Update on Ryan

Hi there,

I just wanted to pop in and give everyone a little update on Ryan. Ryan contiunes daily to make improvements. God's hands have truly been at work. Ryan has been speaking in full sentences, and the other day he sang one of his favorite praise and worship songs. (How awesome is that?) He also was able to sit up in a chair! Kalyn is doing much better since her surgery.

We have a major prayer request. Ryan will be undergoing surgery tomorrow to replace the flap of his skull that was removed after the accident to relieve the swelling in his brain. He will be in ICU for a couple of days afterwards. Once he has fully recovered from the surgery tomorrow, he then will be able to go to the Shepherd Center. Please contiune to lift up Ryan and the entire Klimek family.

On a side note, we would like to thank everyone who has purchased the Pray...Believe shirt. People from all over the country have been ordering them. We've sent shirts to Georgia, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois, Indiana, California, and Nevada. We are blown away by your support! There are still plenty of shirts left, and all proceeds go to the Klimek family. You can purchase shirts HERE

2012

Hi bloggy world,

We are back! We hope your 2012 is off to a great start! I know we are a month behind, but we wanted to share some of our goals for the new year.

Our goals for Shine Love...
* give back to missions
* grow our online business
* do a few local craft shows
* be consistent bloggers

Crystal's goals...
* take sewing lessons to learn how to make my own clothes
* volunteer
* join a club
* study a new language

Ashley's goals...
* learn to sew
* go to Guatemala with Mission Firefly
* cook more
* serve and give more in all areas of her life

What are some of your goals? It's not to late to get started on it, and you still have 11 months left to accopmplish it.

Pray...Believe

Ryan and Kalyn on their wedding day Oct 2011
Courtesy of Amy P Photography

Hello friends... It's been a while since our last post (it's one of our New Year's resolutions to be better bloggers), and a lot has been going in our lives that we will catch you up on in the upcoming blog posts... But first, we wanted to ask you to join us in our new mission for our friends Ryan and Kalyn. Ryan and Kalyn were in a horrible accident on January 15, 2012 in which Ryan suffered from a brain injury. He is thankfully on the road to recovery. While he and Kalyn will be without work for a while for the recovery process, we would like for you to join us in helping lift the financial burden. In honor of Ryan's tattoos on each of his wrists, we have a created a replica t-shirt design of those tattoos for purchase in which all the proceeds will be donated to the Klimek family. You can purchase those t-shirts in our Store.Thank you for your support in advance, please continue to pray for Ryan, Kalyn, and their entire family!

Courtesy of Amy P Photography

Kalyn being as cute as always and Ryan being the Ryan we know and love!

I found this pic and couldn't resist posting it. Ryan went to the beach with us back in 2006
and he and Kaitlin were best buds on the trip! 

Pray...Believe T-Shirts
Design is a replica of Ryan's tattoos on each his his wrists
Thanks Kristen and Zach!!

Quilt

Ashley asked me to make a queen size quilt for Kaitlin's new bedroom. I told her I was up for the challenge, but made it clear that I had never made anything bigger than a baby blanket! We went shopping for fabric. Kaitlin wanted something that looked vintage, and it must have peace signs.

I cut a lot of squares....a lot!

Laying out all the pieces.

Ready to basted together, and then it was ready to be quilted.

I had a lot of fabric scraps, so I decided to make matching pillows.

The finished front side.

Close up of the front side

A view of the back of the quilt.

Two matching pillows

I think it looks great in Kait's new room!

So colorful!

Not to shabby for my first quilt! For now I'll stick to making baby blankets...they are much easier. I hope you like it!

Weekend Photos

Hello! I just wanted to share some snapshots from my weekend. On Saturday I did a little thrifting. Since Ashley is on bed rest, I've been picking up some things for Baby Brynn's nursery. I got this painting, and we have a special project in mind for it.

Later in the afternoon we went to a birthday celebration. Meg's sweet baby girl turned one!

 
Look at all those presents!

On Sunday I went shopping for my bridesmaid dress. My brother is getting married in February!! While I waited on the other girls to select their dresses, I tried on this little number. I felt like a cupcake.

Don't worry this is not the dress I selected, but I just wanted to play dress up!

Hope you all have a lovely week!

Shine Love

Crystal



Bye Bye Year 1.... Hello, Lakin's TWO!

We just celebrated the 2nd birthday of the fun and exciting little guy in our lives, Lakin! We went with a semi-Dr Seuss theme for the party along the lines of "Thing 1, Thing 2." It was certainly fun and it was his first party where he invited more than just family... his little friends too! How exciting! Here are some snap shots of the day. We can't wait to see what year 2 of this little guy's life holds for us and we can't wait to see how much he grows in the process!



Shine love!!

- Ashley

God Blessed Me with Kait!!

Hi there!! Ashley here... And this is my first official blog post, and I know Crystal is SO proud! I wanted to take a walk back in time and share a little about my family history.... I've often joked, even since I became pregnant with my son and now that I am pregnant again, that God knew I wanted 3 babies but He knew I could only handle 2 pregnancies. (Because the first 16-20 weeks, I am SICK SICK SICK. And now I am on total bed rest at 30 weeks pregnant) So God blessed me with a sweet little "pre-made" family back in 2004, and our little family became official in 2007. Kaitlin is my husband, Kevin's, biological daughter, as his wife and Kaitlin's mom passed away with breast cancer when Kaitlin was just 2. We have been family friends since about 1998 and I was there when Kaitlin was born and watched her grow into a little toddler. God threw a curve ball and now Kevin and I are happily married and the best of friends and I am blessed beyond words to be Kaitlin's mom here on earth. I was also blessed to have been close to Kaitlin's mom as she was like a "big sister" to not only me, but to Crystal also.  So Kevin and I have been together since Kaitlin was 2 1/2 years old, and I often times have to literally remind myself that I didn't physically give birth to this precious child because she is so much like my own! I love her to pieces, and she is my girl.... She is growing up so fast as she is entering the 4th grade here in 1 week and changing EVERYDAY! I am so thankful for God's love story that He blessed me with and that our family is growing and we couldn't be happier. Here are a few pictures from the past couple years of Kaitlin...

Kaitlin holding her brother, Lakin, for the first time (2009)

Kaitlin, Winter 2010, courtesy Ashlee Cooper Photography

Lakin kissing Sis, which isn't often :) Courtesy Ashlee Cooper Photography

Daddy and Kait, Courtesy Ashlee Cooper Photography

Me and Kait, Courtesy Ashlee Cooper Photography

Kaitlin, 2011

Shine Love!!