Forever Families

Friends & Family -

Jaymie and I are so excited to tell you about our news! We had a new little boy, Jacob Tyler, join our family today. Jaymie said this was the easiest delivery she has ever had, despite Jacob weighing in at about 45 pounds and measuring about 40 inches long. Both Mom and Jacob are doing very well, recovering from all the excitement of the day. Jacob has blue eyes, a full head of brown hair and is a very sweet little boy. His development is amazing; on the first day we brough him home, he walked all by himself; jumped on the trampoline; slid down the slide and is speaking in full sentences. This "pregnancy" was only about 4 months, but he came to us being five years old. We've adopted!

In all seriousness, we received a call from the Idaho Health & Welfare department today saying that we had been chosen as the family for Jacob. We are elated. We had been in contact with the social workers there for several weeks and knew this was coming, but it is wonderful to finally have it "official". Jacob has been in foster care with a wonder family for about a year. He and his family came over today and we got to meet him. He is very, very sweet and I think he will fit right into our family. Mom (Rollins) said it best "He's like a little puzzle piece that will just fit right in" and so he is. He's a year and a day younger than Bryce (6) and about a year and a half older than Avery (4). The first few years of his life were pretty rough, but he has a very sweet disposition and seems to be perfect for our family, and we seem to be perfect for him.

We had a few preasents to give him, and he just glowed while he was opening them....but who doesn't like transformers, fighter jets, tonka trucks, snuggly stuffed puppies and a blanket (camo of course). He played so well with Shaylee, Bryce and Avery (and they played so well with him, thank goodness). I heard him say "Bryce, I really like you." As the evening went on, the kids disappeared and we were able to spend quite a while talking with is foster parents. They have done so much to help him in the past year. He seems to have caught up to where he should be for his age. His foster parents are wonderful Christian people who know that Jacob is supposed to be in our family and are very supportive of this transition. During our talk with his foster parents, the kids (ours and theirs) were upstairs watching a movie (Cars, Jacob's favorite) and Jacob came down and timidly walked up to Jaymie and said "I love you so much." That was the sweetest thing I have heard. His foster parents said that they had never heard him say that before, ever.

It was hard to let him go back home with his foster family, but since he's older, we needed to have a short transition. We'll see him daily for the next week at aclimitize, and then he'll be in our home perminently. When he was packing up his new toys and saying good by, Shaylee said "I'm gald that you are my new brother."; Bryce said "I can't wait until you can be my little brother."; and Avery said "Thank you for coming to our family."

We are definitely blessed to have him come to our home. It'll take maybe 6 - 9 months before the adoption is finalized, but we'll be his foster parents until we are able to finalize the process and have him sealed to us. We look forward to that day and are loving our new son.

Paxton, Jaymie, Shaylee, Bryce, Jacob and Avery

PS We aren't allow to post pictures of him yet (foster rules) but if you would like to see a picture email us.

Girls and Guns

I wrote this in response to my brother-on-law who sent me an article on why women should carry hand guns. I got a good kick out of it.

Dear (name removed to protect the guilty),
Thanks for sending the Front Sight blog. It has completely changed the way I feel about guns! Not really, but I am seriously afraid of Dr. Ignatious Piazza and his very formidable mustache. The thought of meeting a mustache like that in a dark alley is enough to make me get a concealed weapons permit. In fact he could probably hide a 9mm in his mustache.

Anyway, since the argument of why I need a gun has been presented, I thought I would give you the same answers I gave Paxton (and will probably get the same response). If I was so very concerned about my safety there are a number of things I could do to minimize personal risk like, move to Gooding, stop riding a motorcycle, quit playing sports, remove all steak knives from my home (I have been tempted to do this on occasion), and give Avery weighted shoes to keep her from climbing things. Odds are that by doing any of these I would minimize risk of things that are much more likely to happen statistically than me being attacked and need a gun.

I am not afraid of guns. I have a healthy respect for them. We own one that I know how to use and practice with several times a year. I don’t see why we need more guns or what good they would do Paxton as he spends 99.9 percent of his time in a cube at Micron, in our church building and in our house (where he already has one gun.) I simply don’t like guns and that is an educated opinion. I don’t like lots of things like curry, parallel parking, the color mustard yellow, the sport of football (American), and guns. I am entitled to that opinion and there isn’t anything you or Paxton can do about it. You can call me close minded but I have read material on both sides of the story and with my given personal experience that is my call.

Finally, I don’t know why I should listen to two guys tell me I need a gun for my own safety when both of said men have managed to shoot themselves on accident.

Lovingly and affectionately your sister-in-law,

Jaymie


This is Dr. Ignatious Piazza and his mustache:

Pictures!

We got our family pictures just in time to add another little body to our family! So, for now here are our family pictures.

Scars

I wrote this for my beautiful sister Lindsay. She is such an example of strength and faith.

Scars

My finger traces across my skin
Pale lines where a wound has been
Each has a story of some sort of length
Marks of my weakness and of my strength

We start as a canvas, perfect and new
And life paints our portraits with lines and with hues
Our stories are etched in a series of marks
Seemingly subtle and jaggedly stark

Each mark was gained with some kind of trial
Tribute to sacrifice and of survival
The angry lines fade from across my skin
A constant reminder of changes within

My body and face, unique in design
Won’t follow the beauty the world defines
The wrinkles and scars that TV abhors
Are proof of my love for those I adore

When my body is old and my portrait is done
My scars tell the tale of fights I have won
Each tells a story of some kind of length
Not marks of my weakness, but proof of my strength


By Jaymie Quigley
Written 10-18-09 For my sister Lindsay

I also want to add the thought that inspired me to write this was the realization that when Jesus Christ was resurrected and His body was made perfect He kept the scars on His hands, feet, and side. He kept them as a reminder and proof of His sacrifice for those he loved.

Fruit of my labor

Adoption Update

We have been chosen as one of the top three families for a little boy here in Boise. He is five and he is absolutely adorable. He looks a lot like Shaylee with dark blond hair and blue eyes. Everything seems very promising but we won't find out for sure for two more weeks. It is so weird to look at his picture and think that he could be our son. I am so excited it is hard to sleep!

Blue Jean Ball

Thursday night I got called in as an emergency speaker for the Boise March of Dimes Blue Jean Ball. The ambassador family got sick and I had spoken for March of Dimes once before so the director called me the night before to ask if I would speak. Usually my speaking is to teenagers that aren't really paying attention anyway so a group of wealth, highly positioned adults (including the Governor and his wife) were intimidating. However by the time I spoke I think most of them were pretty drunk anyway. I talked about losing Colin and how their contribution will help keep things like that from happening. I did get quite emotional but it was nice that this time when I cried people paid donated money. Many people thanked me for sharing my story. It is nice to know I can make a difference with it.

Some Day

What my kids want to be when they grow up
Shaylee: An alligator farmer and live in a swamp
Avery: Someone who scuba dives and pets sting rays (obviously she hasn't seen The Crocodile Hunter)
Bryce: An army guy but not one that does ballet because there is secret group of them that does ballet
Paxton: An air force pilot. Oh, wait...

Bears and Apaches

For scouts, a family friend of ours offered to land his Apache helicopter in the field next to our church. Of course there was a huge turn out (not just of scouts, but of their dads, uncles and distant male relatives). My first thought when watching the kids mob the aircraft was that this machine had been through war but would it survive 300 elementary aged children. Here are a few fun pictures.

Landing:

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Bryce and his buddy trying to push start the helicopter

Happy boy: