With Friends...

Amongst everything that my family is going through right now...I was able to slip away for a few hours and go to church this morning (which was well needed and wanted). Our friends Raemi and Janelle were in town for a wedding that was at our church this weekend!! It was sooo GREAT to see them. We didn't get to spend alot of time with them but we were able to go to lunch after church today!
In the picture is: Myself, Sarah, Janelle, Venita, and Raemi!
Love you guys!!

Update...

Today has been one of the most stressful and emotional days. I got a call at work this morning that my Dad's heart stopped for 8 seconds. All the Dr's and Nurses came running in there to check on him. I guess Dad was sleeping and he said that he was kinda dizzy and it was like he was trying to pull himself out of his sleep but couldn't really. Then everything was 'fine' again....and it happened again this afternoon that his heart stopped again for 7 seconds. After the second time, they decided that he was going to have to have a pacemaker put in. So he went in for surgery this evening and they installed the pacemaker. It has been so hard on me not to be able to be there with him, but thankfully all the rest of my family was there with him. I talked to Dad several times today but especially right before he went in for surgery and Dad was crying (Dad never cries)....so of course I started crying. The surgery took a little over 2 hours. They had a little trouble connecting the wire but they had no complications. So Dad is doing better. Thank God!! As of right now, if they can get him stablized...he "might" get to go home tomorrow...assuming that everything is going okay. I talked to my sister a few minutes ago (1am) and she said that the since the surgery took longer than expected that Dad felt all the tugs and pulls and everything from the surgery. He is in a lot of pain.

I also got a call this morning...they rushed my grandma (she is 89) to the Emergency Room. They have given her less than 24 hours to live. At the nursing home this morning, they let her sleep in as they sometimes do, and at 10:00 they went to wake her up and she was not responding. They rushed her to the ER...and come to find out she has bleeding on the brain, pneumonia, and 101 fever. I have been at the hospital most of the day today and she is not responding. She did open her eyes at one point but they were very glazed over. When we would talk to her, her heart rate would go up a little bit. So she knows we're there whether she can talk or respond or not.

Thank You everyone for your prayers....We can definitely feel them and feel God's love and peace wrapped around us.

Prayer Request

Late Christmas night...on my way home from St. Louis I got a call that they were taking my Dad to the Hospital. He wasn't feeling good and he had shortness of breath. He has heart issues, so it concerned us that it could be that. His blood pressure was high and his heart pulse kept going down. It had gotten down to 40. So they decided to take him in. As of today he is still in the hospital (in St. Louis). Thankfully his heart pulse numbers have gone back up...but they still aren't letting him go home until they get everything under control. When they do let him go home he has to go directly to his doctor here and he can't drive home to KC. Please pray that everything will go back to normal.

Christmas in St. Louis!

We had Christmas in St. Louis this year because my brother in law and sister couldn't get off but 1 day. We had alot of fun!! The kids were hilarious when they opened their presents! The looks were priceless! Mom and Dad weren't feeling good all day but overall we had a great time together!! I had to go back to KC on Christmas night so I could work on Wednesday...so that was a bummer. Everyone was playing games when I left. lol That night before I had to leave we went to this Winter Wonderland and it was amazing!!! It was a park and they had over 1 MILLION Christmas lights! It was AWESOME!!! Then we went to this house that was totally decked out...and the Christmas lights danced to the music on the radio!! It was awesome!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I truly LOVE Christmas!! It is one of my most FAVORITE times of the year!!! All the festivities, the lights, the SNOW, music, decorations, putting up the tree, spending time with family and friends, making memories, and everything else that goes with the season. I LOVE every minute of it!! But not only all of this...we must remember the true meaning of Christmas...Jesus Christ!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!!! Love you all!

What It Meant...

Last Thursday at work, I had to make 2 Police Department runs to get some Police Reports for my job. Anytime during the Christmas Season I always try to make a point to tell people, not Happy Holidays, but 'Merry Christmas!'. Afterall, Christmas is what it is...So, after I received the police reports, I told the lady 'Thank You!' and 'Merry Christmas!' She stopped, looked at me and smiled, and said "Thank You...I think that is the first time I've heard that this year." I stopped and couldn't believe that was the first time this whole month that she has heard that. I looked at her and truly meant what I said, "I hope you have a VERY Merry Christmas!!" She smiled again and said, "Thank You...Thank You So Much!!!" And she just continued to smile and just stand there until I left.
That meant so much to me...just to think that I possibly could have made her entire day. She truly was thankful to have heard someone say "Merry Christmas!". And even more so...gave a whole new meaning to this Christmas Season.

