The Keever Family

Children, Children Everywhere!!!!

2011-07-06T16:16:00.003-04:00

It's our first summer having 4 kids. This is some of what that entails:

We got our foster daughter "P" (4 years old) at Spring Break and then her brother "J" (8 years old) came May 1. "P" went to the beach with us for her first time in April. We went with some of our best friends, The Burns, to Edisto. She loved it! That trip was such a sweet time of relaxing with friends! We all went again ("J"'s first time!) the middle of June to Fripp. Jeremy and I loved watching both of them experience the beach for the first time. "J" did not want to come back to Greenville.

It's also our first summer joining a pool. My super smart amazing husband told me that we needed to and what a fun place it has been! We can go and easily stay 4 hours.

All four kids did VBS at Taylors First Baptist and loved that. I loved the 3 free hours each morning :)

"J" and Harper did swim lessons at the Y for 2 weeks, 4 days a week. They greatly benefited from that.

Calahan is doing a golf tournament every Monday morning.

Jeremy and Calahan start football July 11th. It's a big commitment, 3 nights a week.

Jeremy and I are going on our 3rd mission trip together. This year we are heading to Eleuthera , Bahamas. Our church supports a precious family, The Fastzkie's, there and I look forward to seeing and being part of their mission first hand! (If you want to pray or financially support us that would be great! Email me and I will give you the prayer list.)

4 moms and 11 kids from our summer playgroup went to visit The Espinosa family in Allendale, SC for a couple of days. They have been part of playgroup for the last 4 summers but have recently moved to Allendale. It was an adventure! We were able to be part of their ministry at the Boys & Girls Club. I loved seeing how the Lord is using them to bless and encourage others in a different part of the state.

We kept 2 of our nieces for 3 nights recently. 6 kids was CRAZY! I feel like I didn't even get to enjoy them because we were just managing 6 kids between the ages of 9 and 2.

Jeremy taught adult service at Grace last weekend. He taught 4 services. He taught from Proverbs 3 on Parenting. He did a great job with the text. The Lord has blessed us with numerous resources to aid our parenting journey and Jeremy was able to share some of that. You can hear it here: http://www.gracechurchsc.org/resources/grace-teaching

Hanging out with our GREAT community group for fun events! It has been fun building relationships with them.

So that's some of life these days. Busy. Not boring in the least!

Foster Family"ing"

2011-04-12T09:59:00.003-04:00

In October our family began fostering. Our first foster children were a sister/ brother duo, "M & M". We had them in our family for 5.5 months. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Our biological children did fabulous. Harper's new little sister was a year younger and loved the same things Harper did. They played together so well. Our new "little buddy" was 4 and had a speech disorder called apraxia. He was precious. He won our hearts immediately.
We enjoyed several holidays together!
I struggled to connect with our foster daughter. She was hard, my heart got hard. Ugh.
I miss them a lot! Praying for them to heal and have a healthy, safe family to raise them.
Tomorrow we will receive our second foster daughter "P". We are very excited. It is going to be a totally different experience just having one new child. She will bring her own issues that will be totally different than the first go round. Our family will be stretched and challenged and hopefully grown in the Lord all over again.

Peruvian Adoption Final Answer

2010-12-27T21:01:00.003-05:00

This is the latest on our adoption from Peru. Our precious twin boys who we have prayed for for 4.5 years have been adopted. Below is the email we just received.

The kids were placed with a Peruvian couple in their mid 50's!!!!! A Catholic couple who have no children and only got aproved to adopt in November. I can not tell you how much this has broken our hearts, but even with all the visits and recommendations we gave there was nothing we could do. We have cared forand invested in those boys since birth. We did not even have warning. They did not even have to do the regular process and stay with the boys last week like everyone else. I am very discouraged over this as iknow you are too. I know that your hearts were to adopt these boys.
I can only tell you that the other day I got share Christ and to lead them and two social workers to Christ! I also explained to the couple that during the next two weeks while they are going through the adoption process (before it is final) that if they do not want to keep them they can be adopted to a Christian family in the states. They said that they would keep this in mind.
I did have you on my heart to call you tonight, so I am glad you wrote.
Again, all of our hearts are aching in this situation, but it is in the Lord's hands.

We don't really have any solid emotions. Just extreme sadness and confusion over the last 4.5 years. The death of a dream. The loss of thousands of dollars. The fear that we did something wrong. Mad at the injustice of it all. The last 13 weeks we have been fostering 2 children. This has brought to surface a reality check on what adopting 2 spanish speaking 5 year olds would have been like. What having 2 more children in our family looks like. The "real life" struggle to parent 4 kids. We still wanted to have the twins!
Please pray (like you have been so faithful to do the last 4.5 years) that we will trust the Lord. That we will trust Him for the money, heart break, injustice.

Thanks.

"Snow" Day's are not fun

2010-12-16T08:14:00.002-05:00

A few thoughts about Greenville County "Snow" Days (ie a Rant)

- It is not fun to get 4 kids ready and at the door to leave for school and then your husband comes down and says "Did you check the news, Bill says the roads are bad". Crap. Yep there it is, fresh off the press, Greenville County Schools CLOSED!
- Public Schools being part of a county is bad for us a handful of times a year. The northern part of our county borders NC and yes, their roads are probably bad, they may even have snow. Us, we get rain and no school.
- I don't do well with last minute major change of plans. 4 kids inside all day when I had an agenda to accomplish that did not include them. ugh.
- Why do we call them "snow" days when we have wet streets? The term really excites my children, for no reason.
- We are about to have 2 weeks home with our precious children, why start early?
- Harper misses out on her Polar Express pajama day at school. I had spend $1 for her class hot chocolate cups, now my money is wasted.
-My friends need to get on the same page as me (Julia, Molly). We all need to have bad attitudes and heard hearts so we can whine and complain endlessly together. I don't appreciate Christ like friends on unexpected "snow" days.
- Jeremy still has to go to work on the treacherous "snow" day.

Wait, as I type my rant my children are all playing together wonderfully! No one is fighting, crying, or being ugly. We could make the cookies I have been wanting to make together. We could go and visit a friend. We are safe and warm inside our house. We could watch some of the Christmas movies that I have DVR'd. I can still get my tea from McD's. We could do a family Polar Express pajama day on blankets by the Christmas tree. My husband has a job. My kids are all healthy. I have fabulous friends who challenge me in my walk with the Lord. I am blessed. I am sorry Lord for my bad attitude.
Amen.

