1st Annual George R. Tucker, Sr. Family Reunion

The 1st annual George R. Tucker, Sr. Family Reunion was a huge success. From backyard BBQs to a day at Lake Tahoe everyone who came played hard and had a great time.

Reunion Aftermath

Although Nathan does an above average job working in a pharmacy and offering unsolicited medical advice he did not show his smarts at the reunion. One might reasonably decide that if their lily white legs have not seen the sun in several years it MAY be a good idea to use a little sun screen when floating in a river for 4 hours. However, that was not what Nathan (the trained medical professional) did. These pictures don't do his sun burn justice. His ankles are so swollen that when you press on them you leave an indention.

Eborn Family Reunion

Last weekend we went to the Eborn Family Reunion in Preston, Idaho. We had a surprisingly good time. I don't know about you but for me the food is very important when determining the success of an event and I must say the food was very good. I'm bummed because I don't have any pictures of some of the funnest things we did (floating the river and swimming at the Hot Pots).

Uncle Sam took us on a hay ride.
We saw two Bald Eagles.

Floating the river was more of an adventure than it should have been. I mean my cousins set us up to float the easiest part of the river and we still managed to fall off our rafts and loose flip flops. It was very embarrassing. I am sure my cousin Rusty thinks me and my sisters are complete retards. The Hot Pots were also fun. I'm one of those super mean moms who makes their kids try things they don't want to. So, I forced Marcus to go down the slide kicking and screaming the whole way to the top. But as I suspected He loved it. The Hot Pots are way more run down than when I was little but we still had fun.

We camped and the mornings were very cold.

Aunt Rachel taught Marcus how to put on a rave style light show with glow sticks.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Nathan and I have been on an emotional roller coaster the last couple of weeks. We were really excited when our case worker called us and said that a birth mom wanted to place her 3 year old son and wondered if we wanted to be presented. He said both parents were willing to sign relinquishments. This was the ideal situation for us and so we said yes. Then we waited. When we did not hear anything after several days I called him. I can't imagine giving someone that kind of news and then not calling to fill them in. I mean we were in agony. So anyway when I talked to him he told me that the birth mom wanted to talk to me and that they hoped to have placement done in two weeks. I nervously called the birth mom who I instantly loved. She told me all about her little boy who was actually two but would be turning three at the end of the month. She also said that the birth Dad was not fully on board. She asked a lot of questions and asked me to e-mail pictures. When she said that the birth dad was not fully on board I think Nathan and I both tried putting up our guard. However, I e-mailed her some picture and told her to check out the blog that I had quickly created just for her. The next day I received an e-mail letting me know that she wanted to place her little boy with us. The e-mail include pictures of one of the most adorable little boys you have ever seen.

So, despite the fact that we knew Dad wasn't on board we started falling in love. I mean it is so hard not to get your hopes up and start day dreaming about life with two little boys. Again we didn't hear from our case worker for several days. So, again I called him. I explained that according to birth mom, birth dad was not fully on board and that until we knew where he stood we did not want to start doing visits. Again we didn't hear anything for several days so I called our case worker again. He asked when we wanted to start visits. I asked if everything had been worked out with birth dad and he said that it hadn't. I again explained how we felt. We wanted what was best for everyone. We did not want our hearts broken and we especially did not want to confuse this little boy. He said that it shouldn't be a big deal to get dad's relinquishment but they needed our finger prints back before they could place him in a home out of his state.

Again several days went by and I called our case worker. I explained that my family had a cabin in the state the little boy lived in and we could stay there if it would speed up the process. He said it would and said again that it shouldn't be to hard to get dad to sign the relinquishment. The next day I got an e-mail from the birth mom. She said that Dad was not willing to sing and she obviously couldn't place without his consent. She went on to say that she continued to hope that her little boy could be part of our family. To date I haven't heard a word from our case worker.

It may sound crazy but we do love that little boy and his birth mom. We want what is best for them.

It is a little bit frustrating. I told Nathan I was not going to call our case worker this time. I was going to wait and see how long it took him to call us with the news that Dad won't agree to placement. It is sad to say but the more money you have to spend the smoother things go when it comes to adoption, at least that has been our experience. Like Nathan said last night it is a lot better experience to adopt when you have $20,000 in the bank.

I just keep telling myself that we are supposed to be learning something from each of these experiences. I also know that these things don't happen by chance. Our child won't end up in some other family. We just have to be patient learn what we can from each experience and keep on praying.

P.S. If you know someone who knows someone who is considering an adoption plan for their child or infant keep us in mind.

Fun With The Family

We hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July! We spent it in Starr Valley. It was very fun! We went into Elko for the fireworks. I know it is surprising but the fireworks in Elko are VERY good. It was Nathan's Grandma's 90th birthday and they celebrated it at the family reunion on Saturday. You have never seen so many cowboy hats, belt buckles, or crazy mustaches in your life as you see at a Dahl family reunion. Marcus especially thought our trip was awesome. He rode his quad all over the place, got as dirty as he wanted, played with cousins, and ate about a million otter pops.

Marcus and Jace had a great time riding the quad

Marcus kept his hand over his ears through the whole fireworks show. He loved the fireworks but hated the noise.

Could they be any more adorable!!!

Nathan and His Mom, Pam. We were all supposed to wear red shirts. Only Nathan and his Mom complied.

Aren't we cute!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Hope everyone has a great Independence Day. We are headed to Starr Valley tonight which should be fun.