Meet Blair, Brenda, Damien, Doug, Jaelin and Skylar

I've heard stories of people who have neighbors that are horrible. I've heard of feuds and fights and things that can curl your toes but we're lucky. We have neighbors who became family.

We moved into our neighborhood almost 7 years ago. For the first couple of those years, Brenda would turn into her driveway at close to what appeared to be 70 miles per hour and would apply her brakes at the verrry minute that I was sure that she was about to meet the backside of her garage wall. She'd bolt out of her car like a superhero and put the garage door down at lightning speeds. Oh, there were times when she'd be outside doing something or other and we'd get a quick wave before she'd disappear into the house again but for the most part, she kept her distance.

Well, as luck (or divine intervention) would have it, we all ended up talking one day. I'd already talked to Doug on several occasions and knew that I liked him immediately. Once we realized that Brenda could speak audibly, she turned out to be pretty dang nice herself!

Some time passed and it'd end up that we'd have dinner together on Saturdays. When she finally accepted that we weren't kung-fu ninja's or Amway sales people, Brenda began coming over to visit. It didn't take long before the kids learned that they had an allies for any given situation and "Mrs B." and "Dooglas" as we came to call them, began to be members of our family.

Mrs. B and Dooglas never miss a birthday or holiday and the kids know

that they will come to their aid in a second!

We finally got to meet their "other" family after some time and learned that

niceness runs through the entire family line!

Damien and the girls (also known as Jaelin, Blair and Skylar) came for a visit a few years ago and our kids became fast friends with them. Of course, they'd always want to play over at Dooglas and Mrs. B's house because they'd let them get away with murder!

They are the sweetest girls that you could ever meet. Blair walked in and took charge of any situation and you could easily tell that she never meets a stranger.

Jaelin is quick with a giggle and and just a sweet spirit. She has a smile that suggests that she has a mischievous streak but I've yet to actually see it appear.

Then came Skylar....she has a shy giggle and will blush at the drop of hat. She loved telling stories about her puppies and although she tried to keep a serious face, she would giggle if you happened to ask her if she was married or still looking.

The three of them together are just a fun little gang. They amuse each other to no end and they are the kind of kids that you just enjoy being around.

Their mom is a photographer so they were used to mugging it up for the camera. Their Dad, Damien (who seems to be just as sweet as his mother, Brenda) helped round everyone up for some poses that he had in mind so it made my "job" much easier!

I happened to catch Jaelin and Skylar in moments of what appear to be quiet reflection...however, my guess is that they were thinking about some cute little boys.....

I wasn't able to catch Blair alone for one of these moments but I did manage to get everyone all together for a cute sister's shot!

Tanya and I have talked many times about how blessed we are to have friends that we love like family. Damien and the girls don't live close by and all of our family is a little stretch away too so we've made our own little family with Dooglas and Brenda. We know that we have to share them when their "real" family comes to visit and we're good with that as long as they promise not to lure them away!

Is this a good looking group or what????

I threatened to Photoshop Brenda's hair onto Damien and I held off on that for now. Maybe I'll use that for blackmail if they ever try to steal Dooglas and Brenda back from us!

We really love this family and I hope that you all are blessed

 to have a chosen family of your own, too!