We miss you Daddy and Timmy, come home soon!!!

Love, the Stateside BUNCH

Hello All! We are still waiting for some good news in terms of our adoption. We should have news soon, but right now that feels like an eternity. Please continue to pray for Kelly and Timothy as they are so ready to complete this process. I see now why God doesn't give you all the facts before you acting obedience. If we had known we definitely wouldn't have done it. Like Joseph and his dreams, we believe we know the end ( he knew his brothers would bow to him). We are hopeful Timothy will make is to us, but God has used this to stretch our patience, Faith and reliance on him. Joseph was sold into slavery, falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned. I am trying to be positive, we are all safe and healthy, just waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please pray for God to move a mountain as far as our adoption of Timothy. Thank you in advance for your prayers we really appreciate it : ) Trusting in Him~ Crystal

Hello All! If you are in Michigan please watch this video about Proposal 2. We do not need to fund human embryonic stem cell research. Our economy in Michigan is already a mess, please no tax increases!!!!

"HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS THAT PERCHES IN THE SOUL" Emily Dickinson

Tonight I have hope, that Timothy will come home, that we will get more news tomorrow and that my hope is in GOD alone!!! God is so good not to tell us what we will go through in the process of being obedient to him. If we had known this adoption would have these twists and turns we most likely wouldn't have done it. Please continue to pray for our family. Kelly has been gone since the 5th of September and to say he is missed is a HUGE understatement. I think separation is good for a marriage now and then. I have realized how much Kelly does around this house to make my job easier. He is an excellent father and husband!!!!!! I am glad though that God has taught me through this to rely on him. He alone has gotten me through some hard days without my "better half". I keep asking myself, "What is one persons life worth to God?" The response I here from my creator "Alot, I died for you. Each life means that much to me." So for now our family is separated by many miles. But Timothy's life is worth that and so much more to our family. More importantly his life is precious to God!!!! I will post news as soon as I here more. For now please pray for Timmy and Kelly to be on a plane ASAP!!!! Love ~ Crystal

Hello All! Please pray for our adoption. We had a dark day yesterday, but God is good!!! God opened my eyes to the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44. Even on the darkest days God is still working and he alone will be glorified!!! We are trusting in him and encouraged with some news from Kelly today. I believe God is hearing and answering our prayers for our son, Timothy. Please also pray for Me and the kids at home as we want both of them home soon. We praise God for all he has done, is doing and will do in our adoption of Timothy. I also believe during separation you really truly appreciate what a awesome spouse you have and how much they are missed!!!!!!!!! Kelly you are 1 in a million : ) You will always have my love and my deepest respect~ Trusting HIM~ Crystal

PS~ I will blog more when I have more solid information : )

Hello All! Today my sweetheart, Faith turns five. It is hard to believe that five years ago I was holding all 8 pounds 13 oz. of her wrapped in a pink baby blanket with matching pink beanie on her perfectly shaped head. She has been a joy from the beginning, she is a natural encourager. Not a day goes by that she doesn't tell me that I am a good Mommy. She loves the color green, cats, all kinds of fruit, polly pockets, dancing, singing, and even coffee. God willing Faith will do great things for Him. She has a way of asserting herself and she doesn't take much from anyone. Let me put it this way, I don't worry often about her being bullied. She is tough, but tender; a "tom boy", yet she loves to wear dresses any chance she can. She is just plain fun and funny. Happy Birthday my Sweet Fay Mae, we love you soooooooo much!!!!! Happy Birthday as well to Uncle Rick, he and Faith share this special day. Have a good day little brother : )

PS~ No Visa yet for Timothy. Please keep us in your prayers. We know God is in control and working. His timing is perfect. For now we wait as God once again teaches me patience and delayed gratification: ) ( I thought I learned that lesson, I guess not : )