Blessings in the Hard Times

2010-08-14T19:16:00.004-04:00

Hard times are hard.
We have been through several things recently that have been well, hard. In the hard times I am always amazed at how the Lord uses people to encourage us or bless us. He also reveals His Word to us in fresh ways. I am thankful that His word is alive and active for us.
There has been some new info on the adoption front. Not good. The past 4 years trying to adopt 2 precious little boys from Peru have been full of hard times. It only seems to get more challenging. One example of the way the Lord has blessed us by people has been that in the past couple of weeks we have connected with several families who have a heart for Peru, like us, and they have encouraged us and loved on us. Thank you Jesus for them. Thank you also for all the people who pray for us and continue to ask about the process.
2 examples of the blessing of His Word in the hard times are: Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 and He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20
Psalm 31:24 reminds me that my ultimate hope is in the Lord. That if I am loving Him, He will strengthen my heart in the hard times.
Matthew 17:20 reminds me that even with my small amount of faith, if it is the Lord's will, that is enough for Him. He is in charge.
Jesus, please move the mountains in the way of bringing our sons home and if this is not your will remind me again of Psalm 31:24. Continue to teach us in the hard times and allow us to always see your blessings. Amen.

So much to think about...

2010-05-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

This is always an overwhelming time of year for us. We have 6 graduations to (possibly) attend, graduation parties numbering in the teens, Senior night at Grace, soccer, and end of the year festivities at our kids schools.
To add to this:
- some of our besties are in Peru adopting the 3 children that they have been waiting on for 4 years. We are super excited for them. I can't get them out of my mind. They are doing wonderful and will be in Peru for 4-5 weeks. We skype with them several times a week and that has become a highlight in my day.
- a new Middle School Pastor and his precious wife and daughter have moved to town. I want them to feel welcome and to love Grace as much as I do.
- another BFF had her 3rd baby (1st boy!) Monday.
- We were able to serve our sister and brother-in-law by keeping our nieces for 4 days while they were on a Mission trip. It is crazy going back 5 years and having a 3 and 1 year old with you all day!
- Jer and I leave in 2 weeks for the student trip to Nicaragua. It requires MUCHO planning. Once you plan something it all changes and you plan more.

So.... during my spare time, haha. Really during some down time to help keep me from loosing my mind, I stumbled across Anita Renfroe. She is a christian comedian. I am not sure how people are so funny, just watch it!

Meet The Parents, The Keevers

2010-05-17T20:55:00.001-04:00

Baahahaha!

"I'm not saying there is a competition but if there was we would clearly be the winners...."

SWAGGER WAGON

2010-05-10T16:24:00.001-04:00

Just picture the four of our faces and our swagger wagon is blue of course.
Don't be jealous!

In someone else's music

2010-04-18T17:28:00.002-04:00

This video does a great job of describing how, why, what we feel as we wait to be parent's to 2 more little people. Thanks Aaron Ivey for putting words onto something that is so hard to explain to people.
"Brothers" we are searching for a way to get you here!

From the Mouths of our Kids

2010-03-11T19:02:00.002-05:00

Today:
Calahan: "Give Brody a round of claws everybody"
Harper to Jer: "When I grow up I am going to be a Petnarian and a McDonalds worker so I can give Mommy free tea. It's free today! I will charge the next person $5."

Side note. My son is now 8 years old. Crazy. He is having his first spend the night party. We allowed 3 friends to be invited. Harper will go to Gammie and Gramps to spend the night. Jeremy will be the entertainment. Menu: stuffed crust pepparoni pizza of course.
Side note 2. Julia cut about 5 inches off of Harper's hair. It's the shortest it has ever been. She loves it. She was smiling the whole time and then loved looking in the mirror at herself. She cried that night when we washed it because it would make it grow and she wants it to be short. Oh princess.

Haiti (as seen and lived by people living out Christ for others)

2010-01-24T17:40:00.004-05:00

I stumbled across a blog written by missionaries in Haiti.
It is amazing.
Check it out.

http://www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/

I love to read and pray for those who are being the hands and feet of Jesus and so many others who want to be there to help! I love to read of the strength and courage of Haitians. Through this blog there are links to blogs about all of the orphans who were in the process of being adopted, getting to go on to their forever home much quicker than expected. I love to hear how God has allowed glimmers of good and hope come from such a bad situation.
Start with January 11 and read to the present. Bring a box of kleenex. Enjoy.

2010, will it be the year of "The Brothers"?

2010-01-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

Adoption update. Don't get too excited.
Still waiting and have no new news.
We renewed our US paperwork and that will be good until summer 2011. That will be the end of our adoption process from Peru if we have not received any referrals (adoption language for matches of children). We need an end date. It has been 3 1/2 long years of just waiting, praying and wondering. It's not that we are trying to put God in a box and tell Him "Do it by this date or else...", but it kind of is. We know that He could have done it 3 years ago, or yesterday. Jeremy, the kids and I just need a date so mentally we know that we gave our all for almost 5 years (by summer 2011) and we can consider what other options the Lord may have for us to grow our family.
We continue to pray for "the brothers" to come home to us. We know that God knows what is best for us and try to mentally prepare for any 2 boys from Peru.
Peru approved us to adopt almost 2 years ago and we have not received 1 referral. It's crazy. We can't figure it out. We are approved to adopt 2 boys, between the ages of birth and 5 years old. Most of the children Peru is adopting out are to Peruvians or Italians. Not USA.
Please continue to pray with us. We have their room ready. Their clothes and toy hand me downs from their big brother. Cal and HC still talk about "the brothers" daily.
We wait.

Future Men

2009-11-01T13:22:00.010-05:00

Our church hosted an event called Future Men. It was a seminar for parents, leaders or whoever has a role working with boys. It was great! To hear the podcast click the following link: http://www.gracechurchsc.org/resources/teaching/
Calahan was in the promo video (seen below) for the event.

