Thoughts and Prayers

A father's love is a quiet thing. Like the fall of footsteps on green grass and the sound of hope in the human heart.- Anonymous

I wanted to post and tell my father how much he means to me and my family. We recently learned that he has lung cancer. One word was that he has the most curable kind of cancer then another opinion was there is no lung cancer that is curable. So needless to say he is facing a rough road ahead. The word is that he starts chemo next Monday.
It has really been tough this last 2 weeks knowing that the rest of my family has had the opportunity to "go home" to "just be there" for my parents.
We really wanted to make the trip but mother nature has decided to bless the inland northwest with loads and loads of winter storms with record snow falls and no end in sight. So we have had to send our love through email and phone calls.
I have been home sick since this all came about. Hopefully we will see an end to all this snow fall so we can make the trip to Southeast Idaho.

Dad-I love you with all my heart. You are such an example to me and our little family. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Love Sara

Our 3 Little Rugrats

Here is a cute photo of our 3 children. They are adorable. Enjoy.

Winter Wonderland

Welcome winter. We decided to share with everyone the first two snow storms of 2008 (well the 08-09 snow year). The first one hit Friday afternoon. The kids and I decided to travel to Sandpoint and we ended up following Daniel home in the storm. Then Wednesday morning about 7AM it started snowing and NEVER stopped. So when we woke up Thursday morning we were in for a surprise. Everything was shut down. Public transportation, Health & Welfare actually closed also, all the schools in the area from Coeur d'alene all the way to Bonners Ferry. IT is now 11AM. The snow has let up a little bit but it is still really blowing. The news is saying that there is another one on its way for this evening. If Divyne and Riley were not sick I would totally send the outside to play.

Preparing for Christmas

Sorry this is a little late. It has been a crazy few weeks at our home. I feel like I am getting to know the court house rather well.

Well, this is going to be our FIRST Christmas with children in our home. I can't tell you how excited we are. We went out and bought 3 more stockings. I didn't ever know if we would have that opportunity. We already bought Divyne one present and have it sitting on her dresser until we can find a box to wrap it in. She keeps grabbing for it but can't quit reach it. Christmas morning is never really Christmas until you have little ones to share it with. It just isn't fun if that person KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE GETTING (just had to put this little ad lib in there LOL!! ) So needless to say Christmas will be a lot of fun this year (even though I know what I am getting).

We had the kids help us put up Christmas decorations and that was an experience. Needless to say out living room wasn't so clean afterwards but it was fun. Since Riley is the oldest we let him put on the star. He had a lot of fun.

We are excited to see what this year brings and hopefully if the weather stays as nice as it is now (other than the cold temperatures) Grandma & Grandpa Aikele can come up to Northern Idaho for Christmas (well the week after Christmas). We are excited. I just can't belelive Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner.

Divyne Update

Well it is December 10. We were supposed to have court on December 9 for divyne but nobody bothered to tell me or the birth mom that the date had been changed to Monday NOT Tuesday. So I had to hear what happened through other sources.

The judge gave Divyne's mom 3 more months (March 10) to work more on her case plan. So March 10 is a Post permanency hearing and at that court hearing the judge will decide if Mom has done everything according to her case plan. At that court hearing is she has not then we will move to a termination hearing which will be schedule I believe 30 days after that hearing. So we have 3 more months of Divyne in our home. We pray daily that the Lord will allow her to remain in our home for eternity. We hope to keep all of them but for now we have Corbin.

Thank you everyone for your prayers. We hope that things continue to go our way. We will keep you posted.

The Rugrat Update

Here are some fun videos and pictures of our little rugrats. Corbin has almost doubled his birth weight. We call him our little Riley. Oh, the cutest thing...We finally taught Riley to fold his arms when we have prayer. We would always look at Divyne and tell her to fold your arms and she would just smile at us. We caught her doing it the other day. If we show her how to do it she does it. She was also evaluated on December 1 by the Infant and Toddler program through Health & Welfare. Everytime she has been evaluated she is always behind in something. This time she passed with flying colors. She is doing things that she doesn't need to be doing until she is 1 year and she is only 10 months. We are so proud of her. Now that she can crawl she is everywhere. She loves Riley's room. She loves to just hang out with Riley.

