Juan's 15th Birthday

Juan loves football and video games. We bought him a new monitor for his birthday, which he was very excited about. He was not interested in having anyone over this year for a party.

Ingrid's 17th Birthday!

Ingrid celebrated her 17th birthday with the "Friends" theme. She loves the show and probably has most of the episodes memorized. She had some friends over for a pool party.

Oregon Beach

Lori's parents own a second home on the coast in Oregon so we decided to go and visit them. They live  both in Arizona near us for six months of the year and in Oregon at the beach the rest of the time. We decided to leave the kids in Angie's care, who is 18 1/2 years old now. We have never left the kids so we will see how it goes.

Angie's Second Mission Trip

Angie participated in SMI at our church for the second time again this year. SMI stands for Student Missionary Internship and takes a lot of time, work, and dedication. We are really proud of her for doing it again this year. The youth group is traveling to the Indian reservation in the White Mountains to host VBS for kids and help with other projects. She is looking forward to it, and we are glad she had this experience.

Happy Easter

 Sandra came back from GCU for the weekend to celebrate Easter with us. She seems to be doing well and it is much better this year than when she was living with us last year! The kids cooperated nicely for Easter pictures and everyone was in a good mood. I am very thankful for the good days that we have when everyone is happy!

Our 8th Gotcha Day

It is hard  to believe we have had the kids for eight years now! No one wanted to cooperate for pictures so I only captured the set up. We will keep trying and just love them and take it one day at a time!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We continue celebrate all the holidays and all the traditions even though day life can be difficult. My act of service is gift giving and that is how I show my love to the kids. We just wish they could be happy and daily life less stressful. I don't know if counseling is helping but we will keep trying.

Counseling

We tried counseling once before and the kids refused to participate. They literally looked at the therapist and refused to engage. However, Ingrid has really struggled this first semester of high school and so we are going to try counseling once again with Juan and Ingrid. They are both in need of coping skills and so we will see if this helps. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink!

Christmas Time

Christmas is here! Sandra is halfway thru her freshman year at GCU and Luis came to join us again this year. After the big fight between Luis and Juan at Sandra's graduation the last time they saw each other, we were unsure how it would go but the visit is going well.

Soccer season

 Both Ingrid and Juan are playing soccer for Odyssey and love it. We love having them active in sports, and it gives them an outlet for their emotions. It does get cold watching the games so bundle up! Juan's team even won the championship and he was so happy!