Kepler Family Newsletter 2009

Hi it is me again David Edwin Kepler the 4th. After a few years break from writing the newsletter I am back at it again. It has been a year of growth in our family. Yes some of us have grown to new heights physically but we have grown lots of other ways too!

We will start with mom. She has learned a lot about herself this year. She started off the year with a new responsibility at church working with all the children. She has loved teaching them and has grown to have a Christlike love and compassion for children(she always has but the depth has increased and kids see it we always have strange kids coming up to her and saying Hi). She has loved every minute of it and she will be going into the new year with another new responsibility at church. She is sure she will learn so much and become more of who Heavenly Father intends her to be. At home she always has a project and loves being creative and Julianna's room received her personal touch this year. I could start listing all the things she does but that would be the letter in its entirety. A few of my favorites is she helps plan all of the parties in mine and Julianna's classes at school and she volunteers in our rooms every week too! Now she has always been a supermom but this year she decided to try her hand at something she never thought she would do and that was writing. She sent 2 different articles into one of her favorite magazines and just recently she received her second acceptance letter of her second article...way to go mom!!!

Now dad is the best and I could go on and on about him too, but honestly he is the best dad. He is always doing his best to spend time with each one of us and mom. He reads to Julianna and Jensen every night and snuggles Julianna too, it is the highlight of her day!!! In our family we love to play games and this is my favorite activity with dad and I have beat him a couple of times at a really hard game so watch out dad you are going to have your hands full in a few years I am only 7 just think how much better I will be able to play in 5 years! Christian and dad are both in Young Mens at church and have lots of fun together. This summer they went to Manitou Island and did a survivor man type of trip with limited food and foraged and fished for food(they both lost 5 pounds)and they went on 50 mile bike ride too! Mom and Dad are best friends you know and they always spend time together every night after we go to bed and he always kisses her first when he walks in the door. In matter of fact we have gotten so used to him telling us just a minute when he walks in the door we have quit running up to him until he finds her first. The biggest thing that happened for dad this year is he met his goal of being a store manager in 5 years, 4 years and 8 months to be exact and we are so proud of him. No more having to work on Sundays or Holidays and he is home every night to tuck us into bed and that is what we love the best!!!

I am now in the 1st grade and am reading and writing. I love to draw inventions or just draw period, play games, read whatever I can get my hands on, and create. I love to create things with whatever materials are available and I am always shocking mom and dad with what I come up with!!!

Julianna is in kindergarten now and if you are asking if she is still a princess the answer is YES!!! She loves everything pink and likes to put together outfits and mom has had to help her learn how to match. She has become even more of a girly girl and most days when she gets ready she has to put on yummy smelling lotion and lip gloss. Her days consist of helping mom with everything from cooking to cleaning she loves it and someday she will have 2 100 babies..boy is she going to be busy! We love to play together ecspecailly coloring and drawing together it is our favorite. We also play pretend with each other and guess who is old enough now to play with us...Jensen. He is 4 and is having fun with his preschool friends and he has really started to like creating things too! Mostly monsters, robots, and his favorite space ships. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up and that is a type of scientist(I want to be a scientist too- inventing things). The thing about Jensen is you think he isn't paying any attention. Mom will teach us something, like a song for instance, and he will be twirling around on the floor and then the next day you will find him at the piano playing and singing the song. He memorizes the words and melody and then he just sits there and taps it out. Now it isn't perfect but all words he sings are and it is the cutest thing. If you ask him if he is too cute he will say no he is a little too cute or his newest response is he is too cute for words( I wonder where he learned that from -MOM). He is fun to have around except when I need my alone time and school is not a place for that and so I need it sometimes and he is learning when I say I need it he better give it to me.

