Thanksgiving

This post is cross posted from my other blog
Hunna's Happenings....

Wow Thanksgiving was great this year. On Thursday, Heather and I went to have Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family and we had a wonderful time. We played a game called Fact or Crap and we laughed like crazy. Fun game but lots of crap! :-) The family time was fun and I was ready for some laughing so that made me very thankful!

Friday I headed to Tulsa for Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. Again I had a wonderful time. The food was amazing the family was great and I did lots more laughing. I already posted about the fun with Parker. Well there was fun to be had with lots of people, not just the Amazing PMan. My cousin Todd and his wife Sara were able to come in from Chicago. Their little boy Elliot is just adorable and his sister Evelyn so "pretty". She has great self esteem for a 2 year old. This was the first time I've seen Elliot in person and he is 10 months now. He looks just like his Daddy.

I really had a great time with my family. It's very hard for me to leave them. I cried when I left today and I cried when they called to check on me as I was driving home. I just love them so much. What is really great is that when I am with them I feel like my mom is around a little bit. It's funny how much I crave being with them because I feel her but then leaving them makes me miss her more. It's just hard to love so much because then the leaving is hard. But it won't be long till I'll see them again.

Here are some pics I got over the weekend. Too many cute kids. I'm so hoping that next year I'll have a little one to have pictures of too. I can't wait for my baby to meet all my family. Whatever baby I get will be so loved.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Adoption Photography

A friend of mine told me about a great photography program called Celebrating Adoption. This program is made up of photographers throughout the US that donate their time to photograph families that have adopted a child within the last 12 months. The photographer will do a photo session for free and you will get one free set of photographs! How cool is that. The website I've linked to above has all of the details and some great sample photos for you to enjoy. They have a list of photographers from every state that are participating and are willing to donate their time to help celebrate new families. I'm so excited about this and can't wait to take part once I bring a little one home. I hope that some of you can get some great family photos taken too. If you've ever done this let me know. I'd love to know what it was like.

Family

I have a really big family that is very supportive of my adoption plans. They all get really psyched about anything though. We like to celebrate things. It's just what we do. And we have something very exciting to celebrate now. My brother Shawn, his lovely wife Amanda and my beautiful niece Mattie are moving home in a couple of weeks!

They have been living about 10 hours away for quite awhile now. About 2 years ago they started talking about wanting to move home. But Amanda had a rough pregnancy with Mattie and they didn't want to move until after Mattie was born and they have had a horrible time of trying to get their house sold. But Shawn had a job interview here for a local company and got the job. So they will be moved here by December 1st.

I'm so thrilled that they will be close by. Mattie is 10 months old now and such a joy to be around. They were here all weekend and it's nice to know that it will only be a few weeks before I see them again rather than a few months! I'm so excited that Mattie and my future children will get to grow up together. And the best part is that Amanda will be available to do daycare for my baby so I won't have to worry about finding someone. That makes me feel a lot better. In a perfect world I'd get to stay home with my baby. But someone has to pay the bills. So having family do the daycare is the next best thing for me.

I love it when things fall into place.

Adoption Journey Blog Carnival

The second edition of the Adoption Journey Blog Carnival begins today. I would like to thank everyone that participated this time around. I hope you enjoy the carnival! Please take the time to visit the participates and learn more about their adoption journey.

Leisa presents Why Adoption...Why Ethiopia... posted at An Aussieopian Family.

Jenny Alicea presents Can I play? posted at The Journey.

Lisa Merritt presents Dreaming of Sara posted at Russian Mafia Babe.

Jenny presents Halloween in the Philippines posted at Leap Of Faith.

Marcie presents The Dress posted at A Child Chosen.

Pickel presents Wait for it... posted at My Two Boys.

Kelli presents Unbelievable posted at Loving Mom seeks Vietnamese Prince or Princess.

Jocelyn presents She is So Big and Of Course So Cute!!! posted at My Ethiopian Princess.

Jessie presents Adoption Month posted at Hunna's Happening's.

The next adoption journey blog carnival will be on December 1st. If you are interested in hosting please contact me. Thanks!