Inca Dove

This is an Inca Dove that Dan photographed in the aviary at The Desert Museum.

For the Birds

The kids and I have been studying birds in science this year. Well, all flying creatures of the fifth day. (Exploring Creation With Zoology vol. 1). It's been really fun. When we first moved to Tucson the newspaper here ran an article on the most popular birds of the area. So we cut them all out and taped them to index cards. The kids had to learn all of the birds before we could go on our first field trip here, The Desert Museum. It was awesome to have my children identifying birds for everyone in the aviary. We have discovered that even if you don't really get into birds, once you start to learn more about them it becomes more exciting. We also have started putting bird seed out in our back yard. This has been the most fun! We've been able to watch and identify all the various birds that hang out in our yard now. We have a family of Rock Doves and several Mourning Doves. A couple of families of House Sparrows with babies, and two families of House Finch. We keep hoping that eventually we will attract some new and interesting birds. We are dying to see some warblers or cardinals. It's been a blast to learn with my kids.

Family

Bradley

Bethany

Miss Bailey

This is Miss Bailey Adams. We had a great time watching her while her parents were away.

Before We Left Alaska

This was taken on the highway on our way out of Alaska.

These were taken in Haines. The city where we boarded the ferry.

Phoenix Zoo

We stopped in Fresno to hang out with Dan's parents and my Dad. It was fun getting to see his new house and just spend time with everyone. Dan's sisters Julie and Charla came to Fresno to see us. We even did a little Christmas with them. Then we headed out and intended to see the Grand Canyon on our way to Tucson. But as is the truest irony for an Alaskan family, it was snowing the day we were supposed to go. So, we decided to stop in Phoenix for a couple of days instead and check out the Phoenix Zoo.
The beginning. This was a really awesome zoo. We had tons of fun!
It was raining off and on. We had just visited the petting zoo but some of the animals were inside where it was dry.

My gator wrangling children. They are so brave.

More Phoenix Zoo Pics

Yay! I can't believe they got me Kettle Corn!

This is the Bradley that I know and love!

Santa Rosa

Our first stop in the states was in Oregon to visit with Dan's Uncle Ken and Aunt Cheryl. It was really super to see them and get a chance to visit their camp. Then we headed down to Santa Rosa. Most of Dan's family lives there. I love spending time with all of them. They are so neat!
Dan's Aunt Rozanne was moving to D.C. to take a new position with the FBI and his cousin Jolene was home from China. So we were coming through at just the right time. It was a great excuse for a big Kinser party. It was so great to see Jolene. What a sweet person she is. It was a lot of fun catching up with her. I'm really glad that we got a chance to see Rozanne as well. It was a fun time.
What a blast it was to see everyone!

Ferry

We made it out of Alaska. The roads were quite iffy the week leading up to our departure. So, we decided to drive all the way to Haines in one day. This proved to be very smart on our part since they ended up closing the roads. It was a trip to drive down streets that had snow walls that were taller than me. The ferry ride was great. No one threw up this time. It was nice to get a chance to read and hang out. I was able to do school with the kids which was great.

The ferry boat we had this time around was much nicer than the one we had on our last trip.

We got to get off the boat and walk Hannah whenever we were in port. This is a pic of Hannah and me in Sitka.

Poor Hannah had to spend the entire trip locked away in the car. She handled it like a pro. What a great and wonderful puppy she is. This is a pic of me and the kids feeding her.

Update May 07

It's been three months now. I haven't posted anything--not a single story or update, not a picture. I'm sure that I've lost even those who were hanging in just to make sure my blog was dead. A lot has happened in three months. We lost our foster son on Dec. 12, had Christmas on Dec. 25 (duh), had movers come out to pack us up on Dec. 27, left Alaska on Jan. 6. For those who have never moved or done Christmas with two kids or lived in Alaska or lost a son, each of these things is very difficult (OK Christmas isn't very difficult but it is stressful when it happens in the midst of a tornado). Doing all of them together would have killed me if I didn't have Christ to carry me through it. It wasn't over, yet. We still had to travel from Alaska to Arizona with two kids, luggage and our floppy eared dog. We didn't get to Tucson until Jan. 31. Then we had to find a place to live--and move our stuff in. So, we are really just starting to feel settled in an unsettled way. Because there wasn't any time--not even a breath--between losing our baby and leaving Alaska I didn't really have time to process it or deal with it or really to grieve in any way. It's sort of a stunted way to have to deal with something. The despair could have killed me, if it weren't for Christ. If I didn't KNOW that God would look after him for me. If I didn't KNOW that God loves him more than me. If I couldn't pray for him constantly. If I couldn't give God my wound and have him clean it, it would have become infected.
Now I am just in mourning. Mourning the loss of his smiling face and the way he would dance to music in the car. I'm begging God to help me to remember it all.
We have added to our family since arriving here. Bethany has gotten a gerbil named Aja (Asia). She is cute and fluffy with a pink nose. Bethany is over the top excited about it! I'm getting bored of typing now, so I'm just going to post this. Hopefully I will be able to blog more in the next months.

