"Fighting for Their Lives"

11/29/2007 at 12:00 PM EST

Dennis and wife Kimberly in '06. "They have an amazing partnership," says Kimberly's friend Julie Jumonville. "They were so ready for those babies. I know their faith will get them through."

Ramey

After "a lot of poking and prodding, a lot of hormones and doctors' appointments and praying," says Buffington, "it became apparent that [pregnancy] wasn't going to work out for [Kimberly]." So the couple retained a gestational carrier, only to have her suffer a miscarriage as well. In the wake of so much heartbreak, Dennis and Kimberly were ecstatic when the pregnancy with Boone and Zoe proved successful. "I'm over the moon," Dennis said in June. "I've wanted more kids [since meeting Kimberly]."

His wife shared the same deep yearning. A former real estate agent, the Austin-reared Kimberly Buffington met Houston native Quaid in 2003 after the two were introduced by a mutual friend at a restaurant in Austin. With their Lone Star roots and a joint passion for the outdoors – they wed at the actor's Montana ranch in 2004 – Dennis says he was instantly love struck: "Kimberly is my soulmate."