Sunrise

One of my favofite times at the beach is sunrise and sunset.  One morning I got up early and headed down to the beach for a few moments of peace....and a bunch of awesome pictures. 

I found lots of Sand Dollars

The beach: one of God's gifts to us.  So beautiful!

Hilton Head Fun

We spent the last week with my family (Mom and Jim, Ty and Janna, Mandy and Amanda) plus our little family of four in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  It was a wonderful trip; relaxing and full of fun and sun.

Learning to juggle

Putt Putt golf where A got a HOLE IN ONE!  It was both girls first time playing putt putt.

LOVING the ocean

This was A and Rs first trip to the ocean....and thier first time leaving the state of Indiana.  All in all, it was a great trip that went by waaaay too fast!

SHHH! The cow is sleeping!

I came home from work on my last day of employment a little sad, a little relieved.  I walked into the house only to hear "Shhhhh.  The cow is sleeping!"  Huh?!?!  My girls had found the "dress up" drawer, played all afternoon, and fallen asleep still in costume.  I've never been so happy to see a cow and a samurai warrior before.  They make me laugh.  What a good ending to a meloncholy day!

Over the moon

We have a pool and I'm over the moon about it!  This seems to me a feat of unusual proportions.  To make a long story short, we had to install it ourselves.  What an overwhelming task!  Dustin says it is the first and last pool he will ever put up.  However, we have a WONDERFUL group of friends who pitched in to help us have a way to escape the heat (or increase our chance of skin cancer...you choose) and we are now swimming daily.  The icing on the cake was the other night when our foster daughter, R, said to Dustin "Thank you for building us a pool!"  They love it...and so do I.



Dustin dug and leveled the ground for the base



Jayme spreading sand



Noah helping put up the wall

Adam pitched in too

Lesson learned while installing the liner:  A beaded liner is prettier, but harder to install

The girls LOVE it!



Many, many thanks to the following guys:  Trent Regier, Jeremy Stieglitz, Jayme Schwartz, Ed Schwartz, Noah Bontrager, Adam Zern, Jerry Fessenden, and Shane Stieglitz.  I'm sorry I did not think to pull out my camera to get a picture of each of you in action.  Please know your efforts were appreciated.

And, of course, a huge thank you to my hubby for the HOURS he spent working on this the past few weeks! 

**If I forgot someone here, please forgive me!  I promise it was not intentional.** 

The Blog Slacker returns

I just realized this morning that quite a bit of time has passed since I last posted on my blog.  Surprise!  (I meant that in the most sarcastic way!) 

While I have a moment to catch my breath before chaos ensues, let me do a quick summary of what has taken place here at the Donovan house since I last posted:

*We had 3 foster boys placed in our home.  Two were special needs, one INCREDIBLY special needs!  WAAAAAYYY beyond my skill/patience level.  They were with us for 2 weeks and then moved to a home with a greater special needs license. 

*  Multiple camping trips

*  Trip to the Indiana Dunes with the Stieglitz family

*  We welcomed two foster girls into our home about three weeks ago now.  A and R.  They are ages 12 and soon to be 11.  One is autistic, which brings its own challenges, but they are fantastic girls and we are having so much fun with them.  They love to do crafts, swim, and play dress up.

*  I quit my job.....with a LOT of reservations about doing so.  We will see how this works out.  I'm trusting God will provide. 

*  Dustin has been working on crew since Feb so works 4 days on (12 hour shifts) and 4 days off and its swing shift that rotates every week.  When he works, he is gone from 7:45 (AM or PM, depending on the week) and returns around 10 (again, AM or PM, depending).  Its a tough schedule but 4 days off every week is nice!  I miss him when he's gone and I'm excited that, now that I do not have to get up at 3 AM every day for work, I can stay up to see him when he gets home from working the day shift.

*  We are preparing for our family vacation to Hilton Head in a few weeks.  The girls have a count down to the day we are leaving! 

*  We celebrated my Dads birthday, along with A's birthday this month.  R's birthday is also this month so we will celebrate that soon.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! 

** Noise Makers **

Fosters 2 & 3 came and went.

We had two little boys for 10 days while their foster parents took some time for respite.  We had a great, but rather LOUD time.  How can a 17 month old and a 2.5 year old make so. much. noise?!?

We had lots of play dates, park dates, and fun.  10 days of run, run, run....and when the kids went back home, we were sad to see them go, but happy to have a quiet house for a few days again. 

On to the next adventure...

Our first foster: and in a flash, he was gone!

YEA!!!!!

We finally got our first foster child.  He came to stay with us on Monday night, and went to a new foster home, in a different state, this afternoon.  "He" was a 6 month old baby with bright blue eyes, blazing red hair, and a smile that would not quit!  His name was "D."  He was super smiley and truly never cried the entire time he was with us.  He liked me, but he LOVED Dustin!  He would track him with his eyes whenever Dustin would walk into a room....and light up with a big smile the second paid him any attention at all. 

I wish I could post pictures on here but DCS has asked us not to, as a way of protecting the children in custody (not just in this case, in all cases.)  So, you will have to take my word for it that he was adorable.  And, if I see you in person, ask me and I might have my camera with me with pictures galore!  Just consider yourself warned.... 

What is most amazing to us is how much a child can become a part of your life so quickly.  Our house seems a little too empty now, a little too quiet.  But, we will pick ourselves back up and start to prepare for the next time we get to have a child (or children) in our home.  That's what its all about, isn't it!?  In the meantime, we will be praying for his safety and for good things to happen in the future for him.