Keeney Christmas 2012! Our favorite time of the year.....!

The 2012 Keeney Christmas was held in Brier this year at Dave and Kathleen's house.  What a full house we had!  Everyone was there except Todd, Pam and the girls.  We miss them so much and I know they want to be here, too.  I think we counted 34 people this year?!?!  Wow.  Our girls LOVE the Keeney Christmas as much as Martin and I do....they look forward to it all year long and have great memories of past Keeney Christmas's....just what I hoped for them.  The feeling of love and family and tradition.  There is nothing better than that. 

Me and my babies.......they really aren't babies anymore.....**big sigh**......

Some of the many yummies that we feasted on!  Of course the main dish was Uncle T's homemade chili with filet.  It is so amazing....seriously...so amazing.  Then there was green salad, bread, jello, numerous appetizers, Keeney Corn, Party Pride, desserts, and champagne punch. 

Mom and her rocky road peppermint brownies!

Uncle T and Aunt B

Emily, Jenny and new baby Brandon (Hannah's little brother)

Emily (holding her nephew Brandon), Svea (newly engaged to my cousin Dave!), Dave, Connor and Martin....geesh, Martin looks kinda short next to the Keeney boys!  But he sure makes up for it in hair!  LOL!  My little Rico Suave!!!

My Keeney cousins are always so fun -- I just love them all!  This is Shannon and Marc.

Linda is 9 months pregnant here...due Jan 6th....she's such a wonderful lady and we couldn't be happier for her and Jeff.  Sweet little Jocelyn is going to be a big sister to baby Lucas very soon!

Here is Jeff and Linda's sweet Jocelyn!  She's 1 1/2 and so stinkin' cute! 

Bonnie's mom, Teckla, is 94 years young...one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met in my life.  I am so glad to have known her for the past 40 years...and I am so thankful that my daughters have had the gift of knowing her, too!  We love her so much! 

 GIFT TIME!

It is so fun to see these 3 together....only missing Aunt Tonn now.  Hard to believe she has been gone for almost 4 years!  My grandma and grandpa Keeney began the tradition of the Keeney Christmas party each December....the family has grown so much, which makes it so special.  It is what we all look forward to each year.....being together and laughing together!  

Alter Server Training with Father Mark -- Sacred Heart Parish, Spokane, Wa

Derek Chaves, Evan Duschane, Cole, Ryan, Audriana and Tommy

Santa visit 2012

Wish Lists:
Audriana:  Game Stop gift cards, Nike and Under Armour clothing, books (Lord of the Rings trilogy and Narnia series), Harry Potter stuff,
Sofia:  Nike shoes, a picture of Santa and his elves, flowers for her hair, Xbox 360,

Indoor Soccer (Futsal) has begun....this weekend was the 2012 Turkey Shootout!

This pic was taken after our United White team won the championship.  Our coach wanted all the girls in the pictures to show that we are United!  The girls all played great this weekend.
It is hard for all of them to play against each other, and it happened twice this weekend.  United Blue won against United White on Saturday....but United White won against United Blue on Sunday during the semi-finals.  There were tears after each game (from some of the girls on the losing team), but in the end, I guess it helps teach them that we can't always win every game - and how to loose with respect for each other and the game.  Ultimately, the girls were all proud of each other!



Ready for the tournament! 
Turkey Shootout 2012!

 Audriana and Jenny waiting to go in...

 

Spokane United Blue team did so well this weekend!  Saturday they played 4 games.....won 3 and lost 1.  Audriana had some great goals today and played very well in these 3v3 games.  Sunday morning, they squared off against Spokane United White (the other half of their team) and ended up loosing.  Spokane United White ended up taking the tournament and won the final game against FC Spokane.  We were proud of both teams this weekend (which was really 1 United team).

Dinner with friends -- The Tyrie's!

What a fun night with our friends, Pat and Mary Tyrie....they invited us over for dinner at their beautiful house out on the Palouse.  The kids were able to play and the adults just had fun chatting and talking.  My mom and Mary's mom were very good friends and neighbors when they were young mom's raising their families in Spokane in the early 70's (they both lived on 37th st near Perry).  Sofia and Astor became good friends when they both attended Montessori Central.  A couple of years ago, my mom was dropping Sofia off at school (not sure why, but she must have been helping me out when Martin was out of town) and she literally ran into her old friend Alice Gingrith (Astor's grandma!).  Isn't that crazy that they would run into each other there?  Anyway, it was quite a story and Mary and I just loved hearing about their meeting!

Sofia, Audriana, Astor and Bulo

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

 Happy Thanksgiving! 

Today we celebrated at Chad, Patty and Marissa's house.  It was so nice to be a guest for Thanksgiving dinner (instead of hosting the dinner!)! Too bad that Kristi came down with the flu and couldn't make it.....poor thing....it must have been hard to be at home alone when she knew we were all together having fun.  We brought by a plate of food for her on our way home.  Mom and Jay were in Ephrata with the Sandbergs -- we missed them, but we really did have a wonderful time with the Wilhite's.  Bryan and Marissa were there, and Uncle Bill, as well as Margo and Chris Cockey, and Chad's brother, Rick and his wife Dianna Wilhite were there too.  All together, we had 14 people at the table.  I brought the green bean casserole, dip chit with chips, pickles, spanikopita, and rolls.  Of course, everyone else brought dishes too and we feasted! 

 The girls had fun coloring the table decorations that they like to do each year.....they worked all morning on them, and we brought them to Patty's to decorate her table.  They really make the table so festive, and of course everyone likes them!

 

Uncle Bill and Marissa
 

 The Wilhites have a little dog named Buster, so we brought Ginger so the two of them could play together....they did pretty well until the two of them began to fight over a piece of pie that had dropped on the floor!

Our Thanksgiving angels......
We are so super thankful for them...for their health....for their minds and for their awesome spirits. 

We are thankful for our wonderful family - especially my cousin Patty and her family.  She is most happy with her house full of people enjoying a meal together -- and that is exactly what we did tonight.  We are blessed.