Haiti Picture Post

Road to the NLL orphanage in Carrefour

Children danced for me to the Chocolate Song

View from the Orphanage balcony

Rooftop playground for the kids

Street market in Carrefour

View from the balcony-you can see the ocean in the distance

A woman walking to market

Group one of NLL kids~yes, I bribed them with piwhili's (suckers)

Group 2 NLL

Group 3 NLL kids

I am Back..I Think...

It has been an eternity since I have been on here. Between summer stuff with kids, work and fights I have little time or desire to do anything but TRY to sleep.

Had a few things this usmmer that have bene frustrating for me that has added to the stress of this thing I call my life.

I have a cousin, whom I love very much, come out as pretty much an addict. Well, she didn't COME OUT per se, she Overdosed....She spent a little time in the hospital but was not able to be committed for any type of rehab because she is an adult, an adult addict, but an adult. I fear for her as I know that my family on that side has a history of addiction, wether we want to face it or not.
EVERY member of the family has an addiction to one thing or another-food, cigarettes, alcohol or prescription drugs. I can say that here because I know that I am part of that....I have a food addiction that I work with every day. Knowing I have an addictive history and make up reminds me (read FEAR) that if I smoked, drank or tried drugs even once, that I would be an addict and lose everything. Knowing that, I do not typically drink (very rare occasion where a margarita is nice..) and only take prescription drugs given to me by my one and only Doctor. I hope and pray for my cousin as she fights her addiction to prescription drugs and hope that she can be convinced to seek the help she needs in time....I see my biological Dad, Rick, happening all over again unfortunately.

Also, as of today (Aug 24th) I am off to Haiti for a whirl wind trip to escort a sweetie home to her Forever Family. I am taking the camera and extra batteries so I am hoping to get some good pictures.....I will post when I get back here.

I hope to be back here more that school is now in session ( yes, ALL the kids are in school!) Hunter is now in 7th (Jr. High...yikes) Demi is in 4th, Kai 2nd and Nikaya hit the big Kindergarten...got a pic of her first day on the school bus and the first day of school I will post here soon!

KAI CEUS

Kai Ceus in Creche, aged 2 (courtesy Brownell's...THANK YOU!!!)

Kai, at Christmas this last year...with his mouth open as usual! ;-)

July 6, 2001 in a little area of Mirebalias, Haiti, Gladimy Ceus was born. He lived with his sweet Birth Mother, Lourdes (pronounced Lood) until she found herself unable to care for him at the tender age of 2. Lourdes took Kai to live at NLL with Dr. Bernard and his staff so he could be educated and possibly adopted by a family who could give him what she could not...a future.

Fast forward 6 months or so to my first visit to Haiti with Ange and Abby. One day on a trip to the Creche, I played with all of the little kids, not wanting to know names, ages, status of getting a family etc...I just wanted to love them all and play with them. I played with one little boy who hid around the corner from me during meal time and followed me pulling at my skirt. Every time I turned to look at him he would grin big...I mean BIG! I started to play peek-a-boo around the corner from him, looking around at him and then hiding. He sat me down in front of him and covered his eyes like peek-a-boo is played. Then when it came to the boo part, he slapped my cheeks something fierce. I was startled, but he giggled and giggled. One of the nannies showed me they kind of played like that, he was just a little rough due to his age of 2-ish.

When I got home from that trip my insides were jello. Haiti does something to you that is unexplainable unless you have been there. Part of you is glad to run away safely back home, the other half is sad to leave the place that you feel so close to God in.

When I got home I put his photo on the fridge and told Curt about the little boy I had fallen in love with...that we needed to pray that he got a home if he didn't have one, or that he was referred to a family soon and had a speedy adoption process.

About 1 year goes by. Curtis and I decide to adopt again. I tell him I wanted to check on the little boy I had met at the Creche and see if he was still available for adoption, age etc. He needed to be younger than Demi, since we wanted to keep ages in order due to how they came home-weird adoption logic to some, but it really does have its merits.

I scanned the photo I had of the little boy and asked. Within a couple of hours I received an email from NLL saying that the little boy was indeed available, a little over 3 years of age...PERFECT! Soon we began gathering paperwork for his adoption along with the adoption of an unknown little girl-figured we would get it done in one swoop..hehe

Our process for Kai was long...definitely not as long as it is now, but long for that time. During the process I went to Haiti to visit Kai and meet our new daughter, Nikaya (Mitchelle).

