How Our Family is a Little Different. 

 Uncertainty abounds in my mind of how our adopted kids will feel in our home. The first image above should allow you to play a video of our oldest son, Allen, doing his first backflips all on his own just moments after I had spent some time spotting him and helping him feel comfortable . We encourage adventure (including calculated risk taking), trying new things, and making the most out of every hour of life.  Perhaps that is normal, perhaps it is not. A little on the different side of things, is that we chose to have our annual family photographs taken at this location: Get Air at the Silo, in Grand Junction Colorado. When I was a teenager, I enjoyed being a gymnast at Gymnastika (private gym). Trampolines,  despite their dangers, are one of man’s greatest inventions in my mind. They are great exercise, opportunity for human engagement, and no matter how old you are you feel like a kid when you are on one.   We are excited to see in the next week or so how our family photos turned out. Our home is not traditional. Decorations, activities, and everything else is as one of my best friends, Ike Pittman, would say, “quirky.”   That’s how it is in our family: a little different, with our own flare on our major focus of creating memories and developing character.

That brings me to the second image. This is a photo with our second oldest son, Gideon. This young man loves animals and nature. So, in our annual adventure that I will explain in a minute, his greatest highlight was seeing these cats in a thrift store.  So, what exactly is this annual tradition that is a little different? Because we choose to spend our money on our community and our children’s character development, finances are always a little tight. One solution that we have found to live on less over the last eight years  is to make Christmas gift shopping a treasure hunt of fun. We spend the day traveling from one thrift store to another. Each person is allotted a $10 budget towards each of the other family members. The goal: meander through these thrift stores until you find something you know one of your family members will really enjoy. It’s not the easiest task in the world. It literally is like treasure hunting. It is difficult, exciting, and engaging. As parents, Millie and I really enjoy  participating with our children in this annual project. A little different, and very worthwhile.

 Uncertainty abounds in my mind of how our adopted kids will feel in our home… But I am confident that they will enjoy the quirkiness of our family!  It’s a little different; it’s a lot of love and memories!