My life for my planet! Doing what I can to make sure our future generations can enjoy the same beautiful Nature that helps make my life complete.

We now have Great-Nephews living with us! Their names are Austin and Cameron Herauf and were placed in our care on Aug. 22nd. They are identical twins!

I was asked in early August if we would provide a temporary home for them while the state looked for a new foster-home. Thinking of the heartbreak it would be for both us and them when the time came to lose them I said no.

Then a week later a gal from the state called and asked if we would be interested in adopting the boys... I about jumped outa my skin! Yes! You bet I would!

Frank Jr. is 18 now and moved out on his own so Sharon and I had kind of an "empty spot to fill" and the twins have definitely filled it like a cornicopia of child energy!

Things happened pretty fast. A few days after the call we had a conference with a room full of folks concerned about and involved in working with the boys. It was down in Everett.

The conference went well and we planned a visit with the boys the next week-end to get to know them a little better.

Then... the next day a mini-van stopped at the end of our driveway and Sharon looked just in time to see the gal inside take a picture then drive off... she said "it looked like the twins Foster-Mother! Then a few minutes later she pulled up again to take another picture! We had told her she was welcome to come visit us when we were at the meeting... I told her to "give us a call." Well she didn't call.... she just showed up to "spy on us." Then a neighbor called and said "there is someone on the road behind your property in an empty lot taking pictures of our place.... then a neighbor came riding in on his bike to report the same.... this neighborhood's Watch Program is awesome! I then decided to hop in my rig to go find her and see just what the heck she was doing. I drove to the stop sign at the end of our road knowing she would have to pass by me to get out of our community. While I was sitting there another neighbor pulled up and said.... "she is taking pictures from an empty lot behind your place" I told hin "I know" and was waiting for her. A couple minutes passed and here she came up the street.... she saw me and put her hand up beside her face trying to hide.... I had to laugh thinking to myself "lady you are in the wrong neighborhood to try and hide.... the neighborhood watch was on "red alert!"

I followed her to the stop sign and then pulled up next to her and she looked at me with one of the most "fake smiles" I have ever seen and said "where's a good place to eat around here?" I said "what are you doing sneaking around taking pictures of my place?" She said "I just wanted to see where the boys were moving to." I said "well, I'm gonna go call the Sheriff" she said "Okay" and gave another fake grin and sped off. I came home, called the Sheriff, then called the Social Worker for the twins. I was really freaked thinking "something is not right with that gal."

The State gal is a saint... she said they were gonna speed up the process and get the twins out of that house immediately and asked "are you ready for them?" Heck Yeah was my reply. The next day the twins were here! Talk about excitement for both us and the twins! They are a "pure joy" and we are so blessed to have them here!

The car pulled up and we immediately heard two very excited young boys "Great Uncle Frank, Great Aunti Sharon!!!" It was almost like an echo effect! Both boys saying the same thing at the same time. It was s doggone cute! They ran up for hugs and said "I love you.... we get to live with you!" You talk about "top of the world" the love these young boys have is huge!

They were so excited and started asking when can we go hiking, fishing, hunting, swimming in lakes, and much more. I got them to settle down and told them that tomorrow we would go hike "The Shadow of the Sentinals" and then to Horseshoe Cove at Baker Lake for a swim!

The first night was awesome! I read each of them to sleep and tucked them in.

I awoke at 6:00am to the sound of young boys strumming guitars and singing! I awoke laughing! It was so doggone cute!

I also found that we needed plastic sheets! This was gonna change the plans for the day since our closest town's closest thing available to plastic sheets would be a roll of duct tape from the hardware store! I headed out to the city and returned home around 1:00pm. There wasn't enough time for hiking and swimming so we went to Baker Lake.

Austin is definitely the "Braveheart" of the two and was in the water in a heart-beat! Cameron as asking "where are the bears and mountain lions... are there fish in the water that will bite me?" It was hard to keep a straight face but I did! I told him I could do my bear call and my mountain lion call to see if any were around. He said "please do." So I cupped my hands mega-phone style around my mouth and yelled "HEY BEAR!" Some of the other folks around started crackin' up then I yelled "HEY MOUNTAIN LION" Cameron took me totally serious and was looking all over watchin' for bears and lions to come running! I said "well... I guess there aren't any!" That satisfied him! I also told him the fish were scared of him and would swim away. He then started his water adventure.

Here is a picture of the twins Frank Jr. and Sharon at Horseshoe Cove:

 These young boys are pure energy! They have been deprived of family contact and are making up for lost time. Their first night here they must have called everyone they could think of to let them know they can come visit them at their new home!

