Bead for Life-Extras

Email me to order! bldahlen@aol.com or come on Jan. 30th 2-4. All are invited!
Read the 2 posts below for the bracelets and necklaces!!

Earrings-$12
Beautiful beads in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Each pair comes with its own cloth bag.


Jewelry Bags-$20
I only have 3 of these. Specify your choice when ordering. These are satin and Anna Faith has been drooling over them since they arrived.



Lip Balm-$5
Peppermint lip balm made with organic Ugandan shea butter.

Shea butter soap-$5
African lemongrass and lavender

Bead for Life-Bracelets

The colors for these are brighter than they are showing up on my camera. I can find bracelets to match most of the necklace colors (see below for the necklaces!!), so if you want a matching set, let me know. bldahlen@aol.com to order

Bangle Bracelets-$7
Beautiful bracelets with lots of colors available. The beads are medium and equal in color and size throughout each bracelet.


Katogo Bracelets-$7These bracelets are multi-colored and have beads of multi-sizes. The beads are small in size.


3 Strand Bracelets-$18
These bracelets are made of 3 connected strands of beads. The beads are small and equal in size and of the same color in each bracelet.


Band Bracelets-$18
These bracelets are made with long, skinny beads. Each bracelet has 2-4 colors in a beautiful design.

Bead for Life-necklaces

These are the most gorgeous handmade beads and jewelry. I will be hosting a party so that you can come in person to check out the beads and purchase at that time, or you can purchase here on my blog. All purchases will benefit both the Bead for Life ministry and our adoptions. Bead for life is an organization which "creates sustainable opportunies for women to life their families out of extreme poverty." Win-Win!

I am going to post some examples of each style. I have quite a variety of colors, so if you find a style you like, but don't see a color you like, email me and I will send you more pictures of what you are looking for. These also look great layered up--long and short of the same style.

To purchase any of these items, email me at bldahlen@aol.com and specify style and color. I am happy to ship them to you if you are not local or meet you to deliver if you are close. Thanks for looking!

Single Short necklace-$15
These are equal sized beads of similar color on each strand and are about 18 inches long. There are some that are a little chunkier in bead size than others, but all are mostly medium sized beads



Single Long necklaces-$20
These are just like the shorter necklaces above, but are about 38 inches.



Katogo Short Necklaces-$15These necklaces are about 18 inches long. They have small beads at a variety of sizes and colors on each strand.


Katogo Long Necklaces-$20
The style is the same as the shorter katogo necklaces, but they are 36-44 inches long.


3-Strand Necklaces-$25
Each of these necklaces has 3 attached strands and measure about 18 inches. The beads are equal in size and match in color for the whole of each necklace. The beads are small sized.



Madaala Necklaces-$30
These necklaces area bout 21 inches long and are very chunky. The beads build in size and are large in the middle, smaller on both ends. The colors are beautiful on these necklaces.

And the homeschool books winner is...

Congrats to my winner! Samuel has been waiting all week for his "turn" to draw, lol. He is so excited to help out.




Congrats Jenn! I will contact you about getting this set to you! If the email address your paypal came through isn't the best way to contact you, please contact me at bldahlen@aol.com

Updates

Still no home study...hopefully soon...sooo ready to send it off to immigration for the next step...

We are in the middle of several fundraisers. Keep up on the side. We are still selling coffee from Just Love Coffee and the most awesome adoption awareness t-shirts ever from Adoption Bug, as well as Thirty-One products.

I am giving away a set of homeschool books tomorrow.

We are now taking pre-orders (if you are local) for BBQ. The sign up is to the right here and you can submit it directly off my blog to order. 8th Deadly Sin BBQ is amazing. Pick up will be at our huge yard sale/concert/festival event on Feb. 26th.

AND, I got beads in today for Bead for Life! That party will be Jan 30th 2-4 for those that are local. If you are not local, or can't come that day, I am going to post pieces for sale here so you can order through my blog. They are all gorgeous--necklaces, bracelets, earrings--and there is a huge variety of color. You are helping 2 great causes when you purchase these pieces. I will be working on getting those on here tonight.

The couponing class (if you are local) is Feb. 20th. I have only a couple of spots left. Email if you want one.

Thanks for all your help in donating and helping us get the word out!!!

