Hello All! I am excited to post this. We are going away for a few days next week and we need it. We are off to Wisconsin Dells. The Dells has the first indoor water park in the U.S. Now for us in the North they have become hugely popular. When you have been inside for so long, all you want to do is burn some energy and feel warm again. Kelly has a medical conference at the resort we are going also. That makes this trip both work and play : )

We are staying at the Wilderness resort (http://www.wildernessresort.com/) and we will be swimming like mad. This resort even has a giant domed indoor wave pool. I am sure we will get to post some fun pictures of our water babies. Tomorrow Kelly is taking our three oldest to the circus. They are giving Mommy and Hope time at home to clean, pack and rest : ) Watch for more pictures to come. Love, Crystal

We've been deep in the winter for some time now. The last couple of days we have had some bursts of sunlight peeking through the clouds to remind us that Spring is coming, at some point.



Last week was a particularly interesting winter excursion. Crystal decided to take a "mental health" morning and catch up on some things at home, including sleep, last Sunday. I took the three oldest children to church. The temperature had peaked at just above freezing for the first time is several weeks and it was raining. This rain was falling on rather deep ice that had accumulated the previous weeks.



Anyway, off we went to church. We walked across the parking lot and Faith commented that "it's like walking on a slurpy". Indeed it was, with sloshy, watery snow ankle deep. No problem for Luke and me, but the girls had their Mary-Janes on (I think that's what they're called). "Slurpy" puddles have the same force of magnetic attraction for children as rain puddles, just much colder. Upon entering the church, I saw that all three kids were saturated to their mid-calves. No worries, I figured they would be dry by the time we got home and there would be no need to mention this to mom.



My plan had worked, and approximately 2 1/2 hours later, we were headed out of church. Needless to say, we had to cross the "slurpy" parking lot to get to the van, and again, they were saturated. (I would probably end up having to explain this after all). Unfortunately, now the three kids were cold, tired and hungry. Any one of those variables occurs on a pretty regular basis nowadays - very manageable. Two of those variables results in an elevated level of stress, comparable to an "orange" on the Homeland Security Terror Threat Scale. The problem was I hit a three for three, definitely not a good percentage and I knew I was in trouble. If I could just get home, I knew we would be alright.



Naturally, that is where the problem arose. On the road to our house there is a slight grade or incline. Normally, this is not a problem at all (unless you are on you way home from a 2 mile bicycle ride by yourself with three children under 5 years old and your wife said it might not be a good idea to go before you left and you insisted that everyone would be fine and.....that's a different story.) Anyway, ice and rain make for a pretty interesting combination when it comes to driving, especially up grades.



Our van did its best impression of the "Little Engine That Could", except, of course, it couldn't! We would go barreling up the incline only to progressively slow, careen, fishtail, spin and ultimately stop. It wouldn't have been so bad except it didn't end there. Eventually gravity kicked in and our van would slide backward down the slope. I attempted this pass five times, and every time we ended up sliding back down the incline, sometimes more interestingly than others. On two occasions, we did spinning 180 degree maneuvers while sliding down.



All the while, the children were getting more agitated as they could tell gravity, ice and rain were having more of an effect on our van than it should. "This never happens when mom drives". In addition, the trifecta of hunger, cold, and fatigue was in full force at this point. Grace, in particular, is sensitive to these variables. Her blood sugar is inversely proportional to her "drama factor". She cried, "I'm never going to see mom again!"



After the fifth attempt at scaling the ice, I decided to make lemonade from the lemons, more like lemon slushies. I called Crystal and told her we couldn't make it home and that I would take the kids out to lunch. In fact, we made an afternoon of it. Once Grace was fed, and the "drama factor" subsided, I took the three kids to a VeggieTale pirate movie at our local movie theater.



I sat between Luke and Faith. We had seen this movie once already. I was sitting in the theater seat when my condition kicked in. Now, many people may have heard of narcolepsy, or the uncontrollable occurrence of randomly falling asleep. I have acquired a condition, in large part due to having an infant at home that is not sleeping through the night, I refer to as "darkolepsy". This condition results in the inability to stay awake with any exposure to darkness or subdued light. (Crystal has an even more serious condition I call "ortholepsy", where she falls asleep with any recumbent posture. This has resulted is her seeing the beginning of innumerable movies at home on the couch and never knowing how they end.)



