Kettelkamp Family Blog

I Am Still Alive...

2009-08-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

First Day Of School...

Hello to my followers (both of you). I hope all is well. I am still alive. I seem to spend what time I can grab on FaceBook these days. I do have the calling on my heart to write and share more so I will be blogging more frequently starting today. Please hold me accountable and post comments to motivate me. I need all the help that I can get!

School has started for the Kettelkamp family. We are on day nine according to Sophia. We are all back in the school groove, but I have to admit that I think it took me a little longer to adjust than it did for the kids. I have felt so disorganized this year but I'm finally feeling like I have some control of our schedules. I guess I'll enjoy that while I can.

Chris has decided to play football this year. This is the first time he has ever played and he is enjoying the practices thus far. His first game will be September 15th. Clay has also decided to play football this year. He begins practices this week. Jay is playing soccer with the Nixa Soccer Club. It is challenging him more and is a league that is more competitive. He had his first game last Saturday and the team played great. They finished in a tie 3-3. Sophia is playing soccer this fall with the Nixa park district. She also begins practices this week and her first game is September 19th. Needless to say, we are running all over the place, but enjoying every minute of it.

2008-12-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve to one and all! I just wanted to share a funny Christmas moment from the Kettelkamp household. One evening a few weeks ago Alan and Sophia were watching T.V. when the following commercial came on. When the commercial was over, Sophia looks at Alan and says, "I know what is in that box." Alan, a little afraid to ask, said, "What do you think was in the box?" Sophia very proudly says, "A shirt!" Relieved, Alan says, "You're right! She is getting a shirt for Christmas."

"...Christmases Long, Long Ago"

2008-12-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

I love looking back at photos of Christmases past and see how big the kids have gotten. Each of these moments seems like it only happened yesterday. I guess my mom was right, the older you get, the faster time goes. I truly am cherishing each moment before they are gone. I sure do love my kiddos and am so blessed that God has entrusted them to me. Sometimes I wonder what he was thinking, but feel blessed just the same. May you enjoy this special time of year with those you love and make amazing memories that will last forever.

(12-20-08)

Just In Time For Christmas--Thanksgiving Photos! Go Figure!

2008-12-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a pictorial of how we spent our Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with Alan's family. We then spent the remainder of the holiday with our dearest friends, the Reavis'. We had a great time with them. Among other things, we shopped, visited the Festival Of Trees, enjoyed gingerbread cookies, chatted with Santa, and caught up with some good friends and stuffed ourselves at Incredible Pizza. Oh, we also delivered a cute little four legged friend to Brenda for her "32" birthday. It was a great few days of good food, awesome friends and some fun memories. We hated to see it end. That was evident in the tidal wave of tears that flowed when we had to say good-bye. That part is never easy.

Chris filling his plate with all of that comfort food.

Clayton patiently waiting to eat.

Sophia and Jay waiting not so patiently to eat.

Sophia thanking God for our meal.

Clayton and his best friend, Abigail.

Caden enjoying his gingerbread cookie.

This gingerbread man never had a chance.

Brenda devouring her "heavily" iced gingerbread man. Yummy!

Sophia showing what remains of her gingerbread man.

Clayton's just about done.

It doesn't take much to entertain these boys.

I think Jay won this fight!

Tanner, Chris and Casper. How sweet!

This group looks like trouble.

Best buds!

Sophia and Jay in front of an African themed tree. Roar!!

Clay, Sophia, and Jay with Santa.
Tasty snowflakes!

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas..."

2008-11-24T06:27:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season officially began for the Kettelkamp's this weekend. On Saturday we spent the day decorating for Christmas. We hung lights outside (that took most of the day and extremely stressed me out watching the kids helping Alan hang lights while standing on the roof). We so scream Griswold's or hillbillies. I'm not sure which is more appropriate. We also put up and decorated the Christmas tree. The kids had a lot of fun with it and it has definitely put us in the spirit. We love pulling out all of the ornaments and reminiscing or more appropriately with our family...staking claims on which ornament is yours. We're so competitive.

On Sunday after church, we spent the day at Silver Dollar City. The Christmas celebration is going on there right now, so it was very festive. We rode roller coasters in our winter coats and at the end of the day with sleet stinging our faces. That was a first for us. We watched a Frosty The Snowman show. The kids decorated and ate some sugar cookies. We ate some cinnamon bread, some ice cream (It takes a lot to keep my kids from eating ice cream, even cold noses and extremities), and drank some hot chocolate. At the end of the day there we watched a lighted Christmas parade and a Christmas tree light show. There are so many lights there right now. They've really done a great job with it. It was beautiful, especially at night.

