This picture was taken at Noah’s ninth birthday party. We had his birthday party at one of those fun parks that has bumper boats, go carts, miniature golf, arcade games, etc... It was a lot of fun for the kids. (And the adults too!)

It was a beautiful fall day and pretty warm for the end of October so (at Charlie’s insistence) we all decided to take a ride on the bumper boats. Charlie asked my Mom if she would ride with him. My Mom hardly ever rides things like bumper boats or roller coasters so I was prepared for her to say no, but she didn’t. She said “sure!”

Charlie and Mom got in one boat, Noah and I were in another boat, Charlie’s sister N was big enough to ride in her own boat, my niece C was in a boat with J, and my nephew J was in his own boat.

We started doing what you do in bumper boats, ya know, BUMP INTO EACH OTHER! And boy did we do a lot of bumping! Noah kept purposely steering us towards Mom and Charlie’s boat so that we could bump them (must be some brotherly vibe) and they were just laughing hysterically at each other every time we bumped into each other. Noah kept signing “more.”

All the roles we play in the triad, all the emotions that go along with adoption – it was all in the background that day. As untraditional as others may find our extended family that we have created, it didn’t matter that day.

That day all that mattered was that we were just family. We were just celebrating a birthday. We were just having fun spending time with one another.

It was just a really fun day full of memories and full of LOVE!