This past weekend the house got a new roof.  Ian and Jason decided to surprise me with a new roof for the house.  We have had all the materials but they never seemed to get the time.  The last few downpours have been disasterous in my attic since the roof has been leaking.  So, since this was a long weekend for Jason, they decided to surprise me.

Ian was the foreman of the job.  (He does that very well.  Even bossing his father around.  Very respectfully though!!!)

All day Saturday they were up there nailing boards to hold the steel.  Our neighbors came to help and it was almost like a party.  Only mom doesn't do heights so it wasn't quite a party.  Late in the afternoon the sky opened up and we got about an inch of rain. 

Then on Sunday they were at it again.  The forecast was for more rain on Sunday night and all day on Monday so they had to get it done.  Even Mary-Kate got up on the roof and did some nailing.  She isn't bothered by the heights at all.

Jason boxed in around both chimneys.  Very fussy work but he seems to enjoy it and he must have done a good job because the foreman didn't have any complaints.

Doug and Matthew worked together to lift the sheets of steel up and onto the ladder so they could get them up onto the roof.  

The sheets aren't heavy but they are awkward. 

They worked late into the night getting most of the steel on.  Good thing too.  We got another inch of rain over night. 

Today they are working on the finishing around the chimneys and sealing the edges.  Now my attic will stay dry.  Thanks for the lovely surprise.  I appreciate it. 

I have been reflecting lately about the military.  What makes one choose the military as a career choice or even a temporary choice for what to do with one's life.  I guess this is not a surprising reflection considering my three and soon to be four sons in the military. 

First Ian decided to go into the Army.  For him a decision to avoid further formal education.  Having been his teacher for all of his life, an understandable decision.  Ian has always been a hands-on learner.  Sitting still at a desk to learn from a book was always more of a sentence to him than anything else.  He knew his goals, an income, and to learn more about his beloved engines, and he found what he thought was the most sure path to that goal.  It wasn't his fault that a war got in his way, that just added to the adventure.  Now he is home, in the guard and working and happy that the adventure is behind him.

Then there is Patrick.  For him sitting and learning from a book is a pleasure unequaled.  He is to books what a sponge is to water.  I could not provide him with enough information on any and all topics that caught his fancy.  Now the decision to go into the Army reserves to make money to continue his education seems like a logical decision.  Especially considering his family's inability to pay for a college education for him.  Certainly not the college of his choice.  But to go into the regular Army and then to re-enlist makes no sense to this mother. 

Adam, loves learning, but to sit and do it is another thing entirely.  If school could have been on wheels and outdoors and at his speed all at the same time, I would have been able to satisfy Adam.  So I guess that college would have been out of the question.  So in a sense the Navy seems to be a wise choice.  All of the adventure, movement, new sights, sounds, stimulation that Adam requires along with constant learning.  Let us hope that he ends up satisfied with the basic enlistment.  His mother misses him.

Now there's Jason, who goes to take the ASFAB on Thursday.  The Army National Guard seems to be his goal.  Why, he doesn't say.  I know that book learning isn't for him, although he is in college at this time and seems to be doing very well.  But Jason doens't like being poor and adventure certainly appeals to him and I know that a college campus so close to home is no place to get adventure.  So time will tell.

I just pray that God takes care of all of them and that they find His will for them wherever they are. 

After visiting Auriesville we drove the short distance to the state capital in Albany and visited the New York State Museum.  It has been a few years since we have been there.  Matthew and Mary-Kate were very little the last time we were there so we thought it was time to go again so they would have a memory of their state museum.

They have a large display about the events of September 11.  This picture shows a fire engine that was on sight that got damaged in the collapse of the twin towers.  It was a powerful display.

We saw skeletons of many different animals that were once alive in New York.  Very impressive.

Here is a model of one of the first snow mobiles that was used in New York.  Snowmobiling is a favorite sport in this state.

I loved looking at the bears.  When I was a girl we used to drive to the dump in the Adirondacks to see the bears.  That was something that I remember vividly from my girlhood.

This beautiful moose has many cousins still living especially in the north.

It's too bad that the carousel was not running.  I would have enjoyed a ride.  What a beautiful sight.

A 1932 Packard.  Truly a beautiful ride.

This airplane was once used in the enforcement of the laws of New York. 

We had a good time and Mary-Kate and Matthew really enjoyed themselves. 

Sunday we packed up ourselves and the car drove off into the fog to visit the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York.  The fog was an eerie addition to the day.  Mary-Kate commented that it mad picture taking difficult.  I kind of enjoyed the effect.

Here is a picture of Theresa's rosary.  They have fixed the alignment of the stones, replaced missing stones, and painted them.

Each of us entered into the spirit of the place and seemed to overcome by the atmosphere.  Was it the fog contributing to the ambience?  I don't know.  Here is the patriarch saying his rosary.

Matthew was unusually silent as well and spent the morning contemplating the statues and deep in thought.

Mary-Kate heads off into the ravine.  The fog held on there long after it had burnt off everywhere else.

Beautiful job of repainting this statue of Our Lady.  Many prayers were said for our soldiers and our own in particular.  Each spent much time in quiet contemplation of blessings received and favors desired.

Sacred Heart of Jesus keep us all in your loving and capable hands.