Summer's Changes..

I have always been a literature person and so I think in terms of chapters when it comes to new stages of our lives.

I can not help but feel like God has turned yet another page opening up onto a new chapter in our journey here at Boys and Girls Country. Though we have remained in our same home at Cottage 6, in a strange turn of events all of the boys we have had over the last two years have gone home or graduated and moved on all in one summer and in their place we have received three new boys.

Though I am sure Ms. Carol, our intake coordinator, will add to this number soon, for now, it is nice to enjoy a small cottage and to be able to bond well with these new guys.

Daniel is in 5th grade and though he was the last to join our cottage at the very tail end of the summer he has quickly become a blessing to us. We look forward to watching him learn and grow as he comes out of his shell more and begins to trust us. 

Louis is in 6th grade and comes to us from another cottage on campus. He is loving being in a cottage with older boys, since the one he was in before had mostly younger guys, and we are loving getting to know his gentle spirit. 

 Josh is in 9th and has already proven himself to be the older leader that our cottage needs. He has a kind-hearted kind of leadership that has been a gift to our cottage.

It’s been a difficult summer on many levels losing the sons we loved so dearly, though we keep up with most of them from afar, but God has blessed us with these new young men whose stories we are excited to become a part of.

We have already enjoyed some fun adventures together over the summer and now that the routine of the school year has started back we are hopeful to grow together more as a family.

Our two older boys that graduated, Marcus and Leo, have had a fantastic summer at our College and Career Program. They both moved over to the Transitional Living Program where they learned the skills necessary for more independent living and now they are enjoying those freedoms as they have begun college at Lone Star and Texas Lutheran. We ask for your continued prayer for them as they enter into this next phase of their lives. 

We also ask for your continued prayers for our boys who have moved on from BGC, for Jeremiah, Erick, Nick and G- as they transition home to be with family. We pray that they take the lessons that they learned here home with them and that they will always remember that they are loved. 

We have also happily welcomed wonderful new singles, Cody and Angela Noble and their precious daughter Lily. We could not be more thrilled to have them and feel so blessed already by their presence in our home and with our boys. And we are so thankful for Lily’s friendship to Campbell as well! She is such a joy!

We covet your prayers as we move into this next chapter and hope to find the time to write more in the coming months. Thank you to all of you who pray for us on this journey. We have recently been confirmed anew in our mission and we pray for His continued strength to complete our work here as it comes. It's a strange and wonderful thing sometimes when change happens so quickly, it can feel like chance, but I shared with my family and friends yesterday this little comparison pic I made. I kind of feel like I have dejavu! God knows what He is doing putting together the little family for us here that He has and we are trying to trust Him to continue to grow us as He sees fit. 

 We appreciate so much your support and prayers. I will leave with a few more pics of our fun summer!! 

Campbell in his ghostbuster uniform and his sweet daddy. Campbell recently told us despite his love for the ghostbusters what he really wants to be when he grows up is a "daddy teaching parent" and I think that is an awesome testimony to the kind of wonderful husband I have. 

Cliff at the Children's Awards Banquet with Marcus and Leo. Marcus was nominated for best dressed and Leo won for Athlete of the Year. 

Campbell with one of the butterflies he raised this summer.

Josh and Campbell had fun at Cupcake Wars! 

Campbell and our fellow teaching parents son, Liam, got in tons of summer bonding! 

Josh and Louis ride the Ferry at Galveston on Cottage Vacation. 

Louis and Campbell waiting outside Fish Tails on Cottage Vacation. 

Louis and Campbell pose with the extra-large teddy bear in the ed lab. 

Josh and Campbell with one of the Great Pyrenees dogs we worked with at the Dog Show. 

Louis and Campbell had fun taking in the sights of the Houston Dog Show while volunteering for the Great Pyrenees Rescue. 

Campbell and his new buddy Lily. 

The kids had lots of great summer education enrichment in the ed lab, though I think their favorite thing was playing Loteria during Spanish classes. 

Louis has been working hard on his pee wee 6th grade football team. 

Josh has joined the Waller Bulldogs on the freshman team. 

Campbell got to spend some great time with his cousin and Poppa this summer when they came for a visit. 

Josh and Campbell both performed in the end of the summer talent show on campus. 

Campbell playing his recital piece he has learned in piano lessons on campus this year. 

And finally, up bright and early and smiling for back to school donuts!!