My middle child

Samuel has a current fascination with “reading” his little Bible. He can’t actually read most of the tiny print, but he spends much of his day curled up with the little book, flipping pages with no pictures. I asked him last night why he is so interested in reading the Bible and his response was, “because God loves us all the time.” Wow, what a beautiful work of healing my God is doing in the heart of my middle child.

Samuel is a deep thinker. He is the kid who will be still and play for hours. He is happy to be alone with his thoughts. He plays well with others, but he is just as happy on his own. He has a vivid imagination and thinks deeply about everything. It is rare that those thoughts express themselves, but when they do, hold on to your hat. He will blow you away with the depth and complexity of his little brain. You will start to think you have a handle on how much he observes and understands, and then out comes something seriously profound. I am always in amazement. That said, he doesn’t show his emotion, his pain, on his face much of the time, and he rarely shows it in his behavior, but he dwells on it deep in his brain.

He has so deeply grieved his sister. Their relationship was tumultuous at best. Samuel’s calm and peaceful nature always clashed with Abigails…ummm..passion..spunk. To put it frank, she picked on him, and my sensitive boy never quite understood that. The unresolved personality conflict has caused his grief to be more complicated than you would imagine for a 4 then 5 year old. Add to that the depths of his brain, and I have spent many an hour on my knees for my boy.
Most people could see changes in his behavior. But most couldn’t see the depths of his pain like I could. I can see it in his eyes. His eyes are very expressive, even when his face is not. I saw rebellion in him. I saw anger, frustration, confusion. Many of the things he said over those so difficult months were painful for me to hear. I couldn’t fix this for him. As a mother, that is such a helpless feeling. His personality did a 180. I saw major evidence of this in his relationship with Abigail’s best friend. He is the same age as Abigail. Samuel would yell at him and was continually angry with him. I think he was projecting a bit of his unresolved feelings about Abigail. These have been tough days.

Yesterday, Samuel found a car to give to this little boy because he knew how much he would like it. Wow, what a change. Yesterday, he read his Bible all day long. Yesterday, he smiled at me and I didn’t see that haunting pain. Yesterday we talked about Abigail with smiles and laughter, and we talked about adoption and the future. He still longs for his sister, but there is healing. I know he will always long for her. I know that he will have to come back through this grief journey again and again, but God has given me such hope in His beauty in these ashes of my son’s life.

What has made the difference? It all goes back to Love. In the beginning we were focusing on the idea of an accident and that this accident wasn’t his fault. In time we as parents, but also his counselors could see that he was just shutting down. He wasn’t arguing with us about the fault issue, but he was just trusting us less and less with how he was really feeling. He wasn’t buying it. We shifted our focus to forgiveness. We began talking to him about forgiving others and Abigail forgiving him, but along with that, God’s forgiveness that is freely offered to us all. We all know that burden of needing forgiveness for a variety of serious and not so serious offenses. Samuel was carrying that burden—a burden too heavy for most adults, and the only way to move out from underneath it is to ask for forgiveness. Once he did that, we have seen the most beautiful freedom again. I can see a physical change in him. He looks lighter. His eyes have hope. He asked for forgiveness and felt the freedom from the burden of guilt and blame. The transformation has made my heart soar.

We have a long road to go. Healing will take a long time. Grieving will last forever. But God has given us hope again. The cycle will only be complete when we are with her again and we are complete again. Until then, I am trusting God to carry my little ones through. Because, “God loves us all the time.”

And the winner who will be sporting a new haircut and color is...

Congrats to my winner! We had lots of entries on this one! I love drawing for these things. It is so much fun giving something away and I am always so eager to know whose name is going to come out, lol. This time my beautiful oldest daughter helped me out. I know you will love your haircut from my friend Kate. She is super talented and can hold a great conversation as well. You are in for a treat!




Congrats Mary! I will be in touch to get you Kate's contact info.

The Hope Project--how you can help!

If you are local...We are planning a huge event to fundraise our adoptions. This event will be a yard sale, but we will also have free live music, family-friendly activities, food vendors, a variety of businesses with booths, giveaways/prizes/auctions, and lots of fun! We hope to make this event an annual thing which will raise money to donate to adopting families, but also to donate to the church's mission program that is hosting the event. We need lots of help! These are the specific things we need. I know there are a lot of things here, but please read to the end to see if there is some area we need that you might know about. Please let me know how you can help!


