Hello All! Here is our sweet Hope enjoying life. She loves her "Bumper jumper". She bounces in that while Mommy prepares any meal. You can say to her to "jump, Hopey" and she will comply. It is so amazing to me how babies understand language before they can speak. The next video was taken this evening. She had grabbed my cheek quite hard while I was holding her on my lap and I said"Ouch". She thought that was just THE funniest word. I love how babies, at times, can seem frightened of their own laughter : ) Enjoy and God Bless- Crystal

Hello All! I am sorry this has taken so long to post and we so appreciate all the prayers and thoughts for our family! All is going great in the Briden household : ) Hope Lynn Briden was born at 02:15 am on November 3oth. She weighed in at 8 pounds even and is 20 inches long. Labor went great, not as I had pictured in my mind. But it was the outcome I was most focused on in my mind. A Healthy baby and Mommy, God provided that and so much more. First is a picture of Hope immediately after birth in the warmer. Here is a picture of Hope, Daddy and Mommy right after delivery. I know Mommy is looking kind of exposed, sorry that is one of the best shots we have. Once again Daddy got to deliver his baby girl. He is an amazing doctor and man!! I am so thankful for him and his calmness during times of stress. He has an amazing way of relaxing and encouraging me. I can't imagine you not being at that end of the bed, Kelly, you are so awesome!! I thank and praise God for you as my husband. We make a great team!!
It was also an added blessing to have my sister in the delivery room with us. She was a great encouragement to me!! Hope Lynn Briden was named after her Aunt Heather. Heather's middle name is Lynn as well and they both shared the same initials at birth HLB. We love you Heather, you are the best sister in the whole wide world!! Not mention the best Cotswolds traveling buddy, ever :)






















Here are the Briden four pictured just today. The kids can't get enough of baby Hope. She is so much fun to hold and look at, irresistible to a five , four and two year old. The three older Briden kids were taken care of by Grandpa Burmeister (Grandpa B), my dad. He did a wonderful job with them and we are so grateful to him. The kids love their Grandpa B, he is fun and funny guy. So thank you Grandpa B for all your work and care for the three eldest Bridens.







Thank you again for all the prayers!! we had hoped to have this up sooner, but as I am sure you can imagine we were and are busy with life and our special new addition Hope. She is such a gift and we truly thank God for her safe arrival. God is good to us and we praise him for our little Hope Lynn. More pictures to come soon : ) But for now mommy has two girls that want a snack and one that needs to be nursed. All our thanks again! Love- Crystal

Hello All! I am excited to share my induction date. Due to my gestational Diabetes the doctor only wants me to go into my 39th week. The concern is always the size of the baby. With Diabetes the baby can get very big and it can be hard to deliver vaginally. The date the induction of my labor will most likely take place is the 29th of November. That is a week after Thanksgiving. Yeah!! I am excited to have a date. It doesn't mean that it will work and Hope will be born. I have had three failed inductions in the past. Those were with Grace though, and that was before my body was aware what labor was. So I am hopeful it will work well and that ultimately God's will is done. Please pray for us as the time nears. Pray especially for the health of baby Hope and Mommy, please.

I got a kick out of this cartoon today and thought I would include it on the blog. It is interesting to me now having three kids under six (soon to be four) how much I have learned about being a mother. I love each one of our kids, but in some ways I appreciate what the lady in the blue coat is sharing. This is the hardest I have ever worked at anything in my life. It is extremely rewarding and fun most of the time : ) But, there are those times when you wish you could "clock out" and take a break. I do take breaks, but rarely do I stop thinking as a mommy. I am always thinking things like " I hope Faith got her medicine." and "Is Grace getting enough one on one attention with me?" or " Does Luke need new pants for fall? I don't think capris are in style for little boys." So even in my break time I am never truly checked out. This is my calling, I love it and I love each one of my charges. Each on so special, unique and a gift from God!! I can't wait to see who Hope will be, what fun!!! God Bless you all- Crystal

Hello All! I wanted to let everyone know I am still thankfully pregnant : ) I have been contracting so much more than with Grace or Faith. I think the primary reason is with your first and even second you sit when you need to. This time around I have three little people who need attention as well. So I am glad Hope is still safe inside: ) These pictures were taken yesterday I was thirty five weeks and 3 days. Remember pregnancy is 40 weeks, not nine months. I am also full term after this week is complete. So when people say my baby was two weeks early and 6 or 7 pounds that is not necessarily "early". The due date is a best guess and full term is just as full term at 37 weeks as 41 weeks. So I am excited to be passing that milestone as well. Please pray for us as we prepare the house and everyone in it for HOPE LYNN BRIDEN !!!

Mommy and the girls ready for church : )

Daddy and his buddy, they are so outnumbered : )

Love you all- Crystal

Hello All! I am sorry I have been silent for some time. I am 34 weeks pregnant now. Life is slowing down for me in many respects and speeding up in others. I am slower moving now and it takes longer to accomplish tasks that are normally quite quick. The " to do" list I had at 20 weeks is not all getting done, in that respect time is flying by. I have been here before, I must let it go. The world doesn't end because all the closets aren't perfectly organized : )



I am half excited to meet Hope soon and the my other half is wanting her to stay safe where she is. This world is unfair, ugly, and often times so painful that I want to protect her from it all. I know it is also beautiful, always whispering of it's creator, and full of joy. I know that both these aspects of our world are part of it. I also have accepted only God can protect Hope. My motherly protection can only go so far. It is in the experience of the joy and pain of this life that choices are made about the truth of this world and eternity. It is with both excitement and trepidation that I welcome Hope. I wish I could shield her always from the bad of this world, the pain. It is in God's hands now. Her first breaths, first smiles, first laughs, first steps, and first hurts are all in his hands now. All have been written down in his book before one has been played out in time. God please be with Hope and me as you prepare her to cross over from life pre-birth to her first breath. Please protect us both and God please give us your grace to face the outcome. The outcome that you have known since before time began.



