Here we come 2014!

Our family is going through a lot of changes this year. I am very excited about it, looking forward to it. I feel like the little irritating piece of sand inside a clam that gets worked and worked until it becomes a pearl. I am so grateful for my beautiful family, Michael, Evan and Cora Grace. If I had my way, there would be more so we'll see. ;) 

We had a good 2013. Really good. Our favorite thing was getting to go home to California on a driving trip that I never blogged or posted pictures for (yet?). We loaded up our trusty CRV and took a week to stop in St. Louis, the drive through South Dakota was my FAVORITE, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Rexburg, Idaho for Cora Grace and my baby brother Isaac to finally meet (he was on his mission when she was born then went straight to school), Salt Lake City Utah to visit with and stay with amazing friends, a last minute stop in Las Vegas and got to see another great friend then California finally. It was great traveling with the kids, once we got to CA, we were there for a week, helping my parents pack up their house of 33 years to move. It was very rewarding to help alongside my brother Jesse. The kids cooperated perfectly at my parents house and loved jumping on their trampoline till their hearts content. Let's not forget all the cousins we got to visit with! Aunts and Uncles were everywhere and Cora even finally got to see the Ocean (she preferred the sand with cousin Adelle). Evan and Stewart made up for her by playing in the freezing ocean enough for all of us. :) On our way back to Tennessee we stopped at the Grand Canyon and it was so beautiful. I look forward to going back and taking more time there. We also got to go to Gatlinburg with the kids in December. I hope we take other trips this year, even for a couple days. Even more fun, we started camping this fall with the kids. We kinda got addicted going probably 4 times in a two month period? The kids LOVED sleeping in a tent, with Smokey, with mommy and daddy, Evan got to pee on trees! lol. We just had a great time being together, we just focused on enjoying each other and the moment. It payed off and we are going to focus in 2014 on doing more things like this as a family. Two of our camping trips took us down the road to Cedars of Lebanon State Park. The first time we went, I saw their lodge that they use for group parties, events and weddings. As soon as I saw these doors I knew we needed to take our Holiday pictures there, so we got dressed up on a cold cold day, set up the tripod and timer. All we did was press the button for the family shots! I took the rest and just love my hobby of photography, especially when we capture something like this. Here you go... Happy 2014: a year of JOY, positive changes- inside and out for all of us. Love to all.

These trouble makers love each other so much AND argue with each other so much! ha ha ha. Cora tattles with a smirk on her face, Evan is genuinely concerned about what trouble Cora get into. ha! Then they play together again like nothing happened.

Our Christmas/New Years Card this year.. in front of 'the doors'. Everyone loves my new boots. Me too! I got them through Zulilly! I will email you an invite if you ask and want to find unique finds. xo

I just love this slightly different shot with Cora hugging me that I couldn't leave it out. <3

Our babies, best friends. Evan is 5 now, looking forward to Kindergarten in the Fall. More like OBSESSED with Kindergarten in the Fall. Every night he asks if he can go to Kindergarten yet. Its so sad and sweet at the same time. Cora Grace will be 4 in JUNE! I can't even say 3 1/2 because she's such a big girl, acting 4. Both of these crazies have grown 2 inches since the summer. That is amazing.

Cedars of Lebanon State Park

A very California Thanksgiving (part 5 and FINAL!)

When the kids and I returned from our great trip to Sacramento, they were finally feeling a little better from their initial allergic reaction to Southern California. Humidifiers were doing wonders so coughing was to a minimum - thank goodness! It was so very pitiful, day and night. The weather turned AWESOME when we came home from the beautiful Fall Wonderland we experienced Sacramento. So... after being cooped up inside quite a bit, we finally got to go in town to let them have a little fun. What's more fun than looking at Mall fountains and playing in another Malls water display (as featured in a previous visit to CA). After that, we did, what else? Photo shoots for a couple of my siblings! :)

My mom and I went to our old/new mall when we got back from Sacramento. It was like 86 degrees out at the end of November! I just HAD to put CG in this super cute outfit, one more time. A funny thing about it is, before having her, I would never think I would put my child in something I think is so 'fru fru' but it is one of my absolute favorites! ugh! I love it.

