The Story of Valentine's Day

In the days of ancient Rome, the fourteenth day of February was a pagan holiday which honored Juno. Juno was the queen of the Roman gods as well as the goddess of women and marriage. The next day, the fifteenth, was the first day of the Festival of Lupercalia. This festival honored Juno and Pan who were two Roman gods. Fertility rituals were held on this day. On the night before the festival started,it was customary for the names of the Roman girls to be written on slips of paper. These slips were then placed in a container and then each boy drew a name of the girl who he would be coupled with for the entire Lupercalia festival.

Rome was under the authority of Emperor Claudius the Second, and he was a vicious warrior, not to mention the fact that he was insane. His armies lacked the sufficient number of soldiers it needed, and Claudius could not figure out why more young men didn’t want to go to battle. Finally, he determined that the young men didn’t want to leave their wives, families and girlfriends. In order to remedy this, the Emperor instituted a new law and canceled all of the marriages and engagements in Rome.

In the meantime, there lived a priest in Rome by the name of Valentine. He did not believe in the Emperor’s new law, and he refused to abide by it. He continued to perform wedding ceremonies in secret. He lived in constant fear that he would be caught by Emperor Claudius’ soldiers, but he persisted in doing what he knew was right. Finally, the day did come when Bishop Valentine was caught uniting a man and a woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. The soldiers dragged him to stand before Emperor Claudius’ throne. The Emperor condemned the Bishop to be put to death for his violation of the law.

While the priest was imprisoned, waiting for his execution, many young couples threw notes of thanks along with flowers and other gifts into the window of his cell. Finally, the day arrived when Bishop Valentine was scheduled to die. It was the fourteenth of February in the year of 270 AD. While he was waiting for the soldiers to come and drag him away, Bishop Valentine composed a note which he signed, “From Your Valentine.”

Finally, in the year 496 AD, Pope Gelasius did away with the pagan festival of Lupercalia, citing that it was pagan and immoral. He then chose Bishop Valentine as the patron saint of lovers, who would be honored at the new festival on the fourteenth of every February.

Over the years, Valentine’s Day has evolved into a holiday when gifts, cards, flowers and candy are given to the ones we love or would like to start a relationship with. And it is all because of a brave, righteous man named Valentine.

Belated Happy New Year!

May you reach everything you strive for this new year and always!!


(And may your new year's resolutions last longer than this tower, which toppled just nanoseconds after I snapped the picture!)

Merry Christmas!!

Ever since I first bundled up 8-day-old Amy for Christmas morning Mass, I've been enchanted by the concept of Christ-born-as-a-baby. Sure, I'd always had a vague notion that God had made himself "more approachable" by becoming small and helpless. But until I had my own little ones, the Christ-child remained a fuzzy concept of a fluffy bundle waiting patiently to be discovered and worshiped.

Then I got a taste of real-baby-ness. And it looks like this:


And this:


And this:


I could take these pictures all day long, people! Once the magnetic pull of those big, blue eyes gets me in it's grasp its really hard to get away... And when he starts throwing smiles in, too? I'm gone, folks! Even his cries tug at my heartstrings...

God is smart. If the baby Jesus was half this cute, all he had to do was open his big eyes, flash a couple toothless grins and all the women in town would line up to sign up. Who can not kneel at those feet, after all? They are just begging to be kissed, cooed at, and played piggies on!



Here, as you can see, Amy has already been bitten by the baby Jesus love-bug! A pacifier for Jesus today; the rest of her heart tomorrow... God knew what he was doin' when he sent his son as a baby!

Merry Christmas!!

Baptism Celebration!

In early December we celebrated Alexander's baptism (although the baptism itself had been almost a month earlier)...

We enjoyed with a delicious dinner & baptism cake...

And Alex's Godmother, Leah, flew all the way from Minnesota to celebrate with us!


There was much hugging and snuggling of Alex, playing with Amy, and fun had by all!

A few Thanksgiving memories...

A delicious Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house!


Alex relaxed in his bouncy seat and waved his little arms around in the direction of his toys and checkered fabric!


Amy and Grandpa!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from me and Eric and our two biggest blessings...

Blessing # 1, who apparently loves turkey, mashed potatoes, and... whipped cream by the spoonful!