Psalm 139:13-16 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, everyone of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."




Love you all- Crystal

Hello All! We are all doing much, much better today. I have been so sick since we had Vacation Bible School at our church. I am actually sleeping without coughing as of last night. I am glad to back to almost full strength. Illness is so different when you are pregnant. It feels to me as if the body has so much going on that it takes a long time to heal.

I have posted some fun pictures of assorted family times I wanted to share. First, I attached pictures of Kelly, Grace and I at the ultrasound last week. Grace as the oldest had the opportunity to go with Mommy and Daddy to see her baby sister live and on T.V. She loved it! She was naming Hope's bones as the ultrasound tech. was measuring them. I don't know why but she has quite a grasp of anatomy for a 5 1/2 year old : ) On the way into the ultrasound room she asked quite loudly in from of the Ultrasound tech. "Mommy are you going to push the baby out?" We laughed and I said " No, not today Gracie." She responded with "oh, bummer." So next is the pregnancy is 40 weeks physiology lesson.

The next photos are of the kids at one of our favorite places, the McDonalds Play Place. They are such a sweet trio and they play so well together at the play place. What a cute looking trio.

These are some pictures of us walking out to one of our local lighthouses. The kids had fun as the waves were splashing up on the pier rocks. Daddy actually got quite wet from a big splash. I love walking out by the water as it is always a way to reconnect with the awesome power of God for me. Today was no different. I am truly in awe of the creator of Lake Michigan. His works are truly wonderful and magnificent.

On Saturday we went to a place about 15 miles south of us to pick blueberries. Blueberries grow very well in this area of Michigan as the soil is quite sandy and acidic. So man y people get out to pick their own berries. We had a great time! The kids ate many more then they picked. Luke actually ended up with an empty bucket which was strange as I saw him picking the berries. I mad a pie last night with our blueberries. YUMMY!

I hope to post a pregnancy picture soon, so you can track my increasing girth. God Bless you all! Love, Crystal

Hello all! That is what little girl's are made of right? We are excited to announce we are having a little baby girl!!!! Today we had our 20 week ultrasound and we got to see the baby, so fun!! The ultrasound was even 3D and that is the first pregnancy we have had that available. In the picture you can see her head, face and arm up by her face and forehead. Also on her stomach and chest is her umbilical cord. To the right side of her arm looks like a big lump or pillow. That is the placenta. For those of you who like statistics, here is a little fact for you. The chances of having three girls in a row( biologically, of course) are 1 in 8. But that is from the beginning. Each individual pregnancy is is still 50/50. Kelly's brother Kirk and his wife Suzi have four boys that are all biological. So their odds from the beginning were 1 in 16. So out of 8 families only one would have three daughters in a row. That one is us : ) I can't wait to watch chick flicks, drink tea and shop with my girls. Don't worry about Luke, we are certain God wants us to adopt again. I think I am quite excited now for Luke to have a brother from Liberia. That will be a cool bond for them. So God has worked in his way. Let me introduce you to our third daughter, HOPE. Her middle name is still being debated between Mommy and Daddy. Our hope is in Christ and we thank him for Hope is being Fearfully and Wonderfully made!!! God Bless you all and Please pray for HOPE : ) Love, Crystal

Hello All! We left last Thursday for a camping trip to one of my favorite places in the world. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park was our destination. The weather was perfect!! We enjoyed fun time with our friends the Alsum family and Grandma and Granddad Briden. We went tubing down the Platte River, climbed the Sleeping Bear Dunes and of course enjoyed many smores. A favorite stop of ours also was Cherry Republic. This area of Michigan is known for it's cherry production, it is the top producer of tart cherries in the nation. Tart cherries are used in pies, jam, jelly and juice. I love cherries, especially chocolate covered!! Cherry Republic has become a favorite stop when in Northern Michigan. Their motto is Life, Liberty, Beaches and Pie, couldn't have said it better myself. http://www.cherryrepublic.com/

We thoroughly enjoyed our time together with all. The weather was perfect with no rain to speak of. Which is nice when you are tent camping. We even managed to take a tubing trip down the Platte river which empties into Lake Michigan. (http://www.canoemichigan.com/) The Platte River was very warm and nicely shallow. The perfect combination when tubing with 6 kids under 7 years old : ) The picture at the top of this post is of our family on the top of the Sleeping Bear dune climb. Yahoo, we made it!! It was quite a climb and all three walked up and down all by themselves.

Grandma and Granddad Briden stayed in a cabin. Well, it was more like a wooden storage shed. It was cute and I believe they really enjoyed it. We really enjoyed having them camp with us!!

I am excited to report that I will have my ultrasound for Baby Briden on July 19th. Hopefully we will be able to see if we need newborn baby blue or if we pull out the cute pink clothes again. We are thrilled either way, boy or girl. We are thankful to have another blessing added to our family. God is good to us!!

Next weekend we head to Traverse City for a MAFP (Michigan Academy of Family Physicians) conference Kelly will attend. We will be staying at a hotel right on Traverse City's West Bay. Mommy is excited because we can wake up and go to the beach for the morning after breakfast. We are all excited to see the fireworks on the fourth of July over the Bay. God Bless you all and Happy Independence Day!!!!! Love, Crystal