Life In Alaska

Many months ago I stumbled upon an entertaining little blog called Life In Alaska. I have enjoyed checking in on the site and chuckling at the observations of life here. There are so many experiences that come with living in this big, open, freezing cold state that just can't really be appreciated without the actual experience. As I am getting ready to move soon I was looking forward to checking in on the site every so often to reminisce. I am quite saddened to have learned that the Wilder's have moved to Texas. Perhaps this will be a fitting change as I am moving to Tucson. Maybe I will find new ways to relate and connect with all of his new adventures. But I will certainly miss the unique and distinctive stories of the Alaska wilderness.

Just An Update

Moving time is quickly approaching. And likewise, so is Christmas. Again I find myself in a situation where too many things are happening at once. We recently had to let our foster son go. It was very difficult and continues to be difficult. But we are at peace with what happened. It was right. I am so thankful for God in times like these. He is the ultimate provider of peace. We are now focusing on a Christmas that comes only two days before the movers pack up our stuff. It is quite challenging to find time to step back and immerse yourself in the meaning of Christmas--or Christmas at all--when there are a thousand things to accomplish for moving. I am usually a planner. The more planned out I have things the more peaceful I feel, especially when moving. This year, however, my brain is leaking. I've tried cramming too many things into it and now it is leaking. I am feeling the pressure and anxiety of having no lists, no plans, and an inability to focus on such things for too long. I just keep telling myself that we will get to Tucson one way or another--probably with a few bumps along the way.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween

Blogs, Babies, Books and Moving

Time has become quite the enemy lately. It seems I never have enough of it. I always have just one more thing to do. We haven't heard yet about our foster son's grandmother's homestudy. It's awful but we're hoping she doesn't pass. If she passes we have a very low shot of getting him. In fact I'd say we only have a God shot of getting him. It's a good thing I have a big God. Of course I don't always know the mind of God. I'm just praying that he wants me to keep my foster son as well...or at least that he will take pity on me and let me keep him. I don't know what I'll do if I lose him now. So, I'm waiting.
We're also getting ready for a big--and much anticipated--move! I can't wait to get on the road. There are too many days left to fill before the move day. I'd leave tomorrow if I could. It has been a long and difficult three years here. I love road trips and I really enjoyed driving up here. So, I imagine that our trip back down will be wonderful...especially since we are leaving Alaska this time. We plan to take the Ferry again. It was really neat coming up. We got to see dolphins and jellyfish. We're going to try to continue doing school in the car on the way and hopefully not miss too many days. We started a little early here so that we would have some time to spare. We've used a lot of the extra time up hanging out with Dan. It's been so awesome to have Dan home again! I hate it when he's gone. I lose a husband and a best friend all in one.
I don't seem to have much time for blogging lately. We took some really great pics of the kids last night for Halloween. As soon as we get them loaded to the computer I'll post them here. Bradley was Batman. Bethany was a vampire. Our foster son was a scarecrow. They are all too cute. And Bethany has grown so tall and grown up so much it's freaking me out!

He's Back

Our foster son has come back to us! He'll probably only be here for about a month. Dan is not home yet and may not make it home in time to see him before he has to leave. This is definitely a bittersweet situation. I'm glad that I get to see him again. I'm glad that when he needed me I was here. But it is going to be doubly painful to let him go again.

