we made it home.......

hey everyone this is Michelle.
so sorry it take so long to get back to you about our arrival home. mom's (Gina) computer wasn't working right so we just now got it fixed.
but our plane ride from sydney to san fransico was only 12 hours instead of 14 hours so that was a little bit better but for me, mom and dad (Jeff)) we all had a rude person sitting in front of us that decided to put their seat back ALL the way so it left us no leg room what so ever. so that was really uncomfortable and for me i was unable to really sleep this trip. out of the 4 movies that they showed i saw about 2 whole movies and half of another one. then on this plane ride mom started getting sick feeling. it started with her ears and then from that point on it got progressively worse. so we landed in san fransico on time and we had about a 2 hour layover there, which was nice because then we were able to stretch our legs and get something to eat since it was about lunch time at this point. our next flight was only going to be about an hour and half long and that was to las vegas. mom was slowly not getting better even though she had taken some medicine that Sue had given her it wasn't working though. then it seemed like we were waiting forever and ever at the las vegas airport for our flight out to tampa. i think we waited about an hour and half or so. it was kind of weird though because as soon as we stepped off the plane like 5 feet away there were slot machines. they had big signs posted all over the place that if you are under 21 then you are not allowed to be around the machines for no reason what so ever. so pretty much me and mike weren't allowed =]
then when we finally took off from las vegas we found out the flight was only going to be 4 hours and 20 minutes long..... thank goodness we all were so excited about being able to get back to our normal lives and back to the reality of "normal" prices. =] we will have to explain more about that when we have a big gathering to show everyone what we all brought back. but anyways when we landed in tampa Spencer's mom was waiting for him and then Kenny's parents and girlfriend came and surprised him. then the rest of us got our luggage and went outside to wait for our vans to come and pick us up. finally i think our family made it home at about 4 a.m. and mom went to bed right away because whatever she had it hit her HARD!!! the next morning dad took her to the doctor and she ended up having bronchitis and borderline phenomena. the doctor said it was lucky she could diagnose mom because if not she would have to be quarantined since she was out of the country. scary! but she is slowly getting better. and then Kaylee came home sick too. she might have strep throat. so pretty much some of us were lucky not to get sick but then others not so much. in all the trip was amazing and it was worth all the fundraising and support that we got from the church. so from the bottom of our hearts we would like to say thank you to everyone that made this possible.

we will let everyone know when we will have gathering to show everything. but in the meantime, please pray that everyone that is sick from the trip gets better soon and we all get back to the time change as soon as possible!

thank you,
Michelle
OLQM YOUTH MINISTRY
=]

WYD

hey this is Justin here. this is a fun and great experience that I've had this whole trip. i love Sydney and never want to leave the weather is great and is great compared to Florida's weather. we leave tomorrow and then cant wait to sleep in my bed whenever we get back

Wednesday 5:47 pm

last day down unda

hi this is Kenny i thought world youth day was amazing there were thousands and thousands of people from all over the world and on the pilgrimage walk there were people as far as the eye can see and you could feel all of the spirit in the air
Wednesday 5:45pm

this week

hey its mike. its wednesday.
so we went to the opera house. it was really big.
i already miss sydney and i want to come back.
be back to florida soon.
mike

The Final Hours

Hey, this is Spencer. Yeah, that guy who no one knows about because he hasn't blogged once on this thing. =D

Like Kaylee said, we went to see the Opera House today. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but I've only seen it a few times on the television.

Concerning World Youth Day, it was an unforgettable experience that I plan to keep with me for as long as I live.

My favorite parts of WYD were the catechesis sessions we had on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The stories told, and their various meanings, showed me a new window through which to see the world. They are teachings I plan to utilize in my daily life when I get back home (if I don't get stopped at Customs again.) Explaining that, when we first arrived at Sydney, not 10 minutes had passed when we reached the Customs area when I was pulled aside by a K-9 unit. The lady asked me to open my bag, and so I did. Then I got my Customs thing checked out, and she asked me if I had any food. I had saved a banana nut bread loaf package from the long plane ride, and that was what the dog had caught scent of. The lady signed my Customs paper, and sent me on my way.

