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.