Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Child #2


The next week after the fourth we welcomed our second child into our home: Vantaysha, a 14 year old!!! I know what you're thinking . . . . that we're crazy and that we're too young and that we don't know what we're getting ourselves into. We've thought and prayed about all of that -- and we agree!!! But we still think we could make it work and be a family for her that she's never had. She had been living in a group home (kind of like a teenager orphanage) for 6 months and they hadn't had luck in placing her yet.

When we certified as foster parents here in Idaho we told the dept. we would like a child between the ages of 6-10. Well, they mentioned to us a 14-year old, we were cautious and told them probably not but we wanted more info anyway. So we proceed to find out some of her background and all of a sudden I'm emotionally involved and can't imagine leaving this girl in her current situation. Foster children who age out of the system without becoming adopted have over a 50% chance of becoming homeless or in jail. So after a long drawn out process of meeting her several times over 6 weeks and having her make the final decision of if and when to join our family, on Friday July 13 we welcomed Taysha as our second daughter into our home. She is a permanent placement, so hopefully we'll have her forever. Our long-term goal is to help her reach her goal of graduating from college -- right now if she makes good choices she'll be the first one in her family to ever graduate from high school.

And yes I know we're dealing with a lot of complex issues (she's catholic, we're mormon; she already has a boyfriend; she's entering high school; and let's not even get started on whether we'll allow a myspace page and if we could stop her if we tried!!!). So far she's met both sides of the family and she fits in perfectly. She's fun and has a great sense of humor. She likes sports--but on the other had is an extreme girly-girl . . . something which for those of you who know me well, know that this will cause several bumps in the road along the way :-). But we love her tons. We read the bible every night as a family before family prayers. I think things are going well so far. It's been easy just hanging out and playing card games or watching movies. When school starts is when we'll probably lose our sanity :-)

So pray for us :-) but also be happy for us!

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:11 PM

    She's a cool girl and if she counts her blessings and takes it as a blessing to be in your family as you guys do in return then life will definately be better for all involved. Welcome Taysha. Love, Randy and Diana

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  2. Wow...that would be such a hard thing to do! But what a loving thing to do too. If anyone could do it, it'd be you guys. Congrats.

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  3. That is such an amazing story. I hope things go well for you guys. So did you adopt her, or are you just holding on to her until she's legal? Glad to hear you guys are doing great. Take care!
    Melissa

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  4. That is so amazing! You are great people! What a great story! It is very exciting to welcome someone new into your home.

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