Happy All Hallows Eve! Did you know that the word Halloween itself is a shortened form of "All Hallows Eve," the day before All Saints Day?  

Here are two articles that have some great Halloween History that I wanted to link to for my own reference and to share with my readers:

How Halloween Can Be Redeemed

The Catholic Defender: Halloween




And here's how our family celebrated All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day last year:

All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day Celebrations 


 



 

I first heard of "Reformation Day" a few years ago.  I didn't know exactly what it was, but my initial thought when I first heard of it was a feeling of sadness since I gradually realized that "Reformation Day" is a day people celebrate being in protest against Christ's one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. 

But, do those who celebrate "Reformation Day" and Luther's separation from the Catholic Church really know what he was against and what doctrines of Catholicism he agreed with?   Below is a post written by Tiffany at Catholic Sistas, who was once a Baptist and converted to the Catholic faith in 2009, that clears up some misunderstandings Catholics and non-Catholics alike may have about Reformation Day.   

I hope this post, written so beautifully by Tiffany, will give all of us a deeper understanding of Church history.


Click title of post below to read: 

Reformation Day: What the Original Protestant actually Taught


 

11 years ago today, our bouncing baby boy blessed our family, friends, and all those he meets with his adorable personality, beautiful smile, his dark curly hair, and above all the special way he nurtures and loves all of God's creations!  I found some of my favorite pictures of our son from the past when flipping through our photo albums:

This is so fun to watch!  It's about 9 minutes long and even though I didn't recognize all the video games they featured, it's awesome!  I especially liked what the Ohio State Band made starting at  minute 6...Wow!   Enjoy!  

See Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds HERE
See Fall Family Vacation: Part Two: World of Coca-Cola HERE

After visiting the World of Coca-Cola on Monday afternoon, we walked around downtown Atlanta and went to the Olympic Park where the 1996 Olympic Games took place.  The kids loved running in the big open grassy area surrounded by all the tall city buildings and we snapped some pictures of our visit.

There was a fountain with the 5 Olympic rings designed on the pavement and the water would randomly shoot up around the rings.  The kids loved dashing in and out of the rings trying to avoid getting soaked.  Only one of our daughters got really wet.

On Tuesday, Sept. 25 we went to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world!

We saw so many fascinating sea creatures and we were able to take in a dolphin show which was amazing!  I couldn't take pictures during the dolphin show or video, however. 

See Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds HERE

See Fall Family Vacation: Part Three: Georgia Aquarium HERE 

Then after Carowinds we headed to Atlanta on Monday to visit the World of Coca-Cola. Our hotel room was a few blocks from here so we walked to World of Coke on Monday afternoon and it was alot of fun.  Anything and everything you want to know about Coke is in this place!