A few of our favorite things

Nephew Evan, Cousin River and Grammy came to town last week to take part in our annual trek to Grand Lake. (Dave was at a conference in Michigan for brainiac theologians/academicians.) Grand Lake is just about my favorite place in the world....love it there! (So basically, Dave and I were both in our own little corners of heaven. Just not together. Not that being together would be hell or anything. Just sayin' last week, we had our separate versions of heaven. And that's ok.)

Cousin Riv and Meels at Winter Park.

Sister Abs and her favorite Brother at Winter Park.

These two really do love each other!

The Big Boys of the Park.

A hug along the hike.

All the kids! (What a fun mini-van full....some of the time, at least...)

Every year at Grand Lake, we take a picture of all the kids on this old-fashioned farming thing-y. This year, we had a couple new kids in the group--Cousin Riv and BEREKET!

Abs and Ev.

Abs and Meels in front of our favorite cottages in the world.

La Piece de Resistance: A Moose! Every night, after dinner and before dessert, the tradition is to hop in the mini-van and go moose hunting in the park. This night, we found ELEVEN ELUSIVE MOOSE--a record!

Sister + Brother

Somewhat unrelated photo: Dave's favorite part of Father's Day!

Hittin' the Bowen Trail!

A Mama Bear and a few of the cubs.

A Mama Moose...calves (fawns? moose-lets?) hiding in the brush behind her.

Then and Now

Bereket "then":

(Kinda pale, kinda sad, looks a bit lost.)

Bereket "now":

(Same sassy sense of style, right down to shoes on the wrong feet.

But TOTALLY different kid!)

Mr. Handsome

And he lost a tooth!

Home

Taking a cruise was a fine vacation solution for our family: The Bigs were able to have some independent fun. The Littles were happy to go to the kids club while Mom + Dad + The Bigs explored and snorkeled. Dave and I read a few books! And we were all happy to be together while enjoying the too-many-to-count activities.

The only draw-back: we were super-busy and it was hard to get good pictures of all of us together! Nonetheless, here are a few pics...

Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman.

Getting ready to swim with stingrays in Grand Cayman.

Bereket sitting in the window of our room, "looking for dolphins."

After our stop in Cozumel.

Goin' to Belize.

More goin' to Belize.

The Howlett Men...goin' to Belize.

Dave Howlett, International Man of Mystery.

Our Bigs are beautiful!

The patriarch and matriarch of the clan.

Cruisin' Along

Surgery recovery? Check!
Middle Schooler out of middle school and heading for high school? Check!
Grade Schooler out of grade school and heading for middle school? Check!
Four Year Old Preschooler out of four year old preschool and heading for kindergarten? Check!
Two Year Old still a two year old? Check!
Husband traveling and stressed? Check!
Mom overwhelmed? (But what's new, right?) Check!

Packing and ready for get-away cruise this weekend? Um, not yet. But we'll get there!

What a time of beautiful, stress-filled, crazy, wonderful blessing! School will be done for everyone at noon today! Our yard is decked out in green grass, leaf-filled tree branches, pots of flowers and comfy seats....ready for summer!

After a snafu with Amelia's passport (not Bereket's passport, but Amelia's! Who knew?), Boulder County did a one-day-turn-around court proceeding, completing her adoption validation and allowing us to get a new passport for Amelia. (Otherwise, local friends would have been sharing the caring for Amelia while the rest of us vacationed?)

The happiest news of all? IAN friends Stacey and Stephen are heading to Ethiopia in a few weeks to meet their new son! They are going to travel to Shanto, and they will spend a day with Desalegn and the children at FOVC. We are able to send a few donations with Stacey and Stephen....and they are taking TONS of donations that they have put together. What a wonderful day it will be for the children, Desalegn, the staff and Stacey and Stephen. Oh, how I wish we could be there, too.

On other FOVC-related news: It looks like Stacey will be able to get 501C3 status for FOVC. Yea! A U.S. charity is about to partner with FOVC, which will be so life-changing for the children servced by FOVC. Yea! And we are still praying and planning to return soon. Yea! Let us know if you want to come, too!

Attack of the Killer Fallopian Tube

This week, I am recovering from spur-of-the-moment major surgery. (Note: This is a blow-by-blow account! Not very interesting to anyone but me! That said, take comfort in the fact that I have decided not to share the ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHIC (emphasis on graphic) evidence of the situation!)

The fun started Sunday, when I developed really bad pain in the lower abdomen and lower back. After several hours, I told Dave I needed to see a doctor and asked him to take me to an urgent care clinic. Lacking the ability to really do diagnostic testing, the doc there said I "should" go to the E.R., but that I "could" take pain meds and follow up with my family doc the next day. After all, "maybe" it was just gas pain!

Fearing a night of unbearable pain, we went on over to the E.R. I laid on the floor until I was seen. I got an IV, and some pain med, and that helped. When that first pain med wore off, they gave me two full doses of morphine and two full doses of something much stronger, before the pain started to subside. (The nurse said it was enough drugs to knock a horse down. I'm not sure exactly what she meant.....?)

