Grampy Rock

One of the many reasons I have not been writing as much was because of Grampy Rock.  Jynx sat down after his passing and wrote a beautiful tribute to her father. 

 

Dad came home last Sunday night and Jame Jack immediately went up to his bed and climbed the rails and said, "I love you Grampy and I missed you".  My Dad smiled at him and tried to put his hand on Jame but was weak.  He also saw his pretty girl Hope Rose as I held her above him on his bed. He looked at her and smiled and tried to wave to her. Fortunately, when Dad was home a couple weeks earlier, we had wheeled him into see our sister Jame and although he was weak, he said faintly “Hi Pretty Girl”.  I have to admit, I was very proud of the fact that there were 2 pretty girls in the house. Dad did have a song for my sister Jame which was Jame Jame Jame, I love youuuuuu, Jame Jame Jame, yes I dooooo. If you listened to the tune you would think it was catchy.

Unfortunately we had to take Dad back to the hospital the very next morning; he spiked a fever that we could not bring down. Dad was diagnosed with sepsis in the ER from a UTI and pneumonia again.

 

Although he wanted to stay with us he got tired and left us on Tuesday March 19^th at 2:57pm.  While my Mom, Jeaj and I were with him, my Mom told me how he never thought that he would be a Grandfather.  My Dad told me we had a million dollar combination when Hope Rose graced our lives because we now had a boy and a girl.

Jame Jack sat in Grampy’s lap quite often and Dad would read to him.  Hope Rose was held by Grampy a bit and she sat next to him in her jumping Jenny just smiling at him and him at her.  We all will make sure my kids remember their Grampy Rock. We feel so blessed to have had our father in our life for as long as we did and I know he lived a good long life but for us it is never enough. I guess I am a bit selfish for myself, Jame Jack and Hope Rose that I wanted our time to be longer together.

Dad was all about his family, so strong, loving, and always seem to be the voice of reason.  I was so proud of him especially through his last 2 years of life. He dealt with quite a bit of pain and never complained. My Dad was always liked by everyone and loved by many. He did not have a pretentious bone in his body, he was not a vain man and he was the most honest and fairest person I ever knew.  Dad loved songs like “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, “Danny Boy”, and Mom and Dad’s song was “Unforgettable”. Many did not know that Dad had a pretty nice singing voice.     

         

Dad liked the simple things in life. Dad was not one to go out much and I remember when Jame was younger, she had a convulsion at Disney World so he stayed with her while Mom took Jeaj and me through the park. Dad never did get back to Disney World, yet we went many times when we vacationed in Florida. He loved watching his sports which was just about every sport you can imagine from football to tennis and hockey to gymnastics.  He loved horse racing as well. Dad always amazed people on the stats of so many sports that he had in his head. He knew what colleges athletes came from and what draft pick they were. Dad could also add large odd numbers in his head where many would have to write the numbers on paper and add them together or use a calculator; he would have the answer before you had it with a calculator.

The only sports he didn’t watch were kick boxing, professional wrestling and NASCAR.  He helped care for my sister Jame for about 36 years until he needed help and could no longer care for her; he was our provider and worked very hard for his family. Only a Great Man could do what he did.

 When he retired, he was a putzer doing little things around the house and sometimes even trying to re invent the wheel and giving us all a good laugh.  One of his favorite jobs was burning leaves and our paper garbage.  I can remember him raking some leaves together and then lighting them all the while dragging a lawn chair around the yard to sit and watch the fire he created and then do the same thing over again in a different spot. Mom got annoyed at this because every fall we would have burn spots all through the yard.  By spring, the spots would be good as new and if you added a little grass seed they would be even better.

The best thing that happened for me was that my entire family was under one roof and although many might say that’s crazy, we simply said you do whatever you can for the ones you love and you forget about all the trivial things like your house not being exactly the way you want it to be. I personally feel that my relationship with my Dad grew so much stronger the last few years of his life and I know for my sister and I that we will be eternally grateful to our Dad that he let us care for him especially when we did not always get things right.  He knew we were trying and that was good enough for him.