The ever lover of water. He has influenced his sister in kind. :)

And the real fun begins!

This just makes me so happy!

Grandma Putsie came along to help round up these wackos. :)

I just love seeing their athleticism in this picture, besides the cuteness. :)

My absolute favorite photo. We bought these crocks. The baby's are the most adorable and I had a fit about choosing  pink or yellow cause they were equally so cute. Evan of course choose green but recently has been naming yellow as his 'other' favorite color. Interesting since it was the first color he ever said or could identify. I hope he keeps adding favorite colors. :) and p.s. I LOVE Cora's bathing suit! It was bought for next summer but she's already filling it out!

This is my beautiful sister Jenalyn and her family. She is #9 of the kids in our family. Funny to call her a 'kid' but when I'm ninety, I'll still be calling her 'my little sister'. lol. As a note, when we were growing up, she was always a mom. She was 8 when my youngest brother Isaac was born and that kid lived on HER hip, not my moms (OK, my moms too but seriously, he called for "Jenny" equally). I always knew she would be a mom and a great one. Not only that, she's a great wife too.

Side story: (I looked up this date:) At about 430am on January 17, 1994 (Northridge Earthquake), I was sleeping in a water bed in the basement of my parents house (3 1/2 stories) when I was jolted awake, sloshing in my bed. It was and Earthquake... a BIG one. I had been through many Earthquakes in my life but this was the strongest and in the middle of the night so I was scared. Only adding to that was the fact that my four year old brother shared a room with my sister, up a full flight of stairs and was crying out for her "Jenny!? Jenny!? What's happening!?" I was too panicked to cry but re thinking about it gets me emotional. I was still trying to get out of the bed cause the tremor was still rocking and finally I could hear her reacting and running with him up a 1/2 flight of stairs and out the door. I don't know what she remembers of that morning but I am so grateful she was there to comfort him and react quickly. Many more things happened because of that Earthquake, damage at my dad's gas station, my then 17yr old brother Bennett was un-like him, NOT home and we were worried about him (he was home minutes later, had been playing foot ball in the street with friends or something?). It's interesting to think back at your feelings at such a traumatic time with your current experiences and knowledge. I guess this is where sentiment starts. :) Ok, back to the subject, sorry about that....

These are my very favorites that I took of the family...

Jenalyn, Liam (almost 4), Darren and Reese (almost a year!)

I've just gotta tell you about this. Poor little Liam needed to go potty but we made him stay to finish the shoot. I just love little Piece's face! He's all concerned about his big brother like, "hey big brudda, it'll be ok, just smile a couple more times." lol. :) (I have a vivid imagination. he he he). Also, this set up is one of many tires on our property that once surrounded and protecting the water system for our Avocado Orchard. I'm sure the tires were from my dad's gas stations. Speaking of 'sentiment', I like this one. :)

The best.

Spoke too soon?

Some mama pictures.

Real life mommy challenges: getting your child to behave during pictures. lol. :)

Daddy's turn.

Now, my brother Bennett (#6) and his family. He is such a good man and I hate it cause he was always 'perfect' and born under some amazing star or something. lol Well, I'm happy to report that he's still awesome. He works so hard for his family and has a wonderful wife that is smart and talented and hard working as well. They just make me sick ;) he he he. And here are their crazy kids. Let me say, sorry there aren't more pictures but it is next to impossible to photograph this big of a rambuncious family. Now I know why my parents never got our pictures taken. lol

Noah (6 1/2), Jen, Olivia (4), Bennett, Juliet (18 mo) & Luke (3)

I rest my case. You only need one good one. :)

What do you do when the 18 month old is tired of cooperating? Make them the center of attention. :) (worked for about 7 seconds lol)

