1 Way To Roast A Pig!

After living in Hawaii and now in Sierra Vista where there are many Filipinos living I have experienced many pig roasts. I have found that there are several methods to roast a pig. One way is putting it on a pole and then putting it over a fire and turns are taken to keep the pig rotating over the fire.

The latest way I have seen to roast the pig and perhaps the easiest is to buy a box like this

The charcoals are on top-the gray part you see-and the pig lays underneath on a rack.

Of course, first you must buy a pig that has already been slaughtered. The people doing this pig roast went to Wilcox, AZ to get this pig. The roast was done for our pastor, Fr. Ariel Lustan, on his recent 46th birthday.

The birthday pig was put in at 7:30am and it was done by 12:50pm.Before 7:30am it was filled with spices, banana leaves,onions and other items I wasn't quite sure what they were.

Here is a picture of the pig fully roasted.

Carefully lifting the roasted pig out.

What a pretty face. It looks shocked!

Eager to cut into Mr. Pig!

 It was flipped over to show the charred side, which are the banana leaves holding in the spices, onions and other things I couldn't identify. Notice the tail is still intact. It is a tasty part of the pig that is chewed on and enjoyed. 

 

 

The main chef gets the tail!

 

 

 

 

All help to carve it up and sample it as the process goes along.

The skin of the pig was very delicious and enjoyed by all. It is crispy with a thin layer of fat.

The meal followed with all kinds of Filipino dishes to go with Mr. Pig. A great feast for a birthday!

Celebrating Father A's 46th Birthday!

Our parish secretary usually plans the parish celebration for our pastor's birthday. She was going to be on vacation that week and she asked if I would take care of the party. I said sure-it just meant putting an ad in the bulletin for a potluck, ordering the cake and putting out the gift basket. I knew I could get some school parents to help serve it. I asked a friend and parishioner to help me out. Well, it was much more than I bargained for and the crowd overflowed to the outside patios of our parish hall.

We had two serving lines and every table including our school lunch tables and picnic tables were used. It was a mob of people!!

People filled the balcony!

 Entertainment was next on the agenda!
The Filipino teen dancers were up first and then my school choir!
We opened with "Take Me Out To The Ball Game!"

We threw out boxes of Cracker Jacks! The crowd loved it.

We made up our own cheer for "Father A!" Give me an A! A is for an Astonishing Priest!

We also sang "Church Days" our own words to the tune of "School Days".....Kneeling and praying and genuflecting sung to the tune of the incensor.................

We ended with the Sound of Music-Farewell, So Long and again we created our own version to fit Father Ariel who was leaving that Monday for his home visit to the Philippines.

Father A enjoying the entertainment.

After us we had some country singing from one of our winter visitors who surprised us by just walking in with his guitar and up on to the stage.
We closed the entertainment section with the Filipino dancers. Two special dances were the "Fan Dance and the "Couple Dance". 

They did a dance on this wooden bench barefoot. Several times, "Ms. Dot" our school nurse, would jump to the other side of her husband as he pulled her over. Only once, she got very close to the edge and almost fell off. It was a very beautiful dance!

Some of our students enjoying the entertainment.

 Father A was presented with a Filipino cake with one candle and another cake with his favorite motorcycle on. His students were there to watch him blow all the candles out.

Our Filipino Dancers who practiced weeks ahead of time and did an outstanding job!

The party is still being talked about. I think next year-I will gladly pass the job onto someone else. I will gladly sit outside on the picnic bench!

WE CROWN THEE WITH BLOSSOMS TODAY.... QUEEN OF THE ANGELS

Perfect day of sunshine and 80 degrees for our May Crowning!

PRESCHOOL -young ladies looking up as they prepare for the May Crowning procession

All are lined up and ready to process in singing" We Crown Thee With Blossoms Today"

The little ones were proud to dress up and they all brought flowers.

Beautiful dresses-some new and some were the 1st Communion dresses that they still could fit in.

The young boys asked me, "Don't we look handsome today?" You sure do!

All ages took part!! And proud parents and grandparents took many pictures!

The Court of Honor proceeds to the Statue of Our Lady

Mary is crowned Queen for the month of May

The Mass continues as the 1st Reading is read!

Holy Family Parish at Fort Huachuca

Today I went to Mass at the Army Fort-Fort Huachuca. The parish there is called Holy Family. Several of our school families attend this church and it was nice to see them there and to celebrate with them. Lt.Colonel Fr. Pete Uhde is the new pastor there. He came to visit our school for our Career Day to speak about being a military chaplain. Fr. Pete gets you laughing and keeps you laughing with all kinds of stories. And through it all is a message for all of us that we can take with us for the week.

The unusual part about this church is that it is really nondenominational. All religions at the Fort use this church. Before Mass began the little wooden doors on the stations were opened up, the statue of Mary was brought into the sanctuary and the Blessed Sacrament was brought in from the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. We now have a Catholic Church.
At the end of Mass men carry the statue of Mary out and the servers close all the doors on the stations so it is ready for the next religion to come in and have their Sunday worship.

It makes you see what makes our church Catholic and different from other religions.

On Saturday it was First Holy Communion at our parish-Our Lady of the Mountains. Students were very anxious, nervous and excited and so were the parents.

Lining up for the procession in.

Gloves were removed in preparation for receiving the Body of Christ.

Praying of the Our Father

Blessing of 1st Holy Communion, rosaries, crosses, Bibles

One of the guests was so proud to be able to wear her Easter dress and bonnet.

AND ....her mom let her wear her new purple flip-flops that she isn't allowed to wear to school-she was thrilled :):)

It was a year for the boys. 

Spring is here and summer is knocking-the roses at the convent are all in bloom once again.