Christmas in West Virginia

 How I missed Mary, Mary, Jackson and their little foster guy!  I enjoyed every photo they sent me!  As you can see, Jackson was NOT a fan of the jolly old gentleman in the red suit!  Brought back memories of Matt and Scott who felt the same way about him at that age!

Happy to report that those little boys were sound asleep before Santa made another appearance!

While he didn't like Santa, I do believe he was thrilled with all the gifts that Santa left.

I'm hoping that in 2021, the Reynolds will be at our house for Christmas!!!

Happy Father's Day to Johnny and Mark

I can't forget the two newest fathers in our family - Mark and Johnny.

Mark took to being a Dad, well like a duck to water!  Jackson absolutely adores him. I believe that his first word was Daddy.  As soon as Mark comes home, Jackson is his little shadow and 'assistant'!

Sometimes Jackson waits for Dad right by the door, just to be sure that Daddy can't miss him.

I would love to show you a video of Mark making the new little guy laugh and giggle but we can't show him on social media yet.  You'll just have to trust me that #2 loves Mark like Jackson does.

Wherever Mark is and whatever he is doing you will find Jackson right there.  That's love!

Isabella has had Johnny wrapped around her little finger from day 1!  Those two adore each other.  I love that John goes on such fun adventures with his family.  And I love Isabella's big trusting smile when she's in her Dad's arms.

He has done a great job loving and guiding this very strong willed, super intelligent and stubborn little angel.  I love this photo of him helping her down the steep hiking trail.  Isn't that a perfect metaphor for fatherhood?  Fathers guide their children down life's paths....and sometimes those paths are steep and scary!

Santa and the Grandkids

 When our kids were little, we took them to the mall every year and had a photo made with Santa which was added to a little Santa photo album.  It is so fun now to add grandchildren Santa pictures!

Jackson and the little guy  

I love Jackson's expression.  He looks like he is thinking, "Why are you handing me to the weird guy? HELP!!!!!"

Because the little one is not legally theirs yet, I can't show his face on social media.  Trust me though, if he is officially adopted, I will change this photo!  You can also trust me that he is very cute! And that Mary is VERY busy with two little ones who are a year and a week apart in age!

 Isabella 
 She likes him better this year. I think Mrs. Claus helped calm her fears! 

Room For One More!

More joy for the Reynolds family started with a call from social services to ask if they would foster another new born baby boy!  Only 1 answer to that question!  A very big YES!  I was so lucky to be able to go with them to the hospital to enjoy a few moments with this bundle of joy. I love seeing the look on Mary's face as she held him for the first time.

Even though we don't know if he will be a part of our family permanently, we know that we will just love him to pieces.  If he goes back to his birth mother, we have given him the best possible start in life.  The goal is always reunification with birth family.  We'll just pray for the best outcome for everyone.

We can't show his face on-line, so I have blurred it out.  Mary looks happy huh?

Talk about busy!  These two little boys are 1 year and 1 week apart.  When George was almost 3, his mother had her 3rd baby.  Karen and John are 1 year, 3 days and 35 minutes apart in age and George's mother survived.  I think Mary will too.  I wish I could have stayed longer to help her but I'm gearing up for leading a team to Kenya.  Luckily they have wonderful support from their church family and from Mark's mother.

 This is how she rolls these days!  And she is still rolling to story time at the library!  Lucky for her the community library is just down the street from her house.

When I asked Mary how Jackson was doing with the new little guy she said that he was alternately clingy and naughty.  He has figured out that when Mom is busy with the baby, he can get into all kinds of things!  Sounds like he is on the verge of turning into a toddler!

Mary's Visit

Mary and Mark have been married for more than 18 years but haven't been able to have children.  I have a very small inkling of the pain they have gone through as I also suffered from infertility, although only for a few years so it really isn't comparable.  Watching her go through this trial has been one of the hardest things, I've experienced.  As a parent you so want to 'fix' things for your child and it is painful when you can't.

Last summer I got an early morning call from Mary.  She's on the east coast and I was in Portland so when the phone rang just after 6 a.m. and I saw Mary's number I knew that something BIG had happened.  And it was something life changing! They had just gotten a call that there was a new born foster baby that needed a home and would they like him.  WOULD THEY????? Only one answer to that question!

So the journey of being a foster parent started for those two wonderful people - Mary and Mark.  They were warned that it was going to be an emotional roller coaster and in some ways it was.  For some reason though, I always felt peaceful about it.  I got advice from another foster mother to treat this event just as I would have if my daughter had given birth, so I flew right out to be with them.

Oh what joy! 

Watching them reminded me of the scripture from the Book of Mormon, "Oh what joy and what marvelous light I did behold, yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!  Yea, I say unto you, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.  Yea, and again I say unto you, that on the other hand, there could be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy!"

Recently Mary and Mark were officially named the 'pre-adoptive parents' which meant that the baby could travel out of state so they made the trek to Idaho!

More joy all around as others of the family got to meet this little love!

Isabella fell in love with her baby cousin, as did Monica, Matt and George.  Poor Grandpa had a terrible cold so he could only love him from across the room.  Didn't want to share his germs! And Uncle Scott was so busy with the end of soccer season in Portland, that he couldn't get away to meet his nephew.

One of the best weeks ever as I got to spend time with BOTH my grandchildren!

Full of Joy

I just got back from a wonderful visit with Mary, Mark and their little guy!  Watching them be parents warms my heart and fills it with joy!

While I was there, the parental rights of the birth mother were terminated by the court.  No father has come forward so the rights of the 'unknown' father were also terminated and the Grandmother was also denied her request for custody.  My heart sings for Mary and Mark and all of us, but it aches for the poor birth mother and her family.  Drugs are such a tragedy.  I am sure she wants to do better but is too controlled by her habit.  I pray for her that she will get her life together but I also know that Mary and Mark's home will be the best place for the little guy to be raised.  What a blessing for him and for all of us to have this sweet addition to our family.  Hopefully this summer it will all be final!

#2 And We Are in Love again!

We welcomed grand-baby #2 into our family recently and I got to go and spend a week with him....and with his parents! 😀 Oh what joy!

Because he is a foster baby, we can't show his face on social media so you will just have to trust me when I tell you that he is adorable!

Mom agrees with my assessment. 

Dad is pretty enamored with our little buddy as well. 

It was very hard to say goodbye!  I can hardly wait to hold him again.