This is Foster Care #1

Anabelle's first day
with us

In March 2016, our family met a sweet baby girl who absolutely stole our hearts. Anabelle was 4 months old & was placed in foster care with us while her mama (Lindy) got treatment for her drug addiction. She was precious & amazing...our very first full time foster girly. We loved her deeply. We connected with her grandparents & began to build a relationship with them.

Easter baskets from Nana Ann

It was good. Annie was a perfect fit in our family. But we knew it would be temporary. 

Andrew, Dylan, & Annie
on Easter 2016

Derrick & Annie,
Easter 2016

Derrick & Annie at church,
spring 2016

Dylan reading to Anabelle.
Babies are definitely loved
at our house!

Obviously, Anabelle was a favorite in our household! 

Baby Selfies!

I sure loved snuggling this
precious girl!

And then one day the word came...sweet Annie was heading home to her parents.

Dylan & Annie the day
she went home the
first time

So on May 17th, we packed her things & sent her off with her social worker back to her family. The truth is that we all had concerns about her & her brother heading home. Things just weren't stable enough yet. But when the courts say something, that's what happens. So off she went. And our lives stayed crazy. Andrew broke his leg. Our other 3 girlies went home. We took a trip to Iowa. Andrew's cast came off. It wasn't a bad summer, but that baby girl was always on our minds.

Our silly Eli!

In August we went to our district camp meeting. While there I received a call from a social worker asking if we could do respite (temporary foster care for another foster family) for a few days. We agreed. When we got home we were given a 18 month old girl & her 3 month old brother for a week.

Precious Anabelle!

And then another call came on Thursday of that week. "Renee, do you have openings? We are headed out to Anabelle's house now & will likely be doing a removal. We would need to bring you both kids." We had not seen the kids since they had left us in May, but of course, our immediate answer was YES!

So a few hours later, the social worker comes & unloads our baby girl & her 2 year old brother, Eli. (For those of you keeping count, we had 6 kids - 5 of them 3 & under! But we made it. The first set of kids went back to their foster family on Sunday, so we really only had to survive for a couple of days!)

We truly wondered if Annie & Eli's mama would be able to make the changes she needed to for them to come home. We wondered if Annie & Eli would be in our lives permanently.

Dylan putting his reading skills
to work again!

Dylan is often a favorite with the kids because he can READ!

Teeth brushing before bed!

Bath time for Eli & Andrew!

We try for perfect, precious pictures, but this is real life!
And real life is SO GOOD!

But bit by bit, we started to see improvements. Their mama completed drug treatment & was clean. The kids were able to move to their grandparents house. Lindy had more & more visits. She had the kids overnight. Eventually, she had them full time. And then social services closed her case. Writing that literally makes me tear up. Because we had grown to not only love those babies, but to love their family, too. We were so thrilled to see Lindy succeed.

My favorite picture I took of Anabelle,
September 2016

Eli on the day they moved
back to Nana Ann's house

These 2 goofballs crack me up!

And now, Eli & Annie are in our lives permanently. Not because they live with us, but because their family is our family now. Andrew & Eli are best friends.
 Annie is still Derrick's little princess. I adore Lindy's stepson (seriously, he is just a doll!). We call Annie's grandma Nana Ann & she often remembers our kids on holidays & birthdays (ALL of them, no matter how many we have!). Lindy & her fiance have asked Derrick to perform their wedding in July.
We will all be there to celebrate with them!

Lunch with some of our favorite people!

Friends, this is foster care. Or at least this is what it should be. When Lindy drops the kids off for me to watch while she & her fiance go to premarital counseling. When Nana Ann takes Andrew to play with Eli for a while because she knows we have a houseful of other puking children. When my kids beg to sit with Lindy's family at church.

Dylan snuggling Annie at church

Foster care can be rough. There are so many unknowns. It is full of loss, trauma, & pain.

 But it can be full of so much love, too. 

We are so thankful that Lindy's family has allowed us to be involved in their lives. 

And I am thankful for Lindy's friendship & for her allowing me to share OUR story of OUR girl.

Lindy, Cameron, & Matthew
(Seriously, the cheeks on that kid.
He's a doll!)

Lindy, Matthew, & our girl, Annie