The Christian Crew

Our Court Day was Epic! Of course a few things had to be changed up... like our judge, our courtroom and a few people getting lost in the changes but, overall. It went well! The kids got to answer ?'s and it was unlike any other court date we have had. I hope and pray our kids will remember this and retell Celise about the Day she became an Official Christian Family Member! Here's a CUTE shoot i did of all her sweet little rolls, creases and bit parts too. It's so important to enjoy every day as kids grow so quickly and life on Earth is short. As a mom, i feel like I'm becoming the Mom on The Goldbergs ( if you haven't seen this show- it's hilarious and about the 80's90's) . I want to KISS and snuggle my schmoopies until they can't take it any more. I know why my mom always wanted a hug , a kiss a time with just me- because time is fleeting! In a blink- they are off to college and starting families of their own ( well not...

Sheesh! It's seriously going by so quickly and I can't believe Celise is 9 months now and we had a few hiccups in the court doc process ( nothing negative- we had a judge who wanted a few things the agency thought they wouldn't need) and now in a week- we will be Adding CeCe to the official Christian Clan roster! Woot Woot! Enjoy some pics from the last couple of months of this growing beauty! at Disneyland! Nov 2016 5 months the Cast of Alice in Wonderland At Santa's boots Christmas Eve night 2016 9 months old Garrett & CeCe Buddies forever!

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!

 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!  

I have witnessed many situations of parents Loving and Supporting their children when they find out that their child ( of any age) has gotten unexpectedly pregnant. These great parents have been through thick and thin with their now adult children as they figure out how to make sense of " Now what do we do?" Where do we go from here?" and I commend you wonderful parents for loving your kids, grown kids and other people's kids who are involved in now making a decision to either parent, place or abort. So, with that said- I have some advice for the Opposing/ Unsupportive parents out there who are also dealing and swimming through those above ?'s " Now what do we do?" Well, first off- LOVE YOUR KIDS - love them as GOD loves them and embrace and support them, even if internally you are Freaking Out! This is going to be an extremely hard time or already is, and you are not making it any better by RE-ACTING out of FEAR or being worried about YOUR FAMILY ...

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...

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...

Let me explain exactly where we stand in regards to our status as adoptive/hopeful adoptive parents... I have to be REALLY HONEST with You ( or myself)... As hard as this is- WE aren't SEEKING or TRYING to adopt right now. In that I mean- I'm not going to PURSUE an agency or solicit our blog/profile out to people. I have done that TWICE and it had amazing success ( and of COURSE the Almighty's timing has a hand in it all!) BUT... We really do desire to adopt again - IF and ONLY IF it's RIGHT, It's Meant to be, and If the expectant parents and ourselves are totally on board with everything. I mean- come on- we have 4 kids- who is really going to consider us UNLESS they desire a large family for the child? That's a small margin of people who would actually look at our profile or even consider us. You see, we had this PLAN ( okay - everyone laugh now- b/c we all know God loves to mess plans up) to do our international adoption home study- travel down to...

The UFA conference went well!!! Terra Cooper and i got to finally meet and i was able to shoot for the event and had a great time being INSPIRED and getting connected with many of those in the adoption arena! I even got to see my old friends Tamra & Jessa and meet new amazing people as well!  I was able to be the photographer for the event and we learned alot about leading with LOVE and not fear in our adoption journeys. I considered so much of this b/c our international adoptions are still 1-2 yrs out and its seems daunting and scary and i worry. BUT, i know i shouldn't and that God has everything lined up for our family. And we need to do all that we can do and leave the rest in his hands and timing! Can't wait to watch out CO chapter grow! It's going to be great!!!

It's Been on my mind for the past few weeks  to write a bit of wisdom and understanding concerning becoming a parent through adoption. Mainly in part, because I have so many sweet friends and associates who are still Waiting for the Miracle of a Child. These friend of mine are smart, educated, have nice homes, pets, degrees, are well-respected in the community and GIVE so much to those they serve yet, they long to be called Mommy and Daddy.  Their arms ache for a child and their hearts seem to be held together with strings of hope after such long periods of time without kids. I've Been there. Maybe in a different way and time in my life but, I've had those crummy, hard experiences. Like speaking in church on mothers day after three years of infertility and empty arms. Or days when I didn't want to try any more, like after I lost the 5th baby on my birthday one year! I want you precious and wonderful couples to know that HOPE is okay to have again!!! YEP, after 2...

So, Make it count! We think about the future all the time- and yet we remain present in the Present! We love every second of our time and have a blast being parents! When our girls sing along in the car or the boys play blocks together, even when they are all Crying or whining we wouldn't trade it for anything! We sat down with and Financial planner a bit ago and they showed us these BIG overwhelming numbers for college savings and asked the big Question " Are you planning on having any more children in the future?" We both looked at each other and said a resounding YES, we are! We plan on adopting out of the country in a couple years and it may be one or 2 and we never know WHO GOD has lined up for us that currently isnt in our plan in between or after that time! The guys looked baffled but, said OKAY , lets restructure some numbers around! Honestly, it would be SO easy to just be DONE with having and adopting children at this point. Seriously, Slade is walking...