This Week - THE week!

Well, folks, we are almost to the start line!

So many of you have been kind to ask - the interviews went well this week. Turns out it really does take about 9 hours (3 together, 3 with myself, 3 with Dan) to tell your whole life story! And that's what we did this past week. If everything "looks good", we should be cleared and certified by late Tuesday or Wednesday. It could take longer if our social worker needs follow up interviews with us. Quite the waiting game, isn't it?

Either way, it looks like we will be certified this week, which means we wait by the phone for a call.

When we do get a call, they will tell us some details about the kids, and we will either accept the placement or not. It is our understanding that when children need placements, the county calls several places to try to find homes - and Serenity is one of those places. So even if we say yes to a placement, the Serenity social worker calls the county back to let them know they've found a home, and in that time frame, another home might have already been secured. Likewise, we may very well get calls for placements that don't fit our parameters, and then Dan and I will have to decided whether to accept or not. So even the first call might not be "the" call.

When we accept a placement, we will either go to Serenity to pick the boys up, or they will be dropped off at our house. At that point we will assess how much stuff they have with them and make a store run. I will go on FMLA leave for a month, and Dan is out for the summer on Thursday.

And our plans? Just spend time together. Play hard. Learn each other. Figure it all out. In training, they talked about there definitely being a honeymoon stage. This might very well be our summer together, but we are going to make the most of it!

Thank you for walking with us this far - I would imagine our prayer requests will change rapidly once we have the boys! We do need to let you know, though - once we are placed, we are not allowed to talk about the family/history/situation of the boys. Yes, we will know what put them in the system and be updated, but because this is their story and not ours, we are asked to keep it confidential. The main reason for this is legal - their parents will be in a legal situation with the courts if they are given an opportunity to "earn" their children back. So these boys will be part of an open investigation, and because of that, we won't be allowed to share details of that investigation. Just wanted to give you all a heads up - if the first question is, 'so what's their story?', we can't answer that one. :) However we will do our best to keep the appropriate prayer requests coming your way - because we are so, SO thankful for your prayers!

This week:
- That Dan finishes school well, and 'Vacation Dan' (as I like to call him) enjoys his time off.

- That placement goes smoothly and quickly. 'Nough said!

- That we are approved for taking the boys on vacation with us. We have a week in Palm Springs already scheduled, and we are allowed to take the boys with us, but we have to get visitations rescheduled to do so. Would you pray that would go smoothly and not be an issue?

- Wisdom for Dan and I as we navigate how to parent four little ones!