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

Happy Birthday, Sweet Peety!

Dear Peety,
We love you, our dear 6-year old. Where did those years go? And yet, we were there for each moment, living with you, being, soaking up you, little you, who is growing into such a beautiful girl, our dear daughter, our perseverant and passionate Peach, intelligent and a wonderful learner, excellent reader, determined to complete a task and succeed. You are a giver of love, an affectionate squeezer, a beautiful artist, and full-of-sweetness writer of love notes, with an eye on beauty in the smallest of flowers. Everyday you have given Mommy a bouquet of flowers and trampled through the grass, as you were barefooted, with your little Peety skirts on, sometimes-hair-down, bounding about with so much energy. We love you, dear Peach. I remember your birth. Dr. B delivering you and my telling him we named you Guadalupe; how amazing as his practice is named after your Guadalupe's hill.
You dearly love your big sister Maddy, your best friend, your playmate, your dear, dear sister and friend. How sweet you are to care for your little man Caleb, and yet you are playmates and fun-havers with one another. You are the little mom to Miss Pen, and you love how she loves you as she looks for Ita. How much you love your littlest sister, whom you affectionately call Marty. Love flows out of you, and we love soaking it up. Never, ever forget Our dear Mama's word to Juan Diego, "Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you." Forever you will be held in her arms and for ever will we love you and make sure you know that throughout your entire life.

 

Happy birthday, sweet girl, our giggly Peach, who, when she smiles is just . all . SMILE!. It's no wonder that I chose Your Siling Face by James Taylor when you were still growing inside of me, because you are just that: one SmIliNg face! 

Your birthday saint: Blessed Junipero Serra

How similar e was to you in his zeal and perseverance, and carries the same model in his motto that reminds us so much of your determined will to succeed:

ALWAYS FORWARD, NEVER BACK.

The word that best describes Junipero is zeal. It was a spirit that came from his deep prayer and dauntless will. “Always forward, never back” was his motto. His work bore fruit for 50 years after his death as the rest of the missions were founded in a kind of Christian communal living by the Indians. When both Mexican and American greed caused the secularization of the missions, the Chumash people went back to what they had been—God again writing straight with crooked lines.

(taken from: americancatholic.org)

One Year Anniversary with Him in Your Heart

Dear Madge,
Today we celebrated your one-year anniversary in receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist in Brasilia. What a day that was. You are truly a gift to us, and a sweet girl with a big heart and a deep faith and many thoughts. You are an example of a multitude of virtues to us, and a funny little girl, a giggly trickster.

We love you. Today after our walk together we were happy to all jump in the car together after naps, and celebrate with an American ice cream,

a trip to the library, and a visit with Our Lord at the parish, then a lit votive candle to the Sacred Heart.
We are blessed, we are grateful to you, Dear Lord, for your love, constant gentleness, and mercy beyond measure. As Fr. said at the Mass on Sunday, "God is impatient, well, He really is not impatient, because He is patience itself, but He is impatient to wait until Eternity to be joined with us, and so He sends Himself into us beginning with Baptism..." At Mass two Sundays ago, we remember Fr. saying that confession and the Eucharist build on each other; you cannot have one without the other.

Lord, draw us near you and hold us deep  within You, where we want to abide always.

Sharing moments from one year ago, June 16, 2013, Brasilia. Now, we are blessed to have our sweet Marta in our lives. Forever we will give God thanksgiving for her life!