Mafia Cousins

I just had to share this photo. As I've posted previously, I recently attended my Grandfathers funeral. My three brothers and the three other male cousins were the pall bearers. It looks suspiciously like a mafia gathering! (apologies guys - but that was actually quoting Jeff).

So, here they are from left to right: My oldest brother Stan, next oldest Jeff, cousin Eugene (Dad's sister Karen's son), younger brother John, cousin Chuck (Dad's sister Carol's and step brother Charle's son) and cousin Erik (Dad's step brother Ken's son).

Watson's Big Adventure

Thursday brother Jeff, cousins Connie,Coral,Jennifer and Connie's daughter Sarah and I all flew to Sacramento and back for Grandpa's funeral. When our plane landed in Seattle on Thursday evening I called Darin to let him know and he told me that Watson (our beloved 4 yr old Lab/Golden Retriever cross) was missing when he got home from work and still hadn't come home. Of course, I went in to a panic and got home as quick as I could. We walked and drove all over our neighborhood well in to the night but still no sign of him.

Friday morning I called the Humane Society and went to their facility to check for him, had lost dog posters printed and came home to start canvasing the neighborhood. I stopped long enough to place an ad in the paper and post on Craig's List and lo and behold found a "found dog report" on CL with a matching description and photo. Watson had been found on the other side of the water near downtown Bremerton and CJ's Evergreen Park General Store. That is just over two miles from us and across the Manette bridge. I called the guy's number and he never called back ALL DAY. I also e-mailed him back from the CL post and he finally e-mailed us at 9:45 Friday night to tell us that when he got home last night his Grandad told him that Watson had gotten out during the day...so we were back to square one and we didn't read his e-mail until after 11pm.

We drove over to the area where he had been found and searched for him by car and on foot - still no sign of our baby and it was nearing 1AM at this point. After posting some posters and speaking with a police officer patrolling the neighborhood we finally gave up and went home. I checked Craig's List again and posted a lost dog ad there and then checked the Humane Society website and found a pet message board. I posted a lost dog message and then saw the "found dog" reports and again lo and behold - another report of our "well taken care of dog" with no tags and an orange collar. Since we'd had such trouble making the previous connection we decided to just go ahead and call so at 1:15 AM I woke this poor woman, Tina, up and started crying over the phone! She was VERY gracious and told me that her sister actually had Watson but that he was doing really well and was playing with their lab. Tina's sister Eva, has a young child so she understandably didn't want to wake her in the middle of the night but promised to call her first thing in the morning so we could pick him up.

Eva called us at 8:20 this morning and we compared notes on "features" (including the black spots on his tongue from his black lab mother) and Eva was sure she had our dog. So we met her at the Bremerton Tennis club to pick him up. What we have pieced together of the rest of the story is pretty amazing - our dog's wonderful personality and love for kids seems to have been his saving grace.

Watson must have gotten out of the first home early on Friday morning because he was found by some teenagers on their way to school near Mountain View Middle School which is back on our side of the bridge and 3/4 of the way back home from where he was found on Thursday night. He followed them to Bremerton High School - back across the Manette Bridge and nearly three miles from our home. He spent Friday at the high school entertaining and being loved up by MANY kids. His rescuer Iva works at the school and Watson spent a good share of the day laying in her office. Several kids had apparently called their parents and gotten permission to bring Watson home with them. However, Iva suggested they wait until Monday so she could try to find the owners and took him home to Tracyton for the night where he played ball etc.

Watson travelled somewhere in excess of 5 miles during his romp around town and his paw pads are pretty torn up so he is limping quite a bit and just generally worn out. I'm sure he was pretty stressed too so was probably running around alot. We don't know if he went for a swim during any of this time but his coat doesn't really seem like he was in the salt water however, he looked wet in the photo on CL from the first finder so we really don't know. He does love the water and there is a lot of it around here!

After we picked him up this morning we headed straight to Petco for a new collar tag and have filled out the Pet License application for the City of Bremerton to turn in on Monday and make him a legal citizen (I know - we have been lazy!). He did have a collar tag before but I forgot to put it back on his new collar that he got a few months ago. We've definitely learned our lesson on this one though. He will also be getting microchipped on May 31st at the Humane Society microchip clinic.

The photo below is of our worn out puppy dog resting on his favorite bed at home. We are SOOOOOOO glad we found him. Special Thanks to Tina and Iva and their families for being such wonderful dog rescuers. Oh - one more note...Tina lives just around the corner from us. We have walked by her home MANY times - especially in the last few days.

