Craig Hearts Kristi

Halloween

2010-11-02T21:51:00.001-07:00

The Skeleton Family

Carving pumpkins. I think I set a world record... 2 pumpkins gutted and carved... 45 minutes.

Ready for trick-or-treating... in the rain.

Scary Savannah!

Soaking wet Justin after trick-or-treating in a down pore! He was a great sport in spite of the rain but ended up having more fun handing out candy at home.

Here, There, and Everywhere . . .

2010-10-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

We've had some fun and exciting times over the past several weeks. Savannah started 1st grade, Craig conquered LOTOJA (206 mile bike race), Justin is potty-training, and Kristi organized the primary program and has been doing a lot of running. Life has been a blast!

Savannah finished another stellar soccer season, started her singing lessons again, and is also participating in a local musical production. Craig and Kristi had a phenomenal trip to the Bahamas and enjoyed the beach, the resort, and some time without the kiddos!! Craig's done a lot of business travelling lately. He's been from Chile to Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan. Justin started gymastics and is quite the little acrobat.

Here are a few photos that tell the story . . .

Savannah's a tough little soccer player

Savannah & Justin at Park City trip

Craig rode over 2,000 miles on his bike this summer

Kristi & Savannah looking happy @ Cascade Springs

We cruised the Bahamas by scooter...crazy traffic!

Happy 6th Birthday Savannah!

2010-09-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Savannah's 6 birthday by taking her horseback riding. We thought she would enjoy it since she loves animals and she says she wants to work on a farm when she grows up. We all had a great time!

Later that night we celebrated with a "Rock Star" themed party. Savannah treated us all to a few karaoke numbers, followed by a pinata, and then cake and ice cream. I can't believe my little girl is already 6. I've loved every minute of her life and am so thankful I was chosen to be her mom.

Family Portraits (compliments of PhotoBooth)

2010-07-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

I love summer!

2010-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... summertime! I love it! We have had a great summer so far. Well, actually it started off a little rough with Justin falling out of a fire truck on Memorial Day and breaking his collar bone, but since then it has been great. We've been swimming, bowling, zooing, camping, boating and in the middle of all that I squeezed in a quick trip to Alaska with my sister Lynne followed by a trip to Washington DC for me and Craig. Fun, fun, fun! Meanwhile we are staying active. We are both training for a half marathon coming up next month and Craig is training for a 206 mile bike race in September. I'll blame all of this busyness on why I cannot seem to find time to update this blog! Just know if I haven't posted in a while it's because were out having fun.

Justin's first boat ride. He was a bit nervous at first but quickly warmed up.
Kristi with her parents at the Anchorage temple.
Savannah participated in a youth choir. She loves any chance to sing and perform.
Justin with our gorilla friend at the zoo.
It's a tradition to take pictures with this gorilla each time we go to the zoo. I should have the kids name him. He looks like a Bruno to me.
Throwing rocks into the river.
Justin's collarbone brace. He called it his "backpack". He had to wear it for 3 weeks and now is back to normal and just as active as ever.
Savannah's first race. She ran 1 mile in 10 min 24 sec. She might have been able to do it faster but I was trying to keep up. I think (and hope) she has inherited some good running genes from her birthmother.
Bowling as a family. Fun for all, except for Justin when it wasn't Justin's turn.
Justin practicing "superman arms" in swim lessons.
Savannah practicing her back float in swim lessons.
Kristi in Alaska, visiting her parents and brothers.
A wet family!
Craig and I were able to go to a Washington Nationals game while in DC. Craig was excited to see Stephen Strasburg pitch. I was excited for a cold drink and hot dog!
Justin is a maniac in the water. We tried water wings on him for the first time and he loves them! (I love them too... no more yanks on my swimsuit straps!)
Craig, my hot stuff, and the Washington Monument.
Me & Craig at the Supreme Court building.
Savannah made the best s'more ever.
Justin and cousin Luke. I love this picture because it looks like they are getting along when in reality Justin is always hitting Luke. They play well together but Justin likes to cheapshot Luke. I'll be happy when Justin grows out of this stage!
My sweet boys.

What's Been Going On At Our House...

2010-05-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Savannah's kindergarten class had "practice eating school lunch" day.

Savannah participating in the neighborhood spring parade.

Justin was trying so hard to figure out those peddles he would not look up at the camera. He loves his new bike!

