The Christian Crew

It's so funny how, in passing Brandon will say things like- This next baby's room is going to be Ridiculously awesome and beautiful! Or we will bring up what ART we want in it!  They may seem like small things but, it's some small details that are meaningful to us. Each of our kids' bedroom has had pictures of birth parents in them. It's to remind us how important each kiddo is, not just to us, but to our baby's or children's birth parents and family. There are so many secret desires that I have or that I hope for. They might seem silly but, to me, I think they will be bonding as well. Like how I hope the expectant mom of this baby girl, wants to design the room with me, even if we have to do it online! Or I hope she is cool with helping pick the middle name out  together. I hope she likes LOTS of kids who will want to climb all over her, embrace her and surround her with cute chaos , when she visits!  Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, some may ...

    WE had a blast- soaking each other, trying out the 90 ft slide, having BBQ and snow cones, playing water games and just being together!      Aria got horse riding lessons and a bike for her birthday- she was so excited! Her friends had fun and our UFA peeps joined in too!         I don't often combine my family/ friends events but, this one was just great and HEY, my friends through adoption are always invited! Once I meet you and we hit it off- we are friends forever! It's crazy how our adoption community is so tight knit and so supportive too!   After a few tries the guys figured out that the more water and soap we had as we went down the hill, the FASTER we went! Great Job Men! So glad we got to have our new friends and old friends here that day! I look forward to more events ahead! God Bless!  

We had the honor of not just attending the wedding but, of being part of it! In open adoption, we have become each others' family in the most beautiful way! I really believe this is divine- us all meeting and becoming a pretty awesome family through adoptions. The boys were the Ring bearers and the girls the flower girls! They all did wonderful and it was fun to watch the boys start off with a good slow walk, then see Josh pull out the candy sticks, watch Slade start running and Gavin trying to hold him back! Both girls were a bit nervous but did fantastic and the ceremony was fun and beautiful. All of Sarah's family were so great to meet and I was able to even meet a few cousins who flew in from the east. I didn't realize that she only has a couple cousins b/c you just figure we have like 30 + cousins, right? Dustin looked dapper and Sarah looked like an angel/ fairy/ bride. Her hair was whimsical with the baby's breath in it and the gorgeous curls! She is ...

I have heard from many different people that their adoption isn't as open as they were hoping it would/could be. I have heard this from many birth parents and many couples as well. It got me thinking, A LOT and you know what that leads to... A blog post about it!!! I have already posted about the break down in communication and the grief cycle and how we are all flawed people just trying to do our best at this new part of our lives so, I wont repeat myself. But, with all that in mind, let's pretend, we are having good communication with our birth parents or with the adoptive parents and we are feeling open enough with them and we plan our appointments to visit etc. so generally, things are good.  SO, what's left after that? Placement is over, a year or so has passed and you are left with 2 pretty good relationships that are revolved around a child and the adoption, in many cases. This is where things can go one of 2 ways- either the relationship can get strained, pe...

Yesterday,we lost a huge part of our hearts! It is hitting me extra hard b/c we just saw him on Monday! We stopped by for a short visit to see him and Tammy and whoever was roaming around. The kids helped him feed the goats and collect chicken eggs and the whole time my phone was saying" full" so I was trying to delete things to get space on my phone to take pics but, I didn't do it in time. So, we just talked and visited instead of me worrying about it. I can't change the fact that I didn't capture the moment but, I can tell you and share with you many of our special moments... We met Max the day we met Jessica! She was pregnant with "puma" as she called him and we were in his house before he was home. So, he entered his home with a couple of strangers and their 2 girls just hanging out! I am not sure what He thought of us at that moment but, we spent the rest of the evening, just chatting with everyone and checking out the cats, dogs and bunnies....

Can't believe We were so lucky to have her up here to visit with Brielle and our whole family! Her little man, Jr., came too. He was able to experience what it would be like to have 4 siblings!!! He had a blast too! Kara came up the day before the Birth parent retreat and we spent the day just catching up a bit! She is a special part of our family and we all just fit together like we have never been apart. When we are together, we cook and clean and play and nothing is awkward, its just natural and feels like home when we are together. We snuggle on ALL the kids and when we left to the retreat, Brandon surprised all our kids + jr. and took the to see Minions movie and out to panda! He was Brave but, they had a great time and He is a Super Dad, so it's not too shocking! He also took them to a furniture store- now that is even more impressive! After the retreat, we spent some time playing on Evergreen lake,   Us ladies!     Navigator Slade  S...

its the place we rest our heads at night, the place we greet our friends and family and create such precious memories together. We just finished a Very long and FUN vacation and I'm exhausted and so happy to be HOME! And with my family! Family is everything and on this vacation we got to see just about everyone who is related, related by adoption or married into our families! More detail about this trip to come! Oh and about Aria's Birthday too! she was able to take her very first riding lesson on her birthday day!:)   Open adoption is incredible and we were able to visit with almost everyone in our adoptive families! I will post about it soon! til then!