Camp

My daughter Bethany just went off to camp for a week. It is called Operation Purple and is for children whose parents are deployed. It is supposed to be a special week for these special kids. When I dropped her off for the week the counselors made a big deal about how much they appreciate the sacrifice that our children make for our country by giving up their parents to serve. I thought that was very affirming for the kids to be honored for their sacrifice in all of this. It is wonderful that they have this camp. Bethany was really looking forward to going and had already made a friend before the bus left. So far I haven't heard from her so she must be having a wonderful time. Saturday I go and pick her up from camp. She is supposed to get to show me around and introduce me to her new friends. I can't wait to see her again. It's amazing how much of a mom I am. I really had to try not to cry when I dropped her off. My baby girl is ten. Ten. The time goes by so fast. I am so lucky. Both of my kids are unbelievable.

Bases

The list of available bases has just been released. We are PCSing (moving) in January. Alaska is considered an overseas assignment in the military. So, we are supposed to have some preference in our next assignment. The available locations are Beale AFB in California, Davis-Monthan AFB in Tuscon, Arizona, Cannon AFB in New Mexico, and Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. We are hoping to get Beale or D-M. Beale's main attraction is that it is located in California. I'm from Cali and I love Cali. The more places that I live the more I love the state I came from. If only it wasn't one of the most expensive states to live in! Beale is a smallish base but it does have an Olive Garden and a Target nearby. Two places I miss a lot. I can't wait to live near a mall again. D-M is probably a nicer base and Tucson is probably a bigger city. Both of these things would be a breath of fresh air after Eielson. Plus Arizona isn't too far away from family. It has been really tough being a deployed spouse while stationed up here in the middle of nowhere. It has been challenging to find things to do. The nearest city to visit is 7-8 hours away. So, there are no day trips. Also, Alaska is very much a tourist state--especially in the summer. Which unfortunately means that the $60 motel room in the winter becomes a $150 motel room in the summer. Most of the activities here are quite expensive as well. I am looking forward to our move and hoping that God chooses to bless me abundantly in my next base. This assignment has been quite difficult. In almost every aspect I have been tried. God has really used the last couple of years to push me and grow me. I have been sifted like wheat. I am ready for some rest. I haven't seen my husband since March. Early March. I believe he left here on the 4th. He was gone quite a lot before that as well. One of the deployed spouses here informed me that the guys were only home 24 days this year. I have only seen my husband for 24 days since Jan. 1. There is no way to describe how it feels--the struggles, the challenges, the exhaustion, the aching, the stress. Every day gets longer and harder. I am desperately ready to see him again.

What I'm Listening To

This is Train's new album and it's a good one. I've really enjoyed it.

What I'm Listening To

I'm totally diggin this band. I know that their first single (Over My Head) is getting overplayed but I'm still enjoying the album. There are too many songs that I love to list here.

Moose!

Today as we were driving on base we passed these Moose twins. As big as they are, they are still quite small...for a moose. They are so amazing!

What I'm Listening To

This is the best Jars of Clay CD EVER. It's also one of my all time favorite CDs.

What I'm Listening To

This soundtrack is just beautiful.

What I'm Reading

This is an amazing book. It has been wonderful to read through some of these prayers before bed at night. I am also doing the Breaking Free Bible Study with some friends. I really appreciate and enjoy Beth's gift of teaching God's Word. I've felt as though Beth has discipled me from afar. I hear the Holy Spirit speaking right to me when Beth opens her mouth to teach.

Updates N Stuff

Bradley had a birthday party with his friends--or friend as it turned out this year. He got to pick out his own cake. That is an ice-cream cake from Fred Meyer (very good). It is chocolate cake with chocolate ice-cream and chocolate frosting. I'm still amazed that we all survived. Death by chocolate is a pretty good way to go. Bradley will be 8 this month. Time flies with children. Bethany is 10. Double digits already. She's also tall. They just keep growing whether you feed them or not. Dan is still off saving lives, rendering safe bombs. We all miss him terribly. Being a happily married single parent is pretty tough, both physically and mentally. It's not always easy being mom and dad. Usually there is a point in the day when I can take my full time parent cap off and rejuvenate. This is usually within an hour of Dan coming home from work. He's been gone all day and enjoys being with the kids. I don't have to monitor all behaviors. I don't have to think up appropriate consequences. I don't have to answer any questions about water, or dinner, or why... There is no more break. Somehow I have to manage to get through the whole day as mom--homeschooling and all. Then I have to be prepared to be mom and dad in the evening. The only way to do this successfully, I've found, is to rely heavily on God. And I still mess it up. And, of course, I don't make as good a dad as Dan. He is just specially made to fill that role and he does it excellently. I find that I am more exhausted with him gone. Too many roles to fill. Too many chores to do. (Well I personally think there are always too many chores to do.) We can't wait to see him again.

