WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!

Okay, I admit, getting to this blog is a near impossible task with so many children at home. I need to work differently at it...notice I did not say harder. I know there is a way to go at it and succeed.


For right now let's just focus on all that has been going on. The kids are growing up. It is hard to believe that Montana is now 18 months old. He has his challenges, but he is a pretty happy little guy. He is now crawling really well and pulling up to stand. He still only says mama but I am sure in his own sweet time he will be talking our ears off.

Now officially and legally forever, Montana Remington Hayes Simon. He is a keeper and we are happy he is ours!!



Bib On Bib Off




Still loving Cheese Balls!!!



Yeppers Mom, I am standing!!!

Then there are the Twins...will they forever be called the Twins :o) Macylea and McCoy. They keep us on our toes. They make us wonderful how we will make it, but at the same time we see how far they have come since we got them. WOW!!! It is hard to believe. They are action packed and full of dynamite. They are cute as bugs ears and they seem to know their adoptions are final so they can kick it up a notch...LOL

Again, now and forever....Macylea Faith Simon. Such a cutie!!! Full of it though!!!



Such a huge smile.




Love the WILD HAIR!!! Always wild.

At least she is not screaming at us :o)

Our Boy....McCoy Oakley Beckett Simon

Loves to ride his cow!!!



Adoption Day at Red Robin 11-19-2011



Feeding the Ducks..that would be NO...feeding McCoy....that would be YES!!!


Wonderful pictures from their Adoption...it was a beautiful day share with many of our wonderful and dear friends!!!

LisaMarie sings Somewhere Over The Rainbow for the Judge.

Merrill hold his Twins...MacyLea and McCoy.

Roberta holds her Baby Boy Montana.

The oldest son, Michael 33 and the youngest Son Montana 14 months.

The Cat In The Hat and his house full of Things :o)

More to follow....soon!!!


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IN NEED OF SOME SERIOUS HELP!!

Okay, I am the first to admit that our blog is in need of some serious help. Hang in there and I will get working on it this week. So many things to update on. See you soon. Hugs!!

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BITTERNESS...Not from God

Oh my this is a hard post to post. It is about bitterness. Yes, BITTERNESS. It is an ugly word. It even sounds ugly. It is not how I wish to feel or even for someone to say...that Roberta, She is a bitter person. Yet, I have to admit, bitterness got a hold of me and I am working now to break free of it. I feel that it is not a reflection of the Saviour that I serve, but more of the evil that I want to run from.

Church, I was a child who was raised in church. That is the wonderful thing about growing up in the South, church. They are everywhere. No one has a hard time finding a church to go to or friends to go with. They have things called Revival's and during a revival, you go all week, every day and no one thinks a thing about it. I miss that so much.

Church, we were "reorganized" right out of our church. We have not been to church in 9 months. Funny thing about our family, we stick out like a sore thumb. We can't just slip in the back pew and no one notice. We loved our church. We loved the early service. We could get up, get everyone dressed and get to church. It worked for us and it worked for the kids. Then that all changed and we could not really make the later service work. So we had no where to go.

Kids, they have missed church. They have missed all that goes with belonging to a church and going to church. They have missed camp, VBS, Youth Group, being on the Children's ministry team...all of those kind of things.

Bitterness...it reared its ugly head when it involved the children. We have a baby who is a year old and he has only been in church a handful of times. The twins have only been once.  Bitterness, it hardens the heart..the same heart where Jesus lives. That does not go together at all.

Blessings...a dear friend suggested I look at the blessings that were coming from other people and change my focus.

I did.

We have made friends who come over to our home and help us with the things Merrill NEVER has time for, I mean really, he is a daddy to 13 kids still at home four of whom are 3 and under and four more who are total care. We have a dear lady, whom we did not know before hand, that makes dinner for this family once a week. Talk about a BLESSING!!! She seems to always choose a night when I am running around in circles going nowhere fast.

Another friend has help us with childcare here in our home, as in blessing us with the funds to afford extra help. We had our home cleaned from top to bottom, again funded by someone who loves this family. My goodness, another church came out and sanded and stained our playground and cleaned up the "winter" from our yard.

Camp, while they did not get to go to church camp, the Military took 6 of them, three of those who are total care, and sent them to Camp Ronald McDonald for 6 days. There were real blessings. Kids who would never get to go to camp otherwise got to go to camp and be loved for who they are...not the mold they don't fit into.

God has ALWAYS provided for our family. He has always been there as we have done our level best to honor His calling. And while we have not been in church, there have been a few church members who have stayed in touch with us.

It looks as if the church is going to "reorganize" us back into the early service sometime next month.. While we have not been told this, we have "heard it through the grapevine". We hope and pray it is true. You see, there is not a church on every corner here in Northern Nevada. It is not easy to find a church family that loves this family for who they are...exotic for sure, but still full of God's children.

