And they came two by two... Michael & Matthew

On the other side of my love for photography, is my pride and joy, my blessings from above.... my little family. Gray and I knew from the beginning that we wanted to have a family, so when we began trying, it was disappointing to learn that the odds were not in our favor of conceiving our own child naturally. We tried some fertility treatments, and when those were unsuccessful it seemed only natural to adopt. We only wanted a family and it didn't matter to us what our angels' birth plans originally were.

And they came two by two...... June 13th, 2006 we received a call from our Social Worker asking if we could put a rush on foster certification because there were two little boys (brothers), ages 2 & 3 who needed a loving home and there would be a good chance of adoption. Without hesitation I screamed YES ! We're interested. It's a good thing Gray felt the same way... because I screamed this before I talked with him. When I spoke to him... he had even less hesitation in his voice and said... "When can we get them?"

Two weeks later... with bated breathe and anxious excitement we met our boys. All of these thoughts and emotions ran thru me.... "Will they like me.... will they accept me ?" "Will we fall deeply in love with them, only to be ripped away once again ?" So we pulled up to the house, held our breathes and watched our boys run onto the front porch to greet us. They looked up at us as if to say... "You're here, I've been waiting for you." One look.... and it was over. I was in love. These were my boys, now & forever. I have to say that their Aunt, Uncle and cousins who was caring for them at the time took excellent care of them and loved them so deeply that they chose to give them their own family. For that,,, we will always be eternally grateful. As now, I could never see myself without them. Just know as you see the images below, these are more "mommy" shots.

Don't worry.... this has a happy ending. A year later, almost to the date of when met our M&Ms.... our adoption was legally finalized. Let me introduce you to our boys, Michael Shane and Matthew Gray Senter.