Brighton's first school photo. His smile reminds me SO much like Justin in this picture, but the weird thing is Brighton NEVER smiles like this! This isn't a normal face for him at all.
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Get a firsthand, brutally honest view of what it's like to be a hero HERE She is an amazing woman, just like the countless others out there who for the longest time were shamed into not telling their story or being proud of their sacrifice. I'm glad we are coming into a time where birthmothers can finally share their amazing stories.
Sad goodbye to Daddy... Justin left for Georgia yesterday afternoon. Right now he is somewhere in the middle of Texas. His good friend, David VanAllen, took time off work to be his driving buddy. Thanks David and thank you Jenny for letting him go! I thought I would be more emotional considering the seemingly impossible task of holding down the fort at home for 3.5 weeks with an impossible newborn and two other kids that love to challenge my authority on a constant basis, but I was doing pretty well. Doing well until Brighton started crying, that is. I expected Adaira (a TOTAL Daddy's girl) to breakdown but she was fine. Poor Brighton lost it and just wouldn't let Justin go. He hugged and hugged him crying and after we went outside he was crying and hugging him again. When Justin started pulling away Brighton started to freak out like he was going to chase down the truck, but luckily my Dad quickly distracted him by asking him to help him with something. Later on that day Brigh...
I hope I get to work with Birthmoms again. Being an adoption caseworker is hardly a job a person should get paid to do because it is awesome! I hope to be able to get involved again when Dale is a little older, but just in case, I had to give a shout out to my birthmoms and tell them how much I loved working with them. This last week I drove North on Gilbert road a few times. I passed Joe’s BBQ and remembered my first Face to Face with one of my birthmoms (you know who you are) and her couple. I couldn’t help but remember the excitement and nervousness of that day and how cool I thought it all was afterward when everyone clicked so well. I passed Oreganos where we had our first birthmother celebratory dinner. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go to Olive Garden again without thinking about two of my birthmoms. I can’t believe how much I have learned and changed in the past year and a half as I’ve been blessed to work with such remarkable women and watch them complete the impossible ta...
Check out the hair on this kid! Brighton & Adaira had little more than blond peach fuzz until they were about 18 months old. Cute little monkey... Hey looks sweet here....just remember he is sleeping...during the middle of the day, NOT at night like I wish he would! Proud daddy, I'm pretty sure we cut his hair after taking this picture :)
And Georgia it is! About 10 months ago Justin applied for a federal agent position with the U.S. treasury. My brother Don is an agent and seems to like his job pretty well, plus time off, benefits, pension, government job security, car, firearm, etc., all are pretty appealing to a guy looking for some excitement in his career. Over the past several months Justin has been in the running for the job as the government conducted background checks, physicals, audits, interviews and all other sorts of checks on Justin. Apparently he passed because last Monday they called him and asked him to report to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick, Georgia, on September 23rd, giving us about 4 weeks to prepare from the time we were notified. Justin is going to drive out there with his truck towing my car, and the kids and I will fly out mid-October. Brunswick isn't a very safe place to live (It is where 8 people were recently murdered in a mobile home), so we will live ...
