Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Treasure Tuesday!!!



It's such a beautiful morning and already 60 degrees outside, so I'm sitting here with the sunshine, a cup of steaming hot coffee and a *whisper - Krispy Kreme donut*. I feel so rebellious being on a diet and all. Ahhhhhh!!!

My Treasure Tuesday for today are my nieces and nephews, not only because I love them to death, but because being a long distance Aunt makes things so much harder.



I'm going to start with my beautiful niece Tiffany. When she was born and her mommy had to go back to work, she stayed with me and my grandmother. We took care of her during the day until she went back home around 5pm. When I left South Africa in 1998, Tiffany was about to turn 2 years old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, I felt as if I was leaving my own child and till this day she holds a very special place in my heart. On sunday for Mother's Day I got to talk to her and the first thing she said was "I miss you so much, when are you coming to visit?". Wow, talk about my heartbreaking.
"Hey China, that noise you heard around 7pm was actually my heart breaking in two".



Now my wonderful and gorgeous little man, Colby. Colby is Tiffany's brother and unfortunately I have yet to meet him in person. I just look at his sweet little face and want to squeeze him so hard. Colby reminds me a lot of Nicholas, they both look very much alike and could pass for brothers LOL
Colby is one of my treasures and more so because I have yet to hold him in my arms :)



My next Treasure is my wonderful nephew Dylan. When my older brother married my sister in law, Dylan was two years old. It didn't matter to us, because he instantly became a part of our family. My brother adopted him and gave him our last name, but all that is just legalities because Dylan knows how much we love him. I want so much to shower him with love and to hug him and kiss him, so I hope I can do that soon :)



This is my little princess Taryn-Lee. Taryn-Lee is Dylan's sister and the apple of daddy's eye. When she was born I remember my brother sending me a photo of her and one of myself at her age, I swear we looked identical :)
She's such a sweetheart and I love talking to her on the phone, she gets so shy around me but I know that's because she hasn't actually seen me in person yet. Another little treasure of mine and one that I hold dear to my heart :)



And last but not least, the baby of the family. My beautiful little Alyssa. Just look at that little face :)
I also haven't met Alyssa yet but I have so much love for her. It's heartbreaking not being able to spoil them and play with them and just shower them with love and affection.
Alyssa is my younger brother's daughter, so she's my baby's baby, does that make sense? LOL

And there you have it, those are my Treasures for this Tuesday. I love them all to death and hope more than anything that someday really soon, I can finally wrap my arms around them and tell them IN PERSON, just how much I love them. :)

For more Treasure Tuesday participants, head on over to Faith's blog. :)

6 comments:

Chaotic Mom said...

Thank GOODNESS for the internet to help you all stay in touch! I was thinking, "Will you ever move with the military to be closer to your family?" (Something we've FINALLY done...) Then I read that you left SOUTH AFRICA. You're going to see them soon? Are you taking a trip back? I'll have to read more. ;)

What beautiful kids!

Courtney said...

I thought that picture was Nicholas! Wow your family looks alot alike. You have such a beatiful family. I hope so much you can see them soon. Family: what a great treasure!!!!

Just Nancy said...

They are beautiful! I'm glad I found your blog. I've added you to my roll.

Thanks for visiting mine!

Overwhelmed! said...

"When I left South Africa in 1998, Tiffany was about to turn 2 years old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, I felt as if I was leaving my own child and till this day she holds a very special place in my heart."

I can so relate to this!! My first nephew and I are very close. I was at the hospital when my older sister gave birth to him. I walked him at least once a week (if not more) up until he was 2 years old. Then, I moved away to another city about 2 hours away because of my job. I was heartbroken about having to leave him and I told my sister I felt as if I needed custody visits. We arranged to meet half way once a month so that she could bring him to me. He'd spend one weekend a month with me, when he was just 2 years old, and it was heaven!

Then I moved even further away to another state. I felt like I was loosing my child.

Over the years, we've kept in touch in various ways...letters, emails (he's now 13), occasional visits, sharing pictures, and even story time over the phone every Sunday afternoon.

He was my first nephew and Godson and he'll always hold a special place in my heart.

I miss my other nephews and niece as well.

It's hard to be so far away, isn't it?

My treasure for Tuesday is posted as well. Stop by and take a look. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to add your link!

someone else said...

Beautiful little children! They definitely qualify as a treasure.

airforcewife said...

I have a niece and a nephew I haven't met yet, also.

They're in CA, though, not South Africa! But still, it's a military thing...