Wonderful Rewards

I am sure that all of you who read this know we do foster care. Mostly we take babies but a few times we have had older kids. Babies are much easier for us because Jud is does better with them. Plus I love taking care of the tiny ones. The last foster baby we had we got when she was 5 weeks old. We ended up having her for a year with only a 2 1/2 month break in which they were trying to reunify her with her mother. It was unsuccessful and we got her back. A few months later her aunt and uncle were finally able to get licensed so they could take her. They were very much hoping to be able to adopt her. This adorable little girl turned 3 this month and has been with the aunt and uncle the whole time. The birth mother lost her parental rights and appealed the decision. The ruling was upheld this summer. I knew approximately when the appeal was to happen but had not stayed in very good contact with the aunt & uncle and didn't want to bother the social worker too much.
Anyway-as I was getting ready to take Jud to school Thursday the phone rang. It was the aunt calling to tell me the adoption hearing was that morning in an hour and could I come? Of course!!! I would not miss that! What a beautiful healthy little girl she was! And so loved! It was the neatest experience, aside from our own adoption. My heart overflowed knowing what a wonderful chance this little girl has now with a family who adores her and takes such good care of her. To top off the morning, the aunt, before the hearing, told me they were changing her name, to Katherine Linette. They wanted to give her my name to honor the first year of her life that she was in my care and to let me know how grateful they were for what I did. That touched me like I can not even describe.
So many times I have wondered what has happened to those 13 children I have cared for, some for only 24 hours, some for only 3-4 days, some for much longer. I have seen a couple of them around and have quietly been able to watch a bit of their progress but most of them I have no idea what their little lives are like now. This experience was a reaffirmation to me that what I do does make a difference somewhere, somehow. This has made it all worthwhile for me. I cannot wait until the temple sealing when I will be able to witness the joy this family will receive to have their whole family together in the temple. Wow! What a blessing it is to have the gospel in our lives and to have the knowlege we have of a loving God who wants only what is best for us!

Judson's "Bambi Bike"

This summer I had KC and Mataya clean out the shed. In the process they put the elk horns out on the lawn. Of course Jud found them and had to play with them. He would hold them up to his head and pretend he was Bambi. Next thing we knew, one night while John and I were on a date, KC calls and says Jud wants to tape the horns to his bike. KC did, according to instructions and this was the result. As you can see he got quite creative with his balls and 'sticks'. He has received quite a few comments on it.

Jud's First Day of School

Monday, August 24th was Judson's first day of 1st grade. He had been counting down 'how many sleeps it was' for the past 11 days! He was so excited that morning. Mom is excited too! I like having quiet days do regroup and get things done. Let's just hope and pray it is a good year for him.

Monday I took Kimberlee back to Provo to get her moved out of one apartment and into another. We are getting pretty good at this moving thing. One problem I did notice though, was each move seems to be bigger and bigger. I told her to quit aquiring stuff.
Actually Monday we only made it as far as Brittany and Scott's in West Jordan. It was Brittany's 21st birthday so we spent the night with them and went out to dinner with the Sawatzki's. They are such a fun family. Brittany sure got lucky to get such great in-laws.
Tuesday morning we kinda dawdled a little so we could go show Kim Gardener Village before we headed down to Provo. Brittany took me there last fall and I have wanted to go again ever since. It is the cutest little village of shops. So much fun to go look around in. Anyway, as we started down the street we heard a very out-of-the-ordinary sound the car was making. Sure enough--flat tire! Thanks to some very wonderful neighbors of Britt's we got it changed and got it over to the tire store to get fixed. In the meantime, while the car was at Les Schwab, we crossed the street to browse around the Quilted Bear. Another FUN store! Needless to say, we were a little late getting on our way to Provo.
We did manage to get Kim all moved over to her FLSR (Foreign Language Student something-or-other). We pretty much dumped everything in her apartment, gave her hugs & kisses and left. I was going to be late getting home as it was and I hate driving after dark.
I dropped Brittany off at her house and headed on home. I passed Malad and was almost to the next little exit when a ding sounded and a light came on the dash. I had totally forgotten about GAS!!! I was so grateful I was able to get off at that exit and slip back into Malad and fill up. I put a little over 18 1/2 gallons into a 20 gallon tank. Talk about being watched over! The rest of my trip was uneventful and I made it home safe and sound to find the house and contents all in one piece. Thank goodness for great kids!

Warm River Fun!

Saturday, the 22nd, we made our annual excursion to Warm River. We took Brent and Zana Bitton, Tayler and Dakota (we missed you Dallas) and also Kim's friend, Jonathon. We had tons of fun. It was a perfect day to picnic and float the river. The river is perfect. Not too deep and the float is only about a 1/2 mile. Someone stays at the campground and brings the pickup down to load us all in and take us back up. We all went down at least two or three times (some more than that). Jud loves it because we put his life jacket on him and he plops into the river and hangs onto the rope that goes around the boat and just floats all the way down. At first the river is a bit cold but by the end of the float you are use to it (or your just too numb to notice). This is an outing the kids look forward to every year. We missed having Brittany and Scott with us this year so hopefully next year! I think we are going to have to invest in more tubes or boats though! And maybe even make it an overnight trip. The campground there is really great!

Funniest Story Ever!

So tonight, at aproximately 10:45 pm, Kimberlee decides to finally go down to her room to pick up her clothes she has scattered throughout the room. After a moment, we hear a bloodcurdling scream (I thought it was on t.v.) and she comes bombing upstairs. She swears there is something down in her clothes like a snake or something. Whatever it was it rattled! and moved! Of course I, being the mother, had to come to the rescue to start the process of sifting through each article of clothing from the door to the wall. After everything was picked up and shook out and I moved the suitcase, her face turned red as she bent down and spun the wheel on her suitcase. That was the ratlling sound she heard. Some snake or rodent! I'm afraid this is one we won't let you forget for a while Kim! (by the way-she DID wake up Jud so I made her put him back to sleep) .

Hello all!

Greetings fellow friends and family! This is Kimberlee, daughter #2. My mother (Linette) has been asking me for quite some time to help her set up a blog. I thought that today, while I am visiting home, would be an excellent time to do so. However, just as I start asking, "What do you want to call your blog? What kind of background do you want? What do you want to say in the 'About Me' column?" I received the same answer: I dunno, you pick something. And then she goes off and works and I don't know where she is. I thought it rather silly to create a blog and have no posts, so at least here is one to help get started until you can hear from her yourself. Hopefully in enough time she can figure out how to use this as well as facebook, which was also created by her fabulous first daughter. Maybe I should leave some step by step instructions posted on the wall next to the computer... Just kidding Mom! Love you lots! And from all the crazy Blackfoot Fransons, we're glad to be on board and we love to hear from you all as well on your blogs. Ciao!