Steubenville West Youth Worship and Inspiration

Last weekend I had the privilege to be a chaperone for our Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish youth group as they attended the Steubenville West Youth Retreat in Tucson Arizona.  The event was hosted on the campus of the University of Arizona.

I went to this with a slight bit of arrogance and piety thinking I was "doing my part" as a Chaperone...but in the end I was blown away, that in fact, the youth of our Parish blessed me in their conviction and authenticity...Which has in turn strengthened my desire to drawing closer to the Lord and working harder in the exercise of my Catholic Faith! Praise be to God.  Never underestimate the inspiration of youth!!!!!

A Week of Black and White (and a little color)

This past week Diane and I have been on vacation.   We decided this year we would stay home, sleep in a bunch, and venture out on some day trips to areas around us that we always say..."gee...we need to go see that sometime...it's so close."

So our first trip on Monday was to go see Nambe Falls....unfortunately when we got there, the gate was closed and a sign said "closed 4th of July"...I guess they too were taking vacation for the week.  Bummer.

So we decided to just continue heading North to Taos and go see the Rio Grande Gorge, Taos Ski Valley, and then stroll the Taos Plaza.

I have been to the Rio Grande Gorge multiple times since I was a kid visiting it with my parents. For Diane it was her second time and Victoria her first. The bridge is one of the highest bridges in America and spans the Rio Grande River.  At the pinnacle of it's span, it rises 650 ft above the river.



While at the bridge, we took a moment to watch an incoming storm off the mountains....