Spring Break

Mike's school had spring break this week, which meant he did not teach classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. He spent some extra time with the kids this week at the Henry Ford Museum on Monday . . .

and at the Detroit Zoo on Wednesday.

Checking out the tigers

Watching seals and polar bears in the underwater tunnel

Polar bears wrestling right near the glass wall

Unbeknownst to us, on Wednesday a terrible tragedy happened. Landon's birth mom and his biological sister were crossing a busy street when they were hit by a car whose driver failed to stop at the crosswalk. His birth mom was seriously injured, and his sister was killed. We did not find out until Saturday, when his birth mom's adoption case worker contacted us. We were able to find some more news from the Internet which left us with hearts full of sorrow. Along with that sorrow, however, we were able to find information we had not known before about Landon's paternal biological family. It is sobering to realize that as he begins to ask about his biological family, we will have to find a way to tell him the story of the accident and share the other information we have learned.

We carried our heavy hearts with us to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where we interviewed to be houseparents at the Milton Hershey School. Several months ago, Hallie found out that friends of ours had been hired there after working as school teachers elsewhere. We were intrigued at the prospect of a job that would allow us to spend ample time together as a family while working for an amazing cause. The school and the surrounding area are beautiful! We stayed overnight at a student home, and the following morning we shadowed the home's houseparents before participating in a formal interview on campus. The whole experience was quite intense, and the interviewers pulled no punches about the responsibilities and challenges of the job. After the interview we were invited to move on to the next stage. While we have not yet received an offer of employment, we have moved on to the intensive background check. Becoming houseparents is not a choice we are considering lightly, as it will require a significant lifestyle change. However, we are seriously contemplating the move in spite of, and perhaps even because of, the challenges.

In order to go to the interview, we had to leave Landon and Eliza at home. Thank you to everyone, especially Priscilia, who helped as we were away. We felt so happy to see our babies when we got home!