Faith took it upon herself to "treat" my condition by tapping my shoulder every few seconds to prepare me for "the good part that's coming up". I don't know exactly when she realized the futility of her efforts and stopped, but the combination of the darkness, the cushioned seat, the harmonious munching of popcorn by three kids resulted in me succumbing to my condition. I awoke sometime during the closing credits with Luke yelling in my ear, "Let's wah dat again!"



We headed home again, hopeful for better results climbing our incline. Sure enough, a road crew had come during our 3 hour diversion and salted the road and we had smooth sailing home this time. We ended up having a great day. The kids got to see a movie, I caught a nap, and Grace got to see her mother again after all!

Hello All! Well our baby boy turned three yesterday. I can't believe he is such a big boy now. Today we had our family party and the theme was, you guessed it, pirates. Luke recently got a pirate costume from our friends so he was able to dress the part today. We decorated the table with a treasure chest, skeleton and even some of his sisters priceless jewels.

Luke is a huge blessing to us and we thank God for making him. He has been a part of our family now since he was seven months old. His "Gotcha" day is September 29th 2005. He has grown and thrived in our family. He is a patient little brother, a protective big brother and loving son. He loves to laugh and his laughter is always contagious. I am so proud of him. God has taught me so much through my relationship with Luke. I pray I am a good mommy to him.

Luke loved playing the part of the special birthday boy in his costume. He was even shooting a canon at daddy at one point during the party.

Our dining room table with the buried treasure. Note Luke in the background coming to get his hands on the treasure.











Let him eat cake : )















Scurvy Pirate, Lukey B. No, he doesn't really have scurvy, he loves oranges : ) This is just his stage name.

Luke and his two older sisters. The girls got their hair cut today. Cute, Cute, Cute!! Thank you God for Luke!! Please bless his next year and keep him safe in your will. Love you all- Crystal

Hello All! Check out my new blog @ http://www.crystalscoffeebreak.blogspot.com/

I wanted a spot to share my coffee thoughts. Please come and join me for coffee : )

Hello All! Here is a quick video of Luke riding his "big boy" bike. He really has gotten good at it this winter. We ride in the basement quite often when it is 0 degrees outside : ) He is so proud that he is able to ride like his big sisters. Tomorrow our little guy turns three, I can't believe it!! Our little man is growing up. He is such a sweet "Mini Man". I will post more about our Luke tomorrow.

On a side note today I had the brilliant idea of a family brownie competition. The kids compete about everything lately. I am always saying "Our family is not a competition". Now they are competing to obey me the most and whoever wins gets a brownie for dessert. Of course they will all get a brownie. I have awards for honorable mention, etc. They don't need to know that now though. So far it's working : ) Love and Blessings for your weekend- Crystal

