{ long overdue }

Happy 2012!  Guess it's a little late for New Year's greetings, but considering that this is my first post of the new year, I'm a little behind.  My major resolution for 2012 was/is to be more intentional with my time and my focus, and for better or worse, this blog has been a casualty of that decision.

In order to bring some sort of order to this stream of consciousness update, I'll make it a list.  Let's go with seven on Sunday.

1.  In case you're not from around here, they are calling this winter the Best.Winter.Ever. because of the mild temperatures and lack of snow.  Personally I really craved a good long deep freeze where we were forced to stay inside and watch movies and drink hot chocolate, but alas, that never happened.  Instead, we escaped any significant snowfall and pretty much went about life as usual.  And today, with it's new daylight savings time schedule, feels like full-on spring to me. I'm going to have to give up my dreams of a repeat Snowmageddon.  Maybe next year.

2.  In other news, Hannah got new wheels:

3.  There's not too much to report on the adoption front, other than our continued wait.  We have officially been "active" for about 3 1/2 months, which feels like years, but in reality is still very early in the process.  We did finish a family video profile, which is viewable on our agency's website, and hopefully will make an impact on any potential birth mothers who are considering us.  I feel like the last 10 months of my life have been one big interview process.  We are praying specifically for some kind of news about a match this month.  Will you join us?

4.  Even though the weather has been mild this winter, we still haven't found much time to travel to be with family.  We were blessed a couple of weeks ago to catch up with my sister in law and niece at a high show choir competition that both of our local schools were competing in.  Hannah and her cousin Kendall had a great time!

5.  One really fun project I've been able to help out with this winter is the launch of a new company called YogUm's.  I truly believe that God puts people in your life for a specific reason, and I especially feel that way about how he's connected me with the owner of YogUm's.  I've been able to help her out with a website and some other techy-type stuff, but have definitely gained a friend for life in the process.  YogUm's are super delicious and a great snack for kids (and me!) and I wish Louanne and her company amazing success.  Pray with me that the Lord would bless this endeavor for her and for Lifesong for Orphans, which is supported through her sales.  

6.  Speaking of lifelong friends....  Hannah's first babysitter, from when she was VERY small, is getting married next month and Hannah is going to be the flower girl in the wedding.  We are so happy for Marqui and Jordan - they are just awesome.  So another fun winter project has been working with them on their wedding invitations.  Hannah's flower girl dress arrived last night, and when she tried it on, Brian broke down in tears.  He said that he just knows he's going to picture her as a four year old in that flower girl dress on her own wedding day.  It will come before we know it.

7.  Considering the length of time since my last post, 7 things shouldn't be that hard to come up with.  But, dinner is almost ready and there's lots to do to get ready for the week, so I'll wrap it up!  Have a great week, everybody!

{ christmas week: our whirlwind missouri tour! }

Christmas week is always a big roadtrip week for us.
Thankfully both of our families at least live in the same state.
We traveled to Brian's family farm first for the Kurz Christmas.
Hannah had a great time visiting with her cousins, as always.

We took the highly anticipated/dreaded Christmas PJ pictures.
You never know if this is going to start an epic meltdown or not.
Thankfully, this year went fairly well.

Then I tried to push the envelope a little and get a family photo compliments of my tripod and self timer.

The next morning, the girls took a trip to St. Louis to see Beauty and the Beast at the Fox Theater.
It had been at least 10 years since I'd been to the Fox and I forgot how beautiful it is.
The girls loved the show for the most part, and it was fun getting dressed up for the theater.

That night, we attended a wedding for my cousin, Peter and his bride Anna.
Peter is a marine and his spring schedule got rearranged somehow, so a wedding that was supposed to happen in May got pushed up to December, with about 3 weeks notice.
It was beautiful nonetheless, and of course I failed to take pictures.

We stayed at my parents house that night and the next day, and attended Christmas Eve services with them.

Then it was back to the Kurz Farm for some extended family Christmas time.
I had the girls help me make some Christmas Candle salads for old time's sake.
They were part of Meemaw's Christmas table every year, so we made them in her honor.

