Openness is... Inviting Love In.

“Family isn’t always blood. 

It’s the people in your life that want

you in theirs. 

The ones who accept
you for who you are.  

The ones who would do anything
to see you smile and love
you no matter what.”Author Unknown

This quote sums up how I see my children’s Birth Parents, at least the ones we are able to have relationships with. They are family, they love not only the child they placed, but also the family they placed their child in. And our family loves them back. This isn’t an ordinary love, it is a love built with faith, hope, selflessness, trust, sacrifice and lots of thoughtfulness. It is a special bond we have with no others on this earth. It isn’t something I can put into words to help someone, outside looking in, understand. It is one of those things you have to feel for yourself.   These amazing people are part of our story, answers to our prayers and givers of joy.

So to answer the question we hear over and over again “How do you have

such an open relationship?”  Our answer is,

how can we not?
How do you shut the door on that kind of love? Love multiplies, fear divides.



We choose love.

Fun paper craft to make with kids of all ages.Can make it into a card or frame it for home decor.

We try each year to get together to celebrate the Christmas season with our children’s birth families. The past couple of years it has been hit and miss and a couple of our special birth moms have moved away. But this year we had the wonderful opportunity to have our oldest daughter’s birth mom and her husband and girls and her grandmother over for dinner and some Christmas crafting and baking. Each of the children got to make their own Christmas card out of paper strips and shapes.
Go here for link to paper strip Christmas Tree pattern.

We also made sugar cookies and Rice Krispie snowmen.   We had so much

fun it was hard to see them go.  Brad and I enjoyed seeing Brenley’s birth sisters.   They look a lot like Brenley and it was fun to see the similarities! It took us back to when Brenley was that age.

Brenley with her Birth Mother, Stacey and Birth Great-Grandmother Mary.

Kitchen full of kids, treats and giggles!
The BEST recipe for a great gathering!!

This year we celebrate 8 years of complete openness with 3 of our adoptions. It has been one of the best decisions we have ever made and we love to have the chance to spend time with each birth family.

We look forward to many more years of family fun and sharing! 

*Looking for a great sugar cookie recipe?  Try this one.  It is a favorite at our house.

 Brenda Horrocks is a mother of four children through adoption.

She promotes adoption, foster care and Utah’s Safe Haven Law through blogging, public speaking and writing. She enjoys time with family, reading books, running, gardening and movies.

You can visit her blog here. 
*Originally written Jan. 2015 for Forever Bound Adoption