My Birthday!!

So, I celebrated ALL weekend long!! LOL Thursday night Mom and Dad took me out to dinner to Cinzettis....one of the best Italian restaurants ever!!! It was sooo good!! :) Then Friday night after choir practice Kacey threw a party for me at her apartment! It was so much fun just getting to hang out!! I ended up staying the night with Kacey that night....and it ended up snowing alot! It was sooo beautiful!!! I loved having a WHITE birthday!! :) After ensemble practice on Saturday evening some friends and I went Ice-Skating! None of us knew how to skate but we had sooo much fun!!! Venita, Michelle, and Sarah decided they were going to embarrass the daylights out of me...they whipped out 2 different hats and told me I HAD to wear it on the rink. LOL They are insane...and no I didn't wear it! lol It was already embarrassing enough having to stand there in front of all these random people. We were laughing so hard! And yes...I fell not once, but twice! LOL It was hilarious! We were laughing so hard we couldn't hardly get up off the ice! The poor guy that worked there kept coming over asking if we were okay! haha We were literally numb by the time we left because we were on the ice for 2 1/2 hours! lol Then we went to The Cheesecake Factory afterwards...so I didn't even get home till 2:30am! lol Needless to say I only got 3 hours of sleep for church today! ha Then today, we went out to eat with a couple of friends. It's been a wonderful birthday and one I will never forget!!! Thank You to all of you that helped make it special! :) Love you all!
(You can click the "x" on the music and it will let you view the pictures more.)

Ice Storm

For the past week we have been having some crazy weather! We were iced in all last weekend. We got some snow...then it started icing and its been raining. The rain finally stopped today but the roads were pretty slippery! There are about 20,000 or more people without electricity just in the KC area....way more than that throughout the state. Here are a few pictures from today.

NYC Pictures

I finally got the NYC pictures posted!!! Sorry it has taken so long!!! To see the pictures....you will need to scroll down to the blog "Thanksgiving in New York City". There are 3 different slideshows. Have Fun!!! :)

The Perfect Winter Day...

So, this weekend was the Perfect Winter weekend...especially today. Although I was completely bummed out that they cancelled church due to all the ice. :( But...it felt so much like Christmas today. We got up and we had our annual Father/Daughters trip to the grocery store. Yep, we were there for 2 hours! LOL We usually go closer to Christmas but we're going to be in St. Louis at my sisters house for Christmas so we went today instead. Then when we got home, Dad made a big pot of Chili. YUM!!! He makes the BEST chili ever! :) Then my sister and I baked alot of Christmas goodies and delivered them to the neighbors. We also had some friends over and we had so much fun!!! We laughed and laughed until we were crying! lol The weather was crazy....the roads were icy, it was about 19-20 degrees outside and you could smell the fireplaces burning outside. It was perfect! *sigh* I LOVE Christmas time!!! :)

It's SNOWING!!!

I absolutely LOVE snow!!! :) It started this morning while we were at work and we got about 2 inches! This isn't very much snow compared to what we usually get but I'll take it! :) It really felt like Christmas today! :) This is our first official snow that has actually stuck. :) Anyways, Mom and I went Christmas Shopping today and we had alot of fun! Before we went shopping...Mom took some pictures of me! ha

Surprise Visit to New Orleans!! :)

So this weekend I made a surprise visit to New Orleans for Lori's Bridal Shower at her church. It was a blast!! I flew in Friday afternoon and went and helped Lacey decorate then we surprised Lori at her apartment (at the Christmas party they were having)! It was hilarious and her expression was priceless!! I also met some other great people!! :) I am SO thankful that I got to go down...it was an absolute amazing weekend!! :)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!

This was one of the most awesome things ever!!! There were about 3 MILLION people there for the parade. And I completely believe it. We could not even move there were so many people there. And we had to hold our cameras up in the air to get any pictures. We took a couple of pictures to show the crowd. It was craziness but a experience of a lifetime!! We are so glad we got to go!! :) We can mark that one off the list! haha Enjoy the pictures!

Thanksgiving in New York City!!!

