Zima Ferie

In Poland, the schools take 2 weeks off in January or February for Zima Ferie...........winter break. This is when the country takes time to enjoy the winter activities! I think it's a great idea!! We spent the first week doing one-on-one dates with each of our kids, enjoying activities around Krakow like ice skating, and continuing in minstry. Then we took off for the second week to the Polish mountains for a family ski trip. We had a great time making memories together! Here's a snapshot of our 5 days:

A great hotel with lots of places to play:

Innertubing:

Skiing (in the best weather imagineable -- sunny and warm):

Enjoying lunch on the top of the mountain:

The view while eating lunch:

Arin, and the hills she conquered:

(this is her hot-doggin' pose... love it!)

Tidbits of life...........

After the holidays, when the kids returned to school, Arin's school had their annual program in honor of Grandma/Granddad's day. Arin was an angel, and she had 2 separate speaking parts during the program. She delivered every word of her lines in Polish beautifully. And this year, she sang almost every word of every song !!! Her Polish is improving so much, and we, along with her teachers, are so very proud of her!
Here are a few shots of our ANGEL = ANIOŁ:


Sharing her handmade gifts with Mommy and Daddy:


A couple of weeks ago, we went to a mall to watch a friend's son perform in a dance competition. At the conclusion of the competition, they invited any kids up on stage who wanted a free dance lesson. Here's Kaleb and Arin trying their hand at hip-hop (in the front row):


Isn't life an adventure ?!?! Never a dull moment here!
I have so many more pics to post and stories to tell.........but there's not enough time in the days. We leave tomorrow for a few family days in the Polish mountains! As a very specific answer to our prayers, Al's x-rays on Wednesday showed complete healing in his finger, so the surgeon was able to remove to the wires yesterday!!!.............just in time for him to be able to ski with us on this vacation! We are so grateful to a God who cares about the details.............of even our lives.
Have you realized that HE cares about the details of your life too? Take notice of that today, because He takes notice of you !!!

Filling in the gaps............

I was looking back through our pics...........and realized that I never blogged about the end of our December 2010. But as a friend was telling me last week, it's OK to keep on celebrating Christmas................we tend to forget about that Christ-child once the holiday passes. So, here's to extending the holiday.........

Before school let out, Kaleb's class performed a program which included the Christmas story.



Here is our token "family pic in front of the tree" - a must for every American family!!

After the enjoyment of opening gifts from family members via skpe,....

We began making a birthday cake, for JESUS......

We invited our friend, Weronika, over on Christmas Day to help us celebrate. When I asked if she wanted to help decorate our cake, she asked who the cake was for .........the thought just never crossed her mind that it was Jesus's birthday! She happily agreed to participate, and it was fun to show her how our family celebrates this extra special 'birthday boy'.

We also had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with our team. It's always fun to get all the kids together, eat our favorite American treats, and encourage one another.

One of our teammates' home church sent a shoebox of gifts for each child on our team. It was such a surprise to them..........and they loved exploring their treasures from America together!

The week between Christmas and New Year, we took some time as a family to do some special things around our city. We had the opportunity to go ice skating with Weronika and Abbe, went to the movies, and went snow skiing for a day...........

It was a beautiful day............with great ski conditions.........and even better company !!! We had a good time celebrating as a family this holiday season. It is always hard when you miss family during the holidays. We know it is hard on them as well. But we are thankful to be here in Krakow for this season of life............and we celebrate HIM !!

Surgery Is Done!

Surgery went as expected yesterday! The doctor was able to stabilize the fracture with the least invasive procedure, which was a very specific answer to prayer! We got great care at a great hospital...........and we have a great team who took on the care of our kids while we were at the hospital. We could not have done this surgery on such short notice without them!

With each successive conversation with the surgeon this week, we are more aware of the fact that we may never truly know the extent of God's grace and protection that covered Al during this accident! The surgeon is consistently baffled at how minimal the damage was in light of the severity of the explosion. He stated yesterday that "It is a miracle." Having looked at the damage to Albert's glove, he said he would have certainly bet on dealing with permanent nerve damage, nail bed damage, and probably vessel damage which would have required amputation. He can not explain how Albert did not have an open wound to deal with in this accident. All this to say, we have had tons of opportunities to testify about a real God to those around us. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would draw others to Christ as a result of these seeds planted...........especially in the heart of this surgeon who is so amazed from a medical standpoint.

Please also pray protection for Albert's hand as it heals...........we have a long way to go. We have to be very careful with the wires that are stabilizing the fracture. We go back to the surgeon in 2 weeks for suture removal.

Thank you so much for your prayer support!

Please let us know how we can pray for you too: thehesskews@gmail.com

Update on Albert

We had a consultation with the hand specialist today (the 11th) and he was able to confirm that surgery is our only option for fixing Albert's fractured finger. This hand surgeon has an opening in his surgery schedule tomorrow, so Albert will be going in for day surgery tomorrow (the 12th). The procedure itself is not complicated, but the surgeon will not be able to know exactly how the fracture site will need to be stabilized until Al is on the operating table. So, please pray for wisdom as he makes decisions on Albert's behalf tomorrow, for an uneventful procedure, and quick healing with no complications. God has certainly had His hand in directing us to this specific surgeon through 3 different avenues this week, so we are confident that Al will be in good hands! He is a great shepherd for us, and we are so thankful !!

Update on Albert.....

Here's a brief update on Albert's hand:
He returned to the hospital on the 3rd, as instructed, with his "urgent" notice written at the top of his referral. He stood in line for a couple of hours and when it was his turn, he was told that he could not been seen by the doctor because he was a cash paying patient. They only took patients with Polish insurance! (Just another cultural reminder that we are living in a foreign land!)
So, we then began the process of trying to find another orthopedic specialist who could see him that day (since it was "urgent"). He got an appointment that afternoon !!! But the doctor just looked at his hand, cleaned it up a little, gave him a splint, then told him to come back on Friday for more x-rays and further assessment. So, not very helpful, except for the splint to protect the broken finger !!! Hmmmm.......urgent, huh?!?!
We returned to the same doctor on Friday. After initial x-rays, he told Albert that he would have to reposition the fractured finger. And he gave it the "ole college try"........with a nurse holding Albert's arm down! It was not fun to watch....or experience (for Albert). But looking at the "after" x-ray, there was no improvement. The fractured piece is nowhere close to being approximated with the rest of the finger. So, we are now looking at surgery as the only option in fixing the fracture.
Please pray for the hand surgeon that we will meet with on Tuesday, the 11th. Pray for healing for Albert's hand. Pray wisdom as we decide these next steps ahead of us.
THANK YOU !!!!