Still Snowing...

Spring?

Just another snowy April day. This snowy day, happening in April, brings our winter month count this year to eight. Eight months of winter. I'm beginning to wonder if our winter will ever end.

Ice Championships

John Leguizamo attended the opening of the ice park here in Alaska. It is a pretty major event when anyone of consequence comes to Fairbanks, Alaska. But even more so when they come in the middle of our harsh winter conditions. Ice sculptors from around the world converge here every year for the championships. In addition to the beautiful art they also build an ice park for the kids. You have never seen so many beautifully sculpted ice slides. The kids have to wear snow pants or bring cardboard boxes in order to enjoy these. This year the theme of the ice park was Ice Age 2. So, in accordance with this John Leguizamo arrived to promote his new film in which he is the voice of Sid the Sloth. It was great fun to see him arrive via dog sled and "cut" the ice ribbon with a blow torch. Definitely an event to remember.

Update, Finally

Look, it's been forever since I updated this site. I feel as though I should type something...anything. We have lost our foster son. He has gone back to his mom. I have lost my baby. My husband has been deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom. So, I have been quite busy adjusting, running, denying, grieving, surviving, adapting... God has been good to me. He always is. Daily He walks me through--carrying me at times, I'm sure. It is an odd sort of feeling when you are surrounded by both trials and blessings. So painful on one side, yet so wonderful on the other.

-40 Degrees and Ice Fog

For three days it has been -40 degrees with ice fog. What is ice fog? Well it is very similar to regular fog. Only imagine that the fog freezes in the air. You can see all the ice particles sparkling and reflecting in your headlights. We still don't have much light. Sunrise 9:45 a.m., sunset 4:19 p.m. This is the time of year when the temperatures and the darkness really start to drive you mad. The first 3 months of winter are survivable. It's expected...winter--3 months. Come January your body and your mind are screaming for warmth and light. Here in Alaska you usually only get one or the other during the winter. If it is clear and sunny, it is freezing (and to clarify freezing--for those of you in California--freezing is colder than -20 degrees, not 30 or 40 degrees above zero). We long for the days when it is warm enough to snow. If only it could be 5 or 10 degrees above zero. When the temperatures start rising again (30 to 40 degrees)--somewhere around March--you will see Alaskans begin to celebrate the warmth. We stop wearing jackets and start wearing t-shirts.
But January and February are tough months. People still function. We still go out to the store, fill our cars with gas, etc... But we do it quickly and begrudgingly and only because we have to.
When it is -40 it hurts to breath. You can't touch metal doorknobs (or really anything metal) without burning your hand. Weird lights in your car come on for no reason--Airbag, Check Engine. People leave their cars running while they rent movies or do their grocery shopping. If you can't leave the car running you need to plug it in. (The heater in my car never quite makes the car warm and can't keep the windows from icing up.) The tires on a car left outside will freeze. Whatever part of the tire that is pushed flat from sitting on the ground will stay flat. You'll drive around bouncing on squared off tires until they thaw. And really cool...you can take a pan of hot or boiling water outside, throw it up in the air and it will freeze before it hits the ground.

Bethany's New Hat

Dan is off on one of his many adventures. Bethany got a new hat. This was the best way to share it with him. I mean other than emailing it which would have worked just as well. But then you my devoted audience would not have gotten to share in this beautiful moment.

Family Updates

As Christmas is approaching and the madness will be increasing this seemed the best time to give an update on our family. Dan is currently in Hawaii. Those of us left behind are more jealous of the fact that he is somewhere warm and sunny than that it is Hawaii. Well, it could be a tie. You'd be amazed how crazy we all get about sunlight up here in the winter.
Hopefully Dan will have the week after Christmas (mostly) off. He will probably have briefings (the military word for meetings) on his deployment that week. This deployment is coming too quickly. (And lasting too long.)
Our foster son is still with us. He is now completely ours in our hearts. The doctors think he might be having seizures, so he is going to get some tests done. The birth mom is letting me make the appointments. They are starting to transition him home now. He is having home visits once a week with his mom in Fairbanks. Christmas eve he is going to have his first overnight visit. This is one of the hardest things ever! We know that he won't get the care that he needs once he goes home. The mother only needs to be adequate to get him back. This means that she will have to take him to his Occupational and Physical Therapy appointments but it doesn't mean she has to work with him at home.
What a roller coaster ride this has been. I am still working to trust God in this, by faith and not by sight. I cannot even come close to expressing what this experience has been like for us or how much of myself I have poured into this.
Our bio kids are doing great! I am loving homeschooling. I wish I had a few more hours in the day and an extra heaping of energy, so I could keep adding more and more things to do with them. It has been so much fun exploring all of these subjects with my kids. They (my kids) are so amazing and fun. We read Romeo and Juliet out of a book called Tales From Shakespeare, then we rented the movies. It was such a kick to see my 7 and 9 year old not only watch the movie but follow it and enjoy it. It is so exciting to see them learning and growing.

