Memorial Day Weekend

We went up in the mountains this year with Wes's family. I played paint ball for the first time, it was a blast. All the cousins that had been playing went to lunch. Wes, his brother & fiance and I played our own little game. We made up the rules. It was pretty funny. One of the games the guys were moving targets. We hadn't been shot the whole time, so at the end Whitney and I stood there and got shot. We just wanted to say we had been shot by a paint ball. :)
Byron got sick up there for like 24 hours. It was sad and nerve racking. It was a good 24 hours before he could keep anything down. Ethan and Lilly had a blast. I love building memories as a family. We did four wheeling, ate good food, played fun games, and spent good quality time with family.

Yay!

This morning at 7:30 I got the call I have been waiting for for over a week now.

Just before we had to give our foster baby to her family our Licensor called and told us I might not be able to be a preschool teacher and a foster parent. Something about not having so many kids in the house at a time. Yet, Wes would be watching our foster babies while I taught.

Anyway, I have been very stressed and just on edge waiting. Our licensor had been sick and out of the office for a while. She finally called this morning and told us we are good to go. I am so relieved. I definitely thought this road was the path we were supposed to take.

Apparently, it is! Yipee.

Oh the pain

Our foster baby has been such a joy in our lives. Kinship came forward (her great uncle), so we have to give her to them this Thursday. It just makes me sick with heart ache. I have cried so much. I thought that Heavenly Father was supposed to give us trials no greater than we can handle. I know, I know, we can handle it. Some days I just want to take her out of the country and forget the whole giving her to family business. Ha ha. J/K. It just hurts because the other family is almost done raising kids. We are still growing our family. She would be so happy with us. But, at least the other family has the gospel too. That is the comforting thing. We will get through this, but always miss her like crazy. We are so attached.

Easter Gift

We got an amazing Easter gift this year. We got a call last Wednesday that they had a placement opportunity through the foster care system. A little 6 week old baby girl. She has a biological brother who has been adopted by a foster family in our area. She was removed because of drugs that her birth mom was using around her. Luckily she doesn't have any visible signs of being affected. She is such a great baby! We have already bonded to her, it took about a day. Now she feels like our own. So, if you are reading this, please pray for us! We would love to keep her forever.
On Monday I will go to court and the judge will decide if we are going to shoot for reunification or if they will want to place her with the other foster family that has her brother. Their are so many contingencies places upon each case. It is definitely an emotional roller coaster. We just have to have faith that Heavenly Father will have happen what is best for her. We know he has been there for us and her always. We are just enjoying every moment with her! She fits in so well with our family. Our kids love her, I just adore her, and Wes is whooped. He helps take care of her while I teach, (what a great guy!). So, pray for us. Thanks!
Because of the rules or whatever I can't show what she looks like, but she is a doll!

Our San Diego Adventures!

We had such a blast in San Diego. Before we left the forecast said that it would be rainy the whole time we were there. We were pretty disappointed! It ended up being rainy, but also sunny and cloudy off and on. It was perfect weather for the activities we did. We really didn't want it too hot for the theme park days.
It was so funny we lost so many things, but found them all.
On Thursday I lost my earing and went back to this one spot by the stingrays and found it on the ground. I felt so lucky! Then we also lost Lilly's jacket at Sea world and Ethan's jacket at Lego land. We went back to both of the places and they had them in their lost and founds. Then on Saturday Wes left his clear retainer on the table at the fish house. We drove back and the cooks had to search through the garbage, but they found it! Then Byron lost his shark tooth necklace and found it in our luggage when we got home. We felt so lucky!
So, on Friday we met up with one of our employees and his girlfriend. I was way nervous, because I had never met him in person. They were really cool. They came to Sea World with us. We loved the animals there. My favorite was the big polar bear playing with this box in the water, we watched from underneath. Oh ya, after we went to Sea World we had to go to the store to buy a fan. The first night I barely slept a wink because it was so silent.
In the park lot I saw this older lady with her head bleeding. She started walking away and I was like, "Wes!" He came over to me and I showed him the lady. He went over with me and the kids. Come to find out she had fallen and she had this huge gash by her eyebrow. This one guy gave us some wipes and she was able to stop the bleeding a little and drive home. I hope she was Okay!
The beach was awesome. I miss it so much. It has just a spirit about it. That was the hardest part about leaving, was having to say goodbye to the ocean. It is just so glorious. Like nothing else on earth.
Lego land was cool. It got really busy toward mid afternoon. There were a ton of Asian people there. I loved the diversity of races. We felt like we were the minority.
The San Diego Temple was breath taking. We went there on Sunday.
Oh ya, the Fish house we went to on Saturday was great. I had California Striped Bass. I'm not much of a fish person. This was sooo good. Because it was so fresh. Wes had a crab leg. We would dip it in butter. Mmmm. The kids had the fisherman's catch on a skewer, that was good too.
The Resort we stayed at was great and gorgeous.
Everything was sooo expensive down there. If you are ever planning on going there, plan on it not being cheap, get groceries at the super market. Because they take advantage of the tourists down there.
There is so much more to say, but I've gotta run.
I can't wait to go to Disneyland next year.
Oh ya, another tip. Don't go on a weekend if you are going to go to a Theme Park. It is super busy. We went back to Sea World on Sunday to get Lilly's jacket and it was packed. I was so glad we went on Friday.
Tat-ah!