Roll Tide Roll

Mark, Max and I will be attending the Alabama-LSU game in November! We are so excited. I had been praying that we'd find a way to get tickets somehow, but really just for Mark and Max. Mark and I graduated from Alabama and Max was born in Tuscaloosa. He attended several Tide games while in the womb and also attended a Bama bowl game several years ago but now he really follows the Tide and they're number 2 in the country!

We are so thankful to the Ables for their generosity. Season ticket holders for LSU they have graciously given us three tickets, knowing this is a super fun season for Bama. We promise not to yell too loud around the LSU fans, well we'll try at least. Roll Tide Roll!

A new home for Shiloh

We thought we might really have to find a new home for Shiloh but for now we're committed to keeping her and just dealing with our completely grumpy, mean, threatening neighbor. For the last two weeks we have come home to notes being tacked to our front door filled with threats to call animal control and file charges against us for our barking dog, but our ever mature neighbor has mistakenly forgotten to leave his name or the house number where we can reach him to try and be neighborly in a good way. We have always kept Shiloh in the laundry room at night so barking at night never happens and during the day I will admit she barks when people or cars go behind our fence on the street behind us, but last time I checked dogs were allowed to bark. So we continue to speak to her when she barks for just a minute longer than we think she should during the day, and we're hoping with some therapy she'll become reformed enough that our neighbors will cease from dropping off their lovely notes.

In the mean time, the kids and Mark have been working on a dog house for her and I must admit, I'm rather shocked at how well it's turned out! I'll post a few pics now and then try to get a few more when it's completely done. It's large enough that if the kids misbehave it could be a temporary home for them as well.

Our little Evangelist

Yesterday Mark was on top of the roof removing the ivy that had grown up the back of the chimney and had finally crept its way over the top and inside the chimney so that when we turned on our fireplace we wouldn't have any problems. Well, Ella was out back watching him and said, "Daddy, be careful and don't fall", "I don't want you to die." Then Mark said she looked at him real serious and said, "well you do have eternal life". Mark said, "yes, I do, but I'm not ready to go anywhere yet, so I'll be careful.

A Fish Tale

Mark went deep sea fishing with one of our neighbors several months ago and had a fabulous time. We saw his catch when he returned home and he told us all about how big the two fish were, only it was a little hard to believe because after they'd been cleaned their contents fit into two small zip lock baggies. Sure, we told him, the fish you caught were so big!

Well our neighbor's wife, also Max's teacher last year, brought the "proof" over last night. She was so kind, she had an 8x10 and a 5x7 made and put the picture on a disk for us. Of course I teased Mark that they looked photo shopped but eventually gave him the glory he felt he was due! A memory in print!

Spunk

Our family has sponsored three children in different countries for the last 3 years and every year at least once the organization sends us photo updates along with information on their communities and their school work. We try to send a few packages to the children every year and look forward to their notes. They are simply precious reminders of how much children are the same all over the world. This week we received a picture of Alettah and we were so tickled by her spunk.

Her little face and peace sign brought us all to laughter. Not to mention the hand on her hip. It's been a year since we hosted the Ugandan orphans in our home and that experience changed our lives. We still think of the boys often, especially Allan and are still coming to grips with how that situation unfolded. So the note this week from Alettah was just what we needed, to remind us that our work is still unfinished and even if we can only send a small amount to each of the three children every month, that small amount accounts for so much for them.

A Total Success

My two sisters and I have been planning a surprise 40th anniversary party for over a year now. We were not sure if we could pull off a total surprise especially without the 8 grandkids blowing it but we did! Last weekend, my crew drove up to Dallas and spent the night with my sister. The next day we arranged the tables, chairs and decorations under the tent that we had rented and had been installed in my sister's backyard. We had everything planned out and it went perfectly. My parents were scheduled to arrive around 6 and even when they saw me answer the door they thought I was just surprising them to celebrate my beautiful niece's 13th birthday. Once inside the house, everyone yelled Happy Anniversary and they knew what we'd been up to. We completely surprised them, everyone we invited came, the food was delicious, the weather was perfect and we all had the best time. It was a total success and we were so proud!

Who'd want that job?

Tonight as Mark and I were sitting in the living room watching the Vice Presidential debate, Ella came in to sit by me on the couch to color. She was not even facing the television and was asking me several questions about what I thought she should color but I could tell her ears were still tuned to what was being said on the tv. She said, "Did Obama win?" and I said, "We don't know who will win yet. This is a debate to help us decide who we should vote for." And she said, "I don't know why you'd want to be president. You'd just have a hard life, with all that paperwork and stuff." Mark and I just about fell on the floor. So wise, that new 6 year old child of ours is! Who'd want that job?

Birthday Girl

Hard to believe our little Ella Clare is 6! Several times this week I was talking about her and when someone would ask how old she was I was shocked to have to say 6! She is an absolute blessing to our family. When I found out I was pregnant for the fourth time many of our family and friends thought we were completely nuts and maybe deep down we did too, but we were so excited. The first reaction would always be, "So, you're hoping for a girl this time right?" Well, we weren't, we just had always wanted 4 children. When I was pregnant with Mark Thomas we were told he was a girl at first but an ultrasound later found out that was not to be, so the first time they told us Ella was to be a girl, we just weren't ready to go out and buy pink. Since I was a high risk pregnancy again, we had many ultrasounds and after about the 5th one when they again said she'd be a girl, we went nuts.

She's loved so much! She can be loud like her brothers, but she is so different in many, many ways. Her brothers are becoming more and more keen to their job as protector and I'm always telling her how lucky she is to have 3 BIG BROTHERS. She doesn't always get that, but every girl I ever knew wished she'd had a big brother and I was one of those girls too. After doing our part to carry on the Keffer name three times over, we were elated when she entered the world.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!