Aunt Tonn. Jan.19 1942 - Jan. 29 2009

Thursday was a very sad day for us. Aunt Tonn (LaVonne, to most, Aunt Tonn, to us kids) passed away unexpectedly. It was a shock to all of us and we all miss her very much. My mom and her brothers, Uncle Tom and Uncle Dave, responded with what is familiar to all of us -- being together as a family and sorting through the sadness and loss together. Our family is strong and our bond seems to grow even stronger when life turns upside down. My aunt was kind and had a sweetness about her that you knew was genuine the minute you met her. Her childlike demeanor was refreshing. She touched all of our hearts and we know that she is now living a wonderful life up in heaven - reunited with Myron and Grandma and Grandpa Keeney. She loved angels, and her house was full of the many that she had collected over the years. As I told my girls......"the angels came down and took her wonderful, kind, heart up to heaven to be with Jesus". Knowing that makes it easier to accept....but she will be missed everyday by all of us. We love you, Aunt Tonn!

Ice Angels

I thought you might want to see Audriana and Maria's progress....this is them after 3 forty-five minute lessons. Pretty good! Audriana is "working on her speed" as you can tell! As with my other videos, you will first need to scroll down and stop the music from playing, then you can begin the video.

Ice Skating Lessons at Riverfront Park!

Audriana and Maria ready to get on the ice!

Oh my gosh! I can't tell you how excited Audriana has been to get out on the ice rink! She had her first lesson last Saturday and I have to say that she did really well! I was a bit nervous, but felt a little better when the staff recommended that the little kids wear bike helmets to protect their heads! It may look a little funny, but safety first! Joye and I watched as Maria and Audriana stepped onto the ice with tears of pride swelling in our eyes. Audriana did hold onto the wall at first -- kinda just scooting her way around the rink, but within a couple of minutes, she let go and began making her way into the center of the ice! I had already prepared her that she was going to have lots of falls and that it was all part of learning ~ and so, she hardly seemed phased at all when she took her first spill....and then the second tumble....and even after the 10th tumble. Her little spirit stayed so strong and she just loved every minute of it. I was so thrilled when I saw that one of her ice skating instructors was an old friend of mine from West Valley High School! Charmaine is so sweet and gentle with the kids and it was really neat to see her again. She probably thought I was crazy when I ran up and hugged her (after 20 years! She looks amazing and has definitly not aged like some of us from high school have.....maybe its all the skating.....hmmmmm. Anyway, here are some shots of Audriana on skates for the first time.
Oh, by the way, lessons are for kids 4 and above, so Sofia is waiting patiently on the side lines with us. She'll be out on the ice next winter!

She has talked about nothing else since her first lesson. She had a very long week waiting for her 2nd lesson, which was today. Her confidence really shone through today as I watched her get onto the ice with everyone else and head straight out into the middle of the ice (not hanging onto the wall but for a split second). There are about 50 kids all together on the ice warming up and then they break off into smaller groups for their lessons. Audriana was with Charmaine again, which made me happy because I think she looks to be about the best instructor out there. By the end of the class, she had them skating backwards!! They did "The Hokey Pokey" as a group - which was hilarious watching all the kids figure out how to "turn themselves around" on the ice. So cute and sweet. Joye and I had a second week of tear filled eyes as we watched them learn and grow.

Here is a very cute picture of the girls with their ice skating teacher (my friend, Charmaine!).

And the SnOw keeps fALliNg!

Oh my gosh - it seems like the white stuff will never stop falling. Over the past 3 weeks we have seen record snow levels drop to the ground. Somewhere between 60 and 70 inches. Thank goodness most of it fell during winter break, so the girls have been able to play in it together a lot! I took quite a few days off during the holidays, as well, so we made it a family affair! It has been really fun. The girls like our little sled run that runs alongside the house, but they really like the big hill that we go to in Eagle Ridge (near Maria's house). It's a bigger hill - which means they go faster. I understand Audriana wanting to go faster -- she's 6 and has a couple of sledding years under her belt......but Sofia is the one that scares me. She just turned 3 and can absolutely keep up with Audriana. She hikes up to the top of the hill (which I can barely do!), all by herself, with her sled in her hand. Then down she goes -- the faster the better. It scares me to death, but I figure the snow is pretty soft, so when she wipes out, she usually comes up with a huge smile on her face, saying "that was fun, Momma"!. So cute and such great memories.

