The Christian Crew

...To have Kara ( Brielle's Birthmom) and her son, JR., here a few weeks back. Here's a few cute pics of the little man! We are open with Brielle about who Jr. is and of course about who Kara is to her! She call Jr. Her Birth brother. He is technically her half birth brother but, we call him family ! Being around a tiny boy gets us excite for the hopes of a son or another daughter. Babies are awesome and we can only imagine HOW COOL our next child will be. And how amazing and fun our future birth family will be too! Here's hoping!

I'm finally catching up on pics! Bu, it has taken me a while so, i will be doing some FF's to speed everyone up.. Today we will highlight Brielle's School Holiday program from December! Brielle had a speaking part and she did it perfectly in her tiny, sweet voice! And she played a song with bells and did a great job too! at the end of the program SANTA walked in the room as a surprise to all the kids! He was a COOL Santa and Brielle knew- he was one of Santa's Helpers b/c his whiskers weren't real! Aria took forever to warm up to him but, finally did! Me and Dara sitting on the Fat mans lap! You can tell Aria is still a tad leery! But Not Brandon!!!! I have the funniest Hubby ever! Unfortunately, in the whole program not one actual Christmas Song was sung about the REAL meaning of the Season... Christ's Birth. Then a song was altered that ticked off Brandon and made me realize that we live in a world with shifting Morals and God is unchangeable despite these ...

The girls go to go see Tangled with their (twice removed ) cousin Mairyn! It was a great flick and the girls got tangled cups that we bough at the Disney store the day be fore and a whole bunch of treats! Aria had a hard time towards the last part of the movie and i think i will wait a few more months to take her again. Brielle did fantastic! Then (cue horror music) ... we went to Chuck E Cheese.... The girls LOVED it and i HATE this place with a passion. It's just not my cup o' tea. They didn't want to leave, either. what a smirk on that mousey face. Grrr! I must admit though- i enjoyed watching the girls play games like whack-a shark and squirting the target. I personally like Skee Balls the best and have realized that i now SUCK at them! Brielle liked the play area and the cage- thingy too! That too freaked me out. Not to mention the germs. The girls had a fun day, all in all and i hate to say this but, we promised to take Brielle there the actual day of her birthday to ...

So... we are STILL in vacation mode and enjoying my older brother, Todd's company! He's an awesome uncle! Christmas day and Eve were both fun and special and i will have to write even more pretty shortly here about all of it! No snow though- you'd think living in CO you'd have a white Christmas. Oh, and I'm getting older too. In less than 2 weeks I hit the last year of my twenties- kind of frightening but, I'm great with it. I love where my life is and don't wish to change a thing. Well, except i wish we could have a son and another daughter in the near future. But, God knows more than i do and knows what We need as a family right now. more to come... for now we are enjoying our TWO little sassy angels!!! stay tuned!

so. i noticed a ton of my FB friends posting something they were thankful for all till Thanksgiving. They all had something different each day. So, i decided instead of posting it on FB and it being lost in oblivion, i would post what i'm grateful rounding it out to about 25 items or so... Here it goes...( in somewhat of a random order) 25. seasons and nature- all the beauty that comes along with them 24. technology- well, at least all the GOOD it does in our lives keeping us connected 23. architecture- some of the most creative and useful things are sculpted and built. 22. artwork- from the scribbles of my girls to Van Gogh 21. blogging- i love getting my POV across and knowing others as well 20. our dog , MYLA, even when you pee on our stuff- i still love ya ( just watch out for few hours) 19. culinary masterpieces- and all great foods 18. the ability to be healthy 17. Herbs and essential Oils- for both cooking and healing 16. Clinix wellness centers- for approaching health issue...

Here's some pics of the girls and my father ( the dark haired man) Danny, and Brandon making the jack-o-lanterns. And some of the girls in their costumes! We had such a wonderful Halloween and are excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the birthdays that surround them! aria didn't want to touch the GUTS! Grandpa Danny Helping out! Grandpa's Pumpkin! The cute Glinda and Dorothy! more dorothy and daddy and Brielle cleaning out the Gourds!

Going to Henderson and Las Vegas for Thanksgiving week and MAN, I'm excited to see my friends and family!!! I'm excited for shopping and watching UNLV basketball with my man, getting some more PHOTO sessions in and hanging out with my F&F!!! So, far i have 12 sessions booked over 2.5 days . I can't believe it! I'm so stoked b/c i LOVE photography and i LOVE that I'm shooting again. I've been doing only a few shoots here but, i LOVE what I'm shooting ( mostly adoption photography)!!! PLUS ( major BONUS) we get to visit with Brielle's Birth mom and her Family!!! I mean all of them- great, great grandma too!!! They are our family too! We love them heeps! So, get ready people in those areas- here we come!!!

Please take a second and read this awesome article on this blog !!! Birth Parents are AMAZING!!! this is a picture i took of 2 birth moms who placed with the same couple ( in the background) It's all about LOVE. ADOPTION is so amazing!!!

...are MANY right now, as we prepare for Halloween! Here's Brielle's Dorothy outfit ( minus tights and possible a COAT the way this week is going ( freakin' freezing people!!!)! I'm halfway through Aria's Glinda Costume and we found a sweet Green blazer for Brandon so he could be THE Wizard of Oz. I , of course, will be the only other female character... The wicked witch of the West. I HAVE NEVER BEEN a witch before( so i can recall) so, this will be a new experience for me. We have 4 parties coming up and tons of things to do before then too! My dad, Danny is in town and the girls are having so much fun with Grandpa! He read them stories tonight and i was finishing the outfit downstairs and could here them giggle and getting tickled and it made me think back to my childhood a bit! Man, i wish i would have enjoyed my youth even more than i had! It's so fleeting but so very powerful. What you do and hear in your youth effects you forever. I'm glad i get to ...

Last week was so AMAZING and long . With 2 placements within 5 days and all the other day to day stuff i do with my girls and husband- it got a bit crazy BUT... I LOVED IT and i wouldn't trade it for the world! I Put up some Placement pics and hospital pics of Jessica on my photo site - so check those out. The 2nd placement will be on there shortly!!! PS. Birth Parents ROCK!!! Brielle's Birth mom turned 22 last week. Brielle made her some art and sent her a bag of candy corns b/c she said she wanted Kara to have treats on her Birthday! I sent her a SPA Day package for her to get pampered at a local spa( where she lives)! WE LOVE her and her whole family and miss them a ton but, GOOD NEWS... Looks like we will get to see them around Thanksgiving!!! We also hosted a B-day Party for our little friend , Cora, who turned 7! She has been so fun to get to know and a bunch of us moms and teachers are rallying around her to let her know of our love for Her! Her bio- mom is an addict ...

.. .my friends and i made hair clips for our girls ( mine have a ton already but, it is fun teaching others) and for upcoming holidays! I also got the chance to speak at the LDSFS Adoption Core training today. There are some awesome couples going through the process and I hope they all go where they are led in their search for a child to adopt! My advice to them was: Be HONEST with birth parent commitments Be Yourself - flaws and All- BP want to see who you are- not some plastic Ken and Barbie Have fun while you wait Advocate for the Cause- everywhere- not just their adoption but Adoption in general! Get involved with FSA- you will be so glad you did! It's for everyone and we NEED your energy! Don't get discouraged and do not fear- both of those are tools from the adversary! Know that God knows what you need when you need it- trust in him and DO all you can do to facilitate: faith without works is dead! Tomorrow we will go to the FSA activity at a historic farm with pumpkins ...