It's Official!

I just wanted to let you all know that we received our Foster Care License in the mail last week. It took us about 10 months from start to finish to complete all the classes and paperwork, and I think we'd both agree that it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. Bethany Christian Services, the private agency that we're using as a mediator between us and the state, has been a huge help in this process.

We are currently receiving profiles of available kids via email almost weekly, and we are prayerfully reviewing these profiles and seeking God's wisdom as we try to determine which kid(s) He has chosen for us. This process is much different than the Domestic Infant adoption program we went thru to get Abby. With Abby, we submitted our information to Bethany, along with a multi-paged photo album of ourselves and our lives, and it was basically up to the Lord to move in the heart of a birthmom and dad to select us to be the parents of their child. Bethany did a lot of work on our behalf behind the scenes to advocate for us as they met with birthparents, and a lot of the time we didn't know what, if anything, was going on.

This time, we are much more in the driver's seat. Some may think that this way more desirable because you have the opportunity to pick your kids, but really, it's a lot harder because there are so many kids needing a home (8-12 new kids available for adoption every week). Part of you wants to take every one of them home, but you have to determine what is in the best interest of the child, and what will be the best fit for your own family. No kid is perfect, and each has its own set of abilities and challenges, and it's really difficult to read thru each of the profiles and say "is this the one(s) for us?"

Even when we find one that is of interest to us, we can't just say "I want that one" and bring them home the next day. If we're interested in a child, we let Bethany know, and they send our homestudy to the child's caseworker, and that caseworker will evaluate our homestudy, along with other homestudies they receive from other interested parents, and it's their job to determine who will be the best fit for that child. And then the whole learn-everything-about-the-child, meet/greet, interview process will begin. We haven't gotten near that part yet, so I don't know exactly how it will go.

I share all this so you can know better how to pray for us. Are we heroes for doing this? No. Are we ready for what lies ahead? No. We believe this is part of the plan that God has for us, and we are trusting Him to lead us and provide for what we need emotionally, mentally, and physically as we go along this journey.

It's a new day!

Well, yesterday was a day of some joys and lots of frustrations. Today is a new day tho! I got up early (6:12am) and took a shower and spent some time with the Lord, and then had time to do some work for Blythe before Abby woke up. Actually, Abby woke up and got out of bed at 7:45am, but didn't seem to notice that I was in the office working. She played very quietly and nicely by herself until 8:15, when I decided I should stop my work for the time being and go see what she was up to.

Here is what I found:

She had taken ALL of her clothes off, and was happily reading one book after another. When I peeked around the corner, I saw her in the process of selecting another book, and then she climbed onto the couch and settled in and started reading. That's when I took the picture. The flash alerted her to my presence, and then she looked up with a big smile...so full of joy! And so proud of herself!

She is so full of it this morning! Very silly and happy! I hope the whole day is this way! Part of my devotional thought this morning was "the LORD is Good", based on Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" There are many things going on in our lives right now where I can truly say that the Lord IS good.

Semiahmoo

Saturday was a really hot day here, so we made plans to go on a little outing that evening. I wanted it to be a really simple affair with little preparation needed, and we succeeded! We put some water and cherries in the cooler, picked up sandwiches at Subway, and then drove out to Semiahmoo. Abby said she needed to go potty en-route, but we took our chances, told her to hold it, and drove all the way to the Semiahmoo resort (where we spent our wedding night 9 years ago) before stopping. Once we got to the bathroom, she wouldn't go. Argggh! So we drove back up the spit to a public beach area and set ourselves up by the water to eat our sandwiches and enjoy the sunset.


Abby had a good time climbing on the logs, digging in the rocks/sand, and throwing rocks into the bay. It warmed my heart to see Daddy and daughter playing by the water together. I got a few nice pictures before my camera battery died.










After the sun set, we headed back to the Semiahmoo resort for another potty stop (this one was successful), and then worked our way back home. We planned to get ice cream in Blaine, but they don't have a DQ in town anymore, and we didn't see any other ice cream joint on our drive, so we ended up getting all the way back to Lynden before getting our ice cream. Randy and I both got our own item at DQ, and planned to share with Abby, but she wanted to have her own so we went across the parking lot to McD's and got her a kid's sized cone. She ate the whole thing herself! It was a great evening!

Thank you, Lord, for Naptime!

