The Christian Crew

Man, I need to reformat the blog, update pics and so on. If you are following us on Facebook- you have more of an updated version of our family and adventures. Our community page is Brandon and Corrine- Party of 9.  Find us and read on. Even that needs updating too. A few things have kept me away from writing and rightfully so. These adorable little blessings are certainly worth it but, now they are 14 months and it's time to continue to open up, share and be vulnerable with ya'll who read or who are connected to us personally or through mutual friends. Adoption is HARD, life is Hard and all of us have hard things we are going through. I am often asked a few different questions to today, I will put these ?'s to rest... Are you guys going to adopt MORE? How did you get 4 birth moms/dads to pick you guys? What can I do to get chosen by an expectant mom / what advice can you give me? Q#1 Well, I think our Quiver is pretty full guys and 7 is a LOT OF KID...

I know it has taken me forever to post on Hawaii but, Here it goes... WE HAD A BLAST and are ready to buy a second home there in the coming years but, first we have to visit Maui since we have not been there yet. This trip was to the BIG ISLAND- the island of Hawaii!  Our view from our balcony/patio room  HAPUNA BEACH  Black Sand Beach with a large amount of seat Turtles too! Our Valentine's Dates :)  It was so fun taking n our girls and more pics and hopefully some videos to come! It was here that we were contacted by our agency about a potential adoption situation ~ An expectant mom had looked at our book and was interested in having a convo /skype call with us. We weren't even in Hawaii for 24 hours when we read the email.  NOW, we are matched and 1-2 weeks or less away from welcoming a tiny sweet Wahine into our Ohana! God is Good!

Our family headed to the Deserts of Arizona where we played with cousins, all my full siblings, aunts, uncles, ad all grand parents too! We enjoyed Hiking, Running, Biking, hot tub time, trampoline, game nights and girls nights with my sister , Mom and sis in law! This was the first time all of my family has shared Thanksgiving since my parents split when I was 4! It was wonderful- no one got sick, only little boo boos and lots of good convos with each other! Enjoy these pics! Uncle Glenn and Aunt Di fooz-ball cousin Pete singing to Slade learning to ride his new bike the feast of Thanksgiving! Uncle wade cooked a smoked Turkey this year. Uncle Glenn ( great uncle to our kids) trying out the Ladies Bike- funny guy:) the Girls and Grandpa Danny & Grandma Mary Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Carl and the kids Grandma Mary, Gpa Danny, the boys and MIMI - their labradoodle daddy's instructions and patience are often better than  moms ...

 Brandon's side of the family:) Its SO hard to get a GOOD shot when kids are cold and tired and someone else is shooting :/   Grandma is SUPER content with her babies!  love these littles!!!   Goofball Slade!   Cutie sisters are Besties!   We tried- it was good in theory! We are excited for the new year and all it holds!  

on Derek and Angie This fun couple I met when doing an FSA fireside. We had spoken a few times before that and I am realizing HOW COOL they really are. They have adopted their daughter and are Hoping for a Miracle sometime soon. They have been waiting patiently for a few years and they help Run FSA Activities where they live! Such a family couldn't be more deserving!

Is that you get to enjoy LOTS of cuddling! Watch TV shows you don't normally watch... fall asleep where ever and eat whatever you feel like eating ( let's face it- there is stuff that just doesn't sound good when you don't feel good- even if it's healthy for you) Play with your sister all day- make fake invitations to a fake party and experiment with Soda concoctions (B put mini robin's eggs candy in her soda and said she was doing a little science experiment ) and really, when you are coughing all day long- you can't go anywhere so, you get pretty creative. But Best of all you get to take LONG soaks in the tub every day- sometimes twice a day and have BUBBLES every time if you wish! Our tub is their FAV too! I am not feeling so hot either- let's hope this all passing quickly too. My girls have already missed 1.5 weeks of school. Thank goodness it's just preschool and we do a lot of stuff at home. Aria is getting much better at letter recognition...

This time Jesse and Brandon went fishing around Boulder. It was a rough fishing day and very cold ( i have no idea why he is in a T-shirt) but the experience was awesome. At times he was crunching through the ice and he could see many fish but most were little. So, neither caught anything but, that's how life is sometimes. It's not always about the end result but the journey and experience. He normally fishes up in Granby and He can't wait to head up that way again soon. Now, he will go to his next fishing stop with more experience and have an even better time. Hopefully, it won't be as cold but, i relate that to our adoption journey too. We must face ALL the elements of this process, regardless if we like them or not. Adoptive couples are going to be picked apart by potential expectant parents and some may even feel they are competing to have the BEST profile or whatnot. We will be de-bunked for really anything a birth parent doesn't like. Maybe it's b/c...

Is on the way. Congrats to Brad and Tirza on your 3rd BOY! It's official- I still have no nieces! Yep now, including just my immediate family's kids there are 6 boys and our 2 girls. If you include our step siblings' kids there are 14 boys, 1 step-niece (haven't seen for 4 years and am not likely to get to see) and our 2 girls. We are strongly over-masculinated here! But, it's all good with me! If we have the privilege of adopting a boy- it will be our first and we will have tons of family to support us. If we are blessed enough to have another girl in our family- we'd be ready and It would be just as special, either way! She'd help off-set the number of boy cousins too! Either way- We'd be ecstatic. At the upcoming Adoption Conference , there will be a family and birth mother speaking about their 12 yr. relationship- after placement. This family adopted 3 girls ! Then, the birthmom had 3 girls of her own (one is also named Brielle which makes thi...

To Our Thanksgiving Visit with The Birth Family:) This is the Majority of Kara's Family. Great, Great Grandma couldn't make it that night! Dawn and Phil are Kara's Parents in the middle with the girls and Jr.! They are Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Phil to us now:) You can never have too much love! Grandpa Phil is such an amazing Man and great with all his Grand kids. Aria just LOVES getting tickled! And her laugh is addicting too! Brielle's Birth family is so amazing. I was talking with Dawn ( below) the other night and she said " You know , we really adopted you guys when you adopted Brielle!" We honestly feel like family and our love for them is just as strong as the love we have for our families- just different b/c they chose us and we chose them! We LOVE open adoption! Aria tries to get GPA PHIL back and tries to tickle him! It's so funny how little kids think they know how to tickle adults. So cute! Kara ( Brielle's tummy momma) and her baby boy...

on David and Felicia ... These 2 people were in my ward growing up for a very long time. Felecia was quiet and sweet and Her mom was a YW leader and one who made a strong impact on my life. I never knew these two would end up married but, was happy when i heard the news. Then when i was visiting my hometown. I ran into Felicia's mom and she told me of their decision to adopt. They have been married probably longer than B and I and I'm so happy to share these great people with the world. I can't imagine a child being more welcomed and loved and surrounded with great kindness and patience. Hopefully this will be their year too!