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!