About Me
- Rachelle D Alspaugh
- I've been married to my husband, Michael, for almost 25 years. I'm a mom to a biological son and an adopted son from Colombia, and I'm also a spiritual mom to my adopted son's older brother, who I claim as a son in my heart. I'm bilingual and love to work with and relate to Spanish-speaking children and families. I've been a teacher to students from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures for the last 20+ years. I'm also an author and a certified Biblical counselor. I'm in a new empty nest season in a new location far from where I raised my boys, so I'm definitely in a stage of rediscovering myself, my interests, and my purpose.
Surviving the Valley Series
Click on the card to order or read the reviews
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
My Photo Book
Click here to view this photo book larger
Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.
Thursday, April 17th
Two o'clock a.m. There aren't many occasions where you might welcome a phone call from the police at two in the morning. Despite being woken up, it sure felt good to hear that the truck had been found, amidst other stolen trucks. We know very little at this point as to how or exactly when it was found, who they arrested, or even what shape it's in. Nor do we know if they've recovered any of the contents that went missing, either. The truck has been shuffled between the police, the impound, and the insurance company, so we haven't even seen it yet. But at least we're not stuck wondering where it might be, with who, and why?
I'm pretty doggone exhausted, though. Too many late nights. (I'm a morning person, not a night owl). Too much going on in too short of a period of time. A little too much stress. I haven't even made it to the grocery store this week yet!
I look forward to a restful Easter weekend, with no soccer games, no trips, no big social events, etc. There's a reason God calls us to seasons of rest. I am hoping that He will call me to enter one soon. I am craving a few long, quiet mornings around here, and I know the boys are craving a few long mornings to sleep in after their weekend running all over everywhere while we were gone (It truly took a village to accommodate them for just three short days, but that's for another post, another time.)
Goodnight, all.
I'm pretty doggone exhausted, though. Too many late nights. (I'm a morning person, not a night owl). Too much going on in too short of a period of time. A little too much stress. I haven't even made it to the grocery store this week yet!
I look forward to a restful Easter weekend, with no soccer games, no trips, no big social events, etc. There's a reason God calls us to seasons of rest. I am hoping that He will call me to enter one soon. I am craving a few long, quiet mornings around here, and I know the boys are craving a few long mornings to sleep in after their weekend running all over everywhere while we were gone (It truly took a village to accommodate them for just three short days, but that's for another post, another time.)
Goodnight, all.
Wednesday, April 16th
So, we just wished Julian a happy 21st birthday on Monday, but their little sister who never came home to us will celebrate her 12th birthday on Friday, the 18th. That made two "family" birthdays in a week, one on Monday and one on Friday. Those two will always have our hearts and they will always be a part of Juan David, so we decided to celebrate at home. We scanned a picture of both of them together and had a special cake made for both of them. Mike took the picture in to work Wednesday morning and planned to bring it home when he got off work in the early afternoon.
The cake turned out beautiful, and Mike said it made him feel really good about our plans to celebrate at dinner. He walked out of SAM's Club with the cake in the buggy only to find that his truck had completely disappeared. A big red truck, F350, successfully stolen right out of the parking lot in broad daylight. He ended up pulling up video from the club and watched just how easily those thieves broke into his truck and actually drove away with it. 44 seconds. It only took 44 seconds to steal a big, red truck out of a busy parking lot right at lunch time!
More than the thought of the truck being gone, the thought of all the stuff that Mike had inside it and in the toolbox just made us sick. The one positive we kept thanking God for was the fact that if Juan David's social security card had come, Mike likely would have had all of our tax paperwork in the truck to take to the accountant (including ALL of our adoption receipts and expenses, many of which cannot be replaced). Thank God it's all still locked in a safe, waiting on that social security card.
Mike spent all day and evening talking to the police and the insurance. We still had our birthday celebration at dinnertime, although the mood had dampened quite a bit due to the circumstances. Juan David thought the cake was beautiful, though, and he expressed how much he wished he could just see his sister and know what she looks like now. I have faith that someday they'll all find each other.
While the boys and I went to church and Bible study that evening, a close friend brought over a vehicle for us to borrow until we had another way to get around. So thankful to have such great friends in times of need.
The cake turned out beautiful, and Mike said it made him feel really good about our plans to celebrate at dinner. He walked out of SAM's Club with the cake in the buggy only to find that his truck had completely disappeared. A big red truck, F350, successfully stolen right out of the parking lot in broad daylight. He ended up pulling up video from the club and watched just how easily those thieves broke into his truck and actually drove away with it. 44 seconds. It only took 44 seconds to steal a big, red truck out of a busy parking lot right at lunch time!
More than the thought of the truck being gone, the thought of all the stuff that Mike had inside it and in the toolbox just made us sick. The one positive we kept thanking God for was the fact that if Juan David's social security card had come, Mike likely would have had all of our tax paperwork in the truck to take to the accountant (including ALL of our adoption receipts and expenses, many of which cannot be replaced). Thank God it's all still locked in a safe, waiting on that social security card.