When I arrived, Kai was glad to see me, Nikaya wanted NOTHING to do with me. :-P She did come around, after several hours and animal cookies later.

The week I spent was glorious. I got to know the kids, their personalities and let them know that we were indeed real and that we loved them very much.

The day I had to leave them back at the Creche, broke my heart more than words can explain here. At the time I did not understand why I had to feel the way I did while leaving them again, but it gave me a perspective of the Birth Parents and what they must feel leaving the children as well. I knew that I would see the children again in a few months, but they do not know if they will ever see them again....WOW

After 18 months of waiting (10 months after my visit) Kai and Nikaya came home.

We are thankful every day for them, along with Hunter and Demi...they are truly blessings that we would not have had if things had turned out any other way but God's way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAI!

Alive and Kicking

We are alive and well and doing OK for the most part. Emily and the girls are doing OK and settling at her parent's house. My kids are excite that her oldest, C, will be going to school at their school...possibly in the same class! ;-)

Curt's dad, Ron, had to go to the hospital for chest pains and fluttering in his heart. He was in there for 2-3 days and had to have a cauterization procedure done to stop the heart from fluttering (hopefully for good). Derek got the call for a new liver, but the surgery was called off when the liver was found to have a disease they decided it best that Derek didn't have...so he waits.

Kids are enjoying the summer with Kate, she took them to the Zoo this week and they took pictures galore and had a blast. As it heats up they plan to go to the lake for water play, but until then they have ice fights on the trampoline!

I try to keep up with things around here as I work and struggle with my foot. The pain is really bad some days and I get frustrated I cannot just have the surgery right now. I am currently trying to get Curt's insurance to cover it since it is excluded from their plan...something that THEY as a COMPANY have decided I should live and suffer with, but an old man can get Viagra...not to fair if ya ask me! I will continue to fight until I can get it done and hope and pray that Advil gives me the relief I need.

I am still waiting for the trip to Haiti to bring little Carina home. It has been FOREVER and they are still waiting. Last we heard, they were having documents translated in order to go to the consulate. Once that is done we should be able to have Birth parent interview and then Visa interview and then travel. The frustration is that we are so close to the end, but we have been pretty much in this same place since April or May. The new mom and dad are also welcoming a new baby in tot he family as well, stress all around for them if ya ask me..hehe

SO, we work, play and hope to be doing good around here. I have a friend coming to our neck of the woods this summer (Ange and her Chaos) so we are hoping to see them. We also have a day in July to meet Kai's bio brother Juno...his family will be traveling thru and we are excited to meet and have the boys see each other for the first time. We will share photos of their Birth mom, as well as Birth sister I met when I traveled last time. Should be wonderful!

Quick Prayer Request

For my cousin Emily and her girls Catilyn (8) and Sara Beth (17 months).

Saturday my cousin's hubby commit suicide and Emily was the one who found him.

My heart hurts for her as she is to being a new life of single mom of two, to grieve and relive the nightmare of seeing her life partner the way he was left for her to find. Such a tragedy.

I know she will go thru the stages of grief, I hope that I will be able to be there for her and to provide her with the support she needs. I hope that her girls feel the love of their father and always know that what he did had NOTHING to with THEM, and EVERYTHING to do with HIMSELF.

Alive and Well

We are alive and well here, busy...but alive and well.

A couple of weeks ago I get sick...the kind of sick that you don't wish upon your worst enemy. I ended up going to my Doc who said I was dehydrated and could not leave until he had given me IV fluids and meds to stop me from loosing it from both ends (TMI I know..hehe)
After all day in the Doc's office, IV bag and several blood draws and med's, it was determined that I had a stomach flu, but NOT Swine Flu...YEAH!
I have recovered and am doing well.

Kids are out of school and summer is in full swing. We have a great gal named Katye (Kate as she likes to be called) that spends the day with the kids. Kai loves her but tests her, Nikaya loves her and Demi does as well. She is going to try some recipes out with Demi this summer as well as park visits, swimming etc. She is patient with the kids and handles them well. They love taking walks around the subdivision and riding bikes to a little park at one of the neighborhoods behind us.
Kids were surprised by her one day...Kate is hearing impaired. She wears hearing aides in both ears but does very well. Kai, thinking that she could not hear him and he could get away with things learned quickly that all is not as it seems..hehe

Work is going well for both of us. My hours are staying around 6-6.5 hours a day and then home for more 'work' to keep the house up. Curt has to work a little longer hours since his office moved further into downtown, adding about 15 minutes on to his commute-it is now about 40 min. Cannot complain since both of us have jobs, so we will deal with it! ;-)

Derek has been moved from #1 to #7 now back to #3 on the Liver transplant list...still praying for that to all come through.

