God's Children

It was inevitable.  It really was.  For years Peter and I had been talking about becoming Foster Parents.  It was weird how it was almost not even a decision from the beginning, it was just something we knew we were going to do.  We never wondered 'if' we were going to do it, but 'when'.  I felt like we needed to do it a few times in our marriage.  So I'd start looking into it and then we would move, or get pregnant.  And in the back of my mind I would think 'ok, so I was able to put if off...'  Because lets be honest, it a scary step to take.  But a step I would soon need to take. So here we are...Foster Parents.  Watch this short clip then I will tell you our story.

We are all God's children.  Our goal is to return to our Father in Heaven.  We are here to help each other along that journey.  We feel we have been blessed with many things.  A loving family, both immediate and extended, good kids, a nice home, a job, the gospel in our lives.  We felt like we need to help others, and that becoming Foster Parents was what we were supposed to do.

One Sunday in August I was doing my hair for church, listening to church music.  I swear every single song was telling me, "do foster care, do foster care, do foster care."  More like the Holy Ghost was SHOUTING it at me. I started to cry and walked into the family room where Peter was.  (One of the songs was Prayer of the children   http://kurtbestor.com/index.php?page=songs&category=Innovators&display=354  That has since become our theme song for Foster care)  The first thing I said was "we need a bigger car."  He was so confused.   Here I am crying over wanting a bigger car?  So I said, "we need a bigger car because we need to do foster care."  He said, "oh, did you just see that commercial on tv?" No...I said.  He said, "well, I was just thinking that same thing."  It was like a ton of bricks hit at once.  We couldn't deny how strong we felt to do it, Im thinking the Holy Ghost was tired of telling us nicely for so many years.

So we started the process.  We handed in lots and lots of paperwork.  Took 30 hours of coursework in October.  And just recently had our home study.  We are officially Foster Parents.  My kids are excited, we have tried our best to explain this to them.  We are excited/nervous.  I'm more anxious and nervous than anything.  We have done a lot to prepare for this and ready or not, we are starting this next chapter in our lives.  We are Foster Only parents, not Foster to Adopt.  Our intention is to Foster, not to adopt.  However if adopting presented itself, and everything felt right, then that is something we would consider.  I love my kids dearly and don't want to DO foster care to them, but rather have them do foster care WITH us.  I want this to be a good learning experience for them and us.  They are my primary concern in life, and that will not change.  However there are so many other kids who need a stable environment and whom we could influence in the meantime.

So if we have any extra kids in tow....well just know that for the time being they are part of the family.  We hope that they will feel loved and welcomed and enjoy their time spent.

Easter

Well it was Spring Break and the week before Easter.  I was trying to do fun stuff with the kids around here.Since Peter doesn't have a Spring Break from work we still have to carry on life as normal, just with no school.  So we went to Hobby Lobby and got some fun projects.  Casey got an airplane to put together and Brooke got a craft that you melt in the oven and then it is like a window hanger.  Then as a family we got a rocket to put together.  There was quite a bit of work to those rockets...now we know!  More to come on the rocket later.  So I thought it would also be fun to plan an Easter activity with the neighbor friends.  So we went to a walkway with a river and lots of sticks. We had a picnic and then made boats out of newspaper, just like President Monson mentioned in conference.  We floated them down the river.  It was lots of fun.  Some of them made it pretty far, others not so much.  Then each kid got a sack and went about collecting twigs to make a bird nest.  Here they are gathering.  I tried to get a picture of Casey but he was off with the bigger kids away from the adults.

After gathering the twings we went to work squashing our bags and gluing twigs on to make a nest.  I hid Easter eggs that they then went and found to put in their nest, and then they got a cute little peep to put in.  It was so much fun to get outdoors and be around good company!

Then that Saturday the firestation put on an Easter egg hunt.  Peter was in charge of our station...and here I am asking him a question for our neighbor, hence all the awesome faces.  It was fun for the kids to go wild and hear the firetruck blow it's horn.

That Sunday we dyed Easter eggs.  Notice Brooke likes to be a goof in a lot of her pictures!  Later we had my family over for dinner.  It was an enjoyable Easter weekend to remember about the resurrection of our Savior.  I love this time of year.  It seams so appropriate that everything is blooming and becoming green.  The Savior has risen.  I'm mad at myself that I didn't get a picture of my kids in their Easter best....but I guess that is what happens when you have 9:00 church.

