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Ohio

I was born in Ohio, but moved to California when I was six years old.  Most of my family remained in Ohio for many years.  The last time Daniel, I and our older kids were there to visit was probably twelve years ago. Our younger children have never visited.  Since then, my maternal grandparents and my paternal grand-mother have passed away, and other family members have moved to different states.  

I still have two aunts (my mom's sisters) and their families and my paternal grandfather who live in Ohio so we stopped there for a couple of days.  Even though we haven't seen each other in quite a long time,  it was easy to pick up where we left off.  We had a nice family dinner at my Aunt Nancy's house and the kids enjoyed swimming in her pool.  We did have to take a break from swimming at one point due to the thunderstorm. I think the kids are becoming desensitized to thunderstorms because we have experienced so many of them on this trip.  My mom was visiting from California so she was happy to see all of us.

My grandfather has been ill and was recently released from the hospital into a rehab center where we were allowed to visit with him.  He was able to meet our younger kids for the first time.  My dad was also in Ohio for a visit during this time so we were able to visit with him.  This was our first time visiting since my grandmother passed away and it just felt like something was missing.  Grandpa did tell me that grandma would have loved to have had the opportunity to meet our younger kids.

The only house they lived in as long as I've been alive is now empty and for sale.  We actually lived there with them for a while when DJ was a year old.  That was 20 years ago!  While we were visiting we walked through the house briefly and let the kids run around in the back yard picking up sticks.  It brought back a lot of memories from when I was younger and also when DJ and Adriana were younger.  I am immensely thankful that I had this opportunity to visit this summer.

Nicole

Mount Rushmore

The drive through Montana, Wyoming and into South Dakota was more mountainous terrain.  We saw numerous creeks & rivers in Montana and a lot of horses, which always excites James.  More of the same in Wyoming, along with many trains carrying coal.  I was fascinated with the huge fluffy clouds and rock formations in South Dakota.  Daniel says he's ready for some flat land though.

Cute little town in Montana

South Dakota skies

The kids are doing much better than I anticipated, but I believe it is due to having assigned seats, lots of activities to do in the car, and a variety of snacks when needed.

The KOA we stayed at is actually a resort, The Palmer Gulch Resort, and it is humongous.  They offer over 500 campsites, cabins, a lodge, restaurant, and many more accommodations.  You could make your entire vacation just visiting the resort (resort map).   They have 2 pools, water slides, pond with fishing/paddle boats, playground/basketball court, horseback rides, and chuckwagon dinners to name a few.  The only complaint I have is that I had a terrible time trying to connect to the internet through the free wi-fi they offer.

Mount Rushmore was only 6 miles away from the campground and we had no problems finding it.  Once we parked and began walking towards the monument, it took my breath away to see how big it actually is. Along the pathway there are flags of all 50 states displayed.  The kids were able to find the California state flag very easily.

After we marveled at the monument, we went downstairs to the museum.  We were all fascinated to see the actual tools that were used and the pictures of the carving process.  If we didn't have all the little kids with us we probably could have stayed several more hours looking at everything.  We also found out that part of the movie National Treasure 2 was filmed in this area.

The next 2 days will be long as we head to Missouri with an overnight stop in Nebraska.

Nicole

Fourth of July

My husband and I were reminiscing about the 4th of July because this is generally a big holiday for us.  We enjoy hosting a BBQ for friends and family, followed by an elaborate firework show orchestrated by Daniel.  This has been our tradition for at least the last 12 years.  This was the first year we weren't at home for the 4th, but that didn't stop the party from following us.  We had a BBQ and an elaborate firework show at my brother-in-law's house in Oregon.  

Daniel decided to take a trip to Washington with our kids and nephews to buy fireworks.  He also purchased some from his sister & brother-in-law's church.

We were thrilled to be able to spend the holiday with so many family members.  It just wasn't quite the same without my mom or our oldest son though, as they were still in California.  

Our daughter, Adriana, will have a birthday at the end of the month but she requested that we celebrate it early since we won't be here on her actual birthday.

This year he passed the torch (literally).  Daniel uses a Bernzomatic Propane Hand Torch to light the fireworks and this year he allowed his nephews to be in charge of igniting them.  Daniel is very safety conscious which I feel is extremely important when handling explosives.

We've noticed that it takes longer for the sun go down here in Oregon, which made for a late night.  It also happened to be very cold so we all had to bundle up.  

Overall it was a great night and we made many memories.  Here is just a short video of our firework show.  And at the end of the night, everyone was exhausted.  I'd call it a success!

Nicole

Diverging DeLeon's

When we first came up with the name Diverging Lives for our blog, many people questioned it.  In this post, I hope to help you understand the name of our blog and get to know us a little better.  