I could not resist! This was Savannah's temple dress. It wouldn't button in the back but otherwise I think it fits pretty good. Justin kept pulling at the sleeves saying "I don't like it!". I don't think Craig is going to either.

Savannah broke her arm falling off of a swing. She will have her cast on for two more weeks. She is getting lots of attention from her cast and she loves it!

Justin was getting too big for his toddler bed so I switched him to a big boy bed. But now he looks so small in his big bed!

Spring Break

2010-04-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday - Easter & General Conference... egg hunt, easter baskets, sticky buns, and ham dinner.
Monday - Drive to Idaho to visit cousins. Go to Dog Museum.
Tuesday - 3 hours at bounce houses. Drive back to Utah.
Wednesday - Swimming
Thursday - Zoo!
Friday - Clark Planetarium and IMax movie
Saturday - Savannah attends birthday party, Justin sick with fever, Craig and Kristi do projects at home

I have to admit, at the end of this week I am tired! We played hard all week. I am behind in laundry and really need to go grocery shopping but am so glad we all took the week off to play. I have loved having Savannah home from school. This makes me really excited for lazy summer days.

Bubble Bath

2010-04-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

I told Savannah and Justin they could turn on the jets in my bathtub after we washed their hair and bodies. Look at what happened! WOW! I wasn't quite expecting that many bubbles! I had to give them a bath just to get them out of the bath.

Now they want to do this every time they take a bath.

Disneyland

2010-03-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

We just returned from a fun family vacation to Disneyland. We had a great time! Savannah's favorite rides were Soarin' Over California and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Justin's favorites were the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the
Carribean. My (Kristi's) favorite parts were watching Savannah's and Justin's faces on the rides and the corndogs. Craig's favorite part was seeing how brave Savannah was on the "scary" rides.

I set the goal to take the family to Disneyland each year we have a 5 year old but I don't think I'll be able to wait another 3 years until Justin turns 5!!! The last time I was at Disneyland was on my honeymoon, 10.5 years ago. I remembered it being fun but it is way more fun with kids!

Daddy Daughter Date

2010-02-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Craig took Savannah out for a Daddy daughter date. They decided on going to a nail salon to have Savannah's nails painted. Savannah is girly through and through and loved every minute of her first mani/pedi experience. I'm excited about having a new pedicure buddy!

Christmas pictures

2010-01-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Throughout the season we enjoyed watching Christmas movies (especially Polar Express and The Grinch), checked out lots of Christmas lights, Savannah and Kristi went to the Nutcracker Ballet and we all had more than our fair share of cookies and candies. Christmas morning we were able to sleep in a little bit. The kids woke up at 7:30 and rushed down stairs to see what Santa had brought... a karaoke machine for Savannah and a train for Justin. We all enjoyed our traditional Christmas breakfast of sticky buns and egg souffle. We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house with most of Craig's siblings and families.

I (Kristi) got a new camera for Christmas... and hadn't yet figured out all the settings so some of the pictures are poor. (Of all days to have a camera acting up!) But here are some of the photos of Christmas 2009.

Halloween Photos

2009-11-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

2009-11-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hello, Kristi and I are thrilled to have an opportunity to share a little bit about ourselves with you through this letter. We thank you for taking a look at our profile. But most importantly, we express sincere gratitude to you for considering adoption for your baby. We can only imagine the difficult process that this must be for you and commend you for your strength. Having adopted our daughter, Savannah, some 5 years ago, we can also express to you with first-hand experience that if you decide to place your baby for adoption it would be an incredible miracle for the adoptive parents you choose. We view our daughter’s birth mother as a hero and an angel.

We have had a very successful and healthy relationship with Savannah’s birth mother. We understand how special and unique the relationship is with birth parents. We are very open to fulfilling the needs of birth parents in terms of communication, visits, letters, photos, gifts, or anything else that would help the relationship be what it should be so that everyone is comfortable. If there’s one thing that you can be rest assured of, it is that you will never be forgotten by our family or your baby.

Kristi and I have been married for over 10 years now and are fortunate to have two wonderful kids; Savannah age 5 and Justin age 2. Both are miracle babies to us. Savannah was adopted and Justin arrived through a successful in-vitro procedure. We are an active and happy family. We enjoy doing things together, taking trips, going to ball games, camping, riding ATVs, wrestling, and jumping on the bed, to name a few of our favorites.