So, Myself and 3 other friends (Sarah, Melodie, and Venita) decided that we were going to go to New York City for Thanksgiving this year!! WE had a BLAST!!! This was one of the greatest trips ever!!! We had soo much fun! We got to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Not even gonna lie...it was amazing!!! We did TONS of stuff! We walked the city for about 12 hours everyday for 4 days...so we were pretty exhausted at the end of each day. We went to Times Square, Central Park, took a carriage ride through Central Park (it was amazing), went to Madame Traussads Wax Museum, Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building, Madison and Fifth Avenues, Tiffany's, China Town, Little Italy, Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, World Trade Center Memorial Site, Serendipity, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Madison Square, Union Square, Rockefeller Center, Had a Charmin Experience (LOL)...long story... and we saw sooo much more!!! It was a great time!! We got to stay in an apartment...and it was amazing! *Sigh* I love NYC!!!

The first set of pictures is from when we got there Wednesday night, Thursday after the Parade, Times Square, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and taking a Carriage Ride through Central Park!!

This set of pictures is from when we went to Bloomingdales, Macys, Herald Square, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center Plaza (we were going to go ice skating but we ran out of time), Back to Central Park, and Madison Square Gardens.

This last set of pictures is a combination of our last two days. We went to Ground Zero...to the Memorial Site, China Town, Little Italy, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal, Tiffany's, and Madison Avenue (where all the big Christmas decorated shops are).

Photo Shoot

Today, my sister Robyn wanted to take the kids Christmas pictures for their Christmas cards. So we went out and I took about 160 pictures!!! We had SOOOO much fun!! The kids were hilarious and Katelyn (the youngest) was a complete ham!!! Hope you enjoy the pics as much as we have! :)

Our Thanksgiving Weekend!

So, our family celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend since everybody is going different ways next week. My sister and her family came in from St. Louis and surprised my Mom! It was cool...she had NO clue they were coming in! lol We put up our Christmas tree today! Yay!! My nieces and nephew (Ashlyn, Todd, and Katelyn) helped us decorate the tree this year! Yay! It was soo much fun! We had the Christmas music blaring and everything! It was awesome! This time of year is so amazing!! Then we had Thanksgiving dinner and my Aunt and Uncle, and my Cousin Paulette and her family all came over for dinner. YUM!!!! Thanksgiving dinner is the BEST! :)

SO Excited!!

I am SOOO excited about next week!!!! Myself and 3 other friends are headed to NEW YORK for Thanksgiving!!!! :) It is going to be a BLAST!!!! I'll be sure and keep everyone posted on our trip!! We leave next Wednesday! :)

Gotta love these moments...

So today, Pastor Gleason was preaching and he did a phenominal job as usual! He was closing and he had just asked us to stand. He was telling a story about how he had called out to God. It was one of those really deep moments and it was really quiet. God was really moving and working on people. So Pastor was telling this story and he called out (in a shouting voice) "GOD!!!!" and this little kid goes, "WHAT?!!!!". HAHA It was SOOOOO funny....the whole church literally BUST out laughing! Pastor just started laughing so hard. But it was one of those moments where you had to laugh. But Pastor pulled it back together and God moved in the rest of the service. But it was hilarious!!! We haven't had a crazy moment like that in a while...but ya gotta love 'em! Guess thats why they say..."Out of the mouths of babes!" haha

"United" Hayride '07

Saturday night, United (TLC's Singles Group) went on a Hayride. It was sooo much fun! We had about 33 people there and it was a blast!!! We also had a great time sitting around the fire and singing! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Lori's Bridal Shower

This Weekend was SO much fun!! Friday night, my friend Melodie drove in from Arkansas. And Lori flew in from Louisiana. We all met in St Joe and spent the night in a hotel and just stayed up forever talking. We had a blast! She is getting married in January!! :) So, Saturday morning we had a Bridal Shower for Lori here in Kansas City! It was a blast! We also went to her personal shower. Here are a few pictures from the Bridal Shower. Enjoy!

Passing the Mantle Conference '07

Ok.....so Passing the Mantle Conference.....was AMAZING.... Not even gonna lie!!! It started Thursday night and Pastor preached...and it was more geared to the "younger generation". But it was amazing and he of course did a really good job. Friday night....worship was out of this crazy world. IT ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After service, we hosted "The Feast"...for singles Ages 18-36. It went really good and we had almost 40 people come! Saturday night worship was also amazing...sang a new song..."Redeemed"..It was awesome! And right after worship and before Gateway ensemble sang..Pastor had everyone the age of 30 and younger to come up to the altar area and all the ministers went to the platform and prayed for everyone...that the mantle would be passed to us....and that we would receive it and commit ourselves to working for God. It was an amazing moment. There was about 200 or more that went up there. Today, was amazing. There were tons of people that got healed. For worship we sang, "Praises", "All For Love" which was amazing, and another one...and Gateway chorale sang a couple of songs. The service was awesome. In the middle of the preaching Bro Stoneking said that he felt he needed to pray for the sick. And that was the end of the sermon...it just broke out into a big altar call. There was an AMAZING touch of the power of God that just fell in that place!!!! This was an amazing moment and I will NEVER forget this weekend!