To diverge means to extend in different directions from a common point, or "branch off".  All our lives we have done things differently, aka diverged from mainstream.  It hasn't always been by choice, but it has worked out for the best for our family.  

• I graduated high school after my sophomore year and received my driver's license and my marriage license on the same day.
• Daniel was the first of his 5 siblings to graduate from high school. 
• We married young (Nicole was 16 and Daniel was 20).  We will be celebrating 22 years of marriage this month.
• Daniel struggled with substance abuse issues for the first 5 years of our marriage.  God granted us a miracle and that is a whole other story.  Needless to say, Daniel will celebrate 17 years of being clean & sober this August.
• Our first child, DJ, was born on our 10 month anniversary.
• Our second child, Adriana, was born 2 years later.

For the next 7 years, we followed along the path that everyone was taking.  We were both working full-time, our kids attended public school, played soccer and little league, and we attended church regularly.  Until...

• I became extremely ill and was in the hospital off and on for several months.  The only thing I could do was lay in bed with my eyes closed due to the severe headache I had.  I couldn't even get up to use the bathroom.  The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me and finally diagnosed me with aseptic meningitis.  Up until this diagnosis, we were told there was a 95% chance I may have CNS lymphoma.  

This experience definitely made me re-evaluate what was important in my life.

• I became completely disabled from my occupation as a Medical Assistant.  Daniel was working nights for a local grocery store chain.
• We decided to begin homeschooling DJ and Adriana. They were in 5th and 3rd grades. 
• We bought our first home. 
• We spent more time as a family, going on field trips and discovering together.
• We became more involved with our church and the recovery ministry.
• God called us to become foster parents, to be an advocate for those who didn't have one.
• Daniel opened his own roofing company.  
• We bought our second home which was twice the size of our first home.  We also traded in our minivan for a 12 passenger van.
• We went on to adopt all 4 of our foster children, making us a family of 8.
• When the economy declined, Daniel had to close his roofing business.  He went back to school to get his license to become a Drug and Alcohol Counselor.

Due to our younger children's extra needs, we felt it was best to allow them to access the special education services from our local school district.  However, after navigating the system for about 5 years it wasn't meeting our children's needs and we decided to homeschool again.

• We have completed 2 years of homeschooling our younger children and it was the best decision we could have made on their behalf.  It is incredibly difficult and time consuming, but the children are doing so much better.  
• We are now in the process of short selling our house.
• We are debt free (& after the sale of the house we will truly be debt free).
• We own a 28 ft. travel trailer and have decided to take a 2 month trip cross-country with our 4 younger children.  There is no better way to learn US History than to experience it. 

Who knows, maybe this will become our new lifestyle.  Make sure you sign up to receive our blog updates by e-mail so you can follow along as we experience the United States this summer.

Nicole

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We have enjoyed a lot of quality family time this holiday season.  Unfortunately that means there hasn't been much happening here on the blog.  Hopefully you too have been busy with your loved ones.  

From our home to yours,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Mother's Day

I had an awesome Mother's Day just spending time with my family and friends.  The younger kids woke up at their usual time (read earlier than I wanted to wake up).  Then they ate their usual breakfast (same. thing. every. day).  I elected to make a quiche for our breakfast brunch so I got to working on it.  I love to cook and bake and I always appreciate new taste-testers.  My long-time friend, Heather, brought danishes and a fruit salad.  We were able to sit outside and enjoy the weather while we ate.  The quiche was quite tasty!

Heather and I 

My older daughter gave me yellow roses (my favorite!), a beautiful butterfly balloon, a card, and my favorite candy.  Wow, what a surprise that was!

When my mom arrived everyone was especially happy to see grandma and Michael as they have been on vacation in Hawaii for the last 2 weeks.  Grandma opened her Mother's Day presents:  a personalized t-shirt that says "This Grandma belongs to" (then has all the names of the grandchildren).  

                      And a personalized photo book from Shutterfly.

Next it was time for all of the children to go swimming.  It was really nice having the older children swim with the younger children so I didn't have to get in the *freezing* (70 degree) water.  We had 9 children total swimming.  It was very relaxing not being on any particular schedule today.

       

For dinner, my husband BBQ'd pork tenderloin and tri-tip steak and cut up a watermelon.  My older daughter made potato salad & pasta salad.  Heather and my mom pitched in to help with the salads and make corn on the cob.  James was so happy to help with the corn too.

The kids opened their presents from grandma and Michael's Hawaii trip.  Some of the kids went swimming again (gasp).  Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert.  Everyone was definitely tired out and ready for bed tonight!

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well.

~Nicole~

My mom and I

This is a Happy Mother's Day link-up with 5 Minutes for Mom.