That's right! We have more than doubled!! Look out world!
Since we are doing this, lets start from the beginning. Back in May of 2008 I received a message on
MySpace from a lady saying she might be related to me. I didn't recognize her, but I opened the message anyhow. The message said that she might be related to Joel. Crazy huh! She went on giving information about
their father, Jim. She gave me her contact information and told us to message or call her, if we were who she thought we were. I instantly call Joel. He didn't know if it was his sister, so I called Joel's mom. She couldn't remember the other kids names either, but I gave her the information that this message said and she was sure it had to be his half sister. Joel didn't grow up knowing Jim's other kids. He did know there were more kids out there, but didn't know if they were girls or boys and how many there were!!
We messaged Veronica back, the original
emailer. After messaging back and forth and several phone calls we were so excited. Joel couldn't believe that he had three other sisters and a brother!! Joel walked around the house in a daze, we both did! I don't know how many times we said "amazing" or "wonderful". It was so nice to see Joel so happy!!
In August, Joel took a truck driving job that had orientation in the same area that they lived in. We called Veronica and Cathy. They invited us to come go to Veronica and her families home. We nervously drove down there. We really didn't know what to expect. When she opened the door, everything eased up. Everyone welcomed us with open arms and hearts. It was funny to hear stories where
theirs ended Joel's picked up. Here is a picture of Joel with Veronica and Cathy that first day.
Everything has been going great. We couldn't have asked for better people to call family. Veronica, her husband Andy and two boys Anthony and Nicolas came to our house and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. They truly were what we were thankful for in 2008! Well you know what I mean. Joel's new family! We ate too much and had fun. Veronica and I made plans to go Black Friday shopping at
Walmart the next day. She had never gone and you know I can't miss a good sale. We had a blast. You should have seen it. We made plans on who would get what and meet up where. I had armloads of toys and Veronica had me throwing them across the isle to her. She put them in the basket and we were off!! Later we met up back at our house for some yummy breakfast before they headed back home.
We knew
alot about Veronica and Cathy and
their families, but not much about the other sister Jaimie or brother Benny. I worked up my nerves and sent a message on
Facebook to
Kimbi, Benny's wife. I was shaking, literally shaking. A couple days later, I received a message from Benny. Joel didn't know I had messaged him, but I was coming unglued. Benny said that he would like to meet up and I knew that Joel had been looking forward to meeting up with his brother. Benny
surprised Joel with a phone call on our anniversary, which by the way is his anniversary too. Yep, we were married on the same day in the same year. What are the odds? About a week or so later Joel was in Fresno for work and called Benny. They met up and talked for a while, before Joel had to go back. Melissa and Ryan planned a trip to come up at the end of January. We all decided to go. It was a great way for everyone to meet up, catch up and just visit.
So the day came. It was a long time in the making. All in one house was twenty people!! And that wasn't everyone. Two sister's were not there, Jaimie and Kelly. Jaimie's daughter and Cathy's son were not there either. We had a fun day of conversation, food and watching Cathy with the kids! :) I took tons of pictures, but here are some of my favorites!
Sweet Baby Evan, Melissa and Ryan's little guy!
Cathy playing Duck Duck Goose with the cousins
Joel, Veronica, Cathy, Melissa and Benny
So sorry for using the words amazing, fun, and wonderful so much. I need to get a thesaurus. I really can't explain how happy they have made us. We are so thankful for them. Keep watching for updates. I am sure this is not the end of this wonderful story. See there goes wonderful again...
Everything has been going great. We couldn't have asked for better people to call family. Veronica, her husband Andy and two boys Anthony and Nicolas came to our house and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. They truly were what we were thankful for in 2008! Well you know what I mean. Joel's new family! We ate too much and had fun. Veronica and I made plans to go Black Friday shopping at Walmart the next day. She had never gone and you know I can't miss a good sale. We had a blast. You should have seen it. We made plans on who would get what and meet up where. I had armloads of toys and Veronica had me throwing them across the isle to her. She put them in the basket and we were off!! Later we met up back at our house for some yummy breakfast before they headed back home.
Cathy playing Duck Duck Goose with the cousins
Joel, Veronica, Cathy, Melissa and Benny
Little Skater, BrookeLynn
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