Christmas morning at the Keelers

 

Merry Christmas!

 

We've been to parties and eaten
and shopped til we're beaten
Wrapped gifts, gifts galore
and then wrapped some more
The beef was well roasted
to Christmas we toasted
We laughed and we sang
and Santa, he came!
Presents chosen with care
are now everywhere
Pollys, Cars and hoodies
and more Chrismtmas goodies
have brightened their eyes
though it's not a surprise
We'll make such sweet noise
with guitars, drums, karaoke toys
but now they are busy, toys in their lap
and finally, oh finally it's time for a nap!

A visit with the Big Guy

 

We went to our ward party and what do you know, out of all the thousands of Christmas parties being held that night, Santa came to ours! And can you believe that we were lucky enough to have our camera?! As you can tell by the picture, we were all happy to see him except for Owen. That might be because we have told him once or twice that Santa was going to assign him to the naughty list. According to Owen, kids on the naughty list get underwear for Christmas. Although he is working hard to get back on the nice list, Owen may not have felt confident about where he stands with the guy in red.

A welcome reminder

I just finished a wonderful book for my book club, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I read and loved the Kite Runner, so I knew this wasn't going to be a light read. Our book group wasn't sure about reading it for our December book because of the heavy subject matter. I am so glad we did. I think it was the perfect time to read it.

It's about two women living in Afghanistan and the hardships they endure. The thing that struck me the most was that the timeframe of their lifes was parallel to my own. When the Taliban moved in and forced women to wear burqas and forbade them from even leaving their homes without the company of a male relative, I was getting married. A woman had to give birth by C-section with out the use of sterile instruments or any kind of medication by a female surgeon wearing a burqa, at the same time I was having my first baby in a beautiful, fully equipped hospital. I thought I had a hard time!

I read most of the book on Saturday. Chris had taken the kids to Katie's baptism in Mission Viejo and I was home sick. I really got absorbed in it. I was at a point in the book where the family was so poor they were desperate for food and living in horrible conditions. I got up to get a drink and I was literally taken back by my surroundings and how lucky I was to be living in a such a nice home with so many food choices right in front of me. Things I take for granted every day! It also made me so thankful for my husband and the freedoms I enjoy in this country. People, we are so blessed!

'tis the season

We had a great Thanksgiving! We enjoyed not one, but two amazing Thanksgiving meals. Then to top it all off, our kids went home with Mimi and Grandad for a sleepover at their house! As Chris and I drove away from our last Thanksgiving meal stuffed full of good food and enjoying the peace and quiet in the car, we certainly counted our blessings!

Now we are in full Christmas mode. We climbed ladders and strung lights and I attempted to duct tape sparkly garland and snowflakes to the stucco on the house (by the way, it doesn't work I just retaped it for the bazillioneth time). At one point on Saturday, the whole family was on the roof - even Owen and the cat. I would have liked to get a pic for the blog, but I couldn't leave them up there alone to go get the camera! I'm not crazy.

Well, maybe Chris thinks I am. Every day he has come home from work to a house that looks a Christmas bomb went off, kids who have had very little supervision, no dinner and me covered in glitter. Let's just say, I get a little intense at this time of year. But, I promised myself last year, that this year we would have a simpler, more spiritual Christmas. I am publicly reminding myself of that! If anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it! My family would certainly appreciate it!

Not just a girls night

I have experienced quite a few girls' nights out in my time, but never like this. This was the one to top them all. It started with shopping ... nice! Then let's throw in a little Cheesecake Factory, better! Then the highlight of the night was going to see the So You think You Can Dance tour. I went with 6 other moms. (Sorry Shelby and Lindsay, I'll take you next time!) We were all big fans of the show (well Debbie became a fan, right?). The show was great. It was amazing to see all that incredible dancing in person.
But, it was all over too soon. We decided that we were just "crazy psycho fan" enough to wait for them behind the building. We were hoping to just catch a glimpse of them running to their buses. We got so much more! Just as we were about to give up thinking they had already left via some secret exit, out they came! We were able to meet all of the dancers and get autographs and pictures. I may be a 37 year old mom of three today, but last night I felt like I was 16! Don't be embarassed for me, I'm okay with it!

