Dec. 6, 2010 – Meet our Mixed and Happy family of the week! Ronna is a facebook fan and she recently shared her story on our wall. Ronna is thrilled about what’s happening with her family right now. Their story is a touching one.  Thanks, Ronna, for sharing!

Ron and I began dating when my daughter Kynlie was not quite six months old. From our first date, when he rocked her to sleep in his arms, he has taken care of her and loved her as his own. She stole his heart and he stole mine. He has been there — no questions asked — for emergency room visits, first teeth, first holidays, first steps, first birthday, and everything under the sun.

As soon as we got engaged — a week before her first birthday — we immediately started planning a wedding, and an adoption. Our September 18, 2010 wedding was the most perfect day in all our lives — until last Friday in court, when a judge ruled that we could move onto the next and final steps of the adoption process. Next Friday, on Dec. 17, 2010, Kynlie will officially become her daddy’s daughter. Kynlie, and all of our Christmas wishes are coming true!

Ron III, Ronna, Ron IV, and Kynlie Keffer

Ron & Kynlie around November 09

One of our wedding pics which has a close up of the likeness he had tattooed on his hand just after her first birthday.

Nov. 14, 2010 – Our Family of the Week this week is Jami and her adorable bunch. I mean, really, what more can I say about this beautiful family? Can that baby be any cuter?

Nov. 7, 2010 — Three-year-old Devin is dressed up for Halloween as Elizabeth Swann. “Devin is 3-and-a-half years old going on 16! I would be one proud mama if you were to feature her,” writes her mom, Lynne. Well, Lynne, hope you’re a proud mama right now. You have every right to be!

Each week, Mixed and Happy features a Family (or fan) of the Week. We run your picture on the website and as our Facebook profile pic for an entire week. If you are interested in being featured, email suzy@mixedandhappy.com.

Nov. 1, 2010 — Meet our family of the week. This is Shawna, husband and their three boys. What a beautiful family. Shawna connected with Mixed and Happy through our facebook page at http://facebook.com/mixedandhappy.

Mixed and Happy features a family or couple in the spot each week. If you’d like to be featured here, email suzy@mixedandhappy.com a couple of pictures along with your story.

Oct. 4, 2010 – My name is Nique and I am a married, mixed mom of 7 beautiful mixed children (ages 20, 16, 11, 8, 6, 4, and 3). I was born and raised in Southern California. My mother is Black, White (Dutch and Jewish), my dad is Black, Mexican and Indian (Hopi).  I married a Samoan.  So my children have the best of many, many worlds. I worked many years for the Los Angeles County Probation Department until resigning in 2006 when we relocated to American Samoa.

My husband’s military career has us now in Northern California for the moment. We (my siblings and I) have been raised with open hearts, and have expanded our melting pot with other races and cultures as well. My 2 nephews are half Korean, 2 nieces half German, 1 niece half Cambodian, a niece and nephew part Mexican and Puerto Rican, and a great niece mixed with Vietnamese and Chinese.

So being mixed can be a rainbow of cultures and races that are entwined with each other. I hope to find people who can relate… I’ve had my own “good and bad” experiences because of being mixed in a world where some still carry the ignorance and lack of understanding that love is color blind. Yet, seeing so many beautiful couples and children lets me know we are progressing.

Mixed and Happy features a family or couple in the spot each week. If you’d like to be featured here, email suzy@mixedandhappy.com a couple of pictures along with your story.

Sept. 27, 2010 – My name is Carrie L., and like hundreds and thousand of other mixed families, I have the best husband ever! He loves our girls so very much and would do anything to make them smile. I feel like my girls are the luckiest kids on planet earth. My kid’s names are Lexi, 6 years old, Toni, she is almost 5, and my youngest is ILA. She’s 3 years old. We’re by far rich but rich in our faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe we will forever have a strong family bond, within that. Thank you so much for looking at our pictures.

Mixed and Happy features a family or couple in the spot each week. If you’d like to be featured here, email suzy@mixedandhappy.com a couple of pictures along with your story.

Sept. 13, 2010 – This one comes from Adrienne and family. Thanks for sharing your beautiful family with us, Adrienne!