Anyways, I've had a lot of fun on this spiritual journey, and I can't wait to get back to Florida so I can get a good night's sleep for once.

See you all later!

Spencer

hello (:
its Kaylee here, today was pretty much the last day i'll ever be in this beautiful country, :( today was alot of fun though, we went to see the opera house & which i touched it, & some of us, went on the tower, which the view of this beautiful image was amazing, im going to miss it here alot, but were all going out to dinner. i cant wait to be home & see my family & my freinds & MY DOG & MY HORSE (:
i just want to thank mrs. gina & mr. jeff alot, if it wasnt for them we wouldent be here.
love kaylee<3

last one till we get home.........

hey there everyone.
this is Michelle and Gina updating you for the last time on the blog and its wednesday afternoon (even though it starts to get dark at 4:30).
we ended out last day today by going to the Sydney Tower (aka space needle, apparently i had no idea what the real name was) =]. the view of Sydney as a whole city was gorgeous! you could see for miles and miles. again we took lots of pictures. after finishing that we all went to St Mary's Cathedral and took a group picture. our pilgrim Carol was meeting up with a cousin today so she headed back to hyde park inn while the rest of us went to the Sydney Opera House to take pictures there. pictures don't really do it justice. its a beautiful landmark in Sydney. after we finished there Jeff and Susan went to the Botanical Garden and the rest of us went back to the hotel to chill out for a little bit. Jeff said the gardens were beautiful and again we have pictures to prove it. after this we are going to Chinatown to look for some last minute souvenirs and then we are going to Darling Harbour for the evening.
everyone is ready to go home but then again we wish we could spend a couple more days since there is so much to see in this amazing country.
we are going to meet up with the rest of the Diocese of Venice group at 9:30am friday morning to head to the airport. our flight leaves at around 2:15. after that we will be in san fansico and then las vegas and then TAMPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hopefully the weather is warmer there then it is here =]
as we conclude our pilgrimage we as a youth group would like to say THANK YOU to Devin Jones for all the preparation and coordination and hard work that he put into World Youth Day. if it wasn't for him we probably wouldn't of been as organized, so again a big thank you from the bottom of all our hearts.
hope this last blog finds everyone excited about our return and God bless you all.

much love and can't wait to see everyone,
OLQM YOUTH MINISTRY
=]

one full day left.......

hey guys this is michelle. its tuesday night and we are back at the cafe writing about our day.
today was our 9 hour bus tour around australia. the day started off at us getting up at 6:30 in the morning and we left the hotel at 7:15 and started our short walk to another hotel where the bus was going to pick us up at. we started our journey travelling to the zoo. this is where we got to encounter the kangaroo's and koala bears. it was amazing! we got to take a picture with the koala bear and pet it. then when we got to the kangaroo exhibit the oddest thing was that some of the kangaroo's were roaming free. also there was an emu that was walking around. then we also got to see wallabies and dingos and wombats. but don't worry we all took lots of pictures so everyone can see all the animals. then we went to go see the Blue Mountains. let me just say that they were GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the pictures that we were able to take were all so beautiful and i don't think many of us have seen anything like it. the only down fall was the it was FREEZING! thank goodness there wasn't any wind or anything like that. but then after that we went to a fruit farm and stopped and got some food there. then we started on our 2 hour bus ride home. it seemed like it was forever. but Father Mark was helping the situation out but leading us in some songs. =] =]
but now we are going to go back and try to pack our bags tonight so that we can have all day tomorrow to just do everything that we haven't done yet.
i know we are going to the space needle to take pictures and then to the opera house so we can see it during the day and we are taking some group pictures for people and then we are going shopping.
so hopefully tomorrow is a day of some what relaxing.

we might blog tomorrow but not sure.
if not we will see all of you this weekend and for the parents picking up BRIGHT AND EARLY friday morning.