Ultrasound showed that I had a couple of big ovarian cysts...not too terribly uncommon, right? But the weight of the cysts caused my fallopian tube to wrap and wrap and wrap around the ovary, cutting off the blood supply and killing it. Exciting! Painful! Dramatic!

The on-call surgery people came in and operated around 12:30am Monday morning.

Dave, aka Mr. Compassion, had been seen doing a moderate amount of eye-rolling when I tried to describe the extent of my pain.

However, he developed some compassion when the surgeon described the pain like this:

The nerves affected are the same nerves that end in a man's, um, groinal nether-regions (complex medical term mine). A man's version of my situation would be like attaching a steel clamp to afore-mentioned groinal nether-regions. And twisting. And twisting. For hours. Without stopping.

'Nuff said. Dave got really nice.

I came home late Monday night. Grammy screeched into town to save us all early Tuesday morning. It's not fun to have surgery, but recovery totally trumps the pain before the surgery!

I read this and it made me so sad!

There are so many children still waiting.

The Waiting Child

by Debbie Bodie

I saw you meet your child today

You kissed your baby joyfully

And as you walked away with her

I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby, yet

Inside I"m aching miserably

I want to plead as you go by,

"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today

In love with her before you met

And as I watched you take her out

I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!

I knew I'd seen your face before!

But you came for a second babe.

Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today

But this time there was something new

A nurse came in and took MY hand

And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost six!

And there are infants here you see?

But then you kissed me and I knew

The child you chose this time was me.

Kiddos (and a bit of parents, too)

Does This Make You Wanna Come?

A note we just received from Desalegn and FOVC. Let's change the world!

DEAR DAVID AND LORY,

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HEAR FROM YOU THAT YOU ARE GOING TO COME BACK TO ETHIOPIA TO SEE US AGAIN IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

WE ARE GOING TO ARRANGE SOME PROGRAMS, CARNIVALS, STREET RUNNING, ETC.FOR THE CEREMONY THEN. I AM VERY MUCH SURE YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED WITH THAT ALL.

IN ADDITION TO THAT WE WILL HAVE A BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING WITH YOU AND PRESENT ALL REPORTS ABOUT FOVC.

MAY GOD KEEP ALL OF US SAFE!

YOURS IN CHRIST,
DESALEGN DAKA
ETHIOPIA

Happy Easter, He is RISEN!

Today, we give all thanks for the reason for our hope:

 The Risen Jesus Christ!

Silly Easter Sissies, er, Easter Bunny!

Cool! Sunglasses! Cool sunglasses!

It's a very Bob Easter for Amelia. (Shhhh, don't tell Amelia that Tillie the Schnauzer absconded with Bob and ate him under the kitchen table!)

More Bob!

Shades.

Mom serves up a healthy breakfast of Easter candy. (Well, I did add deviled eggs later for a bit of protein.)

That Easter Daddy, er, Easter Bunny--Bereket got a bike!

Bereket has been dreaming of a bicycle since we met him in Ethiopia! I told Dave he will always remember learning to ride his bike on Easter Sunday with his Daddy.

Will You Pray and Dream With Us?

Hello Friends,

As you are probably aware, Dave and I have been working with a legitimate and worthy organization called FOVC (Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children) in southern Ethiopia. (To learn more about FOVC, scroll down a couple of posts.)

For over three years, a young man named Desalegn Daka has been pouring his life into serving orphans and widows in his village and the surrounding areas. To date, he has had no support or acknowledgement from "the world."

It is on my heart to pray and consider planning for a trip to help Desalegn and the children.

For Dave and me, it makes absolutely no sense to try to take this on: We have four kids now. We used all of our money bringing two of them home (smile). Who on earth would consider taking our some combination of our kids while we travel? We are really busy!

I'm sure each of you has the same reasons to not consider going....heck, you probably have even more reasons!

In spite of every excellent reason each of us has to NOT consider taking a trip like this, I am asking you to think and pray about the possibility. I am going to believe the doors of our hearts and our circumstances will open for every one who is meant to take a trip to Southern Ethiopia.

If you do consider going, I promise this: You will see beauty like you have never seen before. You will be filled with joy and purpose. You will grow to love Desalegn and the children. Also, you will be scared and overwhelmed like you have never been before. You will feel very much ill-equipped for the work we would do. You will never be the same!

Thank you in advance for even considering joining us as we pray and dream.

Mountain Lion Sighting!!!!

Just received this email from Allison's school:

This is an announcement from Westview Middle School School:

At approximately 9pm on March 18, a mountain lion was spotted about 1 block north of Hygiene Elementary. The Department of Wildlife has advised school officials to remain extra vigilant while outside and to scan the school perimeter and large trees for potential mountain lions. Local residents should remain alert for potential sightings.
 
 

 
Terrifyingly, Allison has a broken ankle and is hobbling around in a big ankle boot these days. My girl could be COUGAR BAIT!!!!