Easter with Some of Our Family and the Easter Bunny

Our families are a very IMPORTANT part of our lives. Sandra is the oldest of three children with a younger sister and brother. She was born in England and moved to the United States when she was eight. Sandra is very close with her sister, Jackie and visits her family most days. Jackie and her husband, Jim have four children - Alison Rose who just turned three is the youngest and she and our son, Tyler are the best of pals. Because they are so close, this year we plan to combine their birthday parties and have a big celebration. Sandra's brother is married with two girls who are five and seven years old. Although we only see them every couple of weeks, Sandra is the person that they turn to when they are in need of support - both emotionally and financially. Sandra's parents are both retired and spend lots of time with all of their grandchildren. We see Sandra's family alot as all of them live less than fifteen minutes from us.

Surprise Birthday Party for Carl and His Twin Brother with Carl’s Sister and Brother in Law

Carl grew up in a family with three sisters and one brother. Carl's brother is an identical twin and the bond that they still have today is amazing! It is so wonderful to see how close Carl and his brother are. They spend most mornings having coffee together before work and talk on the telephone three to four times each day. Although Carl's oldest sister and family live in Maine and we don't see them often, the rest of his siblings all live less than an hour from us so we see them often. One of Carl's sisters has also adopted two children - David who is now eight years old, was adopted from Romania and Christina, who is four, was adopted from Russia. Carl visits his mom everyday on his way to work and talks to her several times each day - he is extremely close with her. Unfortunately Carl's dad passed away in 2002.

Both of our families are an important part of our lives and therefore, we LOVE to host family gatherings. We always host a Christmas tree trimming party, Christmas Day and Easter day at our home with sometimes up to 30 children and adults running around our home. Yes we love lots of noise and excitement!! All of our nieces and nephews consider us to be the "cool auntie and uncle" with the fun home. Our families are thrilled that we want to adopt again and our nieces and nephews keep asking when their new baby cousin will be coming home.

Our Home

We have worked hard and responsibly to buy a beautiful home that sits on about a half acre in a small town in CT. One of our main reasons for choosing our home was because of its setting for raising a family. The first time that we saw our home before purchasing it, there were four young children happily riding their bikes around the neighbor's driveway - we knew then that this would be the perfect neighborhood for us to raise a family. When we decided to start a family, we finished our basement into a kids room and boy, is it now filled with toys galore! We even bought a small outdoor slide and set it up downstairs so when it is too cold to play outside in the winter, we could bring the outside in for Tyler. We haven't quite figured out yet how to bring the snow in before it melts.

Enjoying a Stroll at the Beach

We love having a big yard, a private dead end street and many neighbors with young children. Also we are only a short distance from our families. Being the first home on our private road, we are able to watch all of the youngsters outside of our driveway waiting for the school bus in the mornings. The town that we live in is very well known for its culture and beauty, and its school system is probably the most highly regarded in the county. Being a family that loves the water, we are lucky to have found such a wonderful home in a shoreline community that is only a mile from the beach.