A Unique Baby Shower

Once Kristen and Jeff found out who their kids were and when they'd be traveling to pick them up, we knew it was shower time! Hannah, Shannon and I decorated with Ethiopian flags to tie in the kids' home country, and we spent a wonderful afternoon dizzy with the realization that little Tigist and Mihiretu would soon be coming home!

We held the shower at our house, and it was a good thing: all these gifts simply had to be carried across the street!

The room was packed with people who love Jeff & Kristen...Tigist and Mihiretu are two very anticipated children!

Good friends celebrating together: Hannah, Tori, Kristen, Shannon, Marisa & Hannah

Kristen took some time to run through the entire adoption story: she shared their journey so far, what little she & Jeff knew about the kids, and what their biggest concerns & needs would likely be once they were initially home. We followed this up with a rich (& emotional!) prayer time over their new little family.

Kristen's heart for adoption very well originates in part from that fact that she herself is adopted. She and her birth mom, Joey, reunited years later (the resemblance between the two is so clear here, with Joey's daughter, Ciana). I am always touched by the poignancy of their story: how amazing that it's now come full circle to Kristen adopting two children of her own.