...for without it I would go insane. Do kids' hormones start acting up at age 2? One minute they are a lot of fun, and the next they are saying NO!, crying, and refusing to do what you want them to do. One minute I think I would like to have another child around here, and the next minute I'm glad I only have one!

We've been potty-training Abby for 3-1/2 weeks, and overall she is doing really well. She stays dry most of the day, and does a pretty good job of telling us when she needs to go potty. She's 2-1/4 years old and isn't very verbal, so we have to be very attuned to her hints. I let her play in her exersaucer this morning (she's way too big for it, but I'm open to any creative play things for her, and this is what she chose this morning), but had to leave the room to get my coffee cake out of the oven. When I returned, the "saucer" had a nice puddle of "water" in it. Argggh! So I had a nice cleanup job to do, including removing the fabric seat (which is a PAIN). I know she called to me when I was in the kitchen, but I didn't decipher her hollering as "kai" (potty), so I just continued on with my work. Big mistake!

We went for a walk up town this morning. Randy needs some new work jeans, so we walked to the Salvation Army to see if we could find something for him. I didn't find any jeans, but I found some other things I'd been looking for. And Abby got to play with the for-sale toys for awhile. I let her play with them so she could try them out and help me determine if any of them really caught her fancy. She played with many of them, but wasn't inseparable with any of them, so we went home empty handed in that area.

Randy was home with Abby yesterday while I went to work. He was very excited to have Abby show me her new jumping game when I got home. I was rather aghast with what I witnessed. He had taught her how to stand on the arm of the couch (on the end where the brick fireplace hearth is), jump down onto her big bouncy ball (to enhance the bounce of the landing), and roll onto the couch cushions. In the first demonstration, she jumped and bounced and rolled over her neck awkwardly, and then rolled onto the floor. Mom was not impressed. In the second demonstration, she fell backwards off the arm, hit the torchier lamp and sent it falling, and then landed on the brick hearth. Neither fall hurt her badly (thank you Lord!), but I had seen enough and encouraged Randy to put that "game" to rest. Oh, the things we'll do to entertain our little girl! I know Daddies create rougher games than Mommies do, and I admire Randy for finding ways to play with his little girl. At least they had fun with that game (until Mommy came home), and thankfully Abby didn't split her head or get any broken bones this time around.

My sister and I went cherry picking last Monday. A friend of ours has a sweet cherry tree in their front yard, and it produced an enormous amount of cherries this year. They were generous enough to share with us, and after about 3 hours of picking (mostly all by Laura), we left with approx 60 lbs of cherries. We took 4 kids with us: Laura's sons Kent and Luke, niece Emily, and Abby. It was an adventure trying to pick cherries while also keeping the kids entertained and off the road, and making sure the two girls got to the potty at the right times. Our friends treated the kids to a snack of popsicles and oreo cookies. The two girls ate 4 oreos apiece! Mmmmmm.

There are a few things that Abby definitely has an interest in doing. One is swinging on swings, another is hanging off of things, and a third is playing with water and/or playing in dirt. Here are a couple pictures of her recent exploits:

KANSAS!!

Abby, my brother Paul, and I took a quick trip to Kansas to see our parents and do a little work around their place. I found cheap tickets online, and decided to take advantage of it. We were only gone for 5 days total (including the travel days). The time went fast, but we packed a lot into it and made some great memories and saw some fantastic sights!

Abby finally got to see an airplane up close! She always notices airplanes in the sky and points and says "a-kA"! We got to hear that word A LOT on this trip! She LOVED standing at the windows in the airport watching the airplanes!

She was a great traveler! She sat in her seat the whole time from Seattle to Denver, and even fell asleep. That was the only leg of the trip where she slept on the plane. She got about 40 minutes of sleep here.

Paul took this fantastic picture of the Rocky Mountains for me! (he was in the window seat)

Paul was a great traveling partner for many reasons:

1. We get along well

2. He was my "lackey" - he didn't really want to be associated with a cranky toddler in public places, so he volunteered to carry my bags and take care of all the check-in/check-out/watch signs stuff so I could focus on watching Abby and taking care of her needs. It was a great combination! It helped me stay relaxed and allowed me to enjoy my time with Abby without having to fuss with the other details.

3. He was a great fill-in dad for Abby, and support for me in that area. Every kid needs a Daddy, and there were times when Abby needed to hear the firm voice of a man, and Paul filled that void very nicely throughout our whole trip.