After dinner, there was the infamous Christmas Stocking, where lucky family members get a turn in the "hot seat" to be roasted for the dumb things they did throughout the year.
We were blessed this year to have the Soggy Bottom boys join us for an impromptu performance.
I decided to press my luck and request another family photo via self timer, and it worked out okay!
We wrapped up the night with some card games and musical specials by Hannah and the cousins.

{ christmas season: week 3 }

We are really fortunate to have a great group of young families at our church.
We have enjoyed getting together with them and their kids this year.
For Christmas, we invited the group to come over for a potluck dinner.
We wrapped gifts for our adopted family and took the kids Christmas caroling in Gridley.

I love this time of year and all of the fun mail.  I know sending snail mail isn't so popular these days, but I love getting Christmas cards!

I also missed taking pictures of our trip to the Illinois Symphony this week.
I was very excited to go hear their Christmas Pops concert.  I thought Hannah would love it.
Well, it may have been the 8pm start time that did us in, but we didn't last past intermission.
The music was beautiful, but I might give it a couple of years before I try that again.
Next year, I might go alone. :)

{ christmas season: week 2 }

Week 2 of our Christmas season was mainly focused on Hannah's birthday.
We did manage to get a couple of Christmas activities in, though.

My sisters came over to wish Hannah a Happy Birthday and brought this awesome cake.

We also did a little baking and crafting.
I love cutout sugar cookies, but holy smokes is that a lot of work.
The rolo-pretzel-m&m treats were a little more manageable.

{ christmas season: week 1 }

I guess I'd better document December before January starts!
We really enjoyed the Christmas season, even though it seemed to race past in a crazy blur.

We had fun with our Elf on the Shelf, Scoutie, during his first tour of duty at our home.
Hannah played by the rules and was especially concerned that no one touch him.
He occasionally came bearing notes telling us what Christmas activity we needed to complete that day.
It took a little bit of planning ahead, but it helped keep me on track as far as getting all the Christmas baking and crafts done.  Plus, Hannah loved having a daily "mission" from Scoutie.

We got a chance to ride on the Polar Express at the beginning of the month.
The Monticello Railway does a reenactment of the Polar Express book, and all the kids get to ride the train in their jammies.  It was pretty fun!  Hannah especially loved singing The Twelve Days of Christmas with all of the train passengers.  She was in charge of "5 Golden Rings" and she sang it loud and proud.
Hannah got to visit Santa at State Farm, which is always nice.
They decorate the atrium for photo ops and have gifts for all the kids.

When it came time to sit on Santa's lap, though, Hannah acted as if she had NO idea what he was going to ask her.
She gave him this confused look for a couple of minutes and then told him that she'd get back to him.

We wrapped up the first week of Christmas with the decorating of the gingerbread house.
This is one tradition that we've been pretty good about remembering.
I just buy the cheap-o kit at the supermarket, but it's perfect for us.

More Christmas season recap to come!

{ four! }

Hannah turned four this weekend and I can hardly believe it.

Four hit me a lot harder than I expected it would.

She's not so much a toddler anymore.

She's a little girl, growing up more and more every day.

I wanted to capture a little bit of this "four-ness", so here's a little birthday interview with Hannah:

Happy Birthday, Hannah!  How old are you?  Four
What makes you happy?  When you tickle me and snuggle me.
What is your favorite animal?  Cat. (WHAT???  This has got to be wrong...)
What is your favorite thing to eat?  Macaroni and Cheese
What is your least favorite thing to eat?  Peppers and Onions
What is your favorite thing to do?  Snuggle with you!!!
What is your favorite TV show? Team Umizoomi and Little Einsteins
What are you really good at?  Computer games on NickJr and PBS Kids
What is your favorite movie?  Cars and Cars 2
What is your favorite color? Pink and Purple
What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Who is your best friend? Aubrey and Emerson
What do you and your mom do together?  Play!!
What do you and your dad do together? Play Hide and Seek.
Where is your favorite place to go?  Noodles and Company and the Children's Museum
What is your favorite book?  Good Night Moon

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Mommy.

