We have a Bishop!!!/3,200 miles, 56 hours in the truck, Home again= blogging in the barn with a cat on my feet!/"His holy mountain is the joy of all the earth"

At the same time we were making our back and forth trip to Washington and back - Nancy and family were traveling to the Outer Banks for a week.  Nancy sent this beauty of her and Regina by the Atlantic Ocean.  She shared that it reminds her a lot of Michigan, but the salt water is hard to adjust to compared to the crystal clear fresh water of the Inland Sea - Lake Michigan!  

That was yesterday and today we receive word that we have a new Bishop!  And he is 13 years younger than me and grew up in the upper part of Michigan where I spent my summers by Traverse City!  He sounds wonderful and is a Major in the Amry like our Major Joseph!

Bishop Chad W. Zielinski — Diocese of New Ulm (dnu.or

Most Reverend Chad W. Zielinski Biography The Most Reverend Chad W. Zielinski was ordained and installed as the sixth Catholic bishop of the Fairbanks Diocese on 15 December 2014. Bishop Zielinski was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964 and is the oldest in a family of five children. His parents, Donald and Linda Zielinski, moved to Alpena, Michigan, in the mid 1960’s, where the future Bishop grew up on a 120-acre farm. The family belongs to St. Bernard Parish where Chad received the Sacrament of Confirmation in 1979. After graduating from Alpena High School in 1982, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and while stationed in Idaho, attended Boise State College and Park College. At this time he felt a call to serve God as a priest. Having completed his tour of duty in 1986, he entered Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Philosophy in 1989. He was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Gaylord and entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit to complete his spiritual formation and theological studies, receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 1996. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Patrick R. Cooney at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord on June 8, 1996. Bishop Zielinski’s first priestly assignment was as Associate Pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Traverse City. In 1998, he was appointed Pastor of St. Philip Neri in Empire and St. Rita-St. Joseph in Maple City and was elected to the diocesan Presbyteral Council in 1999. In 2000, he was also named Pastor for Administrative Affairs of the diocesan Mission to Hispanics. Following the terrorist attacks of 2001, future Bishop Zielinski felt a special tug on his heart to serve God by ministering to the men and women who protect our country. Aware of the great need for Catholic military chaplains, Bishop Cooney released him to serve in the Archdiocese for the Military Services. In 2002, he began his chaplaincy at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. From 2003 to 2005 he was stationed in Suffolk, England, before returning to the U.S. and being assigned to HQ Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph Air Force Base in Schertz, Texas. In 2009, Bishop Zielinski was appointed Roman Catholic Cadet Chaplain at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 2012 he was called to Alaska to serve as Chaplain to the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, where he was recently contacted by the Apostolic Nuncio telling him of the Pope’s decision that he serve as the Bishop of the Fairbanks diocese. (Page 1 of 2) (Page 2 of 2) In the course of his military career, Bishop Zielinski served three tours of duty in war zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan. “I guess the Church has prepared me for the military and the military has prepared me for the Church,” he wrote. “We receive orders and we go, whether coming from a general or the Pope.” He has received numerous military awards and decorations for his service, and was promoted to the rank of Major in July of 2013. After his installation, Bishop Zielinski served two years in the Reserves at Eielson Air Force Base and retired on January 1, 2017 as a Major. As an avid fisherman and an experienced participant in aircraft maneuvers, Bishop Zielinski would seem to be a natural to head a diocese such as Fairbanks where the geographical spread is the largest in the U.S. and where activity in nature is just a snowball’s throw away. Contemplating the future, he wrote “No human person could ever script something like this. I certainly would never have thought in a thousand years this would ever happen to me, as I have never wanted something like this… My simple approach to this call in life is to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind, and serve my brothers and sisters in the diocese of Fairbanks. I say this fully knowing I need God’s grace and their talents and abilities to climb a very steep learning curve. We will walk together as sisters and brothers, disciples of Christ, showing His kindness, mercy and compassion as we share the joy of the Gospel."

Wow!!!

Now Maria with Maggie - sharing with olderst daughter, Therese that Maggie loves frozen huckleberries!  On Thursday they will say farewell to Fort Lewis, WA and come our way as they move from one coast to the other in August!

Our 5 days away... we returned to no internet in the house.  In my time on the phone trying this and that to fix the problem - I realzed that I could use the internet coming into the barn, so here I sit with my computer in my lap and a nice breeze coming through the open door.  Thankfully not many flies yet, and a cat at my feet!

My view of the huge cottonwood tree that used to obstruck our internet connection.  We now have it come to the barn and then send it to the house- problem solved, except for some mystery problem now...

My office for today with so much to share - here I sit with fake plans to take a bunch of the grandkids to see Uncle John in Cinderella tonight for the last show.  Therese got here just in time for the fun tonight.  

What joy to find an inch and 2 tenths of rain in the rain gage since we were away!  Thank you, Lord and Lady!

The trailer in our yard this morning after 56 hours in the truck divided by 4 days = 14 hours a day!  3,200 miles with only one flat tire, and miraculously finding a tire shop 2 miles off the road open on Sunday morning!  John Grisham and his books kept us alert and entertained as we traveled through the mountains coming and going - seeing millions of bales and cows and calves and lots of wheat fields and irrigated hay fields.  We also figured out that the mysterious leafy green plants in many fields were sunflowers yet to grow and be stunning in a few weeks.

Psalm 48 today made me smile after our many mountain passes and  views of the Cascades and Rockies coming and going!

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.  Psalm 48

Maria and Maggie this morning in the Penske truck that they will move the remaining things in and leave on Thursday after 5 years in Washington.  Pat and I have made many trips to and from over those years.

Wonderful 14 year old granddaughter, Therese, the oldest of 7 in our military family came along for the long trip back.  She is a delightful young lady!

Sunday morning grandpa and I spoil with doughnuts!  It took 2 truckstops to find her one, but we managed to spoil our sweet girl mid morning on Sunday.

Beautiful valleys with grass and cows and calves with mountains all around us.  Too much scenery to try to capture through windows as we travel down the road with trucks and campers.

Therese helping with the rosary and morning prayer as we start out yesterday.  With a flat tire starting our day on Sunday we certainly wanted to have the Lord and Lady with us from the start!  And they were!  The rosary beads were my constant companion.

The truck with trailer and interesting rocks and sights.

Reading each day for a program she is in, and spoiling with a milkshake - mint chocolate - "I see those at the gas station on base, but have never had one before.  They are really good!"

Pat drove every one of the 3,200 miles - how he loved to take in the sights of thousands of wheat bales and John Grisham - Sicamore Row was hours of entertainment!  We heard the last disc as we rolled into town!  

Clouds and bales and the gas prices were the best of the trip in South Dakota!  Washington was awful as we were warned!

Maggie loves her grandpa Pat - she will be here to see him on Saturday.

Pictures from Nancy on the ocean!

Regina is soon to be 6 months on the 16th!

Swim in the ocean - salt water is hard to adjust to in a way.

We were well cared for by farmer Pat and a tire shop open on Sunday morning.  Thank you, Lord!

Beautiful golden wheat fields as far as the eye can see! 

Home again and grateful for our good trip and family!

The feast day of St Therese's parents today!  

Super fun and cute!  

A good reminder to me today - 4 days in the pickup for all those hours make emotions kind of tense and some criticism of Barb today.  I deserve it!  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 53 - 34 here and 19 in heaven including my sister, Mary and brother, Lincoln!  

Need to get ready for Cinderella with the grandkids tonight.  

Danielle Rose