May 3, 2009 was the day Brendan made his First Communion. He had been attending Faith Formation on Monday evenings since October at St. Roberts of Newminster, our new parish since moving to the Grand Rapids area. It is a beautiful church, right up the street from our rental in Ada, MI. Even more exciting since Brendan making his First Communion, was learning that we will be getting Fr. Len from St. Mary's in Spring Lake as our new priest in June! If you can remember, I attended St. Mary's from 6th through 8th grade as well as Brendan going there for kindergarten. So we are familiar with him and very much looking forward to him transitioning to our parish.



The mass was done very nicely, with the children sitting together in the first five rows. The parents were then in reserved seats behind them and we were able to follow Brendan up to the altar where he received his first eucharist from Fr. Lou. I think I ended up being more nervous than B, and a bit pre-occuopied making sure I got a few pictures! After the kids are done receiving their communion, we are supposed to get ours off to the side by another catechist... Rob had to remind me as I stood there looking unsure of what to do next. Only me!



Brendan didn't quite like the taste... as you can tell!




Fr. Lou was gracious and told the parents he would stay as long as he was needed... considering there were 75, count 'em, 75 communicants that day who would be wanting there photographs taken with him. Fortunately we snuck right up to the altar, making for a quick and painless process for us!





The day was beautiful! We were worried the rainy weather from earlier in the week would stick around, but thankfully the sun was shining brightly on this special day for Brendan. Here we are outside St. Roberts after the ceremony on a bench that sits along the walking path to the front entrance of the new church.






Brendan was very thankful for all the gifts he received!

He made a deposit into his savings account that week, making for a nice increase of funds. ;D











We ended the day with some yummy cake from Forest Hills Foods. They made delicious cupcakes and cakes, with absolutely delicious frosting. I am not usually one to eat the frosting, but on this cake... everyone makes an acception.

Brendan's First Communion went wonderfully and we couldn't be more thankful that he had such a great experience taking that step in his spiritual life. Now we hope to continue his appreciation of his Faith, and building his relationship with God.

Here's a little treat, with the kids singing a special song they worked on all year for this day!