Hannah's birthday day was full of fun surprises, like waking up to balloons in her room and having monkey bread for breakfast.  Her G-Ma and Papa-D-Kurz came up to visit the birthday girl, too, which was a great gift!!

   

We held Hannah's party at the gymnastics gym.  She was very excited to play with her friends!

 

She did a great job blowing out her candles!

Hannah was so excited that so many of her friends from school and church could join her for her party.
It really was a great group of kids.  (Very well behaved and great manners!)
Thanks, too, to all the parents who gave up their Saturday afternoon to hang out at a birthday party!

Our little birthday girl!!!

(Thanks, Catie, for making me take the family photo...
I hate doing it at the time, but I will be glad we have this!)

What a fun day!

We really do have a lot to celebrate.  It has been a great four years.

Hannah truly is a gift in our lives and we are thankful that we get to be her parents.

{ our december guest }

{ a great reminder }



{ adoption progress! }

So many of you have been so kind to ask how things are going.

Truthfully, things are going well.  Slowly but surely, we are getting closer to bringing home another baby Kurz.

We crossed another hurdle last week as our home study and supporting documentation was reviewed and approved by our placing agency.  Praise God!

The only thing left for us to do is put the finishing touches on our "Family Profile", 

which is what will be shared with birthmothers during their decision process.

We are aiming to complete that this weekend.

And then?.......

We wait.

We are humbled by the number of you who have asked how you can support us in this process.

First and foremost, we covet your prayers.

It has been a long road to get to this point, through cancer, infertility, miscarriage....

We trust that He who has brought us to this point will see us through according to His plan.

In a tangible sense, adoption in the United States can cost, on average, between $25-$35K.

By God's grace, we have been able to pay the initial $15,000.

The remaining amount, which we estimate will be between $10-$15k, is certainly money that we don't have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him.

Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously set up a fundraising account for us to raise funds.  

If you would like to be a part of this journey, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and December 6 to the address below.  Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on our behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Kurz #2385 Adoption” in the memo section of your check.

(*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.)

2. Mail checks to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Att: Kurz #2385 Adoption

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you for your prayers and support!

I look forward to providing updates as we have them, and celebrating with all of you when our baby comes home!

{ welcome fall, officially }

We've been acting like it's fall around here for a couple of weeks already.

But this past week, it officially became fall.

Brian and I went to a conference in Minnesota over the weekend,
and the trees along the way were already starting to change.  

A little preview of things to come here in the upcoming weeks.

 

The conference was one we'd been looking forward to all year:  Desiring God National Conference.

It's John Piper's organization, but he has several speakers join him each year.

This year, we were particularly excited to hear David Platt.

The weekend did not disappoint.  We were challenged, convicted, encouraged, and ultimately changed.

The theme was titled "Finish the Mission" and it was about bringing the gospel to unreached people groups.

It's hard to transition back into "normal" life after thinking on things like taking Christ to unreached tribes in Papua New Guinea or to militant cells in North Africa.
I think that's good, though.
We shouldn't be so disengaged that we can flip a switch and pretend we don't know.
I would encourage you to go and listen to any or all of the messages given this weekend.

 

Hannah stayed behind at home with my mom and dad, who were very gracious to come up for the weekend.  It was nice to have a weekend away, and we enjoyed being in Minneapolis.

Two nights away from my girl is a stretch for me, though,
so when we got home late on Sunday night I was very happy to see her.
~+~+~+~+~

Monday night began a new women's volleyball league for me.

I haven't played too much in the last couple of years, so I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

Hannah came to watch my game and sat with Aunt Kristi.

Afterwards, Kristi asked Hannah if she liked watching her mommy play volleyball.

Hannah said, "Yeah, but she still lost."

Which is true.  We did lose.  But it was still good to be on the court.

 

Today was Hannah's preschool field trip to the local pumpkin patch.

That place keeps getting better every year.

We had a good time, despite the dreary day.

I would love to go back when it's not rainy and 50 degrees.

And thus concludes my randomly constructed blog post.
Sorry for the choppy narrative.  It's getting late.
 Have a great week!

Happy Fall!

