19 weeks

In 1 week we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!!!!

Foster Parents

I finally have a few minutes to blog!

In mid July we took a trip to Southern California with Andrea's whole family.  We choose to drive down and back which added a great adventure and luckily the boys handled it fantastic.  Our trip included 3 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, 1 day at Universal Studios, 1 day at Seaworld, and 1 day enjoying the beach.

The weather was great, hotel worked out wonderful, and no car catastrophes.  A great time was had by ALL.

Now onto the title of this post.  Jacob and I have become foster parents here in Benton County.  Last Thursday we got a call from DHS needing to place a brother and sister and we agreed.  In our paperwork we stated our age range would be birth to 10 years old but knew if they called needing to place an older child we would be open.  In this case the girl was 11 years old and the boy was 12 (turning 13 in 1 week).  Within 3 hours of receiving the call we picked them up and worked to make them feel comfortable in our home.  They were great kids who respected Jacob and I and enjoyed our children and pets.

Today they left to live with a great grandmother until they hopefully can return to their father.  DHS always has the goal to place children with a family member if possible and luckily in this case a family member was able.  We were very happy to host them for 1 week and hope for the best in their lives.  As great as the children were it was difficult at times integrating older children into our lives, it was quite the learning experience for us as parents.

We really hope to provide a stable environment for children in need and to live our lives on mission here in Corvallis.

Graduation

Pictures from Jaden's preschool graduation

 They got to keep the tassel

Lots of big milestones!  Jaden currently is enrolled in a summer program through the same preschool for the month of June.  They meet 3 days a week for 3 hours, good prep for Kindergarten in the fall.  

5

 Jaden's 5th birthday celebration in Bend

 New bike waiting for him when he arrived home

 Birthday sleep over with the cousins

 Jaden requested a chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting and strawberries

 Miniature golf while the cousins were here

 Aunt Ashley got in on the fun too

Happy birthday big boy!!

Somewhat hard to believe Jaden is now 5 years old and looking through these pictures he looks quite mature.  He is excited for all the adventures he will encounter this next year and we are excited to watch him continue to grow into a great kid.  

Hello

I think it is time for me to get this blog going again.  I know some of you don't see pictures or updates on Facebook and there are things I feel I should be posting that not everyone in Facebook land wants to see/hear.  With that here are a few random pictures I found while downloading to the computer today.

Jaden's first time skiing 

 Uncle Paul teaching Jaden

Easter 2013