Cousin J is now Brother J

Well I think he was always Brother J, but it's his first vows. As Father V put it:

"J has made first vows, as a Trini.tarian. The vows are vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 'First' vows are renewed each year. After three years in first vows or simple vows, he will be eligible to take solemn vows which are made 'until death.' These would be his final commitment as a Trin.itarian religious."

But I think during his novice year he was a Brother already.

We drove up to Trenton on Saturday. Traffic between RVA and DC was horrible! It took us 2 hours to travel north 80 miles. And then another hour and a half to get through Baltimore. Finally we got to Trenton around 5:30. We toured the churches and then went to dinner. Afterwards the girls came over to our hotel (they were staying in a convent!) because we thought there was a pool, but there wasn't! What kind of hotel doesn't have a pool?!? So we just hung out kinda watching Sidney White.

Sunday morning we were at the church a half hour early. But mainly so we'd get good parking. We had a reserved pew so we got seats up in the front. The mass lasted about an hour and a half and then afterwards was a reception in the hall underneath the church. There was A LOT of food! Kevin and I skipped lunch & dinner because we were still full from the reception. Anyways, after the reception we went to a parishioners home for about an hour and then we had to start the drive back to RVA.

We were able to get home by 8pm, so not too bad. The house was too quiet. We had booked the dogs into boarding for the weekend. Kevin picked them up today. It gave us a glimpse of what next month is going to be like when the dogs are down in Florida.