Hello All! Well I am excited to announce some big news on the blog finally! After viewing the picture accompanying this post I doubt many of you are guessing what the news is : ) I am pregnant : ) I am 14 weeks along at this point. Pregnancy is 40 weeks, so I know I have only begun the marathon of pregnancy. Last week I heard the heartbeat at my appointment with my doctor.

Kelly and I couldn't be more thrilled, we are excited to see who God is designing to fit in our family. The adoption process for us is on hold as we continue to pray seek God's will for our family. For now though we enjoy the excitement of meeting our new little Baby Briden. Please pray for the baby as it continues to grow and develop. We know ultimately God is in control and he is so good to us.

Our second big news is Luke is officially a Citizen of the United States of America!!! We were in Detroit this morning for his last appointment with USCIS (INS). YAHOO!!!! This has been a much harder process than having biological kids, for me. I am glad he is truly an American and more importantly he is our son. One funny story from the appointment today. After our name was called and we arrived at the window to speak to the USCIS officer, I proceeded to inform her "My son, Luke, has received his approval for his N-600 and he is here for his certificate of Citizenship." She looked at Luke and me and then around the room and said " Where is your son?" I looked at her, and pointed to Luke " right here". She shook her head, and said " Oh, yeah". Later I giggled about it, who did she think I was holding? And adoptions are processed like this in Detroit daily. I can't believe every mother that comes in to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship is the same race as her adopted child. Anyway, I got a kick out of it all the same. So Luke is fully a Briden and fully ready to pay taxes now. Thank God for our new little American!!

God Bless you all- Crystal

Hello All! We hope this finds you having a great holiday weekend. We have been planting, playing and just enjoying the beginning of summer. I know it is the unofficial start to summer. But, for us a start all the same. Growing up my grandparents had a cottage (and still have it) on Lake Huron. Memorial day was the start of weekends spent enjoying the beach with family. Every Memorial Day weekend growing up the boat we owned and the hoist that housed it for the summer season went into the water this weekend. It mattered not if it was raining and freezing cold. It had to go in, it was time to enjoy summer. So I laugh when Kelly says when will Lake Michigan be warm enough to swim in? I say for me or everyone else? If water doesn't cool me down than I see no point in swimming. So needless to say I am ready : ) Are you?











Yesterday we did just that, we spent a wonderful day at the Lake Michigan Beach. We had packed everything needed for a safe and fun day at the beach, including a picnic lunch. We made it to the beach by 10:00 am and didn't leave till 3:00pm or so. It took us five minutes to get to the beach from our home. It was the perfect time. I am truly in my element at the beach. Although we are anti-sun worshippers and we avoid sun exposure at all cost. We still enjoy the beach so much!! We had our sun umbrella for much needed shade, we applied and reapplied sunscreen at least three times while visiting the beach. Ironically I was the only one that got a burn on my foot and lower leg because I was a little careless. But that area was only exposed for about 5 minutes at maximum. So the good news is there were no bad burns and tons of fun. We swam, built castles, ate lunch with a few bites of sand, swam some more, practiced our wave jumping, buried Luke in the sand, built a "swimming pool" and swam some more : ) The "swimming pool" was built at the water's edge and we filled it with buckets full of water. The kids would sit in the "swimming pool" and splash, see pictures below.
















We had the perfect day and we were glad for the relaxed family time. We hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day! May God Bless your summertime!!! Love, Crystal


PS. I swam and I loved every minute of it : )

Hello All! A friend I met online in a Liberian adoption group, Becky Avella, has "tagged" me. She and her husband are adopting a little boy from Liberia and it has been such a blessing to keep up with their progress as well. I guess there is a game of Tag going through Blogger and once tagged by someone you must share seven little known facts about yourself. HMMM, let me think. So for my friend Becky, here goes!!!



1. I don't like Celery. I have tried it many times in my life, with peanut butter and raisins and without. It just doesn't sit well with me. I don't like to floss while I eat, I prefer to floss after meals with dental floss. So for all of the celery lovers out there in bloggerland, I am sorry. I must be honest. I will always pass on celery!



2. I have mountains of gray hair on my head. It started when I was 22. My mom tried to tell me it was blond. Yeah right, Mom. Yes, it is true I was beginning to gray way back before I had children. I can't give up the gray fight so soon. Think of all the money my beautician would lose. I try do my part to support our economy. Down with gray!!



3. I dream of being a published author. I am actually currently writing a novel that is historical fiction set in 1870 in Muskegon, Michigan. It has been great fun to research the time period and to see the characters come to life. So we shall see if I can ever finish and get it to publication. If nothing else it has been a fun creative outlet.



4. I am a Certified Lactation Counselor and an R.N. I hope to someday use this to encourage mothers to nurse their babies. I loved nursing our two biological daughters. It helped me to slow down and enjoy my time with each of them. It was our special time and I fiercely guarded it. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve my mom nursing my younger brothers. I hope to use this someday when we do mission work in Africa, where women all breastfeed out of necessity.



