Flos et Terra

29/10/2025

Autumn in all its painful beauty.

12/09/2025

More of this… Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us! And may God have mercy on us.

08/09/2025

End of summer… and I’m not quite ready!

18/08/2025

What an amazing evening - the torchlight Rosary procession was a magical highlight of our time here in Lourdes. To see thousands upon thousands of faithful, from countries all over the world, come together in unity in the body of Christ was an experience we won’t forget. The Rosary was represented in many languages over loud speakers, and many responded in the unifying language of Latin. We all prayed the same words in the same or different languages, but all of us spoke with one voice: expressing our awe in the Lord and our love and respect for His mother (and our own), Mary. C’est magnifique!

14/08/2025

Spotted this statue in a shop window. It’s a good thing (in this case) that all the shops in Paris are closed for summer holidays because I would have been tempted to purchase it. Hahahahaha. Dreams!

14/08/2025

Our oldest is now 18. Reflecting on the last 18 years conjures up myriad emotions, which cannot be expressed on IG. There have been sorrows and joys; countless memories that shaped us both. She made me a momma, she urged and inspired me to finally get baptized, she keeps me very honest. I’m so blessed to have her in my life.

Here we are in France on a pilgrimage together: Paris c’est fantastique, and now we are off to Lourdes!

09/08/2025

21/11/2024

We could see Mt. Fuji from Matsumoto, but we also saw that it had a ring of clouds circling it with its peak poking out. We thought maybe we wouldn’t get to see it. As we drove the two hours there, I felt in my heart we’d get to see it despite the clouds. As we drove to a special vista point (through a very crowded street) I could see that the clouds had a break. Just as we parked a couple began running to the point (then we did, as well!) We were blessed to see it for the 15 minutes it showed itself: a memorable moment for all!

18/11/2024

Goodbye Tokyo - we loved you! We ate our meals off the beaten path and discovered how friendly the locals are. Big cities usually aren’t our thing, but we could do tight-squeeze living in Tokyo! (Well, most of us.)

11/11/2024

He told me he’d been dreaming of fishing in Bali after watching a YouTube video when he was 9 or 10. I had no idea about it; he got lucky. Maybe we will have mahi-mahi for dinner tonight!

15/11/2022

Back at the beach. The beach always elicits so much joy from children. And doesn’t he look like his older brother, “just a little bit”?