.jpg)
attison, july 11, 2009
This may be the last time I post pictures of Attison on this blog, for the same reasons I stopped posting them here before. I will, however, be posting pictures on Facebook. If you use Facebook, you can send me a friend request ~ www.facebook.com/trish.anderson . If you don’t use Facebook but would still like to see future pictures of Attison that I will post, send me an email (trish AT joyfulheartblog DOT com), let me know you would like to receive invitations to future photo albums, and I’ll make sure you get them.
the pictures are coming
I’ve had several people ask me to post pictures of Attison. I have some really good ones, too ~ the problem is we’re living in a hotel (of sorts ~ the temporary lodging facillity at Little Rock AFB), and I didn’t bring the USB cable for my camera with me. We will probably make a trip out to the house sometime later today, or maybe not until tomorrow, but while we’re there I’ll grab the USB cable.
Attison grew about 4 inches and has gained probably 10 pounds since the last time we saw her. And her hair is growing in even thicker, with more of a light red/blondish coloring to it. She’s not walking yet, although she could if she really wanted to. She pulls herself up on everything, and will cruise around ~ as long as she’s holding onto something she’s fine. But the instant she realizes there’s nothing to hold onto, she plops right back down onto her bottom. She crawls like a champ now, too. She talks, ALL THE TIME, in that cute baby babble they always develop. She likes to be included in the conversation, and will burst out with laughter if the rest of us are laughing about something.
I’ll get some pictures up as soon as I can!
off on a journey
It’s very late and I’m exhausted, but I want to get this typed up and posted while most of the details are fresh on my mind.
In May, Mike, Ashley and Attison moved up to Minnesota. The shop Mike had been working for in Texas ran into some financial problems, and even after trying for a while Mike wasn’t able to find a new job in Texas. So they packed up and moved to Minnesota, hoping that Mike would be able to do a national job search while they stayed with his parents for a little while.
Every year there’s a large group of people who get together for a week, usually in a national forest or someplace where tens of thousands of people can gather. They camp out, share what they have to share (supplies and such), and basically just hang out in an expression of a lifestyle that isn’t the usual mainstream lifestyle. Mike and Ashley decided they wanted to attend “The Gathering” in New Mexico in July, camp for maybe a week, then head back to Minnesota.
By the end of the week, they had pretty much split up. Ashley decided she wanted to continue on with a group of people she met at The Gathering, but Mike felt that that would not be best for Attison. So Mike talked Ashley into letting him take Attison, while Ashley went with her new friends on a journey around the country for a week or two, maybe more.
When Roger and I heard that Ashley had taken Attison to this gathering, we knew we were going to have to step in ~ I had told Ashley previously that I did not feel that would be an appropriate atmosphere for Attison, especially since she’s only 13 months old. We learned that Mike had decided to leave the camp and take Attison to where she could be safe ~ I called him and asked him to bring Attison here to Arkansas so we could see her.
Once he and Atti arrived safely in Arkansas, we learned a little more about the gathering, and we knew Mike had made the right decision by removing Attison from that situation. We all wished Ashley would have come out of there with Mike too, but since Ashley’s an adult she makes her own decisions.
Earlier this evening Mike and Ashley had a telephone conversation where Ashley stated that she would not be coming back ~ she likes living the hippy lifestyle, she’s happy there, and right now she has no plans to return to regular society. She told Mike she didn’t think she would ever be coming back.
To me, that says that Ashley has abandoned Attison. Ashley knows Atti is here with us, that she is being well taken care of, and that she’s loved very much. Atti is safe. So Ashley is now free to live what conventional people would refer to as a hippy lifestyle ~ just sort of aimlessley wandering around the country, hitchhiking, catching rides with other “travelers” and maybe working odd jobs here and there to earn some money for food. It’s what Ashley has always wanted to do, and now she has found a way to do it. I wish her well, I hope she is happy, and I pray that someday she’ll realize what a mistake she has made by abandoning Attison.
So, Roger and I are once again raising Attison. This time for good. Our guardianship is still in effect ~ it’s a permanent, lifetime guardianship that will hold up in any state and court in the land.
Attison will be able to lead a normal, healthy life. She’ll be loved, and while Roger and I will always be Papa and Nana, Attison will grow up with us loving her with the love of a mother and father ~ not to mention Uncles Patrick and Sawyer, Auntie Ariel, Aunties Janice, Christina, Hannah, Sarah, Amanda, Uncle Bruce, and all of the amazing ladies and kids at our homeschool co-op. Attison has a life here with us, and she is immensely loved. And I’m so thankful that not only has God brought her back to us, but that He has been providing for her in incredible and unexpected ways.
So welcome home, Attison. We love you, and we’re so excited (and thankful) to spend your growing-up years with you!
so far this week…
- we’ve welcomed Attison home
- our air conditioning broke
- we were able to get a room at the temporary lodging facility on base
- our dog and youngest son are staying with our friends until there’s air conditioning in the house
- God has provided a way for us to pay for a new air conditioning system
- God provided clothing and an umbrella stroller for Atti
- assuming we have air conditioning, this weekend Patrick and Ariel will come home
- while they’re home, we’ll be doing some furniture rearranging (giving Atti back her room that I had converted into an extra guest room)
- friends have been generous in allowing us to hang out at their houses so we have places to go and things to do, especially to keep Attison occupied
- our new DVR was delivered
- not new to this particular week, but still new enough to fit into the amazingness of this week ~ Roger’s job at Lockheed-Martin as a C-130J sim instructor is blessing us left and right
At this moment is doesn’t look like I will be enjoying an empty nest home and cooking just for two starting in August. But that’s alright ~ we have received a gift that only God in His infinite wisdom would give: a baby to love and spend the next 18+ years training and enjoying! God is most definitely good!