Our 24th Wedding Anniversary!

 It is hard to believe that we are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary. We have been through some amazing challenges through the years but I am forever grateful for our faith, commitment to each other, love, and friendship. We are celebrating our time in Pinetop, AZ, which is our future retirement area. Dainis fell in love with this area when we first visited it several years ago, as it reminded him of MN with the trees and nearby lake. We have purchased a lot in a gated neighborhood and hope to start building in the near future. We met with some builders this trip, enjoyed lots of walks around our favorite lake called Woodland Lake, and enjoyed much-needed downtime and some relaxation.

Our granddaughter Mariana

I have learned so much on this journey as an adoptive mom and now as a writer and continue to learn every day. When we first embarked on our adoption journey, we just wanted to give kids a forever home and have the family we always wanted. We had no idea all of the challenges we would face along the way and definitely were not equipped for the abandonment, trauma, and mental challenges we would go through with our kids. It has been and continues to be a journey, and we have learned a lot along the way. If I could do it over again, I would do some things the same and some things much differently as a parent. I have learned a lot about expectations of myself and the kids. I said it in my book and it is so true about so many situations in life. Life rarely turns out like you pictured it would. We did not expect both girls to leave home the way they did. 

Mariana turned one in March and continues to grow. We have only met her on Facetime at this point because Angie and Dougie are not yet stable and financially independent and responsible. They have lived with different family members in a different state since getting together. We continue to help them by sending things to help Mariana. My mom has been very helpful in this area as an early childhood education teacher.

It is Time For The World To Buy My Book!

 I decided in January 2021 to start writing my story and on March 11th, my book was published by Trilogy Publishing. It is titled "CHOICES: When You Are Faced with a Challenge, What Choice Will You Make?" It is on my faith journey and perseverance through many challenges. The biggest challenge was my massive stroke at age 29, which left me paralyzed on the left side at the time of the stroke. I am excited to share my story to bring hope and encouragement to others and hope to start speaking as my next step. I am grateful for all the opportunities that have already come my way and look forward to the journey ahead! 

Juan's Car

 For our 20th wedding anniversary, we purchased a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider Convertible as our gift to ourselves and as a date night car. We really enjoyed it for a while but our schedule was busy with the kids. When it came time for Juan to start driving, we decided we would rather sell him this car that we knew was in great condition, rather than help him find another used car that Dainis may have to repair. He wanted to change the top from tan to black, which Dainis did for him. Hopefully, he will take care of it and enjoy it for a long time as it is a great car, in great condition.