It's Christmas time!

The fam with Santa Jay!

Wow! Where do I begin. Well, first I will begin by saying that Spokane has literally become "Sno-can". Pretty clever, huh? Well, we have had record levels of snow dropped upon us this December - which made for a beautiful white Christmas, but also made for treacherous road conditions. We went to Church early on Christmas Eve (the Children's mass at 3:30 at St. Mary's) with Mom, Kristi, Aunt Tonn, Mom and Jay. It was snowing heavily when we got there, and when we left, it was an absolute white-out! We made it over to Mom's for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of chili (and all the other yummy stuff that we continue to eat year after year!). Then we opened family presents -- Audriana and Sofia were so excited that they decided to help everyone open their presents (whether we needed the help or not, Sofia would assume that she would do the honors!). It was a great time and very joyous. We braved the roads once again and got home about 10pm. The girls were exhausted, thankfully, so all we had to do was carry them up to their beds and close the door. Then the work of Santa began! It was fun. I also put together a quick sausage, egg and cheese casserole for the next morning. That way, all I would have to do is pop it in the oven and we would have a yummy hot breakfast. Mom and Jay, Mike, Kristi and Aunt Tonn all came over that morning (after shoveling over 8 new inches of snow off their driveways!) to watch the girls open their Santa presents. We are so lucky to have such a loving and happy family - we love being together and sharing these special memories! Audriana and Sofia were so excited to see that Santa had left a note for them --- thanking them for the cookies and the carrot and making note of the strong snow storm that he had to navigate through (not a problem with Rudolf leading the sleigh).

The girls in front of Mom's tree on Xmas Eve! Ready for Church!

This was taken before Mass began -- notice that Baby Jesus is not yet "born".....he was brought out during the Mass.

Sofia's favorite gift by far was the giant Barbie Jet plane. She loves it....Mom is thinking, "where am I going to find room for that?"!

Total excitement. They are now in the Christmas PJ's and ready to open more family presents at mom's.

Audriana hit the jackpot with this gift from Uncle Mike. She's been wanting one of the Nerf ball shooters, but Mommy would never buy her one. Uncle Mike really came through for her!!!!!

This is how Santa left our tree on Christmas morning......

Here are the girls just before opening their first gift from Santa (circa 6am!)

Happiness and smiles all morning long!

This is Audriana after she put on her new "kid makeup" that she had asked Santa for. He delivered and she was so excited to put it on!

All I want for Christmas......

After the girls received an email from Santa this morning, they were so excited that we decided to do a short little video of them to send to him. You will have to scroll down and stop the music before you begin playing the video......

Keeney Christmas 2008

One of my favorite traditions is our annual Keeney Christmas get-together. My grandparents, Gerald and Heddie Keeney began this tradition and we have been doing each year for as long as I can remember. Barbara, LaVonne, Tom and Dave Keeney.......that's where it started, and when the families all get together we realize how big our family has gotten. And it keeps growing! Our latest Keeney addition is baby Clara - Neil and Shannon's baby girl. This was her first Keeney Christmas. Audriana and Sofia could not wait to meet her and when they finally did, would not leave her alone! In fact, she was the star of the show! She was so good as she was passed from family member to family member. What a cutie! This year was special because all of Uncle Dave and Aunt Kathleen's kids were able to attend -- Connor and Emily (all the way from North Carolina), Shannon and Neil and baby Clara, Marc and Jenny, Dave (all the way from Boston) and Tim (who was a little late because he was finishing one of his finals at UW!). Tom and Bonnie hosted at their house -- good thing because they have the only house that can hold us all! It was absolutely beautiful! Bonnie does such a good job of decorating! Jeff, Linda and Baltimore, as well as Teckla also joined. In fact, we were all there except for Todd, Pam and the girls. We really missed them and wished they could have been there. Lots of pictures were taken and many memories were made. Uncle Tom made his famous chili, Aunt Bonnie made her special bread (that we all just love!), and the rest of us brought appetizers, veggies, snacks, and desserts. What a feast!

