Our family Chaos in words

# Our Story — The Real, The Messy, The Beautiful

When my children were little, I had a family blog. I wrote everything—our little moments, our big milestones, the everyday magic that made up our life.

But as I went back to school, life got busy… and writing slowly turned into something I only did during the hard times. The tragedies. The heavy moments.

And now I realize—that’s not the story I want to leave behind.

So I’m coming back to this space.

To write our history.

For the littles still growing in this home… and for my grandbabies, so they always know how deeply they are loved.

Because our life? It’s not just the hard stuff.

It’s the chaos, the laughter, the bad luck, the miracles…

A family of 8 that grew into 10… and now 14 and counting.

Husbands, wives, grandbabies—and so much love.

And I am so, so grateful.

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### A Little Backstory

Anthony and I met in high school. I was a sophomore, he was a junior.

Honestly… it was love at first sight.

But of course, nothing is ever that simple—he had a girlfriend, and I wasn’t even allowed to date yet.

Then a few months later, he got transferred into my PE class… and we’ve been driving each other crazy ever since.

At 18—just one month after I graduated high school—and while he was a year into college, we had our first baby.

Those nine months? They were hard. Really hard.

There were moments I truly didn’t think we would make it.

One day, I’ll share that part of our story.

But somehow… we did.

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### Building Our Family

When Devun was one, we moved to Utah and continued growing our family—welcoming our first daughter into the world.

A few years later, we realized Utah wasn’t where we were meant to stay, so we moved back to California. That’s where we built our business… and kept having babies.

Life was full. Busy. Beautiful.

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### The Breaking Point—and the Move That Changed Everything

About 7–8 years ago, during COVID, everything hit at once.

Depression. Hurt. Tears. Broken trust.

Anthony struggling to work due to hard covid laws

Us barely holding on—to each other, and to everything we had built over two decades.

We were on the edge of losing it all.

So we made one of the hardest decisions of our lives—we sold everything and moved to Texas before we lost it anyway.

The hardest part?

Leaving my daughter.

She was 18, in college, and didn’t want to come. She stayed behind with Anthony’s parents, and I knew she was safe… but even now, it still feels like the hardest decision I’ve ever made.

I wish I had fought harder.

But she is thriving—graduated from UC Davis with honors, took her MCAT, and is now waiting to get into medical school.

She made her own way. And I am so proud of her.

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### Was Texas the Right Choice?

Without a doubt—yes.

When COVID first hit, I had a dream. I was running a daycare, standing in this cute little classroom. It felt so real that I thought, *maybe I should open one again.*

We even started the paperwork.

But something didn’t feel right… so we stopped.

Then we moved to Texas.

Three months later, a friend posted about a teaching job at her school. I applied, got the job—and walked into my classroom…

And it was the one from my dream.

That’s when I knew—we were exactly where we were supposed to be.

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### Finding Our People—and Ourselves

That next year, I taught my now best friend’s son. And meeting her? That was another one of those moments where I know God showed up for me—especially during a time I was really struggling.

Anthony worked a few jobs—he did amazing, but they didn’t quite cover everything—until he found his place at Revenna, where he is absolutely thriving.

As for me, I started my photography business again, and between that and teaching part-time, my days are full in the best way.

Last year, I worked on *me*.

I joined a book group.

Found my people.

Went on a girls trip—and found myself again.

I realized I am strong.

I have a voice.

And I don’t need to worry about what anyone else thinks of me or my family.

I am happy. And I have everything I need.

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### Finding “Us” Again

This year, Anthony made a decision: Christmas was going to be about *us*.

Every month, we do something together—something new.

We’ve taken gun safety classes (still need to finish the shooting part),

bartending classes (hello side hustle!),

gone axe throwing,

worked each other’s events…

We’re showing up for each other again.

Because somewhere along the way, we got so focused on the kids… that we lost “us.”

And now—we’re finding our way back.

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### What Comes Next

If you’re here to follow along—I’m glad you’re here.

I’m promising myself (and you) to write at least three times a week.

The real life. The feelings. The chaos and the joy.

Because this is us—

A family of 14, just trying to live with love and peace in this crazy, beautiful world.