Thursday, November 28, 2013
Sorrells Family slideshow
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Genny, Carissa and more
Whew! This last week has been hectic. My mom had to go to Birmingham and then both
parents were gone this weekend. They went up to Pennsylvania to meet our new
sister, Genny, and no. Genny didn’t come home with them. However, my Dad videoed the meeting so we
got to see what she was like.
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| Genny!!!! |
It’s
actually taken me awhile to realize this is actually happening and it has been
a struggle since I am still uncertain about this. Part of me is saying that
this is too much for our family and that it will tear us apart, but then another
part of me tells me that all my reasoning is mostly stupid. I worry about
things like, will my parents like her better or does this mean I don’t get to
drive. Silly, yep, it’s then when I
imagine myself like this. I’m walking along the along the edge of a cliff with
a blindfold. Each step I take is
uncertain and I am scared and I fall but I hear God telling me that He will
guide me and He will catch me. He is
telling me to trust Him, so, Jenny, I can’t wait to meet you. Changing the
subject since last time I talked a little about Jessica aka Baby, I decided to
talk about the next youngest, Carissa.
 |
| Carissa!!!! |
Carissa is four years old and to my mother’s great disdain and embarrassment
is still not completely potty trained. We don’t know why she can go months
without an accident and then one week my mom is again cleaning up the
messes. Other than that, Carissa is a
sweet little girl whose pet peeve is her brothers, Daniel and Jeremy, who tease
her the most out of all their little sisters.
But don’t worry Carissa, I love you J. Also I decided for people that read
this blog, if anybody is reading it, for the people who don’t know us or don’t
see us that often, I put together a slideshow of my family. It might be little
sketchy but it’s the best I could do with my limited computer skills, which I blame
on me being fourteen and blond. Anyway, that is all I have for today and in the
words of Veggie Tales “remember God made you special and He loves you very much”
BYE!!!!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Crazy
Well, I guess I have to take
back what I said about our lives slowing down This next week is going to be one
of those crazy weeks, my Grandpa who has leukemia is now back on chemotherapy,
my mom has to go to Birmingham for Anna’s yearly check up and now some TV person wants to interview our family. This all on top of us adopting another
kid.
On a brighter note, I sound old saying this, but I cant believe how fast baby is growing up . One thing about baby is DO NOT be fooled by her looks. She is a smart, manipulative little girl who managed to get to her favorite app on the Ipad using Siri. Today I realized just how big she is. Here is a conversation I shared with my two year old sister,
“ Kaela, where is mommy?”
“Mommy is on her way back from Cincinnati”
“ Why she go there, I need her here”
“ Why do you need her”
“ Because when mommy is here its funner”
“ Why is it funner?”
“ Because she yells a lot and makes us happy”
Well, my little sister is a lot more perceptive than I thought.
I am thinking of doing a blog entry of each of my siblings because I can't describe them in a sentence.
This is when I realize I have the best family in the world. As I was holding Haley today because she was crying, I realized I would never take back adopting any of my siblings. My life would never be the same without them and I love each of them so much. It makes up for the bad times so even though we have crazy lives and I have no privacy and we sometimes yell and call each other names, I remember how many good times we have, how we are never alone and I would never ever trade it for something else. So call us crazy, stupid or misled, we will keep leading our crazy lives and having a blast while doing it. . . I just hope it’s not an actual blast.
On a brighter note, I sound old saying this, but I cant believe how fast baby is growing up . One thing about baby is DO NOT be fooled by her looks. She is a smart, manipulative little girl who managed to get to her favorite app on the Ipad using Siri. Today I realized just how big she is. Here is a conversation I shared with my two year old sister,
“ Kaela, where is mommy?”
“Mommy is on her way back from Cincinnati”
“ Why she go there, I need her here”
“ Why do you need her”
“ Because when mommy is here its funner”
“ Why is it funner?”
“ Because she yells a lot and makes us happy”
Well, my little sister is a lot more perceptive than I thought.
 |
| my perceptive sister |
I am thinking of doing a blog entry of each of my siblings because I can't describe them in a sentence.
