Update on my tiny niece....

Emily is growing, she is 2 lbs 8 ozs and nursing! Here she is with her mom and sleeping in the NICU.

Wordless Wednesday -- Ah, to sleep!

Glen Beck Tribute

Found this over at Serious. If the video doesn't work click here

Gordon B. Hinckley--A photo Essay by Scot Facer Proctor

By Scot Facer ProctorPresident Hinckley always uses his cane, just not much for walking. Accra, Ghana.See what I mean. He was told to carry a cane and that's what he does - he carries it. Elder Russell M. Nelson is at far right. Accra, Ghana.Not all of us have such a fancy pointing stick as President Hinckley. Kirtland Temple.We marveled at the contrast of Joseph Smith's visit to the White House to meet with President Van Buren and President Hinckley's visit to the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given a United States citizen. The White House, Washington, D.C.President Hinckley said that "Sister Hinckley would have loved this event." The White House, Washington, D.C.You just can't help breaking into a smile when you are around Gordon B. Hinckley. Kirtland Temple.President Hinckley is patient with all the photographers who are constantly taking his picture. He did say to us one time, in a quiet tone, that "if all the cameras in the world were thrown into the ocean, there would be a great flood." Kirtland Temple.Who can resist President Gordon B. Hinckley's warmth? Kirtland Temple.President and Sister Hinckley were just the trademark of happiness in Ghana . No one could keep their eyes off of them. Their warmth was infectious. Their kind waves of the hand always made everyone feel loved. Accra, Ghana.These two are love birds, no less. Kirtland, Ohio .I'll never forget when President Hinckley invited his precious wife to the stand in Moscow and introduced her to the 2,000 present as his "Babushka.'' It brought the house down - they loved it. Moscow, Russia .When we first published it, one woman wrote to us and said,"If people don't believe Mormons are Christians, just have them look at this picture of Sister Marjorie Hinckley." I so agree. Nauvoo, Illinois.How blessed we are to live during the administration and ministry of President Gordon B. Hinckley. Nauvoo, Illinois. Hope you've enjoyed this little personal journey.



I received this as an email in April of 2006 and I found it appropriate with his passing on Jan 27, 2008 to share with all of you. I enjoyed reading all of the posts about this wonderful man of God!
***************************************************************************
On a completely different note: It is COLD where I live! I mean COLD! When I got up and the power came back on, I checked in with the Weather Channel and it said it was -22! and with the wind chill -48! Needless to say, our suburban was not starting! In fact our pick-up truck also would not start, Troy had to hitch a ride home from work! It is a balmy -11 and with the wind chill -31! You may be thinking that this is a "snow day" or a "too cold day", but you would be mistaken! They don't cancel school for much round these parts! We gave a morning wake-up call to Grandpa. Thankfully his car roared to life and he came to the rescue and got the kids off to school. Hope it's warmer where you live!
**************************************************************************
Scott: "Mom, I have a little tiny butt. You have a big butt!" :P
Mom: "Thanks, a lot, Scott!" :(

52 Weeks of Blessings -Week 4-- Children

This week I'm thankful for the blessing of Children, my children. No matter how they come into your life they are a blessing. I am posting about each child on their birthday, so I won't go over them right now. I would like to share something I read last night about children. "And the worth of every child is untold--beyond any jewel, any treasure. Every child could be a poet, a healer...." From The Wings of Merlin by T.A. Barron The future of every nation is its children, let's raise our children as such.

Wordless Wednesday - I love you!

Mom of the Week

I was over at Angie's and saw her post on the mom spotlight, featuring over at From Dates to Diapers. She will spotlight one mom a week. You can nominate a mom, go check it out by clicking on the button on the side or click on the link above. Spread the news ....

Only 3 hours of sleep, and what's my excuse?