Hello All! Please meet our son, Timothy : ) Please pray he and Daddy will be on a plane back home this Friday. Friday is Faith's birthday, 5 years old. What a great B-day gift, a cute little brother!!!! Hope and Timothy are very close in size as you can see in the picture and so sweet together. I can't wait for them to see each other again soon. Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement!!! In Him~ Crystal

Hello All! I am back from our trip to get little Timothy. He is doing great and my trip went very well. Hope tagged along with Daddy and I. Our trip was to Africa and it was several long flights. Hope did wonderful!!!! She started crawling and cruising just in time to be forced to sit on my lap on the plane for too looong. She was so happy to meet her big little brother. They are both very close in size and loved playing together. Timothy is 1 1/2 years old and a real sweetheart. Hope and I left Kelly and Timothy this past Sunday and flew back home. I will not be able to post many specifics until the adoption is complete. Thanks for the prayers and support from you all. I felt the prayers especially as Hope and I flew the last leg of our journey into Detroit. I knew she was ready to have a Nuclear meltdown, but she held until we were safely in the car driving home. Please continue to pray for Kelly and Timothy. Our hope is they will be home real soon : ) God Bless, Crystal

Hello All! This weekend we celebrated my birthday, 33!! My birthday is later this week, but we will be leaving to go get Timmy so we partied before the big day. We enjoyed Red Lobster, Grandma Briden's carrot cake (that she made especially for me) and one of the best gifts I have ever received. It was a book compiled by Granddad Briden of the first year of "The Briden Bunch". He took on the painstaking task of printing all my posts (pictures included) from December 2006 to December 2007 and bringing it all together into a neat book which he printed for me. What a thoughtful gift!!! Thank you Grandma and Granddad for the special family keepsake. You two are the best, I love you!!! For my birthday this year I am off to bring our fifth baby home. That is Kelly's gift to me as well as of course, God's. He is the only one who adds children to a family. God has had this gift in the works for quite awhile. I am humbled at how he plans his plans are so creative, What a great gift, both my hubby and my God are so good to me : ) So Cheers, I am glad to have had 33 years!!!!

Hello All! Tomorrow is the end to summer for us here in Michigan. School will be back in full swing at 8:15 am in the morning. I had to post these cute photos of the girls and their soccer gear. They are playing soccer this fall and both are very excited!!! The sad part is with our adoption that Daddy will miss much of the action. He will be away for a few weeks and bring baby Timmy home, but will miss the soccer fun. Here they are my big soccer girls. I know, I know I am now a "Soccer Mom" : )

Hello All! I can't believe by next week this time school will be in full swing again. Summer always flies by way to fast. My days were filled with watching all four of our kids, swinging, playing and laughing the long lazy days away. I will not lie I will miss them each so much. But, I am so glad they each love school and learning so much. Grace will be in first grade, Faith a big kindergartner and LL Miniman (as he is known to us- "Ladies Love The Mini Man") is thrilled to become a "BIG" pre-schooler. He has been asking for his backpack for a whole year now. Luke is READY!!!!

Our adoption is progressing and we hope to soon be traveling to get our son. We are not able to blog about the specifics of where, when, or how. Please pray for us as we will go on airplanes and appear in court far away from home. That is very exciting for us all !!! The challenging part is to miss our kids back at home. I will be blogging about the trip and not publishing the posts until our adoption is complete. When our little man is tucked in at his new home with his new family, sharing his new room with his big brother I will publish the saved posts. Please pray specifically for traveling mercies, safety of the kids left behind at home and sanity, energy, and strength for Grandma and Granddad Briden our special live in nannies : ) There may be a time when my posts seem strange or are slow in coming, be patient, please. I will return to the blogosphere.

