Home Study 3 of 3

Well, not much to add to the Home Study story. Our worker D came by the house once more to talk to Noah and ask him a few questions about how he felt about the whole foster care thing. He gave great, honest answers including the one when D asked him how he would feel if a child was in the home and wanted to be with me all the time and call me "Mommy".

He calmly said, "Well, they could just go be with their mommy."

D then went on... "Well, they won't be able to be with their mommy, they will need to be with you and your mommy." To which Noah replied, "Well, that should be okay!"

After that, Curt and I were given a copy of the "REPORT" which we proof-read and returned signed. It was interesting to see your whole life summed up in 14 pages!

As of right now, everything we are supposed to do has been done. Our fingerprints have gotten back to our DHS worker from the OSBI and we are clean! haha Now, we are just waiting for our report to be received and approved by DHS. After that, we will receive our placement referral!

It could be hours, it could be weeks. I will keep updating as events require!

Fun at the Lake

After we picked up Lg from kamp, we all stayed for a long weekend at a super-cute cottage in Blue Eye, MO. While we were there, we spent a couple of days at Tablerock Lake. We had a great time on our rented "Party Barge" and wave runner.

Here are Lauragale, Noah and their cousin Adia in front of our cabin. Notice the matching outfits I found for the 3... ALL for under $20! (I HAVE to mention that!!)

Here are some more pics of the super-cute cottage. It was right on the lake and very secluded! It was just built last summer and it has a beautiful deck with hot-tub, a great kitchen and two bedrooms plus a loft!

Ok, enough about the cute cottage. I know your dyin to see some lake pictures now!

What fun!!! We HAVE to do the lake thing more often!

Kanakuk '08 Part 3

So I know you have been waiting with baited breath... why have I taken so long to post about Lg's wonderful and exciting adventures at kamp? Um, I really have no great excuses... so, here it is!

Last Saturday morning, myself, daddy, bubby, Yaya, my sis, bro-in-law and niece arrived at K-Seven at 7:30 in the morning to pick up Lg and attend closing ceremonies. It was WONDERFUL! Not only did we get to see our little sunshine after a WHOLE week, but meeting her new friends, listening to her stories and hearing the awesome Keith Chancey (K-Seven director) speak was so wonderful!

First we walked into camp and Lg saw us before we saw her.

(~Insert cute family pic here that I accidentally erased.~)

We were able to have a quick bite to eat then we made it over to her tee-pee where her 3 counselors had an awards ceremony for the girls in her group...



Ok, wasn't that just the sweetest thing ever??? I *LOVED* getting the opportunity to hear someone elses view of my daughter and her gifts. As you can tell, she received the BARNABAS award for being "The Encourager". (Just like my friend Karis did every year if Kamp! Lg is in fine company!!)

Lg's tee-pee mates and councilors.

After the tee-pee awards, we went to "Base Camp" to hear Keith Chancey speak.

It was so awesome to hear his encouraging and motivating words, but one of my favorite parts of Base Camp was hearing all the staff and kampers do all their "chants" throughout the remaining ceremonies. They were HiLaRiOuS!! What was even better? Listening to them ALL do a "Walk through the Old Testament" complete with fun hand gestures! It was AMAZING!! I know, it is a little fuzzy, but Keith moves around a lot!

Here are some various pictures of some of the activities Lg got to participate in while she was there...

Archery. Rifle (bb gun) range. pow-pow!

And to top it all off... every child who got to "Ring the Bell" at camp that week (accept Christ into their heart) is able to come down to the lake shore and be baptised by Keith along side their counselors. Lg went to camp already a Christian, but I can't wait until she asks to be baptised at the lake... not this year, but we went down anyway and as we arrived, a group of young men who are councilors was singing "Amazing Grace" accapella!! It was INCREDIBLE to listen to. I was so into it, I didn't think to record it till the end. This is what I caught...

