Happy Feast, Sweet Marta

Your first feast day here on earth! It is so awesome that you celebrate your feast day of your namesake, St. Martha, today on July 29th, and your biggest sister Maddy celebrated her feast day of her namesake, St. Mary Magdalen--Martha's sister-- on July 22!

We love you, precious Marta. May your days be blessed, your heart be content, and may you always be busy at work in the service of Our Dear Lord as you do whatever He tells you. Jn. 2:5)

We continue to hold as our prayer the same petition that we sent out on announcing your arrival:

It is our prayer, through Marta Agnes Malí's birth, that in and through all joys, celebrations, struggles, daily givings we may each give, serve in love, Jesus and listen to His words to Martha in John 11:1-45 where He says that our suffering "is not an end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." May we all abandon ourselves to God's will in the little and large moments of our lives, realizing that all, when it has been allowed, is to teach us His love, so that He may be glorified. For, it is all about You, Lord.

Tonight, we celebrated YOU, sweet Marta, with homemade banana splits. We love you so much and cannot imagine our family without your life. Thank you, Lord, for this sweet daughter of Yours.

Happy 4th Baptismal Birthday, Handsome Boy!

You are four years cleansed, united, forever a dear son of God's. We are so blessed to share a part of your life; we thank God for His love and kindness in allowing us to share in your life. We love you so much. You are a pure gem.

Butchy Boy com Asas! Butchy Boy "with Wings"

Happy Birthday, Mr. Love! You are something else: our Mr. Love, Our Sweet Face, Our Happy Guy. You are a treasure. How well I remember the day you were born. With all my might I gave my all to hold your life that day just after 10am, July 20, 2014 at the hospital. We love you, sweet boy. You entered the world and we have been soaked up with your sweet life ever since. You are one soul full of happiness.

We love your phrases. You make us laugh. "Me, dtuuu!" Or, what do you say when we ask you a question, and you're being silly in your answer? "I doughnknow," with your sing-songy response. You are a little lover of airplanes, cars, buses, trucks, tractors.

You woke up after your birthday celebrations and said, "I just want someone to play with." Your playmates were still sleeping. :) You are a dear sibling to your sisters, and you make up the other half of the "Dynamic Duo" with Pens. We love you.

I love each not when you ask mom to wok you. And yes, of course I can. You are a bundle of love. A roll of smiles. A sweet, sweet boy.

You love your school and are now learning to spell. How fast you learned your letters and sounds after you were 3, and you love to draw and write letters now. Sometimes you make helicopters. We love you.

God always knows His own blessings, and we have the blessing of unpacking His blessings all in due time, as He desires. Well, we are grateful to unpack and unfold your life, which is so richly gracing our lives. I love when your sisters look at us and lip, "So cute," after they see you do something. Or, sometimes they will spell out words that you say, because they are telling us just how precious those words sound when you say it.

Just like your song, Smile, you really do make us smile. We love you Handsome Boy. Thank you for letting us share in your life. You are God's dear son and we are so very blessed to be in this journey, at these moments of time with you.

We loved how you loved doing your World Cup sticker book. Or, how you loved watching the World Cup and seeing your godfather score, through the team of Germany! Yay!! We love that you loved the flavor of "Big Caesar's" when we had our World Cup party...so much SO that you wanted "Big Caesar's" on your birthday for your special dinner.

You. ARE. Simply: Mr. Love.

Sweet Siblings Celebrate: your 8 years, Madge , and, Peach, 6 years we rejoice in having YOU!

How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many FLOWERS.
-Bl. Mother Teresa

Happy 8th Birthday, Sweet Face!

