What a blessed year we have had.
Our kids are getting older, and it happens so fast.
This year was full of summer camps, dance classes, foster
care experiences, and some fun trips here and there.
Isaiah is almost 12!
He started middle school at Moore Middle School, and has loved it. He is finding out how he has to be
accountable and is working harder but enjoying school. He is in 3 dance classes, a competitive
class, a ballet class, and a hip hop class.
He is doing great. He has such a
sweet heart and wants to be his best and help others, while at the same time is
content to stay home and play on electronics.
Quinn is 11! She is
doing better in school; this year is better than last year. Her teacher gets her sense of humor. Many mornings Quinn will tell us how much she
loves her teacher and how excited she is to go to school. We have great nurses that go with her, and
she is doing good. She still likes to
work hard on talking and telling them all socially all the stuff she wants and
loves, but is still not wanting to work the way she can. I can’t blame her, as she has figured out how
to get out of doing work. I appreciate
her teachers for pushing her to work anyway.
She is still in dance class, she loves her teachers, loves her friends,
and is so excited to perform. Her class
got to dance with the Lincoln Symphony this year, and it was amazing. She also was in Miss Amazing, and she decided
it was fun, and we saw her friend win her division. Quinn plays percussion in band, thanks to Chrissy’s
help and she loves it. We are working on
ways to help her be more independent, and see this as something she could do
great with. She loves to use her Tobi
tell us how she feels and what she wants to do.
It is wonderful. She continues to
work on driving her new wheelchair and works with Chrissy to try different
mounts and tech to help her be her best.
She also loves therapy sessions and works so hard to get her body to
work to do things so many of us take for granted.
Denali is 10, and she is also in 5th grade. She is learning the delicate dance of
friendships. We have had lots of talks
about friends, and have learned a lot.
She is also in dance. She helps
Quinn’s dance team, she is now on the competitive team, she is also in ballet
and baton. Denali started playing the
clarinet this year, and is doing great.
She is our extrovert and loves being out and about. She has a heart of gold, and is willing to
jump in and help out anyone. Her goal is
to keep her room clean and she is still working on that goal. She loves to bake, and is loving this
season. She makes sure our house is
always moving and it’s never quiet when she is around.
We also have a foster kiddo, who we have had for a few
months. All foster care kiddo’s privacy
is important so we cannot share much. We
can say we all had to be ok with the placement.
We all were. We knew it would
humble us, and that is a great trait to have.
It did, it also helps us learn a lot, and helps us continue to educate
others. We don’t know how long he will
be with us, but his parents are working hard to get him back, which is
wonderful. So we will help him with as
much as we can for a bit, and hope this will help educate our kids and show
them the importance of giving and staying humble. He is a good kid who is teaching us so much. In the future it will also be good to look
back on these months, and remind ourselves, we survived 4 kids for months, so
when our 3 are super busy, we will know that we can make it. J
John is still working at All State; he loves his job. He had surgery on his pacemaker and is much
happier now that everything is working better.
He is a wonderful dad, who works hard to help keep the kids
successful. He also has stepped in to
really take care of our foster kiddo. He
has had to miss a few of our kid’s performances here and there to be somewhere
else to do a drop off, or pick up, or doctor appointment. I am grateful for all his work.
I am still teaching.
I have great kids and am thankful for my job. I am always learning and trying to
improve. I have gotten good at
documenting everything for our foster kiddo.
I’ve also gotten good at schedules.
We have kids that are busy and I love seeing them do things they love,
but I tend to go from teacher to taxi service most nights. I would not trade it for anything, because
with how fast they are growing, I will not have this opportunity for long. Luckily I still have it for a while. I can say I am in a dance class right now,
along with the kids. An adult hip hop
class. Oh it’s a mess, but it sure is
fun and a great workout, so come join us.
We are blessed to have a great support system. We could not get through this crazy life without
it. We are blessed to have our faith,
and a family who loves each other. We
are grateful to live where Quinn can get the support she needs, as well as all
of us. Sometimes looking into the future
is scary. I don’t know what it holds,
but I do know that right now is pretty amazing.
We are thankful.
All our love to all of you,
Susan, John, Isaiah, Quinn, and Denali Otte
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