***These pictures are all that I got....there will be more to come as I gather some from other people!***

Weekend in Tennessee!

This weekend, I was able to go spend the weekend with one of my best friends, Jennifer! We had alot of fun and had some very relaxing time together! :) Friday night after I flew into Nashville we went to the Opryland Hotel. WOW!!! It is absolutely amazing! If you are ever in Nashville....you have to go see this hotel....it is a must!!! lol It was like a mall and a forest all in one!! haha Then we saw the Opry House and walked around there for a little while. We had quite the adventure back to her house! ha It was a pretty long drive and we kept "seeing" things....so we thought! haha Glad we made it there safe! Saturday we slept in a little bit and ate at Chic-fil-A.....YUM!!! We don't have those here in Kansas City. Then we took a drive up into the Smokey Mountains! WOW! It was sooo beautiful!!!! This weekend was the first of their peak season! The colors were so vibrant and amazing!!! I think we even crossed the North Carolina border in the mountains!! LOL We were so relaxed on the drive back down the mountains that we were getting very sleepy! ha Sunday, we went to church then drove back to Nashville to catch the flight. Before we went to the airport we went to Centennial Park...which was also beautiful!! I had a great time and am so thankful for Jennifer! She is one of the best!!! Love you sis!!

Surprise!

So, our friend Venita turned 30 this past January. And she made the statement that she was going to celebrate all year long! lol So, her sister Michelle threw a Surprise Birthday Party for her! LOL So, last night, we celebrated her 9th month of being 30! haha

Leaving for Africa...

Monday, October 1st..brought many tears. Both happy and sad tears. The Cantrells left for Africa....for 1 year...doing Missions work. I am so happy for them but I was so sad to see them go. They are now there and getting settled in. I miss them soooooo much. I love you guys. This was one of the hardest things ever. We were all bawling at the airport. But I know great things are going to come of them being there and I can't wait to hear about it!! (These pictures are a collection of their last week in the States).

General Conference '07, Tampa Florida

This past week I was able to go to General Conference!! It was in Tampa, Florida. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!! The services were amazing and we saw TONS of people that we knew...and met knew friends as well!! Between Linda and I we had over 500 pictures! haha So I'm obviously not going to put them all up but here are alot of them! I am so glad I got to go. We were able to go to Clearwater Beach one morning, while we were there. It was amazing!! The sand was just so soft and white. Enjoy the pics!

Sad Day...

So, today was one of the saddest days of my life. Not even gonna lie. I don't even know where to start. The Cantrell family is leaving for Africa...for a year. For those of you that don't know them, they are a family in our church. But they are more than this to me. This is my family. I have known them since I grew up in the youth group and have always been close to them...but even more so now that I am an adult. My emotions have been and are very mixed. I am sooo incredibly happy and excited for them and completely sad all at the same time. I am estatic for them because I know they are completely in God's will and I know that great things are going to come out of this! I can't wait to hear all of the stories and things that God is doing over in Africa while they are there. I am going to miss them sooo much. I don't know what I'm going to do. We were always together, always doing something.

Ken and Gin: Where do I begin? You guys have seen me at my worst and at my best. You have seen me in the lowest of the lowest of valleys and you encouraged me. You have watched me grow in Him and doing things my dreams never imagined. You have always been there for me. Thank you for your love, your support, your prayers, and your friendship. Ken, you've always called me your other daughter. Gin, sometimes we have a mother day and sometimes daughter days. lol

Jonathon: *Sigh* My brother and best friend. What am I going to do without you? Who am I going to cruise the city with listening to Michael Buble and a little jazz mix? Walk in the park, heart to heart talks on the front porch, going to church, praying in the altar, taking stupid crazy pictures...lol The list can go on forever. I feel like I should be going with you guys because it doesn't seem right that we have to all be apart for so long. I know I could tell you anything and no matter what it is, you would always be there for me.

