Team World Vision Update

Hey guys, just wanted to give a quick update in case anyone is still reading this blog.  I have surpassed my original goal of $1310 and the race isn't until October.  So now what?  I raised it!  I'm now gunning for $3k!  All it takes is $50 to change 1 persons life forever by providing them with a source of clean, fresh water.  Thanks for your support!  http://www.teamworldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=56295

Is there anybody out there?

Hello all!  Wow, 4 years since our last update.  Looks like we're still getting a few hits on here every once in awhile.  Let me give you the quick rundown on what's happened over the last 4 years.  First of all, we pulled out of the Ethiopia adoption program @ Children's Hope amid all the international adoption turmoil that has occurred and all the bureaucracy (some warranted) that has clogged the international adoption pipelines for potential adopting parents...Let's just say I'm amazed that governments would rather have children languishing in orphanages instead of going to loving homes.  Top that with the fact that the State of Missouri has since decided to not consider international adoption as "Special Needs" thus taking away the state tax credits that families used to be eligible for.  Good Lord, I could go on and on but I digress...

We are doing great!  Marley is currently in Kindergarten and loving it.  She's a very smart little gal (if you don't believe me just ask her, she'll tell you).  Have I mentioned her sass?  Good grief!  She's 6 going on 16.  Can't wait for those teenage years!  She's currently in dance, soccer and t-ball.  She's also my biggest cheerleader at my races.  I can't imagine life without her. 

Our family is doing great!  I started running in January of 2013 and am currently down 120lbs.  I ran my first full marathon in 2014 and a bunch of 1/2 marathons in between.  I'm currently down almost 120 lbs and feeling awesome!  This brings me to my main purpose of this post in an effort to reach those with a heart for Africa.  I am running my 2nd full marathon this October @ the KC Marathon.  This time I have decided to join Team World Vision and run for a great cause.  Every member of Team World Vision has a goal of raising $1310 for clean water in Africa.  Your $50 donation will provide fresh water to 1 person in Africa.  $1310 divided by $50 = 26.2, that means for every mile I run this October, 1 person will get access to lifesaving fresh water.  Did you know that the average person in Africa has to walk 6 kilometers for fresh water every day?  Did you know that 1,000 children under the age of 5 die EVERY DAY because of diarrhea caused by the consumption of dirty water?  All of this for a commodity you and I take for granted every day.

If you feel led to give to this great cause you can do so at my World Vision fundraising page: http://www.teamworldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=56295

Thank you for joining me on this awesome journey and God bless!

Kris

HAPPY GOTCHA' DAY MARLEY

I can't believe it's been 2 years since we first got to hold our precious Marley.  We are truely blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.  She continues to amaze us every day.  We love you Marley!

KONY 2012! JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Please take 27 minutes and watch this video.  Please repost on your blogs, facebook/twitter walls.  Spread the word!

Snow Day!

Sorry it's been so long.  We are currently working on our 2011 photo montage so stay tuned.  We'll post it very soon!  Until then, here are some pics from our snow day yesterday.  This was Mar's first snow man!



Man Up and Go

This movie looks awesome!  Can't wait to see it.  Really hits home for us Ethiopia AP's.

Man Up and Go: Teaser + Trailer from Man Up And Go THE MOVIE on Vimeo.

More to come soon...

Not for sure that we still have readers out there but if we do, just wanted to drop a line and say that we are sorry we haven't posted in so long.  To be honest, we've just been so busy but not only that, we've been on the fence about our 2 adoption.  For awhile there seemed to be a little uncertainty in the program and we weren't sure if this was our true calling or not.  Well after a lot of soul searching it turns out...IT IS!  We are getting ready to bear down and start the paper chase all over again!  Until I get back with a more detailed update, I've given the old blog a minor facelift and added a few new photos.  Promise to update real soon this time!

Yet another long, overdue update...

Long time no blog huh? It's been a really busy Spring so far and blogging time has really been at a premium if you know what I mean. Not a whole lot to report on our new adoption journey. We're still in the early, early stages of the process. We've just been so busy dealing with the wonderful IRS and the new tax credit. As if the government doesn't make the adoption process difficult enough, we have to go back and have copies made of every single adoption-related check we've written since 2007. Fun, Fun! Anyway, that's where we now stand.  So without further adieu, here's a little glimpse of what the Hansel's have been up to the last few months.

