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!!!

Happy Christmas!!

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Or as we have been referring to it….happy Cruise-mas. ???

And a funny picture I couldn’t NOT share. And on a serious note….I am so incredibly grateful for all of your love and support to our little team and our journey throughout this year. I read every single comment and love the engagement I’ve been able to cultivate through this blog. More shenanigans to come in 2018!

….and we’re off!!!

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Some of my plane to-do list includes:

– read lots of personal development books (can’t get enough)

– feel bad about NOT reading because….naps

– keep the kiddos anxiety at bay by providing them a free ticket for unlimited screen time (and hella peace oil)

– brainstorm blog topics that contain better content than what my current mental health is concocting:

1. Hey look (again)….my cat is cute. And also….the Christmas videos of kids crying when unwrapping their new puppy? Tears. Every time. I’m officially a pet person.

2. Work is hard. Hot tub is easy. Rinse. Repeat.

3. ….on why I click every Facebook quiz I see and then never post the results because I’m so embarrassed that I waste time on that.

4. Why do cats like Christmas trees so much? (I have no idea but I would like to research this topic – my current theory is my cat really wants to escape outside but we wont let him so the tree experience is similar to what we feel when we think about laying on a sunny beach somewhere)

5. ….on my brothers’ girlfriends and my hypothesis on the link between how cool they are and their hair color (don’t worry I won’t actually blog about this BJ and Jakeepoo but they are cool….and brunette….just sayin)

And obviously I’m completely kidding about having a to-do list for the start of what will be the most relaxing, amazing holiday vacation of all time……or not.

….on waiting a year

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We’ve been anxiously waiting for our Christmas cruise to be here and now it is!!! The big kids have been counting down to relaxation and family time….the little Wonders are unfortunately counting down towards the doom and gloom of our plane crashing and there not being enough life boats on the cruise ship (noted: dont let your anxiety-ridden son research titanic the same year you’re taking him on a cruise). ?

We’re ready to tackle their anxiety with the best strategy I know – real life experiences that will reassure them that it will all be okay and that we will help them through it. That traveling outside of what we “know” is something to look forward to – not be scared of. And that creating family memories sometimes means we have to leave the house (or the country!).

Please pray for our littles and their anxiety – although I tease about it, I know their fear is strong and it is real. And we will struggle getting them through it and then we will. We will enjoy each other and the trip and use it as a “success story” for our next trip.

On her first mission trip….

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So some of you may remember that the last time my hubby went on his annual mission trip to Haiti my sweet, innocent child did this. Enter anxiety and fear and a whole lot of grace and patience and here we are with my husband leaving again this Spring. But this time we are super excited for WonderGIRL to go with!!!!

Although I am worried for her anxiety levels in traveling to such a faraway and unknown place, I know that the lessons she will learn about servanthood, poverty throughout the world, and the Haitians undeniable gratitude for their humble lives will blow her away. She is about to be such a joyful and energetic addition to the team as they care for them medically – she gets to entertain the littles and hand out comfort and kindness. I can’t wait to hear and see the children flocking around her and to see the mutual blessings they will be in each others life paths.

If you would like to help support WonderGIRL, please know that prayers and encouragement is the heavy load of what we need for her. She also has a fundraising link if you’d like to support her financially. Every time we get to tell her there’s a new donation, the WG signature squeal-and-clap is in full effect so thank you to those of you who have already donated.

Hopefully Scott will get lots of pictures and video for me to share about her trip!

PS we like totally love Snapchat filters.

December already?!?!

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I am in full December shock mode and also in full blog avoidance mode…..and a very loving friend of mine reminded me this weekend (Hi Lori!!!!) that people actually read my blog and I’ve left a few of them hanging on some life updates.

While I’m not sure I have the words for a life update, I will share a few nuggets of our silly little life as of late!Even though we own a house and have children and are fully adults, for some reason hosting Thanksgiving and being in charge of THE turkey felt like the next level of his whole adult gig. And it went fairly smoothly and people left extra bottles of wine behind so it was a raging success I’d say. 6th in state! These girls did awesome and my heart overflows with pride and love for them and their families. What a beautiful journey it was this year….Two things I am loving right now: my adorably feisty savage cat Rexie and the Clicklist option at Fred Meyer (aka the rare chance to sit in the parking lot eating my dollar tacos from Jack in the Box while sweet college students load up my trunk with groceries as my two kiddos interrogate them about their life and I get to focus on nothing but not spilling that red hot sauce in my new car). Also I should note the cat willingly got into this bag…..there was no grand suffocation hit out on the cat for this to happen – I swear. I got to sneak away for a fast and furious (“R-U-L-E”) trip to Vegas with a dear friend and I finally found my Ellen slot machine. It was fun. I lost all my money. It was still fun. This pic has gotten some attention on social media and I completely stole it (like word for word on the letter stole it) from someone so please steal it from me and let’s make these hard-working delivery people feel appreciated during their peak crazy season. Snack it forward guys!!!!

Wonder – part two

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So apparently the only words I can muster/type have to do with this story and now movie and I’m okay with that for now….

….because the movie exceeded all of my expectations. Truly, I can’t wait to show every kiddo and maybe even every parent this movie to increase some empathy and compassion in this world that is severely lacking both.

If (when) you take your kiddos to see this movie, here are a few questions that may spark some conversation that may just surprise you.

1. Which character did you feel like was most like you? (Auggie – the target, Jack Will – bystander/friend that gives in to peer pressure, Via – sister jealous of sib with special needs, Julian – bully who has entitled and helicopter parents)

Important follow up: Why? (This is where the magic happens…..allow for silence…..and more silence……)

2. Which character showed the most bravery?

3. Is there someone like Auggie at your school right now? What can you do tomorrow to show them that they belong and are not alone?

4. Can you share a time that you were like Julian towards others? How do you think that affected the other person? Now that you know how it affected Auggie would you think differently before repeating that behavior?

Here is another blog post with suggested questions.

If for nothing else, this movie highlights both the struggles and joys of parenting a child that is outside of typical. Bring some tissues and ugly cry in front of your kids – it’s good for the soul and for them to see that all the emotions are meant to be felt and processed, not hidden.

on Wonder….

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For those that know me as a school counselor, you know my love and obsession with the book Wonder. For those that know me as a Mama, the inspiration for my kiddos’ blog nicknames came from this book and even calling them Wonders seems like a huge understatement for the magnitude of their bravery and resiliency. 

I love this book, the message and the character Auggie with my whole whole heart and can’t wait for the movie to come out soon!!!! Every time the trailer comes on tv, my family looks at me to spot the first tear escaping my eyes but I’m saving them all up for the theatre. 


Isn’t this poster the awesome-est?!?! You can make your very own here.

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.