We were taught about 3 different stages for future men.
Stage 1: Authority, ages birth- 9. This stage is about giving direction. We need to teach our sons to obey authority all the way, right away and with a happy heart.
Stage 2: Responsibility, ages 10-13. Giving our sons responsibility like washing dishes or cutting the grass. Moms are supposed to stay out of the way and not help or fix it. They are to own it. Our sons need guidance and responsibility in this stage.
Stage 3: Partnership, ages 14 and up. Asking your son what he thinks about things. Giving him room to make choices and suffer the natural consequences. Partnering in his life while our sons are owning the mission.
There was so much more we learned. Let the above encourage you to listen to the entire seminar!

Lastly, our good friend Philly put together a hilarious video that was shown at the opening of the seminar (see below)! Props Philly!

Sarcasm and Sons from Joseph Osborn on Vimeo.

Hairstyles and school

2009-09-24T16:42:00.003-04:00

On Calahan's football team there are several boys who have "mohogs", but Isaiah got a hair cut, he just got his "mohog" cut off. Harper's friend Malachi just got a "mohog" on his head.
Harper also told me today after school "Mom, Sinia E. got a HAAAAAIR DOOOO". You really needed to hear her say it. I lauged, hard.
I love to hear about their days at school and the friends they are playing with. I have spent some time the last couple of weeks in Harper's 5K class. I really don't understand how the teachers get anything done. I had forgotten how funny that age is. They really say whatever, whenever things pop in their heads. Harper's BFF since day 1 of school is Sarah. She is coming over for the first time Saturday to play. Her parents are TarHeel fans. I think she may be a keeper. Calahan is happy with all the boy's in his class. He talks about Isaiah the most, they have football and class together. Big news! They got to play tackle football at recess yesterday. He came home very dirty!

Modesty! Come on women!

2009-08-30T16:48:00.009-04:00

The Lord has been opening my eyes to the lack of modesty in the Christian culture. He has shown me why modesty is crucial and what it does to our "brothers" in Christ when they have to be around women who are not clothed modestly.

I don't expect women who don't love Jesus to be in agreement or have the conviction to dress appropriately but I am stunned when women who claim to love Jesus dress immodestly!

I am working on my heart to make sure that I am not judgmental, bitter and mad at women who don't cover up. I am also working on my heart to determine why I dress the way I do.

I am married to a man and covet his attention to be focused on me and not all the other women at church who have lots of skin showing, dresses or shirts that are strapless, shirts which plunge way to low, skirts/shorts that cover barely bottoms and/or all the bras that show when you bend down or when you have on a shirt that doesn't cover the straps. I have a son who like all men is visual. I want to protect him from certain images and it is really sad that at church I am not able to do that.

So please women, look at the link below and take time to examine your heart and then make some changes in your wardrobe!
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/modesty_heart_check3.pdf

For great articles to further challenge you click the Girl Talk link in my blogroll and then click their Modesty link.

Thanks for your time and assistance.

Firsts

2009-08-24T20:50:00.009-04:00

Calahan started 2nd grade on Wednesday, August 19th. His teacher is Mrs. Benham. There were several girls from his class last year but no boys. Thankfully one of his football teammates was also in the class. I cried leaving him. He has done great! Loves the class, reports that Mrs. Benham is very kind, gets to play football at recess, and is making new friends.

Harper started K-5 on Thursday, August 20th. Her teacher is Mrs. Winetroub and Mrs. Newell is the assistant. She was super excited and went right in doing as the teacher instructed her to put up her lunch box and take a seat on the rug. It was precious picking them up. They both skipped out to the van with big smiles on their faces. I didn't cry until the next day with her. She wanted to go in from the carpool line. She just looked so big.

Calahan also had his first football Jamboree. Jeremy was out of town so my dad (Papa Lumpy) came and went with me while Katy kept Harper at home. The Greenville Gladiators were the best uniformed team there! It was hot but the boys played 3 teams, 2 quarters each. The vote is still out to determine what I think of my 7 year old playing full contact football, but Calahan loved it. I could tell he was timid and not aggressive at all, which made me happy. We'll see as the season progresses.
Could he look any cuter though?

Keever Family Fun Day 2009

2009-08-18T21:08:00.003-04:00

This is the day we take together right before the start of school. This year we decided to do Frankie's Fun Park. It was a blast! Jeremy and Calahan raced against Harper and I on our first ride. There was only one other car on the track. Harper had a
huge grin on her face the whole time and never once asked to slow down or acted nervous. Calahan on the other hand was super nervous. Jeremy reports him saying "We're not going to crash, are we Daddy?" and "Don't pass Mom and Harper, I don't want to hit them".

They did decide they wanted to do it on their own! Umm... who knew that 5 year olds could drive a race car on their own? Harper was fast and had NO fear! She just didn't pay attention to where she was going too well. :) Calahan was a little timid but eventually passed his sister. The guy running the race was super nice and let them go around for twice the allotted time!

(I can't get my pics in the right place)

Jeremy then gave the kids $5 Frankies Fun Cards to use in the arcade. Harper just wanted to win a lot of tickets so she could get a lot of junk. Calahan wanted to try out new games. When our fun morning was over at Frankie's we headed to Pizza Inn for lunch. I did it. I went to Pizza Inn and only ate 2 pieces of Chocolate Chip Pizzert, of course that was after the 5 or so pieces of the other kinds of pizza.

Really?

2009-08-11T14:29:00.002-04:00

Is summer vacation really over next week?
Is my daughter really going to be gone all day long in K-5?
Is my little boy really going to be in 2nd grade?
Is that same little boy really going to play football for the next 4 months?
Am I really going to have to figure out what to do with myself all day, every day?
Am I really going to have my first 2 co-chair positions on PTA?
Do we really still not have the brothers home from Peru?
Do I really get to have Fridays 8-2:30 alone with my husband?!?!?!
Does that precious husband really plan to play in 3 golf tourneys this month?
Do our amazing friends really get to become first time parents to 3 children whom they have been trying to adopt from Peru for 3 years very soon?!?!?
Do I really want to start going back to the gym after the wonderful vacay all summer?
Do I really want to go to Lexington to see my bffs baby girl Sutton?
Do I really want to plan a trip to NYC this fall with some girlfriends?

YEP.

The People I love doing the things we LOVE!