 We feel blessed that we have always been able to talk to our parents and so there was nothing left unsaid. Thank you for all your prayers, positive energy, and happy dances. Our whole family has been helped tremendously. We love you Dad, Grampy, Rock, Jimmy, and Jim Dear. You are in our hearts always!!!

Celtic Blessing

May the roads rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Anon

  He is not lost our dearest love,
nor has he travelled far,
just stepped inside home's loveliest room
and left the door ajar.

Great Wolf

Last summer for work I lost track of the number of times I passed through Wisconsin Dells and all the water park hotels.  I began to ask around and several friends had been to them and got some great recommendations.  I told Jynx about the water parks and being the water lover she is, she wanted to go immediately.  We talked about it and with our busy schedules and to get the best deal we decided to go in February.

We looked online, and asked everyone who had kids about which one to go to.  A coupon decided it was Great Wolf in Wisconsin Dells.  We booked three days, Little Man went with but with Hope fighting a cold we decided it was best if she stayed at home with Mimi and JeaJ.  We loaded up the family trickster and headed to the Dells in the middle of winter.

When we arrived Little Man was excited to see our room.  He quickly made himself at home in our room jumping right into bed and declaring it his.  He later discovered the phone in the bathroom, he played with the phone a few times and then Jynx heard him answering some questions. She took the phone from him and he had in fact dialed the hotel operator.  The operator was asking Little Man what his mommy and daddy’s names were and he told her “Them names mommy and daddy” Luckily the operator got a good laugh out of it but just to be safe, Jynx disconnected the phone.

Once Little Man got used to the room we changed and made our way to the water park.  Unfortunately Little Man wasn’t tall enough to go on all the rides but there were plenty of other rides for him to do.  They had several different rooms with slides and pools that we started to explore.  The one room had a huge jungle gym with all kinds of water guns and I thought Little Man was going to love it.  That was until the bell started to ring and a giant bucket with 1,000 gallons of water dumps. 

Little Man would just run away.  I also must admit that room was a bit cold.  The next room had a wave pool and some pools for little kids that he loved.  This is where we spent most of our time.  Little Man loved the wave pool and we could sneak off one at a time to ride a water slide.

Away from the water park was a magic game called Magi-quest that we thought we would try.  We bought Little Man a wand and started our adventure.  The place had three floors of different things to find and shake your magic wand at and the object would move, open or sing a song.  Then you were off to find the next thing.  The magic area contained slides and areas to climb that Little Man found more fun than trying to find the next object so before long one of us was using the wand and the other was chasing Little Man.   Jynx did her best and with the help of a little girl was able to defeat the dragon; I on the other hand gave up and could care less about the stupid dragon.

The Great Wolf Lodge had some great events for kids.  At night in the lobby was a huge clock that would put on a show and before and after the clock shows they would have things for the kids.  The first night we got down to the lobby for the show and just as the show started Little Man fell asleep.  The next night we went down and made it through the show, although I struggled to stay awake.  After the show they brought out one of the characters to greet the kids and for pictures, little man walked right up and took his picture.  We also took Little Man down to Cub Club and the lady they had running it was fantastic with the kids.  Little Man who doesn’t normally like to color liked painting; he painted a magnet with a dog paw on it and a heart.

While we were in Wisconsin Dells in the middle of February it snowed and it snowed a lot, it was kind of fun to sit there in the pool and look out at the snow.  We decided to brave the cold one night and head across the parking lot to Buffalo Phil’s that advertised train delivered food.  It was a western looking restaurant with several trains running to most of the tables and a couple of televisions with Thomas on them.  Little Man’s eyes light up when we walked in and we got a table right next to the train.  The train would run by every so often with a couple of new toys on it.  The train did bring our dinner and then a little later it came by with a bubble machine blowing bubbles that I thought was cool until I realized it was going to blow bubbles on our food.  Oh well it was still fun and we enjoyed the train.

Our time at The Great Wolf seems to have flown by now but we are definitely going to have to go back maybe with some friends who can watch the little ones as we try the bigger slides.  We spent our last day in the wave pool before we changed packed up the car and headed for home to see out Little Hope again.

