November 2016

Last November was a big month for us!  After finally getting our foster care license in October, we had a couple close calls where we said we would take a child but then they never came.  Those nights were a rollercoaster of emotions.  At the end of the month was when it became real.  We got a call about a baby girl who needed a place but was currently in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  We were told that we would get more info the next day but it didn't come, then it was Thanksgiving, then the weekend, so we weren't sure what to think.  Then we got another call asking if we would be able to take a baby boy, and since our license was for up to two children and we hadn't heard back about the girl, we said yes.  A few hours later, D was in our arms, a super sweet three month old boy.  

What a change of life, but that was just the beginning - it was about to get crazy.  The next day, we got a call about R who was about ready to be discharged from the NICU.  They asked if we still wanted her, and we thought about it - we had already said we would - so we said yes.  We went and got her from the hospital and thus we were thrown right in to parenting!  That was the end of the month so stay tuned to hear what it was like in December.

We continued to have some beautiful weather in November.  We took a nice long walk at Riverside Park.

We had an early frost and we caught some of it on our still blooming mums.

We got to talk on the computer with Marius and Florin for a while, it is always good to catch up and it is a good reminder to continue praying for all of our kids in Romania.

I enjoyed a beautiful fall day by flying my kite with my friend Neil.  We went to the beach in Grand Haven, where it was really windy.  This kite would pull both of us down the beach, it was powerful!

Here is Neil flying the kite.  Toward the end I crashed and broke a small part on the kite - again.  This probably happens every other time I fly it, since it is very old.  Thankfully I found a generous kite shop that sent me some new parts!

We celebrated Thanksgiving not only with our family but with GoldRush - our middle school youth group.

We enjoyed a meal brought in by one of our church partners...

...then we talked about gratitude and how to be thankful in every situation.

I was able to make it to a couple of GVSU football games with my Dad and Brother, and one with my sister and brother-in-law.  We saw some great playoff games and it was a nice end to a very nice month.