Do you ever have one of those weeks where nothing goes right? You are usually super busy that week, and no doubt one of the kids is sick, or gets sick, and you wish you could just stay in bed? Well, this week was nothing like that. There was nothing super spectacular that happened - we didn't win the lottery, or find a gold mine in our back yard, I didn't lose 25 pounds in one week (although that would surely be a blog entry all by itself!). Things just happened that really put a smile on my face, and isn't that what it's all about?

Superbowl Sunday. I really am not a football fan, but I do enjoy a good commercial. A halftime commercial for an upcoming movie had us all wearing 3-d glasses.

Someone told me once (jokingly) that even though you're not doing something together, as long as you're in the same room with family members, it still counts as Family Time! I love the purple laptop I got for Christmas. Purple is my favorite color, and if you didn't already know it, I'm a big Donny Osmond fan.

This week I went out geocaching. I don't go out often enough. When I go I realize how much I miss it. This time I took Aslan to get some much needed exercise. She's our hyper dog and loves to go out running.

You never know what you're going to find in the dryer. I put a load of clothes in to dry and heard a bunch of clunking. I opened it up to find one of Adam's plastic toy knives going around. Isn't doing laundry exciting?!

Our dogs aren't spoiled or anything d'ya think? Really, our son is on his bed....somewhere.

I received two special phone calls this week, and they both happened on Friday. The call we've been waiting for weeks finally arrived. We have been assigned a social worker, and she is coming out to our house on Tuesday to start our home study for foster care. Whew, I finally put it in writing, and that is cool. Clay and I started the foster parent process back in November. I'm not known for doing anything quickly, so it's taken us this long to get to where we are. That means all our paperwork has been filled out, cpr classes attended, tb tests taken, fingerprints done. Now comes the daunting task of getting our home ready. I'll be posting more on this I'm sure.

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Another special call we received came from a wonderful lady we met at our last foster class last Saturday. Her and her husband were taking the classes because their grandchildren were in a foster group home and they were in the process of having the kids come to live with them. Well, she called me last night and the kids are with them! She said they just celebrated Christmas yesterday. They had left their Christmas tree and the decorations up until the children could be with them and they could celebrate together. Even though I know they may have difficult times ahead, I am so happy for them!

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So, what's new in your neighborhood?

Camping and Valhalla Renaissance Faire

We've had a busy May! Last weekend we went camping in northern Washoe County. Did some fishing, hiking, geocaching and catching up on sleep. Even watched a movie while there was a thunderstorm nearby. We camped with some friends of ours and as usual, had a wonderful time, even with the thunderstorms, rain and hail. Hey, at least we didn't get snow!

Fishing at Boulder. They recently stocked this reservoir so most of the fish we caught were small. Make sure to have a fishing license with you when you fish here. We've had the Fish and Game check on us several times at this remote place.

Who says the Nevada desert isn't beautiful?

Sunset - I can never capture the full beauty of this on camera

Part of a preserved petrified tree - near the George W. Lund memorial. Was supposed to be a cache here but we didn't find it.

Found this old shack by accident while we were geocaching

Found a cache on the way home.

A webcam geocache in Gerlach, Nevada

Today we went to the Valhalla Renaissance Faire at Camp Richardson, Lake Tahoe. Another fun time. Again, best explained with pictures:

The whole clan!

Actually got a target today!

I just had to have her arrested and punished! Worth the $3 I spent

One of the jousters from the Knights of Avalon

The man on the right would sit in the middle of the path and pose as a wounded man, while the man on the left would hide, covering himself with that tree branch, then come out and scare passersby. This was fun to watch.

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The Bubble Fairy. This was a new act for us and a great show

Yep, finally got myself a costume!