I really dig their Grampa Doug... we were both born in Livingston Montana and have a lot in common. I just met him and feel like I have known him forever. He told me all kinds of stories (when we were out back away from the twins) about the foster-home they were living in.... he told me he felt indebted to me for what Sharon and I were doing. I told him there was nothing owed.... it is a reward just getting these young fella's around family again. He told me about instances where he would phone the foster-mother to set up a time to see the boys.... it is about a two to two and a half hour drive one way for him. When he got there the foster mom would say "something came up" and he would leave. Then the foster mom would file a complaint saying he acted like he was drunk or on drugs. The poor guy had to get evaluated before being let to see the boys again. He now still has to have "supervised visits" that is not a problem since Sharon and I are approved to supervise. We are happy to spend time with Doug.

On the 27th of August we went down to Sharon's Folks place near Lyman to celebrate the Twins Birthday. It was a blast a blast! They played mass tag, hide and seek, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents.

 Here's a picture of most of the folks there.

Playing Tag:

Kickin' back on the swing:

Pusin

Stoppin' for a quick pic.

Cake and the Birthday Song:

Opening presents:

It was awesome to be a part oif the Twins 9th Birthday! We are looking forward to many more!

We went to a Circus that came to town the next night where believe it or not.... Sponge Bob in person was there!!! The Circus was cool but definitely good at scoring $2 a pop for a bag with about a handful of pop corn and peanuts that they kept pushing that would have tickets to win a balloon, pony ride, or a picture with Sponge Bob saying not every bag but almost every bag was a winner and of course all the kids wanted a chance at a winning ticket and the dollar bills were flying! Funny thing was (well not too funny) was after it was over and time for pictures came... there was one kid there with a ticket... one out of who knows how many! But then they let us take a picture with Sponge Bob for $7... I was lucky to get this shot before the boys were shuffled out of the way for the next $7 to come in!

A shot of the anticipation of seeing the great Sponge Bob! Left to right is Austin, Cameron, neighbors Savanna, her mom Christy, and her grandma Diane

The next weekend we went gold-pannin' off the Mountain Loop Hwy. out of Darrington. It was a blast and the twins really enjoyed themselves. Their Mom, brother Darian and sweet sister Shannon.

Here are a couple shots from the fun and also a shot of a cool lookin' tree whose roots had been washed by the river.

below... left to right: The twins little brother Darian, their mother Kristy, Sharon, Austin (under his mom's arm, Cameron, their sister Shannon, Savanna, and Melissa.

Frank Jr.
The cool looking tree!

The next weekend we celebrated my 50th Birthday! The icing on the cake was an over-nighter for the kids... seven of them all cousins diggin' being together. It means a lot to us to get the cousins together for some good family bonding. Here is a pic of the kids and Sharon.

Left to Right: Cousin Brianna, Austin, Cameron, Cousin Antonio, sister Leona, sister Izzabelle, Alexis, and my lovely Sharon.

Other recent adventures included a trip over the pass to Winthrop an old Cowboy Town about 100 miles from here.

The drive there is one of the most beautiful trips one could make!

Here is a shot of the twins with Sharon on Gorge Bridge. Cameron was studying bridges so we figured we better show him a good one!

Here is a view from the bridge looking down:

 

A little further up the road was Diablo Dam... the twins were blown away at how far down the water was on the other side!

Then on to Washington Pass.

Then another stop for a break near Mazama.

Something every kid should experience... ice cream cones and a sit in the saddles!

Hangin' on Main Street in Winthrop!

Winthrop was a blast!

The next day the boys picked up after some of my fall pruning... here's Austin the big hand!

We really enjoyed Open House at the school and seeing many of the teachers Frank Jr and Malikai had.... they all think its really cool we are adopting the twins!

Here is a picture of Austin and his teacher Mrs. Bianchini:

Here's one of Cameron and his teacher Mrs. Money:

Having fun in Town at Silo Park:

As of February 20th 2009 the Adoption is final!

The boys counted the days down and got more and more excited each day! We were asked by the Judge if we wanted to change their names and we wouldn't even have thought about that! No way! That would probably break their Grandpa's heart!

Here is a picture taken just before court LtoR Cameron, Katherine Graff (awesome social worker!) and Austin.

This next picture is of Cameron getting to say "order in the court" while looking over some confused folks in the courtroom... we had just come out of the judges chambers so the folks sitting there were clueless why there was some little kid bringing the court to order. Pictured here are the twins with the Honorable Judge Susan Cook.

This next picture... Sharon and I got in the shot!

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