5. We hope to serve as missionaries with Mercy Ships (http://www.mercyships.org/) in no more than three years. I am secretly praying for two, but we will see. My husband, Kelly, has dreamed of this for many, many years. After seven years of saving and paying off his medical school loans we are closer and closer to this goal. God has taught me much patience through this process. I have been ready to go for awhile. Or at least that is what I thought. But, I can see now how God has prepared us in many ways while we have been faithful to this dream of serving him.



6. I am the only of my siblings who doesn't have glasses or corrective lens of some type. What can I say I have always seen clearly, they on the other hand have always had the wrong focus. I am also the shortest of my siblings. Everyone else is normally American tall, I only made it to 5'4". So again I have a different viewpoint, Ha! Ha! Just kidding Heather, Rick and Jeff : ) I love you each dearly!!!!



7. My favorite author is Deeanne Gist. Her third novel has just begun hitting the stores, "Courting Trouble". It is a fun and encouraging read about love, loss and redemption. I have also been asked by the author herself to help moderate her new chat room. I have been active on her blog and I love reading about her everyday life. If you are interested in her blog go to http://www.deeannegist.com/ and her chat room should be opening someday soon. Please come on over read her books and chat with us : ) My user name is quite creative and I am sure you would never guess it, it's Crystal. I know, I know, does my creativity have no limits. Kelly wanted me to use "Hot Mama" for my user name, that got voted down.





So that is seven. The flower in the picture is "Forget Me Nots", so now you must remember these little known facts about me. HollyAnn Petree I am tagging you next : ) Those closest to me will already know most of this. Like, my sister Heather. But then she knows most of my big and little secrets. Thankfully she is as silent as the grave and that is why she is my friend and confidant. I hope you learn something new, enjoy- Love, Crystal

Hello All!! I wanted to wish a happy belated Mother's day to all the mother's reading my blog, especially My mom and my mother in law. We are so thankful to you both for your self sacrificial love and support. I am thankful to both my mom and Vera, my mother in law for helping me to become the mother I am. When you first get married the relationship with your mother in law is interesting. They commonly do things differently than the way you were raised doing them. I am so glad I lived near Vera for close to five years. I know how she does things now, I understand her heart. I have enjoyed learning many new things from my mother in law. She is so special to me and our relationship truly feels like mother and daughter. We are friends though as well, maybe because she never had to discipline me : ) That job fell to my mother, who I am sure at times was ready to pull her hair out. My mom and I are friends as well, she will always hold a special place in my heart. Now that I am a mom I see the true sacrifice and love involved in putting someone's needs above your own. I thank God for my Mom and Mom Briden they are truly gifts from God!!!!

-All that I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother.-

Abraham Lincoln

Thanks Moms and may God Bless you!!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Today was an excellent birding day for me. But I will share all that once I address my first blog contest winner. I received two correct answers one from My sister, Heather and second from my Aunt Barb. The mystery man is my Dad's older brother, my uncle John. It was so neat to see his photo up as we were driving into Holland. Kelly and I were just saying we need to get my Uncle and Aunt's phone number for our next impromptu trip to their beautiful town. Next thing we knew, WHAM, there was my uncle's face up in lights : ) So I will give the winning identification to my Aunt Barb, his wife. If anyone can identify him it better be her, right? So thanks for participating in my first ever blog contest. More to come I am sure.

Birding was easy today as it was not planned. I just kept my eyes open today and I saw three special birds. First, this morning while making breakfast Kelly said " Hey, is that an Oriole at the hummingbird feeder?" I stopped buttering the English muffins I was preparing and peeked out the window. I will admit, I thought "No, he probably isn't seeing an oriole." Upon spying the hummingbird feeder I was so happy and shocked to see it was in fact a Baltimore Oriole. The best part is when I still lived at home with my parents I used to see them at my hummingbird feeder I hung outside my bedroom window all the time. So the other day I filled the hummingbird feeder with Oriole nectar to see if I could attract any this year. I tried hard last spring with no success, orange slices littered our backyard. I know Orioles love eating oranges, but it mostly attracted big fat squirrels. I have not seen an Oriole in probably 13 years back in Freeland, MI. So this was a huge victory for me!!!!! I will be up watching to see if my friend returns tomorrow.

