The Cousins

The Cousins are the best! We love our Cousins! The Beach photo shows the cousins on Emily's side of the family. It was taken in the summer of 2004. We live all over and so its rare to get all the cousins together...but we did get to see all of the cousins from Emily's side of the family this summer and over Labor Day- when our youngest cousin, Cooper, came to Colorado!Phoebe had so much fun with Cooper, that he was the one who changed her mind about adoption. Phoebe didn't really want to have a new baby in the house- she kind of liked being the youngest- but after playing with cousin Cooper for a few days she conceded that "We could get a little boy- but only if he was JUST LIKE Cooper." So we are hoping for a toddler boy- He is not likely to have red hair- but hopefully a smile like our baby cousin Cooper.
The Other Cousins are Mark's sister's children- they are so much fun! Andre' has always been Madeline's partner in crime since they were very little. The things they used to get into! And Alex and Phoebe are our "twins” they were born one month apart almost to the minute and even though Phoebe is older- since Alex is taller they each have to take turns bossing the other one around. The are really more sisters than cousins in many ways. These two can make anyone laugh- two of the happiest kids around!

The older cousins are Carolyn 17, Philip, 15 and Nicholas 12 (almost 13!) and Nicky and Maddie are only 4 months apart. Nicky was actually at Emily's birth with Madeline. We were having a homebirth. It was a warm day in mid July and Madeline was taking her time entering the world. She was born at home in the early hours of the morning- Nicky was fast asleep by then. But he was there. (and I never heard him cry!) Carolyn, our other red head, was so excited when she heard we were adopting, she is reported to have said, "Oh Good! Now I will have a little African Cousin!!" (She did not know at the time that we had chosen Ethiopia as the country to adopt from.) Phil is our levelheaded cousin who is always ready to have a great time...two good qualities in one very mellow teenager...He is always the one little kids want to hug and climb on. This summer he was here and Phoebe fell asleep in his lap.



So we are excited to add to our little family and at the same time grow this brood of cousins- so that we can have more fun times with our cousins camping, swimming, playing games, and hanging out. I can't wait for our new child to meet his or her cousins!