A Gobbly Good Time!

 My favorite holiday (besides Christmas, cause then I get to see my family) is Thanksgiving.  I love the day because it's all about some of my favorite things....family, food and fun!


So this year Adam's family decided to all meet up at a specific location, with the three brothers and families renting a house and the extended family staying in "the lodge" of the resort.  It worked out perfectly!  The kiddo cousins got to hang out the entire time and play play play for three whole days!  We had tons of yummy food and lots and lots of fun times!  Great memories were made for sure, we all had a gobbly good time!

Maybe when they're adults we'll get a photo of them all looking the same way.  maybe even one with them all smiling!

Now I know I've talked about what we call "cousin bliss" before.  It's still there, all of the joys of being amongst cousins for a few days.  I just love that they all get along so well!

And the Uncles are perfect for climbing on!

The "big cousins" were awesome at helping with Sammy!  And Sammy LOVED all of the attention!

Adam & his Uncle!

Cuteness all around!

So we had a lot of time playing in the house, but we were close to all sorts of nature trails and we enjoyed a nice long wilderness walk full of exploration and fun!

We all got fancy for our Thanksgiving meal.  Some fancier than others!  Love this....there's actually rhinestones on the lapel!

Over the weekend there was all sorts of play and often the kids would all switch around and everyone played with everyone!  Sammy was in heaven....

Simone was having a blast as well.  I know, I know...there aren't too many photos of her.  Well she and her big cousin D were inseparable and almost impossible to catch on film.  They had their own games on the DSI and with legos to play!  But a grand time she certainly had!

SO there you have the recap of our Gobbly Good Thanksgiving weekend!  

Hope you all had wonderful times with lots of food, family and fun too!!
J

A day in Nature

Around here we have a custom for birthdays...if it's your birthday the day is yours.  The birthday gal or guy gets to choose where the day takes us.

Sooooo, on my big day I took us out to nature!
We hit the road and took a ride around the "Cades Cove Loop".   This area is just beautiful and chock full of wildlife.  It's actually a valley within the Smoky Mountains National Park and is a historic landmark for all of it's preserved homesteads and churches dating back to the early 1800's.  It's a great trip because its a loop around the valley with little pit stops at various landmarks along the way.  And again, the nature and wildlife is just amazing!

My family were great troopers too.  We stopped and explored and ate snacks (and yes, Sammy napped in my arms while we meandered through the woods)  But we truly had a fun family day and it goes in the books as one of my favorite birthdays ever.  All of the giggles, the oohs over each new discovery, the joy over every animal we spotted....it all warmed my heart over and over.

So on to all the fun photos.

Within the Cove there are a lot of historic buildings.  We got to walk through them and see what it was like (sort of) back then.

 Here's one of the churches.

 

Once inside the church it was so simple and so beautiful

And outside- reading all of the dates on the cemetery headstones was amazing.

We had some walks

And some air time

And plenty of playing in the leaves time!

More walks to cool destinations

And then there's the wildlife....

We ran into a gaggle(?) of wild turkeys

Some deer on the field.  Sammy decided to head on out to see them.  He told me he was going to pet them.

We saw so many deer- it was just awesome. 

Ohhhh...or maybe whoooooo.  We also saw an owl!  I thought that was just the coolest!

And there you have a day planned by me.  Well, sort of planned. 

Really a day in nature can never be planned, just enjoyed!
J

November is....

November is....
A busy and special month for me.

November ends the craziness of Halloween and all of the candy and parties that go with it.  November has Veteran's day toward the beginning with my Birthday around the middle (and yes folks, I WILL be turning 29 again this year).  And my favorite of all holidays brings the month to a close...Thanksgiving!  I love seeing our family and all the joy of "the cousin gang" getting together.  Oh, and the food....mmmmmm mmmmm.  I do love that Holiday most of all!
  
But another special aspect of this month,  to me and mine anyway, is that November is "National Adoption Awareness Month".

Some of us are reminded all year long on a daily basis what adoption can mean.  For me it begins with my families, the one I grew up with and now the one I am raising, both formed through adoption.  I have parents, a brother and countless extended family members that I was so fortunate to have because my parents chose to adopt. And because my birth parents chose to bring life into the world and then made a plan for that life, for me, so many years ago.   And now, every moment of every day  I know how blessed I am with my two amazing children that came to me through adoption.

 I've always said adoption isn't a one time event.  You don't just adopt a child or just get adopted, it becomes part of you, part of your life.  Not that it encompasses your life, no, it just is always there as a part of who you are - kind of like a thread in your DNA.  You may not talk about your brown eyes every day, but you still are aware that your eyes simply are brown.
 
So in keeping with that, I also have always believed adoption and your feelings toward it can be ever evolving.

Growing up I was fully aware of adoption, it was a big part of how I became me.  Yet it was also a natural part of my life,  I was adopted and now I had them as my family.  Sure, I wondered where I came from, who I looked liked, where I got some of my personality.   It just wasn't something I thought about all the time, it was just a part of who I was...I was "just adopted".

Adoption then became a choice I had to make once I married and was ready for a family of my own.   Adoption suddenly became my own business transaction - my little act of a means to an end.   My evolution was going from "being adopted" to "adopting" and  I did what I had to do to make my family.  The emotions that went into the act of adopting, at that point in time, did not compare to the emotions that led me to it.     Now, those emotions of hurt and loss that led us down the road to adoption are barely memorable.  Time and two amazing blessings have healed much.

Oh and once we brought our darling dumplings home my thoughts evolved a bit again.  Now I had this child, and eventually two, that I brought out of everything they had been born into to take them half way around the world to make them my own.  I knew I'd love them both beyond anything in the world but I didn't ever realize or imagine how  intense that love would be and how it would consume every last inch of my heart.  And yet, even though they are totally mine in my heart, I know there is that part of them that always belongs to others, to their birth parents.  I now realized adoption was more complex and had more emotions, players and components than I had ever imagined when I was "just adopted" or even "adopting".

Now, at this time of my evolving self, I think of other things.  I think of why I adopted the children I did.  I've come to a final conclusion that it truly was for selfish reasons.  I wanted a family and I wanted babies - healthy babies at that.  I did not set out on this path to save a child or make a difference in a life.  Nope, I simply wanted a family and babies is what I had in mind.  Not that I took the endeavor lightly or think I'd adopt and that would be it.  No, I never felt that way, for my adult adoptee self knew the truth. I just have realized  I went into the process thinking solely of my wants and needs - to have a family.

Now that I happily have these two wonderful beings in my life I start to think of others, those needing families still.  The older children, the ones with special needs, and the ones right here in this country that need forever families.  I imagine one of mine in foster care or an orphanage at the ages they are now, or older.   I think of the sweet kids folks in our FCC group have brought home, those children that truly do benefit from adoption in a whole different way.  I think of the people I know here fostering children, some with the hope to eventually adopt and sometimes just fostering to help the kids that need loving homes.  Those selfless acts of love and finding family blended perfectly together.

At this time I wonder in my heart what is next for us.  I would not change the course of events over the last ten years, for they have all led us to the here and now, a happy family formed through not only adoption but a whole lot of love.  Yet still I wonder if there is more.  When does the time come to give back some of the joy we have received through adoption, and just how do we do that?

So this November leads my ever evolving mind along that new path.  This path leads my thoughts not to what adoption means to me, but what I could mean to adoption.  I do not know where this path will take me, if it leads anywhere or is just a curve on the road, leading me back to where I am now.  But in my heart I want it to lead me.... because adoption is not a one time thing and I have a lot left to explore and plenty more left to give. 
J