At the beginning I had mentioned growing well none of has grown as much as Christian!!! He is taller than mom now and he is going to be 16 on Christmas...did you hear me 16!!! He is busy as ever and continues to earn his Eagle scout, play soccer, and run track! He made the varsity soccer team this year and it all had to do with his hard work. He started last November getting ready for the next falls soccer season and his work paid off! 10th grade has been harder for him in a couple ways. He has a lot more homework but he remains on the honor roll and makes time for all he has to do and wants to do and then probably the hardest things to do when you are a teenager is stand up to a friend. Well he had too and not just any friend his best friend who happened to be making some choices that weren't so great. It was a hard time for Christian but he knew he did the right thing by telling his friend he was wrong and he ended up losing his friend(mom is sure it is going to all work out). He has of course other friends and is learning the friends you have do matter and he has some really good ones and I could embarrass him terribly right now but I won't because WE LOVE CHRISTIAN(and mom said I can't)!!!

This year in a nutshell has been new experiences upon new experiences and we have loved every one. We have grown into better people because of it, people the Lord has intended us to be. As you celebrate Christmas this year and go into the New Year remember it is His will not our own that will be done!!!

Countdown Day 24

Today Santa's elves come and make sure the "magic" key works and they leave behind some Christmas PJ's.

We will be doing some sneaky dealings ourselves!!!

Reading the Christmas Story in Luke and going over our Christmas gifts we gave to Jesus(these subsequently also become our New Year's resolutions).

Before bedtime as tradition(from David's dad) David reads The Night Before Christmas and all the children sleep together!!! I love Christmas time and I have loved the advent calendar and doing things together everyday. In matter of fact we have loved it so much(the kids have emntioned we should do all year) we are figuring out a way to have an advent calendar for every month!!!!

Countdown Day 23

Today was the cookie and fudge making! Fun was had by all and then we ended the night by sleeping under the Christmas tree!!!

A Few Ideas....

REINDEER FOOD


In a small bag add oatmeal and glitter, that is it for the reindeer food. Add the tag to the bag that reads:

Sprinkle on your lawn Christmas Eve night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home!!!

"MAGIC SLEEP"



Add Hot Chocolate, a few marshmallows, and hershey kiss into a small bag and attach a small candy cane and this cute little poem:

It's Christmas Eve, time fo rbed
But not an eye will close.
Too much excitement in the air,
To let you even close.

So make a magic potion,
To help you fall asleep.
Then Santa and his helpers,
Can down the chimney creep.

Pour this cocoa in a mug,
And with the hot water mix.
Then drop in the magic kiss,
And stir with the candy stick.

Add a few marshmallows,
And sip it slowly down.
Crawl into bed and snuggle in,
The "magic sleep" will come.

HOT CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM CONE



Add hot cocoa to a triangle shaped bag and seal off with a clear hair elastic. Insert that bag into another triangle shaped bag and top with chocolate chips, marshmallows and a red gum drop, tie off top with ribbon and add the following directions:

Dump toppings in bowl. Open hot cocoa bag and scoop out 2 TBS into cup, add water and stir. Add toppings as wanted.

Countdown Day 22

Cookies, Cookies, and more Cookies!!!!! Decorating cookies at Grandma nd Granpa K's house is a yearly must!!!







And this year we stayed and watched a movie too!!!! Popcorn anyone?!?

Countdown day 21

We love Pizza Sam's!!!! Sitting around visiting and watching them make pizza, it is probably one of our most favorite family traditions that was actually started by my parents. So again tonight we went there for dinner and came home and read The Christmas Story in Luke 2.

So shocked!!!

With weeks before school starting I was getting anxious because all of my children would be in school for 2 half days a week. I know most moms would welcome the child free time but I was on the verge of tears thinking about it. I decided then I would keep myself busy and had a list of things I was going to do. I accomplished many and 1 I just didn't get to in time, but there is alwasy next year for that one.

