Extended Keller Christmas

Gracie and the desserts

Nanny Keller, Gracie, and Papa Keller

Faith, Gracie, William, Katie, Austin, Kylie, Makayla (not sure what happen to calvin)

fun opening gifts

Baby Katie

We had a great time in Ohio. It is always nice to see the cousins, aunts and uncles. Merry Christmas everyone.

Wood pile

Joe's friend offered us a bunch of wood all we had to do was split it and bring it home. What alot of hard work that was. Austin had fun climbing on the pile, and also helping with his tractor as well. Joe and Austin would bring the wood to Gracie and I and we would stack it in the back.

Trunk or Treat

We went trunk or treating on friday at a local church. C.J. and Austin enjoyed driving golf tees into pumpkins. Gracie, Lindsey and Chloe enjoyed making a picture frame craft. We all enjoy tricker treating together every year. This year Gracie ( and joe) was to hand out candy at the house while I went with Austin around the neighborhood. Thankfully we went to this church the day before because Austin woke up with a fever on halloween. Gracie had a friend show up at the house and wanted to walk with her so she ended up going and bringing candy back for Austin and herself. Joe and I sat outside by the fire pit giving out candy while Austin slept inside.

Playing in the Leaves

Austin had his friend Sammy over to play. I raked up a bunch of leaves and they had a ball.

Michigan Field Trip

Gracie took a field trip with her 5th grade class to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. She had alot of fun, but it was a very long day for her (and me). She took 178 pictures and I had her pick 5 to post. 1st picture is the staircase that she said led to nothing excititng. They thought there was going to be something cool at the bottom and there wasnt, just a bunch of tools. 2nd picture is a little blurry, but a funny story. This is a turkey that she took a picture of and as soon as she was done taking the picture it came after and almost attacked the girls. She laughs everytime she tells the story. 3rd is the Oscar Mayer wiener car. 4th is Gracie and her friends Helen, Paxie, Cheyane, Amanda, and Kalyn. 5th pic is Gracie being a teacher in the old school house.
I didnt get to go with Gracie on this field trip, it was very hard for me to let her go so far away without me. We both survived.

Austin's tomato plant

This is the tomato plant Austin got for his birthday. It was only about 4 to 6 inches tall when he got it. We both watched it very carefully hoping to get lots of tomatoes. This is the only tomato we got from it worth eating. He was so very proud. We are going to try a bigger garden next year.

Dog Days

This was just a fun day watching the kids try to get something away from Cinnamon. Gracie, Austin and a few of their neighborhood friends.

First Day of School "09 -10"

The first 2 pics are from the first day of school. I got to go to school with Austin the first day. They asked all parents to come so it didnt seem so scary. Austin did great and was more excited for day 2 because he got to ride the bus with Gracie. The third pic is of them at the bus stop, the 4th getting on the bus. It is not a big change from last year when he was in pre-school. I pick him up at 10:50am. Next year will be the big YEAR, when I am all alone.

Fish

Just a funny fish story I wanted to share.
I asked Joe to take a picture of the fish I caught up close so it would look big. This is the picture he took. I laughed and said "Thanks for taking it next to my bobber, now everyone will know really how big it was." He said he didnt even notice the bobber in the picture. Funny!!

Vacation at the Lake

Once again we decided to take a few days vacation up at the lake. We tubed, and fished, and swam, and fished, and cooked out and fished. One would think we would have caught alot of fish, but no. We only caught 3 fish, 2 small bluegill and 1 small mouth bass. We did have a lot of fun trying.

Zoo 2009

Kylie, Gracie, Myka, Leah, Austin, Zac
Joe's sister Jenna was able to come up for a visit with her 3 beautiful kiddos. We had such a good time together. These are just a couple of photos because my camera broke.

Gracie's 10th Birthday Slumber Parties

Gracie's 10th Birthday! WOW

I decided to seperate Gracie's friends this year so we had 2 slumber parties. We had one for school friends and one for friends from her previous school and neighborhood friends. It worked out quite well. I let Gracie and her friends take my camera for the evenings so they took pics like crazy. Between both nights they took over 140 pictures. I have posted just a few from both evenings. The first party was for school friends, I dont know these girls as well so this party was a little stressful. They decorated bags as their craft, had blind make overs, played on the water slide, ate pizza and had cheesecake for dessert. The second party was for girls I know pretty well so we all had a very relaxed, fun, giggling time. They colored their hair with hair glitter, danced outside, played freeze dance (which they all LOVED to do), made hot pads on weaving looms, polished nails, made bracelets, watched a movie, had pizza, and birthday cake. We had lots of fun, and I overheard Gracie telling her Aunt Shell that, that was the best party she has ever had in her life.