The Christian Crew

WELL, this book, though shorter than I expected, took me a bit longer to read because I would STOP reading to go PLAY with my kids! Cara, the author, lays out all the things that STOP us from playing and gives you insight to the POWERS of play. She shares personal stories, like her adoption of Bernard and Silvanie, from Haiti! I connected with her and I have always felt like a very playful mother with my kiddos ( just look at that huge pile of laundry).  In fact, I constantly get off task b/c i'd rather play a game, make a craft, bake together or play along with my kids. BUT, I did notice a few things I was not doing! Many times, I am not letting my kids choose or direct the play time. I also get distracted by the stupid small electronic boxes we all carry around. I am aware now and am grateful and am LOVING engaging with my kiddos, slowing down and connecting with them too. There are so many good things to learn from her book! I highly recommend it to all parent...

I'm not a perfect person and I often put my foot in my mouth! I have been asked several times why I am doing a BIRTH PARENT RETREAT when I'm not a birth parent... So, hopefully, you can understand WHY after you read this post! When I was teenager,  I woke up one morning in a world of PAIN! I thought my insides were dying and I went to the ER. My mom held my hand and they did an ultrasound and found out I had a ruptured ovarian cyst that was causing the pain. Often times, women have these but they don't really   feel them as dramatically or they are smaller when they rupture. Other times, women just think its the pain associated with aunt flo! But as the tech did my ultrasound he also saw LOTS of scar tissue/endomitrial tissue on the lining of my uterus. The Dr. was frank with me and said- I will probably never have children or it will be very difficult if I do have them. Either way the outcome seemed so grim at the time.  My mom had this CD she ...

Brandi takes you on an interesting journey as a child who is born hearing but loses her abilities b/c of a sickness she gets in her youth. You go through the emotions of herself, her parents and friends and family who learn how to navigate this very NEW challenge. She Braves it like a champ and in her young adulthood challenges what Others think of The Deaf Community, laws, closed captioning and so much more. She conquers her fears and motivates others along the way to becoming Ms. Deaf America!  She later gets married and has three HEARING sons with her husband, who is also deaf, and together they had always talked about the day they would have a little bouncy, blonde girl who signs and is as Strong as her momma! But, God leads them down a different Path and that has many bumps in the road and they eventually put there papers in for China to adopt a little girl... BUT, what happens next? Well, You will have to read about it yourself. In the Meantime, while Brandi and...

You would think after being involved with Adoption for so many years, that I would be jaded by how AMAZING other people's stories are- BUT, I'm not Jaded! I LOVE hearing, reading listening to how God works out all the details and all the timing to help expectant parents find the adoptive families and how both parties are an answer to each other's prayers! I happen to GROW up with this guy as a Pseudo- older brother! Russ was best friends with Todd, my oldest brother. I watched them play sports together, dub over Muppet movies and star wars, have fun on the lake, going to youth dances, going TP-ing, sliding down sand mountain and jumping off the 27ft drop into the river! Life was GOOD when you were hanging with the Elkins family! A few years back we all connected on FB and found out that He was an adoptive dad and He realized I was an adoptive mom, married to an adoptee! That was pretty cool to see this connection in our lives. Among us, we have about 10 other coupl...

    Mother's Day was Wonderful - lots of flowers , homemade truffles , breakfast in bed , the kids singing at church, steaks for dinner , angel food with whipped cream and strawberries for dessert and great company too!  I couldn't have asked for a better day (minus a touch of whining that is in every day)...   I just didn't think I would LOSE it today and cry during class! We discussed Christ's parables about the lost sheep, the woman's lost coin and the prodigal son. The one that hit me the most was the woman who had 10 coins and lost one...   "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" ( Luke 15:8-1...

God is so Good! I am Amazed How he has changed our family through the Miracle of Adoption and three incredible women!  And to Brandon's Birth mom...

Happy Mother's Day to you all! This day holds many special memories for me. Both good, sad & all that made me reflect on the kind of mother I have and the kind of mom I want to be. I remember the 4 years of being married and not being a mother yet- the first 2 were fine but, the next two STUNG and I was even asked to talk on mother's day at church, that 4th year . It was a small dagger in my side ( mainly b/c we didn't share with others that we were trying and miscarrying )  as I went on and on about the beauty of motherhood , while I lacked being one, due to infertility issues. But, it was only 9 months after that when I became a mother! I never gave up hope that it would happen one day! Because of an incredibly selfless birth mom, Kara, I sat that 5th yr of our marriage, in the pew, holding this sweet little baby so tightly! Brielle was a dream baby and we were just embarking on what Parenting was really like. The 6th year, I was p...

well, try moving 2 times in 2 years and adding two kids along with those moves-Oh and switch companies and become a business partner owner... That's how it all seems so fast! I can't believe we are planning Gavin's 4th Birthday already- it's bittersweet!  He is SUCH A JOY now that he is out of the terrible twos and is doing so much better as a big brother and overall, little person. I'm not sure if I ever shared his 2nd year with everyone but let's just condense it to a few words- Fecal fiesta- every other day, lots of dirt, yelling, messes and screaming! It was HARD and I'm so glad he is speaking so well now- most of his yelling was in frustration that we couldn't understand what he wanted or was try to say. Enjoy some BABY pics of this little man!!!   5 days old...       10 months old  7 months old  

We headed out to UTAH on a SECRET TRIP to meet JESSICA- and to SEE if we would bond the way we did over the phone/ email etc...  Let me back up a bit... Our first contact from her was via email on April 7th!  We were setting up for an adoption conference  that day and we had just finished our CPR class and told our caseworker that we were switching to Foster care b/c we were ready and wanted to see what it was like. He went on about how a cute couple in Grand Junction just got an email from an expectant mom. That night- I got home and we had this email in our inbox too!!! "Hello, my name is Jessica . I am not entirely sure how to go about this but, i am seriously considering adoption, my due date is May 24th and there are a few families that i have been considering. I don't really have any questions for you at the moment but if you have any please feel free to email back. Thank you. Please respond by: EMAIL" WE FREAKED OUT! I told our case worker the next d...