I feel so completely blessed that my daughter was able to have this incredible experience. After being there myself, I know beyond a doubt how life-changing this one annual experience can be for a child. I am changed for visiting just once!

A Walk on the Wild Side

Ok, I know this is goofy, but I just got a quick pedicure and picked this design. I thought they turned out to be just about the cutest little piggies ever!!!

I know it's hard to see, but since I love anything that *sparkles*, Tina covered the white polish with a sheer silver polish then accented the zebra print with silver glitter! I know it sounds tacky, but I LOVE tacky... for the most part!!!

So what do ya think? ~*Tacky*~ or ~*Totally Terrific*~ ??

Kanakuk '08 Part 2

Ok, so dropping off our sensational first-born at camp was not as sad, weepy and sappy as I thought it might be... we all three made it through without a tear! I guess you just can't help but be happy and excited once you get there and see how beautiful it is and how SUPER NICE all the kampers and counselors are!!!

We were greeted by a cheery young girl who gave us directions and sent us to a cheery young guy who took Lg's luggage from us and sent us on our merry way. After parking and walking up to camp, we waited a few minutes in line to check-in with another cheery gal and then Lg was sent up to a large, off-the-ground, platform to be introduced to everyone:

After sliding down the pole, she was greeted with a big hug by one of her counselors (Jessica) and then escorted to the sno-cone table where three cheery "princesses" made her a sno-cone in the flavor of her choice.

After that, we all three were taken to her tee-pee. Yes, a TEE-PEE!! We were expecting a rustic cabin but were pleasantly surprised to find that she was staying in a super-cool tee-pee with 9 other kampers and 3 counselors.

We were able to stay and help her make up her bunk bed and organize her belongings, then we were told we could look around camp together, OR Curt and I could go alone while Lg stayed behind in her tee-pee. Needless to say we were sent on our lonley way because Lg wanted to stay in the tee-pee with her new-found friends...

~ Don't let the tee-pee flap hit ya on the way out mom and dad! ~

Now, it is just a waiting game. We wait to see pictures from camp posted on the Kanakuk website... we wait to see if she takes the time to write us back anytime this week... we wait to see if we can manage without her here for a week... we wait to see if we can make it without shedding a tear this week!

In any case, we just pray for fun, friends, new experiences and most of all, a closer relationship with her Heavenly Father!

Kanakuk '08 - Part 1

Well, despite the 36 hour virus scare we had yesterday, Lauragale will be leaving for kamp on Sunday morning, praise God! (not that she is leaving for a week, that she is well enough to go!)

This will be Lauragale's first year to attend Kanakuk Kamps in Missouri. She has been wanting to be a kamper for about 2 years now after hearing her older cousins tell of how wonderful it is every summer. This is her first year to be old enough to go. Seven is the youngest age. When you're seven, you can choose to go for one or two weeks. We opted for the one week session for obvious reasons.

Kanakuk has several different Christian kamps to choose from and all (except K-Colorado) are located around the lake near Branson, Missouri. We chose K-Seven this year which is located in Lampe.

~* If you are interested in seeing more information about Kanakuk and K-Seven, you can go to the link HERE and do a virtual tour. You can click on the different camps on the right side to see more detail about each one as well. *~

Anyhoo, so here we are... our 6 months of shopping and preparation have all culminated into this moment...

All that stuff to pack into that one trunk Lg is sitting in!

Here is the packing list we were sent... I know, you can't read it...

Items on the recommended packing list include:
~ 10 pairs of underwear and socks

~ Sunscreen and insect repellent

~ Bible

~ Party clothes (this years theme is Medieval Fairy Tale!)

~ Two pair of tennis shoes

~ Two swimsuits (only modest one-pieces allowed)

~ Shower and water shoes

~ Raincoat

So, we gathered our items and set out to fill the trunk!

(Need I add that I had to label EVERY LITTLE THING with a L.R. and K-7??)

It fits!!!!!! Barely, but we can make it close! Yeah!!

