Hello All! The weather outside is supposed to get uite frightful in our neck of the woods. I am intrigued by the weather, always have been. Kelly thinks it is funny that I watch the Weather Channel. He feels they are always incorrect and true they are wrong frequently. When you grow up in an area where the weather can be extreme and affect your life, you pay attention. He grew up in San Jose, CA. The weather is perfect there, Not to hot or too cold in the "Silicon Valley". In Michigan, we have snow for a large portion of our year. That much snow means you pay attention to the weather. You have to prepare for the next day, do you need the hat, gloves and huge winter boots or just the average winter boots? I found an article here on line sharing the top ten Cities and States that have a variety of weather. Yes, we make the snowiest list in our hometown : ) Tonight we prepare again for the storm moving our way across the country. I think the fire will indeed be delightful tonight......... God Bless~ Crystal

Hello All! I am so angry!!! Read HERE to see why. Yes, we would love for you to move to our state : ) We have been in a recession for a long while and we are no longer salting the roads. Oh, this is rich!!!!!!!! As a mom who is back and forth to school several times a day, this is just not safe!!!!!!!!!!! We had 100 inches of snow last year, and roads were not this bad one day of last winter. I am in for a long winter, YIKES! I spun out going about 15 MPH today going up our hill to get out of our subdivision. I was on my way to take Luke to pre-school. We ended up going backwards down the other side of the hill after doing a 180 degree turnaround. Luke says " Mom, what happened, who did that?. That was fun!" I'm glad someone enjoyed it. He is just like his father! The other day Kelly asked me as we are going to pick up the girls from school "Should I do doughnuts in the school parking lot?" My response, "No, that is just what a bunch of 5 year olds need to see a grown man doing." I love him so much, but he is a wild adventurer at heart : ) Pray for me in my rear wheel drive bus, PLEASE!!! ~ Crystal

Check our this Link, HERE. This is our life today, the "Lake Effect is back. The kids are excited to play outside and I love to snuggle up with Coffee and read a book. Oh, who am I kidding I can't seem to finish a book lately let alone a full cup of coffee. Have a great weekend!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! These are some photos of our backyard after we did a weekend landscaping project. This was a much needed item on our "to-do" list. We have enjoyed our warmer weather and now with the landscaping we are loving sitting outside and watching the kids play, birds come to our feeders and the flowers growing. Enjoy the rest of your summer : ) Blessings~Crystal

Hello All! Here are the kids playing outside on February 6, 2008. It was a white out storm that day : )

With the miracle of video we fast forward two months. Here are Luke and Faith playing outside this morning. It is has warmed up to 37 degrees outside as I write this. So we are rejoicing in the signs of spring all around us. The snow is rapidly receding. The bulbs are peeking out and the buds are on the trees. We have almost made it to days spent outside playing. Luke loved swinging today as Faith pushed him. He said as you can hear on the video, but you might not understand Luke speak, "I am swinging like a Banshee". We commonly say in our home so and so was "screaming like a Banshee". Swinging and screaming are apparently the same thing to Luke. Faith was pushing him, which will not happen as commonly as they play outside more and more frequently. It shows how excited they were to be outside.

This picture is of some of my tulips peeking through the pine needle covered ground. I put this in the post for my blog friend Ginny. She is commonly including gardening on her blog. I really enjoy that, as I love to garden. She lives quite a few states south and east of us, so she is farther ahead on all that fun spring garden preparation. See, Ginny, I have something coming up: ) I promise more gardening posts to come.

Have a great day!!!!!

Hello All! We have had enough snow this winter to meet the average from these years before. It is beautiful and fun, but it can get old. We live in the little pocket on lake Michigan in the lower peninsula that averages 100 inches a season. I was looking through pictures yesterday from last year. The snow will remain through mid-march. By than we should have a slow down in the large accumulations. We could still get dustings of the white stuff, but not with the force of snows falling in December, January or February. We have almost made it through the hardest part of winter, no sun and lots of snow. Todays forecast includes the Sun, YAHOO!! I was beginning to think it wasn't up there anymore. Have a sunny day!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! I wanted to post these pictures of our house and the amount of snow covering it. Here is the front of our house. This picture was taken this morning. We have even had more snow accumulation since than.

We have a guy who plows our driveway when we get more than two inches of snow. He plows the excess snow over into our front yard. Here is a picture of our snow mound. Honestly I wish you could all see it. The pictures don't do it justice. It has become it's own sled hill.

Our driveway, notice the snow walls on the sides.

