 

 The sun's out! Let's go to the sandbox!

 Casual lunchtime eating or...gymnastics?

 Dominic is learning how to smile for selfie shots, but he still thinks he is supposed to make a face.

 I'm just glad that little face is still nursing. They grow too fast...

 Mama's helpers.

 Michael has been enjoying some sticker pages Nana sent him.

Doesn't everyone enjoy cooking dinner with a teething baby on her back?

 Dominic has been enjoying trying on people's shoes, but he doesn't make it far.

"Mama, help me! I have soap in my eye!" Hmm, I wonder how it got there?

 

 One Sunday, Andrew's graduating class was invited by one of their teachers, Pater Rupert, to come to Mass and dinner at his Dominican priory in Vienna.

 The Dominican priory courtyard.

 The students cooked dinner under the direction of Meixia, a student from China.

 Too many cooks in the kitchen?

 Some students serenaded Pater Rupert after dinner, including Andrew who sang an aria, but of course I don't have a picture of that to share - if you haven't noticed, Andrew is not one to take pictures of himself.

 Fr. Joseph, an ITI teacher from Ukraine, also joined them. We are so very sad to lose these two wonderful priests this school year!

 On the last Sunday of May, we had a little Marian crowning out in the housing courtyard.

 Pater Thomas blessed the crown.

 Winter Biffert crowned Our Blessed Mother!

 Prayers, the Gospel, and songs to Mary.

 

"The mood of springtime informs the church's interior; nature's
blossoming, the warm air of May evenings, human gladness in
a world that is renewing itself -- all these things enter in.
Veneration of Mary has its place in this very particular
atmosphere, for she, the Virgin, shows us faith under its
youthful aspect, as God's new beginning in a world that has
grown old. In her we see the Christian life set forth as a youth-
fulness of the heart, as beauty and a waiting readiness for
what is to come."
-- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which is Above

 The little boys are happy Papa is almost done with final exams!

 

Never enough kisses.

 Alright, we're embarking on the busiest week of the year - graduation week! Andrew has his last final tomorrow, Monday, we have a goodbye party for leaving professors on Tuesday, I have choir recording and a concert on Wednesday, Corpus Christi with the choir at the Trumau parish on Thursday, graduation rehearsal on Friday morning, then the big graduation Mass with our Cardinal and the ceremony on Saturday - then done!! And we have another adventure coming up.... pray for us, and we'll be in touch soon!