This is when I realize I have the best family in the world. As I was holding Haley today because she was crying, I realized I would never take back adopting any of my siblings. My life would never be the same without them and I love each of them so much. It makes up for the bad times so even though we have crazy lives and I have no privacy and we sometimes yell and call each other names, I remember how many good times we have, how we are never alone and I would never ever trade it for something else. So call us crazy, stupid or misled, we will keep leading our crazy lives and having a blast while doing it. . . I just hope it’s not an actual blast.
Monday, November 11, 2013
blog name change
I had to
change the name of our blog because, for those of you who don’t know, the
Sorrells are (drum roll) fostering their seventeenth child.
I say fostering because we don’t know for sure if we will be adopting, although I hope we are because I don’t want to have to change the name for this blog again.
Meanwhile, other than adoption, I think our lives are finally slowing down, especially since the last year of our lives has been a rollercoaster of stress, surprise and confusion.
Last year our parents announced that they had decided to adopt a girl from China. The girl, whose name was Tina, would be ageing out of the system in a few months. We then had to go through a process that could normally take a few years and had to do it in six months.
There were many times when people said the paperwork wouldn’t be done in time and many setbacks, but I think those setbacks were a way for God to prove he wanted us to go through with it. I believe through Him, Tina is now part of our family, we were able to skip whole steps of the adoption process and miraculously paperwork was done in unbelievable time. It was overwhelming how miracle after miracle came so we were able to adopt Tina the day before she would have aged out.
God’s ways are amazing. After Tina, we had other remarkable adventures. Tina had to have open heart surgery in June.
My mom and Tina were in Birmingham for a week, so once again our house had to operate without Mom which is always an adventure.
Then in August, right after we had returned home from vacation in the Smokies, our grandma, my dad’s mom, became terminally ill. This meant that one of my parents had to be there 24\7 then at the same time Anna was placed in the hospital for a lymphatic infection. It wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before; Anna has been placed several times in the hospital for the same reason but it meant both parents were gone 24\7. Rebekah and I were left in charge of the house; my other older siblings couldn’t do much because of being in college.
That was one of the craziest weeks of our lives. We had never been in charge for that long without both our parents; having both of them gone took away our sense of security but the thing about me is that I hate asking for help and I hate being handed things. My mom says I got it from her but I was stunned at how many people stepped in to help.
We had people bring us meals almost every day, people who came to help clean and people who came just to give us a break. At first I was mad that all these people had to help me and I called my mom and said I felt like she didn’t think I could handle this. She told me simply “Kaela, you are fourteen you shouldn’t have to handle this.” After that I realized how blessed I am to have amazing friends and family who are always ready to support us.
My Grandma passed away quietly and Anna was released from the hospital and things started getting back to normal. But since bad things happen in threes, as the old saying goes, we had to hit one more bump in the road (we literally hit a bump in the road).
My Uncle Markus had come down for our grandma’s memorial service and to help settle her stuff. He went out to eat with my parents while Rebekah, Tina and I were coming back over the mountain from basketball practice. It was raining and dark. We slowed down because there was a wreck in the road and then “crash”, we were spun around into oncoming traffic by a car that lost control. Although it was a five car wreck and the scariest night of my life, no one was hurt or killed other than our car.
In the aftermath, we now have two newer cars, which are identical. Mazda one is a manual named Nellie and the other is a automatic named Ozzie. Like I said, the last year has been a rollercoaster but now our lives are almost back to normal. Well, normal for us, but if you want adventure just come to our house for a week and I guarantee you, you won’t be unsatisfied . . . and you probably won’t come back ;).
I say fostering because we don’t know for sure if we will be adopting, although I hope we are because I don’t want to have to change the name for this blog again.