Abby was herself and then some the whole trip. Oh, the stories I could tell! The most fun was watching her interact with the other travelers. I let her walk pretty much everywhere we went (I didn't bring our stroller along, and I wasn't going to carry her the whole time!), and she was such a joy to watch! She was constantly waving and smiling at anyone and everyone and saying "HI" to them. She'd walk down a row of passengers waiting in the lobby and wave and say hi to them. When we boarded the airplane, she said hi to the lady at the check-in counter, the other passengers in the jetway, the stewardess on the plane, and the passengers already in their seats. The first time we got on the plane, she waved at EVERY person in their seat...and continued to wave and say HI until they looked up from their book/magazine and responded to her...all the way down the aisle until we found her seat. She did this for each person in the row, not just the ones sitting in the aisle seat. It was hilarious, and hopefully brightened their day. This pattern was repeated in every airport. I hope we weren't a nuisance! I think a lot of people were motivated to smile at this sweet, friendly little girl...even some people who hadn't smiled for awhile. And she wasn't discriminating either. She did her thing for elderly people, young people, people of different color, and handicapped people. It was a good lesson for me. I hope they felt the love of God thru this little girl and her mommy!

Abby made friends with some other kids who were waiting for luggage in the Wichita airport.


We got into Kansas on Saturday afternoon, and Dad was there to pick us up (Mom was working that afternoon, and didn't get home til 8pm). He was glad to see his daughter and granddaughter, and very glad to see his son! He and Paul started visiting right away, and they worked together and talked a lot the whole time we were there.

Abby fell asleep in the car on the way home, which was good since she had started her day early. (She was up at 4am when we got her out of bed and put her into the van at home. She didn't sleep at all en-route to Seattle, or in the airport. She caught about 40 minutes on the flight from Seattle to Denver, but didn't sleep again until our drive to Mom and Dad's. By that time it was approx 3pm WA time, which was her nap time at home).

We ate dinner shortly after we got home. Mom had made lasagna for us before she went to work, so Paul warmed that up along with some fresh spinach from the garden and other home grown veggies. It's good to be in Kansas!

Paul went to town that evening to check out the events at the park. Marion was celebrating Chingawassa Days, and they had a concert and fireworks in the park that night. Mom, Dad, Abby and I stayed home and watched God's fireworks show...lightning! It was flashing all over the horizon to the west, and was beautiful!

We didn't head for bed until around 11pm. Mom and Dad had set up a nice spot in the storage room for Abby's crib (the same room where the fire was 2 years ago when we were there), and I got her settled as best I could in an unfamiliar bed. I went to bed shortly thereafter, and was sound asleep when I heard Abby crying (around 12:30). I got up to investigate and found her on the rug in the bathroom with her blankie, crying her eyes out! Apparently the unfamiliarity of it all had become too much for her, so she had climbed out of the crib and found the room with the brightest light downstairs (I had put a nightlight in there). I picked her up and brought her to bed with me and she went right to sleep. That is the first time she has ever slept with me/us, and it wasn't the last. We ended up moving her crib into my room, and she spent some naps/nights in her crib, and some in my bed, and some of both. It worked out just fine because I didn't have my normal cuddle bunny in bed with me, and it allowed her to get a better nights sleep. Thankfully, she transitioned back to her crib just fine when we got back home to WA.

My uncles, cousin and kids, and another cousin came to our house on Sunday afternoon and spent several hours with us. It's such a treat and honor that they are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to drive hours (one uncle is 3 hours away, one is almost 2 hours away) to see us. We had a great time with them! We had a pickup/snack lunch of cheese & crackers, grapes, apples, veggie tray, and root beer floats.

The sky kept getting stormier and stormier as the afternoon wore on, and the weather radio was chirping away, informing us about severe thunderstorm warnings in and around Kansas. We were treated to an absolutely FANTASTIC display in the heavens for several hours. I was turning this way and that and running around the yard getting pictures from every which angle. The sky and clouds were changing so rapidly! Here is a sampling of what we experienced:

The sun beginning to set thru stormy clouds in the west...

And then the sun broke thru the clouds and created a single rainbow in the south/southeast...

The single rainbow became a double rainbow which stretched from over Marion-way (South) directly over our house and Morton building (at least that's the way it looked) and ended somewhere north of us.

The wind was blowing like crazy!