After dropping Grace off at preschool I met a friend at a park. this particular park is right on lake Michigan. The kids played on all the playground equipment and we hiked down to the water to watch many boats and much activity on the lake. As we returned to the play area to have a snack, I saw a red bird fly up to a large tree in front of me. I could view it quite well as the sun was shining on it. It was a Scarlet Tanager!!! That is a life bird for me, I think. I may have spied one with my mom in high school, but that doesn't count as I wasn't keeping a life list of all my birds seen than. I could see his black wings clearly as he sat perched high in the tree. This is the second tanager on my list as I have seen a Summer Tanager in Missouri while we lived there. So it was great to finally see this guy : )

Lastly, the day ended with one of my favorite migrants returning to us for the summer. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird has made it's way north to us, YAHOO! I spied one today checking out me New Guinea impatiens plant. I love hummingbirds. They signify summer to me. If they have returned, it means summer is not far off. The male hummer usually comes to check for food sources before settling and breeding. So I hope they like my home and yard. Thanks for humoring me and reading about one of my passions, birds!! God Bless and have a great weekend!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well our hosting weekend went great!! We are blessed to have three different families in China who want us to visit them to repay our kindness to them in one weekend. I was so impressed with their generosity and love for us, our children and our country. We enjoyed many a late evening talking, laughing and becoming friends! The gentlemen and little girl we hosted were a blessing to us from the start of the weekend to the end. I cried after we said our goodbyes at our church. I may never see them again this side of eternity, but I will pray for them, their health, protection and joy. Most importantly I will pray that God allowed us plant seeds in their hearts that will take root in his time. So will we host again, absolutely!! Next weekend? No, Mommy needs a break : ) But, our children now have friends who will return to China, what a blessing to know somone who calls the opposite side of the world home. I have included a few pictures of our friends during their visit, enjoy!

This week also brought a sad goodbye for our family. My friend Kristie and her girls, Taylor and Kaitlyn returned to British Columbia today. We spent time with them this past weekend at the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI. We don't know what next year will bring for Kristie's husband Clayton. He is the hockey goalie for our local team. They could play in Europe if they so choose. It is in God 's hands, so we wait and see what God has planned for this special family whom we have come to care about deeply. The picture of the kids was taken at their home yesterday. That is the home my mother and father in law will live in for the summer, YEAH!! Yet, it is so bittersweet.

Next I have had to include some silly pictures taken of the family lately. Luke and Faith are sporting suits gifted to us from a good friend at Kelly's office. Needless to say, I can't stop laughing. What cuties : ) Grace needed to be included in the purple suit as well, she's a ham. Next is Faith in her lipgloss gifted to her from Kelly's nurse. She needs to learn moderation in all things. Last is Grace with her lipgloss. Don't worry, both will be taught where there lips are before they start to officially wear lipgloss. The next picture is of Luke hands in pockets, just hanging out : ) Lastly if you can identify the man on the billboard picture on the far left you win my first ever blog contest. What do you win? The pride of knowing you won, of course! This billboard greeted us as we drove into downtown Holland last saturday. Love you all- Enjoy!!! Crystal

Hello All! This weekend we are opening our home to international students that attend U of M (The University Of Michigan). I have been the one helping to coordinate this at our church and it has meant a bunch of extra work for me of late. We have 19 host families and 50 guests visiting. Most are Chinese nationals and most are not Christians. Every year an missions organization called ISI plans this trip to Muskegon for the international students. It gives the students and their families an opportunity to glimpse true Americana. As a host family you have an opportunity to share your faith with people of another country, most often China. Most of us are aware of the plight of Chinese Christians. (This link is via The voice of the Martyrs website and it can help to clarify what is happening to Christians in China.) http://www.prisoneralert.com/pprofiles/vp_prisoner_167_profile.html?_nc=0ed1e427fa105af5232845e09f110f22

So this is a chance to share the truth before they return to China. It should be a neat weekend and I am sure we will all be blessed by the time spent together. Please pray for us as we witness through our lives this weekend. Please also pray that God would lead our conversation and times of fellowship. I will update you as to how the weekend turns out.

I also have included a sweet picture of our three playing outside yesterday. I can't get them to come inside anymore. The weather is supposed to continue to warm up, YAHOO! We will be going to the National Tulip Festival (http://www.tuliptime.org/) in Holland tomorrow. It should be much fun and I hope to include more pictures of my spring favorite, the Tulip. In the meantime here is one I planted in the backyard last year. What care God took to make the Tulips. Your works are amazing My Lord!!! Love, Crystal

This weekend we recieved some exciting news, Luke's application for U.S. citzenship has been approved!!!! So the last step is to appear before our USCIS (INS) office in Detroit and turn over his green card. Then he will recieve his Certificate of Citizenship. YAHOO!!! So all his papers are soon to be completed. What a process : ) Also our I-171H approval(that is our visa pre-approval) came in the mail on Saturday. So our family is now approved by the Federal government to adopt two children. I am impressed with how quickly Detroit processed that aspect of our adoption paperwork. It was much faster than Missouri. It will be fun to see now where we go from here, what are God's plans for our family? More to come on all that soon I am sure : )

Yesterday, Faith and Luke played outside for about an hour. They played with new sidewalk chalk almost the entire time. I was busy cleaning our home as we are going to be hosting international students this coming weekend for our church. I would occasionally pop my head out the open window or door and ask how Faith and Luke were doing. They would say"Good, Mommy." So I kept right on cleaning. Well quickly the time came to come inside because we needed to go pick up Grace from school. I came out to find that Luke had chalk all over his side of his face. Apparently Faith had given up drawing on the cement and decided Luke needed some decorating as well. Enjoy!!! Love, Crystal