Foster Parent Appreciation Banquet

We went to our first Foster Parent Appreciation Banquet last night. The kids were all excited about getting to go play with the other kids and getting pizza and popcorn. It was fun getting all dressed up and getting some time with other adults to talk and so forth. They had a chocolate fondue table set up with strawberries, cherries, cake, graham crackers, marshmellows and stuff and that was kinda fun. Then they served us ham, green beans, rolls, salad, scalloped potatoes, and italian creme cake or chocolate cake. We said hello our our caseworker and she came over to talk to us and then she came back to introduce us to her husband. We were sitting by ourselves because we aren't too familiar with some of the older foster parents yet (not necessarily older as in age wise, but the ones who have been fostering longer). It was nice when another couple came in and asked if they could sit with us as we went through all of our foster training and stuff with them. Then, another couple came in and they sat with us too (I babysit her fosterbaby). We won a door prize of a free hotel stay at the Courtyard Marriot hotel in Fort Worth along with a free dinner for two at a Mexican restaurant that's close to the hotel. Everyone sitting at our table won a door prize...we were at the winners table. :-) They presented all of us with cards from our caseworker and blankets that were monogrammed from our agency that went with the theme of being a "Shelter in the Storm". We had our pictures taken together and with our caseworker. They had a couple there that after 23 years of fostering decided to close down their homes and they presented them with a special flag from the state of Texas as a way to say thank you and our agency is giving them a voucher for a cruise. At the end, they told us all to check under our chairs as they threw some stuff under various chairs too. We won a gift card at a local cafe. It was a fun night and we had fun with everyone we were sitting with too. I really do like our agency that we are with and I really do get the vibe that they really do care about their foster parents. I hear so many horror stories from other foster parents with different states and agencies, that I consider myself lucky to be with who we are.

We came home and put the kids to bed and sat and talked for awhile. Andy said he really didn't want to go at first, but that he had fun. I did too. Then, we headed to bed ourselves since Andy had to get up at 3 am this morning to go into work. I didn't really think I was tired, but I must have been as I don't even remember Andy coming to bed.