Saturday!

After we scrape scrape scrape for a bit, we will be headed up to a new place to camp tonight! Something more deserty, rocks, hills, junipers...I'll take lots of pics!

Oh, and it's only suppose to get up to 65 degrees today with clouds and chance of showers. Good thing we got rain gear!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Loving Choices

Twins. My twins. 23, almost 24 and vibrant. It's amazing the things they both go through and do. Sometimes I'll get 2 text messages from them, right after the other, saying the exact things. Sometimes they'll call me and tell me what they are having for dinner and yes, it's the same thing. Be it their upbringing or just more twin destiny, they've both had a baby and put it up for adoption - open adoption. Michelle had Teyla in 2005 and Megan had Theo in 2007. Each of these loving decisions were very, very difficult for all of us, and very wise.

Open adoption means we get to talk to the adopting families and see the babies. And overall, this has been a very good thing. But what has been missing is for Teyla and Theo to meet each other. Well, it finally happened. A week or so ago, the girls and I traveled to Teyla's house (her parents are Jeff and Araka). Jeff's parents and brother and his daughter were there to enjoy this special reunion, too! We watched Teyla play with her cousin, Dvorak while we all anxiously awaited for Steve and Laura to arrive with little Theo. And when they pulled up, both sets of parents agreed that Theo and Teyla looked so much alike, they could be brother and sister! (Incidentally, both sets of parents call their child "T"!) We had a great dinner (I brought homemade chicken strips and pasta salad) and we had jello and rolls and all sorts of stuff. We had wonderful visits and we took tons of pictures!

Here's Megs on the way there...
Here is Jeff and Araka, Teyla's mom and dad! Both are very caring parents and wonderful hosts! (They have a very lovely home and a playday mecca for kids!)
Teyla and Dvorak in the pool -

Teyla loves princesses! Here's her outfit:
And here is her room!
Jeff drew this free handed and someone else painted it for them. Isn't it great? And here is Teyla drawing on her chalk board with her cousin.
And when Theo showed up...they all REALLY played well together! Here is Theo's momma, and tired Theo playing with Jeff's flashlight. Teyla looks on...
I love this shot of both girls and both babies. Teyla shows Steve her car. Jeff's mom bought all the kids a cute little car! Jeff and Araka had presents for Theo, the little bobble-head tiger and a police car and helicopter. So thoughtful!


Jeff and Araka bought this awesome playhouse/swing/slide thing at Costco and Jeff put it together. Here you see Dvorak visiting with Steve as Laura tries to get Theo to go down the slide. Jeff is ready to catch Teyla!
They all enjoyed the pool!

As I said, we had a wonderful dinner together sitting out on their back deck, then it was time for family pictures!
The girls and I made tie-dyed shirts for the families! Teyla's family is red and blue, Theo's family is yellow and blue and my shirt was red and yellow and blue :o)

Teyla is so princessy, she likes dresses best, so Michelle tied a sun dress for her.

And here's the little king!

Some more shots...







Family pics:
Teyla's family-
What a cutie!
Theo's family-

Theo and I doing "bump"...
And the best one of all...the whole family!
Jeff had to get ready for work. He is a sergeant for the police department. My girls wanted a pic with him!
But before Jeff could go, he had to trade the little king's blanket to Theo to get this flashlight back! lol
Steve and Laura had to go too, here you see Steve giving Teyla a hug goodbye!
What a great day! We were all exhausted by the end of it, but in a very good way. 2 babies, 2 beautiful families, 2 loving choices.
The girls and I stayed that night at Jeff and Araka's house. The drive home was long, but surreal, filled with so many fun memories of the previous day. Well, some of us stayed awake.
Thank you, Jeff and Araka and Teyla for hosting! Thank you ALL for the family get-together!

WE ALL NEED TO LEARN THIS LESSON!

Four worms and a lesson to be learned!!!!



A minister decided that a visual demonstration
Would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.
The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.
The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:

The first worm in alcohol - Dead

The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead




Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead

Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.

So the Minister asked the congregation -
What did you learn from this demonstration???

Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,

'As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate,
You won't have worms!'

That pretty much ended the service.

Happy BIrthday, Dad!

Dad and his identical twin, Darrell, would have been 81 today.