We Are Family

Whoa, it's been a while since I've done a real post. We have been super duper busy the last week or two. Over the weekend we had a family photo shoot. I got to test out my new lens and thanks to the tripod we got some great shots! Let me tell you a little bit about my family. First of all, we are a blended family. I'm no stranger to blended families. I've been a part of a blended family since I was 9.

 When I was 8 years old my dad passed away from his battle with lung cancer. My poor mom was young with 3 little kids and she was all on her own. She quickly remarried to a man with 5 young boys and we all got along great and you'd think it was a match made in heaven. As time went on the family unit started to go south, my step dad had Aspergers which is a high functioning form of autism, it made it difficult to have and keep relationships or any kind of emotional interaction with him. So after 10 long years of living in a household with what seemed like complete strangers my mom and step dad parted, and went their separate ways. A few years later when I was 19 or 20 I sailed off to Alaska and when I returned my mom had met a nice fellow with 2 kids around me and my sibling's ages. They married almost 2 years ago and are happy as can be. Being in a family with his and hers kids isn't easy. There are so many differences among one another and bringing those differences together can cause some clashing at times but you do your best to make it work. Us kids are older so it isn't as challenging because some of us have our own families and aren't living all together. But like I said, it takes some work.

I'm grateful to have the family I do now. It's funny the different things life throws at you and when you look back you wonder how in the heck you made it to where you are today. But I'm happy with where I'm at and I'm glad to have a family who loves and cares for one another. That's just what I want my kids to be a part of.

Meet the Family....

Standing: My brother Regan, Chad's daughter Mikaela, mama Simone, Chad, Noah and Finneus, Muah.

        Sitting: Spencer's wife Melanie, Chad's son Spencer, my sister Hailie.

Have you seen Duck Dynasty? Well this was our attempt to be the Robertsons, you know, in the opening credits. Well, we tried.

Hat photo. We love hats apparently. Oh, and girlfriend in the plaid coat is Hailie's friend Annie. She happened to be with Hailie that day and we had to have her in atleast one shot!