2009-07-26T13:22:00.008-04:00

We had a fabulous annual trip to Fripp Island with my mom this year! It was a true vacation. Mom did most of the cooking and cleaning. (Thanks mom!) We played hard, ate well, read lots of books and just enjoyed being together. My little brother and his family joined us for the last few nights and it was great to have the cousins together.
Can't wait until next year!
(**Please note, my sister in law, Tish, would not agree to be photographed)

Kassady, our niece, playing

Harper, Hudson (nephew), & Calahan

We try to do this yearly

Jer, with Harper on shoulders, Chad and Hudson
(Calahan is the splash in the middle)

My Junior golfer
(Fripp has a Wee Tee program that is great!)

At the top of the Hunting Island light house
(Harper is not scared, she has a hard time with pics in the sun, says her eyes hurt a lot)

Kids with Lala

Burdened

2009-07-24T16:42:00.002-04:00

I have had a heavy feeling recently. There is so much "bad" going on in the lives of people whom I love. I only want my friends and family to have "good". I don't want them to deal with the fear, abuse, neglect, depression, pride, addiction, confusion, doubt, sickness, etc. I know this is not the reality of the sinful, broken world we live in. I am thankful that Jesus has provided HOPE so that we can make it through. I am proud to "bear one anther's burdens" (Galatians 6:2) but I am sad. If you feel up to it please ask Jesus to intervene on the behalf of my friends. He'll know who you are talking about.

Hell Week (is it considered a bad word in this setting?)

2009-06-04T16:36:00.003-04:00

It is high school graduation week and Calahan's last week of First Grade. When you work with students graduation week is ummm.... busy. We had 3 graduations to attend in less than 24 hours. We also have been invited to 8 graduation parties. Calahan had Awards Day on Tuesday, 1st Grade fun day on Wednesday and his last day of First Grade today. He won 3 awards on Monday. One for Accelerated Reading. He explained that he read books and took tests on the computer and if you got a certain grade you got a trophy. He also won the PE award for his class, yes perfect for him. The PE coach described the award as going to the student with the best sportsmanship. Jeremy and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. If you know us well, you understand why. Finally Calahan received the Good Citizenship award. This was awarded to one student per class who demonstrated kindness and leadership. I was so proud. I did get a little prideful. Wondered why he didn't get the Art Award or Music Award... oh well, can't win it all! :)
Harper and I helped with First Grade Fun Day. It really was fun! The teachers had several stations set up outside and I manned the color on plastic visors with sharpies station. Harper was allowed to go to each station with Calahan. It was precious to see how he involved her amongst all his friends!
When Harper and I got home I found her in the playroom laying down with pink baby. I asked her "are you tired"? She started crying and says "no, I just really want our baby brothers to come home!" It was one of the most sincere, heartfelt moments we have shared. I pulled her into my lap and we prayed and asked the Lord to allow them to come home to live with us. I cried as we asked the Lord most importantly to allow the brothers to know Him so that if they are not able to live with us now that one day we would all be together in Heaven. It took us several minutes to recover. It was amazing. I know that God IS love and that the love our family has for our 2 Peruvian brothers is only from Him. I pray that He will answer our prayers and if the answer for our hearts desire is "No" that He will change our hearts desire to line up with His will. Please pray with us!

Contentment

2009-04-02T16:06:00.004-04:00

I am content.
I mean this in the broad sense of the word.
(There are 2 little boys in Peru who if they could come home would allow me to be even more content!) I was able to spend time today with two of my precious nieces and my sister-in-law. Playing with an almost 2 year old and holding a 4 week old is wonderful. I treasure our time with them, especially when there are no grandparents around to "share" them with. :) However, it did leave me thinking about how much I love parenting an almost 5 year old and 7 year old. I love this age. At this point the desire to go backwards and have babies is gone. We don't have diapers, they eat with out assistance, ok they do most everything without assistance and I love it. I rarely say "share", "don't whine" or "don't hit". It's just so much fun! I am so thankful that I experienced all of Calahan and Harper's stages but this by far is my favorite. It does make me sad to think about how we missed the baby and toddler stages of "the brothers" but really excited that if they do get to "come home" they will fit right in to the stage we are in now! I am looking forward to what the Lord has for us in the future! Will I love adolesence just as much?

Am I Crazy?

2009-03-28T13:18:00.002-04:00

I am going to be part of my first international Mission trip this summer. It is also the first time that I will do a mission trip with Jeremy. We are going with a team of 10 high school students and 4 adults to Nicaragua to join with Mary Ezzell (her blog is in my blog list) a missionary who our church supports. I love spending time with her!
Those are the exciting parts. What leads me to wonder if I am crazy is.... We are going to Nicaragua where it will reportedly feel like 120 degrees. We will stay with different Nicaraguan families in their homes, eat their food, use their bathrooms. We will both be away from our kids for 7 days. We will be teaching leaders about Bible study methods, ect. We will visit a volcano. We will take a 2 hour bus ride. I don't speak spanish and then all of the unknowns!

I am really excited, just a little anxious! This is really far out of my comfort zone. I know that the Lord will challenge me and I pray that I will handle it with grace. The students who are going are amazing. I look forward to connecting on a much deeper level with them. It has been tough for me the last 5 years to send Jeremy off on mission trips, I have always wanted to be part. The newly engaged Laura and Anderson are the other 2 adults and I always have a blast with them. See? I think it's going to be ok.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

2009-02-23T16:41:00.005-05:00

The past couple of weeks presented a health scare for me. I found a lump. Went to my Dr who sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound who sent me for a biopsy who made me wait 4 days for results. My mom is 9 years in remission with breast cancer. Scary.
From the beginning when I realized something was not "normal" my friends and family have been amazing. The first person I shared with was my gym buddy. She encouraged me and told me to get it checked out. Jer had to put up with my constant questioning and he was so gracious and encouraging. 2 different generous friends kept my kids while I had all the tests done. One precious friend dropped what she was doing two times to drive my kids from place to place while Jer was with me during tests. My mom drove up 2 different days last week from Columbia to go with us to appointments. Another amazing friend brought a meal the day of the mammogram and ultrasound. In the mean time all of my friends and family were calling to check in and let us know they were praying. The Lord used all of these people, it would have been a very different experience with out them.
The Lord promises us in scripture that He provides "peace that surpasses understanding". I have experience this truth first hand over the last couple of weeks. The experience was hard, frustrating and scary but I felt that peace every step of the way.
Through out this "suffering" I have grown in my relationship with the Lord. I realized that He is in control of the results and that He knew long ago what this situation held. I trusted Him to know what was best for me and my family. I wanted to walk with Him. I wanted to glorify Him no matter the results. I did wrestle with Him to get to this point. The trust was not automatic.
It is benign. It's really strange. I don't believe them. I am waiting for them to call and say "Sorry, we messed up". Jer says it's because I allowed myself to believe that it was going to be cancerous. Now I have to turn my mind around.
Don't get me wrong. I am very thankful that the Lord allowed this lump to not be malignant. Very thankful! Thank you friends for praying for me and my family. Thank you also for praising the Lord with us. I challenge you to think would we be able to praise the Lord even if the answer was different? I pray so.

