Andrew, Kami and the boys

Welcome

2012-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our blog. How could we ever express the gratitude we have for you and your family for even thinking about sharing such an amazing part of yourself? It would be impossible to adequately express our feelings for birthparents. When I think about the term "birth mother" the first thing I think of is mine. When I was adopted things were very different, and I know very little about her. I know she was very young. I know her hair color, her eye color, and how tall she was. That is all the information I was given. But I know other things as well. I know she loved me. I know she made a selfless decision to make my life better. I know she was strong and brave and wise beyond her years. And I know her decision to place me for adoption was the greatest blessing in my life.

Right now you are probably afraid. You are scared that you are making the right decision, and wondering if it really is the right choice for your child. No one can answer that but you. However I know that the amazing woman who gives birth to our daughter will be appreciated, thought of, and prayed for everyday. And the child that comes into our home will be so very loved, and well taken care of (aka spoiled rotten). And we will never forget, or let her forget the miracle she is, and sacrifice that you made by bringing her into this world as well as the selfless decision to let her join our family – making an ultimate sacrifice for others. To that end – we wish to share with you the story of our family.

Our journey to have a family has been a hard one. It has been full of heartache and pain, but the joy and the love that has come into our home with our children is worth any amount of grief and pain imaginable. We have been blessed with three amazing little boys. Please feel free to look around our blog. We want you to get to know us, and hope you will give us the chance to get to know you.

Carson

2009-06-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Carson and Cameron just turned 3…..yes, twins! Carson is such a sweet boy. He is a peacemaker, the first to give up the toy another child wants. He loves to cuddle and is so happy. He is just like his dad. He loves to play in the water, and has no fear. We have to stay within arms reach of him at the beach because he loves to run right into the waves and get knocked over!
He loves to go on amusement park rides, and is never afraid. He also loves to be outside, no matter what the weather. His favorite thing to do is whatever his brothers are doing. He loves to play pretend, his favorite thing to pretend to be is a puppy, he will crawl around the house barking for hours! He is my special little angel, I love being his mother.

Kami (aka mom)

2009-04-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

I am a 31 year old "work from home" mother. I am a beautician and run a hair salon out of our basement. I feel very blessed to be able to do what I love, and still always be home with my family.

I am married to my best friend. Andrew and I have been married for 13 years this July. He is my soul mate and we are so lucky we found each other. We had only known each other a few weeks when we knew it was right. Our relationship is very special; we are everything to each other. I know not everyone has that (lots of people don't) I don't know why we are so blessed, but I thank my Father in Heaven for it every night.

Even though I have many side jobs and hobbies, I am first and foremost a mommy. My kids are everything to me. We have struggled with infertility for our entire marriage. I know how lucky I am to have my boys. I think the struggles we endured to bring them here insure that I never take them for granted. Our journey to have a family has been a hard one. It has been full of heartache and pain, but the joy and the love that has come into our home with our children is worth any amount of grief and pain imaginable. I know it will be like that with my daughter. I dream about her all the time. I know she is out there, and when we finally find each other, the journey we took to get there will make it all that much sweeter.

One of my favorite hobbies is scrapbooking, or celebrating memories. I love to take pictures and videos of my family. In a one week vacation I can come back with over 1000 pictures!! It makes me happy to see the memories in beautiful books that we can always look at. I also love to make gifts and keepsakes out of my favorite photos.

Some of my best childhood memories come from our family vacations. We took them every year. We went everywhere from Disney Land, to Hawaii, to New Mexico, to Yellowstone. We went every year, and it was the best thing my parents could have done for us as a family. That is probably why I think vacations are so important. We make travel and vacations a priority. I want my kids to have the memories I did growing up. They will not remember how big our TV was or how new our car was, but they will remember meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time, building sand castles on the beach with their dad, or the first time they were big enough to ride a rollercoaster.

Andrew (aka Dad)

2009-04-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in the Tripler Army Hospital. I am the fourth child of six, one brother and four sisters. I served an LDS mission in Scotland. I loved it and hope to return one day.

