The Kla Ha Ya Day Fair

This weekend we enjoyed the Snohomish Fair with my family. Sam was so excited, he had been talking about it all week leading up to the event.

This kid LOVES rides.

Me and the hubs.

My Dad's tribute band played downtown so after his show we all headed into the Fair together. It was great to have them with us this year.

The valley is so beautiful and we went right at sunset which helped the views improve!

"Hi, I'm Sam. I'm 4!"

We may be a little concerned that our son was born without the "fear" indicator. Not sure I have ever seen him scared.

Sam begged to play the fishing game and I obliged (only because it's a guaranteed win...I'm a cheapskate)

He caught one!

Sammy picked out a blue frog for his prize and then continued riding the carnival rides.

Matty and I decided to test our age and ride the "Hammer."Aparently it's not thrilling enough for Matt.

Since when is laughing like a crazy maniac NOT acceptable on rides? I guess I didn't get the same memo that Matt and his little neighbor got. Whatever, I had fun.

Matt had THIS face on the whole time and my fear of falling or a broken ride turned to fear of getting vomited on.

Spew the other way, Matty!

Okay, so we didn't puke or die.

Sam and I rode "Big Pink" while Matty sat on the side lines thinking of dirty innuendoes about it.

Our final carnival ride was the carousel and Sammy chose to ride with Bub....

...and make funny faces every time they came around.

So glad he's easy to please! This little boy loves Carnival's as much as his mommy and daddy!

Thanks Bub and Grandma for joining in the fun!

Sam's first hike

Sammy and I met up with our friends, The Allen's, to check out Heather Lake in Granite Falls. We had researched that the hike was a little over 4 miles round trip, but we were unprepared for the hard trail. The rocks and roots made it hard for Sam's little legs, but he did great!! We made it to the lake where we enjoyed the view, lunch and all of the frogs in the swamp.

I am so proud of Sammy for being so strong! I think my little hiker and I will be checking out more trails this year. Who's in?!

Our Story

Matthew and I were thrilled to find out that we were finally pregnant after years of failed attempts and lots of doctors visits. When our son Sam was born in 2009 with a very rare and dangerous blood disorder, we were terrified at the thought of losing our "miracle" baby. 

After many prayers and blood transfusions the NICU doctors cleared us to take our little 6 pound Sammy home. We were given very little information on the disorder named Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia (NAIT), but we were informed that all of our future pregnancies would be effected by the disorder. 

Years later, after meeting with a few doctors to discuss our options, we came to the conclusion that adoption was the route for us to take in building our family. 

We started our adoption journey in April of 2012 and found a facilitator agency that we felt comfortable working with. The first match was made in January of 2013 when they called to inform us that twin boys had been born in Colorado and we needed to immediately prepare to pick them up from the hospital. 72 hours later, the birthmother changed her mind and took the little babies home. 

Although devastated, we stayed strong and waited for another call. 

Soon enough we were in touch with another birthmother who was perfect for our family. We got to know her well and were excited to raise a child because of her. One night she called us in tears to announce that she had unfortunately had a miscarriage at 14 weeks. 

Again, discouraged, Matthew and I held on to hope. 

We started to place advertisements in our local papers and on the internet. We asked friends and family to share our story with others in the hope that we could find that perfect situation again. 

We started to get numerous "leads" and even spoke to "potential birthmothers" on the phone before finding out that we were being scammed by dishonest, pathetic bullies. People who want nothing more than to break the hearts of emotionally sensitive individuals. 

We were contacted by a producer at NBC who wanted to follow our story and air it on Dateline. They not only helped us feel like we were validated for feeling so hopeless in our journey, they assisted us in finding our scammers by assigning us to a private investigator. 

Month after month of sifting through emails from people that may or may not be legitimate, we quickly tired of the "game" we were playing with online scammers and closed our internet advertisements. NBC walked away. 

Early on in our adoption process, we were referred to an adoption agency in Utah that has a care center for birthmothers to live in throughout their pregnancy. But, because of the higher costs, we cleared the agency from our possibilities and tried to find other, less expensive ways to bring home a baby. 

However, after all the scams and failed placements, we are ready to take the plunge into the more sure and safe direction. 

We are currently waiting for a match to be made through The Adoption Center of Choice and we hope every day that we will get "the call". We are open to adopting any race, gender or number of babies and can hardly wait to do so. 

Although we are able financially to care for more children, the initial costs are currently beyond our means. If you'd like to take part in helping us bring home the rest of our family, you can do so through AdoptTogether. Please check out our profile page, and help if you'd like.

www.adopttogether.org/mattandholly

To learn more about our family, check out our adoption blog. 

www.mattandhollyadoption.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for any and all of your support throughout this emotional journey. 
-Love, Matthew, Holly and Samuel

Mike & Dana visit Seattle

 We started off the visit by taking a trip into the city where we hit up The Market, the Gum Wall and some Seattle sushi. Mike and Dana left their mark on the wall!

Sam was so grossed out!

 We walked along the waterfront and managed to make it through the very crowded Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. 

We did a lot of sight seeing in the city. We drove to the Freemont Troll, Kerry park and the Ballard Fish Locks. It was so fun to be a tourist in my own city!

 Mike, Dana, Sam and I went up to the top of the Space Needle.

 The view was amazing!

 Sam had a lot of fun looking through the telescopes and finding people on the streets.

 The next day we packed our bags and headed out to the San Juan Islands to do a little whale watching.

 It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to see any Orcas, but we followed a Minke whale around for a while and saw Harbor Porpoises, Bald Eagles and hundreds of seals.

 Sam loved every minute of the boat ride.

Adoption Fund

Dear family, friends and followers, 

After a very rough year attempting to adopt through placing ads and relying on our facilitator and attorney, we have decided to attempt adoption through a more traditional agency. Although we are able financially to care for more children, the initial costs are currently beyond our means. If you'd like to take part in helping us bring home the rest of our family, you can do so through AdoptTogether. Please check out our profile page, and help if you'd like.

Thank you so much for all of your support throughout this process.

www.adopttogether.org/mattandholly