This not-so-old house

Many of you know that we are adding a little space to our house. Originally, it was to accommodate the two children we were hoping to adopt. Well, now it is to accommodate an unknown additional member - or two - to our family that the Lord will, in time, bring to our door. So, the project goes on. Having the floor poured included tearing up the patio that we have only had for four years. That was sad. It was a big one and we have enjoyed it tremendously. A good friend of ours from church did the concrete work. He even left his bobcat here overnight for the boys (all four! Bob, Alex, Marshall, and Levi) to play with. I just have to say, whoever thought it was a good idea to let a 5-year-old drive a bobcat by himself, didn't foresee a five-year-old's ability to dream up doing doughnuts with a bobcat! The video is quite funny! All four boys got to drive the bobcat and we have the pictures to prove it! What fun! So, we now frost footings and a floor poured AND we wait for the framer. We have had a lot of rain this week, so I am sure that puts us farther down the road on getting the framing going. Bob is the General Contractor for this project and has been pleased that so far the budget is going quite well. Check back for more photos.

Found a Peanut!

Let me introduce you to our puppy, Peanut. He is half shis-tzu and half bichon. We received some really good advice about kenneling the puppy whenever he was not being played with or watched. This has proved to be quite beneficial as he is very comfortable with hanging out in his kennel and does not cry when directed to go there. What a blessing. We acquired him December 27th and have been loving him ever since. He really is a good puppy. He does great pottying outside. The only problem is that he is pretty good at pottying inside also! With the addition going on the house and new carpet in our future, we are eager to get this issue settled. Any suggestions? Levi successfully took Peanut to "Pet Day" at preschool. That was fun (sarcasm!). Anyway, enjoy the pictures. ~Audra

Change of plans

Most of you are aware of the journey my family and I have been traveling over the past months as we moved towards fostering, and then eventually adopting, two sweet children from the Jackson County Family Services Division. Yesterday was the scheduled court date for the change in foster placement, moving these kids from their current foster placement to our home. Unfortunately, it was decided that this placement was not a match for all parties involved; these kids will not be coming to live with us. I apologize for the vague explanation; however, for the sake of the foster children and our family, this is as much information that I can divulge at this time.

My wife and I thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers throughout the past months. We ask for your continued prayers for the two foster children -- that they would heal from this disappointment, and that a forever family would be found for them; and prayers for our family, as we grieve this loss and look forward to what God has in store for us in the coming days.

Bob