We decided there was room for one more!

There have been lots of birthday parties...

...and lot's of opportunities to learn that not all b-day gifts are ours :)

We've started experimenting with puffs more....

...and more

We've also been introduced to Bubba and 'Nunna's Gator!

We've discovered the wonderful world of s'mores...

...and discoverd our "cool" side as well :)

Had the best Easter ever...

...and hunted Easter eggs...

...till we dropped.

We got our first Toms...

...and went to the zoo...

...even rode our first choo-choo!

It's been an awesome Spring.  Life is definitely good and we are very blessed to share it with Marley!  Will try to post some updates a little more often from now on. 

The Big Announcement (TAKE 1)

This was too good not to share.  Our first attempt at capturing Marley's Big Sister Announcement.  Not quiiiiiiiite what we were looking for :)



Marley's Big Announcement

Check out our newest video.  Marley's got a big, big, BIIIIIIIIIIIIG announcement for everyone.  Look out Ethiopia, here we come.........AGAIN!!!

One year ago today (Pt. 3) HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!!

One year ago today we FINALLY landed in Addis and had our sweet baby girl in our arms a few hours later.  Our lives have never been the same since.  Happy Gotcha Day Mar-Mar.  Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know!  We threw this little montage of our first year together yesterday.  Enjoy!

One year ago today (Pt. 2)

Oh where to start?  Alot of colorful words could be used to describe this day but for the sake of our readers will just call it "Bittersweet".  We arrived at Frankfurt, Germany around 8 A.M. as scheduled and everything was going smooth...that is, until we managed to miss our flight to Addis.  What a nightmare!  For some reason, Frankfurt doesn't declare a set gate until about an hour before takeoff so the only thing we had to go by was the gate # printed on our tickets.  BIG MISTAKE!  We set there for a few hours until our scheduled departure drew closer and closer.  We asked several airline and airport staff if we were at the correct gate, to which they all said, "yes".  Yada, yada, yada....long story short, we missed the flight, was told that the next flight out wasn't for 2 more days (which meant we would likely miss our Visa appt), cried, cursed, finally found another flight out at midnight with another airline (Ethiopian Airlines), cried some more, forked out another $1600 and at 10:30 PM finally departed the hell hole that is Frankfurt Airport en route to Addis Ababa and our baby girl!  Now if that's not bittersweet, I don't know what is!

Our inspiration through 2 days of layovers, missed flights

One year ago today (Pt. 1)

One year ago today we boarded the plane from Kansas City to Frankfurt, Germany enroute to Addis Ababa.  Had to be the most exciting day of our lives!  We posted this to our blog just before our departure:

"It's hard to believe that after 3 long years, the time has finally come. We're off to get our beautiful baby girl!!! Don't know if the opportunity to upload photos or update our blog will present itself during our stay as we've been told the internet is slow...I mean, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally slooooooooooooooow. Not to mention the frequent power outages but rest assured there will be plenty of pics and videos to go around when we get back and we can't wait to share these experiences with all of you! Sorry to rush off but we're sort of in a hurry... we're off to meet that certain little someone ;) Ciao!"

The Great iPad/iPod Giveaway!!!

One of our adoption buddies is trying to raise the necessary funds to go on a mission trip to Uganda in a few short months and came up with a really great idea for a fundraiser.  By visiting their blog you can donate and enter to win and iPad, an iPod, or Both!  An iPad entry is $20 and iPod entry is $10.  As if that's not a great deal already, she's also giving additional entries for posting a link back to their site on facebook, blogs, and twitter.  To donate and enter for your shot to win these awesome prizes, click HERE!!! 

Congrats on your upcoming trip to Uganda, Elisa.  Hope all is well with you guys!



And just because, here's a shot of Marley getting ready to party it up at MiMi's (grandma's) b-day party tonight

one year photos....FINALLY!

In keeping with our "better late than never" theme, here are some pics from Mar's 1 year photo shoot.  Nothing like ordering them 4 months later :)  Enjoy!