Another new Blog we follow...

2009-02-11T16:48:00.002-05:00

The Children's Ministry of our amazing church (Grace Church) has started a blog geared towards parenting children from birth to 10 years old. They are currently discussing a book, Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. The blog will also answer parent's questions. How neat! The spot is: www.childrenatgrace.blogspot.com
Enjoy!

Watch out! New blogger in town!

2009-01-13T18:13:00.002-05:00

So, "our" blog was not good enough for my precious husband! :) He has started his own. He is thought provoking, funny, intelligent and biblically sound. Enjoy! (but check in on the rest of the fam every now and then!) See my blog list on the left for his blogspot.

Words from the mouths of our kids

2009-01-07T07:42:00.002-05:00

*Calahan has been told the difference in "beard" and "beer". I was not too happy. He was calling them both "beard". He still says "remoke" for "remote" though!
*Last night at dinner we were having a family discussion about money that we could use to help people in need. Jeremy was explaining what that meant and Harper said to him "can we skip this part?" Hilarious.
*This morning Harper asked for a vitamin. I told her "Just a minute" and she told me to "hurry up." She then started to make cards (one of her favorite pastimes, usually for her bday party) and I called to her "come get your vitamins" she came and told me "you are wasting my time!"
OH MY!!!! What to do about her?

Christmas Gift

2008-12-15T11:14:00.004-05:00

Sunday Jeremy received a message on facebook from a friend in Peru. In broken english this is what it said:

"hello bro only for tell you that today i plaing with
Christian and Anthony
and i ask who is your father?? and he answer Jermey...
GOD Bless you"

It is a common question for people at the orphanage to ask the children "who is your father?" they are looking for the response "God". We didn't even know that the boys knew Jeremy's name. As stated in a previous post, this is a prayer for them, that God will prepare them supernaturally to be aware of our family and to be ready for us.

I was telling a friend at church and she said "Thank you God for an early Christmas gift for the Keevers". Our sentiments exactly!

Another first from our precious daughter

2008-12-11T08:17:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday I took Harper to run errands with me. I had ordered 2 books from Barnes and Noble, so we went in to pick them up. Right at the front of the store is a HUGE display of Elf on the Shelf with a video playing and all. She had already told me about the book, they had read it at school the previous week. The display has no "just books". All they have is a $30 gift set with the book and an elf. The story, in a quick skim, tells about an elf that watches over kids and reports back to Santa. Every day the elf moves location around the house and the kids have to find it. So it's also a game. Harper starts asking for it right away. I tell her let's go look at other books and I'll think about it. We had fun looking at other books. I found a Christmas book that I had as a child that is about a bear and is scratch and sniff. It was fun to read it to her.
So it's now time to leave and I just couldn't spend the $30 on the Elf on the Shelf with out talking to Jer. This is when the 1st happens. She starts to cry. It is not a fit, she is not begging. It really breaks my heart. She is just standing beside me at the check out with big tears rolling down her face. It took all I had to walk out of the store with out the book set.
Usually my kids are easily told "Not today" and we can leave a store with out much fuss. This, like I said was very different. I almost would have rather her whined, screamed and complained so I would have felt righteous in my "no".
The end of the story: As I write Jeremy is on his way with Harper on a date to get Elf on the Shelf. She doesn't know. I wish I could be there to see how excited she is going to be when they pull up at Barnes and Noble and she realizes what is happening. So precious. I love them both.

2008-11-16T19:11:00.003-05:00

November is National Adoption Awareness Month.

It has been 2 and 1/2 years since we met the boys that we have prayed will be our sons. Nothing new to report. Just re-did our fingerprints for the 3rd time and those will last us 12 months. Most of our paperwork expires in December 2009. So we wait. We pray. We go through so many emotions. Fear, anger, nervousness, sadness, expectation but it always ends in HOPE for both of us. We still have hope that Peru will allow us to adopt two precious little boys who we have prayed for and loved from the States for so long. We pray that God will make clear to us His will. We pray for our Peru boys that they will continue to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually. We ask the Lord to prepare them supernaturally for us. We ask Jesus to hold them and protect them. We pray for ourselves that we are as prepared as we can be to have 4 children. That we are emotionally and spiritually prepared for parenting 2 adopted children and 2 biological children. We pray that the transition will go smoothly for our 4 children. We pray for Calahan and Harper's hearts, that they will be gracious, kind, patient and loving in the transition (as well as our hearts). Please pray with us.
Thank you for continuing to ask us about the process. I am sorry that we are usually short. We are just sad there is nothing new to tell.

Thought I would post a poem I read. It does a good job of putting into words some of our thoughts as we wait and pray.

KISSES IN THE WIND (The Waiting Child's Lullabye)

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

--- © Pamela Durkota, written for Josh

Hair Update

2008-11-11T07:57:00.001-05:00

The curls did return on their on after washing and the length is hardly noticeable! Yeah! :)

