The family just got a little bit bigger...

Hi all! I just got back from a trip to the shore with my kids. Not just any trip however, a very special trip.

My older sister and brother are adopted...then my parents got pregnant with me, and then my little brother Chris. Last year, after a search of almost 2 years, my sister was able to locate her birth mother. Sometimes these things don't go well. A lot of the time, actually. Well, my friends, this one was like something you would have seen on Oprah. So my sister finds her last November. Her mom was thrilled and overjoyed, telling Lisa that it was an answer to her prayers that they be united one day. Long story short, she was 18, and just couldn't keep a baby at that time in her life.

So, my sister not only has developed a relationship with her birth mother, but also has met and gotten to know her half sister and 2 half brothers as well. Her birth mom owns a vacation home in New Jersey at the shore, and invited Lisa and her family to stay for a week in the downstairs level (it is a duplex), while she and various members of her family stayed upstairs.

Lisa invited me and the kids to come, and we were only too happy to come! Can I just say that her mother, and her whole family are TERRIFIC!!!! They are the kindest, most generous, loving people I have ever met. They welcomed me and the kids with open arms, and hope to get together with my parents and siblings, and get to know one another. Everyone is open to this. So, it really was a special week, and a time that I will never forget. I also have successfully convinced her birth mother to adopt me as well. :) I look forward to future get togethers with them.

Anyhow, here are a couple pics of my beach bums!! They had so much fun!

pics courtesy of my cell phone...sorry for the poor quality.