Adam

You've waited toooo long to meet this cute little guy! Adam is now 5 months old and has been in our hearts for 3 months now. He has a great smile, but usually just has this eyes wide open look, like "who are you?" (Why do kids always look at us that way? Are we really that crazy looking?)
He has a therapist who comes once a week to help him work through stiff muscle tone and help him to catch up developmentally. He may have a long journey ahead of him, but for as long as we have him, we're working together to enjoy him and help him enjoy life!

Good bye Anaune!

We said good bye to Anaune on Friday. He went to a new foster home that was supposed to have room for he and his sister. And then his sister's foster home had an opening and now he'll go with her. Good, bad, glad and sad. This was a hard placement for us and a difficult experience as we saw the full dis-functionality of the Foster Care system. He is such a cool kid, with a fun personality. Where ever he actually is, we hope the best for him. I wish we could have kept him, but it wouldn't have worked out with Mackay so well. Mackay had a hard time sharing his room, cloths, toys and mom. I feel like I am slowly learning the system and I ask my self,"Do I really want to know all this, see all this and feel all that goes with it?"
The thought that came to my mind was this. Do not let the heartache distract you from what you set out to do.
And so we have a new child with us. Pictures will come soon, once I get used to night feedings again!

Naune

Naune is as cute as a button! We are loving his presence in our home and are adjusting to all the changes. From the beginning he just started playing with everyone and I hear the small whisper that says my family's current stage is just right for foster children. He called me Mom right away and has a large vocabulary (including some not so great words). It was only around day three when he wept in his sleep for mommy, that we saw signs of his home sickness. Other things started popping up later as well and we have managed them as they came. My least favorite words of his are 'I don't care' which he heard entirely to often, I believe and I always respond with 'Well, I care!"
After a week he learned to fold his arms and be quiet during family prayer. Taking him to our church was exciting, and I really appreciate people who come up and ask about him as opposed to the confused stares. I'm still waiting to use the line "I don't know who his father was!" but I doubt I'll get to.
I'm not sure that he's ever swam before and so we try to often. Boy do we really stick out at the pool! Naune and my white/blonde son swimming with me are quite a salt and pepper pair. We are still learning so much and enjoying everyday of this. But Naune is such a cool kid, it's hard not to like the experience.

ready...set...

Do you believe in a loving Heavenly Father who guides and watches over your life? I do. And so I trust he will help me and send the right child to our family.
We have our name on the list for another Foster Child. And we have received four calls already. Each time we are given a little information on the child, and asked 'will we be willing'. As a couple, my husband and I have agreed to say yes to any request and trust that the right one will come to our home. The Lord knows what child will teach us the most, without putting stress in our relationships with our children and causing harm to their growth. So with each call, I think about the child, what it's been through, what it will need right away and what I can do to ease the trauma of leaving it's previous situation. Now that we've had Ashley, we feel for the other side of the situation and what the child may feel after being severed from it's previous family.
So far we have not been called back,( not uncommon) and so we wait.
The hard part (ya, I know; only one hard part?) is not being able to plan ahead. Today is a crazy day. Saturday would have been perfect. But please not on Thursday morning. No I can't say when we are best able to take the child. They come when they come. That's really how it is anyway.
Wish us expecting parents luck. Maybe our new bundle of joy will come today!



Update: We are expecting a two year old boy any minute now. Removed because of neglect. He has a 3 yr old sister who is also placed in care. We don't have enough seat belts for both of them currently. I admit I am terrified. A two yr old boy, terrible twos, missing sis and mom? What are we thinking? Oh yeah-the Lords with us on this.

Good bye

A few of our favorite pictures:

A Rezean to Love


Ashley went home to her Grandparents this week and we are left to say goodbye. We have so many emotions swirling around, it is hard to categorize all of this grief. But as we sat in a circle and talked with our kids about this experience, we asked them if they would foster again. All of our children responded "YES!" And so we will.

A++

I can tell you maybe three of my favorite xeriscape plant's latin names. I remember very little of Calculus. I have forgotten my English writing tips and really, I never could spell. But if you ask me about my kids, I get an A++ every time.
Grant recently celebrated his birthday and Chris and I went shopping for the occasion. We found our selves in the Lego Isle looking for something he might like. Chris found a set with a video game theme that he thought Grant would like but I pointed out that it was a different brand. He didn't think it would matter but I told him 'Lego Snob' older brother would point it out and then Grant might think it was an inferior gift. Chris assured me it would not be an issue.
I bet him a foot rub on that.
As we were wrapping gifts the next day we showed Jack the gift.
His words were "You know it's not Lego, right?"
Yes, my feet feel fine and if you ask me about kids- I know mine!

P.S. Grant still loved the gift, or more importantly the guy time spent putting it together.

Three Cups of Tea

I lived in a small village called New York on September 11th, 2001. A woman in my ward had chard business cards blow into her yard. I had a brief conversation with an angry man on his stoop about how all foreigners should be sent home. American hate was at a high during the months afterward. Maybe you saw a bumper sticker that read "Nuke them all and let Allah sort it out".
Greg Mortenson, Author of Three Cups of Tea was in Pakistan when he got word about the Towers. Working in a village to build schools for their children, he was moved by the village women who brought him eggs, (all they had to offer) to give to the women in the village of New York to help with their suffering.
"Three Cups of Tea, One man's Mission to promote Peace one school at a time" talks about the path that lead him to work so hard for Muslims on the other side of our planet. Balti, Pakistan, a small village in the shadow of the second largest mountain in the world, is where his journey began as a mountaineer. It transformed into a goal to build a school for their children who studied on the cold ground with out a teacher. But it continued on to a career of building more than 50 schools and talks about the sweet people who are so misunderstood by Americans. He meet so many honest people who only want a better life for their families. You will not be able to read this book and not view people differently. And Greg Mortenson wants you to read this book. He wants people to know that only a fair education will bring peace to this world. And Pakistan's aren't the only ones needing educating.
The book gets it's name from a saying that Haji Ali, Balti villiage leader told Greg on one of his many visits.
The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger
The second time you share tea with a Balti, you are an honored guest
The third time you share tea with you become family.
I wish I had more eloquence to give this book a proper review. You will just have to read it and fill in the details I can not.