One of the first things on my list was to start freelancing. I have never been much of a writer believe it or not, but I have been told on numerous occasions I need to write a book. I am not in a place in my life right now to write a book but I thought if I spent 2 hours a month writing and submitting I did have time for that. I started off really good..ideas were flowing and then came the swine flu.... since then I have not done much with it. However before the swine flu arrived in our home I had submitted one article and I just recieved the acceptance letter and the check for it. Can I say I am SHOCKED!!!! Truly shocked!!! I never would have thought I would ever do anything like this and I love it!!!!

Countdown Day 20

I have been sick since Friday night all of a sudden I was sick with no voice(not good!!!) but I was given a respite for the party and by the time I returned home I collapsed on the couch until someone kindly brought us dinner tonight...Thank you Thank you!!!!

Tonights fun was delegated to dad and I had some things up my sleeve for just these occasions. They made "gingerbread" houses but not and old gingerbread house rice krispie gingerbread houses and the kids were thrilled!!!

Countdown Day 19

Obviously I couldn't put in our countdown on day 18 that Santa was going to bring his key so what was in the box was a sleepover with Grandma K which began with a trip to Pizza Hut. Which left my hubby and myself open for a date. Yummy food, great movies, and a craft project make a great night!!!

Day 19 was my Grandma's Christmas party. There were roughly 27 people missing but look at everyone that were there:




Dinner, visiting, singing Christmas songs, listening to the CHRISTmas story, and opening presents was enjoyed by all and we miss those that weren't there!!!!

Nativities??????

Our church recently had a Naativity open house with hundreds of Nativities. My children loved seeing all the different ones but none of them got my sons wheels spinning like the bionicle one that was there. Here are his versions:






Our church recently had a Naativity open house with hundreds of Nativities. My children loved seeing all the different ones but none of them got my sons wheels spinning like the bionicle one that was there. Here are his versions:

Countdown Day 18

Today Santa is going to make a visit and leave the ever prized "magic" key!!! We have no chimney so the kids receive a key before Christmas and a letter from Santa praising them for how good they have been this year and giving them some things they could work on to be extra good this time of year. Then on Christmas Eve along with leaving out cookies and reindeer food the key is hung on the door so Santa can open the door and leave their gifts under the tree(it only works for Santa that is the magic part)!!!

Countdown Day 17

Today while David was working we wrapped his presents and read a Christmas book!!! Not so exciting the last few days but time together is time together...but the kids have been so excited everyday just to be able to do something special big or small!!!!

Countdown Day 16

While I was taking a bubble bath David was teaching them the song Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

I have been teaching them the song Picture A Christmas since Day 1 of the countdown which was supposed to be pulled early in the countdown but it was decided we were going to work on it everyday until they all knew it by heart and that mission has been accomplished!!!!

Countdown to Christmas Day 15

Tonight is YM's and so it is a busy night around here and we are without David and Christian. SO after school we made these:

Elder Peterson Cookies



These cookies got the names from The Joker. The Elder that taught and baptized me loved these cookies I made and so the name has stuck through all these years Elder Peterson Cookies!



1 12 oz chips
¼ butter
1 can sweetend condensed milk
2 C flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 bags Hershey Hugs

Melt butter add milk and chips until chips are melted add vanilla. In a large bowl add chip mixture to flour; mix until flour is mixed in. Unwrap Hugs and wrap them in a 1 inch ball of your chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes. DO NOT over cook. They will look shiny and look not done but believe they are. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes and let finish cooling on wire racks.

And after they leave for YM's we will watch the following:

Create

Create

I love this talk from President Uchtdorf and this video is amazing!!!

Countdown Day 14

First we went and ate at new little restaurant in our town. It was fun! There were games at every table and the kids had a blast!!!

Then kids are going shopping with dad tonight and I will be getting done all that needs to get ready for the kids class parties!!!!

Countdown Day 13

Okay I have been gathering all the items for making gingerbread houses and was oh so confident that I had plenty of frosting in my food storage and so today when I went to grab it before announcing it was time to open the next number....I was wrong and not only did I have no frosting I had no powdered sugar to whip some up with. UGGHHH, no gingerbread houses today!