My Grandpa

I was only 3 when my Grandpa Foster died - I've heard many stories about him my whole life but I don't have any concrete memories of time spent with him. When I was eleven, my Grandmother married her daughter's father-in-law Elvin Ogren. (He was my Uncle Charles's father - Uncle Charles is married to my Dad's sister Carol.) Over the years there were all kinds of family jokes about the infamous song "I'm my own Grandpa" and it certainly did make for some interesting family connections. But, what it meant to me is that I had another Grandfather.

My "step" Grandpa never treated me like a "step" Grandaughter and to me he was never "step" anything - he was just "Grandpa". When I was 15, Grandma and Grandpa came for one of their annual visits but this time my younger brother John and I got to ride back to California with them in their Winnebago motorhome. They took us to Gilroy convention and we got to spend time with our cousins and make new friends. It was a trip I'll never forget. Grandma and Grandpa were always there for every special event - highschool and college graduations, our wedding (photo above on August 1st, 1998) and many visits in between. Even in the last few years with his health failing rapidly, Grandpa would inquire about us and how we were doing.

I have many happy memories of visits to Grandpa & Grandma's home in Castro Valley, CA - this was the home Grandpa Foster built and my Dad and his two sisters grew up in. When Grandpa O & Grandma got married they added on a master bedroom and some to the basement. Grandpa was a carpenter and it seemed like he could build most anything. Once when I visited - Grandpa must have been 80 by then - he was building a new barn on the lower part of the property...he and Grandma had lots of health problems over the years but they never let it slow them down even when we all wished they would be a little more constrained in their activities. I loved spending time there and visiting with my Grandparents - they had so many stories to tell. Grandma died in February 2 years ago - I still have days when I wish I could call her and visit a while. Grandpa died last Sunday, April 13th. His funeral will be Thursday the 24th near Sacramento, CA.

Grandpa was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during World War II. He didn't like to talk much about it but when I was studying French in high school and college he tried out some of his rusty French on me from his WWII days and was a little chagrined when I knew what he was saying! Grandpa also taught wood shop in the CA prison system and had interesting stories to tell about his days working with prisoners. Some of my favorite stories were of his teenage years riding the rails to get around Southern Idaho. I can't begin to capture the depth and color of all of his stories - fortunately, I was able to get many of them on tape during three different "interviews" with him and Grandma. If any of my cousins are reading this - I promise I will work on getting these converted to CD and copies made for everyone.

The last time I saw Grandpa was in December on our way home from taking Nick & Ari to their Grandmother's home near LA. We stopped in Chico and were able to catch up with Grandpa while he waited for his dialysis treatment. At first I couldn't tell if he recognized me but before we left I could tell he knew it was me. I'm so glad for those last few moments with him and that glimmer of recognition but what I will hold dear in my heart are all of the years he was my Grandpa - all of the "how are you's", hugs and "I love you's". I'll miss you Grandpa, we weren't related by blood but you were my real Grandpa.

The photo below is from our stop to see Grandpa in December - we've both changed in the 10 years since the photo at the top but please do keep in mind that these are my travel grubbies on the way home from one of the more emotionally challenging life events. I promise I'm not always that haggard looking! (sorry a little vanity in action)

Nicholas and Arianna

We talked to Nicholas and Arianna earlier this week and thought we would share Nick's expanding vocabulary. He said "hi jean, my name is Nick. I ride my bike. I'm four!". We are so pleased that he continues to make progress on his speech development. Arianna pretty much just says Hi but she did add "Hi Mama, my mama" which of course tugged at my heartstrings. We do miss them - have been missing them a bit more since our last adoption attempt hasn't worked out.

I think their Grandma is doing a good job with them - they are actively involved in all of the necessary services and obviously both making progress. We also really appreciate Becky's continued efforts to stay in touch with us and give us opportunities to talk to the kids. She is the one that called us this week. She said she had "felt is quite strong for about two weeks" that we wanted her to call. The amazing thing is that every time I start feeling like I really need to talk to the kids Becky does call. We are just glad she seems so in tune with us on that front - it makes it so we don't feel like we have to intrude to have contact.

Also, Becky called Grandma Rosie on Wednesday and let her talk to both of the kids (first time since they left us in December) and has also said it is fine with her if Rosalyn comes for a visit in June. We will look forward to the update after that visit. Both Grandma Rosie and Nana Shirley have been quite diligent about sending cards and notes to the kids. Grandma Becky is keeping them all in an album to share with the kids when they are older and can understand better.

Becky has promised to send some updated photos of the kids - we'll be sure to share them when we get them.

