A day to pay respect to an amazing Christian Man

Today was the homecoming celebration for the beloved Bishop Kenneth Haney. It was such a beautiful ceremony. I believe he was proud to look down from Heaven above and see the enormous 4000+ crowd that gathered to pay tribute to him.

My favorite speaker was Rev. Chester Mitchell. He spoke with humor but also a grand respect for Bishop. He reminded us of  the kind way that Bishop had and the potential he saw in others. I was glad my children were able to witness such a grand funeral. I want them to remember great leaders such as Bishop Haney. We are so blessed to have been able to know him and at one time be under his pastorship. He had so many great accomplishments in his lifetime and such high aspirations for even greater things. I think the most amazing part is he never stopped dreaming. He didnt reach a goal and sit back and decide he was done, he kept wanting more! Things such as church buildings to be planned and completed, missionary works, bus ministries, gospel radio broadcasts, and most of all Revival, Revival!!  I will never forget him preaching about Holy Ghost Fire in almost every opportunity he could. He desired miraculous signs and wonders and buildings full of souls that had a desire to give their lives to Jesus.  He has such a legacy and memories of Bishop Haney will continue through stories of all the thousands of people he has touched in his lifetime.

The many times the large picture of him was put up on screen, or when I glanced down at the beautiful program that was handed out, I couldnt stop thinking of what kind eyes he had. He had such warmth and genuine love for people. I will always consider myself extremely blessed to have witnessed and even been apart of some of the visions he had for this world. Thank you for the drive you had Bishop Haney. Your life is truely an inspiration and full of lessons that will be fondly reflected upon.

And just like that shes gone....

One of the most difficult days was yesterday morning, saying goodbye to sweet MC. I wanted this day to never arrive but its come and gone so quickly. We had to drive her downtown to meet with her new prospective adoptive mother. We have been meeting with her off and on for the last two months trying to aquaint MC to her. This new mom set up an email account for us to keep in touch. Its all surreal. An email contact after 9 months of holding her, rocking her, loving her. But I will take what is offered.
After dropping my girls off at school we started to drive over there. MC fell asleep like she normally does at that time of morning. I started to brush her soft head with my hand and she created one last memory that I can take with me. She reached up on her own while she was sleeping grabbed a single finger of mine and held it all the way until we got to the offices downtown. She even seemed to squeeze it. I spent the whole car ride just watching her through tears. Never want to forget that sweet face, that precious baby scent.
Its been a long long day and I expect a couple more weeks of long days. The crib is down, the house resembles less and less that a baby was here. And we take one day at time, thats all we can do and pray. Praying everyday for her and for the life that I so desperately want for her.

I love you sweet suga booga

Opening your mailbox and receiving wonderful news

I arrived home today to get the mail as I usually do. Today was a different day because there was a letter from the county clerk...Oh wait can it be? A response on our de facto parenting...so soon?? I mean I had not forgot about it but I did think it would take quite sometime.
I open the letter to find that our request has been granted..."MC" is our first person for us to be a defacto parent for. We took a chance and filed it at four months and that leap paid off! We will now be able to be present at the court hearing and speak on behalf of what we have witnessed in regards to MC and her parents interaction. If for some reason MC goes to live with a family member and is put back in the system, we will be called. ANd if no family relative shows interest...and keyword "passes" then its very probable that adoption will open up to us. Its such a baby step but a neccessary step at the same time. Her social worker was very surprised to find that there was not a hearing scheduled to determine if defacto would be granted. I just smiled..... :) God is good!

An ending that resulted in a beautiful beginning

So this week we had the opportunity to be apart of a new beginning for a sweet young couple. Andrew who has since been renamed came to our home on 8/27/10. The sweetest little guy was a "safe surrender" baby who was dropped off at a local firehouse at two days old. I knew that this would be a fast adoption for a couple of lucky people. We took him in, knowing that our hands would be full with my two children, with MC( our four month old) and tons of other responsibilities on our plates. But I wanted to be apart of a happy experience that would not result in visitation, extra appointments, etc and just be able to love on a baby that needed some extra loving. How could I say no to a three day old??? Of course it was a yes!  We are so glad we did. The couple that he is with is not able to have children, they are in their late 20s and have no other children in their home. There were several families interested and this couple seemed to be in shock that this is really coming true for them.
Best of all Andrew looks like his new family! When I took him to the exchange meeting place, he locked eyes with his new mommy and would not break the gaze(not even for a second!!) It was a beautiful meeting and just felt right. Im so happy for him and excited about his future. Sometimes things just go the way they should go. That gives me hope in this system...even if just for a few days :)

My arms were made to hold babies :)

The last few days have been incredible. I now know what it feels like to have two small babies, one on each hip...to carry a carseat in one arm while the other one is holding another baby. Its actually quite entertaining to most folks. Doors are held open for you...well most of the time and by complete strangers!! Thats becoming more of a rarity here in California! The babies have been doing very well in having rotating feeding schedules so its not to overwhelming when hubby is at work. We have been truely blessed with lots of different outfits and necessities because people just love to buy for babies!!

This week pictures will be taken of "AD". He was a safe surrender baby so with no parents to reunify with he will most likely be placed in an adoptive home quickly. I love having this little guy around. "MC" is becoming a bit jealous of having to share us with another baby. We have been making more of an effort to get some play time in with her and shes enjoying it immensely.

Other news is husband has decided to take the plunge and get his vasectomy reversal..most likely in Oct/ or Nov. So more baby fixes to come!!

Even though this has been a huge change in the pace of our lives, we are glowing from the happiness these little ones are bringing into our home.

Another newborn :)

We received a call mid Friday for an opportunity to take care of another newborn. We were given two options and decided to choose the newborn that was not having drug withdrawls. I think it was the wise decision being that we are already caring for a four month old. Instead we chose "AD" who was born on 8/24. He is a new experience for us in more ways than one. He is a "safe surrender" baby so he will likely be moved along quickly to a home that is waiting to adopt. I know absolutely nothing other than his ethnicity and his birthday. This will be very interesting. But I have quickly learned that he is a very quiet calm baby. Im ready for the ride and the lessons to learn out of a new addition to our family.

I love our agency

We just received a flyer from our agency that we foster through. Im so impressed with them. They are such a wonderful team of support. This month they are sponsoring a Parents night out and taking all foster and bio children to a night of bowling/arcades/and pizza while they have each parent go out for a night of shopping, dinner and or a movie. I just think thats such a thoughtful way of showing how much they appreciate us. They continue to impress me :)