Brett

Four weeks ago...I got the call. 

You were gone. My heart felt broken. 

Little buddy, though a month is past,

I don't forget. The pain isn't gone.

At the store the other day, 

I wanted to buy you something. 

Then I realized. You didn't need anything. 

You are in heaven. 

I've wanted to tell you things. 

And thought about seeing you soon in Haiti.

But again, I'm reminded you won't be there. 

B, it hurts. I want to hold you again.

One thing is certain, my darling,

I will ALWAYS miss you! 

 When you first came to us, so frail and small,

I was timid to hold you with tubes and wires and all.

Though I didn’t understand then what God would do,

With a precious little handicapped brother like you;

It is clearer now what God had in store;

You were an angel to us, and you gave us much more:

More, than we could have ever given to you.

You taught me bravery, with every painful surgery,

And how to press on and fight hard, with every round of therapy.

In those times we thought we were going to lose you,

You reminded me heaven, where we will rejoice with Him, made new!

And as I watched you minister and shed your love to others,

When you let the Haitians play with you or smiled at your brothers;

You showed me what it means to love unconditionally.

Contentment, joy, and love, flowed from you, Brett,

And all the times I held you; those times I’ll never regret.

You listened to my worries, while we snuggled close,

In our lives you were a constant, often when I needed it most.

And now my little angel, you’re work on earth is through;

At five years old your task is done, and now heaven awaits you.

Our hearts will ache for you, sweet one, but we rejoice that we will see you soon!  

Love your sister, Tess

Wordless Wednesday: Colorado Sunset

This time for real!

Sorry about the invisible post! Here's the real deal!

Last Thursday, Dan and I were able to go on a mini-vacation! Since he had the week of (Spring break) and had worked Monday-Wednesday, we finally got to go to the mountains! How I have missed them! I found a hotel over 50% off in Steamboat Springs on Groupon, so thursday around noon, we wended our way upwards. It has been in the 50's here in Denver but up there, snow was piled 6 feet on the sides of the road! It was lovely. As the name suggests, there are springs in Steamboat Springs! Hot ones! Thursday evening was spent moving from one hot pool to a slightly cooler one, and just relaxing. We spent nearly 4 hours there! The setting was lovely. Tucked away in the side of the mountain...with a very natural landscape! Much better than being in town!

Pretty empty here. You can see the tepee on the left for changing

Steam rising...the water was so warm! And to think its all natural!

This little hut looked like an abandoned home. On one side, the water ran down the mountain in a sort of waterfall (from the hot spring) and cascaded through a doorway and ran under a grate (under the house) to warm the hut!

SNOW!

The traditional "Tess don't take my photo" in the car face. :)
Too bad he doesn't know that he's cute even when he scowls!

So um...about this 65mph thing. The midwest confuses me. Where I grew up the speed limit was 55...yep, 55mph on long, straight roads (with barely any towns)! Here, the roads wind around the mountains (often with no guard rail)! And sometimes, the curves get so bad that you have to slow down to 60mph to go around them! I know of a little curve in Franceville/Monon where you have to slow down to 40mph! Funny thing is, I sometimes find myself not even driving the speed limit in the mountains because its too scary! :)

The love of my life... :)

If I have it correct, at this point, the right side of the sign (to the Atlantic) was pointing WEST and the other, EAST! Confusing much?!?!

Stopped for lunch at a little restaurant in Kremling. Pretty tasty!

Though it was short, it was wonderful little get-away! Just the two of us. God's creation is really stunning. Hopefully Dan got a little respite from the schedule he's been keeping!

Friday Night: Dinner with Kyle and Tricia at their Saudi Arabian friend, Abdul's home. Amazing view of the city from his apartment and delicious Saudi food! (still enjoying some leftovers!) It was such a fun evening and Abdul and his cousin Abdul #2 were great hosts!

Our charming host, Abdul

Kyle and Tricia

Dan, a little tired of getting his picture taken!

Saturday Night: Dinner at our place with some amigos. Kyle and Trish again graced us with their presence as well as Brady with his parents, Shayne and Emily in tow! Homemade pizza on the menu...everyone brought their favorite toppings!

Shayne and Emily...Brady was asleep :)

We served lunch on Sunday. Since I'm teaching Sunday school now, I was so thankful that Dan, his mom, and Emily helped get everything out for lunch! We did a baked potato bar...and it turned out good! (thanks for the advice Brit!) Now, I'm getting things packed and ready to head to Illinois for Obed and Kary's wedding. Since Dan has school today he's already downtown (where the train station is) so Jake (the bro-in-law) is giving me a ride downtown. The train will take around 16 hours to get to Gailsburg which is about 30-45 minutes from Roanoke. Hoping to get some sleep tonight...I've never been on a train that long!

