The Christian Crew

 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 can't believe they are growing up so dang fast! The FALL is in full swing and we have some interesting weather here. One day its 60, the next it's snowing! We have been enjoying it all and the wildlife eating our left over pumpkins and elk bugling. The girls are busy practicing Songs for Christmas and the Winter Sing that the school holds and this year they will be in a Holiday walk/parade on the main stage. They are so excited. Life is busy but, great most days and when it's not, I try and remember- things could always be much Worse. Brandon likes to remind me that We could live in a third or second world country where people are Really suffering! It's humbling to think about and my Girls are gearing up for Christmas and getting ready to tell Santa to send their toys/treats/food to the orphanages this year- Again! They have such huge hearts! The boys are staying busy with preschool , library, play dates, trips to the children's museum and more!  They are...

We had a Very Long vacation and it's best to divide it up based on our travels. SO, this last summer we left at the end of July and went to my mom's place, in a little town called Fallon, NV! It was pretty cool to drive down memory lane but, as I get older, this is less of my town and more of the past. This town holds very special memories and some sad ones as well. Like performing as Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, helping out with the Local ARC with the special needs adults and students, meeting some of my Best good friends here, singing at the Christmas tree lighting, swimming at the pool, playing at the parks I played at as a kid, passing by the schools and soccer fields I once frequented and so much more! I will always have a love for little Fallon and the great people I know from this town who helped me become the woman I am today! We got to see a few friends and the zipped off to June Lake and Mammoth , CA to visit my grandma's gravesite and walked again down Memory...

This post goes out to ALL the HYBRID families out there!  Don't know what that means? Here's a Run down... us last May 2015   Definition of HYBRID 1 :   an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera 2 :   a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions   Grandpa Max feeding Gavin on the Orchard when he was 2 SO, In HYBRID families- you have this amazing vast diversity of gene pools in your children who come from two different sets of parents!  Def. #2 is my FAV-  because My children Do have two diverse cultures- their birth family cultures/ mannerisms/ nuances/ genes and ours!     The funny way I like to tease people about how our family was created is by saying " I have 4 children by three different fathers........( long pause) and THREE different Mothers too! " It gets them every time!  ...

Me being NUTS on the Leap of Faith! I have just experienced an amazing weekend! These last couple of days I have been surrounded by 25 incredible birth mothers and a birth father too!                                Our Colorado chapter hosted the 1st Annual High Adventure Birth Parent Retreat at Wellington Lake! It's the first time I've tried putting a retreat of this magnitude on and It came together beautifully with the help and donations of many wonderful people, God and friends!  We all tried really HARD things like the Leap of Faith, the catwalk, zipline, and the HARDEST was the high ropes courses. We enjoyed yoga, hiking, canoeing and water play on the lake and the birth parents had open group sessions throughout. I know it helped them a lot but, I had no idea what this experience would do for me... You see, we...

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...

SO I know its UBER important when someone is trying to adopt ( not saying we are really trying b/c it's not up to us- its up to God) That the Father be a HUGE part of the IMAGE of What the couple of the Year , is supposed to look like. He needs to WANT to be involved and WANT to be ACTIVE in this process but, the fact is- MEN FUNCTION DIFFERENTLY than WOMEN! We WOMEN worry and loose sleep over things, nit pick details or what might be misconstrued. We carry on with an overload of pictures where we BOTH look wonderful in every setting! We especially don't want a potential expectant parent to look at our blog or profile and think " did they even put any thought into this?"  Now GUYS... They help get the finger prints and financial paperwork done, hang back until it's GO time. And in between, they may day dream or look at another person's child and wonder but, heck if they will tell you that! Once it's GO time and its time to meet an expectant mom or ex...

are hoping for an adoption miracle! These two are sweet and fun and Jess is a terrific lady that i love! You couldn't find a better gal around! Check them out here! Oh and check out all the new families that have been added on the side bar! Maybe you will find your match there! ( p.s. If you personally know me, please shoot me an email and i will feature your link there and spotlight you!)

So... a while ago i bought this table- solid wood chunky curvy base for 34.00 Then I found 4 chairs on craigslist and bought them for 60. They were also solid wood and in pretty sad shape. Although the wood, design and look was what i was going for- they need joint repairs. That cost me 80.for someone to FIX them up! Then, i need some paint- 28.00 for the top coats and 8. for primer 4 for rollers... total project 214. ( i think that's a steal) Did i mention everything is SOLID WOOD- no veneers! And I Got exactly what i wanted in the end... A black, distressed kitchen table and chairs. I don't have to worry about if the kids beat it up a bit b/c it's solid and it's distressed! Works for me! Even though it took some man hours it turned out awesome! So glad i waited to find the right stuff and jumped at the opportunity when i found these things!

I can't believe i can still do some of this crazy shtuff!!! I may be almost 30 but, I'm not dead yet! ( plus i think 30 is still very young!) Elisabeth and Brielle LOVE the foam pit and rope but they can't climb it yet( neither can i) But, my friends can do it! Little Merich loved the pit! I got to babysit my friend's son for a day and HE was a riot! I even got to give him a faux hawk hair style! The girls thought having a boy around was fun but, they did say that his pee pee ( seen while changing diapers) looks like a worm. And once, Aria called it a tiny snake. Silly girls! Man, having a boy would rock our world in such a cool way! Here's to hoping, right? ( boy,girl, giraffe... we'd be ecstatic!) Aria is very serious on the beam ! She is getting pretty good at balance and strength stuff! Brinley ( in background) is getting some pointers! All my friends are doing cartwheels and very well i might add! But, I have to kick it up a notch with some aerial...

The FSA conference went so great!!! I had a terrible nights sleep before that ( about 2.5 hours total) and i tripped outside the door on a wood chip. But, none of that mattered! We had excellent speakers and presenters and all the panels and classes went well! ( i will have whole post on this later) all the work that went into it was so appreciated and we are all exhausted now! Now, I'm excited to get some sleep and onto new things this week! Like planning a friends Baby shower, getting a house lined up for JUNE! We found one that we love but, not sure on it yet! And i found another one today- our conditions are: 5 beds, nice backyard and great area! We LOVE space and our yard currently is so very small- we didn't even put up our trampoline he re. Well, I wish i wasn't so sleepy- I'd write a bunch more! Have a fabulous weekend peeps! *here's some 2 week old pics of my girls at the park- my phone was taking crappy pics that day! Can't always have what you want wh...

Hey Peeps- I'm donating this sweet onesie and some adoption binks for the door prizes at the Area conference:) If you don't win it- you can purchase it at my etsy store :) Limited quantities! here's a few more to choose from! all new and all 100% cotton apparel!