God bless and thank you again for the prayers

OLQM YOUTH MINISTRY
=]

TODAYYYY (:

today was amazing, we went to bondi beach, which when i saw it i fell in love with it, it was so pretty, the rocks, & everything else, was amazing for me, but tomorrow is going be so much fun, but im off for tonight, goodnight (:


-kaylee

Havin fun in the land down under!

hey its paige!!
having so much fun. no time to blogg. the pope was amazing at mass. went to bondi beach. and aquriaum. so pretty. amazing city. ive met so many kids from around the globe. i love australia!!

3 more days =[

hello everyone...
this is michelle and gina typing again at the coffee shop on monday night july 21st. brother jeff is back at the hotel with the other pilgrims, plus his computer skills aren't the sharpest! =]
but anyways today we had mass with Bishop Frank and Father Patrick and Father Mark.
let us just say that it was a very moving mass for some of us and his homily touched us all by reminding us how important it will be to come home and spread the good news of Jesus Christ. the mass was held at a little chapel called St. Paul's it was right across the street from hyde park inn (which is where we are staying at). during the intentions Bishop Frank blessed Jeff and Gina for reaching their 20th anniversary and he blessed them with 20 more. after mass we all came back to the business room in the hotel and Bishop Frank treated us to a lunch which included sandwich's and fruit, it was a very thoughtful gift to us seeing the night before he treated about 23 people to dinner at a chinese restaurant. let us just say as a young family that was our first time eating chinese and for some of the members it will probably be the last, at least we can say that we tried it. but anyways when lunch was done about half of the group (meaning the 50 people) decided that we were going to go to Bondi Beach which was about 15 minutes away, and we took the bus system seeing it was the last day for free transportation for the pilgrims. but once we got there the wind was HORRIBLE! it was cold and the sand didn't feel like florida sand. I (michelle) can honestly say that i have never worn a hoodie with the hood pulled up and pants and sneakers to the beach before and still be cold!!!! after the beach we came back to the hotel to figure out what we were going to do the rest of the day. so we decided to go to the Aquarium. it was amazing to see all the different sea animals that they have here.
Gina wants to let all parents of pilgrims know that everything is going very well and the kids are working well as a group. everyone misses there parents and look forward to seeing you EARLY friday morning. =] =]

take care from all of us down under.
much love

OLQM YOUTH MINISTRY
<3

hehe. today we went swimmin in the water soooo coold. freakin froze in that beast. but it was worth it. then we climbed some big flippin rock was huge. and we have the battle scars to prove it haha. seein the Pope was pretty cool even though he isnt very good at obeying the rules of the road. speeding. reckless endangerment. yeah. he needs a new getaway driver. but overall the experience has been good. except everythings expensive... 4 dollars for a coke. anywho... yeah its been a great trip. just gota play with a koala, and a kangaroo.

Michael. July 21, 2008.

A night with our holy father

Hey everyone yesterday finished off world youth day with nearly 500thousand youth comming together at randwick raceway. It was amazing, the experience was so electrifying that you could feel the energy in the air. The night was cold but the people were warm hearted and you could hear the chants of benidicto all threw the night. There were some protesters but their numbers paled in comparison to the faithful who had gatherd together to show support of not just one another but of our holy father as well. Speaking of the his hollieness the pope seemed in high spirits for the first time since he took office nearly five years ago. He greeted us warmly and seemed to really understand for the first time, that we were not convingeing just in memory of The Great Pope John Paul 2 but also for himself and for the glory of our Catholic faith. He spoke to us late in to the night about many issues including but not limited to the decline of the worlds morals and the decline in church attendence. Although he had these engouraging word for us the curch is alive, well and young. The night was cold after the holy father left but his kind words left a sort of warm radience in each of us that kept us on the chilled ground if only to hear his fatherly voice once again. I am sure you have read about the long walk and strenues up hill climb but I would have scaled a thousand snow capped mountians just to hear our holy father speak his words of peace and love. And I do belive every person who heard him speak that cold winter day will agree with me, for although the entire week was filled with chanting and singing, there was not one person speaking when our holy father took the stage. His holieness has left now, and life in sydney has gone back to what I can only assume is normal. But there seems to be even now a spiritual essence about the winter days, an almost uncanny serenity about the busy city. Even now looking out of my seventh story balcony in to hyde park I must confess I wish my soul had knowen this serenity all my life, this feeling of oneness with my god.

