A Sad Good-bye

When I was younger I wasn't necessarily close to any of my siblings and then I met my husband. He has so much in common with my brothers and my dad that (at least to me) he fits right in. This is especially true with my brother Bryan. The two of them can spend hours talking about the military, guns, computers, games, etc. You name it and they can spend hours talking about or even doing it. As a result I have a closer relationship with Bryan.



On Saturday March 20th we said goodbye to Bryan. He is headed for Afganistan. We will miss him very much.
Here is a home video where we sing the song, "In the Hollow of Thy Hands" to Bryan. The song is suitable for missionary farewells. Mom changed a few words to fit the situation. As you will see we were all touched by the words of the song.

Sorry I am having difficulties with this video. I'll get it on as soon as possible.

These pictures where taken just over a month before he left.

This is a pic of Bryan with our family one week before he left. It was taken at our last family gathering before Bryan left.

These are pictures taken the day Bryan left.

Stress and Frustration

I'm not sure how to do this post. The cause of the stress and frustration is something that I'm not allowed to talk too much about. In a nutshell, our niece Khole (pronouned Chloe) was taken into state custody last July. We found out about it in August. Since then we have been fighting to have her in our home rather than in foster care. Last week we had a permenancy hearing. Reunification services have been terminated but we still don't have Khole with us. The Judge wants professionals to evaluate her to find out if she has certain issues. If she has them bad enough she may stay right where she is. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. The foster mom has assured us they want to adopt her and would seal her to them in the Temple. If she can't be with us then at least she would be able to be a part of an eternal family.
That is only part of the stress and frustrations. In case we get to have her in our home we are trying to visit with her as much as possible. We have to do a transition where she spends more time with us and even start doing overnighters. We do this to get her used to us and the way we do things. We are trying to get as much of this transition stuff done now so that when we go to court and they say we can take her home we can actually take her home then. In other words we don't want this to the drag out any longer than nescessary. It will only hurt her, us, and the foster family.
So for the next month we will be on the move. I also have have a birthday to plan for two beautiful girls, a family gathering, another birthday to go to, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. I pray everything goes well.