Just Stroll-ing Along . . .

FOR RENT
East Toledo/Rossford area
3 bedroom, 1 bath home. Fresh paint and hardwood floors throughout - beautiful oak windows and trim. Many updates including newer modern vanity, shelving and flooring in bath. Eat-in kitchen and gas fireplace hook-up. Full unfinished basement with built-in shelving. Hot water heat. 2 car garage and tool shed in back of fenced yard. Renter to provide general maintenance and upkeep, including lawn care and snow removal. $900/month plus utilities, $25 application fee. Up to 2 pets OK with additional deposit. Call 419-410-2512

for those of you who don't know yet, on tuesday the ohio supreme court upheld the decision of both the juvenile & court of appeals and reaffirmed the permanenty custody of the kids to children's services! in other words, parental rights are still terminated and the kids remain in our home as foster children. we have to bide our time as we wait to see if they will appeal to the u.s. supreme court, but once that deadline has passed, if they have not appealed, we can fasttrack the adoption once again. we are overjoyed by the ruling and are resting easy in the fact that we will all be able to move to texas together near the beginning of march, as a complete family.

more later...

my darling hubby left yesterday morning for del rio, tx, where he will be having his orientation until monday. then they will leave for artesia, nm, and he'll be there until graduation on december 18. it's possible he will have to remain there an additional 8 weeks for spanish training, but that's not definite yet. his plane landed in san antonio around 4 pm, then he had to take a 4 hour bus ride from there to del rio.
we're all missing him & loving him & praying for him .... won't you do the same?

check my facebook to see the house we've picked out in uvalde!

A lot has happened in the last month for us ----
Kayla started school!
Jovie turned 6 mos old!
And most recently, as in THIS MORNING, Brian was given a firm offer of employment with the U.S. Border Patrol. He is leaving on or near September 25th for the Academy in Artesia, NM. He will (hopefully) graduate from there on December 18th. From there he will be assigned to and start at his post in Uvalde, TX. At this point we have no idea when the kids and I might be able to join him, because of the adoption situation. I spoke with the caseworker this morning, and she said that if Ohio Supreme Court rules in favor of the biological parents, the kids WILL be sent back, and CSB will reopen the case & try to have the children removed for some other reason -- in the meantime, she said they would be checking in on the kids once a week.

So needless to say .... I was horrified. She said if all of this happens (which she is SURE it won't, I say sarcastically), she would think it'd be 2-3 more years of waiting.

If that doesn't happen, and the court finds in favor of CSB, we'll hopefully be able to join Brian in TX as soon as we sign the papers (AGAIN).

It's a lot to take in --- my husband leaving for the next 2 1/2 months, and then to be separated again, for a very uncertain amount of time is heartbreaking. I know I can handle it, at least I hope I can, but I worry that it will be too difficult for the kids to handle. But we shall see. We covet anyone's prayers, and if you want to know more, just give me a call.


xoxo

brian's interview for the border patrol is tomorrow --- they said to expect it to take 6 hours -- and then they are interviewing his boss & a coworker. this is all happening a lot faster than we thought - - they originially told us it would take 4 -6 months, and maybe it will, but we didn't think he'd be interviewed so quickly.
my grandmother is in the hospital right now with heart complications -- not sure what's going on yet. hopefully will know more tomorrow.
my mother in law's lumpectomy is on wednesday afternoon. at this point they are saying the surgery & 6 weeks of radiation, but they won't really know until after the surgery. she may have to have chemotherapy.
josh has an eeg scheduled for tuesday, and we have to get kayla set up for school -- we are most likely putting her in public school, hopefully in a half day kindergarten program, for this year. we really wanted to keep her in the ohva program, but it's very possible that she will still be in the foster care system next year (during 1st grade) and she would have to go to public school at that point. we really don't want her being overwhelmed with that and it seems like the best thing would be to get her somewhat familiar with the whole school thing this year.
okay, more later.
xoxo.

so much has happened since my last post -- most importantly, my girl turned 6, and brian and i celebrated our 4th anniversary! also, my mother-in-law found out she has breast cancer and our good neighbors moved. right now my grandmother is in town from florida, and on monday brian is headed up to detroit to take a drug test and a physical agility test for the border patrol. lots of things are going on in our family and with our friends, and time is passing so quickly...
our sweet baby is getting so big -- she has such a wonderful personality and her hair is getting redder & curlier everyday. she is teething & is still sleeping peacefully through the night. i just can't believe how much i love her!