Neil, my personal favorite



even better up close!

Danny and Dominic



Bustin' a move with Sabra (so cute, sweet and tiny!)

The incredible Hok



Pasha, suave and smooth



Kameron, obviously another favorite of mine

What a fun night!

Someone's having a birthday!

This post is all about the big guy in our lives. He is having a birthday tomorrow and we want him to know how great we think he is (so great!)and how much we love him (so so so so so much!!) Happy Birthday Chris!

I like my Dad because he hugs me and he sings the good morning song. I like when he reads stories to me. I really love it when he plays Cars on the Playstation with me. Owen

The thing I like best about my dad is he is funny. He dances and sings for us and makes funny faces. He plays games with us like Monster and Poison. I love him!! Shelby

My dad plays with us a lot. He always makes us laugh when he does the running man. Thanks Dad for helping me with my math homework. He works really hard for our family. He is really smart and kind and funny. I love and appreciate my Dad! Lindsay

Thanks for spoiling all of us. We have the best life because of you! You're the hard worker, good time party guy, patient teacher, Saturday laborer and unselfish husband. We are all lucky to have you, but especially me! Happy Birthday!

Halloween Fun

Lindsay and Ashley designed their own cave girl costumes
Owen as a handsome Diego

Shelby the cutest carhop!

Jonah who learned the true meaning of Halloween this year

Ethan the magician with his buddy Diego

We had a fun party at my Mom's house this Halloween (Dad was in Turkey, so he missed out!) We went trick or treating with all of the cousins except we missed Gabe and Katie. They wanted to hit every house in the neighborhood this year. I think they did - even Owen! The amount of candy they brought in was scary!!

I took some video of all the kids. Unfortunately I did it in portrait view instead of landscape, so it is sideways. If I ever figure out how to flip it I will post it for you.

We all really missed the Keeler cousin Halloween party this year. It is true that the holiday actually did go on - but we don't want to miss it again!

Hawaii!

Highlights of Hawaii

Some of the highlights of our trip:
Driving around in the blue party van.
Electric Beach - like snorkeling in a giant aquarium with a jacuzzi
Renting our own boat for free diving (thanks Jeff!)
Molosadas (the first day)
Walking the beautiful beach at Lanakai
Watching the guys take part in an illegal financial transaction with Morey in Kailua
Seeing the Carpenters and Greenes launch their kayaks
A perfect day on the beach in Waikiki
For me, two good meals (Roys and Dukes) lots more for Chris
Swimming with a sea turtle
Cruising in our 'stang
A giant shave ice (next time it's Matsumotos!)
Getting upgraded to business class on the way home because we were late
Having our kids be thrilled with tacky souveniers we brought home from Hilo Hatties

The lowlights:
Coming down with the flu on our second full day
Throwing up in the room
Throwing up on the beach and having a guy give me post hangover advice
Losing a whole roll of pictures from the underwater camera of the most amazing snorkeling
Molosadas (Sadly, I may never be able to eat them again.)

It has been a cathartic experience going through these pictures, as I have been in a post vacation slump. I'm still having a hard time believing that I spent a whole day in bed while in Hawaii. Looking through the pictures makes me realize that we really did have an awesome time. Thanks Mom and Sorensons for taking such good care of our kids! Now I am just plotting a way to get back with the whole family!

We answered the call of the Islands

This blog is dedicated to my wonderfully patient and loving husband and to good friends who stand behind you even when you are throwing up in a towel on the beach, you know who you are ...

We drove away to the airport early Tuesday morning with a view of a fire just starting in the mountains in front of us in DeLuz. It was hard leaving the kids with practically all of So. Calif. on fire and so much uncertainty. After a few phone calls home to reassure us that everything was okay, and after we settled into the amazingly beautiful KoOlina Beach Club - we got over it. We had the most amazing view from our room (thanks Scott and TeDD!) We ran right down to the lagoon and met up with our friends in their rented cabana, drinking lava flows on the beach. I was giddy with excitement. Could life be any better than that? We snorkeled a little in the lagoon. Then finished the day with an incredible dinner at Roy's.

Giving in to Disney once again...