Corbin Court Update

Wow what a crazy weekend. We went to court on Friday for Corbin. It went good. We were told by Corbin's Social Worker before we got him that he had some Indian in him but not enough to register with a tribe. It is a requirement from the department that some kind of contact be made with the Fathers Tribe making them aware that this child is going up for adoption. So letters have been sent out to the three Cherokee tribes in the US. We are now just waiting for those tribes to send back some communication saying they have no interest. Corbin has 5 other brother and sisters and the tribes have had no interest in them so we don't for see any problems. Once we get those letters then Corbin's birth father is served with papers to terminate his parental rights and once those have been terminated then we can start the adoption process. We are now just playing the waiting game. We will keep you updated. We return to court for a "Post-Permanency" hearing in June. We could already be in the adoption process by then so at that point we would go before the judge and let him know how the adoption process is going and how the baby is doing health wise.

Thanksgiving Update

WOW! I can't believe it is already December. Sorry it has been a little while since I posted. I am a little worn out. Thanksgiving was great. We had Daniel's family from Washington come. IT was great to have help with the kids. It was REALLY sad to see them leave. We did have a fun time though. Riley spent some of the day with his Dad;s family but we were relieved to have him back safe and sound.

Well just a little about my week so far. Divyne has been waking up at all hours of the night because she is getting her 3rd upper tooth. She is in pure misery so she is at the point where she just wants to be cuddled and held. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. We have her court hearing on December 9 and that is when we find out what her future holds. We would be absolutely ecstatic if we were given the opportunity to adopt her.

There is nothing new about Riley. He is starting to really pronounce his words. He is such a big help to me. I was in a pickle the other day changing Corbin and he was such a great big brother. He is so good with these two young ones. He always wants to kiss them and hug them. It is his routine when he goes to bed. Such a handsome boy. He knows it all too well.

Corbin is really growing. He is almost double his birth weight. He is going to top Divyne in no time. Such a handsome boy. He has had some issues with sleeping. It took me literally 2 hours to get him to sleep and stay that way. I am just glad that Daniel is here when I need that break.

Anyway, that is our update. Other than the worn out mommy, we are having a great time with these kids. Here are some pictures form our Thanksgiving.

I Crawled for the FIRST time!!

Well, I got Divyne up this morning and sat her on the floor to take care of Riley. Riley had set his toys on the floor so he could use the bathroom. Before we knew it Divyne had a hold of his toys. I had to think about it for a minute. The only way she could have gotten to where the toys were was by crawling. So I placed the toys further away and what do you know? SHE IS CRAWLING!!! We have been working with her for a little while. She now can lay on her tummy and push herself back into sitting position, she can reach for toys by getting on her hands, she even reaches as far as her little arms will allow then push herself back into sitting position and NOW crawling. We are so proud of her. She finally figured it out.

Corbin is Awake!!

Here is a video of Corbin. He has just had a diaper change, a really messy diaper I might add, so I am in the process of getting some new clothes for him while Daniel keeps him entertained. Enjoy. He is a cutie and really alert. It is hard to capture this in a picture so enjoy the video.

Peekaboo

Divyne's favorite game is peekaboo and who better than to play it with than her favorite person Riley. Riley can make her laugh at anything. They just have so much fun together. This is a video of the two of them playing peekaboo.

Our Little Rugrats

Some of you have asked for better pictures of Corbin. So here are some updated pictures. Hope these are what you are lookng for. I added a cute one of Divyne.