Here is a picture of the decor Lauragale made to go in the inside of her truck lid... her name with pictures of family and friends.

And because we could not locate a pink trunk like Lg was hoping for, I got creative and did this to make the plain black trunk a little more girlie!! I think it turned out super-cute!

Now...she is a HAPPY KAMPER!!!!!

Part 2 coming soon!!!!!

Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis!

We spent our 4th of July weekend in the St. Louis area with my long-time best friend Heidi and her family. We had a wonderful time! Our adventure began on the car ride there. I was so impressed by the interesting town names in Missouri... there was Mexico, Missouri, Lebanon, Missouri, Cuba, Missouri and Nevada, Missouri.

The most impressive town had to be Lebanon. They seemed to be the shopping mecca of the mid-west. Exciting shopping destinations such as: (and I'm not joking!)

~ Knife Country
~ Cheese Outlet
~ Factory 2nd's Walnut Bowls
~ World's Largest Antique Mall
~ World's Largest Gift and Candy Store

... really, I am not kidding. These are real places! I asked Curtis how they know that they are the "world's largest" antique mall and gift/candy store. I expected that would be a lot of research to make that claim. Curt was pretty sure that they just make the claim and feel pretty confident no one is going to contest it. he's probably right...

Well, after we actually arrived at Heidi's, we had time to visit for a bit then we were off to a Grizzlies baseball game. They are a semi-pro team that plays in a small town outside of St.L. We made the drive, parked, got to our seats and as we sat down, this happened...

and this is what we looked like...

for an HOUR!

The rain finally stopped and they were able to start the game. It was fun but only lasted 7 innings. Here is a couple of pictures of their mascot Izzy the bear. After the game, they had a grand fireworks show that lasted about 96 seconds. We were all a tad disappointed. (no pictures of the grand display)

The morning of the fourth we went to a neat parade in downtown St. Louis. The weather could not have been more beautiful and the kids loved every minute of it. That night we had a great meal prepared by Heidi and her hubby Andy and Andy played bartender and made us some sweet martini's! Mmmmmmmm! Thanks, Andy!

Saturday was another nice day together. Heidi and I got to do what we do best together, (except for gabbing and making each other laugh) shopping!! While we ran around for a couple of hours the men took the 5 kiddos to the park. Afterwards, Heidi shared her jewelry-making expertise with me and helped me make Lauragale a beaded necklace and earrings...


That night we made it to a fireworks display in Lebanon. (no, Lebanon, ILLINOIS this time!!) It was very nice and Andy even surprised Heidi and I and brought Cosmo's for us to drink while we waited for the fireworks to start! Mmmmmmm! Thanks, Andy!!


Here we are, having a nice time...

Here is Noah, in the van, playing his DS because he doesn't like the "pooms"...

Here we are, enjoying our Cosmo's... yummy!

Here we are, enjoying our Cosmo's, butt with Andy's BUTT in the picture because Curtis thought it would be funny... NICE!

We headed back home on Sunday and even that car ride was exciting! I wasn't able to get any photo's (darn!) but we saw about 15 skydivers landing in a field all at one time close to the Oklahoma line and a little bit after that, we ran into the Jonas Brothers tour bus!! Ok, we didn't literally run into them, but we passed them on the highway. Lauragale was soooo excited! She yelled, "OMG (oh my gosh!) it's the Jo-Bro's!!!" Really? She is only 7... yikes! We also stopped at the former "world's largest" McDonald's in Vinita. It is the one that goes over the highway like a greasy overpass... you know the one... Now I DID get a picture of that...

(It was a little bright that day!)





Like how Noah is glued to the window in amazement??

All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better trip. It was especially fun getting to spend time with Heidi and her family and just catch up. We don't get to see each other very often and I miss her. Curt and I want to make the trip an annual event. Maybe not always on the 4th of July, but at least once a year!!

Love you Heidi, Andy, Zachary, Ashton and Alexander! You guys are awesome hosts!