fun,family,friends!!!!

Ok, i know this is a bit last minute for all of you to make it, but i thought i'd share it anyhow!! Tomorrow, Saturday, January 30th, our friends and church family are holding an adoption fundraiser dinner for our family!!! It is from 4:30-7:30 at Bismarck Community Church-1617 Michigan Ave Bis, ND 58504.....Along with dinner, there will be a childrens adopt-a-pet, music, fun, and fellowship...come one...come all...hope to see you there!!( and if from out of town, or state, try allegiant!!! Ha, like you all wanna come to ND!!- i mean at least we are above zero!!) Also, tonight is an exciting night for some friends in town, we are going to the airport late, to join in welcoming them and their sweet girl home from ethiopia!! What an exciting day for them and their family!!! Check out their blog at www.willadopt.blogspot.com!! For the last couple of days, I find myself watching other peoples "gotcha day" videos, and can't wait till it's us...ok, so i can wait, but not patiently:) have a super fun weekend!! xo kristen

best days of my life......

sundays... nothing better than going to church,lunch with family,a little bit of target shopping,and dinner with family again!! Ok, i shouldn't say nothing better, because what would be better is if i had our two boys home with us also. You know, it's amazing how our family has already fallen head over heals for these two handsome little boys!! We continue to gaze at their little faces, pray that each one is safe and being loved on(even though i wish it were I!!), and trying to imagine, come summer, how different our lives will be...forever! I can hardly wait to hear their voices, watch the kiddos play with each other, and experience so many exciting firsts with them!! Oh, and right now there are a few families from our agency in Ethiopia, and today we received an e-mail that one of our little guys was loving on her, and is quite a little talker and cuddle-bug...So thank you Jen for loving on them and sending us updates...we love it!! Now onto my silly ones here....tomorrow is miss kates 100th day of school....BIG DAY for her, we made cupcakes, and had to buy 100 of one item!! Guess what she chose??? BUBBLEGUM!! I know, what a surprise!! So a fun day in store for her!! Mr. Grant is a bit disappointed since, now that he is a 1st grader, they no longer celebrate this special day!! Only 80 some more days left of school...yay!!!!!! however, as i am writing this, he is having much fun,the jettub is overflowing with bubbles, and he is having a grand ole time!!! Oh, and since we can't share pics of the boys yet, i thought i would let you in on their names...i'd rather refer to them by name instead of saying "the adoption", and they obviously have names already which will be their middle names at some point....so i would like to introduce to you...(drum roll please)....... Gabe__________ Gilliss and Will_____________ Gilliss, cute huh?? Stay tuned for their big time introduction!!!! love and be loved xo kristen

sweet times:)

Happy tuesday!! what a fun weekend we all had...the boys had a few days for just the boys, they went to red lodge,MT for our youth group ski trip...and oh my, mr. G didn't even want to come home, he had a blast snowboarding for the very first time, which means kasey snowboarded for the first time also.....such fun for the boys!!! Although i missed my boys, kate and I had an equally fun time at home...she had a friend spend the night, we rented girl movies(5 yr. old style!!)painted our nails, pretended to be in Hawaii,and ate lots of yummy snacks!!!Now on with our week...school,church,dr. appts. and hopefully more warm weather days(30 Degrees that is!!)What an exciting day for our friends here in town, today they accepted a referral of a sweet 2 yr. old boy!!!yay for their family!!!! And hopefully we are able to travel around the same time..wouldn't that be great?? So, just think, 3 sweet boys, all in the same orphanage,coming to the same city, and living quite nearby...how comforting and fun will that be!!!! So, you ask, what next?? Well, today we received our referral acceptance packet in the mail, which will be filled out and returned quickly!!!( like i said before, we accepted the referral via phone and small form..now on to the more lengthy forms!!)Our paperwork should be in ET within the next couple of weeks, and the boys will hopefully be moved into the care center soon also!! As blessed as i feel these boys will be to have a forever family, i feel equally blessed as well... xo kristen

what a week.....

Wow..what a crazy few days!! There has been much excitement at our house...the kids are now kissing their pictures on the fridge..totally sweet but making a good slobbery mess..ha!! While laying the kids down tonight, we were praying and visiting about the boys, talking about who will share bedrooms,deciding which sizes they probably wear..etc...and it came to me that A & T have no idea we are their family, no idea we love them so much already, and even bigger and better...that they will soon be BROTHERS!!!! I've never thought of it that way...I hope soon, that they will realize that they aren't only little friends to eachother, but will be brothers forever....how nice will it be to have such a familiar face. Ok, so on a different note, we have been doctoring with our little man, something quite not right with his left kidney, and would love it if you would include him in your prayers.... what a mix of emotions we've had!!!
xo kristen
love and be loved

Oh, what a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay for referrals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, we got a referral!!! And now i can't take my eyes off of these two sweet boys!!!!! It is truly amazing at how close i feel to them, although they are a world away...they are beyond precious, both three years of age(approx.), beautiful little faces i could totally just eat up, and while gazing at them continuously, can't help but thinking of how each of them felt, standing there, ready to have their picture taken,wondering if they too, would ever be going home to their forever family.....and that forever family is US!!!!! The kids' reaction were both so sweet yet different, kate not quite sure at having two more brothers, but yet so thrilled to be a big sis!!! Grant, immediately flashed that sweet smile,and said
"are they ours??" How excited we all are, and just think, those boys have absolutely no idea, that this family in America, let alone North Dakota, are staring at their cute faces, calling them brother,son,cousin,grandson....oh, how i wish they knew how much we already love them...sending hugs and kisses their way!!! Xo kristen

MUST-SEE!!!!!

I've seen this video on a few different blogs, and to be completely honest, by-passed it, until this evening....wow,this is a MUST SEE!!! Again, this video just puts to rest my feelings of doubt,impatience,fear,and worries... i mean,how could i look the other way, knowing how many children DON'T have families,moving from place to place, not knowing who if anyone loves them...aaaahh..how sad, and to think, that just today, i questioned this decision we've made,NOT because we don't have room,food,LOVE,support,family to call their own.....but simply because of money,how crazy is that?? How could i say nope, not doing it, just because we don't have the $$ upfront to pay for the remaining fees? That's IT, that's the only thing that would stop me from doing this,how horrible is that, and you know what else, think of how many others would like to adopt,and the only thing holding them back is money... and what if we all just said no, no to these sweet children that need homes,families,hugs and kisses.....And really, how many people actually have the money available and on-hand? Isn't this part of the journey??(i choose to think so!!) Grab a kleenex or two and enjoy the video!! xo kristen