A Celebration of Friendship

I can't believe I met these women more than five years ago.  That was back when we had just 11 children among the 11 of us in this photo.  Now we have 25, with three more on the way.  My two, and well, I'll leave you guessing whose smile has that pregnancy glow to it. 

I met most of them at a new parent group at a local hospital and two of them shortly afterward in a stay-at-home moms group.  I say over and over again I'm not sure where I'd be as a mom without these women. I met them when I needed them most and am thankful I'm still friends with them today because they are some of the coolest people I know.

I'm the first in our group to adopt (and probably the only who ever will) and they have embraced me with as much support and enthusiasm as they did when I announced my pregnancy with Soren.  So with our travel to China getting closer and closer, they threw me send-off celebration.  As much as they intended the party me and my growing family, I saw it as a celebration of our friendships.  How incredibly fortunate we all are to have each other and watch our children grow up together.