Charlie's 2nd birthday with extended family

Yesterday we celebrated Charlie's birthday with her some of her birth family. May seem weird, but it is not for us. For the last two years, Charlie's birthgrandparents have come with Charlie's birth siblings and celebrated Charlie's birthday. We literally have a full blown party with just us and them. Yesterday was an unusually sweet day. I knew we would do cake and ice cream, even open gifts but we also did pictures. Upon their request, they asked if we could have a photographer come and capture the day. We asked our dear friend Aimee if she would be able to do it. I couldn't have asked for more. Anyone else may have been overwhelmed by the entire situation, but not her. This 16 year old superstar jumped right in and was able to capture two families brought together by heartache, only to rally around one another and just love one another. At one point I just watched as one of the pictures was being taken and couldn't believe how sweet life is. I honestly can't wait to see how they turned out. Someday these pictures will be a testament to Charlie of her beautiful love story and how God's plans are so much bigger and better than ours.

Their was one thing I didn't expect yesterday. I don't quitet understand what changed.  Maybe I won't for a long time. And only time will tell what God has in store.  I am so in love with Charlie's other siblings. We have all been together before on a few occasions. We have always thought they were wonderful and just amazing kids. But this time I whole heartedly love them. We just fit, if that makes sense. In a way, I feel a little responsible for them too. I have no idea why. But God does.

I never saw our lives looking like this. Today I am thankful that God said no so long ago,  I would have missed out on all of this.

Time to get packing!!

So, we are moving!! But not far! We have been in our home for over 6 years and we have shared many memories.  But a few months ago, Dave and I decided to sell our home, simplify our lives and move to where ever his work was. Dave works for a general contractor so he goes where the work is. As Dave's job got closer and closer to complete, their were many possibilities as to where he would go next. Some of the job sites were even out of state. So we wanted to make ourselves available and make the best decision for our family.  Dave has commuted long hours before and we didn't want to do it again. We know first hand that this is not what we wanted for our marriage or our kids. This was also a business decision that we strongly believe will be better for our family and has already benefited us tremendously.  On top of the fact, that we have gained some great friends...our realtor and broker!!! What a huge unexpected blessing!! So if you ever need a realtor check out http://gardunoreo.com/

Well, as our escrow is closing in a couple of weeks, we learned a recently that Dave is staying where he is at for now. So we decided to still go through with the house selling process and just role with things knowing that God does things for a reason.  Although we have loved our home, we are excited to see where this next adventure will take us.  We aren't going too far, so we still get to stay close to family and stay at our same church.

I apologize if I haven't been the greatest friend or an absent family member! Dave and I are working hard on getting most of our homestudy done before we actually move so that after the move we can concentrate on our kids and get ready for the arrival of baby Fatih.