I have never seen a baby enjoy their jumpy as much as Hope does.  We can put her in the jumpy and she will bounce and bounce and bounce until you notice that she has gotten quiet and is asleep.  I have learned to let her sleep; she will wake up bouncing again.  Sometimes in the middle of her sleep she will begin slowly bouncing without even waking up.  She has started on food and it was a bit rough at first, but once she got the hang of it, she is now eating like a champ and in fact we have trouble keeping up with her.  I was often told that I would cry if you did not feed me fast enough and the lord has blessed me with a child that does the same.   

Here it is now April and I’m writing about February so much has happened since our trip.  I need to write more since the kids have changed so much they are growing way too fast.  I need to write more to catch up to our hectic but wonderful lives.

Christmas 2012

What more could be said about our Christmas 2012 than magical.  Hope’s first Christmas and Jame’s first time talking to Santa were the major highlights of the season.  All of the fun we had reminded us why it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Just after Thanksgiving, just a quick note since I did not write about our wonderful Thanksgiving this year; we cooked a record 5 turkeys, a feat that probably will not be repeated.  Usually we smoke a turkey, bake a turkey and deep fry a turkey.  This year we bought a couple of smaller birds and then our friend Bruce called with a fresh turkey and wanted to know if we would like to deep fry that one as well.  All total 1 baked turkey, 1 smoked turkey and 3 deep fried turkeys, yes we had a bit left over. We did have great leftovers like turkey tetrazzini, turkey ala king, and there is nothing better than turkey sandwiches.

Now back to Christmas, just after our 5 turkey Thanksgiving, we heard a familiar Ho Ho Ho ring out in the house but when we ran to find out what exactly it was, all we found was a box that contained an Elf on the Shelf.  For those of you who don’t know about Elf on the Shelf, here is the story.  We sat down with Little Man and read the book to him, after; we asked him what he would like to name his elf?  We thought for sure with his love of playing doggy that doggy would be the elf’s name.  “Bean” is what Little Man said and Bean it was and we welcomed Bean to the house for the Christmas Season.  Bean moved all around the house and even though Little Man was not supposed to touch him we gave him permission to take a few photos with Bean.

 

Before Christmas, I had said that we should get Little Man a haircut so it would look nice on Christmas.  With all the excitement at our house these days, it was decided that Dad should take Little Man for his haircut, of course not without a long list of instructions from Mom.  “Yea Yea Yea, I got it!  Don’t worry I’ll bring him home with a mow hawk.” I said as we headed out the door.  When we arrived at Pigtails and Crew cuts my mind went blank on the list of instructions.   I told the lady that I remembered something about it not being too short on top and then joked about the mow hawk.  “Well I can do that!” she said and went right to work gelling up his hair into a mow hawk and then she asked him what color he wanted and of course Little Man said, “Green”.  All I could do was laugh all the way home and hope that Mom would laugh as well and sure enough, she got a big kick out of it when we got home.

During our busy holiday schedule, we found time to head to the Museum of Science and Industry.  Heading there is always fun but its better with all the Christmas trees around.  Little Man loves the trains and I think he would spend all day in the Steam Engine if we allowed him.  This time we even took Little Man down into the coal mine figuring he was old enough now, he wasn’t scared at all just a bit bored at times and of course he loved it when you get to ride on the train.  After the museum we then headed downtown to Macy’s (Marshal Fields) to look at the windows and the tree and then over to the Kris Kringle Market.  We thought about eating at the market but it was a bit cold so we headed off to the Berghoff for dinner.  After dinner we headed home and Little Man fell asleep before we were out of the city.  

One of the great moments this year was looking at the fireplace with all of our stockings hanging.  When Little Man arrived, we attended a wedding in Frankenmuth, MI and bought his stocking there.  We thought about making the five hour drive up to Michigan to not only get Hope’s stocking but also several ornaments for the Grandparents and for the kid’s tree. Instead we ordered them online. I always remembered as a child that we were not allowed to wake our parents on Christmas morning until the sun came up.  We were allowed to open our door and there hung our stocking.  I decided to keep that tradition, so on Christmas morning Jame found his stocking filled hanging on his bedroom door.