Bahamas Trip

Ok, we have finally gotten around to downloading our photos off the camera and then uploading them to Shutterfly so that you can all see what an absolutely fabulous time we had in the sunshine. It's supposed to hit freezing temperatures here in good old Bremerton this weekend....maybe looking at these pictures will help keep us warm!

Truly - it was a fabulous trip and we had a wonderful time. We highly recommend the Atlantis Resort and hope to return someday.

Here is a link to the complete Bahamas Photo Album .

Of course we had to share a couple of photos here to get you started! The one at the top of the post is of the Royal Towers at Atlantis. The Bridge Suite that connects the two towers rents for $25,000/night and has a 4 night minimum! The picture below is the view from our room.

Uncle Darin is a BIG HERO

I just received this photo via e-mail and had to share! For our nieces Caelyn and Carlee's birthdays this spring, Uncle Darin built them a "kitchen". It has a refrigerator/freezer, 4 burners, an oven and even a stainless steel sink and wooden faucet. This was mostly made out of scrap wood from the shop at Darin's job. (you can click on the image for a closer view)

Needless to say, Caelyn and Carlee think Uncle Darin is pretty special these days. Carmen reports that Caelyn frequently asks "how did Uncle Darin make this part?" And, Carlee is no longer afraid to go downstairs by herself now that she has her kitchen to play with. Caelyn told me "it is a VERY nice kitchen!"

They also received dishes, pans and wooden play food to go along with their new cooking center. We can't wait for our next visit so they can prepare us a gourmet meal!

Oh, and just for the record - Darin is my hero too:-).

Not this time

I dialed Tina's number again this afternoon and almost fell over when the phone rang. I had a pleasant, but brief visit with her. Long enough to find out that she is recovering from her surgery, the girls are still doing well - experiencing the typical ups and downs of preemies but continuing to make progress, and - she is definitely planning to keep them. She has named them Janiyah and Jakiyah. They will likely be in the hospital until sometime in June.

We will make up a photo album of the pictures we took of the girls and send it to her - she didn't have any way to take pictures herself so she was glad to hear we would send some.

And so, another chapter in our adoption journey is closed. We have really enjoyed working with Brenda at Abby's One True Gift and will work with her again for another placement. We don't know timing on that right now but we have up to two years before the funds we have paid them expire. We've learned a lot through this process even about the legal ins and outs etc so we'll be better prepared the next time around.

We have received so much love, support and encouragement from our friends, families and co-workers and are so glad to know that you will all be there to cheer us on when we finally do realize our dream of becoming forever parents.

April Fools Day

It's hard not to feel like the butt of the joke today.

Tina's phone line has been busy for more than 24 hours. We had the phone company test it and it is "off hook". We aren't sure what that means or if it means anything at all. What we do know is that it is frustrating.

We've had several phone calls and e-mails from dear friends and family and reports of inquiries, thoughts and prayers from even more. We really can't thank you enough and want you to know that your love and care is being felt.

Darin and I both came home from the Bahamas with a pretty bad bug - fever, cough, headache and even some stomach upset and dizziness. The doctors aren't sure if it is the flu or bronchitis but have given us both an antibiotic. I am starting to feel some better today with two doses under my belt (day 5 of the crud) so hopefully that trend will continue. Right now we are holed up at home trying to restrict whatever the bug is to the two of us. We made a big pot of "Uncle Tom Chicken Noodle Soup" or as Nicholas called it "Dom Zoup". Between the soup and Advil by day and Nyquil at bedtime, we are managing ok.

The good news: We are still basking in the after glow of our tropical vacation and can only believe that there was some of God's Grace in the timing for our little get-a-way. We also had an incredibly encouraging visit with a co-worker of mine while we were at Atlantis - he and his wife adopted their two sons and also went through several disappointing experiences before their adoptions were final. It was good to be reminded that the adoption journey has ups and downs for everyone who embarks on it and that even great disappointments don't have to be the end of the road. They are just what they are - another one of the twists and turns that make life the enriching and hopefully growth inspiring journey that it is.

Admittedly, we have struggled in the last week to make any sense of the latest loop in the roller coaster of life but are determined that we will not quit opening our hearts to possibilities. We want this experience to soften rather than harden us and strengthen our ability to trust rather than diminish it - that is where we do absolutely need your continued thoughts and prayers.

If you have called or e-mailed and we haven't yet responded, please don't think we don't appreciate it. Between the cough and fever and lots of emotions we just aren't very prompt right now in returning all of our messages even though we do love to get them.

We will let this be all for now. D and J