April News

Tim and Austin Easter Morning

The girls and I before Easter Service

Kaitlyn's bone scan came back showing no old fractures. That's really good news! We're glad there wasn't any broken bones in her past. She continues to adjust with our family and work through her jealousy issues of Kailey. I think this is going to be an ongoing struggle for a long time. School and Church are two of her favorite places to go. She enjoys learning and continues to amaze us at how fast she is picking up on things. Kaitlyn is extremely drawn to music and dancing. She can't wait for Sunday when she gets to sing "Jesus songs!" She can't contain herself and is dancing all over the place! I surprised Kaitlyn and took her to Disney on Ice and lunch a couple weeks ago. She really enjoyed watching all the characters, but didn't understand much of it. You really had to have been to Disneyland and seen the Disney movies to "get it". Now that she understands English better, maybe she'll sit and watch a movie soon. That would be really nice :)

Both Austin and Kailey had their sports physicals last week for high school next year. I can't believe my baby is going to be in high school in a few months!! Kailey and I went shopping last Saturday for her 8th grade graduation dress. What a fun day! She looked so pretty in everything... it was hard to choose! Her promotion/graduation ceremony is May 21st.

The doctors discovered two brain tumors in my mom when they thought she had a stroke and did the CT scan. You can imagine the shock and emotions that went with that news. One tumor is in her Occipital Lobe and the other in her Frontal Lobe. They're both over 4 cm, which concerned the doctors. Finally, the tests came back that they were benign and operable. Thank you Jesus! However, when she went in for those tests, they found a ginormous blood clot in her leg. It goes from her hip to her ankle! My dad has to give her two shots a day in her stomach and she's on an oral medication for thinning her blood as well. Needless to say, she won't be having the tumors removed for a couple months or so. Please continue to pray for her... and my dad. He's exhausted.

My mother-in-law, Marlene, (it's her birthday today!) had a total knee replacement about 4 weeks ago. She's been doing really good and is determined to heal quickly. Marty (Son #2) came down from Washington to surprise everyone, help mom out, and be here for her birthday... pretty cool.

Spring Break

My parents left last month after spending 2 1/2 weeks with us. We had a great time with them and it was so good to see them! My mom's back and her leg were in a lot of pain, but hopefully that will eventually get better after her surgery. She had corrective back surgery on the 30th of March. They even discovered a herniated disc while they were in there. She came home last Thursday from the hospital and seemed to be doing fine. However, she was rushed by ambulance to the hospital last night after being disorientated, incoherent, non-responsive and not able to answer simple questions. At first, it was thought she might have suffered a mini-stroke. Thank goodness it turned out to be a very bad reaction to her new pain medication. She's home and resting now. Thanks for you prayers.

Austin and Kailey are doing well. Kailey still struggles with Kaitlyn's jealousy and constantly wanting to do and have everything she does... right down to the style of hair for the day, but it's been better the last couple weeks. Austin is serving his last day of his 2 week sentence of being grounded. He will finally get his beloved phone back tomorrow morning. It's been actually nice having a decent conversation with him when he's not texting or talking!!!

Thanks for your prayers and support with Kaitlyn. Her behavior is improving and she's doing amazingly well. She passed 2 out of the 5 stages of testing levels for ELL students in only 5 months of school and speaking English...and it's a hard test! She's eager to learn, and really enjoys school. Kaitlyn tells us the reason why she didn't go to school beyond 1st grade in China is because of the injuries she sustained from her foster mother's abuse. Kaitlyn goes to Phoenix Children's Hospital on April 13th for a complete bone scan to see any possible old fractures, etc. The CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has been notified of the accusations of abuse. Once we get the report from the hospital, it will be faxed to our agency and forwarded to China with the full report. From there, it goes to her providence for the Civil Affairs Office to investigate. This is going to take awhile to process.

Jobs and forclosures are crazy in Arizona!! About 175 teachers and all assistant principals in my school district were notified of their "pink slip" status for next school year. Out of 1300 teachers, I'm 131 on the seniority list, so I'm safe. However, they will be cutting Career Ladder back and some other things that will directly effect my income. Looking at the glass half-full, I'm thankful I have a job next year! Thousands of teachers in AZ will be without one.