We really miss our Little Dude

James' birthday is Thursday 4/23. Just like Tony's, it sneaks up on us and pretty much hits us harder than we are used to. We will be out of town three different weekends in May so we decided not to go back to SF to visit the grave site next week. Instead we will be working on the boys' memorial garden in front our house.

We started it last year by clearing out the juniper bushes. This morning Stuart moved the two big rocks, one has to be at least 400lbs. Then he removed some stone edging, leveled the dirt and arranged small retaining wall blocks and plastic edging to finish the design side. It was lightly raining so it was a bit messy but not a major obstacle.

Next week we will need to fill in the low spots and behind the blocks with dirt. We hope to be able to get the mulch and plant flowers on Saturday. It should give us something constructive to do while still remembering him.

Last night we attended the Michael W. Smith/Steven Curtis Chapman concert in the Sioux City Orpheum along with a few friends. We all had a great time. We both enjoy their music and they played a few songs that are very special to us. It was emotional at times but also healing. Chapman spent time talking about his trial and that was an encouragement to us.

Abby is still amazing us every day. She's just a wonderful little girl and brings us such joy. It's quite the mix of emotions that we can experience. It's a concrete example of "joy amidst the pain". She is still as social as ever and loves to go to the park with her friends.

We haven't moved too far on either Adoption or Foster care. There isn't a big rush for us and still seem to change our thoughts on it week to week. We are planning on enjoying this spring and summer. But we know all too well it will depend on what God has planned for us.

Thanks for all of you that continue to pray for us.

Looking forward to our boys again,

Stu, Tashia and Abby