Tillamook Cheese Factory

The drive to Tillamook was about an hour and a half...all curvy back roads with lots of beautiful scenery to look at.  Our older daughter, Adriana, was able to join us on this adventure (left in the above picture). 

Upon arriving, we were amazed at the number of RV's and the amount of vehicles with license plates from all over the US.  We opted for the self-guided tour which is probably all our kids could have handled anyways.

The kids were pretty impressed with all of the machines and actually seeing the workers package the cheese.  Since we were all getting hungry, we decided to go ahead and splurge on an ice cream cone for lunch.  Tillamook ice cream is probably the best ice cream I have ever tasted, no lie.  We also tasted the different cheese flavors.

And, of course, no trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory would be complete without the purchase of some Tillamook Cheese.  By the way, the factory tour is FREE.

On the way back to the RV, I asked the kids what they learned today at the cheese factory.  Johnathan immediately answered, "They have yummy cheese!"  

Nicole

Oregon Welcomes Us

Since the sale of our house went through a day early we were ahead of schedule and decided to leave early.  The drive from California to Oregon was beautiful and we were so thankful to be escaping the horrible heat.  We ventured off I-5 for a bit and found our route to be flatter, straighter, less traffic, and home to more wildlife.

Near Klamath Falls as the sun was setting

Although we didn't make it all the way through on the first day, it was easy (and cool enough) to pull into a rest area for a couple of hours to sleep.  This was also convenient enough to make and eat breakfast before pulling back out onto the road.  We ended up arriving mid-morning.  The kids were so happy to see their big sister who had moved to Oregon the month prior.  They wasted no time in making use of all the acreage their aunt and uncle live on.

We must have brought the warm weather with us...Oregon actually had temperatures in the 90's.  To keep cool the kids had some fun with water balloons and their cousin.

Want to check out the surprise ending to the water balloons?  Here is the video.  What did you think?

Stay tuned for what's next on the agenda:
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Fourth of July and Family Time

Nicole

Cross Country Travels...Our Route

Well as we countdown the last 24 hours before embarking on our journey across the country, I updated our google map to include Florida.  We figured since we were already driving to the east coast we might as well take the opportunity to visit Florida.  Our planned route covers just under 10,000 miles!  Yikes!

How did we decide where the stops would be?  One of the deciding factors was the locations of Six Flags theme parks.  We received season passes for Six Flags last Christmas and our passes allow us access to the Six Flags parks nationwide.  We will be visiting the parks in Missouri, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Georgia, and Texas. Our children love roller coasters and we love a good deal.

The second deciding factor was location of national parks/monuments we've always wanted to visit, such as Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, the Arches in Utah, and the Grand Canyon.

Lastly, we wanted to stop where we have family.  There are many family members from my side of the family who are spread out across the U.S. and whom we haven't seen in way too many years.  Daniel's family, along with our older daughter, are all in Oregon so that will be our first stop.  This will also be the first time in the last 10 years that we will not be hosting 4th of July at our house, but you can bet Daniel will be helping light the fireworks.

We will be utilizing campgrounds, especially KOA's, during this trip so stay tuned for our pictures and reviews.  If you haven't already, please take the time to subscribe to this blog by e-mail so you don't miss any updates.

If you were to take a trip of a lifetime, what would be your top choice destination?

Nicole

From Sticks and Bricks...

Well tonight is the first night we are sleeping in the trailer.  Our "launch" date isn't until Saturday, but you have to start sometime.  With four little ones running around moving everything I am organizing/packing and us trying to empty the house before we close escrow (fingers crossed) on Friday, we figured it would be better to give ourselves a few extra days.  When we planned this cross-country trip we thought the short sale of our house would finalize after we returned in September, however as of 2 weeks ago plans changed.  I have literally sorted through EVERYTHING we own.  For the last 2 Saturdays we've held massive garage sales and this past week we rented a storage unit for the belongings we wanted to keep.  Daniel has also made many trips to Goodwill and still has to go to the dump to get rid of the excess trash.  It is amazing how much "stuff" you can collect while living in a 3600 sq ft house for 7 years.

Garage sale

In case you are wondering if we've totally lost our mind, let me reassure you, we have.  We've been talking about taking a cross-country trip for years, but we either had the money and not the time or the time and not the money.  Now we have both so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  I will spare you the logistics of how we were able to make this trip happen, but I will share with you that we have been in the planning stage since April.

Our older children (ages 21 and almost 19) both moved out within the last 2 months so it is just Daniel, me, and our 4 younger children (ages 11, 9 ,8, and 4).  Our travel trailer technically sleeps 9 and we have slept 9 in it for 5 days, but that makes it just a little crowded.  With just Daniel, me, and the younger children we don't have to convert the table or couch into beds which is really nice.  Stay tuned because I will be sharing a behind the scenes tour of our trailer shortly.  We have also been solving our storage issues one at a time and I think some of the solutions we've come up with are ingenious!

Make sure you become an e-mail subscriber so you can follow right along with us as we travel the United States while living in our 28 foot travel trailer.

Nicole

A Sweet Deal

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has been a resource we have used many times during our four adoptions, as well as when we were running our adoption support group.