I’m not sure what I did to deserve such a remarkable wife. Kristi is my best friend. She’s loving, kind, and considerate. She also sports a quick wit and stellar sense of humor which has made my life with her a delightfully fun experience. Kristi’s also passionate and determined to fulfill goals and live life to its fullest. After Justin was born, she decided to take up running as a way to get into shape. Before we knew it, she set the goal to run a marathon – yeah, that’s 26.2 miles on foot! With no previous experience in long distant running, I thought this was a pretty audacious goal. (Especially since I considered myself the athlete in the family and I haven’t run one!) With a lot of hard work, commitment, and many miles on the road, she completed her first marathon in April 2009. Not even six months later she conquered a second marathon.

Kristi approaches family and motherhood with even greater dedication than running (or anything else). She is absolutely a fantastic mother. What impresses me most about her is that she’s able to develop a very strong and personal bond with each child. She works hard to know exactly what the kids need and strives to make them happy. Something I love about Kristi is the time she takes to make Savannah and Justin laugh. It doesn’t matter how tired she is or how long the day has been, she’ll play, tickle, and tease with the kids until they laugh themselves to tears.

From Kristi… Craig and I met on a blind date set up by my sisters and we kind of hit it off from the start. I am so glad my sisters set us up because I really love Craig. I’ve known him for 12 years now and love him more than ever. He really is my best friend no matter how cliché that sounds.

Craig is a natural born leader, which has helped him to succeed through sports, school, and now his career. He is very outgoing and good at developing and keeping relationships. It seems like everywhere we go he runs into someone he knows from somewhere. He’s also a sports fanatic, who grew up playing baseball, basketball, football, or anything else with a ball. He still plays a lot sports to this day and has recently taken up cycling and triathlons. Craig is a great provider for our family. He is a hard worker and takes pride in what he does to make sure he does his best. He has worked at the same company for over 10 years and has been given some great opportunities, including a work assignment, which moved us to Mexico City for two years.

Something that was obvious to me as soon as I met Craig was that he was going to make a great father. He is really sweet with children and loves to be around them. He has had a super close bond to Savannah from the day we brought her home. She is a big time “Daddy’s girl” which makes Craig very happy! He is a real hands-on dad and enjoys playtime with the kids. He’ll also spend time reading books, watching movies, wrestling, riding bikes, playing catch, or giving horsey rides…anything to be with the kids and make them happy.

I feel very blessed to be able to stay home with our children. It is what I have always wanted to do. These past five years, since we adopted Savannah, have been the best years of my life. I absolutely love being a mom. I didn’t think life could get any better but then we were able to have Justin join our family. He is a very happy and active little boy. I love the relationship between Savannah and Justin. She is very mothering to him and loves to help take care of him. She will sit and “read” to him and they both love it. Justin loves to wrestle and thinks that anyone who is lying on the floor is initiating a wrestling match. I know I have been abundantly blessed in my life. As Craig mentioned, we view both of our children as miracles. It is my hope that we can have one more miracle happen in our family with the addition of a child.

Back to Craig… Kristi and I both come from healthy and vibrant families. Kristi is the 5th of 7 children; with four sisters and two brothers. I am the oldest of 5 boys in my family. Our children have no problem finding a cousin to play with, as there are 22 grandchildren on Kristi’s side and 7 on my side…so far. We have a great relationship with our siblings and their children and get together often. Grandmas and Grandpas also play an important role in our kids’ lives and both sets of grandparents are wonderful examples to the entire family.

Adoption has already been an incredible blessing in our life. We know that life is a miracle and that somehow and in some way the Lord is able to place the right children in the right home at the right time. It is impossible to describe the love we have for Savannah and Justin. It is our sincerest hope that we will have the opportunity to provide this same love to another child. What’s more, Savannah and Justin would enjoy nothing more than to share their lives with another brother or sister.

We wish you the very best throughout your pregnancy and through all of the upcoming endeavors of your life. May the Lord bless you with all that you stand in need of and much more.

Sincerely,
Craig & Kristi

Family Photos

2009-10-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

Approved! Welcome to our blog.

2009-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Craig and Kristi's adoption blog. We appreciate you taking some time to get to know us a little better. We were approved for adoption through LDS Family Services very recently and so we are still working on how to structure and create content for this blog. Our hope is to share more information about our family, how adoption is part of our life, and why it's so special to us. In the meantime, please click on the slideshow and check out some of the photos we've taken of our family over the years. Our hope is that these photos will do a better job showing you who we are than we could do trying to tell you. More content is sure to come. Please feel free to contact us at craigandkristi@gmail.com.