A Big Event... Harper's 1st Hair Cut

2008-11-06T15:08:00.004-05:00

Yes, she is 4 1/2 years old!
We have hung on to her precious long curly hair long enough. It was really starting to get unhealthy. This is how the event went down: Place call to Jelly Beans where children get their first hair cut for 1 penny. I explain that my 4 year old daughter has never had hers cut and ask if they would do it for a penny. They say yes, come at 1:30pm. I call Jer to see if he wants to join us, he is not able but asks me to take video and pictures. I prep Harper as much as I can and detangle and comb her hair. We get there and they ask her to lay down on a table to get her hair washed. I had not prepared her for this. She is doing great, so I get my camera and try to turn it on to begin all the pictures. It will not turn on. The battery is dead. "REALLY?" I think. So I am deciding ok, no big deal. We can remember it. But then the nice lady says "What do you want done to her hair?" I say "Oh, just a trim to remove the dead ends." She says "Ok, that will be about 4 inches." I say "What! Will she still have any curls?" She says "Probably not." I start to panic. I am thinking "Do I have enough pictures of her precious curls, I can't believe I don't have a working camera, Should I cancel and come back?...." The nice lady says "Why don't y'all run over to BiLo and get a disposable camera." Good option. Didn't even know they still made those things. So, that's what we do. When we return Harper hops up in the chair and the curls start to come off. It really wasn't too much hair, just 4 inch pieces. The nice lady then blow drys it and puts a cute little french braid and a ghetto blue plastic bow clip in it. She then sprays lots of stuff all over Harpers hair and curls the bottom where the curls used to be with a curling iron. Hmmm...
Harper liked it well enough. I look forward to washing it and seeing if her natural curls return. Sorry, no pictures. We have to try and remember how you get them developed!

Halloween '08

2008-11-04T15:45:00.006-05:00

So fun! Such great family memories!

Harper had asked to be Princess Leia. I thought she was confused, thinking it was a Disney Princess. We are not a Star Wars family and she has never seen the movie. After showing her online what Princess Leia looked like she said "Yep, that's who I want to be!" Seeing that the costumes were $30 we bought a twin sheet and Jer's grandmother made it into PL's gown. Harp had the perfect hair to braid and twist into buns! She was cute! Calahan then decided he wanted to be "Dark Vader". He bought his costume with his own money, he was so proud.
This was the first time we have been in a neighborhood for Halloween. The kids were ready and standing outside at 5:30pm. No one else was out, so at 6:15 we decided to be the first. We had practiced saying "Happy Halloween, Trick-or-treat" and being thankful for whatever candy was dropped in their pumpkins. We also practiced not saying "I don't like this, or could I have that instead?" Jer took them around with one of our neighbors and his daughter. They really had the most fun handing out candy from our door to all of our treaters!
A week before Halloween Jer, who is always in charge of cleaning out the pumpkins, got all his tools and headed to the garage with the kids. They decided on the Jack-o-lanterns face and Jer traced Calahan's foot for the other pumpkin. They both turned out great!

Date Night Suggestion

2008-10-25T08:40:00.003-04:00

Jeremy and I had a much needed night out last night. In our effort to be cheap we ate at Moe's with a coupon and only spend $7.59. Then we went to the mall and walked around, people watching. We went to Starbucks and spent more on 2 drinks than we had on our Moe's meal. Oh well, still a date for under $20!
This is where the suggestion comes in: Then we went to Costco to look around. It's one of our favorite stores. We ran into a friend who told us they had the scooter coolers out to test drive. It was a blast! There were 2 scooter coolers so we drove around Costco for about 15 minutes. We had an employee be our line judge and we did a little race, we tried to tip them doing fast turns, and just laughed our heads off! They go really fast for a little scooter cooler! Enjoy! (You can borrow our card to get in if you want! Oh, and if you want to buy one they cost $359!)

Practical Theology (Jer's 1st Post)

2008-10-15T10:00:00.002-04:00

Time and time again I hear that theology really isn’t important……I mean maybe for pastors and teachers but not for “real” people. To be honest, I find myself wondering if that is actually true. Are the things that I love to read and study really important and practical for the average person or are they simply a hobby or an intellectual exercise? Recently, I have had two conversations with Harper (our 4 year old daughter) that have me believing that theology is as practical as breathing:

Her Questions

1 - “Dad, If God doesn’t have a body, then how did he create things by speaking them? Wouldn’t he have to speak from a mouth?"

2 – “Dad if Jesus died for all sins, how come there is still sin in the world”

My Thoughts

Wow! Are you serious? You are 4! Shouldn’t you be thinking about Dora, the alphabet or what pretty dress you are going to wear today? I wish I could get my high school students to think that way! You are asking questions that the smartest people in the world have been asking for years!

Yeah, shaping the hearts and minds of the next generation is about as practical as it gets. Parenting with a biblical and theological worldview is critically important for those of us who claim to know Christ (Romans 12:1-2). No, you don’t have to be the next John Piper, Wayne Grudem or even Matt Williams. However, you better know what you believe and why you believe…….because when you least expect it you are going to be asked to communicate it and to live it……and probably from the persons you least expect!

Redeeming Words

2008-10-13T08:03:00.001-04:00

It's my month to take our "neighbor girl" and Calahan to school. As we were backing out of the driveway Jeremy is pretending to push our car. The kids and I laugh and
neighbor girl says: "no one can really push a car"
Calahan says: "God can"
neighbor girl says: "How can God do that if He is up in heaven"
Calahan says: "God is everywhere"

He is learning!

Waste of $

2008-10-05T16:48:00.002-04:00

This morning on the way to church the 4 of us had a conversation that went like this:

Harper: "I brought some money to give to Jesus!"
Jeremy: "That's great Harper!"
Calahan: "I don't want to waste my money!"
Me: bust out laughing

So of course with a theologian for a dad, Jeremy begins to expound on whose $ it is to begin with and why it is not a "waste" to give back to God what is already His. It was a interesting conversation, I pray we made some progress in Calahan's little heart.... Time will tell.

Joining a Gym, the Budget and a Marriage Retreat

2008-09-28T16:12:00.006-04:00

So Jer and I have joined a gym. We both feel like it is very important for the both of us to exercise on a regular basis so that we can ward off all the health problems that have been passed on to us! :)
Joining the gym has forced us to take a closer look at our budget. Today was the day. It went as good as it can when a married couple looks at their budget closely. Let's just say that nothing was broken or smashed and we did a fabulous job of keeping our voices at a normal speaking level. The outcome: We are going to be keeping things pretty tight around the Keever household for awhile. So I am begging you, don't tempt us by asking us to do fun things that cost money. Any money that is!
We are going to a Marriage Retreat this week (maybe the budget conversation should have been put on hold until after). In January we are going to celebrate 10 years of marriage and this will be our 2nd Marriage Retreat. The 1st was 5 years ago when we were pregnant with Harper Charis. I think that we learned a lot, I really don't remember. I don't have a very good memory anymore, which is super annoying. I attribute it to birthing 2 kids and trying to adopt 2 more! Anyway, we are super excited to get away and focus on us!
Thanks to Jeremy's parents for sending us and to my mom for coming to G'vegas to keep the kids!
(Ash~ does this sound more "real" :)?)

