Category Archives: Team Brave Dinosaurs

WonderBOY’s life update

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Hey buddy…..what would you like to blog about today?
I want to talk about my pizza place It’s called Pizza Fresh (originally Pizza Good). You order and then it will be ready in about an hour…..well not an hour, that’s too long. A half hour. When you order, it will be ready. Then you can order your drink at either the bar or upfront. There’s going to be a ladder and counselors to watch your kids. If you want the kids to stay with you, you can, but the counselors do fun activities on the big playground outside. And there’s a thing for babies if you have a baby. There will be a watch for $15-$10 dollars for teenagers, there is a teenage section but if the teenager wants to go with the counselor it will be $20. It’s so much because they’re bigger and they won’t want to be there. If your child is lower than 5, they are free and 6-10 year olds are $5.

There is going to be lots of pizzas like cheese, pepperoni…..kind of like Coconut Kenny’s or Mod Pizza. But we make the pizza and you choose what toppings, we give the pizza out and we make sure it’s cool so you can eat it. We set it out on your pizza and then you get up and put the toppings on. And it’s open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. It won’t be open on Wednesday and Saturday because my workers need breaks and there might be a lot of people going there every day so they’ll be tired. It will be open at 9 o’clock to 9 o’clock at night. If you ever want to work there, you’re going to have get there at 7am.

On soccer – 
We skipped a lot of practices because of the rain. It’s my first time playing this sport and so far, I think it’s good. My first game was good. We lost which is okay. I got hurt though in the stomach (it was somewhere else that I don’t want you to type). Mmmmmm…..I played defender with my friend Luca. My coach is nice. I know a person from basketball named Trey.

On Daddy and Sissy’s trip to Haiti – 
I miss Daddy and sis so much. But I call them every night. But I’m glad they are in Haiti because they help kids that are poor and it’s one of the poorest countries in the world. I feel bad for them so I’m mad at Daddy for going every year but he has to….well he doesn’t have to, he wants to because he does it to make sure kids are healthy. I like snuggling with Mom a lot but on the inside I’m yelling for Daddy.(I was home sick today and it was his early release so we got lots of couch/cuddle time today) – love this boy. He has had amazing behavior with Daddy being gone despite his big time anxiety with Daddy out of the country. My little man turns 10 in April – I can’t believe how big he is getting on the inside and out!

4 year Live-a-versary!

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A little back story…..when we started our journey with our Wonders, we were unsure how much time we would get with them. At that time, we decided to celebrate each month with a special “Live-a-versary” to honor their presence in our lives and give them rituals to look forward to (not knowing whether we would ever get to celebrate a birthday or holiday with them).

We have done small things like a trip to a park or candlelight dinner and then big events like a weekend trip touring Seattle and the space needle…..but they always include lots of toasts with fancy drinks, time to reflect back on our time as a family/team and making newer commitments to each other heading forward.

Last night, we decided to recreate where we went on our first family date and the restaurant where we dreamed up our name “Team Brave Dinosaurs.” The full story (and first family selfie) of our first nights together can be read here. We also celebrate 6 months with BraveGIRL and love her special place in our hearts and our home. Here is what everyone stated as their favorite part of the last 4 years (and 6 months).

Daddy: Our adoption day and the first week Emily came home to stay

Mama: When all 5 of us fit on our big couch and watch a movie or show together and family sleepovers!

WonderGIRL: Getting adopted and coming home to a safe home every day from school (added from her words “I used to hate the bell at the end of the day or right before a break and would dread getting on the bus. Now I am excited to come home and see all you guys.”)

WonderBOY (complete with a fever who slept through dinner poor guy): All of our trips as a family, especially the cruise and Silverwood.

BraveGIRL: My favorite thing I’ve learned from living here is that when you fight, all you have to do is talk about it, apologize and it doesn’t last forever. I’m not used to that in my family (enter me tearing up here)

Rexie Ralphie: Clearly his favorite part is the luxurious rugs in the house for him to receive a personal back massage at all hours of the day/night.

One Little Word 2018

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If you’ve been reading this little blog for a while, you know each year I try to pick a word to focus on with intention for the year. Here is last year’s post……

This year, my word will be spark….the verb version to be exact. I’ve always been a pretty big idea person. I have a ton of ideas rolling around all the time….some I verbalize to people and some I don’t. Over the years, I have realized that I don’t always have the power, the people, the time, or as of late, the energy to make all these ideas happen so verbalizing them is not always good. It results in me sometimes appearing to have a lack of follow-through…..again, something I am very aware of. At work, I try to compensate for this by making an extreme amount of lists and constantly asking co-workers to remind me of my own ideas later so they don’t fall off the face of existence.