Dave and Kathleen Keeney and family: Connor & Emily, Shannon & Neil and baby Clara, Marc & Jenny, Dave, and Tim.

Tom and Bonnie Keeney and family: Jeff & Linda and Baltimore and Teckla.

Barbara and Jay and family: Mike, Kristi, Pam & Martin, Audriana and Sofia.

Martin and I with our most amazing girls.

Grandma and Sofia

Grandma and Audriana

Audriana reading her card for Clara to Clara's mommy.

Uncle T and Kristi

Uncle T and Clara and Sofia

Thanksgiving Festivities - Alfaro style!

This year there are many things that we are grateful for -- family, friends, health -- but nothing compares to the gratitude we feel now that Ryan is better and out of the hospital!

Our Thanksgiving began with a very cold walk through Manito Park at 8 in the morning! It couldn't have been over 25 degrees, so Martin and I got the girls bundled up and began our walk. We met my sister Kristi there and made it a true family affair. It was actually a Turkey Trot (3 mile run), but we did our own little walk through the park with the girls and had such a great time. It felt good to get out early and get in a little exercise before the big feast! The "entrance fee" was a canned food donation to the 2nd Harvest Food Bank, so Audriana gathered up our donation and was excited to deliver it. Now that she's 6, I am really starting to focus on these types of teachable moments about the need in the world -- especially since her dad comes from a country where poverty and need are the norm and a way of life. For Christmas this year the girls will do chores to earn money to send to the children of Nicaragua. Anyway, back to Thanksgiving! After the walk we stopped by the hospital to visit Ryan who had been admitted the day before for pneumonia. Poor thing -- he was so brave! Jay's daughter, Lisa, called us Wednesday night and said that they were on their way into Spokane from Ephrata because Ryan was being admitted. Scott stayed with Ryan at the hospital and Lisa and their 2 younger boys (Noah and Micah) stayed at the hotel. They were able to spend Thanksgiving at our house and we took food to Scott and Ryan at the hospital later that night. Ryan was finally released on Sunday after spending 4 nights at the hospital receiving super antibiotics via an IV. I know now the gratitude I feel everyday that the girls are healthy. It cannot be taked for granted. The Fam with the Turkey Man!

I'm so proud of Kristi being out with us in the freezing cold. The one thing she hates most in life is the freezing cold. Thanks for joining us, Kristi!

We have so many shots of Martin in the same pose -- arms outstretched. I'm not sure why. He always wants me to take this shot. It's funny. I guess I could do a collage or something of all the shots of him in this same pose in different locations. The first shot I remember taking of him like this was during my first trip to Nicaragua in 1994. It's a great shot of him with the ocean behind him. I'll have to find it and scan it in.....

Gobble Gobble -- Mr. Turkey man! I tried to get the girls to stand next to him for a picture and they both said "no"! I guess they've never seen a real live Turkey Man before?!

Audriana donating our food.

Visiting Ryan and bringing him Thanksgiving decorations for his room.

Our beautiful table decorations!

The girls worked so hard on making the Thanksgiving decorations for the table and the front door. Notice the "Welcome Friends and Family" sign that Audriana made? Sofia decided to color hers all the colors of the rainbow!

How perfect that we got the first snowfall of the year on Thanksgiving. It was a peaceful and beautiful sight.

Mike and Jackie joined us, as well as Aunt Tonn, Kristi, and Lisa and the boys! It was awesome!

Oh yah, one last thing......when we did our "grateful circle" tonight before dinner, Audriana was thankful for her cousins, and Sofia was thankful for God in her heart. Total sweetness.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Dancing at Elizabeth and Steven's wedding....