Exciting News

Well, I just spoke to Corbin's Social Worker. His Birth Mom relinquished her rights and they had enough evidence to relinquish birth fathers rights. So the process begins. There is a court hearing on December 7 where the state shows proof that they had evidence to terminate fathers rights, then the next court hearing will be the TERMINATION HEARING! THEN the adoption process will begin. The adoption worker at the department says that the adoption process could take from 1-2 years so by the time we can officially go before a judge and call him ours. So we are in for a long process but we can say that he is ours. WAHOO!!!! Now we wait until December to know what happens to Divyne.

October in Review

I can't tell you how crazy this past month has been. So let’s just start from the beginning.
We brought Corbin home the 2nd week of October.

I had to do the Relief Society newsletter for October so I had to find a topic, put the newsletter together and get it emailed to our newsletter person. Needless to say she didn’t get the newsletter out until the last week of October.

I am now officially a stay at home mom-they called me and asked if I would cover a shift and when I couldn’t do it they told me I needed to choose so my choice was my little family.

Divyne started to get her “two front teeth” so she has been one unhappy little girl. Then on top of not feeling good she has been very clingy & wants nothing more than to just be with me. That makes being a mom of three a little complicated. That is when we ALL love it when “daddy comes home”!!!!! Especially “mommy”!

Corbin has started this "Hold Me" kick. If you put him down at all he starts to cry then the minute you pick him up he falls asleep in your arms. So you have Divyne who is screaming because she doesn’t feel good then Corbin crying because you put him down.
I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING TO PULL MY HAIR OUT!!!

HOWEVER...We did have a fun Halloween Night. Here are some pictures of our 3 little rugrats. Riley was a Bat, Divyne was a Pink Leopard, and Corbin was a pumpkin.

Then I had to teach last Sunday. Trying to plan a lesson with 3 kids was almost an impossilble but I put it all together Saturday night. Then I got released from the Relief Society Presidency (I was warned a few months ago that a release was coming but never told that I specifically was being released. I mean I know that when the Pres. is released everyone else does too but I just didn’t know it was going to happen Sunday) and was blind sided when it was announced that the Relief Society Presidency was being released. So then I was approached by a member of the Bishopric and asked to be the Nursery Leader. The Bishopric member who asked me seemed a little shocked that I accepted the calling-maybe because when we first moved in I told them I did NOT want to be in the Primary. I am kind of excited though. Riley is in nursery, and Divyne is at the age where you can’t take her to Sunday School because she talks too much so now she can come to nursery with me and play to her hearts content.

Anyway, we are now in November and we are starting with a clean slate. I looked out the window this morning and was shocked to see so much snow on the mountains. The snow is coming. I don’t think I am ready.

We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year so I am a little nervous with 3 kids how this will go but I think we will have plenty of help. We really miss all of the SE Idaho folks and really wish we could be there for the Holidays.

We welcome November with open arms. We will know whether or not we can adopt Corbin by Friday well most likely Monday. The 30 day hearing was post-poned to November 7. We will keep you all posted.

Happy Belated Halloween

A Pink Leopard, Bat, & Pumpkin

Our little leopard and bat

Divyne the Pink Leopard

Riley the bat

The Year in Review

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a year. In the year that we have been in North Idaho we have gained a little family. What fun they have been though. They each have their own little own personality. We welcomed Corbin into our home and what a joy he has been. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Corbin is Finally Here!

Well, today is Friday (WAHOO). I brought Corbin home this afternoon. We now officially have a car full and a house full. Hopefully Corbin is here to stay. There is a strong chance that we will have the opportunity to adopt him.

Riley and Divyne are more just curious right now. Riley wants to be right there with you like a big brother and Divyne just smiles and touches him when we put Corbin in front of her. It is rather cute. We will see how the weeks progress.

He is now 3 weeks old. At his 2 week check up he was:
7lbs 9oz.
20 inches long

Love you All,
Daniel & Sara

Newest Member of our Family

Welcome Corbin to our Foster Family. We welcome you with open arms.

