The Keno Family's Adoption Story

Monday, May 21, 2012

SK Pics

Funny picture...if you can see two black objects on John's clothes...why is it cats always gravitate to the people who dislike them the most. I had laid out all John's work clothes for him to sort through and the cats spent the whole day on them!

Four of our kids attend this school-could I have taken the picture any further back-I best go get a close up so we can at least read the name! The first day Aiden went to school he was SOOOOOOOO excited that it was Jabba's Palace (the dome in the middle of the building)!!

A typical SK farmyard a house, barn, outbuildings, surrounded by a row or two of trees to help block the wind as the fields are wide open and oh do the winds whistle here!

We picked up a nail on our drive so John is changing it per Aiden's instructions of course!

Brent's High School! Brent has really come into his own this year at school. He was on his own much of the time navigating from classroom to classroom. Scared the liver out of all of us, but he did fine! He is really going to miss the good friends he has made in Moose Jaw.

Trains, trains, everywhere trains on the Prairies. And they are sooooo long.

This is Aiden waiting, waiting, waiting for Daddy to fix the tire...

This is the church we have attended for the past 1 1/2 years. Next week they are sending us off with cake and coffee/juice after the service. We are going to sorely miss our friends here but home beckons us!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

10 Sleeps

Ten sleeps until we head "home"!
I have everything packed that can be and ten boxes on stand by for the last minute mad packing! John has been painting the last few evenings. Our bedroom and the hall are finished with the kitchen being more than half finished. Next he will floor half of David's bedroom (it used to be Jennifer's room until John knocked the wall in between their rooms out) and then paint it out. He is also going to be siding our trailer and another one of the trailers he is working on so he has his work cut out for him this next week!
Next Tuesday we will pick up the moving truck and then start loading. We have our adult daughters' worldly possessions to pick up a few blocks away and then we will load up all but our mattresses and suitcases. I ordered some new stories on cd to listen to on the looooooooooong drive, we have the dvd player in the van and a new dvd Heather sent us that has 17 hours of movies. We will also spend lots of time chatting and sightseeing as we drive along.
It has been 17 months since I have seen the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains. John spoke to a lady at church today who is a true flatlander. She said whenever she has come from BC back to her native SK, she feels like she holds her breath through the Rockies until she is back into a place with wide open spaces again! I don't understand this but have heard others say they get very claustrophobic in the Rockies. Not me; I am amazed and awestruck at their grandeur. I probably drive through them with my mouth hanging open!
We are hoping to make it into BC on Day One then we will find a motel to get 40 winks at. Day Two we hope to get within three hours of the BC Ferries. Our Ferry is booked for 12:45 on Day Three.

We have a crew of friends meeting us at our house to help us unload the truck and get the house set up a bit. Our daughters are going to provide a light supper for the crew and are bringing a few necessities for the fridge and cupboards. Are we loved or what?!! Our house is right on the beach similar to the picture above but our beach is rocky not sand. The beach pictured here is a mile or two down the road.

We have spent hours and hours and hours at this playground and spray park which backs onto the lovely beach pictured above. This is also the park that world renowned sandcastle competitions are held at each summer.

Another favourite family outing is going to Coombs Market to see the infamous goats on the roof, to shop for unique gifts and tasty foods from all over the world and to have a great meal. Coombs has oodles of unique shops and you can spend a whole day wandering from shop to shop.

Little Qualicum Falls is another favourite spot to go camping or hiking at.

For the past few summers (except last) the Keno girls go to Chemainus Theatre to enjoy the out-of-this-world buffet dinner and a well performed play.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is playing this summer so I hope our girls' night out can continue!
I said to Aiden the other day that we had 12 sleeps until we go to BC. He said "I'm going to bed and sleep really fast so we can go to BC quick."

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Renos and David

David's room flooring, our room flooring and hallway flooring done!

I really would have preferred going back in time to this lovely shag John uncovered but alas it is not to be...

John has painted out our room and today is demolition day! This wall between two bedrooms will be gone by sundown!

Not sure what D has in mind...

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Spring Band Recital and More Renos

We attended Jennifer's Spring Band Recital at school this week. They did a great job! and our boys sat nice and quiet through the whole recital. YES!!

David's room less his carpet and closet...

This is the laminate the new owners of the trailer we are renting bought-what a great match to the bathroom linoleum we bought! John did all the laminate in our bedroom last night and tonight is doing the hallway. We are leaving the trailer May 30 and it will be rented out for June 1 so John is going to do all the rest of the renos before we leave-I see some late nights coming on!

An Artist and A Gardener

An artist at work!

Ta Da! The finished project.

David looking very studious in my glasses!

David and his buddies are ready to roll! to Parksville!!!

cute boy from Bulgaria + dirt = bliss

Thursday, April 26, 2012

And They're Off!

Our two eldest daughters left for "home" yesterday. They have lived here in Saskatchewan for 5 years and 4 years and were mighty glad to be on the road! It is always so sad for me when our children leave our nest...but not this time! No sirree as we will be heading "home" in 5 weeks!! We will be living right on the ocean on Vancouver Island-quite the opposite of living on a barren prairie! We will miss the lovely people here and the sunshine but long to see family and friends and oh all the lovely shades of green, and the mountains, and the ocean...

This past couple months we have been very busy celebrating 6 family birthdays, Easter, Graduation for our eldest daughter who just finished 8 years of studies, and an early Mother's Day. We are partied out and are all happy that we have no family birthdays until mid-September!

I find myself once again in the midst of packing for a move. Call me weird but I actually enjoy packing up house. I also enjoy unpacking and setting up at a new house. As soon as we arrive, we will be looking for a church family as God is where we centre our lives so it is extremely important to us to be part of a church and worship with them each week. We have always been blessed to be part of a great church family so we hope God is even now preparing a church for our family.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Adoption doesn't stop when teens become adults - News1130

What does it take to adopt a teen? - News1130

I had an interesting conversation recently with a middle aged lady who mentioned that years ago they had all their paperwork ready to adopt but a fire destroyed all their paperwork and they just never redid it. I mentioned to her that they could still adopt but her response was "we are too old". I challenged her to think of adopting a teen and she was surprised to hear that there are teens needing to be adopted. Please, please, please get the word out that YES there are thousands of teens needing adoptive homes! And if you think you are too old to adopt-you're NOT!!

http://www.bcadopt.com/

The Adoption Channel-Support for the Adoption Community in BC

The #1 Online Education Network for the Adoption Community

The Adoptive Families Association of BC is pleased to announce the arrival of The Adoption Channel - live and interactive, online education and support for the adoption community in BC.

Airing on select Thursdays every month, the Adoption Channel provides more of the on-demand education and continuous support that the adoption community already receives from AFABC. Come learn with us!

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Once you register for a webinar, you will be emailed a link and instructions to log in. Non-members can add an AFABC membership at time of webinar purchase to take advantage of member discounted rate.