*Ignore the date on some of the photos that reads January 2003. These were taken November 2008. Did I mention that I am asking Santa for a new camera this Christmas?

Clay's Indian project that daddy helped him with. Notice the bear "scat" that is included. I'm sure Mrs. Banks was impressed with that.

Clay with his Indian project. He was very proud of it and rightfully so.

What A Night We Had

2008-11-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

Sophia dancing with the lost boys.

"Captain Jack" and his wife "Tinkerbell". What a cute couple.

WOW! James River blew me away again. Last night was incredible. The kids had a blast. There were tons of games for them to play, lots of inflatables for them to jump in, and all the kettle corn and juice that they could eat and drink. They danced, caught jellyfish, and walked the plank at a shipwreck. (This was their favorite). They visited the lost boys and the Indians at Neverland and had their faces painted. They loved the Neverland show that featured Captain Jack Sparrow. Sophia had the opportunity to dance with the lost boys. How fun! Oh yeah, and they got way too much candy. They went crazy in the lollipop forest picking lollipops off of the trees by the handfuls. Even with the sugar high they slept well and woke up still talking about it this morning. Sophia said that she can't wait until Halloween next year so she can go back.

Donna, If You're Out There...

2008-10-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Donna Barber-
If you read this post, could you please send me an invitation to view your blog page. I tried to gain access, but need to be invited to do so. It's good to hear from you. I would love to catch up sometime. My e-mail address is: la.kettelkamp@suddenlink.net. Talk to you soon!

Soccer Fun And Updates...

2008-10-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, Brenda, I hear you. I'm updating my blog.

Our family has had a busy two weeks. Last week we had parent teacher conferences and the last week of soccer. The weather for the last games were perfect. It was a crisp sunny fall morning. The kids played great and had fun making new friends. They all got trophies at the last game. How proud and excited they were. We celebrated by having lunch with our new friends, the Buckley's. Their son, Weston, is on Clay and Jay's soccer team and their daughter, Jalaine is Sophia's age. *NOTE: The above soccer photos were not taken January 3, 2003. They were taken October 2008. Oh, my silly camera. I bet you can't guess what I'm asking for for Christmas.

Sophia started out this week sick and stayed home all day Monday. So no workout for me. On Wednesday Jay woke up with an extremely swollen lower right jaw. He stayed home in the a.m. to go to the dentist and we found out that he has an abscessed tooth that needs to be removed. (Again, no workout for me. I know, I know...I'm sounding a little selfish. I just miss it when I don't get my butt kicking boot camp workouts in). On Friday I'm helping with the fall parties at both schools. So once again, you guessed it, no workout. I guess I'm going to have to lay off of the Halloween candy this year.

The kids are very excited about the 10/31 party that we are attending at JRA. It sounds like it is going to be a great time. 4,000 kids are expected to be there and over 200,000 pieces of candy. This year Clay is going to be Batman, Jay is going to be a red Power Ranger, and Sophia is going to be Cinderella. Chris is volunteering at the 10/31 party. He is going to wear his shirt that we bought him while we were in Africa and said that he is going to the party as an African missionary. Alan and I might be hard to spot at the party. We will be the parents with the frazzled looks on our faces trying to keep up with our kids. Hmmm, I wonder if we will be the only ones.

Have a fun Halloween! Reavis'...We will miss you this year. Halloween won't be the same without you, your awesome chili and your hot chocolate.

Halloween Past

2004

2005

2007

We're Back...

2008-10-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are back. We arrived home late Saturday night. All of the kids were up waiting for us. Or should I say they were waiting up to see what souvenirs we bought them. They actually were glad to see us. I think we were missed.

We had a great trip. But it sure did go by fast. Here are some highlights of the trip:
1. Enjoying an intimate dinner sitting in Mario Andretti's booth at the Golden Steer. Very vintage Las Vegas. There were also booths there for John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and others who use to frequent the restaurant.

2. Enjoying dinner at the Golden Steer while watching a couple get into an argument. Who knew dinner came with entertainment.

3. Checking out Fremont Street (again, very vintage) and watching Alan eat a 10 lb. prime rib for the second night in a row.

