Happy 4th Heaven Day Chrissie...Love, Rowan

May 19th is a special day.  It marks the 4th anniversary of the day Rowan's special little friend Chrissie went to heaven.  Four years ago, they spent 30 days in PICU at Methodist Children's Hospital at the same time, before he was discharged and she passed away that evening.  Rowan has a very special connection to Chrissie and her family, and he makes something special for her and goes out to visit her grave on her families ranch every year on this day.  This year was no different.  We drove to Wimberly early this morning and had another blessed moment at Chrissie's grave.  Here are some pictures, starting with a letter that he had me type for her.  Such a sweet, honest, love...

Rowan tied the letter onto the gate that surrounds Chrissie's grave... 

 

 

Then he tied a balloon there as well.

 

 

 

Next, he filled the bird feeder that he painted with bird seed,

and placed it on a little pink wrought iron table near the site.

 

We noticed that the colors he chose to paint the feeder ended up matching his

 "Boss Your Heart" Memorial T-Shirt with Chrissie's hand print exactly!  So cool.

 

 

 

 

Finally, Rowan placed a letter "C" fresh flower arrangement at the foot of her grave.

 

 

And said a special prayer for her.

 

"Dear God, I know you are taking good care of Chrissie in Heaven.

Everybody misses her, but I know that you can heal everyone.

I hope her Mommy and Daddy like what I brought for her today.

Amen."

 

It was such a sweet moment to witness as Rowan blew Chrissie another kiss goodbye.

He takes great joy in leaving her these heartfelt gifts.

 

Just look at these tiny precious hands as they paint and sign and decorate

presents for his friend in heaven...humbling...

 

Love and miss you Chrissie!

 

Thinking of the entire Patterson family today and always.

May you see Chrissie in all things beautiful throughout your day.

 

Love,

Rowan

 

Must have started in heaven...

On the way home from play practice tonight Rowan asked me:

 

 "Mom, where was I before I came to you,

like before I was born,

was I in heaven first?" 

 

 I told him that the Bible says

 that the Lord knit him in his mother's womb,

so God gave him to me when he created him. 

 

He said:

"Oh, I'm just asking because I'm so happy I have my life...

that I feel like it must have started in heaven to begin with."

 

Wow.................what else can I add to that? 

 

I just hope you all love your life

as much as Rowan loves his:)

 

 

(yeah, I'd say this precious angel is definitely "heaven sent":)

 

Seattle Summary Part Two...the fun stuff!

We really had a nice time in Seattle. 

If we weren't at a doctor's appointment,

we were sight seeing or eating wonderful meals.

Here is a quick glimpse of the fun side of our trip.

 

(I blogged last week about the medical side of the trip,

 in "Seattle Summary Part One...the medical news" in case you missed it.)

 

Rowan was very excited to fly again. 

He did have some respiratory issues that day and required 02 during both flights,

and he slept most of the time, but when he woke up he was so thrilled to see

Seattle's forests, water and mountains out the window.

 

 

 

First of all, we were lucky enough to have Rowan's home nurse, Cindy travel with us for these consultations in Seattle.  She is part of the family, and Rowan just loves spending time with her.  Here are a few pictures of them during the trip.  Notice they are usually holding hands or skipping, or both:)

 

 

 

 

 

One of the things that impressed me the most about Washington was the absolutely gorgeous flowers! They were so beautiful and plentiful.  I would have fresh flowers in my home at all times if they were that pretty, readily available and that inexpensive.  The bouquets only cost $10 each in the Market! Unbelievable.

 

 

 

Of course we hit all the normal tourist spots downtown...

Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, the Seattle Center, 

and the surrounding parks and sculptures. 

 Rowan especially liked how the fountain spurted the water out higher and higher,

to the beat of the music that was playing in the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our favorite site seeing tour was definitely to the Chihuly Exhibit, Gardens and Glass House.

What an amazing artist, and what beautifully kept grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

We were very happy to take Rowan on his first Pacific Northwest ferry ride,

when we crossed the Sound to visit one of Brian's old Navy buddies

and his family in Bremerton, Washington.

 

 

 

Everyone had such a nice time enjoying the outdoors, in the beautiful green woods.

(It was so different than what we are used to back home in Texas.)

 

Especially, when we found Bigfoot!

(That's right, right there in the middle of the photo:)

 

 

 

Rowan watched the video footage over and over and over.

He said "We got more evidence in one day, than they did on Finding Bigfoot in a whole season!"

As you can see, he already "believed"...

 

We were very blessed to get to spend Easter with the Mefford's too...

complete with egg dyeing, Easter egg hunting, and yummy food/drinks.



 

 

 

What a great visit with some terrific kids...I mean Super Heroes:)

 

 

 Once we were back in town, in Seattle, we did a lot of walking...and hiking...and climbing hills.

Rowan was so funny.  He danced all over town, and even started to pretend he could do Parkour. 

It was so entertaining as we walked the streets of Seattle in the University District.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flight home was smooth and uneventful...

Rowan just kept saying how much he was going to miss Seattle,

and how he couldn't wait to go back:)

 

Goodbye Seattle...see you soon Texas!