Luckily for me I had read all these fun ideas in the Family Fun magazine the day before so they were fresh in my mind and one of them had jumped out at me. We always at this time of year go over the proper gift etiquette and as hard as the younger ones try I know there have been some missed thank yous and such statements as I think this is for someone else or simply tossing the gift aside. I knew one of our numbers was going to be this activity of a lesson on gift etiquette and lucky for me someone had an ingenious idea and the kids LOVED it!!!

This is the idea(I forget now what the game was called):

You need as many empty gift bags as people in your family(I labeled them one for every member of our family)and then laid them face down for everyone to choose one and not their own. Then we all went running through the house to find a "gift" for the person whose name was on the bag and ran back to the table. When we all got back we gave each other our "gifts" and then you had to look at the person and say thank you using their name and say something nice about the "gift". They had so much fun running around the house and they wanted to do it over and over again. By the end they were more excited about what they were trying to find the person and to hear the nice thing they were going to say than they were about what was in their own bag...this game was priceless and I am sure we will be playing it many more times over the next couple of weeks!!!!

Countdown Day 12

With all feeling swell we were off to have Christmas with my dad. He reserved rooms at a hotel and my sisters and their families came and my grandparents and we had fun together! Swimming, eating, and playing games!!!

Countdown Day 11

Okay this night we were going to the Ward Christmas party and then a fever came creeping up so we stayed home and played one fo our favorite games:



It is fun to learn interesting things about each family member. This is always a fun family night game too!!!!

Countdown Day 10

This night David and I were both gone so the kids watched the following while we are out:

Countdown Day 9

We read the book Christmas Oranges. Here is a short story based on the same concept as the book:

The Christmas Orange

Jake lived in an orphanage with nine other young boys. In the wintertime it seemed that any extra money went for the coal to heat the old buildings. At Christmas, the building always seemed a little warmer and the food a little more plentiful, but more than this—Christmas meant an orange. It was the only time of the year such a rare treat was provided, and it was coveted by each boy like no other thing that they ever possessed.

Each boy would save his orange for several days, admiring it, feeling it, loving it, and contemplating the moment he would eat it. Some would even save it until New Year’s Day or later, much like many of us relish saving our Christmas trees and decorations until New Year’s just to remind us of the joy of Christmas.

This particular Christmas Day, Jake had broken the orphanage rules by starting a fight. The orphanage mother took Jake’s orange away as punishment for breaking the rules. Jake spent Christmas day empty and alone. Nighttime came and Jake could not sleep, silently he sobbed because this year he would not have his orange to savor with the other boys.

A soft hand placed on Jake’s shoulder startled him and an object was quickly shoved into his hands. The child then disappeared into the dark to leave Jake alone to discover a strange -looking orange- an orange made from segments of nine other oranges-nine highly- prized oranges that had to be eaten that Christmas night instead of saved, admired, and cherished until a later date. What a special gift of unselfish love had been given.

This year, may the orange remind us all of the unselfish love taught to us by our Savior and may we share that love with one another.

Countdown to Christmas Day 8

This became a tradition out of necessity in our family when I had a 1,2,3 year old and candy canes were not safe on the tree but I love to have them around to stir our hot chocolate with all season. I remembered this idea in a magazine(I can't remember which one) and thought hanging candy canes from it would be a perfect solution. Now every year we hang candy canes fromthe wreath hanging over our table.

Countdown Day 7

Watched Christmas Devotional on the computer. Words can't describe the feeling....tears were shed by all!

Countdown Day 6

Boy oh Boy did I screw it up today I forgot to have them open the door before we went to church and so seeing the Nativities at church happend but then it left me scrabbling for a quick and easy idea. Finishing decorating the house for Christmas was decided and now we have one more thing off of our list to do!!!