I am 34 years old. I like to play sports, mostly basketball. I don't like watching sports on TV. I would rather spend time with my boys or playing a game. I carried the torch in the Winter Olympics, which was a great experience. I feel that I am handy in doing projects, and fixing things around the house. I like to watch situations and watch people, I know I come across as laidback, and that is fine with me.

When Kami and I met I felt like never before. I couldn't wait to ask her to marry me. We were married quickly, and it has never felt more right.

We have seen each other almost every day since we met. Every time I think back to our engagement and wedding, I feel it is more and more the best decision I have made. I had no idea what love could be like. I barely remember life without her. Kami is very open about her feelings and that helps us resolve every minor conflict. It is about communication of feelings, and sacrifice of my own selfishness. This with working together continually strengthens our marriage. I love her very much and cannot imagine being without her.

I work as a consultant at a money management firm The best part about my job is the hours. I am home every day by 3:00pm. My children are everything to me.

I can't wait to see them. Every day the boys hear the garage door open they start to run around the house and scream "daddy's home, daddy's home!" As soon as I walks in the door I am jumped on by excited little boys. I love wrestling with them and playing any game we can. They are defiantly the light of my life;

I would rather be home teaching and spending time with them than anywhere else. I miss them so when I am at work. I love to get on the floor and play trucks or Army men with them. I love playing with them; it gives me an excuse to act like a little kid too!

Kayden

2009-04-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Our oldest is Kayden. He is 9 years old and such a joy to our family. He is respectful, full of energy and always the comedian, making everyone around him smile and laugh. He is in third grade and loves school. His favorite subjects are math, science, and art. He is very creative and loves to make cards for mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa. He is so thoughtful and caring. If anyone is upset he does his best to make them feel better. He loves to surprise me with breakfast in bed some mornings! He had a hard time with it taking so long to have siblings. When he found out I was pregnant with the twins, so was so excited! He absolutely loves being a big brother. He keeps asking me when we are going to have more children. He thinks we should have triplet girls "because then we would have the same amount of girls as boys!" LOL Although I'm not sure triplets is what we want…. I know he will be the best big brother any girl could ever have, I just feel sorry for her dates, with all these boys, they will have to be pretty special to date their sister!

Cameron

2009-04-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

Cameron and Carson just turned three. Yes…. Twins. Cameron is outgoing and funny.
He knows what he wants and almost always can get it. Even though he is only older by a few minutes, he totally acts like Carson's older brother. He is so smart and surprises me every day with his new words (Or should I say paragraphs). We just got done potty training, and he figured it out in only one week! He loves to play with his brothers and is always looking out for them He never asks me for anything, (like a drink or a treat) without asking for one for Carson too!

He loves to play outside and gets cabin fever if he has to stay in for too long. He loves to play on his swingset jump on our tramp and build things in our sandbox. He also loves playing with our dogs, Max and Bella.

Vacations and Activities

2009-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

As a family we love trips and outings. I always took great vacations every year with my family, and that is a tradtion that I would like to pass on to my children. We might not have a brand new car every year, but my children will have wonderful memories of family vacations and outings. Some of our recent vacations have been to Hawaii, Disneyland, Disneyworld, New York, and Montana. Some people thought we were crazy to take our not quite two year old twins to Disneyworld. I enjoy every stage. They might not have been old enough to ride many rides, but the look in their eyes when they saw Mickey Mouse for the first time, I will treasure forever! During the parades I thought poor little Carson's arm was going to fall off because he had to wave to every character. Our most recent trip was to Disneyland, my parents went with us. It was fun because Cameron and Carson were tall enough to ride the rides, but they were not quite as impressed by the characters, in fact Cameron thought a few were scary. I'm so glad we have been able to experience that each year with them. I know chances are they will not remember it, but I always will. Kayden was so happy because he was finally tall enough to ride all the rides, and did so with no fear! We really enjoy it when Grandma and Grandpa go on vacation with us; it is so fun to make memories with them. We also enjoy day outings. We like to get Lagoon season passes so we can pack a picnic dinner and go down there for a few hours at a time in the summer. We also like to go to the aquarium, the zoo and the parks.