So, last night I was up late, as usual. I was finishing up the letters and getting them on the wall. I headed to bed around 1 AM. ... Threw a load of wash in took Scott to the potty and then opened the door to my room and thought "Dang! it's cold in here!" I checked the thermostat and it said it was working properly. { IT is located in the Twins room and sometimes they turn it off or max it out.} So why was it like the frozen Arctic? Take a gander at the following picture....... What do you see?Did you see what I saw? Yup, there is about a 4 inch gap between the windowpanes! Now, if you read this, then you are probably thinking, "Are they nuts? Do they enjoy a frigid room?" Well the answers are: Maybe we are nuts and NO I do NOT enjoy a frigid room! The reason there is a gap is that we can't find the right window to fill the space and this was the best. Ya see,when we bought the house, 3 1/2 years ago, this window had an A/C unit mounted in it. The unit in our front room went out and since we really didn't need such a large one in the bedroom, we moved it downstairs. This was lovely when it wasn't FREEZING out! So I decided that since I was awake and I really didn't want to wear my thermals, PJ's and sweats to bed, I'd pop down to the basement and grab the window kit and fix it up in a snap. This kit is not like the common ones found in your local hardware store.Oh, no, this one is supposed to be SO much easier, at least that is what the lady from Action told me last winter when she came over to share weather-proofing information and some free stuff. Since I had done a window in Shantel's room and it wasn't that hard, I figured I'd have this done and over in 20 mins tops! I carefully laid these self-adhering strips around the window....then I got the heavy-duty plastic all unfolded and separated from the tissue paper. I had to stand on something in order to reach the top {in this case it was the smaller A/C unit we had in there for the summer}, hold the plastic with one hand and get the 2 strips to snap back together, with the plastic in between. Sounds easy right? I got the left hand side on no problem, it was slick as snot, I was right on track. Then I tried to do the right side, and well, let's just say it was not smooth sailing! the two pieces would not click together AT ALL! My arms were really getting tired, starting to shake. I gave up and moved on to the bottom, same thing! I tried the top, no dice there either! I took a closer look and it turns out that the strips that link together forming a nice tight seal have a slight edge, and I got the sticky edge a bit close to the window! You see, I had recalled from Shantel's window that when applied joined it didn't stay stuck at separation, so I laid the bottom by itself and snugged it up for a nice tight seal! Oh boy, did I accomplish a nice tight seal! SO tight, I almost didn't get them back together! I pushed and shoved and used the blade of the scissors to try to mash them back together. I got really sore thumbs and very shaky arms as a reward for my efforts. I was way too lazy and not wanting to be showed up by thin pieces of plastic, I didn't head to the garage for some sort of tool that could have saved my poor thumbs, instead, I found a quarter and it worked nicely to convince the edges to mold into a seamless unit. Nicely, but NOT easily!
Finally I had success! I put the blinds back in place and the valance, then checked the clock 2:45 AM! What?! I cleaned up the mess in the room, changed the laundry, then I felt sick to my stomach and made toast and grabbed a glass of milk to settle it . By the time I finished with that it was 3 AM and I climbed under the covers. I had just drifted off to slumberland, when I heard Troy arrive home from work. Next thing I remember, I was being told that the kids were up and getting ready for school, it was 6 am!
It's 8:30 PM and I'm starting to slow down, too bad the kids aren't! Robby's feeling ill, Scott and Em are running wild in the streets, I mean all through the house. Savanna is grudgingly doing Robby's dishes since she thought she was the mom and sent him to bed! Cody and Shantel are cleaning the bathroom together singing to their MP3 players off-key very loudly. I just want a nap and I have a feeling that it will be a few more hours before I get it. NO doubt by then I'll have gotten my second wind and won't be able to go to sleep! Oh such is life! :) Wishing you all sweet dreams and many hours of uninterrupted slumber!