Jen: We have been friends since we were like 12. I know we haven't been able to do as much together over the last couple of years...but I love you just the same. You are always so sweet and always want to have fun! I love having heart to heart talks with you. Who am I gonna bring in the New Year with? lol

So, now that I am completely sobbing, I need to go grab a kleenex. lol I know the year will go by quick...I just want you guys to know that I love you soooo much!!!! And I miss you already...trying to remind myself its only a year....its not forever!!!! And can't wait to hear what God is doing in the good ole Safari land! Have fun with your family this week and I'll see you as soon as we get back from General Conference. I miss you already!

Love you
Always,
Kris

PS...Pictures to come...

TLC Missions Conference 2007

This past weekend, we had our annual Missions Conference at church. It was amazing!! We had alot of people that dressed up! We had different booths representing different regions of the world and had different food in each region. It was awesome! And we had a awesome turnout!!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Royals vs. Yankees

So, tonight I went to the Royals Game. I was so excited! I really could care less about ball games but I like to watch them every once and awhile. I have NEVER been to a Pro Ball Game before but have been wanting to go for a LONG time! We had SOOO much fun!!! The Yankees won by 1 point! We didn't end up getting any pics of us at the game. :( Maybe next time! There were fireworks after the game too! They were amazing! That is the best view of fireworks I have ever had in my life! It was awesome!!! Enjoy the pics!

Wedding Shopping with Lori!!!

So, my friend Lori is in town and we went Wedding Shopping yesterday!!! We had sooo much fun!!!! We went to David's Bridal and she tried on wedding dresses and I tried on bridesmaids dresses! It was a blast!!!

Labor Day Weekend, Part 3

Monday was amazing!!! Christina, Jonathon, and I went to Union Station and Crown Center..we had so much fun!!! We were there for forever....but we just hung out and chilled, ate lunch, and just did whatever we wanted! It was awesome!!! Then that night, my friend Aundi was in town from Louisiana, So Kacey and the rest of us all went out for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory! YUM!!! It was a great weekend!!

Labor Day Weekend, Part 2

On Saturday night of Labor Day Weekend, Sarah and I went to dinner at The Mango Room and then went to a play. The restaurant was awesome!! We had Fried Green Tomatoes for our appetizer and had an awesome dinner!! The play was a little disappointing but it was fun to hang out!
...More pictures to come...

Labor Day Weekend, Part 1

I had a great Labor Day Weekend! Sarah and I were supposed to go to St. Louis for the weekend, but with my foot the way it is (it's getting better) and Sarah had some things come up, we decided not to go. Sooo...Friday night, I decided to go up to the Cantrells (my second family) and just hang out, and I ended up staying there that night. Saturday morning, we got up and hung out. We went to this cool farm and on the way there, we had a picture fest in the car! haha We had a blast!!! I'm going to miss them so bad! They move to Africa in like 3 weeks. I love you guys!

I fainted!!!

So, Saturday evening my sister, Darla, and I were having a couple of friends over for dinner and we decided to grill out. YUM! Well, we had gone up and down our back porch steps several times messing with the grill and taking stuff in and out. Well, Darla was messing with the grill trying to get the flames up and going and I was standing there talking to her (on the top step) and out of nowhere the steps just collapsed!!! Yes, while I was ON them! So I'm screaming as I'm falling flat out. I tried to get up and couldn't. Darla was also trying to help me get up but I couldn't hardly move. Then she saw my foot and it had immediately bruised and it was black and blue. It was HUGE!!! It looked like someone placed a boiled egg on my foot!! So we finally managed to get myself up off the ground and hopped back up to the house level. I was just sitting there but I felt queezy. So, Darla went and got me a glass of water and turned the fan on. When she got back and gave me the water, I fainted on her!!! So down I go again!! Good thing it was from the sitting position that time! So Darla finally woke me up and when I 'came back too' I couldn't figure out why Darla was yelling my name and why I was in her lap and everything. lol So she laid me out on the floor and then I was okay. Whew! So, now I'm just hopping along everywhere because it's hard to walk. Especially with a big ole bandage on it. Anyway, thank God it wasn't any worse than it is. I'm probably going to go to the Dr tomorrow just to make sure I didn't fracture anything. If you see the picture...you can tell where the whole top and part of the side of my foot is one big bruise! Ouch!! It looks tons better than what it did!

**UPDATE** September 7, 2007- My foot is doing alot better. The pain has reduced and the swelling has gone down even more! I thought I was going to have crutches, but thankfully not! Thank God its getting better! Can't wait till its all the way better!!