Merrill and Roberta Simon and Family

My Mom, my Mama....She died July 10, 1986. I really miss her every now and then. When my mama passed away Merrill and I had only adopted Michael. She knew how much we wanted children. She knew our dreams and she knew our struggles. As Merrill and I have traveled down this road of adopting children, I have often wondered just what my mom would think about us. Would she be proud of us? Would she think we are nuts...like so many people do? Would she have loved the children with all that they have going on in their lives.....wondering, wondering, wondering. Then, out of the blue, she sent me the answer to all of my questions. A note from her to me, sent by way of my brother, Bobby. Bobby was reading one of her books that he had. A paper fell out of it. A blank check that she had written a note on the back of it. In her own handwriting, short, sweet and full of everything I needed to know. These are the exact words she had written down... "I'm so proud of you and Merrill and ?

I love this picture that Merrill took of me. You can see my smile which is a mile wide and you can see that it is snowing. Just how fun is all of that??? We did it again. It is one of our most favorite things to do....go to the snow. Many people love the warmer weather, but my oh my, I so love the snow. Merrill and I took a few days off from the hustle and bustle of children and our life and went up to Lake Tahoe to enjoy the snow and the snow activities. This was the view outside of our cabin. I have to admit, this just makes my heart sing. Inside and out. There is nothing I love better than all of this snow, a fire in the fireplace and getting all warm and snuggly. That is just what we did. Merrill had booked a snowmobile ride for us on Valentine's Day. We went to a new place that we have never used before. Again, it was another winner. That night we went to a local resort to have dinner. Instead of getting a little quiet, out of the way, romantic table, we sat right next to the

Today my heart has been heavy. I am not really sure why I have started thinking about this subject. Maybe the reason it has started to weigh heavy on me is that I have sure been enjoying Jericho these last few days. Jericho is a boy with many challenges. He has Cornelia de Lange and to be honest, it is a rather nasty syndrome to have. In most cases it includes things like small stature, overgrowth of all body hair, profound retardation, heart problems and digestive problems, shortened life expectancy and on and on the list can go. Bottom line for us, Jericho is just that, Jericho. He can be a very funny boy. He can be loud and obnoxious. He makes the funniest sounds that you can imagine and yes, he does it at the most inappropriate times. He can drink a persons Starbucks so fast you wonder why you spent the 5 dollars on it. He can down a soda faster than you can walk away from it. You learn how to hide things as he loves getting into everything. Poison Control is now on speed dial. T

It took my main man a long time to admit he could not see, but hey, once he did it, he looks wonderful. Here he is....well really here we are......