Met the Boys Finally!

This week has been such a treat. Please forgive the limited pictures and weird placement of the pictures. It turns out the best picture of the bunch is the one Isaiah took of Sam raking leaves.
So here we are with the boys on Saturday.

Right now they live across from a large savannah type area with a pond and lots of rocks to walk over. So on Saturday we went for a walk and threw rocks in the pond (it's a boy thing). Of course everyone wanted to have boulders to throw no small pebbles for this crew.

When we met the boys on Wens. they had just gotten home from school and met us and our 2 social workers. Isaiah had light up shoes on and loved to show everyone how they lit when he jumped on one foot then the other. He was such a bouncing ball of energy. Brad was sitting by the toy box and Sam pulled out every toy from the box and loved hearing Brad talk to him about them. Sam is very delayed emotionally and doesn't speak. He seems to have his own language and trys to communicate but there is a lot of work ahead.



Saturday when we visited the boys were outside with Joan playing on the swing. In the picture on the right Isaiah is trying to talk me into letting him take pictures. When I did let him take a few (the one on the left) I realized he has quite a talent!

The best part about Saturday was when we got there both boys seemed happy to see us and after Sam "said hello" to Brad he ran over to me and gave me a big hug. Before we left I asked Isaiah if he'd like to give me a hug goodbye (he did) and Sam started to cry as we walked away. Broke our hearts but we have to remind ourselves that it's just as much and age thing for Sammy as it is a connection thing.

We'll meet with the boys several more times before any move happens and by January they will be here full time. There is still sooooo much we don't know about their situation. We are planning to be a concurrent (long term) home for the boys. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that whatever happens in the long term someone will be heartbroken. At our last training meeting with Dawn we heard from a dad that adopted 2 boys thru the foster care system and he said that watching a birth mother have her parental rights terminated is the hardest thing to witness. She was broken and hurt. We haven't met, and don't know much about the boys mom, but I'm sure that having parental rights terminated at any point will be crushing.

On the other hand, if the county is able to find a relative, or parent to take the boys then we'll be heartbroken. As much as we believe that the boys should be with loving, caring, safe relatives if at all possible it would be tough to say goodbye. So we have to love, and care for them unconditionally while they are with us and give them childhood experiences that they remember. Knowing every step of the way that we may not be their forever home.

For now we look forward to the next meeting (Tuesday) and the next step in this new and exciting process.

Thanks for the prayers and hopefully I'll get some better pictures to share. For now though feel free to email me and tell me how cute they are. I know!! So Cute!!