Sam turns 1!

Though I'm not "family", I do have to share this blog/photo shoot with you all. You see, I met Sam's mom and dad while we were stationed in Aviano, Italy almost 6 years ago now. Jessica and I met at multiple functions through the Officer's Wives club. Each time we enjoyed one another's company and we said we would call or get together. We were both shy and couldn't force ourselves to make that first call. (STUPID on both of our parts.) That was until Jess called me to talk about the Fall Bazaar. FINALLY, someone had taken the bull by the horns and made that first call. Thank goodness Jess did. We talked for over an hour and it was like we were old friends. Plus, I was going on a trip to Poland that weekend and we needed a 4th girl to come along. Jess was up for the trip. We all had a blast driving to Poland and shopping for pottery. Memories we'll never forget!

After that trip she and I spent all of our time together. Well, at least all the time we had left together (2 months.) Bird and I had just learned we were being stationed in Vegas and would be leaving Italy. I know God placed Ed and Jess in our lives and pushed her to make that call for a reason. I just couldn't understand why it took us so long to get together. The first day of September, 2004 Ed and Jess took us to the Venice airport and we said our good-byes. However, we knew we would see each other again soon. You see, Ed and Jess owned a home in Las Vegas and hoped to return some day. That day came almost a year later when they came home to work on the house for the new renters. A year after that, they moved back to Vegas for good. Jess and I were together almost all the time.

While we were apart both of us had been trying to start our families. Neither of us had been successful for one reason or another. We told each other it was because God wanted us to be pregnant together and to have our children at the same time. As always, God showed us his plan was a little different than our own. Jessica became pregnant with Sam and we adopted YaYa. YaYa came to live with us in April of 07 and Sam was born in July of 07. Our dream was finally here. We were finally mothers and we got to raise our kids together just as we had thought.

This photo was taken just before Bird and I went to sign the paperwork and bring YaYa home.

Our childrearing days together didn't last long. A change of plans occured when Ed got a job close to family. It was such a happy day for them but a sad day for us. Once again we were saying good-bye. Hardest to handle was the fact that the kids wouldn't grow up together as we hoped. This picture was taken last October just before they moved. It was our big day in the pumpkin patch. HA! The pumpkins were tiny or picked over. YaYa got the flu and wouldn't let me put her down. FYI, that NEVER happens. The highlights of the day were finding these zucchini blossoms and having our friend Beth (fellow pottery shopper from Italy) in town.

I received the above blog from Jess this morning and couldn't help but share Sam's 1st birthday pics with the world. After all, he is like part of our family and these pics are gorgeous. What did we do before all of this technology anyway? At least we can watch our kids grow through the internet and videos. Please stop by and take a look. If Jess receives 13 comments on the photographers blog she'll receive a free collage of these great pics. Let's help a mom out! She's great! Thanks for letting me share a little about my friend and her beautiful son, Sam.