The bitterness, well with patience, love, support of friends and prayer, it is leaving. My life must be a witness to the very children that I have been blessed to call my own.  While on the surface I started to crumble, the foundation that was laid so many years ago at The North Dallas Church of the Nazarene, is a firm foundation. The Christian schools my parents sent me to were not a waste of their time and money. I was prayed for by such Saints as Jess and Rosie Tanner and Elmer and Bessie Woods. My parents, while not perfect showed me the way. I will stumble and I will fall, but as long as I can, I will get back up and dust myself off and go after all that I believe in again.

Thanks for checking back.


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WARNING...Full Of Cute Kids

Maverick 3 Years old

McClain 9, Jeremy 20, Joey 8

MacGyver 5, Micah 18

Joey 8

Joey 8, McClain 9

MacGyver 5, Maverick 3, McCoy2, Macylea 2

Micah 18, Joseph 11

Macylea and McCoy 2

Jericho 13, Mordachi 14, Macylea and McCoy 2

LisaMarie 11

What on earth is Merrill doing??

Joseph 11

MacGyver, Montana 11 months and LisaMarie 11

Maverick 3

Our Monkey, McClain 9


Thank You Tammy for taking these wonderful pictures of the children. It was a great day.


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GOODBYE GAYLE

This is a hard post to write. We said goodbye to our last parent on April 21. Gayle Simon ended her earthly journey, but oh how happy she was as she started her eternal journey. Merrill and I feel certain we will see her in Heaven on day, walking those streets of gold. Who knows, my guess is that Gayle will be running and skipping her way around Heaven. Her earthly body caused her such pain and in many ways was nearly useless, but she made the best of it.

While she and I did not always see eye to eye, I have to tell you that she had more sheer guts and determination that anyone I have ever known. She sure did life "her way". With the power of only a few words, she had the power to get things she wanted out of people  who did not want to do whatever it is she wanted done. Now mind you, that is not always a good thing but it was her thing.

I would have laid money on her going first...I know, sad but true. She just had a host of medical issues. Not Gayle...my mama went first, so young at only 58. Merrill's dad went second, in 2001 just three months to the day after we lost Jason. My daddy came from a family that is known for long life, but he went on at 80. Then there was Gayle. She just keep on keeping on. She turned 82 in January. Sadly, do to many things, we were not able to get home to see her...then our life just got more crazy.

We took most of the children to California when she had a stroke. Again, sadly we just did not make it in time. Merrill's siblings were with her when she passed away. We got there about 45 minutes later. I am thankful that they waited for him. I am so thankful for the hour or so they spent in her room saying their goodbyes. I was not allowed to have that time with either of my parents. I think that is a much needed time in the healing process.

It is funny, we never think we are going to loose someone and then we do. We think in our human way that they will be here when we need them or when we want to have a chat with them...and then they are not. We know in our hearts that life will end, but in our head it is never going to be anytime soon.

I think we need to stop and say I love you just a bit more, reach out and touch more often, tell them you care and hand out those hugs. So that when the end does arrive you do not have regrets. Easier said than done. It all takes work...but in the end, the rewards will be great.

You are missed Gayle. Your touched lives in your own way. We are all a bit better for knowing you...each in our own way.

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JUST TRYING TO CATCH MY BREATH

As I have stated before, I am not sure why people still come here to visit. I get so far behind and then I try to catch up. It is a never ending cycle. The other big thing is I feel that I need to post pictures, but I know that is not true. It is all about how I feel I guess.

While Merrill and I were able to get away for a few days in February, I did not really take the time blog about what all has really been going on. We have been through some really trying times to say the least. On Super Bowl Sunday, Merrill tripped over a garden cart and broke his kneecap. Now mind you, leave it to Merrill to really do it right, he not only broke it, he punctured it from underneath and ended up in surgery that required a bone graph to fix it all. Sadly he has had a rather long recovery, in part due to his sheer size and has had to be on catastrophic leave until around June 1. He has not been able to drive, bend his leg or even dress himself. He is now getting better and has the brace totally off. He is well on his way to a full recovery....Praise the Lord.

The fun did not stop there. Right after our little getaway, Montana went into the hospital for his soft palate repair. While he did in fact stay for two days, he did really well with it all. Now we are waiting for hard palate repair. I think that will be in about two more months.

Before we could take a break, it was pretty much decided that seven of our boys would need surgery...lets just say.."boy" surgery. So because we do things in a big way, Merrill and I just said "let's do it all at once". It was all falling into place when Micah was sent to the hospital with an infection in his neck glands. He was there for three days and then sent home. He was home two days and went back in for three more. How can this be happening? So many hospital stays at once. Wait, there is more!!