1. First priority!! We need a location!! We have a couple of locations in the works, but nothing definite. To be able to advertise (we have some great opportunities open to us for advertising!), we need to be able to be specific. We are looking at Feb. 26th. If you know of a location we could hold a yard sale, concert, festival type of event, please let me know as soon as possible!!


2. We need volunteers to work the yard sale


3. We need donations for the yard sale. Please send these already tagged with reasonable prices. It would be best if you could drop these off the day before the event at the location, but if you need to drop them off early, please contact me.


4. We are looking for businesses wanting to advertise in a booklet to be handed out at the event. More details available if you are interested.


5. We are looking for business to set up booths to sell and share about their services. A booth is $25. Contact me if you are interested.


6. We are looking for bouncy houses, snow cones, fun for famililes type of activities. Contact me if you have these available.


7. We need people who can help us find advertisers for the event, business who want to advertise with us, food donations from local grocery stores, and donations to be given away at the event.


8. We will be pre selling bbq from the fabulous Eric Jackson. Info coming soon about how to put your order in.


9. We need someone willing to help us manage the giveaways/door prizes/silent auctions we will be running.


10. And we need to advertise! If you have contacts with newspapers, radio, tv, etc, please hook us up!

And the soaker winner is...

Congrats to my winner of a super adorable, amazingly crafted wool soaker from the ultra talented hands of my dear friend Mandy Welch! (How is that for adjectives??) I have a super cute helper this time. He was so excited to get to draw a name and was thrilled for you even though he doesn't know you--ha! I will be in touch with getting this to you. Enjoy!

(And I have no idea why my pictures emailed sideways and I don't have time to figure out how to turn them around right now--sorry!!)

Homeschool Giveaway!!

My biggest homeschool inspiration, without a doubt, is The Well-Trained Mind. This book changed my homeschool world and has had a huge impact on our lives. I was floundering until I read this book. The logical clarity and vision of well educated kids was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't just want to get through curriculum and meet basic standards, I wanted to educate my kids. I wanted them to speak a common cultural language with the rest of the educated population. I wanted them to read great books, to quote Plato, and to know how to write an argument. This book shows me how to get there. If you haven't read it, do. If you homeschool, it is a must read. If you are thinking about homeschooling, start here. If you never want to homeschool, still read it. I can't say enough good things about it. While I don't do everything exactly as the authors say here, I do follow their scope and sequence and, especially in the older grades, I pull much of our homeschool from this book.

The authors--Susan Bauer and Jessie Wise--have also started writing curriculum to go along with the book. My super favorite-I-can't-say-enough-good-things-about history curriculum, Story of the World, is written by Bauer. Do not miss this one. And don't leave out the activity book.

My dear friend Kathy, knowing my love of the Well-Trained Mind, and knowing our need to raise adoption funds, wrote to the lovely ladies of Peace Hill Press and requested something from their fabulous collection to giveaway. And they responded! I am so super pleased to be offering to you homeschoolers (and soon to be homeschoolers) the newly redesigned and republished editions of First Language Lessons years 1 and 2. I have and use the original version myself. This is a thorough, detailed grammar curriculum written by Wise. She uses "dictation exercises, narration, picture study, and other classical techniques" to give your student a complete language curriculum for years 1 and 2 (roughly 1st and 2nd grade, although I use this in K5 and 1st). Originally these were published in one volume, but the newly redesigned version is separated in a much clearer format. Anna Faith is using the 3rd level of this curriculum this year and it is excellent. I couldn't be more pleased. I would say that if your child struggles with grammer or you have been using a weaker program, level 1 and 2 would be very appropriate for a 3rd grade student as well.

To one lucky donator to our adoption fund, I will give both volumes 1 and 2 of the newly designed First Language Lessons, AND the audio companion CD that accompanies the curriculum. Two years of language curriculum! Just donate using our button on the right. Each $5 will get you one chance. And if you share this, and let me know, I will give you an extra one free. Please don't forget to comment here on my blog or email me directly to make sure I give you appropriate credit! I will be happy to ship this to you if you are not local. Thanks!

Adoption t-shirts!