Grandma Call spoiled all the grandkids with new campchairs.  Something that they all love and was very needed!  We also had an Easter egg hunt that afternoon and the annual Easter FHE about the Savior the next day.

Spring is in the air!

Well I LOVE LOVE LOVE the warm weather we have started having!  To start off my brother and his friends put together a band to compete against the schools.  They are called Empty Set.  They had been together for two weeks and placed at the school level to go to region.  Then they placed at the region level and went onto State.  Then they placed at State.  They did really well and it was so fun to go listen to them.  They seriously were fun to listen too! (Justin is on the left)

Corey's first ice cream cone ever. He loved it!  It's a good thing we were outside and he could make all the mess he wanted!

And with spring comes a short hair cut!  Here is the before picture.  And ya, don't mind the kitchen!  It's part of having kids right?!

We also took a weekend off and headed down to City Creek with Stacy and Jeremy.  It was awesome the work that is done there and the amazing stores there!  My sister and I were on a hunt at Nordstroms to see what the most expensives shoes we could buy there were...I think we found some that were $1200.  But for some reason I didn't buy them...

A play place at City Creek.  Check out that cute bum!

The kids loved playing in the fountains.  It was a gorgeous day and lots of fun to get out of the valley and play!

A new do I tried on Brooke's hair...it's finally getting long again after I chopped it last summer!

My best friend from my wee years (Hillary) came and visited me from California.  It was fun to get to see her.  This is her little girl Addy.

Corey saw us take a picture and he stepped in to get his taken.  So cute!

Family Update

A lot has been happening around the Nielson household lately. Our first big news is that we finally got a bigger vehicle that can comfortably fit our family. We went big and got a Chevy Suburban. We are excited to finally have room to buckle up without squishing fingers inbetween carseats and booster seats, and be able to carpool other kids! We picked it up on our way down to Utah County last week to spend time with the Nielson clan for General Conference. What an amazing conference that was to listen to!

Then this past week Peter got a phone call offering him a job as an EMT for Cache County Ambulance. He still hasn't stopped smiling. It will be a lot to fit into his busy schedule. However it is only part time and he gets to somewhat pick his shifts. So he now will be juggling working nights at BATC 3 times a week, the occasional CPR class, Accurate Homes (which is picking up), and Cache County Ambulance. It is a huge stepping stone and it feels like we are crossing a bridge. Our goal is that he can be an EMT full time and do Accurate Homes part time. Right now the roles are reversed, but that is okay. He hopes to find a full time job this year as an EMT. Last year at this time he was volunteering for BATC and the construction business was non-existent. So we are happy that both have turned around this year. However that means that I don't see my husband very much, but I try not to complain, because it is for a good reason.

Also this is the first time that we have hit a two year mark in a home. It feels good to feel settled, even if for a little bit. Casey is still in speech, but will hopefully be done with that this year. He starts soccer this week and is so excited for his first game. He is a huge helper for me: he gets Corey's shoes on, can buckle him up in the car, 'babysits' for me while I go VT next door, sometimes gets Corey out of bed in the morning and feeds him cereal so I can sleep a little longer.

Brooke is doing well in speech and it is fun to hear the progress. She loves going to dance and playing with her best friends. She is really growing up and asking a lot more questions and making good observations. She loves to make Corey happy and help me pull weeds. She probably has cereal for 360 out of the 365 days of the year for breakfast.

Corey loves to go outside and brings me his shoes often. He is pointing a lot and can say mom and dad, ready set go (in a grunting way that we understand), and lately we think he is trying to say thank you. He is still shy if you give him too much attention, but he is super friendly to other kids and will engage in peek a boo whenever possible with strangers. He has gone to nursery twice so far, and done really good. He hardly cries. However both weeks I have found him sound asleep on someone's shoulder before church is over. He is our cuddler and knows when he is tired he just lays his head down and zonks.

Life is good, just a little crazy at times. We are all excited for summer to come and hope we have some willing people to go camping with us. My kids ask us daily if we can go camping. I have to say I'm looking forward to it as much as they are. It's like taking a break from life every weekend.

28 years

All I have to say is I can't believe I'm 28. It was a fun birthday spent with friends and family. And that is all that matters!

(ps. My brother took some of these with his camera, and the time stamp is wrong, by birthday was on the 19th, not 18th!)

Corey loved dessert and loved making a mess!

My kids were eager to help and see what I got...
Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and coming to say hi on my birthday! I love you all and am thankful everyday for the wonderful people I am surrounded by.