Dear Madge-Pie,
I still remember it: your coming into this world, and those moments before, when the dr. told Mom that maybe the baby was not coming... maybe the time would not be that time that we were at the hospital. And it was then that I thought, "No, we have to have you. We have to come back home to the "apple apartments" in Beijing with little you in our arms." And, within an hour contractions were strong; you were coming. You came. And, since then, life has never been the same. We love you. We truly love you. You are our Everything, just like your song says. You are a giver of love. Your touches are gentle. Your care is pure. Your conversations sincere. You think deep thoughts. You ask enormous questions with the child-like wonder that I think Jesus was talking about when He explained that we should be like little children if we want to be with Him in Heaven. You are you, and you are happy. You do not need to follow this or that or him or her to be happy. You follow Him, and you are happy. Today I watched as you pushed some other little children on the tire swing at the park. You are kind to all, so kind and welcoming that you passed a little girl, who was crouched under a slide at the park and just asked, "Do you want to play?" Your smile is inviting, your warmth serene, your direction truly virtuous. Thank you for being such a good example of love, laughter and just being a little child. You are silly and a trickster, who, when you get caught in a funny moment, or a moment of uncovering a scheme, you let that little smile out of the side of your mouth. Yep, that one! We caught you! You made me laugh the other day when I called you to pause on the path as you got off your bike to check something out. Remember what you said when I said, "Madge, wait, don't get off your bike"? :) Yes, you made me laugh, because you were 5 steps away from your bike.... and then, little Caleb was investigating right behind you!

Your words whenever you have something to say are memorable. I remember so clearly the words you whispered into Marta's little ears just moments after her birth, "I have always wanted you." How beautiful, especially to a world that sometimes loses sight of how important and rewarding it is to want the life that God forever wants to give to it. Thank you for reminding us all how loves each life is. And, thank you for your sweet reminders, those reminders that you would mention after being pushed aside or overlooked at the grocery store. You always would say, "Don't people remember that they were little children too?"

We so look forward to next week and making your birthday wish come true of visiting some convents. You are a pure soul, a little soul who loves filling your poor box for all the needy. We expecially love how you are making your little look bracelets for the poor too.

We love you, Mammy-Cakes! Thank you for your simplicity, like today, whehn you helped your siblings do a nature scavenger hunt right after Mass.

Happy 8th birthday, Beautiful Girl!

Finding Love Notes, Given Words of Love on Paper...

...starting our days by finding a love note on the kitchen counter or a leaf of love on the steps: how can the day not be well when you know how much somebody really loves you?

Precious Little Love

Our little Plum Cake, our Smiler, our Sweet Love, Happiness, all the names that describe our sweet, little
Marta.

We love you, sweet face. You are not 3 months and 12 days old!

Happy 9th Wedding Anniversary, to my dear husband

Dear Caleb,
With nine years of marriage shared, about ten moves together, and the sharing with and supporting one another in this journey of life, to the people God is calling us to be--ever a daily process--God's love and joy be in you as we walk this path together. hand-in-hand. with eyes on Him, hearts in Our Lady's, and foundation assembled in St. Joseph's steadfast perseverance. I love you. Thank you for sharing this life with me and building a sweet life together. Never is this life without sorrows, but together with Jesus, all things are possible. Thanks be to God for the sacrament of marriage. The blessing of mercy, forgiveness, hope, joy, happiness, friendship, pure and fervent love, constant striving for the Good. Thank you for sharing you love with me and sharing in God's plans with me through the lives of our five beautiful little treasures. I give God thanks this day for all that we have, all that we have shared and all that is to come. For, whatever is allowed is allowed for a reason; may we never forget that. 1 Cor. 10:13. From every moment a grace is extracted in the sacrament of the present moment. Our Lady of Grace, pray for us. St. Joseph, model of all husbands and fathers, pray for us. Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur and Felix Leseur, pray for us. Sts. Joachim and Anne, pray for us in your faith and perseverance. Every saint and angel of our dear children, help us to come close to the King, forever abiding in His love and mercy. All for, through and in Him!

Mr. Reggie,
 Thank you for guiding us up to the bell tower at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception almost 10 years ago, September 15, 2004. The treasures of our "yes" enjoyed seeing you!

Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.

Pope John Paul II