The first year Little Man met Santa he was okay with him, the second year he screamed the third year he was okay but would not talk to Santa so we didn’t know what to expect.  We figured Hope would be fine as long as her brother was fine but if he melted down she wouldn’t be far behind.  I had to head out to “work” and Mom got the kids ready to see the big guy, they got there just before Santa was done for the day.  Little Man had no problems this year, right up onto his lap and even talked to Santa.  I have a feeling Santa was more nervous this year than Little Man.  He told Santa that he had been good and he was taking care of Bean and that he wanted a kitchen for Christmas.  This came as a relief to us since he had been asking for a dog car that turned out to be a walking aid toy for toddlers.  Luckily he had decided to be a cooking man and asked for the kitchen instead.  We took a bunch of pictures with Santa and I will never be able to describe both the wonder and terror I felt with that Santa visit, it was all I could do to fight back the tears. I have always enjoyed being Santa for children, but, what an awesome feeling to be Santa for your own children.

When Christmas arrived it was awesome to see the wonder in Little Mans eyes as he noticed the cookies had been eaten and the milk was drunk by Santa.  Christmas day was hectic at our house with all the toys and people dropping by.  In fact Little Man eventually got tired of opening up gifts, so we just put them back into the closet for his birthday next year.  This was a Christmas that I will remember for a long time or until next Christmas.  I feel truly blessed to have our family.

Circus

The Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks have for years taken what is known as the circus break while Ringling Brothers and Barnum Baileys circus was at the United Center.  I would drive and see the signs for the show and think how wonderful it would be to go. This year it seemed perfect for Little Man to enjoy the circus.

A phone call to Bayle’s mom and dad and they were up for going as well and also found coupons for all of us.  I could hardly wait and checked the website over and over again not only were the tickets not that expensive but free parking as well and a pre show before the circus.  Little man was very excited as well he would ask every morning if we were going to the circus with Bayle today.

Unfortunately when the day arrived Bayle was not able to be there for the pre show but was going to make in time for the show.  When we arrived I realized why the tickets were so cheap because they were going to get us on everything else from the programs, souvenir flashlights, cotton candy, popcorn and the pizza. 

The pre show was fantastic we headed right down to the floor of the United Center and there were clowns and performers all over.  We watched the dog act of course Little Man loves dogs I think he was more impressed with the dogs than he was the elephants.  We then spotted a bounce house and once again they got us with a charge to go into the bounce house.  Who is going to tell their kid that they can’t go into the bounce house?  Mom was extremely worried about Little Man in the bounce house since it was filled with wild and crazy kids until we peeked over the one side to see Little Man doing a good job of holding his own in the craziness and laughing the entire time.  We then grabbed some clown noses for us and Bayle’s family and headed to our seats.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN CHILDREN OF ALL AGES!”  The show was fantastic and kept moving along to keep the kids interested.  The high wire act, the motorcycles, the elephants and of course the dog act kept Little Man interested.  I’m not real sure who had a better time the kids or the adults but it is something we definitely have to do again. 

Just after the circus was done I was driving to work and noticed the circus train sitting in our little town.  I made a phone call home and Little Man with the help of Aunt Gi Gi got to see a real circus train.  I do have to admit it’s not the same as the cartoon circus train but still fun to see anyway.  The circus is one that we will have to see again and I can already hardly wait.

FALL 2012

I have always loved everything about fall from the crisp air to the tree’s changing color and of course, football season.  Now I love fall even more with the kids and rediscovering trick or treating again.  Even though Hope is still too small to understand Halloween, Little Man is in ahww of its full glory.

