An attempt to get back into the swing of blogging

Ok, so I'm not very good at this blogging thing, but at least I've come back to it for all to check out!

Last year, during the summer (this is 2008), Don got in touch with the mother of a child he fathered many years ago. He never expected to hear from this girl again as he knows he was not at a point in his life where he could have made a go at being a husband/father, and apparently the girl knew it too. Don saw the baby girl a few days after she was born, but never again. Over the years, we've both wondered about this baby girl, and Don had done some searching on the internet but was unable to find anything. Anyway...contact was made and this 'little girl' found out that her biological father was in touch with her mom. For all the awkwardness you can imagine in the beginning of e-mailing, things went really well. Jodi (the 'little girl' who, by the way, was 20 by the time Don was in contact) is an incredible young woman! Her mom did such a wonderful job raising her! Don was very grateful to find out that there were no hard feelings over how things ended, and that Jodi was very interested in knowing about her biological father and his family. We all enjoyed a wonderful week + visit in April with Jodi. She really seems to fit right in with our 4 kids (even has the freckles like DJ!). Ariel & Tori have had a great time texting with her and getting to know her. As it's been about 18 months since 'introductions' were made, contact is much easier and fun. We are planning a get-together every year with Jodi, as her schedule with work and school will allow.

Some pictures from our trip to Chicago's Lincoln Zoo, Shedd Aquarium and Museum of Natural Hisotry.

We thought some activities that didn't require constant conversation, or sitting around 'staring' at each other would help break the ice a bit...we had a great time!

Cross your fingers now, and I might get another post up before the end of the year!