This is our side entrance into our family room. Our weather is supposed to warm up. 30 degrees would feel down right balmy right now : ) Have a good night!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Yesterday we had a great time in the snow. The kids did great and stayed out for about 45 - 60 minutes. Grace stayed out the longest and was swinging on the swing set for about 15 minutes after the other two headed for the hot cocoa.

Notice how the snow is so deep it is up to Faith's knees. Grace is ready to throw some snow at Mommy. Luke is making a snow angel.

Who says Playground equipment can't be used in the snow?

Luke Briden staring as the Abominable Snowman, coming soon to a theatre near you : )

This picture I took in our backyard. It looks so pretty blanketed in the snow. You could even see a glimpse of blue sky and sun. A rare treat during a West Michigan winter. On a side note our friends the Petrees are doing great in Liberia. All the Visas have been approved for the children coming home to their "Forever Families". Please continue to pray for their travel home and for the Visas to be issued tomorrow or Friday. Thanks for your prayers : ) I also included alittle video of the kids outside on the swing set. I mostly included it for G-Ma and G-Dad Briden. I want them to see their special grandkids!! God Bless you all! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well today is Grace's first "Snow Day" !! We have been getting hit with many "Lake Effect" snow showers. To learn more about the Lake Effect go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_effectI have posted some pictures of outside around our home to show you all the delightful snow we have received. The snow is delightful on days you don't have to drive in it : ) Today is one of those days, a "Snow Day", YAHOO! Later this afternoon we will head outside to play in it. We have a specific window of opportunity though. Hope has to be napping peacefully. That being said we need to have a record time as far as snow clothes application. Otherwise we may never even get out of the door before Hope wakes up. I have also promised peanut butter cookies and Cocoa for all those souls who don't complain while playing out in the snow. I will post those pictures later : )

Today the kids have been making cards for Grandma and Granddad Briden and Grandpa B. Grace loves to write and to create. Rare is the day that she doesn't ask to color a picture for Daddy. Here is a picture of the girls sitting at our bar creating masterpieces. Luke has been having fun playing with his big sisters. He is always told what he should do while playing and rarely does he disobey those two. If they decide he is a dog, he will become one, panting and all. He is a great little brother : )

Hope was smiling at her Daddy this morning while he was drinking his coffee. He loves to hold her and talk to her!! She loves her Daddy, Don't we all!!!! I will try to post snow pictures later : ) Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well Monday night was wild in most of the middle of the U.S. and Michigan was no exception. We were also under a tornado warning. I didn't know this as I was driving in a pouring thunderstorm with Grace and Faith. We went to Bob Evans restaurant Monday evening for a fundraiser for their school. As we were there we saw the weather getting worse. Grace kept telling us all through dinner as she saw lightning. After we finished dinner, we started to head out the door and I herded them both back inside because the rain was coming in freaky looking sheets and I thought " We can wait for it to slow down". The rain let up slightly and we headed out to Kelly's truck running as fast as little girl legs can go in the rain and lightning. Once in the car we got on the highway and I was going 20 miles an hour as I couldn't see well at all. I then decided to get off the highway and take roads with street lights in the hopes of seeing the definition of the road. These roads were almost all flooded and I had to drive in the center turn lane. I called Kelly to tell him how bad it was, and he said " Well right now we are under a tornado warning right now in our county !" I was shocked and I said "O.K., Bye!" I then looked around and noticed not many people were on the road with me. So I started to speed and asked the girls to pray. Faith after praying for our safety said " I know Daddy is praying for us to get home safely." I love Faith's faith so much, she is certain of so many things. Grace is a mini-mommy in many ways. She is slightly prone to worrying as am I. My sister, Heather, and I joke about it now as we both are similar in this. We refer to it as our " Nervous Condition". Grace kept saying "I don't want to be struck by lightning!" After Grace prayed for us she than said "God will protect us, right Mommy?" It was crazy, but we made it home safe and immediately upon entering our garage both girls said " Thank you God for getting us home safe!" This is the part that I can sometimes forget, praising God when he has protected you and led you safely through.

We were in Kelly's truck on Monday because our "new to us" Van is in the shop after only a couple weeks!! So we have to fix the fuel pump and other things and it is going to be very expensive. Needless to say, Mommy is hopping mad at the used car salesman that told us nothing about all these problems. So I am having to use Kelly's truck to take him to work and pick up Grace and Faith from school. Please pray that the van will be reliable after this. We need to know we can count on the van as it is our only car that can transport us all safely.