People have asked me recently "What are you going to do during the three afternoons a week while Luke and the girls are in school?" I answer, "We're adding another child to our family, it will help my job security." Next week I am privileged to get to see our children experience many firsts. The whole family is excited to get to see our son, baby Tim, experience many firsts real soon. I am off to bed after starting to get the house ready to run smoothly while Daddy and I are absent. Please pray for us all!!!!! Blessings to you and yours~

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 is Hope and her first "girlfriend". I can't get over how they look so similar. They could easily be sisters, but one is a year old and the other is eight months. It is so sweet to watch babies eye one another and engage the other. Let's see who can tell me is Hope on the left or the right? HINT: Scroll down and compare Hope's picture from the other day : ) Love, Crystal

Hello All! I am sorry to report that I forgot the memory card for my camera while we were away at my dad's cottage on Lake Huron. The photos of our fun there will have to wait. We had a great time in spite of the rain. We love our family from the "East side" of the state : )







Grace has become a monkey this summer. She loves swinging on the monkey bars anywhere and everywhere. This was all inspired by cousin Maddi. Maddi was so good at the monkey bars, it made Grace want to try it. Here is Miss Grace tonight on the monkey bars. She even asked as I went to get the camera, "Mommy, can you put me on the blog doing the monkey bars?" Here you are Grace at your request. You are such a sweetheart heart Gracie Goo Goo : )

















































Hope is getting too big!!! As I was snapping pictures of her I was realizing she is going to be nine months before I know it. She is a joy, with her big BLUE eyes and million dollar smile. She is so patient and flexible, as long as Mommy is there that is. We went out to eat to buffet with Grandma and Granddad Briden. She sat in her high chair the whole time and played with a napkin and a drinking straw. Thank God for the fourth child that is relaxed and pliable. She has been nursing now exclusively for 8 1/2 months. She had some rice cereal the other day she didn't spit out, so most likely more solids are in her future. For the worried "introduce solids early" crowd, don't worry!! Hope is over 20 pounds now on Mommy's milk alone : )

We are enjoying our family so much and honestly it gets easier as we grow in numbers. The kids entertain each other, help me with chores, bring me things when I am nursing and overall help me with their siblings. We can't wait to add our next son. What fun it will be to be a family of seven. But, for now we enjoy each day to the fullest as a family of six. Please pray for our adoption and specifically for some correspondence from USCIS in Detroit. Thanks and God be with you all- Crystal

Hello All! We are happily off on a mini-vacation tomorrow. We will head over to the east side of the state, the side yours truly grew up on. Growing up my father's (Grandpa B)parents had a cottage on Lake Huron. I spent the summers there, swimming like a fish, basking in the sun, enjoying my grandparents and giggling at everything. (well come on that is what little girls do : ) I am excited because tomorrow I return to a place forever cherished in my memories, our family cottage on the beaches of the "Sunrise" side of our beautiful state. Grandpa B, Uncle Rick and Aunt Kristin, Aunt Heather and her sons, The Sweebe boys will all be there. What fun we are sure to have. I'm sure there will be hot dogs on the grill, ice cream in Tawas and bonfires with sticky smores. I am so thankful that I had a place like this growing up to enjoy. I am excited to once again watch my children's reaction to literally living on the beach. I will post photos upon our return. Please pray for our adoption as an important folder of documents left in the mail today, we are asking God to give it safe passage to our new son's home country. With that I will sign out of the blogosphere for another fun family time. Blessings to you all- Crystal

Hello All! I just wanted to announce that we are paper pregnant. Frustratingly for me I can't relay any of the details in the blogosphere. But, we are able to share that we are adopting. We are so excited and can't wait to add our second son to the family. God is so good to us and we praise him for his amazing grace. Our new son's name will be Timothy . We love the name Timothy and who he was in the bible. (I also had a Tim save my life once, but I digress : ) I am sharing all this because we may going away for awhile to bring the little guy home to "The Bunch". I will let you know the moment he is in Michigan in my arms : ) Please be in prayer for us and little baby Tim. God Bless you today- Crystal

PS: If you know how and where we are adopting from and through, please do not mention that on the blog. If you want to chat email me @ thebridenbunch@yahoo.com