Our kids' day was made today. They got to see our dear friend and old neighbor Don at Walmart. They couldn't wait for me to park our van so they could get out and run to him. I barely got the car in Park before they were flying out the door. We love you Don and thanks for being so generous and giving each of the kids a $1.

 

We have some pretty great ward members here in our new ward. They have been extremely welcoming. It is helping take the sting out of missing our old ward.

 

Slowly but surely it is coming along. I love the space I have in my craft room even though I have to share it with the laundry. I think I'll use my stuff more now that it is upstairs and not out of sight. I still have a ton of boxes to go through but I'm still getting rid of things so that's good. I also found my lost temple recommend that I lost 2 years ago. I used it when we had the 3 younger ones sealed to us but then I couldn't find it after that. I got shoved into so...me random bag I had no idea of even having. I have craft things that have been packed for years and forgot about because I have never had the space to put it. I'm not sure why but Joe brought it to my attention that every time we move I unpack just a little bit more than the last time. He is right. I have this thing about unpacking because I'm afraid I'm just going to have to repack it so why unpack it? We moved a lot when I was a kid and in the 15 years Joe and I have been together we have moved 6 times.

 

 

After the weekend's fail of meeting up with a birth parent, this is ringing so true right now. I think the kids are realizing who truly care and that are there for them.

It is really hard for Joe and I to put down our walls and allow the kids to have contact with birth family when not one of them have kept any promises that have been made (with the exception of Raven's birth dad and grandparents).

When promises are not being kept, it makes us think they are still not in a healthy place and that they still are not putting the kids feelings ahead of their own.

Joe and I would love nothing more than to have a healthy, open and honest relationship with our kids birth parents, but that can't happen if they can't prove to be in a healthy spot and put the kids feelings first.

Joe and I would do anything for our kids. They mean the world to us. We want them to be healthy, happy and successful in life. Our kids have come so far in their healing process that we are not about to jeopardize that. They have come from being behind in school to being right on target or even ahead in some areas. Quynsie was failing all of her classes when we got her and in the past year and a half, she has gone from straight "f" to being on the High Honor Roll and being a part of the Honor Society. Carson was so far behind, that we decided to homeschool him for preschool through an online program and it made the world of differences. He is way ahead in all subjects. Nadia was also behind and is a straight "A" student and we never have to meet with her teacher for anything unless we want to have an update. Raven, is still struggling academically, but she has had some pretty amazing teachers that have been very understanding of the situation and have been so good to work through things with us.

 

This blog is not to bash our kids birth parents, but I do blog about real life and one day, the kids are going to read it and they are going to see and realize who really to trust and believe. If our birth parents want them to trust them then they need to work towards that because if they keep digging themselves a hole, the kids will never want to seek them out later in their lives.