Saturday, November 23, 2013

And this was our day....

Today was such a great day with our boys. Beach days with these boys are some of my favorites!

Get ready for picture overload! There were just too many photos that I loved to keep it to a reasonable amount of pictures. My apologies. ;)


























Happy Saturday everyone! :)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Weekend Recap!

Friday was a holiday here, so we had a loooong 3 day weekend. 

Friday was spent being pretty lazy. We played card games, charades, and had a movie night. 




 Then on Saturday, Phillip and Coreen (the founders of Hope Mountain) brought down a bunch of scooters and skateboards for the boys to play on. These scooters were some of the craziest scooters I've ever seen! Needless to say, the boys we had so much fun on them!




How cute is little Bella?! She is our pink princess here at the mountain :)

And, finally, Sunday evening we went on a trip to the beach. The sun was setting, the breeze perfect! The boys found an open court and played soccer for hours. Serioulsy, hours! Some of us headed to the water and dipped our feet in. Some of the crazier ones even got in.






     







It was the perfect ending to a pretty great weekend. 



Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Meet & Greet Mondays. {Euler}

Today is Monday, which means its time to introduce another boy to you. 

This is Euler. 


Euler is 14 years old, turning 15 at the end of January. He is one of the oldest boys who live in the dorms connected to our house, and one of my favorites. He is such a good kid. Yes, he messes up and gets in trouble....but he has a good heart and head on his shoulders. Euler is the boy who will sit there poking my side over and over until I chase him. He is the boy who will knock on my front door, and then hide around the corner and jump out at me when I open the door. He is the boy who screams bloody murder if you scare him. He is the boy who holds a special place in my heart. 


Euler has been here at Hope Mountain since March of 2011. Before coming here, he lived with his mom and step-father. When Euler was around 9 his mother went to rehab for alcoholism and he was left living with just his step-father. He made a habit of staying on the streets a lot, and would "disappear" for days at a time. He has said that he has never used drugs or smoked....he just didn't want to be home. Euler began stealing little things around the house and neighborhood, so his father called the police and social services entered the picture. His step-father said he no longer had the conditions or the desire to take care of him anymore, so he was taken to another home for boys. He was there a couple months before the Social Services decided to take him out of that Home and send him to us. 



The family that he lived with in the other home was very sad to see him go. They have kept in contact with him over the years, and come visit him often. They no longer work at the other home and are in the process of trying to gain custody of Euler. Isanon and I have become good friends with this couple and are praying that it works out for Euler to live with them. A part of me is selfish and wants Euler to stay here because he is a joy to be around, but I know that having a "real" family would be so much better for him. He deserves better. 


Please pray with us that God's will for Euler's life will be fulfilled. He wants very much to go live with this other couple. Pray with us that Euler would continue to be a role model here at Hope and avoid the pressure to make stupid choices. Pray for Euler's relationship with God, he has many questions...but is seeking.