Wherever I Go

Okay, it's been almost a month since I last updated this blog. I'm sure that most of my (two) faithful readers have given up on me. But life has been pretty full for me lately. It's difficult as a stay at home mom to find any time for myself and usually when I get the time my brain is pretty fried. I'm usually only able to sit on the couch and drool. I'm not able in those moments to opine on the world around me or come up with anything of remote interest. "But none of your previous blogs were of interest," you say. True. I'm sure this won't be either. I was just talking with a friend the other day about my blog title...Wherever you go. It is amazing that even when God sends you to Alaska, you take yourself with you. You'd think your junk would be held at the border of Canada. Or that it would at least get frozen solid--something you could stick in the freezer and look at every once in awhile. But it really seems that instead of freeing you of your junk, Alaska has a way of bringing it all out. It is a very isolating place. When it is -25 outside you don't...well you try not to do anything really. It is currently getting dark here. Very dark. The sun rises at 10:45 a.m. and sets at 2:42 p.m. That gives us four hours of sunlight a day--when the sun comes out. Dark, cold, lonely days sitting inside your house to avoid freezing to death give you a lot of time to think. What kind of person am I? How is God ever going to be able to use me? Am I lovable? Why am I so irritating? Why am I so insecure?
I would love to be free of it all. I would like the struggle of life to end. It would be wonderful if God could just say "Hey, you need to stop being angry." And voila! You're perfect. Until then I trust that God knows better than me. And maybe someday it won't be such a disappointment to take myself, wherever I go...

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful that my foster son is still with us. I am thankful that Dan is here and our family is going to be together tomorrow. I am thankful for my healthy, smart, beautiful kids. I am thankful for my puppy dog. I am thankful for a God who loves me. He is always giving me the strength I need to get through each day.

link pic 2

link pic

Whatever

Well it appears the image for my link has gone caput. Tonight Dan and I are heading out to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This movie is based on my favorite book so far. Not so much because it is an important book filled with symbolism, depth or clues (Chamber of Secrets, Azkaban, and HBP are more suited to that) but because this book is the most fun. It is non stop action from page one. It is also the turning point in the battle between good and evil. I can't wait to see it.

New Link

I am so excited to have added a new link to my "links" section. It is a link to the Ambleside curriculum that I am loving for homeschooling my kids. It has been such a rewarding and challenging curriculum. Hope you enjoy checking it out.

Foster Info

We didn't get the transportation for two visits for our foster son. However, the new worker did get rid of Wednesday visits. They are making Monday's visits longer by an hour but I'm hoping that will be manageable. I'm really hoping and praying that one less visit will be enough relief. I really wanted to get it down to one trip into town. So, I am praying that what God has provided will be enough. I don't want to be flying at exhaustion a hundred miles an hour every week. Also, I really want to be able to focus more on homeschooling with my kids.
We were given some more info on our foster son and the circumstances that brought him into care. The new social worker has been really great. In addition we now have an idea of how long he will be with us. Halloween--Yes. Thanksgiving--Yes. Christmas--Highly Probable.
On the difficult news front we just learned that Dan will be deploying earlier than we thought and for a longer time--Eight Months!
Unfortunately this means that I will probably be on my own when it comes time to re-unify our foster son with his mother. This will be challenging.
Interesting to note: In my study with Beth Moore I just watched one of her videos that spoke to me on this very thing. She was talking about submitting to God's will both before and after. She used Jesus and Job as examples. Job submitted to God's will after all of these difficult circumstances came into his life. And often times things do tend to hit us out of the blue (i.e. infected teeth) and it is sometimes difficult to submit in those moments. Sometimes, as with Jesus, we are able to see the challenge coming. In our spirits we can see that this circumstance is going to be very hard. We may not know how hard but we know beyond a doubt that it will be hard. Jesus came here knowing that he was going to have to die for me and you. He also knew that it wasn't going to be a pleasant 'fade away in your sleep' kind of death. He saw the suffering and the temporary separation from God that was coming. He had to submit completely to God in this circumstance before it occurred, knowing the cost.
I feel as though this is where I sit right now. Staring down the barrel of eight months separated from my greatest friend and lover. As well as eight months of doing everything on my own as a single parent of sorts. I know that this is going to press me and pull in ways I've never been tested before. I am so thankful that I do not have to go through it alone. God is going to be there with me, helping me to take 'baby steps' to get through each day. I am so thankful for people in my life who consistently pray for me and remind of the goodness of God. Sometimes I forget. But God never forgets me.

