The McDaid Family 2013
We come to the end of 2013 with full and thankful
hearts. We are so grateful for our family, friends and community. But we are
most thankful for God our Father and Jesus our Savior and for the testimony
that is being written for our family.
I am going to back up a little, because I did not
do a family update last year, and a lot has changed in our lives since December
of 2011.
We completed our training and licensing for foster
care in December 2011 and got our first placement, an 8 year old boy and his 3
year old sister on December 27, 2011. They were with us for only 3 short weeks;
after which they were placed with their grandma. It was a whirlwind experience,
which overall was good, and we felt affirmed to continue. But those 3 weeks
made it clear to us that the house we were living in, while adequate, would not
house 5 growing children long term. So we began to look at other options. We
determined to be wise; we made a list of really high expectations for this
forever home and put a really strict number on it. We prayed about it, asking
God to make this direction clear for us. On the first day of house hunting, we
found it. We found the house that fit all the parameters that really seemed
impossible to find. Long story short, we moved in June 2012 and love our home,
our neighbors and our community.
During that time, we went inactive for foster
care, since our lives were so fluid with selling, buying and moving. In
September 2012, we went active again and took our second placement: sisters,
ages 2 and 1. We got them from another foster home, and their parents were
already well on track to getting them back. We had them 3 months, and they were
reunited with their parents on November 30. We again went inactive (3 toddlers
took its toll!) for awhile, but still felt pulled to foster. On March 12, 2013,
we took in our 3rd placement: a 7 year old boy named Del. (I tear up just
typing this! He is such a special boy.) We got him also from another foster
home that he had been in for 7 months, and he was with us for 7 months until
October 15, 2013, when he was reunited with his father. On November 14th,
we took our 4th placement: a 6 year old boy named Mark.
I won’t go into great detail about foster care
here, but I will at another time. It’s been an amazing journey, and we’ve
learned a lot. I believe God is asking me to blog about our experiences, so I
will be working on that in the new year.
Here are
the current family stats:
Dad, Mark
Mark is still working at Austin Regional Clinic,
doing computer programming. He’s been very busy this year being on call every
other week and helping roll out their new electronic medical records system in
the clinics. He is the leader of the boys group, Royal Ambassadors at church
and is a handbook leader for our AWANA club. He is also a great handyman at
home, dutifully completing all the projects I find on Pinterest to make the
house more organized.
His NASCAR driver, Jimmie Johnson, won the
championship this year, and we got to see them race at Texas Motor Speedway in
April. He is also a loyal Texas Rangers fan, and he enjoyed getting to see them
play also in April.
Mom,
Shelley
I am still a stay at home mom, but I am definitely
busy. I still get to be a part of MOPS, since Kendall
is still a preschooler. MOPS has blessed me in so many ways over the years. The
last 2 years I’ve directed our church’s Heroes Camp, which is quite a task, but
I love it so much. It is what our church does for VBS; it is a full day, camp
type experience, with field trips and swimming and Bible lessons, oh my! I also
am the one that keeps up with all the foster kids’ appointments, paperwork and
training. In my free time, I love to craft, read and sew. I cherish the time
with my girlfriends and am so thankful for them.
I too, enjoyed watching the Rangers this season,
especially to watch my childhood friend play for the team last season. I even
got to see him hit a home run while he was rehabbing in Round Rock this summer
(on a rare date with my youngest brother, Brian).
Riley
Riley is 11 and in the 6th grade this
year. It is hard to believe that he is in middle school! But he is doing well.
The structure of middle school seems to suit him. He is following in Mark’s
footsteps and playing the trombone in band. He is in the Rite of Passage class
at church, which all 6th graders go through to transition from
childhood to the teenage years.
Riley still enjoys LEGOs and building things. He
also has discovered technology and creates his own stop motion videos. He is a
great big brother. We can count on him to help and be a good role model to the
younger kids.
Tyler
Tyler is 8 and in the 3rd
grade. He is always either starving or eating, which is quite a change from the
super picky eater he used to be! He is also growing like crazy. He likes to
read and has really enjoyed reading chapter books like Magic Tree House and
Flat Stanley.
He also likes building LEGOs. He really enjoys
Hero Factory right now. He also loves playing Angry Birds and enjoys acting the
game out with the action figures. Tyler
is always funny and playful. He is a good friend and a good leader in class.
Kendall
Kendall is 3 (almost 4) and is in
preschool 2 days a week this year. She is a girly girl, always worrying about
how she looks or what she’s wearing. She is the only extrovert in our family
and has friends everywhere she goes. She loves princesses, ponies, Ariel and
playing pretend. She comes home and plays school on preschool days. It is so
funny to listen to! She is a joy to have in our family, and we are so thankful
for her. She really bonded with her brother Del and misses him very much. She draws
pictures of him and prays for him regularly.
We are looking forward to seeing how God will add
to our story in 2014! Stay tuned!