Never Have I Ever

2008-09-19T14:03:00.002-04:00

This is from a game we play. One person says something that they have never done and anyone who has done it has to stand up and try and find a new seat. Fun game to get to know people. I thought I would tell you some Never Have I Evers about me:

Never been to Europe
Never liked Star Wars
Never gotten a tattoo
Never driven a 15 passenger van
Never liked raw fish
Never had my belly button pierced
Never liked the Clemson Tigers
Never liked Nancy Drew books
Never been bungee jumping
Never watched Night Rider
Never been fluent in a foreign language
Never thought stirrup pants were a good idea
Never liked the Jonas Brothers
Never been good at skate boarding

Feel free to add some of your own or some that you think about me!

Things I learned...

2008-09-09T15:20:00.002-04:00

In my quiet time in the Bible today!
1. That even when Simon denied Jesus 3 times, Jesus promised him that when he repented and turned to Jesus again He would be used by the Lord to STRENGTHEN and BUILD UP his brothers! (Lk 22:32) Lord, thank you that you used Simon. Thank you for using me despite my sin!
2. Jesus says "The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works because I am going to be with the Father"! (Jn 14:12) Lord, Help me to do your work!
3. Jesus also tells us that " You didn't chose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last..." (Jn 15:16) Lord, Thank you for choosing me. I don't deserve what you have done for me!
4. Jesus commanded us "to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it - the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. You are my friends if you obey me." (Jn 15:12-14) Lord, please help me to deny myself. It is so easy to love me! Help me to love others more! I want to obey you.
5. Lastly, "Mark my words - I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." (Mtw 26:29) That's right! There will be wine in heaven! Lord, help me learn to like wine! :)

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-01T21:24:00.006-04:00

We had a great Labor Day. We did no labor, just fun! Our family went to Chick-Fil-A with the Burns, Espinosas, Mozingos, Nelsons (missed you Scott and Adrienne) and Taylors. We wore our favorite sports team shirts and got free chicken strips for all! As you can see we made a long parents table and then 2 kids tables right by the door to the playport. We hung out from 10:30 to about noon!
Jeremy was so proud to wear his Alabama t-shirt (shout out to Kalynn) to mock all the Clemson fans... It worked! He got several comments. Roll Tide!!!! Thanks Heather for your entertaining stories, Ashley for the idea, Joanna for letting us change plans on you last minute and Julia and Molly for just being awesome! I love all of you and can't imagine what Summer '08 would have been with out your families. What a way to send out the summer!
Afterwards some of us came back to the Keever casa to continue to hang out and then we all split up for naptime. Jeremy and I took the kids to Sno Hut for their first experience with shave ice. Calahan got root beer"d" and Harper got bubble gum. They ended up sharing them. One other funny thing Harper has started being real into her "muzzles". Those are the things that get big when they eat their green beans, brocoli, salad, ect. Muscles, if you aren't catching on. :)
This is a big week for us. Harper starts 4K on Wed and will go MWF mornings. This will allow Jer and I to have Friday mornings together! 3 hours to be together every week! Amazing.

My and Jer's latest Addiction

2008-08-25T16:58:00.005-04:00

Prison Break! We just finished Season 1 and are waiting for Netflix to send Season 2 discs 1-3. We both think Wentworth Miller (center right, light blue shirt), who plays Michael Scoffield, is hot! Yep, Jer does too! :) The character on the far left in this picture is gisgusging (that is how Harper says disgusting) a great actor but again, gisgusging! I cover my eyes and ears whenever he is on the screen. This has replaced our anger towards 24 not being on the air for a year! So if we don't answer the phones in the evenings or say no to hanging out, you now know why!

1st Day of 1st Grade

2008-08-19T08:49:00.002-04:00

We can hardly believe that we have a son who is old enough to be in 1st Grade! Jeremy and I woke up early this morning to get things ready and to pray for Calahan, his teacher and his year. We decided that after the trauma of sending him last year to K5 that this was a breeze. It really helps that we are excited about his teacher! Mrs. Herlong. She is precious, with one downfall... She likes Clemson as is evident by her classroom decorations. We did not warn her that Calahan will tease her horribly and tell her that "Tarheels are the best"! She will learn quickly, probably in the first 5 minutes of him being there.

He wouldn't hold my hand as I walked him into the school. That was tough for me. On the way I asked him what he was most excited about and he said "lunch". What a boy! I can't wait until 2:30pm when I get to hear all about his first day of first grade!

So Harper and I will be home for a few weeks together until she starts school after Labor Day. She will go 3 mornings a week. Today she is going for a trial class at The Little Gym for ballet, tap and gymnastics. She already had her leotard on at 7:50 this morning. She is so excited! It is going to cost a lot of $ but it is worth it to see her so excited and happy!

Keevers at Kiawah

2008-08-12T15:12:00.004-04:00

Jeremy's parents (Gammie and Gramps) took me, Calahan and Harper and Julie, Ed and Mary Addison to Kiawah for the week. It was hard to be away from Jeremy again. He had just returned from the Peru Parent/Student Mission trip and was heading into the Greenville Mission Trip and teaching the adult service at Grace this past weekend.
We managed to have a little fun with out him. We rode bikes a lot. It was Harper's first time on a Trail-Behind bike. She loved it and did great! Let me tell you though, her pedals do nothing! She can pedal while we are stopped! So basically I pulled another 50lbs around behind me! These are some highlights from the week: watching the alligators from the screened in porch, going to the carnival where the kids and I all did the rock wall, the kids seeing and trying to understand a really tall man on stilts, me reading 2 novels, being with MAE her first time at the beach, and riding bikes with Julie and Ed in the pitch black dark on the bike trail.

Below is one of the precious pictures we took at The Sanctuary and then me and the kids on our bikes.

