This past September, my sister & I took a backpacking trip on the Ozark Highlands Trail. We brought my dog Nike along as our guard dog, along with a can of bear spray. The trail is quite long, so we just hiked the first bit of it. Our original plan was to hike about 12 miles a day, covering 36 miles in total.
Author: Lisa Kieklak
Explorer & adventurer - mostly through scratches of ink on a page - I enjoy my husband, our twin boys, our boisterous German shepherd, and strive to live for the glory of God.
#weksfoster {Regroup & Relax}
When our first foster placement left our home earlier this month, we decided to take a short break from fostering. We’ve been snuggling with our boys, soaking up this time with just them, and enjoying an easy life for a while.
2018 Bujo Spreads {Lisa}
I started a brand new bujo last January, which is a fantastic feeling. So much potential!
#weksfoster {Preparing Hearts & Home}
I wrote this post in December, a week before our home was opened & we accepted our first foster care placement.
We (the Kieklaks) are at the tail end of the foster care certification process. We were supposed to have our home open by November 1st, but there was some forgotten paperwork that surfaced after we signed our contract. Now, after the 1st of December, we’ve gotten all the paperwork (actually all of it this time) sent in to DHS and we’re just waiting for approval. Our foster care agency will want us to take another respite care placement before taking a (more) permanent placement.
Kieklak Twins 1st Birthday
For their first birthday, our boys had an airplane-themed party. I wanted to go with a theme that was very easy for cake decorating & minimal on the other decorations, but still cute. I made the boys little individual cakes so they’d each have their own little cake (we’ll see if I continue that tradition, it might be too much work once they have their own opinions and preferences).
I also made a larger cake that was for the rest of the guests, and I used a little toy seaplane for the topper. I saw someone else do something similar and I loved the idea of having a topper that is also a toy so I’m not wasting my money on something I’m only using once.
September-December 2017 Bujo Spreads {Lisa}
Here are the last of my bujo spreads from 2017 – here’s to another year of journaling!
Kieklak Christmas 2017
I’m catching up on blogging our big events for the past couple years, excuse all these adorable baby pictures from our boys’ first Christmas.
Kieklak Thanksgiving 2017
I’ve been pretty lax about posting updates on here, so don’t mind these pictures from Thanksgiving 2017. In the next couple months I’m planning to post updates from the last few years.
Adoption Resources
Adoption is important to both of our families, as caring for orphans is not only a job Christians are charged with, but also a glorious picture of the gospel and our adoption as sons and daughters of God. If you have questions about adoption, have a heart for adoption, or want to grow your love for orphans, one of the best things you can do is get your hands on a copy of Adopted for Life by Russell Moore right now.
Below are links to some of our favorite adoption resources, and we’ll add to this list as we come across things:
The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis & David Cross
Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel – sermon by John Piper
What I Learned About Our Heavenly Father by Being An Adoptive Father
Lisa was interviewed about embryo adoption on a podcast in 2018, here’s the link:
Foster Care Resources
Both of our families plan to pursue foster care in the future. Here are our favorite links about the importance of foster care & how you can get involved and support foster families.
Foster Children Need the Church
Foster Care as the Way of Christ
Four Ways Your Church Can Support Foster and Adoptive Families
10 Simple Ways Your Church Can Serve Foster Families
Wanted: Parents Willing to Get Too Attached
Fighting for Faith in a Fostering Family
Foster Caring: How to care for foster children without becoming a foster parent
Foster Care: An Invitation into an Entirely New Normal
Surprised by Foster Care: 5 Ways It’s Not What I Thought It Would Be