Sunset Bali
on Aug 30, 2009 in bali paradise sunset Earlier this year I took a three-week trip to Southern Asia with one of Steve's aunts. The highlight of the trip was a stay on Bali and experiencing the amazing sunsets over Kuta beach. Every evening, people turned out onto the beach to watch the sun...

What I Love About My Mom
on Jul 30, 2009 in parents mom home study love mother July has been a busy month so I've been a bit slack with the blog entries. Several big projects at work AND we finished our adoption home study (we're officially approved!) AND my parents came for a visit. Spending time with my parents was a tangible...

On Children
on Jul 8, 2009 in parenthood birth mother parenting sons kalil gibran adopted love children adoption open adoption daughters A lot more book reading lately...books on birth mothers, birth families, open adoption, raising healthy adopted children, basic parenting, early childhood development. In one of the books, I came across this poem by Kalil Gibran. It nicely summarizes...

Erin's Excellent LA Adventure
on Jun 30, 2009 in erin art niece sports fun music adventure steve laura food Our niece Erin was just here for her second annual "solo" trip to LA. Last summer, she was finally old enough to fly here from Tucson all by herself and she came for about four days. This summer, she was here for an entire week! We had such a great t...

My Cousin Vicki
on Jun 25, 2009 in cousins adopt blessings miracle parenthood adopted adoption Today, I'm dedicating this post to my cousin Vicki, one of my three cousins who was adopted as a little girl. She was three when she came into our family and has truly been a blessing to us all. She's had a big influence on my life and I have a lot o...

Family Anniversary
on Jun 13, 2009 in cousins anniversary parents birth mother family child adopted adoption As we've mentioned, both Steve and I grew up with cousins who were adopted so have known from childhood the miracle of adoption. I have three older cousins, all siblings, who were adopted at the ages of 3, 2 and 1. My aunt and uncle had been on a wai...

Celebrating Diversity
on Jun 12, 2009 in birth mother parenting diversity child steve multi-racial laura Last month, we had a conversation with a birth mother carrying a multi-racial baby. Her biggest concern was finding a family environment where the child will be accepted, loved and celebrated for who he is. We could totally understand and empathize w...

A Few of Steve's Favorite Things
on Jun 7, 2009 in cars jazz favorites cycling steve food These are a few of my favorite things...travel • Tokyo • cars • cycling • fresh peach piefood • books about food • TV shows about foodlistening to jazz, especially Miles • The Simpsons...

A Few of Laura's Favorite Things
on Jun 5, 2009 in cookies swimming jazz favorites piano laura These are a few of my favorite things...swimming • the beach • cool blue • jeans & flip flops year-roundmy grandma's home-made ice cream • baking cookiespandas (& cats of course!) • riding roller coasters w/my nieceplaying the piano...

The Doodler
on May 29, 2009 in joy birth mother poem doodle child rejoice I recently stumbled upon this poem by Dorothy Alves Holmes. The title caught my eye because I'm a constant doodler. In college, I doodled in the margins of my spiral notebooks between note-taking (I came to class prepared with lots of colorful felt t...