4. Running into Carrot Top at New York New York, but not being fast enough to get a photo.

5. Laughing until our sides hurt as random volunteers embarrassed themselves at a hypnosis show on the strip.

6. Watching the lions at MGM Grand.

7. Being serenaded by a harmonica player who played a very bad version of "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton in front of the Bellagio fountains which weren't going off that night because of high winds. UGH!

8. Eating lots of yummy food that I didn't have to cook.

9. Watching the various people on the strip, especially the drunk couple who kept making out and then eventually stopped to take our picture. Needless to say, that photo was a little blurred. :)

10. Spending some quality time with my husband. Words can't express how much we needed that time together. I love falling in love with him again!

A view of the Grand Canyon from the plane. (Well, I guess that is pretty obvious!)
Freemont street during the day.
Here we are in front of Paris on the strip.
The Bellagio
Walking underneath a lion at MGM.

"The Cowboy" at Freemont Street.

Alan and Lori on the strip.
The view of the roller coaster at New York New York from our room.
The Eiffel Tower at Paris.
Tribute to Bob Dylan on the big screen at Freemont Street.
New York New York, where we stayed.

Leaving For Las Vegas

2008-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Alan and I are on our way to Las Vegas. We are taking 5 days of some much needed "just us" time. I am so looking forward to relaxing, doing nothing, and getting to know my husband a little better. We will be staying at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club for 2 nights, at New York, New York for 2 nights, and at a Hilton at the airport on our final night. We've travelled to Las Vegas before and have stayed at Caesar's, Mandalay Bay, and The Aladdin. I'm very excited about staying at New York, New York. It is a fun resort. There are some great restaurants there as well as some fun shopping and, of course, an awesome roller coaster. We are planning on making a trip to Fremont Street (the old strip) and relaxing by the pool. I'll post after we return on Saturday with some photos of the trip.

A Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sophia and the three kindergarten classes at her school had a field trip to the pumpkin patch today. Alan's mom, Aleta and I attended with Sophia. What a day we had. We went on a hay ride, picked a pumpkin for Sophia from the vine, and got lost in a hay maze. After that we had lunch at a park in Nixa. It was perfect fall weather for this field trip. Sunny and 70. We couldn't ask for more.

Check Out This Hot Chick!

2008-10-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Isn't she beautiful? Apparently I offended my one and only blog follower with a not so acceptable picture. (According to her) I thought she looked great on the boat. This one is much better. I also have to make up for my error in order to stop the publication of me in a swim suit on any blog page. You are correct, I would be mortified. I sure hope this amazing picture makes up for it.

What We've Been Up To

2008-09-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Sophia, Clay, Jay and Chris at the fish hatchery in Branson.
Tanner, Chris, Clay and Sophia soaking wet after a downpour at Silver Dollar City.
Chris, Tanner, Clay, Caden, Sophia, and Jay at Lake Tanneycomo at Branson Landing.
Kalie, Chris, Caden (on Chris' lap), Jay, Tanner, Clay (on Tanner's lap), and Sophia at Silver Dollar City. The Reavis' and the Kettelkamp's getting ready to set sail. "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..."

During the few months of living in the Ozarks we have been pretty busy. Since we live close to Branson and Table Rock Lake, there is so much to see and do here. We've had the privilege of having family and friends visit us (we miss you Reavis'). It gives us a great excuse to see some of the sights. Some of the things that we've seen and done...Silver Dollar City (the kids love this one), boating on the lake, visiting the Titanic museum, feeding fish at the fish hatchery, Mr. Chris took the kids to Fantastic Caverns, eating and playing at Incredible Pizza, riding The Ducks, shopping and eating at Branson Landing, and of course, catching hot rolls and eating until we can't move at Lambert's.

Words can't express how difficult it was to leave the best friends that we've ever had. We are so glad that they make the effort to come and see us. I am usually counting the days until they are here again and am dreading the time when they have to leave. Looking back at our time with them this summer, I realize how God has blessed us with the opportunity to make some amazing memories with them. Memories that couldn't have been made otherwise. Don't get me wrong...I would much rather live "down the street" from them instead of in another state, but God is using what life has handed us to build our relationships and make them stronger. And I am so thankful for that.

Let's Try This Again...

2008-09-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog! For all of my faithful followers out there (all 2 of you), I'm back on the blogging scene. I know that it has been a long time. Let's just say, life has been a little crazy.

I decided to create a new blog page as our family embarks on a new chapter in our lives. We have a year of life with our adopted son behind us and we are adjusting to life after our move. I will post more on that later.

I just wanted to let you know that we are alive and that the blogging will begin again.