Meanwhile, other than adoption, I think our lives are finally slowing down, especially since the last year of our lives has been a rollercoaster of stress, surprise and confusion.
 |
| Daniel and Baby being serious |
Last year our parents announced that they had decided to adopt a girl from China. The girl, whose name was Tina, would be ageing out of the system in a few months. We then had to go through a process that could normally take a few years and had to do it in six months.
 |
| all the paper work we did |
There were many times when people said the paperwork wouldn’t be done in time and many setbacks, but I think those setbacks were a way for God to prove he wanted us to go through with it. I believe through Him, Tina is now part of our family, we were able to skip whole steps of the adoption process and miraculously paperwork was done in unbelievable time. It was overwhelming how miracle after miracle came so we were able to adopt Tina the day before she would have aged out.
God’s ways are amazing. After Tina, we had other remarkable adventures. Tina had to have open heart surgery in June.
My mom and Tina were in Birmingham for a week, so once again our house had to operate without Mom which is always an adventure.
Then in August, right after we had returned home from vacation in the Smokies, our grandma, my dad’s mom, became terminally ill. This meant that one of my parents had to be there 24\7 then at the same time Anna was placed in the hospital for a lymphatic infection. It wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before; Anna has been placed several times in the hospital for the same reason but it meant both parents were gone 24\7. Rebekah and I were left in charge of the house; my other older siblings couldn’t do much because of being in college.
That was one of the craziest weeks of our lives. We had never been in charge for that long without both our parents; having both of them gone took away our sense of security but the thing about me is that I hate asking for help and I hate being handed things. My mom says I got it from her but I was stunned at how many people stepped in to help.
We had people bring us meals almost every day, people who came to help clean and people who came just to give us a break. At first I was mad that all these people had to help me and I called my mom and said I felt like she didn’t think I could handle this. She told me simply “Kaela, you are fourteen you shouldn’t have to handle this.” After that I realized how blessed I am to have amazing friends and family who are always ready to support us.
My Grandma passed away quietly and Anna was released from the hospital and things started getting back to normal. But since bad things happen in threes, as the old saying goes, we had to hit one more bump in the road (we literally hit a bump in the road).
My Uncle Markus had come down for our grandma’s memorial service and to help settle her stuff. He went out to eat with my parents while Rebekah, Tina and I were coming back over the mountain from basketball practice. It was raining and dark. We slowed down because there was a wreck in the road and then “crash”, we were spun around into oncoming traffic by a car that lost control. Although it was a five car wreck and the scariest night of my life, no one was hurt or killed other than our car.
In the aftermath, we now have two newer cars, which are identical. Mazda one is a manual named Nellie and the other is a automatic named Ozzie. Like I said, the last year has been a rollercoaster but now our lives are almost back to normal. Well, normal for us, but if you want adventure just come to our house for a week and I guarantee you, you won’t be unsatisfied . . . and you probably won’t come back ;).
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Family Story
If
there is anything I have learned from being in a big family, it is that God’s
ways are incredible, He calls you to do amazing things and chooses the people
you least expect. Thirty years ago, if you told my parents they would one day
have and home school 16 children, you would have scared them out of marriage.
However, the funny thing about the size of our family is that my mom wanted four and my dad wanted twelve and twelve plus four is sixteen. So I guess the joke is on them. But what our family has gone through has taught me never to plan too much into the future because we never know what God has in store.
My parents married in June of 1984.
Both of them had just graduated from college, my mom from Auburn with a nursing degree and my dad from VMI. With my dad in the military, my parents moved around a lot before they had children. After they were married, they moved from Huntsville, where they were married, to Charleston, South Carolina, then to Orlando, Florida and then to California all in one year.
My parents were then stationed in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, where my parents had their first child, Nicholas.
When Nicholas was nine months old, my parents adopted Cynthia “Cindy,” who was two at the time.
My parents went on to have eight more biological children, Karl, Paul Daniel, Rebekah, Kaela (me),
and Jeremy, Anna and Susannah.
In those years, our sister, Cindy, was diagnosed mentally disabled which was a terrible blow to our parents. It is something which has taken years to accept and is still hard.
We moved to our current home when Mom was pregnant with Anna. I love it! I love our house and I never want to leave.