Check out our newest fundraiser! We are so excited to make these t-shirts available for purchase. They have wonderful messages to raise adoption awareness. You will be helping our adoption, but also helping spread the word about the orphan crisis. I, myself, love the one in the middle that says "How do you read 147 million orphans? ONE at a time!"

Shop, share, help us out! Thanks!

http://www.adoptionbug.com/thedahlens/

Our homeschooling journey

I used to think homeschoolers were completely insane. Why would anyone want to do that?? Oh no, I knew the plans I had for my life. I wanted to have 2 kids. I wanted to work full-time. There was no way I would stay at home. I wanted to change the world. And homeschooled kids are weird aren't they?

That all started to change about the time I was birthing my first born. I was literally in the hospital, contracting, about to push when it hit me. If I was going to only have 2 kids, then I only got to do this one more time, and I knew that wasn't enough. I said then that I wanted 4 kids. 2 of each.

During those first few years with Nathan, I questioned again and again why his teachers would get to spend so much more time with him than I would. That never made sense to me. You see, I enjoy my children. I do. I am one of those crazy people who really just loves to spend time with them. Yes, they can get on my nerves. And I adore my alone time. But the awareness that life is short and they will be grown and moved out so soon came to me early. I know that all too well now. I hunger for time with them. I love knowing them--every bit of them. So early on, I questioned the send-them-off-all-day approach, but that never changed my plans. Homeschooling never entered my equation. Remember, homeschoolers are insane and I have things to do.

Now, add Anna Faith and then very quickly Samuel. At this point, Nathan was in private school and doing very well. Too well maybe. He was working several grade levels ahead. But private school is expensive, and when you are planning 4 kids...we knew we couldn't keep it up. But we also knew that he would just be in trouble all. day. long. if he went to public school. By this time, I had dropped out of grad school--finished my master's and the coursework for my phd, but I just couldn't stomach leaving my newborn daughter in daycare all day long. The plan was now to stay home with them when they are little, then get back on track when they started school. I had started teaching part-time at local colleges and loved it. I was using my brain, interacting with adults, but still home with the littles during the day. And God just kept beating me over the head with the school issue. It got to the point that not even speaking to some people about this little homeschooling thought in the back of my head, I was hearing that we should (even people who had no connection to homeschooling).

I decided to do 2 weeks of homeschool over the summer to prove to myself and to God that I, in fact, could not do this and He was mistaken. Much to my surprise (and dismay!), we loved it. We all loved it. We couldn't wait to do more. And I finally said, ok, fine God. Let's see how this goes.

At this point, I knew no one who homeschooled and knew of no activities. I dove in. That is how I approach most things. When I finally make a decision, I dive in head first. Getting to that decision might take some pretty stout kicks in the rear, but I am all in when I go for something. I had already been reading books and books on the subject. By this time I had found the Well-Trained Mind, which gave me so much confidence and completely changed the way I was looking at school. Go read it! I started researching non-stop and found co-ops, classes, labs, PE...you name it, it is there. I found a huge homeschooling community in my area.

I have many many reasons I am eternally thankful we homeschool:
-I love knowing my children and getting to see those aha moments instead of those going to their teachers
-I love that my kids know each other. They are truly each other's best friends. I pray that bond lasts through their lifetime.
-We have so much fun
-Behavior is so much improved
-they learn so much and get to explore so much being in a class with a ratio of 5 to 1 (7 to 1)
-life is so much less stressful
-Nathan and I have found our groove and we understand each other now (I hear all the time that "I couldn't homeschool because we just don't get along like that"--I am hear to say that if you spend this kind of time with a child, you will learn how to get along. Homeschooling has improved my relationship with Nathan in ways I couldn't imagine and can't describe without being sappy)
-we can create a lifestyle of learning in our home
-We have made great friends who homeschool
-my kids are well-socialized instead of only being peer-socialized. they can hold interesting conversations with people of all ages in a variety of contexts
-my kids can participate in so much more because of the flexibility of our homeschool and they have so much more free time to read, play, or explore

I could go on and on, but the number one biggest reason I am so thankful we homeschool is Abigial. She was born into a homeschool family and spent all of her 2 years in the middle of us all. She learned, she thrived, and she KNEW her siblings. Nathan didn't miss out on his baby sister because he was away all day. With a 10 year age gap, he probably would not have known her, but I know he wouldn't have carried her around on his hip all day and known all her faces. He had the opportunity to know what made her laugh and what made her scream. He knew her and he adored her. I can't imagine robbing him of that. Now that she is gone, he has memories to cling to because we spent so much time together. He didn't miss out on time with friends or activities. In fact, he gets so much more of both than when he was in school. But now, he also gets time with his family and his siblings. That time is priceless. He will be an excellent father some day.

