For A Long Lost Friend We Haven't Seen In A LOOOOONNG Time (and all the rest of you that we love;)!!!

Well well well. Here we are in Sin City (VERY properly named!) Where my wonderful husband plays the super hero and slams the bad guys (prosecutor ;)! He loves his job (although it has become overwhelming as the county has allowed them to become woefully understaffed and put them on a hiring freeze!). He finds it a worthy cause and fulfilling for his work which makes us all happy! He has recently found a new love in his life (Step aside Brooke!) and so I have become a fisherman's wife. Or was that a target shooter's wife? Either way he enjoys both of them very much and sometimes I wonder if he wishes his soul residence was Cabela's or Bass Pro Shop instead of home. :) Right now he enjoys serving in his favorite calling in the ward, Gospel Doctrine teacher. He receives many compliments and I second them! He does an excellent job and I am proud of him!

I have had the opportunity, since we have lived here, to dabble in cooking classes and theatrical plays. Very Fun! Which I am thinking of dabbling in a little more. :)

We have properly multiplied and replenished the earth, as I have recently finished with my last masterpiece in May and decided to call her Evelyn (evy). That makes 5! Since I have mastered the art of making what are some of the most darn adorable children on the planet (and possibly above ;) I find it hard think that this item should be discontinued. Brett feels that little Evy is the Crowning jewel to our collection and it is now complete. He's probably right! I have the blessing of being home with our children! I home school the oldest, the next two are in school and the last two are still with me. Everyone is doing very well at school and home!

We finally bought our first house 2 and a half years ago and are very grateful and love it! We like the location (not so green) we love our ward, we love our neighborhood! No room for complaints! But we DO have room for you if you would ever like to come visit! :)

We Miss our many friends whom we have not seen for so long! We Love all of you and feel that the bonds that we have made with you in the past or make with you now will/have not been lessened over the years! We are so grateful beyond words for the warmth and blessings that you are in our lives (even if you are far away)!!!

Love with all our hearts!

The Keelers

Never Empty Nester!

So I'm writing in my blog instead of doing my nightly clean up (which I do not doubt I may pay dearly for) but I had to get this in writing so my children can read and NEVER FORGET IT!!! ;)
Well tonight after I got my dear, darling, Evy to sleep (yes she is an adorable angel!!!) I went to check on my husband, who often gets lost while laying by the children. I found him in my girl's room, but I also found my second daughter red faced and crying (which isn't uncommon! she's such a drama queen!).
"what's wrong?" I said
"Oh she's just crying because she doesn't want to move out when she gets older."
stifling the laughter I went and layed down beside them and hugged her and said "Brenna! You don't ever have to move out! (knowing that her mind would change all too soon!) You can live with us as long as you want to!" Amber joined in too. "Me too! I want to live with you forever too!"
"Ok! You can stay as long as you like!"
"I want to live right next door to you!" (amber)
" That sounds like a great idea! Brenna you can live in the house on the other side!"
That seemed to calm her a little bit. Oh if only she could always be so fond of us! Is that possible? I have a dream it could happen! ;) I went into my son's room after and said "when you get older will you live next door to us?" Upon reflection he
decided, "I'll move into John's house (next door neighbor) when he moves out."
"Ok that sounds great!"
My dear children! Although getting them to bed tonight was like running a circus with wild animals (really! not far off!) and Bonnie has turned into the Screaming Banshee and the Tazmanian devil has nothin on Spencer! But then something "tender" (if I must use that word) comes up with them and I am reminded what a wonderful job this really is!
Last Sunday at church my husband walked by the nursery window and Bonnie saw him and she said "Oh! That's my Dad! I love him so much!" :) It's then we are able to realize for a moment that she's not the screaming banshee! There's a little Bonnie in there! ;)
So while I am done, I don't have some profound wrap up conclusion, and I'm sure if I sat and thought awhile I could think of something decent, but alas lots of counters need to be wiped, floors need to be swept, and things picked up. ... Tha End! :)

Man Overboard!

There have been few times in my life where I'm brought to something so tremendous that I am actually pulled out of my normal everyday situation (at this moment that would be surgery, hospital stay, and a secluded recovery in my bedroom etc. where I don't very much talk to anybody except through text messages ;) While I am on the sidelines resting it's OK. However, when I think about having to pull myself together, recover from what has put me out of commission, and stand on my own two feet... I might imagine an extremely shy introvert being shoved out on a stage, horrified, in front of thousands of people to preform an unknown piece. And I get a little anxiety and hyperventilate to myself, "I can't do this!!!" And I can't imagine catching up enough to jump on to the speeding train that I've fallen off of!
As I said, only a few times, has the thought of pushing forward brought panic to my core. But it seems that as soon as I muster up enough gumption to take the flying leap, some how everything does turn out OK and I am able to carry on in spite of my original anxieties.
Feeling this way really turned on a light for me. The first time I felt unbearably inadequate to face my reality, it made me realize how much the Lord sustains us in our callings, and our missions, and our responsibilities. I suspect that on my own, my fears wouldn't be so irrational, but real. Being in this situation and feeling the weight of my responsibilities and seeing my deflated ability, I really don't think I could do any of this well at all! Not on my own. So for a few moments while I feel deflated, it's comforting to know that when I do hop on that moving train, the Lords angels will give me a little boost and I'm sure I will figure out how to heal well from this, and become that loving, patient, oh so perfect (with the perfect body of course! ;) mother of 5.
(hopefully I will post pictures soon :)