The Christian Crew

Hey Hopeful Adoptive Couples!😀  You know, I'm totally FOR you adopting a baby or child, right? Good, because I want you to take some loving and fun POINTERS from this Momma who has adopted (or has been matched) 4 times in under 6 months each time! First adoption was 10 days, second was just about 6 months and third was 2 months till we were matched and 9 weeks later Cece was born . With the Twins adoption, we had ZERO wait- we weren't even really ready but, our digital book was  and it was chosen over 10 others bc It was RIGHT for HER and RIGHT for US too! 8 days later we had twins!!!  ( learn more about our adventures by checking out our pages or our PODCAST on the Adoption Now Radio Show)! SO, I'm giving these pointers as a play on this awesome Dr. Laura Book SO, take this in a Light Hearted way. If you know me- you know I'm a bit funny and jest here and there a bit.   ( there is also a MEN's version of the book too)   Mostly I'm writing this ...

This amazing Gal I Know has been a friend for about 5 years now! BIG TOUGH GIRL! Please consider donating or purchasing some cool swag for your adoption peeps! She runs an incredible company called Check out her whole site and her goal of Lifetime Healing! Did I Mention she is also a birth mother , mother of two and married to a big teddy bear hunk? YEP! She owns it where ever she is! Love her realness and kind heart! She is a woman of GOD too:) Thank you Ashley for Supporting adoption and healing and Owning Your Story. You are a life changer in Every way!

I recently had the pleasure of going on the Radio show/ Podcast show Adoption Now, with April Fallon. She is a STELLAR busy adoptive momma of 4 with her own unique stories too! I got to share a good bit about our stories and I LOVED it. The only regrets that I have are that I feel like I didn't get to tell Celise's story enough ( we ran out of time ) and we left details out of Brielle's story too. Brandon listened with me last week as we were folding clothes and said " I should have told this story with all the details!" I agree that He is a terrific talker and I think You may here a podcast from Brandon himself, soon ( cross your fingers). His POV is a bit different than mine and as an adoptee He has very different experiences. Also, some of our story will not be shared- its those intimate details that stay between birth parents and adoptive parents. It's not secret info, its just sacred to us. During birth and placement-  is such an extra special tim...

As you know I help run the local CO chapter of United For Adoption .  I do not make any money but, get paid in positive energy and love! Helping families, expectant moms, birth parents and adoptees connect and have a sense of community is so needed and a HUGE part of my heart! Here's what on the Horizon for MAY... Here's this YEARS Birth Parent Retreat too!   If you are reading this and want more information on any of these events- leave a comment of message me! Adoption support and community is so important to all involved and we are blessed to be surrounded by many adoptive families here in Evergreen, where we live. In my kids' school classes there are at least three-5 adopted kids in EACH class- its pretty awesome and pretty normalized here.  Have e wonderful SPRING! til Next time!

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 ...

 Our kids had so much fun seeing Santa this year. We had him all to ourselves for 45 minutes and He was wonderful with each one of them. He also invited us to do some charity work with him on Christmas day so, the big girls, Brandon and myself will be helping some families in need! God is good and I do believe Santa is a good symbol for Christ.  Here's a great book talking about the symbolism in it all! ENJOY the pictures and ENJOY your Christmas and New Years too!  

    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!  

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...

We will have a big JAR on site Labeled BOOTY for BIRTH PARENTS! Please feel free to contribute any denomination as we raise funds for the UFA Birth Parent Retreat, here in Colorado- Instead of a gift! Without Gavin's birth mom- He wouldn't be part of our family ( and birth dad too)!  Jessica- His gorgeous birth mom     Dustin- Handsome Birth dad:)       BIRTH PARENT RETREAT INFO...     DONATE HERE - if you wish! & Thank you!          

...We Used to be COOL!" That song really makes me reach back to those wonderful memories of what we were like in High School. SO, here's a TAD about Our past lives... Brandon : During HS He played baseball, tennis, wrestling, & bowling at Rancho High . He was a bat boy for many years to the LV 51's( triple A) team and got tons of autographs and experiences from that. He dated only a few girls and had a girlfriend for about 2 years. He finished his Eagle Scout at 14 and He loved fantasy books an Historical novels. Brandon was always a leader and loud mouth. He had BIGGER friends to back up his BIG words too. He was a great guy and he stood up to others when they were doing wrong things. He has always been close with his parents and his Little Brother looked up to him in everything he did. Brandon even sold candy in HS to buy the things he wanted. He had others selling candy for him and was a great entrepreneur . Overall, He loved HS and enjoyed his youth doing things...

I have more pics of other kids at the playdate but, Someone got upset at me for posting a pic of their kid so, I will only use these 2 pics. And the ones of Brielle were all fuzzy. She must have been bouncing off the Walls from all that sugar! They made cards with TONS of stickers and decorated sugar cookies that Kylee made. I'm sure they were tasty even though i didn't get to try one. I brought my own egg-free chocolate chip cookie so, i could have a treat too! Honestly, I'm tired of the whole allergy foods thing but- It's helping me HEEPS and OODLES! Now that March is Here ( i had to abstain for 3 months of no yeast or eggs-my allergies) I can have 1 single serving of something with yeast and one serving of something with egg in it a week. It's like a 75% allergy so- it won't kill me but, I get digestive issues and it's hard for my body to breakdown. Crazy but, It's part of my Life! And TONS of things are egg and yeast free- you just have to loo...

The night before Christmas ... No, not going to tell that story- that's been done already. Here's OUR story! Brielle feel asleep in Daddy's Arms watching a Christmas movie. We had to wake her and Aria up to open a gift before they went to bed for real! This is our main tree in the family room. It's 12 ft. and my FAV. What a beast this will be to take down though. So worth it! And this year, i added aqua to the mix! We had pancakes with fruit compote and whipped cream( Brielle says " whup'd cream), sausage gravy and biscuits and fresh pineapple . She wanted a smiley face very badly. I tried, right!?! The girls got into their stockings to see what Santa had brought them... and boy did he deliver! We also have tons of presents under this tree from Brielle's Birth family and our parents and US , of course:) G-ma Leslie got the men this historic game. I grew up most of my life in Fallon. It's only about 30,000 people strong , maybe less. So, to ...