A while ago, Owen and I were in Home Depot. You know how they have the Disney line of paints. We always have to go over and check out the paints and pick out a few hundred sample cards that then get left all over the car. Well, little did I know that they had added a new "Cars" themed room to their display. Owen was in awe, totally speechless. He thought it was the coolest room he had ever seen. He had been bugging us for over a year to paint his room. He had even drawn up some sketches of what he would like his room to look like (we may watch too much HGTV around here). As soon as he saw that room there was no putting him off any longer. He wanted that room - the lightning mcqueen bed, the red, yellow and blue color theme that hurt your eyes -- disney in its full glory. Well, we made a few compromises .. the room turned out a little more Disneyesque than I had promised myself I would allow in the house. But really how can you resist buying that cheesy $5o Cars lamp when your son thinks he has died and gone to heaven when he sees it?? I couldn't. We aren't quite finished with the room, but I have a feeling it may be like this for a while!

Blog Envy

I have blog envy. I look at other people's blogs and they are so cute. They have music and cool fonts and all of their posts aren't squished to one side like mine are. They don't have cheesy titles either. Why can't mine be cool like that? I have tried, but not been able to figure any of it out. I wanted to add a picture of the Jonas Brothers from the web to my last post. I couldn't do it. I feel really lame.

Rockin' with the JoBros

I took the girls with some friends to see the Jonas Brothers this week. If you don't know who they are just turn on the Disney Channel and it will take about five minutes to figure it out.

The picture is blurry for two reasons 1) I was using Lindsay's camera which may not be of the highest quality, plus it was too dark to figure out how to use her flash, 2) the bleachers we were sitting in were actually bouncing because thousands of girls were screaming and jumping up and down. It was impossible to hold the camera still. We waited in line for four hours to get into the concert at the lovely Perris fairgrounds. But it was worth it ... the girls had a blast and rocked out with lots of friends. I must admit those boys are cute!

Activity Time for Owen, Shopping Time for Mom

First of all, I am a bad blogger. I announced from the get go that I would be. Here's a picture of Owen on his first day of school at Activity Time preschool. Cute, huh? This was taken over a month ago. I had every intention of coming home that day to add these cute pictures to our blog - - instead I went shopping. Don't tell Chris, but I think I have gone shopping most of the days that Owen has gone to preschool. And when I'm not shopping, I'm returning which then leads to more shopping. When I get home I can't spend time blogging, no, I have to run around doing stuff like cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping (not as fun as the other shopping) to make it look like I filled my day with respectable and productive activities. So that is my excuse for being a bad blogger. I am really trying to stay home more because even Lindsay says I have a problem.

Another cute picture I was supposed to add that day...

Labor day with the masses

Like the rest of So. California, we tried to beat the unbearable heat by escaping to the beach on Labor Day. We got there early enough to find a good spot, but by mid day we were literally surrounded by people. We actually had someone put up their easy-up just inches behind our heads. Dan dug the kids an enormous sand cave that was the envy of every other kid on the beach. Although the waves were strong enough to take your feet out from under you if you got close enough to the water, it was a great day!

Owen's post

A few of you have suggested that the Keeler men have not been well represented in our family blog. Here is Owen's contribution...




Hi, this is a picture of me playing Playstation 2. I like to play Cars and Spy Hunter and Chicken Little Ace in Action. I also like to play on the computer and play with my Big Mack truck and my Small Mack truck. Ever since the girls went back to school, I have been doing this a lot. Bye everyone!

Thanks Whirlpool!

What else do you do when your kitchen is wrapped in plastic? Beach Vacation!

The kitchen in the plastic bubble

We discovered that our dishwasher had been leaking for months! Of course when we pulled out the dishwasher we were horrified to see the mold growing up the walls. Shea called in the big guns -- Mold Remediation Specialists. Our air was sampled and tested, the plastic bubble went in and the offending surfaces were thrown out the kitchen window. Our kitchen sink is on the floor of the garage and our lovely dishwasher is now in the backyard. Ah, the joys of homeownership!

Movin' on up - I'm in 3rd Grade now!

I had a great first day back to school. My teacher, Mrs. Siptroth, is really nice and funny. We have a new principal. He came out to lunch to sit with the kids and he played on the field. I'm excited to learn to write in cursive. I think third grade will be fun! -- Shelby