Summer flies by, and Beth confirms...

Hard to believe it is now past mid-July and nearly two months since my last blog post! Yet another crazy summer--crazy busy, and still crazy with dealing with the impacts of this pandemic. I am still teleworking from home for my job (even though the whole family is fully vaccinated), and I'm making the best of that less-than-ideal circumstance. Beth received the Sacrament of Confirmation today in our church (pictured above with her sponsor Gaylon Marcantel and our bishop)...more on that later...

The biggest upside so far to being in telework is that I can do that from just about anywhere, so I've been able to take a little time this summer to spend it in Wisconsin visiting my folks and working as needed while on "vacation". In mid-June, I was able to take Stephen to Rhinelander for a couple weeks there...It was only the two of us, and Hope couldn't get away from her job and Kenny and Beth were both working themselves. Below, Stephen and my dad watch their cat, Shy Anne, enjoying some extra attention:

As usual on these northern trips, I try to get some fishing in...my buddy Kevin took me out a couple times during this surprisingly hot yet still productive fishing period, helping me to land the largest bass I've ever personally caught:

I also try to help my folks around their house with minor repairs and other physical chores that they can't do themselves. For this particular trip, I replaced an old fence along their house with a new metal one identical to the one I installed for them last summer:

I also took them to a favorite place of theirs to visit and pray: the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (https://championshrine.org/) in Champion, Wisconsin (just northeast of Green Bay):

The person honored at this shrine (outside of the Virgin Mary) was a young woman named Adele Brise who had a vision of Mary and received instructions on what to do...Beth would take her confirmation name "Adele" to recognize this connection. This shrine is at about the edge of the distance my parents can travel readily on their own, so my driving them allows for them to get a more enjoyable visit and we can visit there and back again. I also treat my folks to some home cooking, such as a breakfast of freshly made scones:

While I can't claim to have baked the cake below--I did have the bakery put their names on it!--we had the joy of helping mom and dad celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary while we visited them:

Even Stephen managed to get in on some of the fishing action, with the first picture of him catching one of many panfish we caught with my brother Bob on a local lake:

A later trip with Kevin brought his first-ever largemouth bass:

Not exactly a wall-mounter (he later caught bluegills bigger than this bass!), but a new type of fish for him, which was quite the adventure! All too soon, our visit with mom and dad came to an end:

Although it wasn't quite the end of the trip entirely; we snuck in a short visit with my older sister Lisa (here joining us at a local fair in Colfax, WI, where she lives):

And we had a chance to spend the day with my younger sister Laurie and her husband Mark. Laurie took us on an adventure to some local sites, including a neat prairie/woodland and several cheese shops:

and a fabulous dinner at Mark's restaurant "Bistro 101" in Mt. Horeb, WI:

After we returned, I had a chance to donate blood, and persuaded Beth to join me for her first-ever donation:

About after a week of our returning to Monticello, Hope took Beth and Stephen up to visit her dad over the 4th of July week (I had to work, as did Kenny). Right before they left, we had a pipe under our kitchen sink fully corrode through, leading to a brief delay in their departure while I repaired the pipe:

They had a good visit in Michigan, and most of the time since their return we've been keeping busy with work and getting things ready for Beth's confirmation. Today, with the bishop coming to town, it was all-ties-on-board for the men of Bragg Family South:

Yes, Kenny even tied his own tie! (I did, too!). We started things out with a session of photographs with Diocese of Little Rock Bishop Anthony Taylor and our parish priest Father Mark Abban:

Beth had the honor of doing the first reading (you can barely read the name "Adele" on her nametag):

And Hope had the honor of herding all the cats during the mass (as St. Mark's Director of Religious Education):

The whole mass came together nicely, with Beth confirming:

and we ended up outside so Bishop Taylor could bless our church's new columbarium (place for cremated persons to be interred), which we also gathered in front of for some more pictures: