Alaska News

More interesting news from Anchorage:

• Adria and I would periodically see a guy dancing on the same street corner in Anchorage. Turns out that the newspaper did a little profile on him a while back.
  
• Articles about the weather like this one are interesting because they usually provoke comments suggesting that Al Gore is a liar
  
• What do you do if you come home to find a dead moose in your yard? Put it up on Craigslist of course.
  
• Here is an article about moose rummaging through people's garbage and how to stop moose from doing that
  
• Headline: Couple comes home to find bear inside
  
• Sometimes people tease Oregon State fans about having a beaver as a mascot because beavers aren't viewed as fierce (this despite having some of the largest incisors around). Hopefully this article will settle the dispute once and for all of "Who would win in a fight between a dog and a beaver?"
  
• And in a follow-up to the robbery of some trick-or-treaters on Halloween, the perpetrators of the crime have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

A Short Stay

Today a group of social workers, psychologists, family members, lawyers (not ours) and foster parents (us) held a meeting and decided that a therapeutic foster home would be best suited to address some of Sierrah's mental health needs. We wondered why that placement was not made earlier if everyone agreed that it was the best environment. We also were surprised to find out that everyone in the room except for us was previously aware of the extent her special issues. Regardless, we are happy that she will finally be receiving the kind of treatment that will make her life more stable. In order to help Russell adjust to the removal of his sister, he was placed in a home with two other foster boys his age. Their foster mother had been requesting another boy for some time already so it seems to be a very good match. Our house is suddenly very quiet! Thomas seems to be missing all the entertainment, but I learned a lot of tricks from the kids and am doing my best to keep him laughing. We were happy to have this exciting, albeit short experience and we learned a lot of useful things about parenting.

New Teeth

Thomas has some teeth coming in on his upper gum. He likes to show them off.

Scooting Thomas

Thomas has become quite the crawler. He likes to crawl around the house and examine whatever is nearby.

Pre-School Graduation

Sierrah's Pre-school class had a little graduation ceremony today that I was able to attend. Sierrah looked like she enjoyed being able to wear a paper mortar board.

Foster Parenting

Not long after we moved into our house, Adria and I decided to become foster parents. After going through the long process of filling out the forms, having thorough background checks performed and having our home checked to ensure that it isn't a death trap, we got a sibling pair that will be staying with us for a while 2 weeks ago. Their names are Russell (age 6) and Sierrah (age 5).