“Hi my name is Adrienne G. I am almost 30 years old. I’m mixed with black, white (Irish and Swedish) and Cherokee Indian. I was born in Lakewood, Calif. and raised in California and Oklahoma. I have been married to the love of my Life, Larry, for 3 and a half years. He is from Los Angeles, Calif. and black with a little bit of Mexican in him.

We actually met on MySpace in March of 2006, have been officially “together” since April of 2006, in love since May 2006 and we were married on Valentine’s day in 2007.

He’s my best friend, partner, and soul mate. I am so totally completely happy and blessed to have met this wonderful man! He’s so different from any man I’ve ever known. He doesn’t go out and hang out with friends or at the bars … he’s at the house with his family!

My husband is in the Air Force, he’s a Loadmaster on the C130, we’re currently stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. He has been bravely serving this country for over 14 years now.

I’m very proud of him for for all his hard work, sacrifice and dedication! As hard as he works, it doesn’t affect his home life. He is a wonderful husband and amazing father! He always takes time to help around the house and spend time with me and the kids. We have one son, my love child aka step son, Elijah who is 12 years old and lives in Long Beach, Calif. with his mom. Our daughter, Zarrah, was born on a Friday in of 2010.

My labor was induced on the Wednesday and I went through: 60 hours without food or drink, 51 hours of labor, 1.5 hours of pushing to bring Zarrah into the world! She is the most beautiful, sweet, and happy baby! I feel so blessed to have her! She’s totally mixed: Swedish, Irish, Black, Cherokee, and Mexican … a true rainbow baby!

I love being mixed! I’ve always felt like its the best of both worlds. I’m a full time student and stay-at-home mom. I’m taking a semester off to be with the baby full time but will return to school to complete my degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (Ultrasound). Life has its up and downs but one thing is true: I am definitely Mixed and Happy

If you’d like to submit your family story and pictures for our FOTW spot, please email suzy@mixedandhappy.com.

Here at Mixed and Happy, we love hearing from the men! A special thank you to William Reed for sharing.

I met my wife while I was TDY (temporary duty) in the Philippines. When I saw her, it was love at first sight. We married in October 1993 and have three children: William M. Reed, IV; Jamill J. Reed; Anjelena S. Reed. We currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area where differences are accepted. We have taught our children that they are a part of two great heritages. I encourage them all to learn as much as they can and be proud because they are unique.

– William M. Reed, III

I bet this family is proud of their daddy!

On their way to pick up daddy. This family is all smiles!

The kids look so happy!

This is the little girl who is clinging to daddy in the first picture. Love her.

Daddy is home. Someone is happy!

Mixed and Happy features a family or couple in the spot each week. If you’d like to be featured here, email suzy@mixedandhappy.com a couple of pictures along with your story.

Featuring the family of author and blogger Karen DeGroot Carter.

Who makes up your family?
Mom: mixed only as far as northern European and British roots go (mostly Dutch with a bit of Brit, German, and Italian thrown in). Dad: French-Canadian and African American (with a little impish Irish thrown in). Teenage son who resembles his mom; preteen daughter who resembles her dad; and youngest daughter who looks (and acts!) just like her French-Canadian grandmother!

How did you meet?
We were assigned to the same dorm as resident advisors in college. Our wedding photos were taken in a rose garden located just across the street from that dorm.

What three words describe your family best?
Drama, diversity and (a heck of a lot of) determination!

What does life look like 20 years from now?
Our children will be brilliant, happy, world-renowned leaders in their fields and we’ll retire on their riches! (OK I’m kidding, though it’s many parents’ secret dream, isn’t it?) And of course we’ll have gorgeous grandchildren who’ll make people REALLY stop and stare when they see our family together!

What is the key to your parenting success?
I don’t think any parent ever feels truly successful; there are just too many moving parts to marriage and family life, too many demands and yes, those stubborn regrets and what-ifs. Every stage offers up its own mix of challenges, some of which can be predicted and others that completely throw you off track if you let them. I’d say one important key (which both my husband and I luckily inherited!) is a sense of humor.

What are the most rewarding and challenging parts of having a Mixed and Happy family?
Most rewarding: watching as each of our children slowly establishes and comes to trust his/her own unique sense of self-worth. Most challenging: staying out of their way but close enough to support them during this process.