First thing in fall is Fright Fest out at Great America, (feel free to call it Six Flags but it will always be Great America to me.)  As we drove to Great America we decided to take advantage of all the fine dining on the way so we stopped off at the Toll Road Oasis.  Little Man loves watching the cars and trucks pass underneath.  When we arrived at the park, the first thing we had to do was ride the double decker carousel, after that we hit the park at our normal spots, the kids land and of course I had to hit some of the roller coasters including X Flight which is one of my new favorites.  Little Man got to ride on The Little Dipper roller coaster that he loved.  I think it is his first roller coaster.  Little Dipper formerly operated at Kiddieland Amusement Park from 1950 until the park closed in September 2009 has found a new home at Great America.   The coaster features a three story tall lift hill and is designed as a figure eight track which runs 700 feet in length.  Little Man loved the roller coaster and rode it a couple of times.  We then headed over to the Whizzer, Jynx headed onto the ride and I took some time with Little Man.  We watched as guys dressed up as a nuclear apocalypse scared people; Little Man was a bit afraid until I explained that they were just having fun scaring people.  We then sat and laughed as they scared people. One of the characters walked over breathing heavy through his gas mask and I told Little Man to give him five which he did. The guy looked a bit confused since the three year old wasn’t terrified.  Soon after Jynx came over all excited that she thought Little Man was big enough to ride The Whizzer.  We headed over and sure enough he was big enough.  Little Man rode with Mom and laughed the entire way when we were done we asked how he like the roller coaster and he informed us it was not a roller coaster but a train!  When we asked how he liked the train he said fast.  I think we have a little roller coaster junkie on our hands.

Our adoption of Little Man became official in October 3 years ago and now Hope’s adoption was becoming official this October. For Little Man we gathered at Grandma Rosie’s house since she was a notary and the Judge and our attorney were in Florida while on the phone.  Hope’s was definitely going to be different.  We had to appear in court, all of us got up and ready for court.  The four of us went along with Mimi, Grandma Rosie, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Ruth.  When we arrived at the court that morning we had to pass through security where they took our cameras away and then informed us that we could not bring in water and formula but we could mix them together and bring them in.  Feel free to laugh now.   We arrived in a big waiting room to be called, once inside the courtroom we had to raise our right hand and swear to tell the truth it was the first time any of us had to do that.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Judge and he appeared to be barely out of law school.  One of the first questions he asked was when we were married; luckily our lawyer was tapping her finger on the paperwork at the date.  I answered with Jynx looking on very impressed until I told her later how I did it.  The judge had a few more question for us and granted our adoption it was very emotional.  We wanted to take pictures but had to wait for our cameras to be brought up from security; we took a couple of photos and then headed out for a well deserved breakfast.  Hopefully soon Hope’s new birth certificate will arrive Welcome home Hope Rose Steele.

As if the adoption was not enough for the month of October we also had our bon fire party.  We not only had the bon fire but also a huge bounce house with a slide, the hot tub going and the haunted hunt.  Little Man was out shopping with Auntie Jea Jea when the bounce house arrived but when he got home he wasted very little time jumping right in for fun.  During the party all I saw was the bounce house moving from side to side I’m still not sure how many kids were in it at one time.  Little Man wore his costume for a bit but I think he got to hot from all the jumping.  The next day we convinced the guy who dropped off the bounce house to pick it up last and we spent most of the next day playing in the bounce house even Hope got her first bounce house experience.  When the guy finally arrived to take the house down I looked over and Little Man was in front of him his arms stretched out and yelling “Don’t take my bounce house!” it broke my heart but I ran over grabbed Little Man and took him in the house so we could talk and the guy could take down the house.  To be honest the image of Little Man still breaks my heart.

             Jynx and Little Man went to County Line Orchard with Aunt Wendy, Uncle Duanne and Bailey. This has become a tradition, unfortunately, I had to work. The day was beautiful and they were afraid the weather was going to turn for the worse so they decided to go and enjoy. Like always the kids enjoyed the petting zoo the straw maze, the cow train and the big tractor ride. Little Man and Bayle picked out a pumpkin and some pumpkin doughnuts.