{ happy birthday, mr. kurz }

Happy birthday to my dear hubby.
32 years young. :)

There's no time like a birthday to take a stroll down memory lane, and I hope you enjoy this trip.
I thought I'd share just a few of the pictures that I love the most.

I didn't know you when you looked like this, but I sure am glad that I was in His plan for you even then.
(I love that you and Brad are almost holding hands in this picture.  Almost.)

 

You were pretty cute.  You and your clone both were.  Love the overalls.

(Have I mentioned that the gift of these photos from your mom was probably one of the best gifts I've ever gotten).

 

I'll bet you two were a handful.  Holy smokes.
I love your bright blue eyes and your happy smiles.

 

I love the camouflage shirt you rocked on your sixth birthday....

 

And the Cardinals shirt your sported in nearly every other photo from that 5 year span...

 

I love that I know you well enough to know that you were saying something smart to your brother in this picture, just to get under his skin.  Probably something about how excited you were to be the commencement  speaker?  HA!

 

I love that I have photographic evidence of the infamous red wind pants.

And I also love that this photo is the ONLY remaining evidence of them.

(Hi sweet Kelly & Kimmie...you two were so tiny!)

Today, on your birthday, I want you to know how much I love the man you've grown up to be.
I love the father that you are to our daughter, and the patient and strong husband you are to me.
Hannah and I are pretty lucky to have you.
I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

{ random }

I've been looking back at what all has gone on since my last post, and truly it's been a great week.

We finally got news that our background clearances have come through, and so it's only about a week until our Foster Home License will be complete.  (That's a required step for Illinois home studies...)

That means we just have to get our family profile completed, and we can become active with the agency!

Unfortunately this week is pretty busy, but I'm hoping we can work some on our profile this weekend.

I'd love to get it submitted by the end of September, but that may be a tad unrealistic.

Another big thing I have been "waiting" on was the implementation of our church website, 

a project that I've been working on for the last 5 or so months.  

The actual design work didn't take that long, but for whatever reason the effort just really seemed to drag on.

The design/photos/writing wasn't that difficult, but the technical transition aspect of taking the old site down and launching the new one was pretty crazy for me.  I learned a LOT.  

And, now that I can look back, I am thankful I had the opportunity.  

You can check out the site here:  www.1stu.org

We used a template company for the site, which certainly won't win me any street cred with the web developers I work with at my day job.  I joked with a friend today that the only thing that would have made it more shameful in their eyes would be if I had used site-wide Comic Sans font. :)

But honestly, glad for the opportunity and glad to have it implemented.

On Friday night, Hannah and I took dinner to some neighbors. 

One of the things I love most about our little town is that people help each other here.

We've experienced it a lot, through Brian's cancer, Hannah's very early arrival, Brian's heart trouble....

People here just care about each other and like to reach out when there's someone who could use a hand.
And though I'm generally pretty socially awkward in those situations, 

I can make a darn good peanut butter pie.  So that's what we did.
We fixed a dinner, delivered it via Radio Flyer, and then went to the football game.
I love Fridays.

Saturday was the long awaited Morton Pumpkin Festival.
Our annual trip is one of my very favorite days of the year.
We got there in time for the parade and stayed all day... riding rides, eating pumpkin treats, and browsing crafts.

In the afternoon, our high school performed in the marching band competition in the same town, so we headed over in time to see them compete.  They are small in number, but really do a great job.

That's a credible endorsement coming from a 12 year band nerd.

(All the way through college, baby.)

 

Following the band competition, we decided to make one last stop at the Pumpkin Festival to pick up some treats to go.  Alas, they were sold out of nearly everything by that time, but we still got to sample 

the amazing pumpkin soft serve ice cream.  Wow, was it good.

And, just so you know, this photo is un-retouched.  That is the actual color of Brian's face after 7 hours in the sun.

Finally, I mentioned in my last post that I had some fall recipes to try over the weekend,
and I did get around to two.

Both were great - 

Monster Crunch (Not really "cooking", but here's the recipe nonetheless.  Great for tailgating)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Made these last night for bible study and they were devoured by all).

Have a great week!