Children have been hard to come by in my family. I personally went through twelve years of infertility before my children were all here.
My younger sister only has one child. She had to try for a while before she was able to get pregnant. Charley is five and they have been hoping for some time for another baby.
My older sister, Heidi is fertile. But she was born with a weak heart. After her second baby she went into heart failure and had to have artifical valves put in. When she found out she was pregnant with her third baby, the doctors reccommended she abort the pregnancy. She would not survive. But this is not something she could do. It is not how we were raised. It is not how we think in our family.
Heidi survived her pregnancy, (barely) and so did her baby. We gave praise to God and sighed with relief.
Heidi wanted lots of babies. She is a big family sort of gal. She likes a full house. She was heart broken that she would only have three.
So they decided to start hosting exchange students. To date, they have hosted four students. They have enjoyed every one. But there is one kid in particular that they all fell in love with and adopted as their own.
Ondra Troup was a boy from the Czech Republic. He became a part of my sister's family. She went into mourning when he left to go home.
Ondra's real mother is a phyician with an amazing talent for decorating gingerbread. She sends my sister a collection of cookies every year. I've drooled over these cookies every time they arrive and finally I just flat out asked for my own. I offered to pay. She wouldn't hear of it.
This is what arrived in the mail.
I am humbled that a woman I don't even know would be willing to spend so much time to do this for me. I can't even imagine how long it takes her.
The Bird and I had so much fun unwrapping each cookie. They were like tiny little gifts. I need to figure out how to display them. We can't eat them. We just can't.
Děkujeme vám za kindess. Cookies jsou nádherné. Moje sestra má to štěstí mít takové krásné kamarády jako vy. Doufám, že máte velmi hezké Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok!
Hodně lásky,
April Meeker
Stumble It!
4 comments:
Oh April, this is such a heart warming post. I am from Czech republic and this just makes my heart happy. I am pretty sure you would be great in decorating too. It is just like drawing with icing. Trust me, anyone can learn how to do it. Even i did learned myself how to make and decorate gingerbread :)
Merry Christmas from Czech republic from a girl who likes to read your blog. Your stamps and jewelry is always an inspiration for me.
Really stunning. I've seen these types of cookies from Europe before, but they've always been wrapped in plastic, so I had no idea they weren't all machine made! It's just incredible! I'd be getting out that modpodge and making a wreath or something, but I imagine you'll come up with something spectacular.
Those are unbelievable! And they are so you! I thought you had done them when I saw the first photo.
So pretty!
Those cookies are amazing and what a generous soul that lady has. I loved reading about you and your sisters. Life really is so unfair. There are so many people in the world able to have children and yet they treat them so badly. Thank God for people like you and your sisters. I wish I had had my children when I was younger so I could have had more maybe. But I suppose life just happens the way it happens. Happy Christmas to you and your family and thanks for the year round inspiration,
Colette x.
Post a Comment