What advice would you have for a young Mixed and Happy couple just starting out?
The same advice I’d have for any couple: Enjoy! Live, laugh, love. For Mixed and Happy couples, I’d add: Don’t feel obligated to explain your heritage or why you or your children look “different,” but try not to take offense, either. We’re all trying to find our way. Sometimes people are just curious and don’t know the right way to approach mixed-race topics. It’s all still pretty new for most folks.

Are you an “opposites attract” couple or do your opinions and interests mirror one another?
Definitely opposites attract, though it’s amazing sometimes how well we work together in brainstorming sessions. I guess it’s because we both have multiple interests that actually overlap at times. I write fiction and poetry but also business and other non-fiction pieces and he’s extremely tech-minded but also a visionary regarding product and service development and marketing. So I think we’ve both learned a lot from each other over the years.

One thing I try to clarify in book club meetings for readers of my novel who question how two people from different races can marry and build a family together: Although my husband and I look nothing alike, our origins are actually very alike. We both grew up in towns ten minutes apart in families with similar economic, religious, and educational backgrounds. I believe all this worked to our advantage as we dated, got engaged, married, and started our family.

With every challenge that’s arisen over the past 20 years of marriage, we’ve understood where the other person is coming from…and why…when it’s come time to make big changes…or respond to a fussy two-year-old. People from very different backgrounds, regardless how similar they look, are going to find all this a bit more tricky, I think.

I consider myself very blessed to have a life partner who (because of our similarities) understands how I tick and who also (because of our differences…and his personality type) has spent a lot of time and effort adjusting that understanding as our family (and I) have changed through the years. It’s all so dynamic, this marriage and parenting business!

Do you feel like you face unique challenges as a mixed-race couple?
We both spoke at a diversity day program at a local high school once, and a student asked my husband if it’s easier to be of mixed race or to be in a mixed-race relationship. He answered, without hesitating, that it’s easier to be of mixed race because in a mixed-race relationship you worry your partner will be hurt someday because of you. I did not know he felt this way. I’d always been most aware of the discrimination he faced as a person of color, especially during the six years we lived in the mid-South. Some stories of such discrimination, like when a police officer stopped him on a highway in the hills of Tennessee and showed him a collection of racist stickers, made their way into my first novel, which explores issues faced by people of mixed-race heritage.

I found writing that book a terrific way to explore what my husband and his siblings—and possibly one or more of my children or even grandchildren—may have to face on a regular basis. Marrying someone with life experiences that differ from your own on any level definitely adds a sense of on-going learning and discovery to your own life. Having children whose life experiences may drastically differ from your own only further fuels the drive to continue that learning. Yet another reason I love living a Mixed and Happy life!

Karen DeGroot Carter is the author of One Sister’s Song, a novel that explores issues faced by people of mixed-race heritage. Her blog, Beyond Understanding highlights resources that celebrate diversity and promote tolerance.

If you know of a Mixed and Happy family who should be featured in this spot, please email Suzy at suzy at mixedandhappy dot com.

Who makes up your family?
Our family is made up of Julius (my husband), Misty (myself), Caleb, and Makyla. Caleb turned four in May, and Makyla turned three in April. Julius and I meet in 2005.

How did you meet?
I was working at O’Charely’s restaurant as a server. He would come in almost every afternoon when he would get off work. We were both in relationships with other people, so we were just friends. We were there for each other through both relationships falling out, then we decided to get together. It has always been like we were just meant to be! I have never been so happy in all my life!

Are you an “opposites attract” couple or do your opinions and interests mirror one another?
We are alike in the ways we think and believe for the most part. When it comes to raising our children, we agree on most everything as well. When God puts two people together, regardless of their color, it will always be a little easier to work things out.

Future family plans?
As far as future plans, we just try to live day to day!

What does life look like 20 years from now?
Twenty years from now…………….WOW! I hope to see both of our children out of college and starting to settle down with families of their own. As for Julius and myself, debt free would be great! I want us to be able to enjoy grandkids when they come along.

What advice would you have for a young Mixed and Happy couple just starting out?
If you are a young Mixed and Happy couple, my advice to you would be: ALWAYS live your life for yourself! “People” will never make you happy. There will always be someone saying something, but as long as you are happy with yourself and your mate, nothing else should matter!