This one is either my favorite or second favorite. It's hard to choose. :)

My kids have Olivia for the children's gift exchange. She is a girly girl so I had the idea as her gift, to take her picture and display it a few different ways then frame 3 for her room. I thought of a take on Andy Warhol famous picture. It came out great. Here are a couple of my efforts to immortalize her 4 year old self. ;)

Future heart breaker for sure. xo

Finally at the end of our trip! On the plane home they were great. Getting ON the plane was a whole different story!! Evan had a major meltdown while I was talking to a nice French gentleman the kids were pestering who coincidentally turned out to be 1. Adopted and 2. LDS! I wish I could have talked to him longer to hear more of his story but as I mentioned, the meltdown happened AS they were calling us to board and on a full flight like that for Southwest, if I didn't get on board when my group was going, I could be separated from the kids... hmmm... maybe I should have done that.... food for thought for next time. A perfect stranger can try to change their poopy diaper in the forward lavatory (you know, the one you can't assemble in front of to save your place? The only one with a changing table!? What the poop is that about?!). Anyway, once on the plane their Allergy med I gave them for the cough they still have, must have kicked in (i also believe the med contributed to Evan's melt down, he seems to react that irrational way often when giving the allergy med. Yes I will be researching a more holistic option asap) cause those babies were OUT within 20min for about 30minutes but I was able to have some time to myself that was needed and welcomed (including going potty by myself with out them in a teeny bathroom!). There were 3 very helpful and nice people (none of them were the flight attendants fyi) and wherever you are, thank you. So here we are all pooped out and ready to be home with DADDY!

This is my, "I survived traveling alone with 2 kids and all I have is this kooky smile, no make up and horrible braids to show for it", look. :) It's good to be home. Mike worked hard monetarily and physically fixing up our garage with new shelves before he himself went down for the count for a few days with a bad illness. Knock on wood, we are all currently healthy and Happy! Talk about 'Thankful". I'm thankful for our visit to California, sane/safe travel, good health and this season where we can go out and show others love and service. God Bless everyone.

A very California Thanksgiving (part 4) Birth Family edition.

Thanks to my obsession with not using flash these pictures are very regrettably sub-par as far as my intentions go to document this important moment for our family, especially Cora Grace. This is Saturday night. Kelli, Adelle, Jen and Olivia went to a play (or something), leaving my brothers in charge of caring for Bennett's 3 and Jesse's 2 (I think Kelli left the baby?) while they were also helping with Evan while I attended to the visitors I invited to Jesse's home. :) THANK YOU! So I contacted Cora Grace's Birth mother Cyndee and CG's 1/2 sister Jessica through email at the beginning of October to let them know I was coming for Thanksgiving and would they like to meet up. I heard back from Jessica, 2 weeks later. She was up beat and enthusiastic about the visit saying it was great timing cause she needed the boost right now. Great I couldn't wait either. I never heard from Cyndee. Jessica and I exchanged more emails a week or so before my trip where she said they weren't talking to each other and would I be willing to meet separately from Cyndee. I told her no problem since I never heard back from her and have no other way to reach her than the email she instructed me to use. We set up for 3pm on Saturday. Saturday came and that afternoon I realized there was an email from Cyndee that morning around 1030a (good think I have a smart phone otherwise I would never had seen the email till I got back to Tennessee!!). She said she 'heard' we were coming to town and would love to see us, that the rest of her family were excited to see us too. Wow. I have to admit, I was NOT in a good mood about it. Jessica had been responsible in getting back to me and I felt Cyndee was possibly playing games with she and her daughters relationship and now me. I didn't want to get involved or encourage further trouble and honestly almost didn't respond. After I calmed down a minute, said a prayer and called Michael for his 2 cents. I knew I should let her come and called to ask if she could come at 430. She was happy to. I was grateful they were willing to come to me. I'm sure it was a little drive but it was difficult to think of meeting them somewhere without Michael or family to be there with me. Last time we saw each other it was very emotional for them, having just lost the family Patriarch 2months before and then dealing with this surprise baby being placed for adoption. They had no preparation for these things and emotions were high. I wasn't sure what to expect so I felt most comfortable at Jesse's house. I'm so grateful to them for suggesting and allowing their house for this meeting. So... Jessica texted she was running late and didn't show up till 420 (so much for avoiding her mom etc. lol). I could tell she was nervous but so excited to see and hold, smell her 1/2 sister. :). It was very touching to see her love for Cora Grace and it was also sad because I could see her life wasn't in the right spot right now so she was clinging to this positive moment to get her through. We went in the house... and let the photos begin:

Don't you just LOVE how CG is leaning into her?! She is a doll baby and Jessica soaked it up, taking her own pictures on her phone as best she could.

Cyndee arrived soon after with the 2 youngest of CG's 3, 1/2 brothers. I believe this is Justin, he is the youngest and very attentive. All the kids have J's. Which is peculiar because literally since the second I touched my daughter, the word "Joy" came to my mind/body/thoughts etc. I asked Mike to please let us put it in her name but he said no. I may be able to still find a way, I think it is meant to be to connect her to her birth family. As you all see, she is full of Joy always.

This is Cyndee's middle son. Jared? Jacob? They never said his name while we were together and I was too busy talking about CG to ask. I regret that but hopefully we will have many more meetings and I promise to remember. It is very important to me. Cora loved them and the boys are TOTAL lovers. They love babies and kids and gave almost as much attention to Evan as they did Cora. It melted my heart.

Awe! I'm not sure the sisters name in the back but when I met her when CG was a few days old. I told her she felt very 'familiar' to me. I felt connected to her and she was kind to me in the chaos of our families first meeting 1 1/2 years ago. She brought her daughter Tori (Victoria) who has very beautiful red hair. I wouldn't mind if Cora's turned red. :).

Although blurry, these capture how engaged Cyndee was with Cora Grace. It was very sweet. Their family sure loves babies.

Tori was being very reserved in this visit. I don't know if there was a reason but I do like her a lot. She and her cousin we met at Cora's birth both wrote Cora letters to say what they felt about her and that they would always love her. I know the baby was a surprise then adoption was a bigger surprise so without proper preparation for what adoption is like, I'm sure many or all of them assumed this would be the last time ever to see Cora (when she was days old). I'm so happy she came to this play date to see her cousin and lend support. I wish I could have talked to her one on one but there just wasn't a way since I was the only parent there to answer all the questions left and right and chase the kids every direction. I wasn't meant to me this time I felt. Hopefully next time or the next time etc...

Oh poor Grandma Marlene. All the sweet lady wanted was a kiss and wouldn't you know that little baby played coy and kept faking her out! :) Marlene was sweet and patient with her. She kept hugging me and telling me what a good job I have done as a mother and that Cora is in the right home. It was touching and sad for her to admit at the same time I'm sure.

I love this picture. I can really see future Cora in their faces. To me, she has her middle brother's nose a bit but hers will be more girlie. :) She definitely has all their NON eyebrows. lol They all have such blonde eye brows it's like they aren't there. I'll be teaching her what to do for that. :)

Generation shot. :)

Someones had enough. Can you tell? It was way past her bed time with her sickness and everything so she just started melting before our eyes. As you see everyone was happy despite the meltdown. :)

I almost forgot. Cyndee looked soooo amazing! So much better then when Cora was born but lets be fair, she had just labored all night etc and had no make up on etc when I last saw her. She looked stylish, happier, vivacious. Jessica looked great too. I'm so happy her hair was down cause it was up the few times I saw her at CGS birth. I'm so happy I got to share the kids with them and catch up. It's really like a little reunion with long lost cousins or something, is the only way I can describe this. They were so supportive and loving of us and our family and are proud that we get to have Cora in our family but they also love her too. You can't go wrong with more people to love your children! :) Ahh... great visit with Cyndee etc.