And blessing #2 who knows just what to do after a big meal!

"I Claim You For Christ!"

More pictures of our newly baptized little one to follow soon...

Easter Fun

Click here for an Easter party activity that looks truly amazing -- and not just because the blogger on this page took some breathtaking photos of her project! I wish we could get a group of family and friends together for this game on Easter afternoon. But a little voice in the back of my head is telling me that Amy and all of her friends are still too young to enjoy the slightly-complicated rules. Maybe in a handful of years...

Meanwhile, Amy and I are working on crayon-colored paper Easter eggs and boiled eggs colored with melted crayon chips (I'm excited about using all those broken crayola pieces I have been picking up for the past several months!) Pictures of said eggs to come once we finish...

Blessed Holy Week & Happy Easter!

Happy Valentines Day!

Merry Christmas!

A few Christmas pictures!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, all! I thought about listing all the things I'm thankful for this year, but I gave up before I even started because the list would just be too, too long. I'm especially thankful, though, for this guy
(the guy in the foreground, that is... I have no idea who those other people are...)

...and this girl...

... and for my dear extended family & friends. I have been blessed above-and-beyond by you all!

Wishing this many -- and even more! -- blessings for all of us for the upcoming year!

'Tis [Not] The Season

I know, I know. It's not Christmas and it's doesn't even feel like Fall yet. But it cooled off enough last night that this morning I dressed Amy up in the cute new hat that Aunt Debbie and Uncle Don gave her.* A little growing room left as you can see... it should be a perfect fit by Christmas!







* Pictures from our recent double-vacation coming soon!

A Belated Happy 4th!

Happy Birthday...

...to my wonderful man!

Here's to another great year!

To Grandmother's (and Grandpa's!) House We Go...

Amy's been having a blast these last couple weeks, here at my parents' house. When she's not busy exploring her new surroundings, trying to sit up, or making all kinds of new sounds, she's been seen...


helping Grandma "tap" the watermelon to make sure it's ripe...


reaching excitedly for my parents' dog (notice the small, black snout peeping through the baby gate!)...


and getting a ride in the swing...

When the days are done, she sleeps well!

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!



Happy Easter from all of us at the Cozy Holt!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the Cozy Holt!


A day filled with cooking...


Baking...


Video recording...


And family!

Peace!

The Catholic Church celebrates Easter for 50 days... and so, it seems, does our Easter Peace Lily. Joyce and Jim sent us this plant just in time for Easter Day. But instead of flowers that wilt and fade a few days after the holiday, our lovely plant has continued to sprout bud after bud. In fact now -- five weeks after Easter -- it looks more alive and vibrant than on the day it arrived! We partly attribute this to watering, and partly to just the right amount of sunlight. (Apparently Peace Lilies thrive and bloom best with plenty of water and the tiniest bit of indirect sunlight.) The corner of our bedroom seems to be the perfect place, as you can see... enjoy the pictures!

Christ Is Risen!

Spring Break in Indiana

Last week Eric and I packed up our car and drove out to southern Indiana, on a week-long road trip to visit family and friends.  It was a fabulous time and we hope ya'll enjoy the pictures!

Unfortunately, not pictured are our visits with the grandparents... our evening with Johnathan, Jill, and Emma... and our afternoon lurching along in Susie's car as Norman taught Eric and I to drive a stick-shift.  I really regret not bringing along the camera for all of these!!  

Stay tuned, though -- pictures of Stephen and Megan's precious new baby, Monica should be arriving soon...

Arby's at the park with Norman and Susie, on a gorgeous Indiana spring day!


Eric looking over cars with his Dad in the garage...



An old-fashioned mill not far from Shoals -- isn't it huge?!  Right across the road is the historic log cabin where Abraham Lincoln's future-wife lived as a child.  The little home looked so cute I couldn't help wishing we lived in it...



Eric and I by a lovely lake. (Not pictured are all the amazing fossils among these rocks! Apparently local Indians once used the fossils for jewelry... )


Joyce and Jim not far from the lake, after a long hike through the shady woods...



Eric and I standing in Indiana, with Kentucky in the background!


Drina, John, and little Maria met us for dinner -- here's the beautiful family by the Ohio River.


Driving into the sunset and towards home!