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

Well, this is my initiation to blogging. Crystal has asked me several times to write something, but I have procrastinated.
After reading the previous post by Crystal, I am flattered. She is truly the best and far too kind to me. I had no idea that helping her shower after giving birth would have such an affect on her. So, no longer will I buy gifts and flowers, but intend to offer more bathing experiences for her. But I digress and have to remind myself that this is a family blog.
I had an experience with the three oldest Briden kids over the weekend that Crystal thought I might share to give some perspective of the day in the life of our family.
We went to our local grocery store and Crystal and Hope stayed in the car to take care of nutritional needs, while I took Grace, Faith and Luke into the store to buy ice cream for Grace's birthday. No sooner had we entered the store when Faith said she had to "go potty". Now, I acted like most fathers I know, and ignored her, in the hopes that the pressing need would just go away.
We proceeded to check out with our half gallon of chocolate peanut butter ice cream when Faith reiterated, "I really need to go potty", this time accompanied by a dance, immediately recognizable by any parent that urgent action needed to be taken (so much for ignoring the problem).
Fortunately, the restrooms were right at the exit. In past episodes such as these, I have just taken all the kids into a stall in the men's restroom and taken care of business. However, on this day, as luck would have it, the men's restroom was packed full of men, and no empty stall to be found. I thought of just waiting, but my girls have developed the habit of making a running commentary on everything that presents itself to their five senses. And, since discretion is a noticably absent quality in their running commentary, I thought a men's restroom was definitely not the best place to idly linger. In fact, in the brief encounter with the men's restroom, Faith's hyperolfactory sense kicked in (inherited from her mother) and she responded with an immediate "it stinks in here!" This resulted in several men, perched in mid-micturation, craning their necks around to see who had such a keen sense of the obvious.
We retreated to "no-man's land" between the men's and women's restroom and Faith continued with her modified Irish dance. I told Grace to go with Faith into the women's restroom and "help here". Grace had been six years old for an entire day by this time, so I thought she would be up to the task of taking a four year old to the bathroom (which, in hindsight now, I realize I am still hesitant to do, even at my age). For about two minutes, things were fine as women came and went from the bathroom, and Luke and I pondered the gumball machines.
Naturally, that didn't last (otherwise I would not be writing about this on the blog.) Grace came out of the door and said Faith needed my help. This often happens, even at home, and can usually be resolved with some encouragement, which I proceeded to do from the doorway. Then, the anouncement came that Faith had a more substantial effort than I expected. This, of course, can be traced back to the nondescript term, "potty", which was used. I mistakenly inferred that "potty" meant definition #1, when, in fact, she was implying definition #2.
I told Faith to make her best effort at "finishing" and mommy would help out when we got home (classic father technique, in times of trouble, punt to mommy). She would have nothing to do with that and insisted that I come in and help her. I told her, from the door, that I couldn't go into the women's restroom (all the while, women were entering and exiting). This was quickly followed with a sound resembling a fire alarm, my sweet child screaming for me to help her.
By this time Grace is in a panic and my face has changed the full spectrum of colors of red, encrouching upon the deeper tones now. Women exited the restroom on several occasions and notified me that my child was crying, as though anyone within a four block radium might be unaware. Finally, the last woman that I knew was in the bathroom, other than my Faith, exited the door with a distraught look on her face. Immediately another woman was about to enter and I pleaded with her to wait and watch the door so that I could address the screeching sound in the last stall. She said she would wait and stand guard, and then promptly told me that someone was crying - really?
I went to the stall, and sure enough, it was locked from the inside. Faith would not leave her throne, mostly due to previous instruction at home about not doing such things. (Why do kids always remember what you tell them to do when you don't want them to do it?) Anyway, I asked Grace to climb under the door and unlock it, which she thankfully did.
I finished the paperwork that needed to be done and consoled the poor girl in her first crash and burn solo flight to a women's restroom. We left as quickly as possible to a throng of 8-10 women standing at the door, wondering why a man was in the women's restroom. I would have chosen to leave that a mystery for them and leave right away, but there was no sign of Luke.
I couldn't see Luke and lost track during the commotion. I had to explain to the women why I was in the bathroom, many of which were beginning to do that all-to-familiar dance. I had to look everywhere for Luke as he was not outside the door. I went back into the women's bathroom and, sure enough, there was Luke. He was on the floor doing a commando crawl under all the stalls in the bathroom. I don't think he was going anywhere in particular, but he knew Grace had crawled under a door, so he thought he might try and help. He also had a stream of TP trailing from his knee.
So, the bathroom stop was completed, all three kids were accounted for, and I still had my ice cream in hand. We marched out of the bathroom, as the growing crowd of women poured in, and returned to the van to meet Crystal and Hope. Our quick stop at the store turned into one of my more harrowing experiences. Next time, mom can go into the store and I'll nurse the baby!

