This last Saturday started at 7:45 am as we got up, got dressed, fed the animals and hopped in the car to Fort Worth for Day 1 of the PRIDE training. We were both a little nervous about what to expect and what information we would learn and the people we would meet. We got to the building off Lancaster in downtown Fort Worth, got out and walked into the room and discovered we were going to have a very full class - there wasn't one seat left after everyone got there! We sat at a table with a lovely couple looking to foster/adopt. The husband is from Germany so I embarrassed myself with the very little bit of German I do know. The other person we sat with is going through the kinship program. She is going to be adopting a family member. It is an interesting mix of individuals. After some (tedious...I mean fun!) paperwork, we got started on our first lesson. We did some teamwork activities intended for us to get to know eachother and to just break the ice. My favorite is the 5 C's. Our instructor asked us to write down our favorite Color, Car, Cuisine, Character and Closet Dream. Then she drew the slips of paper out of an envelope and we went around the room trying to guess whose paper she was reading off of. I was the first one drawn and Patrick's was the second one drawn! I threw everyone off and only had one person guess that it was me. Everyone thought it was Patrick! The best part, my character was Pooh Bear (because Patrick kinda looks like Pooh Bear - in a good way of course) and the class called Patrick Pooh Bear the rest of the day! :) Yes! They also nominated him to be the spokesperson for us to decide how we wanted to take breaks and eat lunches. We of course chose to take breaks as needed and to bring our lunch and work through so we can get through as many lessons as possible as quickly as possible.
Saturday ended with completing 3 lessons - I believe there is 10 total. We took home our homework (shoot, I still have to work on that!) and our mounds of paperwork - thank the Lord we have already done most of it and turned it in. We did get a surprise in that some of the process is a little different than we were originally told, but nothing a little rearranging of schedules won't fix.
We certainly have just scratched the surface. Next Saturday proves to be an interesting one as we dig deeper into our training and Patrick's mom, my mom and Patrick's sister join us for the training class. Nothing like a room full of teachers to make for an interesting lesson!
Still no updates on the dates we might be bringing home our first child. They are required to have our home stuidy complete within 30 days of graudating from the PRIDE class (the last day is May 3rd). So it could be the middle of May or it could easily be June. We continue to pray for an approval of the home study and a fast and easy process. In the mean time, we go to class, clean the house for the fire inspection and keep waiting!
Thanks again for your support and prayers. More to come later!
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