Random stuff....

Well, I guess it's been awhile since I decided to post, huh? I'm not very good at keeping up with this blogging thing. Must be spending too much time on Facebook playing Scramble ((sigh)). But, alas, here I am and here's what's going on in Keech-land:

We've been very busy lately with church events (as usual). Our new small group launched two weeks ago and we couldn't be happier! We had 22 adults show up the first night along with boatloads of kids. I'm excited for this new group. Excited to see where God's gonna take us. I really pictured "doing life" in a small group with people who are laid back and fun. I really think God brought like-minded people to our group. Right off the bat I was like, "Well, most of us have kids and that means we're going to have interruptions. That's OK! I "do life" with my kids, so "doing life" with other people means my kids are included." I am SOOO happy to be part of a small group that I don't have to a) find a babysitter to attend or b) have to be completely paranoid that my kids (from time to time) act like KIDS! So, yay!! By golly, I think we've got it!

Another church event we did recently was walk in the Elk River Homecoming Parade. Connor rode his scooter in the parade, doing tricks all along the route (jumping his scooter up onto curbs to pass out invite cards). I look at him lately and he sure doesn't look like a little boy anymore. It's so weird that he's 10 and teenage-hood is approaching so quickly. He's very independent and smart. Maddy had a blast passing out candy to everyone with her friends. She was so busy making sure EVERY person got a piece of candy that, at times, we found ourselves a couple of floats behind the rest of the group. So then I'd yell, "RUN!! We gotta catch up!". One of these times she ran full speed ahead and tripped, her legs and arms sprawled out on the pavement. She only cried momentarily and kept on moving. Now THAT's when you know she was having fun. Because for Maddy not to "milk" an injury is a complete miracle!

Here's Maddy with her friends, Zach & Aidan:

Camping '08

Well, we had fun this week going camping up by Remer. We go every year with some friends of ours just to chill out. It's so nice to be out of cell phone range, email range, and everyday life range. It forces you to set your mind on living in the moment - and I love it!! The guys did a ton of fishing, and us ladies played a lot of Phase 10. I even caught a nice bass on Tuesday morning before we left :). Then, as you can see in the picture, I held it like a girl. Forgive the way I look in these photos. We were roughing it. Like no-running-water-gotta-pee-in-the-outhouse-for-2-days roughing it. Consider yourself lucky my blog isn't scratch n' sniff.

Kalahari

Just posting a few fun pics from our 4th of July weekend in Wisconsin Dells. We went with my brother, Jay's, family and my mom. The first is the view from our hotel room. Waterpark Heaven!! We had a relaxing time. It was nice not to be running here and there, so we primarily stayed at the Waterpark. We did take a trip to the Timbavati Wildlife Park and the Wisconsin Deer Park, though. That was pretty cool.

Do I have to come up with a title? That's too much pressure.

So, here I am trying out this blogging thing once more. Jason is fishing, Connor is watching TV, and I just got Maddy a "granilla" bar, so she should be able to sit tight for a few minutes.

So, the Keech family has had a pretty eventful weekend. Friday night we hung out with Eric and Kelly and the kids. Not really doing much, but Kelly and I went to a Pampered Chef party while the guys watched the kids. I say we should have taken advantage of the fact that we were husband and kid-less and gone out for karaoke or something, but we behaved ourselves.

Then, yesterday morning we got up what we deem as "early" for us (especially on a Saturday morning!) around 9:00 am. We drove out to Elk River to pick up Connor and his buddy, Braden, and met a bunch of folks from church to pack food at this cool place in Brooklyn Park. Feed My Starving Children packs up food for (duh...) hungry kids all around the world.

Here's a picture of all of us:

I'm sort of in the middle, Maddy and Connor are right up in front. Jason's the tall one in the back. We look awesome in our hair nets, don't we??

The actual food-packing time went by super fast. I totally want to do something like this again. We had fun, and I think it made an impact on the way my kids view the world a little bit. I feel like it's our responsibility to take care of people who can't take care of themselves. It's heartbreaking to watch the videos of these little kids who are eating dirt balls just to stave off their hunger. Turning a blind eye to it only makes the problem worse and results in more kids dying, so I feel like I need to get off my duff some more and get involved! Anyone wanna join me?

This morning we went to church and when we got home I took a long, glorious nap. I'm trying to get a ton of laundry done before we go to Wisconsin Dells next weekend. Until next post!!

OK, I'll take the plunge and jump in to the "blog world". Don't know how much or how often I'll post here, but I'll try to be entertaining :).

Today I worked until about 1:30 and then took the kids to Twin Lakes Beach to meet my friend Jess and three of her kids. We had a blast. Even remembered to re-apply sunscreen (way to go, mom!!). Connor and Maddy love being in the water. Now we just have to get them to know how to swim. I'll post some pics later.

What can I say? This is my first post!!