We are praying for all our friends in Missouri as we have heard you have been hit in the weird January storm the worst. I pray you are all safe and healthy!! I am not sad we left the "Show Me" state when I see the tornado warnings in Missouri. People who live outside of the northern U.S. often state I couldn't live through the winter, I don't like cold. Well I don't like Tornadoes, Mud slides, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Volcanoes erupting that is why I choose to live here. When it snows and snows and snows we just go outside go sledding and drink hot Chocolate. Sounds like the perfect day to me, I LOVE WINTER!!!!! People with "nervous conditions" shouldn't drive in tornado warnings!! Love 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! Well I am excited to post these pictures today. The reasoning behind my excitement is twofold. First, it may get warm here this weekend, so we went out to Meijer and bought summer shoes and shades. I had to take pictures of my cuties. As is to be expected Grace choose shoes with blue (her favorite color) and pink, Faith choose shoes colored green (her favorite color) and magenta, and Luke choose navy blue because Daddy has some just like his. So now they are ready to slip on sandals and shades and hit the beach. Yes, I am aware it may be a little while of yet. I feel optimism is always a good thing. So we look forward to the sunny beach days, but for now we wear our new duds in the house : )

The second reason I am excited to post these pictures is these pictures were taken on our new camera. We have been working with two Kodak cameras for the past months that were critically injured. One I dropped on the sled hill and it never quite recovered. The other camera ran down new batteries after maybe 5 pictures. So you had to really be quite discerning when choosing to snap a picture. So as of today we have a new camera and it works great!!! I will be traveling with it to Bolivar when I leave tomorrow morning. Please pray for Kelly as he sacrifices himself for my happiness and sanity. I love my husband and his self sacrificial heart!!! I am encouraged that it should be warm in the Great White North. If nothing else the kids will look good, eh? Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well today was a good day, but a weird day all the same. First, we went in for fingerprinting appointment courtesy of USCIS (the kinder, gentler version of INS). This is the last step as far as our pre-approval for the babies Visa. Now they will send us a form I-171H. That form shows the Consulate in Monrovia, Liberia we are pursuing an adoption and we have jumped through the correct hoops stateside to add another child to our family. So this is now the second time the Feds have fingerprinted me. It went well, we got there before our appointed time. We had just finished the paperwork they had given us to fill out and our number was called. We are glad to have that done though, I will let you know when we have our I-171H.

When we arrived home this afternoon we had fun painting Easter eggs. Luke was napping, so he didn't participate this year. The girls loved it. It was quite surreal painting eggs for Easter with three inches of snow outside. It has been snowing and blowing since yesterday. We keep teasing the kids by saying "Merry Christmas" or " Are we celebrating Christmas this weekend?" It has been on the weather locally that we will be colder and have more snow than we received on this past Christmas. That is pretty interesting : ) I have talked to my friend HollyAnn in West Texas and they are even cold and snow covered. Glad to know some others share in the frosty Easter. Easter Egg hunts and many spring sports practices were all canceled. I am sure glad the girls have warm sweaters to wear over their cute little Easter dresses tomorrow!

I wanted to include these pictures of Luke my little birdwatcher. He is looking out his binoculars through our sliding glass door into our backyard. He does this commonly and says "Birdie Mommy". It is precious because I don't really think he even can see through the eye pieces. He just holds them up to his eyes. He must think, "How does mommy see through these things." Enjoy! Have a very Happy Easter! He is Risen----He is Risen Indeed!!!!!!!!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! I have lived in Michigan all but five years of my whole life. I am aware of what a Michigan spring entails. Usually a cold and rainy Easter celebration is the order of the day. But, uh-oh I think we are going toward Christmas, not Easter. My Daffodils and Grape Hyacinth have probably not survived this blast from the Arctic. I have posted our current temperatures currently. In yellow is the temperature with the wind chill factored in, YIKES! I am sure My Spring birds are hiding somewhere warm. They think they took a wrong turn and ended up in Alaska. Needless to say the big Easter egg hunt I had planned will most likely be inside. Maybe not, there is something so cute about kids hunting eggs in snowsuits : )