Nikaya is getting ready for Kindergarten, she cannot wait until it starts...the other kids CAN wait.

Demi's Big reward

Demi received an award that she has been working toward all 3rd grade year...a new bike!
In order to receive the bike she had to have 100% attendance and score well on her IRI (Idaho Reading Indicator) and ISAT (Idaho Standardized Acheivment Testing)...she did all of the above and received the reward one day with her Pappy and Mammy!


Kai, Demi and Nikaya all mugging for the camera

Demi trying out the new wheels!

Demi with her Certificate and new bike!

DEREK UPDATE

Derek is in desperate need of prayers again...still....
He had a fever of 102.9* and was hospitalized due to dehydration and his liver enzyme counts being out of whack. On May 13th he had an ERCP, which allows the Docs to check on his bile ducts and the stint that they had placed in there to hold it open to give him the optimum use of this liver before possibly needing another one. They are not sure if it was the lack of antibiotics allowed for the procedure, the non sterile dye they use for the ERCP, or just God's timing, but Derek is in need of a transplant again.

For a while, Derek has been reactivated on the list, first being #9 with a MELD score of 5.8, then moved to #7 with a slightly higher score of 7.0. Today, Derek was moved to #1 with a MELD of 26! His MELD for the first transplant was 23. We now wait to hear word that a liver has come up, another family has had to make a hard decision, and that Derek is a match.

PLEASE, we ask that you pray for him, the other families that may be making this decision to donate, the Docs who will make the decision for which liver is his, transplant it and that the right one finally be implanted.
To be 29 yo and to have to go thru this again in such a short time is unimaginable, yet Derek keeps his spirits high and knows that it is for a purpose.

I will keep you updated! Thanks!

Hunter

Hunter and Aunt Heather, Mean mugging for the Camera on Easter '09

On May 3rd, 1997 a beautiful baby boy came to be in this world. He and a twin, our son Braeden, were born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. our two sweeties were cared for by their Birth father until 18 days old, eating only sugar water because he didn't have anything else to feed them. He brought the two tiny little creatures to Dr. Bernard's home and begged him to take them. We received a call that we had waited for forever, we had a baby...well, TWO babies. They wanted us to know that they were tiny, malnourished and had a slim chance of survival, but they were ours if we wanted them. We said a hopeful YES to them and prayed that they would be safe and we could finally have the children we so desperately wanted.

You see, We had begun our process of adoption for a girl, we had girls referred that were taken away, girls that died after referral and girls that were to be ours that never ended up coming to the orphanage. Of course, that was 12 years ago and things were done differently in the Haitian adoption world than they are now...some for the best, some for the worst.

So anyway, We waited for news that we could travel. We got a call late one evening from Dr. B saying that our boys were sick and in the hospital..they were tiny, Hunter weighing in at 3.5lbs, Braeden weighing in a 2lbs. We prayed and begged for them to be able to come home, but knew they were not healthy enough to make the trip.

Two days later, we received another late night call from Dr. B, this one letting us know our worst fears, our sweet little Braeden had passed away at 1 month old. My knees gave way and I sat on the floor and cried, wondering what I had done somewhere to be punished so much to have to lose a child I never got to hold or tell I loved to their sweet little face. We were devastated, Louis the Birth father was devastated. He came to reclaim Braeden fro burial and begged us to continue to be Hunter's family...we had never had any other thought cross our minds, but he needed to know that in his mind that we were committed to Hunter...f course we were.

Hunter remained in the hospital in PAP for 1 more month and at the age of 2 months and 1 day, he arrived in Miami for us to pick up, being escorted by Mme. Bernard.

May 3rd was a wonderful day in our lives, it gave us the son we wanted and love so much, watching him grow and mature into a young man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNTER, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Updates

Hello! Since it has been a couple of weeks since I was here last, I thought I would update everyone.