And in the end, I realize that I am changing the world. It might be a smaller world than I had imagined so long again, but it is the corner of the world that really matters to me. I do teach. I do get to spark some little love of history with a variety of students. What a blessing! But most importantly, I get to be an active part of my children's lives. That is my mission right now. The time they are home with me is so short in the grand scheme of my life. I don't want to miss a minute!

If you homeschool or are considering, I have a fantastic giveaway coming up courtesy of my friend Kathy and the writers of Well-Trained Mind. Look for it in the next few days!

Crazy life

I feel smack in the middle of adoption craziness now! We have so much going on. Our dossier is finished--just waiting (still) on that darn home study. She needs one letter. According to her today, when that letter gets to her, she will have the home study the next day. Pray the letter comes asap. We will then ship our home study off to immigration for that final piece of paper we need to submit to our country. We are so close. Just need that letter!!

On the fundraising front, we have a cut and color giveaway and a handmade wool soaker giveaway going on. We also are still selling coffee and thirty-one products. We are going to start selling the most awesome t-shirts ever soon. I am going to do an online/in-person bead party Jan. 30 and a couponing class on Feb. 20. We are also working on a huge benefit for the end of Feb. This is so exciting if it all works out. It will involve a yard sale, a carnival of sorts, free concerts, booths for vendors, and lots of food. Wow--what a huge ball of stress, but it will be such a huge blessing. Look for more details soon.

On the get ready front, we are working on our language skills (ok, so it is pretty bad-I'm too old to learn a new language! but I am trying!) and studying up on attachment and the adjustment Grace and Malachi will go through when we bring them home. I can't wait for that day! Malachi's bday is coming up and it is so hard to not be able to hug my little man on his day. We are lining up resources and support for the transition our family will go through. The kids are so excited about the entire process. They have always been apart of our plan to adopt and have been a huge encouragment for us to go for it now.

We are also celebrating the news that 2 families connected to us have now committed to adopt!! It is their news to tell, so I am not sharing names, but praise God! 2 more lives saved! I have spent major time celebrating this news. I have also heard that 2 more children at Grace and Malachi's orphanage have a committed family. Those kids are so close to my heart. I have cried over and prayed over their pictures for months. What amazing news!

Abigail, I so wish you were here to meet your newest siblings. I am sure you would be trying to find a way to boss them around like you do the rest of us. We miss you and always will. I hope we are making you proud by the choices we are making. Your marker should arrive soon baby girl. I am praying over and pondering how to approach your birthday this year. I know there will be lots of pink balloons for you no matter how the day ends up. You are always on my heart and on my mind.

Giveaway! Kate Cut and Color!

The fabulous Ms. Kate has offered a cut and color to one lucky donator. Kate says that you can get highlights or all over color to go with your cut. This is a $140 value!!! I know a Kate haircut is in high demand, so be sure to jump on this opportunity!! This giveaway will run for one week.

To donate: Just use the donate link on the right there to donate. Each $5 gets you one chance to win a free cut and color. And, if you share on facebook or your blog and tell me about it, I will give you an extra chance. Be sure to comment here or in email so that I know which giveaway you are entering!

If you want to donate, but don't want to donate online, please email me (bldahlen@aol.com). This is open only to those local enough to get to Kate, or willing to travel.

Soaker giveaway still going on until Sunday! Get your entries in!

Bead For Life

We are hosting a beading party with Bead for Life. This fantastic organization offers handmade beaded jewelry made by women in Uganda. According to their website, "BeadforLife eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africans and concerned world citizens. Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads. Women in Northern Uganda gather shea nuts and press them into shea butter for cosmetics and soaps. And people who care open their hearts,homes and communities to buy and sell both products.
The beads and shea butter become income, food, medicine, school fees and hope. It is a small miracle that enriches us all." We are so excited to help this organization out and at the same time fundraise to make a very real difference in the life of two children.