Anna was diagnosed with Turner syndrome, a syndrome in which all or part of one of the sex chromosomes is absent. The symptoms are short stature, swelling, visual impairments, drooping eyelids etc. Many doctors said she would not survive birth and the doctors said we could abort. However, my parents decided they would carry her to term anyway and, in the words of Anna, she “proved them wrong!”
Anna is now ten and is most days the happiest kid in the world. You can barely tell she has physical handicaps. Our lives were normal, mostly, up until about five years ago when our parents decided to do foster care. That decision has changed our lives dramatically. However, in my opinion, they were changed for the better.
Since then we have had twelve foster kids, all under the age of five, come through our home. Five of them have become part of our family. Alyiah and Haley came in 2009 and Aidan, Carissa and Jessica in 2010. They are as much a part of our family as anyone.
We recently completed our seventh adoption, this time internationally, from China when we added Shu-ting “Tina” to our family. That is our crazy confusing back story. This is what my parents believe, that we were called to do, to take in children with no home and we have never regretted it (so far).
However, the funny thing about the size of our family is that my mom wanted four and my dad wanted twelve and twelve plus four is sixteen. So I guess the joke is on them. But what our family has gone through has taught me never to plan too much into the future because we never know what God has in store.
My parents married in June of 1984.
 |
| My Parents 1985 |
Both of them had just graduated from college, my mom from Auburn with a nursing degree and my dad from VMI. With my dad in the military, my parents moved around a lot before they had children. After they were married, they moved from Huntsville, where they were married, to Charleston, South Carolina, then to Orlando, Florida and then to California all in one year.
My parents were then stationed in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, where my parents had their first child, Nicholas.
 |
| Our family is started |
When Nicholas was nine months old, my parents adopted Cynthia “Cindy,” who was two at the time.
 |
| Proud Daddy |
My parents went on to have eight more biological children, Karl, Paul Daniel, Rebekah, Kaela (me),
 |
| family photo from when I was a baby( this is before Jeremy, Anna and Suzannah were born) |
and Jeremy, Anna and Susannah.
 |
| this is after Jeremy,Anna and Suzannah were born, ten and counting |
In those years, our sister, Cindy, was diagnosed mentally disabled which was a terrible blow to our parents. It is something which has taken years to accept and is still hard.
We moved to our current home when Mom was pregnant with Anna. I love it! I love our house and I never want to leave.
Anna was diagnosed with Turner syndrome, a syndrome in which all or part of one of the sex chromosomes is absent. The symptoms are short stature, swelling, visual impairments, drooping eyelids etc. Many doctors said she would not survive birth and the doctors said we could abort. However, my parents decided they would carry her to term anyway and, in the words of Anna, she “proved them wrong!”
 |
| Anna being her usual self |
Anna is now ten and is most days the happiest kid in the world. You can barely tell she has physical handicaps. Our lives were normal, mostly, up until about five years ago when our parents decided to do foster care. That decision has changed our lives dramatically. However, in my opinion, they were changed for the better.
Since then we have had twelve foster kids, all under the age of five, come through our home. Five of them have become part of our family. Alyiah and Haley came in 2009 and Aidan, Carissa and Jessica in 2010. They are as much a part of our family as anyone.
We recently completed our seventh adoption, this time internationally, from China when we added Shu-ting “Tina” to our family. That is our crazy confusing back story. This is what my parents believe, that we were called to do, to take in children with no home and we have never regretted it (so far).
introduction post
Hello readers, this blog is about our family the Sorrells, and our journey through life being a family with sixteen children. This blog will hopefully record our happy moments and the blessings in our daily lives and how we were called to become a family of sixteen. The writers of this blog will be various members of the Sorrells' family but this post is by Me, Kaela. I am fourteen years old and in the ninth grade and also the creator of this blog I am in the picture above the blond one sitting down in a red and white shirt . I decided to begin a blog on our family to not only keep relatives and friends informed but to share with others what it means to be in our family.
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