yours always in christ

Ginger <3

hello from down under

hello everyone,
this is michelle young and gina young.
today is sunday july 20th (Australian time) and we are sitting in the cafe sown the street from the hotel.
our pilgrimage started off yesterday after the USA mass. that mass alone had over 50 bishops involved in the mass. it was outside at the domain, which is an open field within hyde park. after the mass we all went and got lunch and then had to rush back to the hotel and pack for our night under the stars. the entire diocese of Venice all left together at about 1:00. the walk alone was about an hour and half and it was all up hill. and let me mention that we are from florida where there are NOOOOOOOOO hills! so needless to say it was an "up hill battle". but we all survived and we finally made it to randwick racetrack. before we got in the gate we received are dinner, breakfast and lunch all at the same time. when we were walking to our section all that we could see were massive amounts of pilgrims. every time you turned around you saw someone from another country. Michelle, Justin, Paige, and Sarah went for a walk around to have other pilgrims from other countries sign a shirt that we are bringing home. this is where they passed out the chaplets and buttons and necklaces to the other pilgrims so then they knew that we were representing OLQM. after all the set up which included laying the tarp out and blowing up the rafts. which after a long walk it was challenging. =] but after that was all done we awaited for the Pope to arrive for the vigil. it was amazing to hear all the different languages that the Pope could speak fluently. everything started to wind down at about 9:30 and this is when it began to get cold. this was going to be the most challenging thing all of us were going to have to deal with. to start off you couldn't have enough blankets to cover yourself ( emergency blankets didn't seem to work to well) and even though you were off the ground with the raft the raft itself was freezing. we believe that the temperature had to be below zero but Jeff and Steven both agreed that it was probably anywhere between 40-45. it almost seemed like you couldn't have enough clothes on to stay warm. the only smart pilgrim was Steven Matthews. his sleeping bag was more like a cocoon then a regular sleeping bag. the only part that you could see of him was his face and even that he covered with his sweater by putting it on backwards. the lack of sleep brought Jeff, Gina, Michelle, Anndria, Paige, and Justin to tears because we were laughing so hard because of things that Paige was saying. for example that her toes were going to fall off because she had frost bite (even though it wasn't below freezing). =] =] =] everyone was up by 7 because you were to cold to sleep any longer. after this then we started waiting for the Pope to arrive around 9:45 am. first he flew around in a helicopter then he landed and drove around in his Pope Mobile. this is were Jeff was able to get a video of him waving to everyone. the mass was extremely important to all of us knowing that this could be a once in a life time experience to celebrate mass with the Pope. can't wait to show everyone the pictures and the memories that we gathered while here.
tomorrow we are having a mass with our very own Bishop Frank in the hyde park in a little chapel. then we are going to go site seeing and possibly to the space needle. we will try to blog more tomorrow to let you know about how everything is going.

take care in florida,
much love and keep praying for us

OLQM YOUTH MINISTRY
=]

G'day Mates.......