Rough

It's been a rough couple of weeks for me. My husband had to leave for a week for some training and everything got really challenging. I knew that life was going to be difficult with him gone and I couldn't afford to have anything go wrong. Everything needed to go as planned. My weeks already had me approaching exhaustion and I was seeking some relief in the number of visits I needed to get my foster son to. The Friday that Dan left my teeth started to hurt...A lot. Of course there are no dentists open on the weekend. So, I iced my jaw and used Motrin and Ora-jel. I couldn't get in to the dentist Monday because of my foster son's visit, so I made a morning appointment for Tuesday. Then I had to make another morning appointment for Thursday. By Thursday afternoon I wasn't even able to function anymore due to the pain. It appears that one of my roots got infected. Thursday I was given prescription pain killers and antibiotics, which I proceeded to vomit up all night. Friday morning my dentist was back in the office--I had been seeing his partner throughout the week. I went in to get an anti-nausea prescription. My face was so swollen, I was in so much pain and part of my face had gone numb. But my dentist refused to see me. He refused to even look at me. Someone at the office felt that I needed to get the tooth drained to ease the pain and lower the swelling but the dentist would not listen. His partner did come in on his day off and he offered to drain me that afternoon. But by then I was home and hoping that the antibiotics would kick in. I didn't want to have to drive anywhere. I was after all toting around three kids. Saturday morning I had an emergency root canal performed. I felt so grateful that God had gotten me through the week. I had survived. Then Dan came home Monday. Bradley and I caught a plane on Wednesday for his surgery on Thursday. Needless to say we are all exhausted. Bradley's surgery went really well. He came out of anesthesia really well. We are hoping the surgery had its desired effect and all will be well with Brad.

Just A Couple Of Things

I'm always afraid that I am going to bore the few readers I have with all of my mundane information. My life really doesn't seem that exciting to me. Though I am still traveling at break neck speed through it every day. I'm still doing visits in Fairbanks for my foster son. But now I am doing it three times a week. I was going to try and get OCS (Office of Children's Services) to help with transportation but at my last visit with the bio mom I didn't even see anyone. That's right, there was no social worker or visitation specialist there to greet me or see me off. It is mostly like this. A lot of the time I'm pretty much ignored. I'm just sort of a background player. I could be the cab driver, or the person delivering lunch. It wouldn't be much different. If I call them I know that they will return my phone call but I'm not sure how thrilled they are going to be when I ask them to provide some transportation. It just seems like it would be better to ask in person. It is too much of a challenge to try and get my foster son to Fairbanks three times a week in the middle of the day--especially while homeschooling.

In other news, we found out on Friday that Bradley is going to need surgery to remove some scar tissue. It is just really hard for a mom to hear that her son needs surgery. We are going to have to take him to Anchorage to get this done. The military will pay for Bradley and one adult to fly down for this appointment. Of course this means we can't all go. Plus in order to take our foster son we would have to get special permission from his mom to miss his visits. His surgery is scheduled for Oct. 13 with a pre-op appointment on the 12th. Also, my foster son has an appointment scheduled in Fairbanks on Oct. 12. Dan is in Japan this week. So, I will need to figure out how to pull all of this together on my own. Hopefully it will all come together smoothly. Dan is supposed to get back from Japan on Oct. 10. Then he will have to take some time off, either to stay here with the kids or to go to Anchorage.

If I didn't know that God is sovereign, that he loves and cares for me, and that he is mighty, powerful and in control, I don't know how I would get through life sometimes. Praise be to God who carries me through it all.