My word this year embodies action. Bold action that is fiery and bright. I like to think of a camp fire with the flames so brilliant and bright….the sparks are flying off in dramatic fashion. I hope the passion and fire I have for different roles I have in my life spark off into the world in this same way. Here are some ideas real steps I hope to take this year to live out this word:

More action, less hesitating
More finished to-do lists
Planning ahead so busy schedules aren’t a barrier
Not being afraid of people judging, disapproving of my actions
Collaboration with other fire-starters
More time to plan – morning or evening quiet times, monthly solo reflection time
More transparency on social media – the real stories
Commitment to blogging – cementing stories in history of our families’ journey and broken road to healing

Getting my family involved – still loving these Daily Goal-Trackers from Elise Joy

What is YOUR word for 2018???? Happy New Year to all of my readers and loved ones – fingers crossed for your best year ever.

Looking back on 2017

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We had a year full of WONDERful milestones, new experiences, and growth (both physically and emotionally).

Some of WonderGIRL’s favorite memories:

  • Disney cruise
  • My 15th birthday at Camp Firwood
  • My whole summer – going to Silverwood, BraveGIRL coming to live with us
  • Starting high school!
  • Moving into our new house and painting my cool wall with Mama
  • Rexie Roo
  • My family and Kanani (her counselor) help me with my actions/choices
  • Getting our hot tub

Wish for 2018: I want my behavior to go in a better direction so I can earn things like keeping my phone and getting Snapchat. Through Kanani’s help I can trust my parents so then I’m ready to trust a boyfriend. I know that I need to put in hard work to earn this stuff.

WonderBOY’s favorite memories:

  • The cruise – spending all my time in Kids Club and meeting Braylon my friend from Colorado
  • My first flight
  • Rexie Ralphie coming to live with us
  • Getting our hot tub
  • Making a new friend at school this year
  • Moving to our new house
  • Getting a new room and Daddy painting my closet like a basketball room
  • My electric scooter, hover ball and BB8 (Christmas presents)
  • Our first dinner in the new house and then it snowed for a whole week
  • My birthday party sleepover nerf war
  • Daddy getting me new Crocs

Wish for 2018: To have a good 10th birthday

BraveGIRL’s favorite memories (even though she admits this year “kinda sucked”):

  • Going to Bloedel this summer, being in the water
  • Not quitting basketball and actually enjoying it
  • Being able to see my boyfriend on the weekends
  • Having friends and family be there for you even when you don’t think you want them to be

Disney Cruise highlights

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So much fun to share – it may take many blog posts to fully do this magical trip justice. Also, I realized on the ship the beautiful irony of us being aboard the Disney WONDER celebrating the adoption of our two littles I chose to call my “Wonders” here on the blog almost 4 years ago. ❤️ Here are a few highlights:

1. The room – I was so impressed with the room…. super comfy beds, fairly spacious bathrooms (one for toilet, one for shower, both with sinks and mirrors), and plenty of storage space for clothes and toys. Since my kiddos needed down time each day we did spend a fair amount of time in ours and especially loved the non-stop choices of Disney movies and shows on our tv. 2. The dining experience – it’s really not enough to just say the food. Although the food was soooo delicious, the ambiance in each of the three themed restaurants coupled with a waiting staff that stayed with us every night was awesome. Our sweet waiter Sean from Ireland had Shirley temples with extra cherries waiting for Tre each night and Alvito brought me every single dessert to try even when I tried to say I only wanted one. Our favorite restaurant was Tiana’s place set out of New Orleans – it felt like Mardi Gras. In one of the restaurants, our drawings came alive in real animation alongside Disney characters! How cool is that?!?3. What to do, what to do – Disney really has the activities thing nailed down on these cruises. So many choices all throughout the day and night – it was hard to choose each morning how to schedule our days! Both WG and WB absolutely loved their own spaces and the activities for them (and meeting new friends from all over there). Everything was seamlessly scheduled and organized that it could be relaxing and busy all at the same time! We loved watching movies both in the fancy movie theatre (Coco and Last Jedi) and on the Jumbotron at the kids pool/deck. 4. Bahamas beach time – as many of you know, WB loves the sand so spending an entire day in Nassau was quite a treat. Unlimited coconut drink for Mama, water and sand time for the kiddos! 5. Characters and shows – at Disneyland the lines for meeting characters are so long, it’s hard to justify missing out on rides for the autographs and pics. On board, there are multiple meet and greets every day AND the characters interact in the kids club all day alongside the kiddos so those long lines aren’t even necessary. I loved how the characters changed outfits according to the daily themes (pirate, Christmas sweaters, beach day). The broadway level shows in the theatre were also amazing – it even snowed inside during Frozen!If you are thinking of a family cruise, you must consider one of these Disney options – soooooo worth the money for the quality of the cruise (rooms, programming, food) but also for the magical memories of doing all of these things together. Talking about the kiddos club activities each night was my favorite part of the day! And plus, there was lots of time for adult time in our private pool and area along with adult only programs and bars (4 different adult bars on board!) while the kids are away enjoying every moment. (this is us on Christmas Day watching the NFL game in our private booth with our own TV, beers and snacks)

And I almost forgot – they always have professional photographers on hand to capture these moments. Since we have never gotten official family photos done (and we don’t get dressed up all that often) – I loved this option and can now use some of the images for New Years cards since Christmas cards didn’t happen this year. Thanks for making your way through that novel. Happy New Year to you and hope to “Sea”? ya in 2018!!!

