Christmas Cheer!

We had the CEE Christmas party this weekend! We missed those of you who missed it, but man, we had a great time! Awesome turn out, great BBQ, tasty drinks and a fabulous fire. Lots of great belly laughs, just what we need during this stressful time! The gift exchange was so much fun! We hope the energy and cheer continues into the new year for our ministry. Merry Christmas!

Lots of stealing in the White Elephant gift exchange!

So much fun with these folks!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

We don't have a CEE weekend in September, but we did have an enrichment and gathering. We had a pretty good turn out and did Publix fried and rotisserie chickens. Can't go wrong there! We keep this neat book in our car for road trips. So we asked the group the questions at the end. That was neat! The October weekend was gorgeous. The dream team did so well with the 12 couples.

So neat watching the couples!

The October Dream Team! Pendletons, Hutchinsons, Cooks & Fr. Ed

For our November gathering we had a few crockpots of chili. Perfect night! We got shirts for the dream team to wear on the Friday night of a weekend (or when ever). We are hoping to put in another order, so let us know if you'd like a shirt or another one. The ministry will pay a portion of your first shirt. They look great! Great job on getting those done, Oehmanns!

Just a pic of our meeting spot these days, with this cool sign that a community in Tampa sent us.

Yay for the November dream team! The Yazdiyas went to shadow and write talks. We roped them into doing BTS while they were there ;-). This was the first time the Flahertys were kid-free. Wooo whooo! With some last minute changes, there was a total of 16 couples! Awesome! Too windy for a bonfire but the weekend went very well. We're still waiting on pictures (ah-hem), especially of the new shirts!

Eating, Drinking and Being Married

Five couples from our group made the trip to New Orleans for the Catholic Engaged Encounter National Convention. We had a great time together! Friday evening the convention kicked off with a talk by Paul Ceasar and Darryl Ducote, from the liturgical group, the Dameans. We did a group rosary and had an awards ceremony. It was neat to see so many people from all over the world at the convention! We met friends from Singapore, Mexico and Canada! The next morning was mass and then a neat talk by Tommy C, known for his char-grilled oysters. I love how the family of employees has breakfast together each morning. That's pretty neat! My favorite speaker was Fr. Alello who talked about upping our prayer life. We broke out in smaller groups for the next few speakers. The Andersons and us listened to Mike Gragin who gave a neat, hands-on presentation on using a groups strengths to better the program. Here is his handout to identify your strengths. After lunch, we heard Fr. Palermo talk about keeping God at the center of our marriage. We had a District 3 meeting. We met friends from our region. Then, we had some hurricanes (and shots) to keep the conversation flowing! Later, we had a vow renewal and then a wedding reception. That was awesome!
On Sunday there were closing remarks. We learned the next National Convention will be in 2018 in Nebraska! We closed with a mass. We are so blessed to have such a committed ministry!

We just re-newed our vows- feeling all the love!

Posing for pics!

The Oehmans, Perezes, Andersons, Venturas and Bravos

Let's not forget about our August weekend! We had 17 couples share a gorgeous weekend preparing for their marriages. The Yazdiyas came to shadow the weekend and will start writing their talks. The following weekend we had our monthly gathering and enrichment. We did a pizza party and had a great turn out. Our new friends the Hoggatts came and even signed up to do BTS for a future weekend. Yay! 

The August Dream Team! Venturas (Mike was running errands), Bravos, Fr. Tom, Yazdiyas and Pendletons!

Feelin' Hot! Hot! Hot!

Summer lovin' doesn't slow down with this crowd! We had a June gathering and enrichment. We were booted to the school cafeteria. Not as nice as the usual parish center but the babysitters took the kids on the playground and that worked really well. We did a sandwich bar. It was a small crowd but that was kina nice because we really got to talk and catch up.

Ladies selfie at the June meeting (bunny ears by Phil- he was jealous to not be included)

We had 19 couples complete the June weekend! Fr. Bernie, the Gibsons and Oehmanns presented with the Perezes behind the scenes. They took some awesome shots from this amazing weekend!

What an awesome crowd for the June weekend!

Everyone loves the red card/green card game!

Master bell ringer!

The florist at Publix blessed us with some extra roses. They felt they were meant to honor Our Lady

The June Dream Team!

 We had the July pool party this weekend. The Cooks hosted us at their fabulous neighborhood pool. When we got back in the car it was 107 degrees outside! Super hot day, but we can't imagine doing anything else! We grilled burgers and dogs and enjoyed a delicious spread. We're moving and shaking this summer! The Gibsons are working with two new B couples to write talks! Yay! Stay tuned for updates! We're gearing up for the National Convention next month. Happy Summer! Keep your marriage sizzlin!

Awesome spread!

The coolest pool was the splash pad

The littles enjoyed the frog slide!