A Ball and Some Letters

So, once a week we have Play Group, usually on Thursday. A few weeks ago, I hosted it and the kids were playing all over and having a wonderful time. For a while they were at the table rolling and cutting out shapes in salt dough. After a bit some of the kids went up to the twins room to play. We ladies sat down stairs at the table visiting. Soon a few of the children came down the stairs. I wish that I had been able to grab the camera, but, well it was not to be. It was SO cute, EmmaLece and Eden had dressed up in princess dresses and were being escorted by Kyle and Trevor. I kid you not, the whole arm holding! EmmaLece announced that they were having a ball! They got to the front room and proceeded to dance. It was the most adorable thing ever! When EmmaLece saw how they were being watched, she got all shy and sank to the floor, her poor dance partner didn't quite know what to do. He stood there trying to get her to stand back up, when that failed, he walked away.

Today, EmmaLece was teaching Scott and Riley how to dance, I did get a few shots of that lesson.

A few days ago, EmmaLece was sitting at one of the desks coloring and drawing, when she said, "that's and 'E'. " She showed me her paper and ya know what, she HAD drawn an 'E'! It was backward, but it was for sure an 'E"! I was So excited. Today I was looking in the dictionary and she was showing me where each 'E' was. I searched for alphabet and found this site where I got some letters and a cute train with dotted letters and numbers printed on it. I gave them to Scott and EmmaLece. Scott drew all over his and Em, she traced each letter and number! I colored the letters and have now hung them on the wall. When I write their names, I spell them as I go, I think this is helping. EmmaLece was spelling her name with me tonight! :) The only other one of my children that had an early interest in reading and writing was Cody who started asking how to spell things at 2 1/2 -3. He would 'write' letters to his Aunt Ryanne on her mission. We would determine what he wanted to say, I would write it down and he would copy it. You can't really see, but Em traced over each letter and the ones I wrote too. Between her names is an 'E' she did on her own.

52 Weeks of Blessings- Week 3-- warm home

This week I've been very thankful of the blessing of a nice warm home. I'm so thankful that I didn't have the privilege of being born in pioneer times, where the houses were not so well insulated and the heating was a few wood-burning stoves and blankets. I'm so thankful of the blessing of being born in these times where we have heat running through the house which is insulated against the Arctic winds. We have been enjoying below zero temperatures with the wind chill. Currently as I write this, it is -5 and with the wind -22!

Happy Birthday Robby!

This is a story about choices, I thought a lot about how to present this birthday tribute since all the parties have access to this blog and I don't want any offense or misunderstandings....

Eight years ago I was awakened by the phone to tell me that at 6:27 AM in California my nephew, Brandon James, had been born. He weighed in at 5 lbs 11 ozs and was 19 1/2 inches long. He was about a month early.

Here he is with his birth mom, Traci. Traci is my sister-in-law. Through a series of choices, she had to come back to Vegas to take care of some business. He was about a week old for this trip.

I was able to babysit him while she did what was needed. He was the smallest baby I had ever held. I took these pictures of him with the kids and did a baby doll comparison. He was so tiny, that he was lost in my sling when we went for a walk. I laid him on my arm and he was just a bit longer than finger-tip to elbow!Little did we know, that soon he would come to be more a part of our lives.... Traci made a few more unwise choices and BJ {as we called him at the time} was removed from her care and placed in Child Haven at 1 month old. I was added to the list of those able to visit him. I went everyday Mon-Fri to visit for the lunch hour. In order to do this, I had to get a babysitter for my three children. {Thank-goodness for Relief Society and visiting teachers! It was actually one of the ladies that I visited who volunteered to watch them. She had gone through a similar experience.} Traci came when she could. He spent 2 months at Child Haven. Eventually we were given temporary custody of BJ and he came home with us. She had visiting rights and came over when she could. By summer it was decided that the best thing for everybody would be for her to relinquish her parental rights. We also decided that if we were going to be his parents, we wanted him to have a fresh start and a new name, we stared calling him Robby and planned to give him Grandpa's name when the adoption was finished. When Robby was 1, we moved to another state and she went back to CA. We had to start all over again in the adoption process... In Dec 2003, the adoption was finalized and on his birthday in 2004 we had him sealed in the Temple. Shortly after this, Savanna and Robby were fighting and she said, "I wish you weren't my brother!" Robby replied, "Well, I'm a Keiser forever now!"