Andrews family

2009-04-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

We have a very close extended family. I have 1 brother and 4 sisters; they are all married and have children, so the kids have lots of cousins. (#20 is on her way) it is so much fun to get together.

Every Sunday you know you can go to Nanas house and it will be full of family and food! My parents have always shown me love, and have shown that love in how they treat us children with respect. They love their grandchildren with all their heart and spend as much time as they can with them.

My dad loves to play Card and Board games with all of his children and their spouses. Growing up my brother, my dad, and I, could play games for hours, and sometimes days. He comes from and LDS family of four sisters. He loves my mom very much, and treats her with great respect; they have dates once a week. He always makes time for her and makes her feel special.

My mom always makes time for each kid. She would talk to us one on one, and discuss our dreams, hopes, fears, and interests. She is laid back, and expresses herself at other times, just like her mom. She grew up in an LDS family with one brother. She lost her dad to an accident at the age of eight. She encourages all of us in everything that we do. Whether it is art or any other project or pet that we would bring home. She would rarely lose her temper and yell. She loves our dad very much, and it shows in how they treat each other.

My brother has been my best friend my whole life. He is married, and they have been blessed to adopt a beautiful daughter and son. We love to spend time with them whenever we can.

Every year we have a huge family reunion. I love to get together with all my aunts and uncles and cousins.

Kami’s family

2009-04-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

I am very close to my mom and dad. We only live about 20 minutes from them. I talk to my mom everyday, most of the time several times a day. Our children are their only grandchildren, so they are spoiled with a passion! A day does not go by without Grandma and Grandpa either coming over to visit, or calling to talk to the kids. We love to go on vacations together and spend time together. We know without even asking we are always invited for dinner. My parents spend every holiday with us. They even sleep over at our house on Christmas eve so they can be there when the kids wake up. Both my parents still work, but they have a day off during the week. Almost every Thursday is spent with Grandpa. He takes us out to lunch, or the zoo, somewhere fun for the kids. They look forward to it every week. My mom loves my kids more than anything! she takes every opportunity to babysit for them, and even has sleepovers every few months. My kid's favorite person in the world is their Grandma (other than mom and dad of course!) I have one brother who is not married yet but loves being an uncle.

My parents have been married for 35 years. Their marriage is an inspiration to me. The love each other so much, and it shows in everything they do. They love to travel together and are always thinking about the other person.

When I was growing up my mom stayed home with us. She was always there when I got home from school. I think I took it for granted, but now I know how special that was. My parents couldn't have children so me and my brother are adopted. My mom teases me that she was pregnant for four years with me, because that is how long it took them to find me.

We took fun vacations every year while I grew up. We were always going fun places like Disneyland or Hawaii. I treasure those memories, and now as an adult realize how much they must have given up to make sure we were able to do that every year. That is something I want to pass on to my children.

My mom has 9 brothers and sisters, so our family parties are crazy! There are over 150 family members now that all my cousins are grown with kids or their own. I have more cousins than anyone I know.
I came from a small family, with just me and my brother. I love the energy of large family gatherings. There is so much love, teasing, laughing and fun. I want to have that in my family. I don't want 10 kids! But I can't wait for the day my children start to have kids and my family grows.

It's about love

2009-04-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

Although we feel so blessed, we know our family is not complete. After much thought and prayer we have come to the conclusion that somewhere is a little girl that belongs in our family. I am adopted, as is my brother. We also have four adopted nieces and nephews on Andrews’s side. Adoption is very special to me. I know that sometimes, for whatever reason it is the way that God sends children to the homes they are meant to be in. I am so honored and privileged to be a part of that, both as an adoptee and now, as a hopeful adopter.