In hot water (I wish)

Day 5 of no water heater.......all I can think about is a nice hot shower. Last night Jon tried to boil water on the stove so I could take a bath. It was very sweet, but it didn't end up working out. He was either being very nice or he thinks I smell. Hmmm. Right now he is out buying yet another part to try to fix it. I really don't want to ring in the new year like this. I am praying that he can fix it today.

On another note......I found a quote that made me smile.

"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe."~Anonymous

If you're not a control freak like I am you may not get it.

Have fun tonight and be safe. Goodbye 2008.

Joy in simple things

Our Christmas was simply amazing.

This year I did not go to a single Christmas party and I LOVED it. Seriously. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I didn't go to the mall once or spend much time in other stores. I did research online and then went out on missions to find a specific item and that was all I was out for. We were able to spoil Brooklyn with some really great gifts for a really great price and it felt amazing.

Christmas Eve at my parents house is hilarious! We each bring a gift that costs 20-25 bucks, we draw numbers and then we take turns opening gifts or stealing an already opened one from a family member(White Elephant style). We laugh, we boo(sorry Joseph), we cheer, and we conspire against each other all in the name of love and Christ's birth. This year there were a lot of movie tickets, so people would decide which tickets to steal based on the type of candy that was included. And then when it's all over we trade with someone else or end up giving our gift away to the first child who asks for it. We don't really care about the gifts and I love that. We enjoy the time together.

Christmas morning is ours. Just the three of us in our pj's opening gifts. So nice. Then we get ready and head over to Jon's parents house for Christmas dinner and more presents. After dinner we usually play a game. This year we played Phase 10. I love that game even though I never win. Okay, so I think I won once.

Jon and I were really blessed by our families this Christmas in so many ways. This year, more than any other year, I felt the true spirit of the season.

The joy in simple things. It was amazing.

My random family......I love them:)

I am the second oldest of 14 children. No, that is not a typo. I have one older half sister from my Dad and then I am the oldest of my Mom and Dad's 13 children together. When I was a kid I LOVED it. When I was a teenager I wanted out; I wanted peace and quiet and an open bathroom.

My sister Kristin(aka Fish-face) called me on Wednesday(the 10th) and asked if I could drive to Rocklin with my camera and remote to take a family picture. Then we looked at our calendars and realized that the next day was the only day that worked, so I picked up Brooklyn from school, told them we would not be there the next day and off we went to the Keller house.

This is my Mom, Dad, Me(my hubby Jon and daughter Brooklyn), Kristin, Angela(her hubby Dan, son Caleb and daughter Maddie), Patricia, Joseph(his wife Mandy and son Gilbert), Jacob, Jonathan, Sarah, James, Hannah, Julie, Jeremiah, Janae and their puppy Tiki#2.

My family is not very good with planning ahead. Add to that a very time consuming family crisis that we are going through and you take what you can get when you can get it. Actually that is a pretty good description of how it is all the time, crisis or not. The Keller house is, i imagine, like Grand Central Station; there is always someone coming and going.

Brooklyn LOVES going to Aunt's and Uncle's house. My youngest sister Janae is 9 months older than her and they are such buddies. The next one up is Jeremiah and the three of them are trouble. I pretty much don't see my daughter from the moment we pull up until the moment I drag her kicking and screaming to the car where she passes out from exhaustion.

Janae, Brooklyn and Jeremiah before the family picture.

I had such a great time on that random family visit and am counting down the days with great anticipation until Christmas Eve-Eve when I can see my crazy wonderful family again. I miss my Mom and Dad and my brothers and sisters, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and my nieces and my nephews. I thank God for giving me the family that I have, and I am so blessed to be able to spend Christmas with them.

This is me with seven of my sisters.

Belle, my older sister lives in Idaho and wasn't there:(

From left to right: Hannah, Patricia, Angela, Me, Kristin,

Sarah, Julie and Janae(the little one in front)

Merry Christmas everyone!!! God bless you.

Cars and dreams...bet you didn't know.

I walked by Brooklyns room this morning while she was getting ready for school and she had the biggest smile on her face. She said, "Mom! Do you know why I am smiling?" And I said, "No, why are you smiling?" She said, "Because I had a dream about Justin and that makes me smile!" (He is a boy from her school that she likes one day and then doesn't the next depending on if they played together or not) I told her that we were running late, but that I would love to hear about her dream in the car on the way to school.

When we finished getting ready and got in the car I asked her to tell me all about her great dream. She tried to tell me, but then she said, "I can't really remember in the car like I can in the house. Cars steal dreams. They really do Mom."

Oh man! I had to try so hard not to laugh:) I love being the Mom of a five year old girl.

Free dates are the best.

Yesterday morning, after dropping our daughter off at school, Jon and I decided to take a bike ride around our neighborhood. It was the perfect fall day for it. Jon checked the bikes to make sure they were in good riding order while I filled the water bottles to take with us. We started off and right away I began to feel a burn in my quads.....ouch! I guess it had been awhile since we had done this. We got all the way to the end of the paved road section and turned around to go home. By the time we pulled into our driveway my legs were shaking so bad that my knees almost buckled on me as I got off the bike. I went in the house and was planning out my day when Jon walked in and says that he has another idea. He grabbed his backpack and some sunflower seeds and off we went to Enterprise park to do some disc golfing. This was my first time and all I can say is that I was glad that there were not many people out there! I don't like to fail at something. If I can't do something well, then I just don't do it. That is something that I have been trying to change about myself for years. Well, I get out there and Jon shows me how to throw the disc. I'm thinking, oh I got this! I went to throw it and instead of throwing with my arm level like Jon showed me, I threw it out and up and the disc flew through the air and went sideways. Oh man! Thankfully I was in a great mood and so instead of huffing and puffing and giving up, I laughed at myself and grabbed another disc. After about a half hour of practice I decided that ready or not, I was starting the course. By the 4th basket or so I was making par on about every other basket. Jon was so patient with me and we had a blast together.

It was the best day I have had in awhile. Gotta love a free date:)

Hello! This is new to me.

Hello everyone!

So I have decided to give blogging a shot. I have been browsing through other blogs and I feel like this is a great way to get to know who people are and what makes them tick. I am not very good at articulating what is going on in my life and this may be just what I need to push me into it.