Now four years later, he is preparing to be baptised. Pictures of that event will be posted as soon as it happens.

Happy 8th Robby! His cake didn't turn out quite how I had planned. The pink was supposed to be red! and I was going to write on the top, but it didn't work, so all he got was an 'R' that ran down the sideHe has some contact with his birth mother since she is a part of the family. Some days are hard. I imagine that she also has hard days. She does have 2 more boys that she is busy with.

Following is a song by Michael McLean on adoption.

From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours

So many wrong decisions in my past, I'm not quite sure If I can ever hope to trust my judgement anymore. But lately I've been thinking, Cause it's all I've had to do. And in my heart I feel that I Should give this child to you. And maybe, you could tell your baby, When you love him so, that he's been loved before, By someone, who delivered your son, From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

If you choose to tell him, If he wants to know, How the one who gave him life Could bear to let him go. Just tell him there were sleepless nights, I prayed and paced the floors, And knew the only peace I'd find, Was if this child was yours. And maybe, you could tell your baby, When you love him so, that he's been loved before,By someone, who delivered your son, From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

This may not be the answer, For another girl like me. But I'm not on a soapbox, Saying how we all should be. I'm just trusting in my feelings, And I'm trusting God above, And I'm trusting you can give this baby Both his mothers' love. And maybe, you could tell your baby, When you love him so, that he's been loved before, By someone, who delivered your son, From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

(This poem was based on the writings of a young birth mother, whom she shared with songwriter Michael McClean. It has been set to music and comes with a 100% guarantee that no one who has been involved with adoption in any way will make it all the way through with dry eyes! )
© Michael McLean

A short story I wrote:

The Adopted
by Carrie Keiser

Two men sat side by side on a park bench discussing life while they waited for the afternoon bus. One thing led to another and the subject of childhood was brought up. Each was from an adoptive family, but had very different feelings on the subject. The man on the right was Pason, a tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed strong young man of 25. The man on the left, who goes by the name of Simeon, (but who's given name is Jake) is a short, stocky, sandy-haired, blue-eyed young man of 27.
Pason shared his tale first:
"I grew up in a loving home surrounded by parents and siblings who gave all the love and material possessions I was in need of. My birth mother, cousin to my mother, loved me and though she was unable to care for me as was needed, she knew the best gift she could give me would be to allow me these luxuries: two parents with a stable job and home life. Her heart was torn but the pains were eased as she was allowed small glimpses into my life as I grew. When the time came to reunite with the woman who gave me the gift of life and the gift of a loving family, the reunion was sweet. She shared with me the life I knew not and her struggles to find her place. In time, she was able to find a decent man and they had children, all of which were told about the brother they had and were also shown the glimpses she had been given. They are wonderful people and I enjoy my new-found relationship with them as a brother and son ." Bursting with joy, Pason turned to Simeon and asked, "How does my story compare with yours?"
Simeon felt a bit of jealously toward Pason, as his story was somewhat different. He drew in a long breath and then related his tale:
"I was removed from my birth mother's care as she was having some troubles in her life at that time. I spent some time in a home and later was given to family members who were more than willing to care for me. The family had already four children and I made five. They all loved me without question and were SO happy to have me in their midst. They desired to make me a permanent legal part of their family. Even calling me Simeon, after a great-grandfather, as they had wanted to change my name when I was fully adopted. But, alas, my birth mother was prideful and spiteful towards them saying she had never had a chance and that they never once cared to help her ... it was hard on all the family ... from both sides ... she seemed unaware of the great blessing they were giving her by keeping me within the family and therefore I was not lost in the world to her or them. My birth mother moved around a bit and had a few relationships which resulted in a broken heart and a few half-siblings . Finally, she was able to find herself and a man who she could stick to ..... they are quite happy. She made some difficult decisions and has had to live with those choices. My family (for they are my family, though not in name) and her have never quite recovered from some of those choices. They spent many years and quite a bit of money on their quest to get me adopted. My birth mother made promises of letting them adopt, but once she was given what she sought (to be a small part of my life), she failed to fulfill her part. My parents were happy to share my life with her, as they were ever grateful of the gift she gave to them (me), but she would never release her hold over the fact that she gave birth to me and thus I was hers. It is SO sad that she felt the need to hold back the blessings of a full-fledged family from me. I feel as though there are two parts of me: the Simeon side that had a great family, but yet was not quite a real part of it and the Jake side of me that has a mother, half-siblings and step-father but even less a part of them. Oh, I wonder if I shall ever fit in?" his voice trailed off as Simeon stared down at his hands.
After the tale was over, the two men sat on the bench lost in thought. Pason never realized what a blessing it had been to be an adopted child in a family completely. He never understood that one could be part of a family but not truly a part of it. He felt sorrow for the man sitting next to him, his new-found friend. While Pason had these feelings, Simeon was thinking about the man sitting next to him, too. He felt glad that Pason had had the kind of life he always wanted, but still sad that he had been denied it. "Such is life," he mused. "Each is given their own set of problems, and I must learn to grow from mine."
The two men, staring at nothing, sat quiet and lost in their own thoughts never again speaking. As the bus pulled up to take them to their different worlds, they exchanged a look of understanding and parted ways each with a little different outlook on life.

