3rd Annual Whaley/Potter Thanksgiving

We spent this Thanksgiving weekend in the home of our dear friends Jason and Hannah. They were so welcoming and hospitable - we spent three days relaxing, playing games, have great fellowship and, of course, eating TONS of delicious food. I wish I had pictures to show you all the gourmet dishes Hannah made for us. She loves to bake and we love to eat everything she makes. This was Oscar's first "white" Thanksgiving, so he was especially delighted by all the food. It was a wonderful time full of great fellowship.

As is our tradition, we all went for a hike the day after Thanksgiving. We did Carr Canyon, a hike near their home that is 6 miles round trip, to the top of the peak pictured on the left.

Everyone showing off their pregnant tummies
(Hannah 32 weeks, me 18 and the other two are just full of turkey and other deliciousness)

This was Oscar's first "white" Thanksgiving and he definitely enjoyed all the wonderful food traditions :)

A Day on the Mountain

This Saturday Cami was able to take his first "Adventure Institute" trip. The Adventure Institute is something my husband has been dreaming about and planning for quite some time. It will one day be a non-profit organization combining at-risk youth with transformative outdoor experiences. But for now, it is day long excursions with select students designed to build Cami's understanding of the adventures available around LA, get our students out of the city and simply keep my husband sane (he needs his nature!!).

So here are a few pictures from the adventure

Oscar all suited up for the morning mountain air

Andrew and Yesenia (Mary's younger sister)

And the view!! The team hiked to the treeline on Mt. Baldy. Maybe next time they will summit!

And of course, the love of my life!!! Isn't he so hot!

P.S. Sorry I am a day late, we were at work late last night trying to fix computer problems :(

16 on the 16th

First, let me update you on what happened with the story I told you last week . So our former student Ana came over on Wednesday to get some math tutoring and told us that here dad's boss had posted his $20,000 bail Tuesday morning. Once out, Ana's dad tracked down all the necessary paperwork and was informed that he was wrongfully charged. He had been locked up for vehicular fraud (fraudulent tags) but it turns out the cops who arrested him were not very thorough in their investigation and he should not have been arrested. Furthermore, they forced him to leave his 17 year-old son David stranded at the airport. David had just home returned from two months helping relatives in Mexico.

The worst part about it all is that Amy and here siblings grew up in the inner-city of LA, a community that breeds hatred for law enforcement. Ana and her siblings already struggle with trusting cops, feeling like they are always out to get them. While standing at the airport David said to me, "I hope this just teaches [dad] that all pigs (i.e. cops) are bad." Why are they the ones who have to been hastily charged and treated so poorly? At least there dad is free again.

Now for the title.......16 weeks that is. Today I am officially 16 weeks pregnant with our first child (40% of the way wooo whooo!!) Luckily I was spared from morning sickness and have rarely experienced any side effects - that just makes it harder to believe that I am actually pregnant. But my emotions have been a little unusual as of late.....let's hope that is pregnancy related :)

And here is a picture of our other addition: Oscar - he joined our family back in April and is a real delight to have around. You can expect to discover more of his story in future posts.




For those who have been asking, there is not really much of a baby bump to capture yet, so no pregnancy pictures for now.

A Night with the Potters

In light of the fact that our blog has suffered gross neglect recently, I set a goal this weekend. Every Monday I am going to update our blog and if there is no new news on the Potter front, I will just highlight one of our students. So today comes, the first day and my intentions are good. After work I would make dinner, enjoy a leisurely meal with my family, go grocery shopping and then update the blog before reading a little and catching some z's.

But this is how my night went:

Dinner was thrown together quickly and my husband ended up eating in the car. He had to stay late at work to help search all the boys because rumor was one of them had an ounce of weed, but he left before he heard the outcome of the search because we had to be at our boss's house by 6 to watch their toddler and 4 foster children. After an eventful dinner with them, we headed straight for the grocery store still thinking the rest of the night would play out like planned. Cami, Oscar and I had a lot of fun at the grocery store and were all giggles on the way home until we got a call from one of our former students Ana. Her dad had just been arrested, leaving her younger brother and van stranded at the airport. So we quickly dropped off our groceries (couldn't let the milk spoil) then picked up Ana and her mom and drove to LAX. By the time we got there they had taken her dad away. So the ladies headed to the police station with the police and we took David (who had just returned from Mexico) home. Then I dropped Oscar and Cami off at home to work on English homework and hit the road again. Ana and her mom are now safely back at their homes and I have just returned to mine at 11:27 pm.

So I am still writing on the blog (I just set the goal two days ago, I can't compromise already) but I think the Potter update will have to wait until another day. It is way past my bedtime.


P.S. I do have a softball sized parasite growing in my lower abdomen. But more on that later.

No Titles for This One

I don't even know how to start this. No catchy phrases or insightful thoughts to begin us, just the truth.

Today one of my students showed up late to school. As I was writing her a pass to class she gave me no reason for her tardiness, but told me her mom should be calling. This is common practice for our students and I was sure she had missed the bus or something of the sort. At lunch she asked me if her mom had called yet, but she had not.

It was not until this evening that I discovered why she was late today. This student, as with many others, lives in one of the gang infested projects of Los Angeles. Before it was time for her to catch an 8am bus to school, a group of gang members had gathered in her backyard. Now I am not sure what happened next, but I know it ended with one of them getting shot and being abandoned there by all his hommies. It was her family's responsibility to ensure he received medical treatment. And before she was certain he would live, she was at school. And sometimes I wonder why they just can't focus on their schoolwork.

P.S. The car is fine. Some bolt they replaced broke, but we are good to go now.

Cars

In three weeks we will be taking our little Marvin on a long road trip up to Seattle and then around the NW for two weeks before we head back home. In light of this upcoming trip we decided to have a tune up. Luckily there is a man that does all the mechanic work for the Dream Center and he gave us a screaming deal --- he changed all the belts, spark plugs, fluids and the list goes on. Praise the Lord for generous people.

However, we were pulling out of a parking space this morning and as I shifted from reverse to 1st gear there was a rather unnerving sound and then . . . . . . . . Marvin wouldn't move :( He revs but no movement. Ironic that there was really nothing wrong with our car earlier this week but we had it looked at anyway. And now, two days after getting it back from a mechanic it is not running. Oh the joys of life! Luckily work is right next door, church is less than a mile away and we have enough groceries to get us by for a few more meals.

Our friend will look at it again on Monday ---- let's just pray that whatever is wrong wont be too expensive to fix.

4 Toothbrushes

Last night I walked into our bathroom and was delighted to discover that our toothbrush holder was full. And then moments later Cami said to me, "Hey did you notice all the slots in our toothbrush holder are full?"

We recently had a couple of additions to our family. Two of our students who have been kicked out by their parents have both found harbor in our home. I wish you all could meet them and see how wonderful they are. Maybe someday :)

Cami later said, "it is like we are finally complete."

Who would have thought that toothbrushes could be so exciting?