Reunited!!

For those of you who know me...know that I was adopted and probably know that I have been searching for a VERY long time. Well, I have finally found my birth mom, along with 4 brothers (1 who passed away) and I even have a full brother. CRAZY huh???
I have been searching for so long and have tried so many different things. I registered on probably 50 registries, I tried calling on MANY different occasions to try and get non-identifying information, and I even hired somebody and ended up getting scammed. After only dead ends and disappointment I was referred to a lady that worked for the actual agency I was adopted through. I called her and left a message and told her how I was searching for my birth mother. To my surprise, she called me right back and was optimistic and willing to help me wanting nothing in return. After all that I had been through..I thought it sounded to good to be true.
She said the first thing we needed to do was petition the court to have my file opened. So she wrote up this amazing letter and sent it into the court. About 3 or 4 days later she called me to tell me that the judge approved our request and that she would have my file in a couple of days.
I couldn't believe it. I was so happy!
When she got my file, she wasn't really supposed to tell me any information since she was acting as the intermediary and for the privacy of my birth mom. (that was one of the agreements in the letter to the judge.)
So, it was kind of just a waiting game. After a while she started giving me little bits of information. Like one day I got an email saying.."did I ever tell you your birth mothers name was Penny?" I couldn't believe how exciting it was just to know her name.
Well, after a year went by, I started feeling like I would NEVER find her and started feeling discouraged again.
Then one day she (she's the lady that had been helping me, I also consider her to be my ANGEL) sent me another email and hinted to me that my birth mother had the same last name as the stadium at The "U". So I knew her full name.
One day while my kids were sleeping I decided to look up her last name on Dex Knows. There were only about 11 of them in the Salt Lake area. (I had done this before but never did anything but look.) Well this day was different...I just felt prompted to start calling. I called one lady and she said that she did know a Penny Echols and that she used to be married to her son. I told her that it was probably the wrong person because I thought that Echols was her maiden name. So I told her never mind and thanked her for her time. Before I hung up the phone she asked me why I was looking for her. I explained to her that I was adopted and I was searching for my birth mother. She told me that she hadn't seen or talked to her in a long time but she would try to find her and call her for me. I told her not to worry about it because I was sure it was the wrong person. She insisted, so I gave her my information and thanked her again. I did not even think anything of it. I called a few more people and had no luck.
The next day I got a phone call. She said that her name was Penny and started to cry. I was in complete shock. She told me that yes she had placed a baby girl up for adoption in March 1980.
I didn't even know what to say. I told her that I wanted Louise to call her since she new more about her then I did. So I immediately tried calling Louise but she had her phone turned off ALL day since it was Sunday. I probably called her 100 times. That day was the longest and weirdest day of my life. I kept thinking to myself...could I have just talked to my birth mom on the phone today? I couldn't concentrate on anything I felt like my brain was somewhere else.
The next day Louise called me and I gave her Penny's phone number. She called me back and told me that everything matched up and that she had no doubt that Penny was my birth mom.
She told me that I had 4 brothers 2 older and 2 younger and that one of them is my full brother.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
After learning that it was her...I didn't even dare call her back. I was SO nervous.
She called me a couple days later and I was glad she did because I don't know if I would have ever worked up the nerve to call her. After talking a few times we decided that we wanted to meet. So a couple weeks later, we met at her brothers house and It was amazing. I not only got to meet her but also my 3 brothers and a whole bunch of cousins and a pretty cool uncle. It truly felt like family.I wish I could relive that day over and over again.
Since then, Penny and I text at least once a day and talk every couple of days. I talk to my full brother Cory on the phone at least once a day and I have talked to my other brothers a few times. We are planning on getting together again pretty soon.
I am so thankful that I have finally found my birth family. I have wanted to be able to tell my birth mother that I am so grateful for the decision that she made and also let her know that I was okay and that I couldn't have asked for a better life. I know that what she did was out of love, not because she didn't want me but because she loved me SO much that she wanted me to have a better life then what she could have given me at the time.

Here are a couple of pictures of the night we all met. (there's a couple of other pictures I want to post but I don't have them yet.)


On the left is my youngest brother Kameron he just turned 22, then Cory he's 34, then ME, then Penny, then Bobby he's 26 and then that sexy guy on the far right is my hunky husband Preston.:) I also have an older brother Jason, he would be 36 but he passed away in a car crash 12 years ago. He had always wanted to find me and I'm sad that I didn't get to meet him.

Me and Penny