Update

The girls left our home on Monday, March 26th to live with their mom's sister.  They were with us for 34 days.  Going from one child to three with only a couple of hours notice was, by far, the hardest thing we've ever done.  This experience stretched us more than I thought we could be stretched.

We are so very thankful for our wonderful church family and friends.  They were the perfect demonstration of what it means to be the body of Christ.  They prepared wonderful meals for us; shared toys, clothes and diapers with the girls; kept the girls and Nate so Darren and I could have a much needed date night; kept the girls so Darren and I could take Nate for a long awaited doctor's appointment; shared a McWane membership with us and the list could go on.  Most importantly, they prayed for us and encouraged us.  We are so blessed to worship with such an amazing body of believers and have such great friends!

We are also thankful for the help of my family.  My dad is the girls' great grandmother's brother. My mom cooked for us at least twice.  They were very helpful when Nate and one of the girls were sick and both needed to go to the doctor in the same day.  The girls have a different pediatrician so that meant two different appointments at two different offices.  They also kept little sister so Darren and I could take Nate and big sister to the rodeo.  My sister was also a huge help.  She helped me take the girls shoe and clothes shopping shortly after their arrival.  She also went with us to the zoo and McWane.  Having her with us  made those trips much more fun and much less stressful!  Thanks also to that family member, you know who you are, who listened to my many phone calls and encouraged me.  We are also very thankful for all of the prayers that were prayed for us and the girls by these family members and others.    

As far as our time with the girls, I hope I can blog more about that later.  We are honestly still in decompression mode right now.  Due to the fact that the girls are family and this blog is public, I don't know if I will ever be able to discuss our time with them in detail.  I will say that they are beautiful girls.  They have precious hearts. We are blessed to have gotten to spend 34 days with them.  We continue to pray for them and their family each and every day.  Thankfully, we will get to see them occasionally and hopefully can continue to have a relationship with them.  Please continue to pray for this situation.      

Happy Birthday Darren!

Yesterday was Darren's 38th birthday.  I will be 35 on Monday.  It's hard to believe we are so close to 40. 

Adoption on Hold

I have a distant family member who is currently unable to care for her two daughters.  When Darren and I heard that they might be going into foster care, we agreed to let them stay with us.  As of last Wednesday, February 22 we are (temporarily) a family of five.  The girls are 18 months and 5.  Right now they are with us for the next 30 days.  They may be with us longer, they may not.  I cannot list any specifics, but God knows exactly what everyone involved in this situation needs.  Please pray for us, the girls and their parents.  Until we know more about how long the girls will be with us our adoption is on hold.  We are perfectly fine with that because these girls and their family is our main priority right now.  Thank you for your prayers!