Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Merry Christmas!

December 4, 2007 by Kristin Leave a Comment

This letter accompanies the picture …

This Christmas story starts at last Christmas. We were in Louisville, visiting Kristin’s family, when her sister Cassie and her fiance Zac told us they found a baby for us to adopt. By the time we returned to Murray from Louisville, we had decided to pursue this specific adoption.

A couple of telephone conversations led us to Bloomington, Indiana, on January 18th to meet the birthmother in person and meet our baby girl via an ultrasound. And we named her on the way home. Catherine Anna. Catherine after Kristin’s mom and Anna after Greg’s grandma.

After seven trips to Bloomington, many phone calls and e-mails to our social worker and attorneys and a stack of paperwork, our daughter was born May 6 — just 15 ½ weeks after we first saw her on the monitor in the doctor’s office.

We left the hospital with Cate the following day, spent a week in a hotel in southern Indiana waiting for people in Indianapolis and Frankfort to clear the necessary paperwork, and haven’t been the same since.

Kristin returned to work six weeks after Cate was born. But that lasted only three months. Since September, she’s been enjoying the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom to Cate.

But speaking of work, Greg loves his endeavors as a real estate investor/house flipper/real estate and small business attorney. He’s in a new office with good visibility. In addition to rental property, renovated houses and foreclosure-rescued homes, Greg also started a realty company, so the realtor sells and manages his properties as well as other people’s properties.

We love the flexible schedule that allows us to spend time with our families and be involved at our church and in the community. Kristin keeps the books for Greg’s companies and takes Cate along with her a couple times a week.

Milla — our nearly 4-year-old niece on Kristin’s side of the family — is particularly fond of Cate. Milla has called Cate her “best cousin.” Then on the Taylor side, there’s Elijah, who’s also almost 4, and Ethne, who turned 2 in September. We’re glad to have Elijah and Ethne (along with their parents!) back in Murray after Greg’s brother Charles graduated from University of Tennessee’s vet school in May.

The same weekend in August that we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary, Cassie and Zac were married. Being five years apart in age, the Hill girls appreciated the similar timing of their marriages starting a year after being out of college.

Cassie and Zac met at Austin Peay State University, where she played soccer and he played basketball. Despite their alma mater being a heated rival of Murray State, we’re thankful to have Zac in our family now.

We’ve taken Cate to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game as well as Murray State football and basketball games. The University of Kentucky wanted to make us buy a ticket for her, so we’ll wait until she can appreciate the Big Blue to take her to Commonwealth Stadium.

A growing family — both immediate and extended — has been the theme, and we couldn’t imagine a better story to tell. We’re thankful to have family and friends like you with whom to share our life.

May God bless you and your family and give you good stories to tell in the coming year.

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Filed Under: holiday

Comments

  1. Katy Gorrell says

    December 4, 2007 at 4:45 pm

    Okay, that picture and the sweet letter have me all teary-eyed in front of the computer. Have I mentioned how happy I am for you and how much I want to visit?

    Reply
  2. Shelley says

    December 4, 2007 at 8:33 pm

    I just read that while i ate lunch! I can’t wait to see Cate again. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Heather says

    December 7, 2007 at 1:42 am

    Very sweet, Kristin. I love the picture!

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our ninth-grade girl who never forgets, our have-no-fear sixth-grade boy, and our joy-filled kindergarten girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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Old friends and live music are two of my favorite Old friends and live music are two of my favorite things, so having them together is the best. My friend Aaron and I went to multiple Dave Matthews Band shows together during our college years, so now two decades later it’s fun to do it again as grown ups with our spouses for a band that speaks truth into our lives. 

@needtobreathe put on the loudest acoustic tour I’ve ever seen, but it sure was good! And its encore of completely unplugged songs was especially sweet. 

#NTBlive #needtobreathe #bettertogether #choosingJOY #favoritethings #livingfaithfully #weekending
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… a slow morning that gave me a chance to finish reading a good book right after I fixed my favorite cinnamon toast. 

… some shade to invite me to pick some more weeds around the house. But why doesn’t my Apple Watch count this as exercise? It felt like exercise to me! 

… an appointment with my oldest girl for us both to get our nails done this morning. 

… my youngest girl’s last soccer game of the season, even though the heat made her a little grumpy. 

… pool time, another good book to read, my mom visiting for the second weekend in a row, a little more weeding, and a night at home with no specific plans. 

Happiness is everyday, normal life with my people, especially when it comes with a slower pace after a hectic week. 

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I regretted having to go to sleep last night befor I regretted having to go to sleep last night before I finished this book, so I picked it up at breakfast and didn’t do anything else until I finished it. 

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Here’s to a refreshing weekend with much anticipation of what’s to come! #weekending #choosingJOY #livingfaithfully #thirdchild #momlife #summerisbest #poolpeople #PorchStories #maydays
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve already bou ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I’m majorly behind on laundry, dishes, emails, a I’m majorly behind on laundry, dishes, emails, and to-do lists. Birthdays, a field trip, end-of-school things, squeezing in some friend dates, and just general life with three kids have occupied much of my time. But my friend @whitneyrscott at @blushsalon did tend to their shaggy hairs. So check! 

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What I’m wearing … I don’t wear in jewelry, What I’m wearing …

I don’t wear in jewelry, but I love having bracelets that mean things to me. 

Today my friend Monica and I talked to our oldest daughters’ high school health class about adoption. My other friend @megandelaneythomas invited us because she recently taught about the reproductive system and wanted the class to hear about adoption as an option. We talked about adoption as a process, redemption to broken circumstances, and picture of God grafting us into his family. We shared resources and advice on counseling for abortion, befriending people who have made different relationships choices, and parenting regardless of how God builds a family. 

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Things working together for the good in Christ doesn’t mean easy or convenient. But it does mean all the details and relationships matter. I’m forever grateful for how God built my faith and my family through adoption. Wearing these sweet reminders is good for my soul. 

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