One year as Team Hoelzle Brown…

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As many adoptive families know, family celebrations carry this dual impact of excitable joy and uncontrollable grief. The tension of those two things fighting for space in our Wonders’ heads and hearts this week has been and continues to be huge.

But tonight, I lay here grateful that they said yes. Grateful the system worked to protect these two. And grateful for the coming forever years we get to continue loving them, protecting their bodies and hearts, and walking alongside them in their grief. If new here, click here to read our adoption day story.At dinner tonight, I was brought ice cream with a candle for my own birthday and as I blew it out, WonderGIRL said “I’m guessing you had nothing to wish for since you told me all your wishes came true when you adopted us.” And while that is true – my wishes are now only multiplied into bigger wishes for how WG and WB  and all other brave kiddos we love on will get to grow and thrive in their future.

I also want to make a plug that there are bunches of kids in this county (I get an email daily telling me the desperate need) who are wishing on every candle and every star for a loving family that will step into the gap and take a chance on vulnerable littles (and even more vulnerable teens!). Follow your heart….ask questions….get involved. Saying yes, if just in your heart for now, is the first step.

5 years….

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Each year, each new experience and each new Wonder that you say yes to without logistics, reality or even perks cements my faith that you were put in my life for a plan far greater than mine.

Thank you for helping me fulfill my purpose professionally and personally as a mama, knowing when to cheer from behind or when to step in front and help me set some boundaries. We love spending our anniversaries growing and learning at the Global Leadership Summit – inspiration for our year ahead for our marriage, our careers and our souls. (Recap of my experience at the GLS up next on the blog)

Moving on…..

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The end of this school year had some big transitions for our team…..as a follow up to one of my previous posts which caused some light concern by some of our tribe, here is our news. I was just hired by Ferndale School District for the following year to be a school counselor at Eagleridge Elementary…..after 8 years without school counselors, I am excited they have “seen the light” and value that elementary counselors can bring, especially with prevention and awareness of mental health concerns and general crises at that level. (When asked what Nooksack would be like without a school counselor, after the initial huge eyes and wide mouth awestruck expression, some answers included “CHAOS!”, “I’m pretty sure it would just burn down.” “The bullies would just run amok!!”). I get to work with some amazing new counselors and staffs at Ferndale AND my commute got a whole lot shorter, saving our family some general quality time at home versus in the car and on the road (5 minutes versus 40 minutes – when will I listen to all of my podcasts now?????).

This decision was not easy for me to make and already after a week with no students, I am missing them terribly. I ADORED my staff and my students and had a lot of support and leadership within my career at NV – making my mixed emotions big on the last couple of days of school. I got to sneak this epic school-wide selfie in (complete with our whole staff and parents in attendance that day).

This decision meant some heartache for WonderBOY as well since he will be no longer attending the only elementary school he has known. This was hard for him to leave his friends, beloved teacher and anticipate a new school in the Fall….so my Mama heart hurt knowing that my adult decision impacted his “felt safety.” We are both ready to take on this new challenge with all the feelings and anxieties along the way.

WonderGIRL completed middle school (all the applause and all the exhaustion here) and is off to HS in Ferndale as well (already part of the plan after we moved in February). Although this 8th grade year was a tough one for so many reasons with WG, she finished amazingly with her Breakout project on Foster Care. The amount of time, energy, and personal vulnerability she poured into this was awesome and she scored well (not surprising….she’s quite the charmer) on her final presentation!!! Here she is at their 8th grade celebration showing off her work.

Thank you for your prayers, support, hugs, and jelly bellies during this time where I personally struggled with crazy feelings of self-doubt, guilt, and anxiety – I truly feel like God is orchestrating this move in so many ways…..placing this amazing house in our path to be followed with job openings the very next school year. This simple decision of “saying yes” and doing that trust Fall into his plan has worked out for me time and time again along this winding journey of faith and personal growth and I am hopeful it will continue to do so this summer and beyond.

On our new addition…

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Meet Rexie Ralphie Hoelzle-Brown, the newest addition to our team and we are all quite smitten. We have been taking about getting a kitten for a while in hopes to teach our Wonders some more responsibility and to serve as a grounding and comfort object when big feelings and anxieties arise. He has done a wonderful job at both so far!!!

There are also so many parallels in caring for a pet and parenting that we love to point out to WB and WG when processing hard feelings or negative self-talk. Especially when WB loses his temper, his next reaction is remorse and shame in acting out aggressively or meanly. We use his own feelings and love for his kitten and how unconditional that is (even he scratches and bites you 1 million times, you still love him just the same) to show him how we feel about him each and every day.

Our doors are always open if you need a little kitten love and cuddling in your life – come on over and meet him (proof of his love through scratches and bite marks included free for all our visitors).