So...save the date! January 30th from 2-4 will be the date of our "party." Come and go as you like between those times and purchse some beautiful pieces. I will also post pics of some pieces on my blog as I get them in closer to the date of the party. I will be happy to ship your jewelry to you if you are not local.

An extra surprise for you...

I know I said that I would be using the same numbers we used for the ipad to draw for additional prizes, so here goes the first extra prize. I have a gift card here for Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52 Fresh Grill). The winner of this gift card is...




which is...according to my master list...DeAnn Shannon!

Congrats! I will mail this gift card to you today. Thanks for entering the ipad giveaway!

Introducing...

I wanted to formally take a moment and introduce our prayfully-soon-to-be-added children, especially since we have finally agreed to names!!! Both of these children live in the same groupa in the same orphanage. They know each other and, from what I hear, play well already. I am so thrilled we can welcome them both into our home and hopefully having a buddy they have been living with will ease their transition.

First up is this little beauty who we will call Grace. She will be 4 this summer.


And next is the little boy that stole my heart with his beautiful eyes. We will call him Malachi. His 3rd birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.


And now for an update...According to our social worker, if all goes as planned, we will be getting our completed home study in the next couple of days. Please pray that all goes well getting that finished. We will then submit our home study to US immigration, and wait again for their approval. As sooon as we get approval from immigration, we will ship the home study and the rest of our dossier (which is already complete) off to Eastern Europe and wait for our country to give us a travel date. I feel so close, yet so far away. Please continue to wrap us in prayer, and pray especially that the last little bit of this home study will be complete and ready this week. Our country will open up again in the beginning of Feb and we want to have our paperwork there as soon as possible.

New Fundraiser! Beautiful Handmade Wool Soaker

Ok, all you cloth diapering momma's know you want this. This beautiful handmade wool soaker comes from the ultra talented hands of my dear friend Mandy. According to Mandy, the yarn is 100% merino from Uruguay dyed by Mandy herself in a rainbow colorway with coordinating trim. It will fit a wide range of sizes from about 6 months to 18 months. She says she would call it a medium. The measurements unstretched are: waist 14", hips 17", rise 18" and thigh 9". It comes freshly washed and lanolized, ready to use.

To enter: Donate $5 to our adoption fund. Each $5 will get you one chance to win. Be sure you comment here or in email to let me know which giveaway you are entering! Sorry to send you around the world, but we are having issues with buttons!

This giveaway will run for one week. Happy donating!

Secondary grief

When a person dies, there are so many facets to that loss that aren't obvious to anyone not living through it. Professionals call these additional losses secondary grief. The primary grief is the loss of the individual. That loss--the loss of Abigail is overwhelming and hard enough. But, the secondary grief is there in so many hidden aspect of life. For example, I have the hardest time now doing everyday things like laundry. Not that I ever loved laundry before, don't get me wrong. But now, doing laundry is a constant slap in my face reminder that her clothes will never be in the basket again. Did you hear that? I will never wash clothes for my little girl again. That takes my breath away. It is just one more stabbing reminder of her absence. Serving dinner to my family is another--we are always one plate short. My family, who typically doesn't miss a field trip, has not be on a single one this year. I get snagged every time by the part where you have to say how many adults and how many children are attending. The numbers are just always wrong.

I grieve Abigail, but I also grieve Anna Faith's sister, Samuel's lighthearted innocence, Nathan's hip carry, Eli's too much love. I grieve our future, the way my family functions. I grieve the trauma free childhood I wanted for my children. I grieve the holidays we used to have and the energy I did.

There are things I don't grieve though. I don't grieve the stress I put on myself over minor things. I don't grieve my children's eyes and hearts being closed to other's pain. I don't grieve the friendships and amazing people I have come to know through tragedy. I don't grieve less than sacrificial giving by our family to the hurting of the world. I don't grieve the illusion I lived in where superficial things mattered and pain was hidden. Thank you baby girl for teaching us the important things and for sharing Hope.

Tragedy is so much more complex that I could have ever understood before I walked this path. It affects each and every aspect of a person's life. We have had to rebuild our family and how our family interacts with each other in the physical absence of a key piece. We have had to start rebuilding new traditions and purpose as much as we want to fight this change. Thank you all for being along on this journey.