Keeping cool!

Catching up over lunch

Cheese!

Thanks for hosting, Cooks!

Springtime with CEE

We had an awesome March weekend with 12 couples. Fr. Luke helped with mass since it was a busy Palm Sunday weekend. We also had a new couple, the Bilellos practice for the behind the scenes job.

The Venturas presented the B talks, the Bilellos practiced BTS, the Flaharety's presented the A talks and NFP, Fr. Ed was the presenting priest and the Cooks rocked behind the scenes. Great job, March dream team!

Awesome sunset picture from the weekend

We took April off, just because it took us a month to get it together last year so we just followed suit. Also, we couldn't book the St. Matthews parish center until May. For the May weekend we had 14 couples on the weekend. Fr. Bernie was the presenting priest. The Andersons presented the B talks, the Applegates debuted their A team talks. The Bilellos supported behind the scenes and the Neaves started out with registration. It was a beautiful weekend! The following weekend we had the May gathering and enrichment. Over fried chicken we discussed convention and our summer plans. We had a great crowd! Then we did couple fun quiz. We have a few fun things coming up this summer. Take a look at the calendar to the right. We hope you're in our Facebook group, too!

District Spring Fling!

We had a fun social to welcome our District friends. Thank you Perez family for opening your gorgeous home to us. Fr. Donal said mass in their living room! Mojos catered our dinner then we had a great meeting and special Lent enrichment.

Community Mass at the Perezes

Our District friends encouraged us all to come to the National Convention August 26-28 in New Orleans! Registration is up, so don't delay. The early registration discount goes until May. If you are an active member of our community, we may throw some dollars your way to help you get to convention. Talk to us for more details.

Here are a few important pointers about the upcoming convention: 1. The hotel is giving us the same deep discount for extra nights before and after the convention. Reservations must be made by August 5. Check the hotel reservation page for a list of those dates.
2. Food: The convention will provide Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday and Breakfast on Sunday. Breakfasts will be a grab-and-go provided in the Hospitality Suites, lunch will be a boxed lunch provided by the hotel.
3. Attractions: New Orleans has much to offer people of all ages. The World War II Museum is a world class museum and is not to be missed. The hotel is just blocks away from Historic St. Louis Cathedral which is celebrating the Jubilee year of Mercy. If you have little ones, New Orleans has lots to offer them too!! The Aquarium and Insectarium are both a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The street cars are a quick way to ride through and get a look at the city. There are also horse and buggy tours available. Check out the attractions that New Orleans has to offer.
4. Dining: The hotel is very close to so many French Quarter restaurants. During August, you can take advantage of COOLinary Days where local restaurants offer great prices on prix-fixe meals. Check out 2015 menus now as a reference. Also, Café Du Monde (beignets) is about a mile from the hotel, but there are also 2 Café Beignets which are both 0.2 miles from the hotel.
5. Childcare is available during the convention but will be limited to 50 kids (ages 1-12) and 10 helpers (13 and over). If childcare could be a limiting factor, please register early. Knowing the ages of the kids coming will help us make plans.
6. If you are driving in, don’t forget to look into parking. You can reserve a spot at a cheaper lot, but must do so in advance.
7. This summer we will be sending out confirmation letters via email. More info will be given on childcare, t-shirts and lunch choices at that time.

Important Dates
Early Bird discount for Registration and for childcare Ends May 31
Last Day to get EE discounted hotel room
August 5 (at 5pm CDT)

Recommended Parking Reservations dates
August 15-26

Friday Enrichment
Aug 26, 9-noon
Convention Dates August 26-28

Please keep in mind the heat while visiting New Orleans in August. Bring a bottle for water, sunglasses, sunscreen and even an umbrella if you plan on exploring this great city! Please don’t forget to encourage family and friends to donate here to help keep our registration cost down!

Keeping that Romanic Fire Going this Winter

We've had two CEE weekends and an enrichment so far this year. Things are going well in our community! At the January weekend, the Venturas came to the rescue to help behind the scenes. The Applegates came for the second half to view the weekend and work on their talks. The Gibsons and Hutchinsons presented with Fr. Ed and the Johnsons helped with registration again. We had 16 couples complete the weekend. It was very spiritual and full of love! So much romantic fire that the bell broke!
At our enrichment gathering we had a few new couples from St. Matthews join us! We're excited to get them involved! We did a salad bar to help support all those new years resolutions. We did a neat enrichment activity focusing on communication.
Last weekend we presented at the February weekend with the Andersons and Fr. Donal. The Hotchsteins rocked it as a new BTS couple and even helped cover registration when the Toros ran late. We had a neat group with 15 couples. Lots of laughing and much needed life-giving reminders. This Florida winter isn't keeping us down!

The February Dream Team! (Missing Lydia and Fr. Donal)