AM's 8th birthday...

Saturday was AM's 8th birthday, so we spent the entire weekend celebrating. Saturday, we took him to the Franklin School carnival to play games and hang out with our nieces.


Patti and Maddie

Very proud of his face tattoo.

His favorite game was to shoot darts at the empty soda cans. He won suckers for all of us!

It was too hot for me and Zack, so we hung out and ate snow cones (minus the messy syrup).

AM and my niece Kaitlyn.


Zack taking a turn at golf.

Zonked out after a LONG, hot day.

Bodega Bay...

Here are the pictures from our weekend trip to Bodega Bay.

We visited this beautiful rose garden. They had over 1000 varieties of roses, a man-made pond, fountains, ducks and even a rooster wandering around. It was a great place to take pictures.






After the rose garden, we went to Dillon Beach and visited the old Catholic Church nearby.



Gotta love all of the cows near Petaluma!

Fillin' ya in...

Just wanted to fill you all in on how things are going. Please keep in mind that we have to be extremely careful what information we post on this blog, due to the sensitive nature of the situation we're in.

We picked up our kiddo (I will refer to him as "AM") on Sunday afternoon. He is the sweetest little boy! He is adjusting well to our home and has been WONDERFUL with Zack. Especially due to some of the issues this child has experienced, we do not let him out of our sight and he is not left with Zack for any amount of time alone. He, for the most part, has great manners and is very affectionate. He tells us all the time how much he loves being here with us and he love us. He is very needy for attention and approval from both Rich and I, which we are more than willing to offer him. We're slowly but surely implementing a good schedule for him, so he feels as if he has some structure to hold on to. There are several behavioral things we are working with him on (i.e. wandering off when he becomes anxious, disrespecting property, not listening and "egging" people on, etc.).

I enrolled him in school on Monday and he started yesterday. He has an incredible teacher and I am so thankful that God placed him in her class. She is comforting for him and seems to be empathetic to his struggles and is willing to work with him in any way necessary. She has also been of comfort to me, since we have never had a school-aged child and are new to all of this.

We have a meeting with AM's social worker tomorrow from the agency and I am hoping to get some much needed answers. We should be able to discuss the time frame that we should expect to have him in our home and it will give AM the opportunity to express all of the concerns he has (and there are MANY).

I have to say, in reading all of the books I have read on foster care, I was always able to somehow disconnect myself from the sad situations that were described in the books I read. However, now that I am faced with caring for one of those same types of children that I read about, it has added a whole new dimension to my awareness. The things this kid talks about...the stories he tells...the things he thinks are "normal"...it's nothing short of heartbreaking. I haven't slept well since he's been here - - I toss and turn all night worrying about HIS worries and all the anxieties he has. It's all I can do not to break down and cry when he's around, so while he was at school today, that's all I did. I took my time grieving over the things he has seen and experienced. Now I'm finished and I'm moving on to doing my part of caring for him while he's in this transitional period. I will never forget what he said to us the minute we met him..."You're here!?!?! I've been waiting for you!"

Update...

Just to let you all know, while on vacation this weekend, we received a call from a social worker from Children's Hope looking to place a 7 year old boy. After asking many questions and talking with each other, Rich and I decided to agree to take this child into our home.

Since we would not be back until Sunday evening, CPS placed him in emergency respite care overnight. We are now leaving our vacation a little early so we can get back to Yuba City to get him.

Please be praying for us and this child. It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks of adjustment, so please bare with us in the meantime :)

New Videos...

A video of Zack reading to Rich.

Zack, the one man band.

Prom night...

This last weekend, I was asked to take prom pictures for my friend's son and his friends. I'm so glad to hear that the kids had a good time!

Kaitlyn's softball team...

A few nights ago, I was asked by my brother to come take pics. of his team "Sutter Buttes Thunder" for KKCY radio station's website. This team was nominated for a good sportsmanship award...and, boy, do they deserve it! These girls were such team players and so encouraging to each other while I was there. What a great team :) To make things even better, they won their game that night!

My niece Kaitlyn (right) and her "twin", Olivia. Olivia and Kaitlyn look SO much alike, but they aren't even related!

Kaitlyn and Ashley, the two pitchers for the team.

I couldn't NOT post this one - - I think this little girl is the cutest thing EVER :)

Kasey and Alex (nephews), sharin' a hot dog.

My brother pepping the team for their game that's about to start.