Renewal

2008-07-29T20:57:00.002-04:00

I have been with out my precious husband and children for the past 3 days. It has been an amazing time of renewal on several levels. Most important, my relationship with Jesus has been real and refreshed. I have had time to sit and think, to pray and just worship. I am thankful that many circumstances have drawn me closer to Him in the last few days and that I have been able to rest in his grace. One of my friends dad's had serious surgery today and being able to spend the weekend talking, hiking and praying with/ for her and her family has been so special. Praying for your family has helped renew my relationship with the Lord.
I had lunch Monday with a friend whose family has been walking a long, tough road with us for the last couple of years and who I adore being around. It is wonderful to have someone on the road with Jer and I who knows and understands completely when no one else does. Thank you friend, your understanding renews me.
I had a fun supper with some girls last night (shout out Mary Beth, Julia, Ashley B, Elizabeth, Lindsay and Mollie) at PF Changs where we just laughed a lot and enjoyed being together. Laughter and friendship is so renewing.
There has been a continual situation for about a year now that I can not seem to get a grasp on mentally or emotionally. I think that it is under control and then something flares up again. I have felt God today just holding me and comforting me emotionally and mentally. What it boils down to is that God is enough, all I need and the cares of the world are nothing! Thank you Jesus for dying for me so that one day my sinful, nasty self will be completely renewed with a glorified self! There is nothing I could do to deserve or earn that. I look forward to that day.....

Firsts

2008-07-22T15:38:00.003-04:00

I was privileged to be with one of my most special friends while she experienced a first. Yep, Leah got her ears pierced! Most people say "for the first time!?" and I reply "Yep!" She was really scared so she invited Laura and I along to hold her hands. She did well, only cried a little bit. She looks beautiful!

"Snort- HOLES" and the likes

2008-07-21T15:15:00.003-04:00

After one of our trips to the pool this summer, (thanks to the Espinosas, Fowlers, Osborns, Jacobs, and Nelsons) Calahan requested that we go and get him a snort-hole. Took me a minute then I realized what he wanted.
This brings up another point. Please do not correct our children when they use incorrect words! We, or maybe I should say I, think it is precious and it makes my heart so happy! They will learn the correct words when they start school and are teased!!!! (Just kidding grandparents, we'll tell them before then!)

The "Brothers"

2008-07-10T20:35:00.008-04:00

These are the "brothers" our family has prayed for during the past 2 years. We adore them and can not believe how big they have gotten. It has been extremely tough to have the Peru Team return and see all the people loving on them but it makes me so happy to see them happy and healthy.
By the way, They do NOT like the Dolphins. They let Jer know when he was there that they LOVE the COWBOYS!

Reunited

2008-07-07T15:05:00.003-04:00

Jeremy and the team returned home safe and well from Peru about noon today. The kids and I had fun going to GSP Airport to pick him up. Harper Charis did not let go of him! It feels wonderful to have all of us together after 10 days. We celebrated by coming home and doing our Keever Pile! :)

Fourth of July with the cousins

2008-07-05T13:52:00.002-04:00

Chad, Tish, Hudson and Kassady came up to see us this weekend! We had a blast eating at the Taylor's with the Espinosa's and then doing fireworks at the Fowler's. We got up early Saturday and went to Falls Park to take some pictures, that was tough!!! 4 kids happy and looking at the camera, close to impossible!

Our precious "Boys"

2008-07-02T18:25:00.001-04:00

Jer called from Peru today to let me talk to "our Boys". All I could do was laugh, they were SOOO talkative! They said "hola Kelly" and told me their names and good job and bye bye and talked about their brother and then would hand the phone to the other and do it all over again. I got in Hola and I love you and then ciao. Thank you Jesus, I will treasure it always.
Oh, and Jer and the team are great. :)

Thoughts...

2008-06-27T21:52:00.000-04:00

With the Student Mission Team in Peru, I thought I would try this blog thing again...
I have a few thoughts I would like to share:
1. Having a 4 year old and 6 year old is AMAZING!!! They are both so much fun! They play together, they don't whine (well hardly), they can go out to dinner like normal people, they can sit through movies, they can get in the pool and I can sit on the side, they can play games, they can travel, they are just precious. I am so blessed!
2. I am so emotional these days. I don't want to go to Peru until we are told to "Come and get your boys" but I get so upset that 40 of my friends get to spend a week with my boys! I cried recently at the BMW golf tournament our family got to go to when one of the caddies called Calahan over to give him a golf ball. I teared up spending a family day together at the pool yesterday. Just watching my wonderful husband be so great with our children. I am so full!
3. I have amazing family and friends. My mom comes to G'vegas whenever I need her. My Dad has us to his house and beach house and spoils us rotten. My dad's wife Katy gave me an amazing new bag! :) My brother and his family are so much fun. My In-laws are so generous in numerous ways! My sister and brother in law have given us a precious niece and love my kids. Friends, I don't know how to even begin. New, old, close, far, young, wise the Lord has given us an abundance. I am so thankful!

Getting Started

2008-05-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

I have had so much fun keeping up with friends and family on their blogs that I decided to try it for our family.
We'll see how it goes!

The Keever Family

Children, Children Everywhere!!!!

Foster Family"ing"

Peruvian Adoption Final Answer

"Snow" Day's are not fun

Blessings in the Hard Times

So much to think about...

Meet The Parents, The Keevers

SWAGGER WAGON

In someone else's music

From the Mouths of our Kids

Haiti (as seen and lived by people living out Christ for others)

2010, will it be the year of "The Brothers"?

Future Men

Hairstyles and school

Modesty! Come on women!

Firsts

Keever Family Fun Day 2009

Really?

The People I love doing the things we LOVE!

Burdened

Hell Week (is it considered a bad word in this setting?)

Contentment

Am I Crazy?

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Another new Blog we follow...

Watch out! New blogger in town!

Words from the mouths of our kids

Christmas Gift

Another first from our precious daughter

***Hair Update***

A Big Event... Harper's 1st Hair Cut

Halloween '08

Date Night Suggestion

Practical Theology (Jer's 1st Post)

Redeeming Words

Waste of $

Joining a Gym, the Budget and a Marriage Retreat

Never Have I Ever

Things I learned...

Labor Day Fun

My and Jer's latest Addiction

1st Day of 1st Grade

Keevers at Kiawah

Renewal

Firsts

"Snort- HOLES" and the likes

The "Brothers"

Reunited

Fourth of July with the cousins

Our precious "Boys"

Thoughts...

Getting Started

Hair Update