January 12

A year ago today the earthquake took place in Haiti, and a year ago today Adam turned 15. So today he is 16. We had several surprises planned but most did not work out. Some issues came up. And no, he's not driving. He needs to show responsibility in the little things first, then will come the driving.

We are celebrating tonight when everyone is together (but the twins may already be in bed) because there is no time on Wednesday that everyone is together due to dance classes and kids at two different churches. By the time Adam gets home from, Jasmine and I will be at dance. She goes right to church choir from dance. The others head off to two different churches.

A lot has happened since January 12, 2010. The obvious thing is that the twins came home January 25th. They have made good progress and are fitting in well. They show signs of attachment, although we still limit their interactions in situations that are bonding nightmares. I will talk more about the amazing progress they've made in a post on the 25th which is their one-year-home date.

Since I don't have pictures of Adam from today, I'll post a few of my favorites from the past year.

Baking with Jasmine


Easter


Knee boarding



Ready for an ocean swim

At a park

new t-shirt

with his gingerbread partner

My wishes for Adam for the coming year are:

That he finds his self worth in Christ, not in looks or charm

That he find new challenges and ways to stretch himself

That he bring his grades up not just for me, but to excel

That he connects with a circle of friends who will encourage his faith walk

That he will begin to see that God has a perfect plan tailored made just for him

I also hope that three more teens join the youth center basketball team so they will make a second team. Despite the F's and D's, I decided to give him a chance to play on the youth center team, but when we went to sign him up it was already full so they put Adam on a waiting list. If they get a few more teens signed up, they'll create a second team. But it's very close to games starting so I don't know if that will happen.