4 years

We celebrated H's 4 year anniversary this weekend! Our sweet H has lived with us for 4 years now....wow! Why don't you just take a stroll down memory lane with me.

Four years ago we had M and another girl (not related to our girls) living in our home. M was just settling down some, but still took a lot of energy from us, and the other girl was in junior high, which creates drama and lots of adventures in our home. Since we originally said we would take one MAYBE two kids in our home at a time....no kids older than elementary and no kids not in school yet....we had our hands full with TWO kids, one in junior high.

It was a Friday in September....we had great plans of going to the homecoming football game that evening. M went with Autumn to work, a dhs worker came and picked her up and took her to a family visit. She was supposed to be brought back to Autumn's work in the early afternoon at the latest with plenty of time for Autumn and M to ride with the carpool Autumn always rode with. Great plan right? Well, we kept getting calls from dhs that there were some delays and problems and M would not be back in time to catch the carpool, so the worker would have to bring her all the way home. What was the delay you ask? Well, things happened and they needed a home for H and A, who were ages 2 and 4 at the time. After many phone calls, Autumn and I just decided that we would take the girls for the weekend and WEEKEND ONLY!!!! We were so overwhelmed just thinking that we would have 4 girls for a whole weekend! So we got the girls that evening, shoved some food down them and headed to the football game! Since they came only with the clothes they wore that day, our sweet friends, the Hydens and Vanzants gave us some clothes and such to get us through the weekend.

Both girls had sad eyes. We noticed that they were slow to trust most people, but they were immediately comfortable with us. They just fit with us. We had a great whirlwind of a weekend, going to the game, the corn maze, and shopping and church. What in the world were we thinking? We took the girls back to dhs on Monday morning. They were SO sad to leave....SOOOOO sad. No matter how many times we told them they would be ok, they were just so sad. When we told them they would be fine, they agreed with us, but their eyes told a different story.

So all of Monday and Monday night, Autumn and I talked with Bethany and my friend Angie who also did foster care. We called on Tuesday to find out where the girls were, and they were in a shelter. We couldn't stand it. So Angie made a deal with us, and we took H in our home and Angie took A. At that time we really couldn't have all 4 and this way the girls could see each other at daycare and church, and it was only going to be a couple of months because they were going home. When Autumn and drove to get H and A from the shelter, we met them in a parking lot....as we drove up, we saw them.....and then their whole demeanor changed. They recognized our vehicle and started jumping up and down (which was huge cause they didn't show emotion in public). That's when we just knew it was going to be okay.

Through these 4 years, the Lord has brought H so far and the way we can tell.....her eyes. H has the prettiest, sparkling eyes. The Lord has made her sad eyes sparkle. That is what is so great about our God....he can bring joy and life to the worst of situations. H has brought so much joy to our lives. She is so thoughtful. We often find sweet notes that H writes us and hides them around the house for us to find. She is the best with littler children....she is so patient with them and listens to them and they just love her. We laugh a lot because H and I often have very a very similar thought process....scary I know. She is creative and loves to express herself creatively. She also loves to take pictures and is very good at it. We love our special girl and thank God for the 4 years we have had with her!!!