I had my dental appointment and was EXTREMELY high and got my molar pulled. All went well, I remember bits and pieces of the day, but not all of it. Nikaya had stayed home with daddy that day, since she wasn't feeling good and she laid on the couch with me to keep me company. She decided Spongebob was better viewed in her room since I snored to much and did not change the channel when needed...hehe

Kai had his visit to the Urologist. It had to be one of the single most hilarious times I have had in a while. When he arrived they gave him a cup with his name on it, to which he was excited for, thinking he was getting a snack with juice. When told he needed to pee in the cup he looked at all of us like we were insane and that was indeed disgusting. When he and I go into our little room, he proceeds to tell me he is big enough to do the job himself and goes into the bathroom. I peek thru the door in time to see him undo his britches, look at the cup, his pant and then how many hands he had and try to figure out how he was going to do it all. He then gets the brilliant idea to put the cup on the floor and aim from up high...hehehe I stop him in time to avoid a HUGE mess. Afterwards he and I sit in the little room that had WAY to many posters of men's anatomy on the wall. Kai is looking long and hard at one (which was the dissected view of the male anatomy), He finally exclaims " I know what that is!!!" I ask him "What is it?" to which he replies 'SQUIDWART!!" (the squid neighbor from Spongebob Squarepants) I never laughed so hard in my life. The Doc is thinking of renaming the poster in his honor. :-)

Life has been good, we have survived Nikaya having a temperature of 103.5*, my tooth hole causing pain (hoping for it not to be a dry socket and just allergies), and trying to get things done around here. I have some more news, but will put it all in seperate posts to keep from running you long on this one!

Get 'Er Done

OK...Demi's new retainer is in with her tooth on it..looks pretty good. She talks a little funny and will until she gets used to it being in her mouth. They will adjust the retainer from time to time as she grows, but she will need to wear it until her jaw stops growing and teeth quit falling out and something more permanent will be done-about the time she turns 18.

Kai and Nikaya have appointments tomorrow to start their immunizations-YUK! I have put it off and put it off and finally after much research decided to get it done. They will have to catch up, but do not require some of the shots that infants and toddlers do since they are older. They will probably have to go to the Doc about 1 time a month for shots until they are caught up, but it is for the best.
May 11th Kai has a visit with the urologist. This is a long time coming and will be gearing up to fix a problem he has which will probably require surgery. I will let you know when the surgery will be coming so you can all pray-it will be very much appreciated.

I have yet to get my tooth pulled but did see the doc. Right now I am living with infection in my jaw, but really the pain is getting worse and makes my head hurt all the time.
I told Curtis the infection is probably eating its way to my brain, which he replied "well, then it will starve" HAHA...everyone is a comedian. I am going to have to talk to them about what to do, but they have already told me they would drug me to the high heaves to pull it out and then we can go from there.

Met the foot Doc-he said my foot is C shaped with a bunion and bone spur, that is what is causing all the pain. I should watch how often I walk (I LOVE TO WALK) and watch the number of stairs I take (I have a 2 story house and climb stairs into the cage all the time...) . He wrapped my foot to help support it but I then had an allergic reaction to the tape-lost some skin and now I have a 'wookie foot' with adhesive that causes everything to stick to it from lint, cat hair to my own shoe. I will have to wait to get any kind of surgery done until I have money and go to Haiti to escort- I REFUSE to travel to Haiti in a boot that goes up to my knee. The surgery will go one of two ways-heal in 6-8 weeks with minimal crutch usage and smaller boot OR 8-10 weeks in a boot up to my knee and walker that requires a knee walker thing that I ped around on...FUN!

Heard from Haiti that they have the passport of the girl I will escort. Hoping all will go down so I can travel in June and then make plans to get my foot surgery completed...ah..more money needed...let it rain down cash from the sky cuz I don't have any!

Hope all is well with you out there, we are just living each day hoping to get to the next!

Debbie Downer Post...

Well...what a FABULOUS night followed by a CRAPTACULAR day.

Last night Curt and I went out for our 18 year anniversary! We went and had a nice (cheap) dinner at Applebee's and then went to see Jeff Dunham and Brian the Guitar Guy. They are comedians...Jeff D is the guy with the puppets like Achmed, Walter, Peanut and Jose Jalapeno; Guitar Guy, well...he is the guy with a guitar..hehe
We had a blast, the kids had fun here with Sam, our wonderful neighbor gal who watched all of them for us! Fun, FUN!!


