Thursday, September 28, 2006

Travis

I am going this weekend to see my cousin Travis. Travis is a lost soul that is slowly coming around to the way the Lord has planned for him. He is currently serving anywhere from 6 months to 1 year in a correctional facility for a drunken accidental shooting of a friend. Nearly killed his friend, Travis ended up in jail for it, and rightly so.
It is hard to make sense of the way I feel. Most of the family has decided that he is the black sheep and is not worth the worry or the prayers....Granny and I think otherwise. He is a lost soul, one that needs someone to look out for him until he figures out for himself the direction to go. He says that he found the Lord while in county jail....doesn't everyone? I don't know whether to believe him, or even if it is my place to believe him...just pray for him.
We are making the 5 hour drive to stay overnight Friday to get to visit with him for 3 hours on Sat. It will be the first time I have seen Travis since his court date and the first time I can give him a hug since last year. It will be nice to see him, and a nice get away for Friday night and Saturday night for me and time with my granny. :-)
I will miss my family, but I think it is good I go away sometimes....keeps them appreciating me huh??!!
Keep our travels and Travis' heart in your prayers.....we would really appreciate them!

Friday, September 22, 2006

I'm a Grandma....

Today was THE day. Hunter went to the Zamzow's store with me and we picked out his turtle. We got the tank, filter, food, dock and heat light for the little guy. He is now safe and sound in Hunter's room acclimating to his new home. His name is officially Rock Shellbullet...Rocco for short! ;-P
I will post a photo soon!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Ministry of Interior

The Ministry of Interior is the office we are currently stuck in. We have been there for about a month I believe. One of my adoptive families went in right before me and came out in about 2.5-3 weeks time. Well, we have not.
I spoke to Robinson, one of our Lawyers in Haiti, today and he said that MOI has a new Director and that is why there is a hold up in the office. Nice to know it isn't personal....if you knew me you would be amazed it isn't personal. hehe
Anywhoo...we are still waiting but hoping to be out soon as the new Director gets used to his/her new job and gets on the ball.
Once that is done, we get passports printed which is about 15-30 days and then Birth parent interviews at USCIS (INS). After that we travel!!!!
We are praying hard for before Thanksgiving. We would love to have them home for all the family to meet them and see their little faces.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Fights

The fights went well. One more major owie was a fighter with possible broken nose and concussion. A few bloody noses and one possible tendon / foot bone break, but nothing to bad. Good fights though! Had about 600 people in attendance!!!
I think my brother Eric enjoyed himself thoroughly...a lot of yelling and "oh man, did you see that?!" coming from him! hehe

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Usual Day

Today has been a usual day. Nothing out of the ordinary for us. Friday will bring volunteering at the school. Saturday instead of cheerleading, we are going to be downtown selling baked goods a the Indian Creek Festival. This is the first Annual Indian Creek Festival and the Comets are using it as a fundraiser. should be fun. We are doing the 10am to noon shift....I am hoping and praying for warmth since it has been down to 68* lately...cold spell meaning Fall is coming. :-(

Saturday evening I will be sitting ringside Medic for Muay Thai/Mixed Martial Arts fights in Ontario. Should also be fun. My brother is escaping and getting to come with me. This will be his first time and he is excited to see the fights...we should have some good ones considering we have 20 fights and only 5-6 of them are Muay Thai. Muay Thai uses mostly kicks and punches and is not as harsh as the mixed martial arts. With the MMA you have short finger gloves and usually no shin pads. Fights go fairly quickly to the ground for grappling and submission holds. Not for the faint of heart I assume. I love to watch and enjoy getting to be ringside Medic (front row seat for free!!!) I will post Sunday about how it went....if there was anything broken on anyone. hehe

Well, off to bed...or at least to read a while to unwind. Gotta have the energy up to spend the day at the school.

Monday, September 11, 2006

September 11th-Never Forget

God was there...


Last night Rob Moore gave us a verse that summed up his feelings about what he saw and felt as the Two Towers collapsed in front of his very eyes.

James 4:14 KJV
Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away

This explains to us that the rest of today and tomorrow are not promised to us. The victims of 9-11 found that out 5 years ago today. We all need to remember to live life to the fullest for every moment we have and every breath we take.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

True American Hero



Tonight I met a true American hero. A Fireman from New York City named Rob Moore. He was with one of the first fire battalions to be on the scene of the World Trade Center September 11th, 2001. He watched in horror and helped many people during the fall of the two towers. He lost many friends that day and will remember them and their sacrifice of life that they gave 5 years ago tomorrow.

It was amazing listening to him talk about that day, something that many of us saw on TV, but that he experienced in real life. I would have loved to have sat down with him and talked one on one with him about the feelings of it all, I am sure they were surreal.

He gave the talk at our church this evening. He wanted to remind everyone of the Sept. 11th day coming up, but how as a Christian he was affected. He met death that day and said that he was not afraid due to his strong belief in God and his salvation and how that it might be the end for him here, but it was only the beginning for him elsewhere.

