Hi! We're The Kidders!

We are Brad, Sarah, Lucy, Michael and Gordon. Most of us are learning how to be Michiganders, living in Lansing after three years of ministry in small-town Texas. Our family started in the big city of Chicago where Brad and Sarah attended school, met, fell in love and got married.

Brad grew up in Michigan, so he's helping the rest of us adjust! He enjoys cooking (yes, Sarah is spoiled and is rarely hungry), coffee, theology, new socks, technology, golf (although he rarely gets to play these days), his dog (we have a big one), thinking up new home-brewed beer recipes, making people laugh and spending time with his family.

Sarah is a stay at home mom. She enjoys baking, blogs, newly washed bed linens, COFFEE, games, smiley faces :), sewing, crocheting, laughing with Brad, chatting with other women about real life stuff, playing games and reading books with Lucy and Michael and cuddling Gordon.  

Lucy is a 3.5 year old whose personality makes people fall in love with her. She will happily greet you in the grocery store, but please don't be offended if she later refers to you by your clothing ("That purple [shirt] girl was nice!"). She is a happy, opinionated, funny little girl who loves her Ellie (used-to-be-pink elephant), reading books, Sophia the First and Oreo cookies. She is often the source of Brad and Sarah's laughter with her witty replies and sweet spirit. Check out the Kidder Kid Conversations if you want to laugh at some of Lu's funny conversations.

Michael, is 2 years old and is an active, fun loving BOY whose favorite topic of conversation is "Bafs" (Baths). His vocabulary is growing daily and even at this age he knows how to "turn it on" when we have dinner guests - he will entertain and rough-house with you for hours. He loves making people laugh, listening to his sister "read" him books, any sport involving balls and rough housing with daddy and Grandpa. He is constantly moving and craves physical contact, anything from gentle cuddles to rough(isn) wrestling makes him happy - he especially likes to "hug" his little brother and can often be found laying next to him talking sweetly. Lucy and Michael are learning how to interact with each other and play nicely (an adventure for everyone involved).

Gordon was born November 4th 2013 and has been a joy-baby. We entered "having a baby in the house again" with pretty low expectations and Gordon has been wonderful. He sleeps well, eats well and is all around super sweet. :) We are so thankful.

We love Jesus and believe that his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead enables us to live life differently because he has saved us from who we were. This doesn't mean that life is perfect - not at all, it means we see small daily struggles and big trials as leading to something bigger than us. We hope that this blog serves as an authentic representation of what life with Jesus is like. We don't share everything online, but we try to share a good mix of life's highs and lows.

This blog serves as a modern scrapbook of sorts, documenting our DIY projects (advancements in decorating, crafting adventures and home improvements) and family memories. We live far away from most of our family (and we have about a million relatives) so our hope is that through this outlet, our friends and family can keep in touch with what we are up to and the distance between us will not seem so great. I do my best to chronicle our memories in chronological order, so please bear with me when I post 4th of July pictures at Christmas time - eventually I'll catch up, but family comes first.

The name for our blog originated with Brad, we were on our way to the Smokey Mountains for our honeymoon and he said to Sarah, "You are my happily ever after." Melting her heart and making her feel quite sappy. :)

Thanks for stopping by, we hope you enjoy your visit to our teeny-tiny corner of the internet. We'd love to chat with you, please let us know if you have any questions!

Love,

The Kidders