Craptacular item #1:
Today we go do the dentist thing. They decide that the tooth that Demi has been working on for the last year (after her fall in the shower) is dead and root canal will not work...her body is reabsorbing the calcium and she must lose the tooth. They had her numb, but more had to be done so I held her hand as they numbed more and then chiseled that thing out of her, watched it crumble out of her mouth...permanent front tooth as well. :-(
Demi shed some tears, half out of fear of the procedure and half out of 'oh my gosh I wont have a tooth there now'. They have done the mold for a false tooth for her, it will be on a retainer type gizmo I guess;. should be done in 1-2 weeks..in the meantime the hole in her gums has to heal. Very sad and hard to watch.

Craptacular item #2:
I have MY appointment. I have made it 37 years without so much as a cavity. A couple of years ago I was naughty and chewing ice and cracked a tooth. I bypassed cavities and filings and went straight to ROOT CANAL...(insert scary music here) Now it appears that my wonderful root canal failed and I will have to have my tooth removed as well-molar on left side, but a BIG tooth none the less.

I am giving in today. I feel that when I am almost getting ahead I am shoved to the back to try and climb up again.
I try to exercise-my foot swells and my toe needs fixed=surgery...
My woman parts are not working right and need fixed=surgery...
My tooth was fixed and now infecting my jaw=surgery/removal...

I am so frustrated with life but try to remember that at least I have a life to complain about but I just want to sit in a hole, curl up in the fetal position and CRY.....


Sorry to be Debbie Downer....just been my day and It was MY day to have I guess.

Hello Again

WOW, it has been forever since I posted. I have been busy, living and enjoying life though, so I cannot complain.

Got to see Derek for Easter, that was nice. He is looking good, pale even..hehe and seems to be doing OK considering his Bile Ducts are smaller than they should be. He is #9 on the list and will remain on it going up and down for the rest of his life, or until a new liver is transplanted. He is good with this and knows that there is nothing going on in his life the good Lord has not given him to deal with for a reason.

Work is good. Some days I am busy, others I play Mahjong while hitting my faceboook profile to chat..hehe Adoptions are still slow...I am still waiting for a certain little girl to be ready so I can bring her home. It has been 1 years since her family visited her and brought he sister home so they are ANXIOUS for her to be home as well. The little gal just got released from MOI so now once we have passport we can get Birth Parent redone and get her home. Another family is waiting to be released from IBESR. They have been there forever, but the dossier wasn't complete due to adding new documents. They are hoping now that all items are in Haiti they can get them to the IBESR (you must have an appointment) so they can get approval and get going.
Fights are good...2 coming up for me-May 1st at Qwest and May2nd-at O'Connor Field House. Excited to get back to the cage again and see some good fights.

Got alot done here in the house, cleaned closets, purged junk, donated clothes and cleaned real well in places that had not seen sun for a while due to bad weather...God is good!

Please Take A Look

If you have a moment, please check the link below.

This family is dear friends of mine. They have taken on 3 beautiful children from Haiti as well as have 3 bio children. They are currently adopting a teen boy from Haiti as well.
Now that the children are home, they find it impossible for one of the children to be safely kept in their family, due to reasons I wont post here due to my full knowledge of them.

I am asking for a couple of things from all of you out there.

1. To stop by the blog listed and see if this child would fit into YOUR family....
http://www.makefunofyourday.blogspot.com/

2. If the child is not meant to be in your family: PRAY, PRAY, PRAY

3. We are talking about a beautiful girl here who needs a loving home, NOT a group home, or further situations which she cannot control or be victimized in.

This family LOVES this child and only want the best for her, she was given to them by God for one reason or another. If it is in YOUR ability to have her in your home or you know of a family she could possibly be in, PLEASE contact them at their blog or contact me here or at thehaitilady@hotmail.com

Blessings,
LeAnne

On The List

Good news..(I guess) is that Derek is now officially on the list again for a new liver. Insurance said that they would pay for all of the surgery etc BUT the liver itself. He had to sign financial agreement with the hospital to make payments (probably forever...) to get on the list. Now we wait and pray that a liver becomes available for him soon. He is fairly close to the top..not sure which number and when I do, I will let you know.
It is so hard, his body isn't necessarily rejecting the liver, the new liver just isn't working. I hope and pray that this will be it, the new liver will be good for him and he can get back to whatever normal is going to be for him...pain free and not yellow.

Derek Update

A quick post about Derek.

