We had our annual Traditional Family Weekend in July. Friday of the Family Weekend was supposed to be a soccer match, bonfire, singing and a rosary procession at our parish grounds. But the temperature soared to over 100 degrees so we moved everything to the hall we had booked for Saturday.

The children played in a train area that was set up, the diehards still went outside and played volleyball, we were able to have the singing and the rosary procession as it cooled off a bit and then live music and games.

Besides Friday being moved, the rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. Saturday was the conferences by Father Berg, Games and the Talent Show. Sunday was a breakfast sponsored by our Traditional Knights of Columbus (with all proceeds going to our Kansas for Life Association) and then sports in the park. Thankfully, it had cooled down enough that many showed up for that and ended the weekend with a lot of fun!

I have the videos of some of the Talent Show Acts on Google Drive. The links are posted below if you wish to view them…

These first two are the Fife and Drum Act: Link here and here.     

The Juggling Act with son, Angelo and grandson, Brendan: Link here.

A Mexican Dance: Link here.

Goin’ Courtin’ with daughter, Rosie, Son, Angelo and grandsons Edward, Antonio, Benjamin, Johnny, Nathaniel: Link here.

(Disclaimer: This Act doesn’t necessarily reflect the courtship rules at the VanderPutten household… 😉 )

Irish Music by the McCune Family: Link here.

Whistle a Happy Tune with Father Eichman, Rosie, Hannah, Gemma: Link here.

The Egg: Link here.

The Last Goodbye with the Porter Family: Link here.

The Pony Man Song: Link here.

Ode to a Hero, where Rosie, Hannah and Gemma chide our good parish priest….with Father Eichman’s great talent on the piano: Link here.

Under the Bamboo Tree with daughter, Gemma and Granddaughters, Emma and Juliette: Link here.

Wonderful Violin and Piano Piece with Luis and Raul. Link here.

Below is a gallery of the Family Weekend:

Sometimes it’s hard to live a joyful, Catholic life in an un-Catholic world. That’s when you reach out and bring Catholic Culture to your own little world!

And that’s what we did years ago when we had our first Traditional Family Weekend. Yes, it’s been 15 years, we have had our bumps and made our mistakes but we have seen very good fruit come from these weekends. Couples have met, families have interacted, good times have been had, our souls have been nourished.

Here are some pictures and videos (look for the videos underneath the gallery), of our Family Weekend this year in June. It was very hot but it didn’t stop the young people from playing volleyball outside, doing water balloons and playing soccer!

We were blessed this year to have Fr. VanderPutten with us from Nigeria. We had not seen him for a couple years….last year he spent his vacation in Fatima for the 100th Anniversary of the apparitions. So it was great to have him! He always adds spice to wherever he goes. He brought his Nigerian friend, Edwin Mary Akadu, who stayed with us for the week they were here. We got to know him well and grew to love this holy, African man.

Below is the gallery, click on the first picture to view, then look for the videos underneath the gallery…

Below are some pictures of the Talent Show. Father Kodet, who has been with us for three years, will be leaving us soon to bless another parish with his winning and fatherly ways! He was always willing to spread the love of Christ to others….and often had his concertina in the back seat of his car to pull out and entertain those around him. Here is a video of Father playing at the Talent Show.

 

What a pleasure to have these young men perform! The kids loved the vibrant sounds of the fife and drum!

 

 

Hannah and Gemma are up to their antics again as they assure people that life is not perfect at the VanderPutten home….hehe

 

Wow! Skillful drums!! Take a look!

 

The girls practiced this song with Ernie…a lot. They finally got it down and when they got on stage, Ernie accidentally had the capo on the wrong fret of his guitar. Threw them all off and….well, let’s just say….this is not that video. Blah.

Anyway, this is their practice of the song…

 

John and Gemma never cease to amaze us with their talents!

 

Virginia (Gin) and Rosie sing “All I Ask of You” from the Phantom of the Opera