Hello All! Well I wanted to share that today is our 8th Wedding Anniversary. Eight years ago today we were almost married : ) We got married a four o' clock in the afternoon at the Michigan State University Alumni Memorial Chapel in East Lansing, MI. It was a beautiful ceremony!! More importantly I married my best friend that day and he is now my family. Of this new family God created back in 2000, Kel and I were the first. Kelly is a wonderful Husband to me and father to our children. I love him much more today than back in 2000. It was true love back than, but it hadn't been tested by life. By adding four kids in 6 years our love has been tested. It is the kind that endures. A time that stands out most recently of the true love shown by my husband was after Hope's birth. I was escorted into the shower after delivery by the nurse, she than went to give Hope a bath. I needed help in the shower and to be honest I was a mess. I called for help and Kel came, helped me wash, rinse and handed me a towel for my battered body. He than helped me brush my hair and get dressed in my hospital gown. After that he made sure I was feed and seated comfortably. It was in that moment that true love washed over me like the first scent of spring Hyacinth. He was and is my family, he would do this again for me as I aged. God willing he would care for me until we both are ready for eternity. I am so blessed to have him, he is patient, fun loving, exciting and best of all he is mine. God gave me a gift that cold February day in 2000. The gift is God showing me his love daily through one man, Kelly. I am thankful every day that we are thriving, not just surviving. Sure we rarely have time for ourselves anymore, but this to shall pass. I Love you Kelly with my whole heart. But more importantly, I respect the man you are and have become over the past eight years. You amaze me, Kel!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Our friends Tim and Hannah from Portland, Oregon came to visit us this past week. They were with us from Tuesday night to Saturday afternoon. We met them at MercyShips headquarters in Texas this past August and had a real fun time with them in the hot summer weather. We also really enjoyed our time with them this past week and we tried to show them some of our"fun in the snow" activities. We all went snow sledding and to a large indoor waterpark near our home. Luke loves Tim and I think he is now missing his new best friend. The girls are really missing Hannah as they loved having her undivided attention. Both Tim and Hannah were very patient with our family and so much fun!!!! We are blessed to call them friends and now we are excited to find a way to Portland some day. Here are some pictures of our fun : ) We love you Tim and Hannah, thanks for coming and may God bless you both!!!! Love, The Bunch

Hello All! I can't believe my baby girl turned six yesterday. Wow, time flies when your having fun!! I went into labor at about 4:30 pm on February 15, 2002 and Grace made her appearance the next morning at 8:56am February 16. Grandma and Granddad Briden and Grandma Nettie were in attendance. Daddy delivered her : ) He also tried to induce her three times before she appeared. Grandpa B had even flown in for the first induction, but had to leave before Grace blessed us with her presence. Grace was my hardest labor, but than she was also the first. She was always a very content baby and always ready with a big smile. She is now a fun little girl, she loves cats, little toys she can carry or hold in her hand, the color blue, and creating art. She has become a big helper for Mommy and Daddy as far as her younger siblings. She is full of life and loves to laugh. Grace prays each night " God I want be a Veteranarian, if it is your will." We are so glad God made Grace and brought her into our family!!! We love you Gracie!!! My biggest prayer for you is this, may you love God, seek his will for your life and that your life would glorify him. Love, Mommy

Hello All! I wanted to post some more pictures and video today. The first picture is of Faith and he finished Cinderella puzzle. Faith loves puzzles, she must take after Grandma Briden. Faith can even find puzzle pieces in the real world. She will look around and say "Look mommy, that is like a puzzle piece." Her brain works out shapes and things even in half eaten graham crakers. She can eat a Giraffe out of a peanut butter sandwich. She is my puzzle girl!! This is something I'm sure she would love to do with Grandma Briden more often : )






Grandma and Granddad Briden sent Valentine's Day gifts for the kids recently. Here is their cute picture as they wait to open their newly gifted tresures from New Mexico. The gifts were a hit as always and they played well with them while I made dinner. Thank you G-Ma and G-Dad, We love you too!!!








Lastly, here is some video of Hope cooing and "talking" to Mommy. Sorry the video is short, the battery died. She is a sweetheart and becoming so much more animated. She is holding her head up very well and smiling at her big brother and sister easily. I looked at her newborn photo the other day and I could not believe how differnt she looks now. Her eyes are becoming more and more true blue. So whoever voted in poll regarding her eye color I think we have confirmation now. She most likely will be blue like her sisters : )



We are expecting another large blanketing of snow tonight. We have had the most snow this season since we moved here. It has been fun to have the snow to sled and play in. I have gotten good now at fish tailing in my rear whell drive people mover. Hey, if nothing else it makes driving in the snow more exciting. We are supposed to get 4-8 inches of new snow tonight. That could spell S-N-O-W D-A-Y tomorrow.

In an exciting birding development our Chickadees are singing "springtime" and the gold finch males are becoming more golden and getting rid of their drab winter coat. All these are early signs of spring. The birds know the days are getting longer, sure only by minutes, but longer all the same!!! God Bless your day- Love, Crystal

Hello All! Here is a funny skit directed and produced by Kelly. What can I say I love his sense of humor, that's why I married him : ) Enjoy!!! Love, Crystal

PS- The part about the ceiling fan is untrue, so don't worry Grandma Briden