Derek has been in and out of the hospital lately due to problems with his bile ducts in his new liver. They have stinted one, after he began turning yellow and his bilirubin count went to 8 again. After the stinting his bilirubin has dropped to about 5, and they have given him med's to thin his bile hoping that it will allow the stint to work and clear out his body of the bile that has leaked into his system from the damaged duct.
On Tuesday they had tested him again and though things are lower than before, they are thinking that Derek may have to do blood work and possibly look at the full work up to get on the list again, Yes, ANOTHER transplant is very likely in his future. We are hoping that the med's will work, that God will intervene and another new liver will not be needed...that the new one he just got will begin to work as needed.
Please, prayers are DESPERATELY needed as Derek hits this next trial in his young life.

At Last...A New Family

These two little sweeties are meeting their new mamma and daddy tomorrow!!!

After a L...O...N...G... wait, Geslande and Joravena will be uniting with their Forever Family on Friday by 2pm. I am so excited for all of them. Little J (the youngest) has been in the orphanage since she was about 2 weeks old, and she just turned 2 years old about 2 weeks ago....like I said-it has been a long process for them.

Pray for safety for the family (Aaron and Vanessa) as they travel to experience Haiti and all it has to show them while they get their girls.

YEAH GOD!!!

DEREK UPDATE

Curt's brother Derek has been doing pretty good. We had a scare recently when he began to turn yellow again and feel really ill and suffer from pain in his abdomen. He spiked a fever of 103* and had to be hospitalized. They did a procedure to check out his new liver and found that one of his bile ducts was constricted. This happens in about 30% of the cases so it isn't a big surprise. When they connect the liver to the body the new ducts can be scarred and constrict. They stinted it and he is already improving and out of the hospital.
Below are pics of when he was in. I saved most of the really morbid looking ones and kept them out...if you want to see some gnarly pics check out his caringbridge web site listed on the side of the page!










Derek 2 hours post-op

Derek's 58 staples

Derek this last week...HE LOOKS AMAZING!

Updating My Life on Here

Hello! It has been over a month since I have been on here. We have had AWANA's times 4 kids, basketball games times 2 boys, Cheerleading times 2 girls and Fights times 1 busy and tired mom. Curtis has had school on Mondays (a Dale Carnegie Class on Public Speaking he is taking for work) which he will graduate from by the end of the month I believe.

B-ball is over for the season so we have a few nights at home!! YEEHAW for that idea. I used to feel rushed having to work and do dinner etc afterwards, but B-ball season showed me that I do have more time in the evenings when B-ball is over...all about perspective I guess. :-P

Things here have been busy but good. Both of us are still employed, a big plus for this day and age, and enjoying our jobs as much as one can when you are working for a living.

Hard to believe that March 7th was 1 year since we lost my Bio dad Rick...His B-day is March 15th. Going to be hard to pass that milestone. I have had teary eyes, but have not let myself sit down and just remember and cry like I need too. If weather permits, I am planning on going with my Aunt Pam and Grandma to the cemetery on Saturday, his B-day, to decorate his new headstone (I will post a photo when I get there) and plant a Peonies bush, as well as just celebrate his B-day without him for the first time. I am anxious to see the new headstone since it just got finished. Weird thing to look forward to, but it gives some closure that I am craving but that I am fearful of at the same time. I will never forget him, but I feel like having a headstone honors him more to the outside world, kind of a 'Hello..I was here and meant something to someone' type of thing.

I am looking forward to sitting down and reading, blogging and getting caught up with the cyber world and friends that I have missed over the last month, as well as my usual workouts that have been sorely missed and much needed.

I'm Here...Really

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. I have not had much down time to take a moment to post anything over the last couple of weeks. I have dome great pic's of Derek-In the hospital, before surgery, post surgery and of his liver...just have to have time to post it for you.

Derek is doing well. He is home, walking, got his staples out this week (Friday, I believe)

We have enjoyed Basketball practices, games, cheer practices, performances, AWANA's etc...and will hopefully see an end to all the busy by the end of Feb. Of course, with 4 kids it is always busy, but less busy than NOW...hehe B-ball will be over, cheer will go back to 1 day a week and AWANA's is always up, but we are good with that.

Unfortunately due to the busy life schedule I had to drop out of Choir at church...probably for the best since I think I was the scariest Soprano ever..hehe If your voice changes during puberty, I am not sure what mine is doing now...?? I have been down to working out 2-3 days a week instead of 4...harder to lose weight but I am still working on it.

I hope all of you out there are doing well. I will see if I can post Derek's photos in the next couple of days!!