So the boys did in fact have their surgeries and for the most part it all went really well. We had a few that had mild complications, but nothing that was not handled at home. Even when we were busy doing all of the above, we had to deal with negative interactions with the twins social worker. The bottom line for us is she did not do her job so she has tried to turn it on Merrill and I. The good news is that we have had an outpouring of support from the social workers that know us and deal with us in an ongoing capacity. It has all been okay.

Montana was referred to a pediatric Neurologist who determined that he needed to sleep. If you follow us at all on facebook, then you know that he never sleeps....LOL. He was put on a compounded medication. The first time we gave it to him, he was rushed to the hospital the next morning. It was a very hard time for us. It was determined that he had a fast moving infection and was put on high powered antibiotics. He was in the hospital for four days.

During that time he was put on the medication to make sure that he was okay with it and that it did not hurt him at all. The only thing we needed to do was to increase the dose as it was not strong enough for him. So we came home on Monday and that night gave him double the dose. The next thing we knew he was being rushed back to the hospital and then sent to a Reno hospital due to and OVERDOSE of the medicine. Again, we were there for four days. The medicine was not compounded correctly and he was getting way to much. That has to be every parents nightmare. Again we give God the Glory that he is okay and we are back home.

The funny thing, the afternoon we came home, I ended up with Micah in ER with a complication from his surgery. I was able to laugh and to see the humor in the situation. Good news, we came back home the same day. I am not sure why the road we are traveling right now is rather hard, but in each and every day there is always a bright spot. It is nice we can laugh at a lot of it, but we have also cried more than our fair share of tears.

The road ahead is still long. Merrill is not back at work and I am so far behind it is not funny, but one day at a time, one hour at a time if need be and it will all get back to where it needs to be.

Thanks for checking in on us. I will try to get back here more often. Who knows...maybe pictures will follow soon. Hugs to each of you.

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NO COMPLAINING ON MY PART!!!

I AM IN HEAVEN!!!

RAW FEELINGS

So, today it was about raw feelings and an outpouring of love, confusion and many responses. I posted on Facebook how sad I was that there is no place for us in church right now. Face it, it is sad and it is a harsh reality of our family. We just do not "fit in" in the normal scheme of life. It takes a lot of work for us to even begin to "fit in" and even then we stick out like a sore thumb. Sometime I wonder about this path we have been chosen to be on. It is never easy, always full of so many things, but most of all it is our faith in God that this is our chosen path. So walk it we do.

I guess my post was rather confusing to say the least. Our church is a wonderful church filled with many caring people. they reorganized and we got totally lost in the shuffle. While we have been in contact with the powers that be, nothing has happened and we are not in church. Again a harsh reality of our family. It is nearly impossible for our family to actually pull off what they want us to do. It boggles our mind and I really feel that it boggles theirs also now. I have made mention several times that I believe it was easier to move the Children of Israel than it is to move our family. It takes more planning and behind the scene work than anyone can really know. We make it look easy on many levels, but that has come over time and again takes a ton of preplanning.

Now, all that being said, I am not really sure how they plan to pull this off, I am not sure they have a real clue what they are up against.

Our hope and prayer is that something works out. The last three months have been a ride of a life time for our family and we have needed our church family. Thank Goodness in times of shuffling, God is right here with us. "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Look Full In His Wonderful Face and the Things of Earth Will Grow Strangely Dim In The Light Of His Glory and Grace!!!"


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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I find it hard to believe that it is the year 2011. It will take me some time to get accustomed to writing out that one. I love many of my friends. They were able to put out an end of the year post and a post about all of their new year commitments...many chose not to use resolutions...haha. Here I sit, just happy to have a few minutes to blog at all. I will just tie it all in together.

So, as we wound down the year 2010, Merrill and I did manage to reflect on the year. All in all it was a pretty good year. We did some things we have never done, like take several of the children to Monster Jam in Las Vegas. We went dog sledding and it was so beautiful and fun. We also took all of the children snowmobile riding. Now that was great. Hard as it is to believe, we added three more children to the family.

We found out that we have many people that love and support this family that we really never knew before.It has just been an amazing journey to get here. Can you even believe it, we have people willing to come over to hold and play with the younger children. It is a great help to us when they are here.

Our children really wanted for nothing for Christmas as so many people blessed our family. It was overwhelming at times for Merrill and I to even get to be a small part of all that took place.

Now as we have moved into the New Year. We have high hopes just like everyone else. We have dreams for the children and their pathways to success. We have high hopes for our health and our abilities to be the best parents that our children could have ever had, not perfect but the best we know how to be. We hope to grow and to change.

No huge goals, no big resolutions, just to be the best we can be. To face every day to be our best. Now, we know that we will fall short, but one can only pray for a positive out come.

Thanks for stopping by. Maybe next time we will even have pictures.


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