Lots of Love,

Your foster family

The Youngest Jedi

Pictures and Videos of our Summer Vacation

Our Summer Vacation with Riley & Katelyn

Over our summer vacation we watched a 3 year old little girl, Katelyn. She was a handful but loads of fun. She is such a sweet heart. We had her for about 3 weeks. Here are a few pictures and a video of our fun few weeks.

(Below) Riley & Katelyn eating popsicles out back. I made them eat them outside but they had to put on their shoes so they didn't step on all the pine needes and pine cones. I didn't want to get their clothes dirty so I made them eat them in their diapers.

Katelyn & Riley enjoying lunch. Can you tell?

Riley & Katelyn staring inside through the screen door.

Johnson Update

Well, it has been a while since we posted anything. I am no longer working in Real Estate. I am working as a Crossing Guard sub (I sub for anyone who calls in sick or takes vacation). I am in raining this week. So far so good.

The kids are doing great and growing like weeds. Riley just turned 2 and is ALREADY in the "terrible 2" stage. Daniel also just had his birthday. We went to the Spokane Country fair on Saturday so Riley could see the animals he see's in all his books. So we saw cows, goats, sheep, horses, and mutton' bustin' (where 6 year old kids come out riding mutton's). We are excited to have them for Halloween. We then took Riley to Toys R Us and let him pick out a puzzle and a book for. He chose a number puzzle to help learn numbers and some Dr. Seuss cards that have shapes on one side and colors on the other. Perfect for church.

That is the update from here. Enjoy some of our pictures of the kids.

Love you All,
Daniel & Sara

Riley Sleeping

I thought you would like to see how Riley sleeps. He is using Simba as a pillow. He goes to sleep with 2 things: Simba and his Bear. It is so cute. He will sit up in his crib and play around then when he gets tired he goes to sleep where ever he is at that point.

Enjoy!

Family Update

Well, today is June 25. It was a pretty good day. Riley is going to be 2 in September and it is showing. He is already in the "terrible 2" stage and has the attitude to follow. Riley also LOVES to play outside.

Divyne is now 5 months as of June 24. She is really starting to get personality now. She loves when we go on walks. She koos all the time and is even starting to roll over. She absolutely loves her baths because she kicks and the water splashes then she laughs. Divyne will sit and watch Riley play until she gets bored then she watches Daniel play with his "toys".

These kids are a real awakening of parenthood. It has so far been a great experience. We are still however approved through LDS Family Services and have been for 4 years. Please keep us in mind if you know of anyone who is looking at adoption.

We love you all, thank you for all your support,

Daniel & Sara

Divyne's First Real Food Experience

Divyne had her first real food yesterday. BANANAS. Her reaction was priceless. We are going to try peaches today.

Riley's "Phone"

Riley will pick up almost anything and use it as a phone. He will even have a conversation w/whoever he is talking to on the other end. The "phone" he has in his hand is actually a calculator.

Here are a few fun videos

This is the view from Daniel's mom's little cottage. She lives right on a lake.

Our Foster Kiddies

Welcome to our Blog

Hello Everyone,

Well, it is a beautiful day here in Rathdrum, ID. It is sunny and supposed to be around 75*.

Now as far as updates go, we are now certified foster parents for the state of Idaho. We currently have 2 beautiful children in our home. Riley who is almost 2 and Divyne who will be 5 months next week. We have had a lot of fun with these two kids. We have really learned a lot about parenting. We even had people call us and wish us happy fathers day and happy mothers day. It has really been a blessing to have these children in our home. We have grown to love them as our own and will be sad to see them leave if and when they do.

Daniel is still working for Coldwater Creek in Sandpoint. I am working for RE/MAX By The Lake in Hayden on a very p/t basis. I spend most of my time here at home with these kids. I really enjoy it.

We really miss being near family but we really enjoy it up in Northern Idaho. It is so beautiful up here. We are seriously surrounded by mountains. We have an amazing view out our living room window. We even have several community beaches with in 25 miles of us.

We are excited to come to the Hjelm reunion. So until next time...

Toodaloo,

Daniel & Sara