Braden

I didn't mention much concerning Braden in my last post and since I haven't been posting very often, people are asking about him. Braden is doing great, better than we even hoped possible. God is still working miracles! We plan to bring Braden home for his first home visit this week. Will be a very short stay as we are picking him up on Wednesday and taking him back on Friday. Yes, we are going to be driving to MD on Black Friday. Hopefully most of the shoppers will be taking naps after their early morning shopping spree's and the roads will be empty. Braden is excited about coming home and we are excited about having him with us for a few days. However there is a lot of anxiety floating around our house. Many tantrums, much late night talking, explaining, re explaining, assuring that Braden will not act like he used to, that we will keep a close eye on everyone so if things get difficult we can take over. It is hard for children to understand that they can feel excited and anxious at the same time. My sister Shari, agreed to go along down to pick Braden up. Dean has been taking off work pretty often this past month. which he gladly does. He does have quite a few projects going on which can make it unhandy to take off.  We plan to stay home on Thanksgiving Day as it will be enough of an adjustment without adding other excitement to the mix. Dean wants to smoke a turkey in the smoker and I want to plan a few small projects we can do as a family. I saw these cute turkeys made with cookies and Hershey's Kisses. That would be something we could work on side by side but wouldn't be as overwhelming for Braden. Miss Sharon advised us to keep our expectations low. In other words do not plan a lot or try to do detail oriented things that require Braden to closely follow directions. We will be spending Thanksgiving Day loving, hugging and encouraging our blessings for which we are so thankful.

The top picture shows Braden with his typical cover up smile

The bottom picture shows him with a  genuinely happy smile

See Mr Eddie and Miss Sharon beaming in the back ground? This is what they work for, reunification and their hearts are rejoicing with ours to see their efforts pay off.

As always, please keep praying for our family. With God all things are possible!