When Halloween arrived I knew it was going to be a busy day and it did not disappoint.  My busy work schedule had me working and traveling all the way up to Halloween and this was not going to be a day of rest.  We awoke in the morning and began the normal routines of getting everyone ready including Grampy Rock who needed to hurry up and get out of bed since his new mattress was arriving that morning.  We were finally ready to leave around one in the afternoon and dressed up Little Man and Hope in their costumes, took a few pictures then loaded them up in the car.  Our first stop was at Baily’s grandpa’s house; he lives about five minutes away from us.  Little Man went right to the door and when he answered he said “Trick or Treat” just like we had practiced in the car After a quick visit we loaded up again and headed to South Holland to see Uncle Bob and Aunt Dorthy’s house.   After knocking on their door Little Man got a bit confused and started handing them candy that he had gotten at the last house.  From South Holland we headed to Olympia Fields to Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Rick’s house.  Little Man had some fun at the door as Grandma Ruth was acting silly at the door.  After a quick visit we were off to Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Jim’s house. Little Man ran to the door since he was getting this whole Trick or Treat thing down and of course he was easily distracted by Molly, their dog.  What can I say the kid just like his parents, loves dogs.  We then headed off to our church for Trunk or Treat.  After quickly making the rounds we loaded up again for Little Mans favorite part heading to Baily’s house.

Okay, so it’s not just Little Mans favorite but also mine.  I’m reminded of the Trick or Treat days from my youth, streets filled with Tick or Treaters.  Little Man took a quick nap in the car but quickly woke up when we arrived at Baily’s.  Shortly after arriving we were out the door Jame in his now tiger/dog costume and Baily in her cat costume.  Little Man had decided that morning that he didn’t want to be a tiger but a dog so Jynx suggested he simply tell people to “Call him dawg!” which he did on a few occasions.  I tried to get him to say trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat, if you don’t I don’t care I’ll pull down your underwear!  Jynx was not happy with that one but he only repeated it in the car and it brought a smile to my face.  The kids ran from door to door laughing and collecting candy, they ran their little legs off and as it started to get colder Little Man developed his own plan.  As soon as he was done getting candy he would turn give his bag to mom then ask dad to pick him up carry him to the next house where he would get down get his bag and head to the door.  Not a bad plan for him.  We headed back for tacos at Aunt Wendy and Uncle Duanne’s house and the kids continued to play it was a great ending to Halloween.

 

Thomas

 

Last year the Day out with Thomas brochure sat pinned to my bulletin board and as the days came and went and with my crazy work schedule, we never made it to see Thomas.  This year, I was determined to get Little Man to see Thomas, so as soon as I saw the schedule we blocked out a day and made plans to see Thomas.  Although the task of getting up to Union, Illinois was not easy, we were determined to make it happen.  Grampy Rock, Mimi, Auntie Jea Jea, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Rose, Grandpa Rick, Grandma Ruth and of course Hope Rose just had to go.

The night before we told Little Man that he was going to see Thomas, he was so excited that he wanted to leave that night.  “Go Now!” is what Little Man kept demanding, until I explained to him that Thomas was sleeping and that we can go see him in the morning to which he responded, “Percy?”  I’m not sure Percy is there but I’m sure he’s sleeping now as well.  The next morning I got up and just touched Little Man and told him that Thomas was awake.  He quickly hopped out of bed and I had to stop him before he was out the door with his pajamas on. 

It was a long drive, but when we made it, he was very excited to get inside.  As we walked into the museum his eyes lit up and he was pointing all over the place.  When we finally made it over to where Thomas the train was, his entire face lit up even more with excitement.   He quickly covered his ears when Thomas blew his whistle.  We had tickets for later in the day to ride Thomas so we explored the rest of the museum.  We spent the entire day and probably could have spent three days looking around and riding on the trains.  We rode on several trains that day from diesels to streetcars.  I think we all felt   like little kids that day riding on all the trains.  I think Little Man thought he was in train heaven.  After the long day we loaded up the motor home and headed for home and I’m sure Little Man dreamed of all the trains that night.

We also had fun heading out to Culver Indiana to our cousin’s farm where she raises alpacas.  Little Man had a great time running after and catching a few cats.  The alpaca have Great Pyrenees dogs that stay with them to protect them from predators and of course Little Man was in love with the dogs.  Luckily he was a bit hesitant of the alpacas but after a while he got a bit bolder with them and started calling them to come over, needless to say the alpacas didn’t listen to him.  We had a great time on the farm and luckily no one was spit on by the alpacas.

