Alive and Well (update)

We are still here and doing great. Our lives were set on hyper-turbo speed for a bit. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the word hyper-turbo....it's means seriously fast and busy. The mom and pop taxi service has been in full swing.

I used to laugh when people said they were just a taxi service for their kids. It's not as funny as I once thought it was.....since now I'm part of that mom and pop taxi service. It is a constant: school functions, church functions, dance, piano, picking up friends, dropping off friends, last minute "mom I need white poster board for my project due in two days" or the note home from the teacher to remind me that I volunteered waaaaaaay back in September to bring in juice and napkins for the holiday party. I'm sure every parent understands what I'm saying.

Dave and I also are part of the teen ministry at church now. There are 6 adult leaders, including us, in charge of the teen youth group at church. We love it! Teens are definitely a rare breed and can be a challenge, but we love it. They are so much fun.
There are some that are super chatty, some that barely speak, some artistic, some athletic, some that really don't like school, some that are at the top of their class, etc. It's so amazing to me that they can all be so different, but come together for our activities and all get along so well.
So, Dave and I have been pretty busy with the youth group: scavenger hunt at the mall, corn maze, Operation Christmas Child, all-nighter with a hockey game and bowling, game nights, gym nights, out for pizza, etc.

We have also been working very diligently on becoming certified as adoptive/foster parents. Last March we went to an info session and decided to go for it. We've been thinking about it for a looooong time and thought it was time. So we took many many many classes and went to many info sessions.
We've learned tons and are now certified to adopt or foster. We are also eligible to do respite care. If a child is in a foster home and the foster parents had a special event to attend without children, the child needs to be supervised by another certified foster care family. This is something we are now eligible for also.
This whole process has been going on for almost a year now, but to keep it brief, we are now in the process of finding that child or sibling group that will best fit in our home. This is not a system that moves fast, so we are learning patience.

Here are some pictures from the last few months:






(some of our teens)
















Cookies we made on our snow day.


Jr. monopoly