10 things I've never shared before...

So back in Dec {the 14th to be exact}, Debra, tagged me. Sorry, that it has taken me SO long to get it done, but it took me a long time to make up, I mean, come up with 10 more things about me. Other posts I've done about me are here, here, here, and here! So here I go again:

*1* I hate nasty toilets! I have to clean it, if I look in, and see that it is gross, ugh! {Check out my clean toilet here.}

*2* I would rather bake than cook and have, on occasion, let my kids eat Coffee Cake {breakfast cake} or pumpkin bread for dinner because it sounded good to me! :)

*3* It seems that I would rather sit and complain about the extra around the middle I haven't lost since the twins were on the inside, than get up and exercise {yes, I know they are 3 1/2 and I should have done something about it ages ago but....}! I have gotten up a good sweat playing the Wii, so maybe there's hope yet! :P

*4* I hate pantyhose, tights, etc! I hate, hate, hate, that I have to wear them! I'm trying to be a good example and wear them, but come summer, well, I make NO promises {that I might later have to break!} :)

*5* In high school, I was always the one teachers would turn to if my religion was brought up, even if there were other members in the class/room. Although I do love and live my faith on a daily, hourly, minutely basis, I'm not usually the one to bring up the subject. I had some good discussions with an English teacher by the name of Barb Forchak, my Sophomore and Junior years. I even presented her with a copy of the Book of Mormon complete with my testimony in the front. I would really like to know what she's up to these days. At that time {early 90s} she was not married. I've done a few searches for her here in cyberspace, but, well, I guess if we're meant to cross paths again, we will. Who knows, maybe she's out here in bloggy-land and she might just stumble across me. Hard to say, it could happen.

*6* {half way! :) I can do this, only 5 more!}

I try hard to be a good law abiding citizen, I obey the laws of the land {only a few miles over I promise} and do my part to vote and speak out on the issues that matter most to me. I'm so glad that I have the freedom to speak my mind and I really don't want to loose that right. I support all the military serving in the various areas. This race for the White House is an interesting one. I know who I'm hoping {to vote} for and I know which ones I'd be scared to see occupy the Oval Office. I hope and pray that we as a country choose a GOOD person. {Enough said}

*7* I know I have wonderful friends that I'm grateful for in real life and that I've "met" some super neat women out here in blogdom who lift and inspire me on a regular basis. What a remarkable world we live in that we can meet and share with people all across the world! Thank you all for everything that you do and for who you are! Stay true to YOU!

*8* I stay up way too late on an almost daily basis. I've always been like this, or so my mom tells me! If I try to go to bed at a decent hour, I lay there and my mind goes a mile a minute or faster. If I could loose weight from all the running my brain does, I be SO skinny, you wouldn't see me, if I turned sideways! :)

*9* I love to sing ... I'm not real good at it, but I do it anyway!