We headed to the children's museum today. It was the perfect indoor activity for today. The kids played and laughed until the museum became so packed you couldn't see a foot in front of you. I guess on such a cold day we were not the only family with the same idea. It was great fun all the same. Last evening two main state highways in Grand Rapids were shut down because of the white out conditions and the number of rollover crashes. The State Police responded as quickly as they could, but some motorists were stranded for hours. This shows how many crashes there were last evening. Scary!! This sure makes me want to make Hot Cocoa and a fire tonight. Is it really Spring? Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well today was a great day for a hike in the woods. It was a high of 39 degrees and the sun was shining all day. Perfect weather to shake off the cabin fever that has been building. After nap time this afternoon we all donned our backpacks, boots and binoculars for a walk in the park. We have a nice state park just up the road from our home. The hike we took was over the sand dunes to Lake Michigan. All three kids walked the entire way. Which is a wonder in and of itself. The pathway was still covered with inches of melting snow. They have gotten quite used to walking in snow by now and only slipped a few times. The trail is also up and down many big dunes. They made it up and down many stairs with no complaint. I was so glad to be outdoors. This is where I connect with God. As the snow is melting I can almost hear the Hallelujah chorus. God's creation is waking up from it's long winter nap.

I am an amateur bird watcher, so any excuse to put on my binoculars. Today the girls also were "birding" with mommy. They both had compact binoculars hanging from their necks. They would stop and look for birds. It was so cute because occasionally they would have the binoculars backwards. They would look at each other and say " Hey Grace, you look far away." Who had the heart to tell them that they were less than two feet away from one another.

Luke did the best of all. He has the shortest legs and he didn't even whimper or ask to be held. After bath this evening, Kelly and I realized Luke's thigh muscles were still tight from the hike. He is a ripped little guy : ) All three had backpacks on stocked with juice boxes and Cheetos. It was cute to see them packing snacks on their little backs. When we arrived at the Lake the sun was starting to set. It was magnificent. The kids all posed for pictures and celebrated the victory of making it half way. What a good afternoon in nature. I found this quote from C.S. Lewis and I thought I would share it.

"Because God created the natural- invented it out of his love and artistry-it demands our reverence." C.S. Lewis

Please enjoy the photos! Remember, God made you and he loves you- Crystal

Hello All! I had to include an article I found today posted on the Washington Post's website. I had to laugh at this. A vote in Congess has to be postponed because of an inch of snow. Is this true? I mean this isn't the same as Florida or Georgia recieving an inch of snow. This is D.C. and last time I checked it was quite a ways north of the snowless south. They should be prepared for snow, right? I have attached a picture of our home taken today. This is snow, and it has been coming for weeks now. I will be honest most of the time Congress makes me laugh. Once again I am laughing : ) Love, Crystal

The bitter inch
That horrible Washington weather.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor this morning to explain why the scheduled 10 a.m. vote on a homeland security measure would have to take place at 1 p.m. instead.
Noting it might seem strange for those outside the Beltway that a little white powder falling from the sky could cripple Senate operations, the Nevada Democrat said Washington is "different from a lot of other places."
He added that some might scratch their head at "an inch or two" of snow creating "all the pause, but it does." He said many senators and their staffers live in Virginia, and added that one mystery senator is "stuck on a train because of the bad weather." (Reid's office promised a call back to identify the commuting lawmaker)
"Make a long story really short, we have essential staff that's not here right now," Reid said, wearing his signature frown. "Those are the facts of life in the bitter winter of an inch of snow in Washington."
-- Christina Bellantoni, Capitol Hill correspondent, The Washington Times
Posted on March 7, 2007 9:56 AM

Hello All! We had a blast today. We all bundled up in many,many layers and went sledding on our sand dunes down the road. It was cold, but nothing compared to last weekend! It was twenty, that felt pretty good actually with three layers of clothing on. The kids did great, no they did exceptional. Grace, Faith and Luke didn't complain at all. They all sledded beautifully and I only carried Luke up the hill once at the very end. Very impressive considering it is difficult to walk up the hill in triple layers of clothing for me. Luke will be two on the 23rd of this month. Faith loved the pink saucer. Grace the round tube, because it was soft. She said" the pink one hurts my bottom." Luke liked riding by himself. In the beginning Luke would ride with Kelly or me. After awhile though he wanted to be big like his sisters and go solo. It can be exciting at the sled dunes. When we first arrived the Ambulance and Fire trucks were in the parking lot. We heard from some other sledders that a boy went way up to the top and flipped probably five times on his descent. Any way it can be dangerous. No one is supervising, there is no ski patrol. In snow skiing you have people watching and enforcing safety rules. So just like driving you must sled defensively. I imagine though that young boys, high snow covered dunes and sledding equipment often result in many injuries. I couldn't help but think about how often the Paramedics visit this park in the winter. Thank God he protected us today and don't worry we stayed on the bunny hill!! Love, Crystal