Little Man has started at a school nearby for a little extra help with his speech and he seems to like it and is doing well. I have to admit I like coming home and being able to ask him how school was and it’s great to hear the stories. His speech has greatly improved and is talking more and more every day. 

Hope Rose is doing great and getting bigger every day, she is a mover and never liked the burrito roll; hopefully when she gets older she will like burritos.  Hope Rose is becoming more aware of her surroundings everyday and she always lights up when her brother comes over and plays with her.  We are still waiting to get word when Hope Rose’s homecoming day will be, but it’s still up in the air.  Hope Rose just had a doctor’s appointment and she is doing great and gaining weight.

With all the madness going on in our house, we feel greatly blessed to have our family.  God is great!!!

 

Hello 3, Hello Hope

Three sort of snuck up on us; we bought a hot tub and that meant expanding the porch then of course Jynx thought it should be expanded more.  Oh, and since we were doing all this Jynx thought it would be nice if I built a bar for the porch.  With all of this going on, Little Man’s third birthday was upon us.

We took Little Man to his favorite restaurant, Tyler’s Tender.  Grandma Ruth, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Rosie and Auntie Jea Jea came for the fun.  Little Man of course had a great time running all over and playing with the trains.  Grandma Ruth did her best to keep up but I’m sure she slept well that night.  Little Man didn’t want to take a break to eat but ordered a “HOT DOG!” as he so famously says now and then ate the entire thing quickly.  Not only does he infaticaly say “Hot Dog!” but now he also says his name “Jay-A-Me”, everyone asks when did he become Italian?  After Tyler’s we headed back to the house for some ice cream cake.

We all slept well that night not knowing what the next day had in store for us.  I awoke the morning of July 20 and headed out to the store, I had the day off and Little Man’s birthday party was coming and I needed to complete some things around the house.  I arrived home and began working on railroad signs railroad crossing, Jameville, JJ Junction, JJS Railroad Double J Crossing and Bubba Falls to go with the water slide Jynx had bought.  I was doing okay but a bit behind on what I wanted to get done when Jynx’s sister yelled from the house “Rog!  You might want to be in here!” My first assumption was that Little Man was in some funny position like watching TV upside down.  I started heading to the house thinking I would only look quickly and get right back to work.  As I approached the porch Jynx ran out of the house tears in her eyes and the phone in her hand.  My stomach dropped as I thought of what possibly could be wrong.  Jynx started telling me but I could not understand her, about all I could make out was “Baby” and “Girl”, then she handed me the phone and she ran back into the house.  I placed the phone to my ear and it was Joanna our adoption counselor who explained that they have a beautiful baby girl for us and she was born on the 18^th and we could pick her up after 4 o’clock. 

We arrived at the hospital and met little Hope Rose Steele; she was perfect and hardly cried as we signed the paperwork and waited around for her final test.  The biological Grandmother asked to meet us and we naturally agreed, they could have asked us to walk over hot coals and we would have agreed.  She was a lovely woman and she told us about the birthmother and how she gave birth at home and even cut the umbilical cord herself.  We were able to get a picture with her and she got a picture of us.  We said our goodbyes and the adoption counselor walked out with her.  Later the adoption counselor told us she was happy and that we were a great family for the baby to go to, and that warmed our hearts.  Hopefully one day our kids will be able to meet their birth mom’s, they are our angels.

Unfortunately, Little Man was not able to come to the hospital with us.  Although in the months up to Jame Jacks birthday, we asked if he wanted a brother or sister and he always said sister.  After hours at the hospital and all of our paperwork signed, we loaded Little Hope into her car carrier and headed home so she could meet her big brother, Aunts, and Grampy Rock.  When we arrived at the house Little Man came running out to greet his Little Sister.  We placed her on the deck and he was laughing with excitement and even chuckled a bit more as Juno stopped to give her a sniff over.  He then ran over to the couch so he could hold her.

Our family is now complete and the adventures have just begun.  Jynx’s Dad has always said if you get a Boy and a Girl, you have a Million Dollar Combination!  Well, although we struggled for many years to have a family, this sure has been worth the wait. God always has a plan, thank you. Welcome home Hope Rose Steele.