Yep, just a bit of an update for y'all!
See some of you soon! :)

Snowshoeing

Here's a few photos of my snowshoeing adventure one day that Dan worked. Some cross-country skied as well.

The Group

Jared, Brianna, Tifani, Me, and Sophia, Brianna's friend

PS. Jared...just so you know, I resisted adding the "tell tale" car photo! :)

+ I just had to add this picture of Brady! I was playing with him on the floor and had just finished a cup of tea. He wanted try his hand (or mouth, rather) at looking like a refined English baby! So cute!

Chè Fanmi...Dear Family

The family...Yeah, I'm kind of excited to see these people...

Mom, Brett (5), Dad, Derek(7), Mark (13), Joel (almost 4) Alisha(16)

May 25th won't you come a little sooner?!?!

Then from Haiti to Francesville for my dear friend Dani's wedding! And more family and friends! Looking forward to staying with Nick and Sandra and their sweet boys...thanks guys!

But before all this, we get to see Dan's family for Obed and Kary's wedding in April! AND Joel and Kristi all the way from Mexico too!

Family....you are a wonderful thing to look forward to!

PS. Mom and Dad Leman...it seems you've been gone forever! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

A Lovely Birthday

My birthday started with this little guy. 6:45am he arrived and soon we were snuggled in on the couch bottle in hand and mouth. Probably a little after 7am found us both sleeping. Dan arrived on scene around 8:15ish and announced that I should get ready for church because we were going out for breakfast! While I readied myself, Dan dressed Brady in his church attire...even changing his diaper! :)
Breakfast was lovely. Mimi's cafe...good coffee, bacon and spinach eggs Benedict, wonderful company. I taught Sunday school and was amazed at how many of the kids knew it was my birthday I even got a couple cards! When it came time to announce birthdays, nearly the whole of them erupted in "It's Tess' birthday!!!!" I was taken aback and warmed in heart as they enthusiastically sang to me! It also took me off guard how many people in church wished me a happy birthday...guess that's what you get in a small church! Thanks everyone! And thanks to Matthew and Kristy Moore for taking Brady so Dan and I could go out for dinner!

After some wonderful phone conversations with family members (thanks for calling! It's always so good to hear your voices again!) Dan and I headed to the train station. I had a gift card for Maggiano's (an nice Italian restaurant).

On the choo-choo....

While sitting there Dan asks me if I'm ready for my present. He said he only had a picture of it and handed me his phone. What I saw was the google earth image of my house...in this country..
My present?!?! Dan's taking me to Haiti!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In May!!!!! I'm SO excited!!!!
I think I nearly jumped up and down. Let me tell ya, he got a kiss for that one! :)

Once I composed myself, we de-trained and walked to Maggiano's. It was delicious! Had the most amazing Beef Medalion. They were having 5280 week so we got several courses included! Brochette, salad, main course, and dessert. The Pinot Grigio was lovely as well. Cheesecake of course rarely disappoints and it sure didn't! Our dinner was so romantic... :)

How can it not be when there's a guy like this?!?!

Definitely the better half!

Starbucks before getting back on the train.

What a lovely birthday. Thank you all who wrote me, sent cards, or phoned! As Dan remarked, "We're so blessed!" and we have a lot to be thankful for. Thanks Lord for another blessed year!

And my family in Ayiti Cheri.....SEE YOU IN MAY LORD WILLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sew...it's February

And I haven't blogged in a long time! Ooops.
*My husband informed me that he was going to write about Valentine's Day (!) so...I guess we'll all have to wait for that!

But on to today. As I'm off this whole week, (Brady is on vacation) I've had time to try some projects. I've started an apron...but haven't finished it yet. It's coming.

But, I finally tried the art of fabric yo-yo making. Seriously, what took me so long?!?!?!?!

They are SO fun and cute! So I spruced up my new/old journal (I've only had it about 5 years). And made a few hair accessories.

Good ol' bobbies

Here's a great website for learning to make yo-yo's:

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/how_to_make_a_yoyo/hbyoyotutorial1.html

Sorry, you're going to have to cut and paste the site.

Hair clips

Hot glue works quite nicely....add a little more to the outside of the material in order to add a "non-slip" feature.

Pollyanna was a companion during these projects. I've been listening to it via books on tape. If anyone hasn't read it, I'd suggest it! If nothing else, it really challenged me to find the positives in life. In everything. Pollyanna makes it a game...called the "being glad" game. The harder and more awful the circumstance, the more fun the game! The challenge of finding something positive in a hard situation made Pollyanna "so glad!". Somehow she reminded me of how we Christians should be conducting ourselves. We, of all people, have so much to be glad about! In the story, you will find many people who are depressed, angry, and bitter, because they are only looking at how terrible their circumstance is. Pollyanna, aided by her bright personality, wiggles herself into people's hearts and encourages them to try the game. Interestingly enough, those who were once bitter, became happy and "so glad!". Shouldn't I be the same?