*10* I love dancing ... again, not real good in this department! I lived for the Stake dances every month, when I was in high school. I took all my friends {most were not members}, we had a blast. I didn't go to many school dances, who wants to dance with guys you see day in and day out? Our Stake was big, lots of different towns ... way more choices! Alas, Troy is not a dancer. No dancing at our receptions :( We've only danced a handful of times.
You can wake up now, it over! :D

Pumpkin Doughnuts and Good Mail!

Pumpkin Doughnuts! Yummy

2 eggs, beaten, 1 C. sugar, 2 T. oil, 1/2 C. buttermilk, 1 C. pumpkin puree,

4 C. flour, 2 t. salt, 4 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. baking soda,

1 t. nutmeg, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. ginger

Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil, pumpkin and buttermilk.

Mix dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Chill 1 hour.

Turn out on floured surface and roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Use doughnut cutter or biscuit cutter to cut doughnuts.

Deep fry at 375 until brown on one side, flip and brown on the other side. set on paper towel do drain. Coat in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. ENJOY!!

Good Mail!!!!

My door bell rang this afternoon, by the time I got to it, the mailman had already gone. He did leave me a package! :) It was addressed to me from my bestest bud, Wendy. {She is not a member of blogdom, because she is extremely busy becoming a PA and taking care of her 3 girls and husband.} Scott and EmmaLece were sure the box was for them and bombarded me with: "What's in the box? Is it for me? Can I see?" When I got it opened, this is what I saw:

A Chocolate Care Package! Everything is dark chocolate, my FAV! I called her straight away to thank her, but she wasn't home yet, so I left a message: "The mailman left me a box from you and that is the BEST present I've ever gotten! Thank you SO much!" She called me when she got home, she said: "I know it's not a year's supply, but maybe you can stretch it out for awhile, like I did with the Squirt." {She moved way far away 3 years ago and they can't buy Squirt there, so for her birthday I sent her a case of Squirt! It cost something like $20 to send to her, but it was worth it when she called me to say she had received a package! :)} She stretched them out for nearly a year! No kiddin! She guarded them with her LIFE! I know this chocolate will not last nearly that long, but I'm so thankful for it! I could just see her in the store picking up this and that with a smile on her face thinking about me! You're the BEST, Wendy!

52 Weeks of Blessings - Week 2-- good health

This week I'm thankful for health. My health, my husband's health and the health of my children. On the 9th of Jan. my sister-in-law had her daughter, Emily Rose, at 32 weeks she had seriously slowed down in her growth due to low levels of amniotic fluid. At birth she was 1 lb 13 ozs {I'm not sure how long she is}. She is currently breathing on her own and got down 24 cc of breast milk. I think she's a trooper. This picture was taken on Sat. Her family will be staying at a Ronald McDonald House, as they live 1 1/2 hours from the hospital in Phoenix.
I'm thankful that I've never had to leave my baby at the hospital. I pray daily for her and her family. I wish that we lived closer, so that we could visit or help watch her older brother so her parents could be there more often. If I could I would be there to help in any way.

Some Fun

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 5 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are Jasmine. You are loyal and would visit the ends of the earth for what you believe. You would never let obstacles stand in the way of true love.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are Pocahontas. You defy convention and sometimes do what is considered taboo. Unfortunately, others do not always appreciate your differences, so it's good that you are so strong-willed. You are loyal and you believe in fate. Your true love will find you one day.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

So the first time I took this I got both of these princesses, but I didn't copy the code right and had to go back and take it again, and I got only one of them, so I took it again and got the other one, so I posted them both!

Wordless Wednesday- Enquiring Fingers

52 Weeks of Blessings -- Week 1-- brothers and sisters

I'm joining Wendi and Crystal and whoever else in this 52 weeks of blessings.


My brothers and sisters. Family is everything. We're a little nutty, but that's OK! {We're in order - Colleen, Sean, Martin, Brandon, Carrie, Ryanne, Clancy and Megan.} I had to go back and add a few more silly shots of us!