This weekend they are offering a sweet deal (pun intended) that raises money for the foundation.  I understand not everyone can be a foster or adoptive parent, but this is one way you can help support children in foster care.

Thanks for your support,
Nicole

We want to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day! The impact you make in your children’s lives each day is immeasurable.

Every year, Wendy’s celebrates dads during Father’s Day Frosty Weekend. With every Frosty sold this Saturday and Sunday, participating Wendy’s will donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption so we can help children in foster care find the dads (and moms) they deserve.

So why not celebrate the dads in your lives with a good treat to help a great cause?

That’s one sweet deal.

Best wishes,
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

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

Dreamnight at the Sacramento Zoo

This is an awesome {FREE} event coming up in the Sacramento area for children with chronic illnesses or disabilities and their families.  

Parents of Children with Special Needs

A Look Inside

(adapted from the poem "Special Needs Moms" by April Vernon)

You may think us "special parents" have it pretty rough.

We have no choice. We just manage life when things get really tough.

We've made it through the days we thought we'd never make it through.

We've even impressed ourselves with all that we can do.

We've gained patience beyond measure, love we never dreamed of giving.

We worry about the future but know the "special" life is worth living.

We have bad days and hurt sometimes, but we hold our heads up high.

We feel joy and pride and thankfulness more often than we cry.

For our kids, we aren't just super-parents.  No, we do so much more.

We are cheerleaders, nurses, and therapists who don't walk out the door.

We handle rude remarks and unkind stares with dignity and grace.

Even though the pain they bring cannot be erased.

Therapies and treatment routes are a lot for us to digest.

We don't know what the future holds but we give our kids the best.

None of us can be replaced, so we don't get many breaks.

It wears us out, but to help our kids, we'll do whatever it takes.

We are selfless, not by choice, you see.  Our kids just have more needs.

We're not going to change the world, but want to plant some seeds.

We want our kids accepted.  That really is our aim.

When we look at them we just see kids.  We hope you'll do the same.

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

Birthday Princess

Today our youngest {Princess Amada} turned 4 years old!  Where has the time gone?  It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today we didn't even know she would be joining our family.  We received the call and picked her up from the hospital all in the same day...December 14, 2008.  And my heart melted.

Amada - 4 years old

Birthdays are very important around our house.  Since we have a large family, we want to make sure that each of our children have that "special day".  Amada went shopping to pick out a new outfit.  We decided not to have a large, organized birthday party this year.  Instead I wanted to take her to Build-a-Bear Workshop with just the girls...mommy, grandma, Adriana (big sister), and Ashley.

None of us had ever been to Build-a Bear so we weren't quite sure what to expect.  Amada needed some coaxing to pick out her bear.  She is a little shy, especially in new situations, so I wasn't surprised.  We also picked out a giggle sound for her bear.  She helped with the stuffing.

{So precious!}

They really have thought of everything.  Next you need to give your bear a heart.  

Rubbing the heart to keep the bear warm.

Patting it to start the heart beating.

I think she had her rub the heart on her belly next, so the bear would never be hungry.

Kissing the heart so the bear will always feel loved.
{Amada wanted big sister to kiss it first.}

  

Then you place the heart inside the bear.

Here is her completed bear!  It's so perfect...her favorite colors are pink and purple.  Next you name your bear and Amada chose the name "kitty".  

Giving the bear a bath to get rid of any leftover fuzz.

Lastly, typing her name for the bear's birth certificate.

She also picked out an outfit {an Aurora princess dress}, a pair of pajamas, and a stroller for her bear.  It is a little pricey for a stuffed animal, but it was a fun "memory making" time.  And I am sure we will be back for more.

Then it was back home for dinner, cake, and presents.  You'd never know it's almost Christmas though...

Sleeping Beauty DVD {Aurora is her favorite Princess although she has never seen the movie.}

A dancing fairy musical jewelry box.

Pretend sugar cookie baking set by Melissa & Doug.

She also received a couple of new outfits from grandma; one with a very cute, pink, sparkly vest.

She requested a Cinderella cake.

And now it's time for bed.  Happy Birthday Princess Amada!  {She is already talking about her "Five Birthday".}

How do you celebrate your children's birthday?  

~Nicole~

Growth Hormones...9 months and growing

James had his follow up with the Endocrinologist today.  He has been on daily growth hormone injections for 9 months now and I am happy to report that he is {still} growing!

Beginning Measurements                             Current Measurements
Weight: 46.1 pounds                                   Weight: 53.5 pounds
Height: 47.1 inches                                      Height: 50 1/4 inches

Overall he has gained over 8 pounds and has grown over 3 inches taller!  I am amazed.  He does so well with the whole injection process.  He is still in charge of the alcohol swab and cleaning the injection site.

We have also been working with an Occupational Therapist for feeding issues.  James has a limited number of foods that he will eat, either due to sensory issues {texture} or jaw weakness.  We have exercises we are doing with him to increase jaw strength and have found some creative ways to add nutrients to his food choices.

Here is a recent picture of James and I while we were in Oregon for Thanksgiving.  James is my little love bug.

                 

James will have several blood tests performed when he hits the 1 year mark of being on growth hormones.  I will keep you posted on his journey.

~Nicole~