And back to the view in the west...

Abby climbed the rock pile and played as we all gazed heaven-ward...

The view west again...the sunset is getting gorgeous!

While the west looked like that, directly above us and to the east/northeast looked like this!

Aren't those neat white puffs of clouds suspended under the dark canopy? Amazing! I think the rainbow had dissipated by now.

Paul took some video footage of it all...

And back to the west...

Abby climbed off the rock pile and took a walk to the garden with Grandma.

Grandma fed Abby peas directly from the garden...and I took a picture of Abby thru the branches of a really neat tree (I forget the name of it) on the northwest corner of the house.

And back to the west for the GRAND FINALE!

After the sun had set, we went back in the house and had another round of root beer floats (one of the perks of being at Grandma and Grandma's house!)

The sun had set, but God was not done. We were treated to another FANTASTIC lightning show, but this time it was all around the horizon. The most constant flashes were to the east (and trust me, they were constant), but the more exciting flashes were to the south and north. There were some flashes in the west too. I parked myself on the back (east) porch and tried to get pictures of the lightning. I got 2 pretty decent pictures out of the 3-4 dozen that I took. The first one below shows the wheat lit up in the foreground, and the sky lit up by the lightning in the background. The 2nd one shows a jagged flash of lightning going to the ground (most of the lightning was up in the clouds).

Apparently the storm came right over our heads early in the morning. Everyone else in the house heard the thunder and saw the lightning; Abby and I slept right thru it downstairs. Mom and Dad got 1-1/2 inches of rain from this storm, which was badly needed. Thank you, Lord, for a FANTASTIC day!!!

Monday: It's a new day! The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and we're all outside! Dad and Paul went right to work cutting up fallen trees and bringing the wood up to the house to be added to their wood pile. Mom, Abby and I went for a walk down the road to see the sights. We saw wildflowers, the alfalfa field (where this picture was taken), and lots of pretty birds.

1. Bull thistle - Dad said this is a noxious weed, but it was pretty!

2. Wild rose by the side of the road

3. Another pretty flower; I don't remember it's name

When we got back home, we took a walk thru Dad's orchard. We found lots of yummy goodies there! Blueberries, strawberries, and a few pie cherries. Abby LOVED the blueberries!

The girls were playing and eating while the boys worked HARD!

Every hardworking boy needs a good audience, and we were happy to oblige. :)

Abby LOVES tractors (ta-kow), especially in pictures and from a distance, but after some coaxing we got her onto Grandpa's tractor. Oh, what fun!

Dad went to work for a couple hours Tuesday morning, and we met him in town a little while later. Mom, Abby and I went to the park and spent a couple hours there. It's a very nice park with lots of fun things for kids (both big and small)!

The sky got REALLY dark while we were there, and we were certain we were going to get dumped on, but in true Kansas style, the darkness lifted after maybe 45 minutes and nary a drop was felt.

"I'm thinkin' that water looks awfully desireable to touch... Here goes!"

Wednesday: It's time to say our goodbyes. :( We've had a great time!



Back in the Wichita airport...

Abby took her sweet time walking the hall to our loading area. She stopped at every window and gazed at the airplanes, and of course, said "a-KA"!

She received this security badge sticker from one of the security guards at the screening area. Of course, she was being her normal charming self to everyone in line, including the guards, and I think that it what prompted the man to give her this sticker. It says "Kansas Junior TSA Officer"

We got to walk out to our airplane! This is the first time I've ever done that, and of course Abby was thrilled!

We had a 3-1/4 hour layover in Denver (which became 4-1/4 hours due to weather). We ate some dinner after arriving from Wichita, and then Abby and I walked and walked for 1+ hours. We rode the escalators up and down, and waved hi to fellow travelers. It was long past nap time for Abby, and she badly needed sleep, so I found a quiet corner and spent another hour trying to get her to sleep. She finally succombed, and got a nice hour nap under her belt.

We headed back up to our gate in plenty of time to catch our plane.. but it wasn't there. It was having trouble getting in due to weather, and as a result we couldn't get out.

Here is a nice picture of a plane in the next bay over, with the Denver airport main terminal and clouds in the background.

We finally left after an hour delay, and got into Seattle around 9 (instead of 7:45 as planned). Randy was there to meet us, and we loaded up and headed home. He was very happy to see his daughter (and wife too).

It was a great trip!!!