Mike spent all day and evening talking to the police and the insurance. We still had our birthday celebration at dinnertime, although the mood had dampened quite a bit due to the circumstances. Juan David thought the cake was beautiful, though, and he expressed how much he wished he could just see his sister and know what she looks like now. I have faith that someday they'll all find each other.
Tuesday, April 15th--TAX DAY
By this time every year, tax day doesn't really mean much because we've usually already filed, gotten a refund, and felt more secure with a cushion in our savings again. This year I began the day driving through the post office to file an extension for the first time ever.
If I thought Colombian paperwork with the government was bad, I can't say the U.S. has seemed much better (or quicker). First we found ourselves waiting much longer than normal for Juan's certificate of citizenship. They said getting a social security card would be easy after that. Really? What was supposed to take two weeks (or four at the most) is now dragging into eight weeks. Even a four week wait would have had his card here in time to get our taxes done. Nope. Nothing. Still. We've called several times, only to say the # hasn't been issued yet.
If I thought Colombian paperwork with the government was bad, I can't say the U.S. has seemed much better (or quicker). First we found ourselves waiting much longer than normal for Juan's certificate of citizenship. They said getting a social security card would be easy after that. Really? What was supposed to take two weeks (or four at the most) is now dragging into eight weeks. Even a four week wait would have had his card here in time to get our taxes done. Nope. Nothing. Still. We've called several times, only to say the # hasn't been issued yet.
Monday, April 14th
Wishing a happy, happy 21st birthday to our other sweet son, Julian. Juan David's biological brother. The boy "responsible" for keeping us in Juan David's life and for voicing his heart to the Colombian officials over our case, convincing them that his brother belonged with us. Some days I really miss that boy. I know that the fact that our hearts are so tied to Julian has really helped our bonding with Juan David.
I got a coupon to make a free photo book on Shutterfly, so I made a book for Julian. Unfortunately, it hasn't arrived yet, but he knows it's coming. It turned out absolutely beautiful. I hope he will always cherish the pics of him and his brother together this summer on our trip to Villa de Leyva.
We also made a short video for him, saying happy birthday, and sent it his way.
The day ended with a quick dinner and early evening soccer game in the freezing cold, which seemed even colder having just come from 90 degree weather in Texas.
I got a coupon to make a free photo book on Shutterfly, so I made a book for Julian. Unfortunately, it hasn't arrived yet, but he knows it's coming. It turned out absolutely beautiful. I hope he will always cherish the pics of him and his brother together this summer on our trip to Villa de Leyva.
We also made a short video for him, saying happy birthday, and sent it his way.
The day ended with a quick dinner and early evening soccer game in the freezing cold, which seemed even colder having just come from 90 degree weather in Texas.
Sunday, April 13th
Another morning to sleep in, at least a little bit. Some friends who live in Round Rock mentioned that they'd love for us to stop by on our drive back home (the ones who led our very first trip to Piedras Negras seven years ago when we met Madai, also the ones who let us stay at their house the weekend that we met Juan David and his sister). We hadn't seen them in a few years, so we made arrangements to get together with them for an early dinner. Our plan was to leave around 11:30 to make sure we'd get there by four. We figured we could spend about two hours with them before heading home, getting us home by around 8:30 or so.
However, we woke up with an hour left for breakfast. Mmmmmm. Those chilaquiles just melted in our mouths! (Reminded us of when we had the same delicious breakfast at a hotel in Mexico City during our honeymoom). After breakfast, we packed up and ended up leaving at 11:30 to go bid Madai goodbye and see her new house. Then an hour later, we found ourselves still waiting in line to cross the border back into the United States.
Though an hour later than planned, we enjoyed every minute (and bite) at our friends' house in Round Rock. What a blessing to spend an early evening with them.
By seven o'clock, we couldn't resist David's pleas via texts, asking us to please get back on the road toward home. He missed us. :( We got home by ten o'clock. Falling into bed was not an option, though, because we came home to a pretty urgent house repair and to two boys who wanted to go through their goodie bags right away.
Monday morning came way too fast. "Okay, if I can just make it through the next three days, life will finally slow down enough to catch my breath....."
However, we woke up with an hour left for breakfast. Mmmmmm. Those chilaquiles just melted in our mouths! (Reminded us of when we had the same delicious breakfast at a hotel in Mexico City during our honeymoom). After breakfast, we packed up and ended up leaving at 11:30 to go bid Madai goodbye and see her new house. Then an hour later, we found ourselves still waiting in line to cross the border back into the United States.
Though an hour later than planned, we enjoyed every minute (and bite) at our friends' house in Round Rock. What a blessing to spend an early evening with them.
By seven o'clock, we couldn't resist David's pleas via texts, asking us to please get back on the road toward home. He missed us. :( We got home by ten o'clock. Falling into bed was not an option, though, because we came home to a pretty urgent house repair and to two boys who wanted to go through their goodie bags right away.
Monday morning came way too fast. "Okay, if I can just make it through the next three days, life will finally slow down enough to catch my breath....."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)