HEY guys this is michelle young, one of the 15 LUCKY youth that got to go to WYD!
BUt so far the trip as been AMAZING.
sydney is honestly everything that you have heard about plus probably more.
tuesday's opening mass was a reality check because that was when we got to see the amount of people that was really there, and its all for the same reason.... JESUS! =]
then on wednesday we just had a class in the morning that we went to and then a mass following after. that was our first encounter with the free lunches that they are providing. it was tuna or baked beans and they gave us bread and flavored water and desert. then thursday was known as SUPER THURSDAY around sydney. the reason for that was because this was when the Pope was arriving. We had class in the morning again and we then started our walk to were we were going to wait to see the Pope which was going to be by the Opera House. We waited there for 3 and half hours and when he pulled up on the boat it was finally reality that we were acutally going to be seeing the Pope, IN PERSON!!!!! but the only sad part was that he flew by on in his Pope moblie =] so none of us were able to really get a good clear picture except for Gina and then Steven was able to get a video on his cell phone. Then today (friday) was our last day of class and the speakers that we have been having all been so inspiring and have really opened our eyes to what can happen in our society. This afternoon was Stations of the Cross and let me just say that it was done BEAUTIFULLY! even though it was really really cold by the Harbour it was worth it because it touched a couple of the kids with a few of the prayers that were said.
but like Ginger said the temperature is in the 60's and for some of us floridians that is really cold! =] but other then that we have had gorgeous weather, can't really complain about that though.
we have already seen so many of the major sites to see in the few days that we have been here. we have lots of picutres to show everyone when we get back plus we will still have more with all the other places were going
But tomorrow's events include us going to a mass that will be with everyone from the USA. and then we will start on our walk to were we will be preparing for our mass with the Pope on Sunday morning.
We will blog when we get back to let you know how everything went.
pray for us for tomorrow night since we have to sleep out in the cold weather.
thank you for all of the prayers and the thoughts. we have been remembering you in our prayers, especially sunday when the Pope gives mass.

JESUS, JESUS, JESUS
oye,oye, oye
(this is one of the chants that we have) =]

Good bye for now mates
michelle
=]

A new post

Hey guys sorry we havent been blogging much but so much has been happening... we saw the pope today and he went by so fast. We have been walking everywhere and it has been fun! It is beautiful here we are right across from hyde park. The mass on tuseday night was wonderful. There are so many pilgrims here and we all sing and dance together. The aussies are really in to WYD, they all wave and shout out encouragements to us. We have a few things planned for this week and we are of course planning for the saturday night vigil. Well i am going to run now spencer and I are hanging out :) talk to you later blokes and sheilas.

Ginger<3

here finally

Hey everyone! Guess what, we are finaly in sydney! It is great, everyone is really nice and there are WYD kids every where! The weather is really nice too, it's like 60ish. Well that is really all i can say for now i have to run everyone is going to do "something" i hope we dont get lost :)

Ginger<3

why why must they drag this out?

Hey guys... today has been so hectic and it is only 10:30am phenoix time :( i miss home already, on the plus side i have Anndria and Sarah with me to entertain me on the long flights and this laptop to watch movies and type to you people... well while we are on the ground. hopefuly the next time I talk to you we will be in california no more unexpected layovers!

Ginger<3

Unexpected stop

Hey everyone, it's Sarah. Well here we are in the airport again.. no not San Fransisco, Pheonix. I know, we're dissapointed too. At least its a chance to stretch our legs and get something to eat. So for now its just a waiting game. Hopefully next time we write it will be from the comforts of good old San Fransisco.

-sarah

Today we left finaly, we are in Texas presently and will hopefully leave for California soon. The two hour flight felt like forever and the flight to australia is more then 12 times as long... cant wait for that! as if.... well I'm going to go nap....

Ginger<3

heyyy it's Anndria.

hey it's anndria ginger's been talking about me a lot so I figured I'd post something. I just got done packing my carry-on and I'm going to mass with ginger's mom, sue. I'm so stoked to leave but I'm not to happy about getting up at 3 a.m. but I have to get ready to leave, adios.
:]]]]]]

17 hours 35 minutes till take-off

Hello everyone, it's Sarah! Well its raining here in the sunshine state but the forecast looks good in Sydney. I know tomorrow is going to be hectic but today my only worries are packing and sleeping.. and getting lots of hugs from my mom. It seems like we've been waiting forever and now it's finally here. I'm sure it will go by so fast I'll be back to my normal life in the blink of an eye. I just hope we make the most of this once in a lifetime experience and make a lot of memories we'll never forget. Well I'm off to finish packing. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers please, you will be in ours. -Sarah