I hope we all remember to take a few moments tomorrow to remember the ones who gave their life for so many to be saved.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

No Tv Continues

Well, last night I was bored and decided to check on my theory.
At 11:30pm I went downstairs and tried on the Shark Boy/Lava Girl 3D glasses and turned on the TV. Low and behold the dumb things worked.....nothing like 3D all the time! :-P
Curtis came down and laughed at me. I decided that I looked like a dork, and I didn't know if it was harmful to my eyes and the TV to continue watching 3D all the time so I turned it off and went to bed.

Friday, September 08, 2006

No TV

Funny how the Lord works. Today I was thinking about how I need to watch less TV and low and behold the sucker broke. We were watching cartoons and the crazy thing went blue then red and then kinda blurry. All of the red and blue convergence went wacko and you cannot watch TV. It looks like a movie that is in 3D....hey, I just asked Curtis if we can use our 3D glasses to watch TV and it would look normal.....I think I might be desperate. hehe Let you know if it works....
Today was pretty uneventful. We found out that we are in the last stages if legalization in Haiti and should be out soon. I pray that it will be soon, I am going crazy. Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying my alone time while the kids are in school all day. I can lounge, clean at will, maybe not even shower until I am done with my cleaning for the day etc. But, I get bored. I have found that TV holds nothing much for me during the day, and some days I get so lazy I don't want to do anything so I just sit there and watch the crap that is on...how many episodes of 'Next' can a person watch?? ;-P

I have enjoyed a few days of volunteering at the school. I have not gone as much as last year, but I have enjoyed not being on PTO and HAVING to be there. I need to make myself a schedule and decide what days to go, which days to clean, which days to veg etc or I wont get anything done.

Tomorrow is Demi Roo's first day of cheer...she is excited. Once we get going, we will get back into the swing of things and get a schedule going again.

A schedule..I never thought of myself as a schedule person, but I think it will be a good thing once the new kids come home or I will go insane!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Demi Roo School Schedule

For those of you that know Demi Roo, you know that she is NOT a morning person. Now that she is in 1st grade, she goes to school every day at 7:20am.....YIKES.
Below is what you will find her doing about 4pm most days afterwards:






Demi Roo and Skittle getting some R and R.

;-P

Jesse Johnson

My new friend Jesse Johnson made it to Miami in 40 days!!!
Check out the story at www.bikeforhaitikids.org
Not sure yet how much money he made or if he even came close to the $1 million he hoped for. Either way, all the money is going to be used for the kids of Haiti and he is awesome!
Below are photos of when he came to Boise on his long 4000 mile trip....


Back Row: Rachael (Jesse wife), Jesse, MaryAnn (Jesse Mom), Trinity (Jesse Daughter), Michelle, Taye Reece, Bella.

Front Row: Hunter, Elijah, Jonah, Allie, Demi Roo.

Pretty much same as above, but this picture has me and Ken (family friend of Jesse and camera man for documentary that was being filmed during the trip.)

I do believe that Jesse and his crew are some of my heroes. He rode day in and day out across the US to raise money for the kids of Haiti. He endured beer bottles being thrown at his head, hawks attacking him, and a 3 shots from a BB gun in the thigh from an idiot kid (it was just for fun according to the father of the boy)...as Napoleon Dynamite would say....."Idiot...gosh!"

Thanks Jesse, I look forward to the documentary and talking to you as soon as you find your way home!!!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Turtle Grandma

Well the time has come for me to become the grandma I have always wanted to be! ;-P
In about 3 weeks Hunter will become the proud father of a Red Eared Slider Turtle.
We have done the research, found the equipment and now we are working hard at saving our money to purchase said turtle. hehe
We spent today going to a few pet stores looking at the actual cost of getting a turtle, housing it, feeding it etc. Hunter is over the moon with excitement. To help him learn we bought a turtle care book so he can prepare for the upcoming new arrival and what he needs to do to put it all together.

When Hunter puts his mind to something he is serious about, he really means it. When he first mentioned a pet just "for himself " (like we have no animals...counting the 3 cats, 3 dogs, bird and fish) he mentioned wanting either a snake or a turtle. I about died at the thought of a snake in my home....EEEWWW!!!! I also made Hunter understand that I will never own an animal that must eat another living thing to survive. Therefore we have decided that a turtle is the best pet that he can have himself. ;-P

Hunter began researching it on the internet. I mean honestly Curtis and I thought that he would get over it by now, but no such luck...he meant it about the turtle. He had answers to all of our questions. He even promised that when he goes to college he will take the turtle with him...When he marries, he will take the turtle with him...we will see if the poor thing survives this long, but it is good he is looking long term.

He gave me a lecture tonight to make sure that I do not allow his sister (and new siblings) to play with the turtle unless he is there. That I will not turn the fan on and make his turtle cold so it will become ill, that I will make sure that I keep MY pets away from it so Mr. Turtle will not be harmed. We agreed.

Once we buy the turtle I will post pic's of my new grand child when he or she arrives!!