Countdown Day 5

We made ornaments for the tree today. The kids had so much fun painting or markering their creations:



I found the frames they painted at JoAnn's and we used the paint I had here which happens to be every color under the rainbow. Weeks ago preparing for this day I had taken profile pictures of the kids(they are so used to me lining them up to take pictures they did it with no questions asked. Before they got started painting they chose a piece of scrapbook paper and then while they painted I cut out their profiles and the background circles for them and tada cute little ornaments.

Countdown Day 4

Today we went through our old toys and donated 2 boxes full to the Salvation Army. Okay one to the Salvation Army and one to a friend. As we were boxing stuff up my sweet princess had said some of the things she was getting rid of were perfect for a friends daughter. After talking to the mother she was right, they were perfect and they will be used happily!!!

As their reward for being so willing to go through their things:



Followed by watching the movie Jack Frost!

Kids Say

Tonight at dinner as we were wrapping up eating when my little Brain says my dinner side is full. When you hear this yoiu are like HUH? When further questioned by his dad he says, "My dinner side is full but my dessert side is empty!"

Countdown Day 3

The kids are still loving the advent calendar and get so excited when it is time to see what we are going to do today. On day 3 we went to Barnes and Noble to see their beloved kindergarten teacher read to them and then we bought a new Christmas book to add to our collection:



Her books are some of my favorites and they are our laid back boys too!!!

As we were leaving it was snowing and onthe way to the car we were catching snowflakes in our mouth and counting them as we went. Ilove this time of year and the child like wonderment that comes with it!

Countdown Day 2

Today we went to Pizza Sam's for dinner and to visit Santa Claus. Our downtown is lovely at Christmas time and it was the perfect night to walk around. In front of the courthouse there is a Nativity and we stopped and talked about The Wiseman and why at Christmas we give gifts. The kids were so excited to see Santa's reindeer and then into Santa's House...who couldn't love this place. David IV kept looking around to see how everything worked which was a new approach to being in Santa's House I had never seen before. Julianna loved the dollhouse and Jensen couldn't get enough of the trains! Now I have some shy children and 2 of them were not going to sit on Santa's lap not for one minute. So our brave D4 was a great example and talked to Santa. What I realized is Santa is used to getting lists of things the children want well he wanted only one thing which perplexed the Jolly One. I thought he responded well for the situation by asking if he liked surprises and what child doesn't like surprises. To my surprise when David jumped off of Santa's lap Jensen ran and hopped right up there and exclaimed he would really like some Trios for Christmas and again surprising myself and Santa that was all he wanted and the question do you like surprise what put forth. Now it was our Princess turn to talk to Santa and she politely when asked if she wanted to sit on his lap she said, "No thank you." and they began to chat about what she would like for Christmas and again she asked for only one item and yes she likes surprises too! It was a joyous night adn I am glad we took the time for it!

Countdown Day 1

We started our countdown by remembering the reason for Christmas to begin with GIFTS! Gotcha! No but seriously we were sent one of the most precious of gifts and the reason we celebrate Christmas Our Saviour Jesus Christ. Though we can never repay our Redeemer for the sacrifice He made for us we can give Him a gift and we each chose some gifts we could give our Savior over the next year. Above are our gifts!

The kids then wrote their letters to Santa and decorated their envelopes to be sent to the North Pole. I wonder if they will hear back?

And the Countdown Begins

We started a new family tradition this year. We have always counted down to Christmas in some way but this year we thought we would do it a bit different. We bought the above advent calendar(Thank You Great Grandma Kepler!). On November 30th we presented the concept to the kids...they were so excited!!! We told them everyday until Christmas we would do something as a family. David and I beforehand made a list of 25 ideas and then depending on the day and how much time we would have that evening and the happenings in the community we would add that idea(we did not pre fill the advent calendar because things do change like the weather). To add to the excitment the time of the day varies of when they get to open the next number. I will posting here our daily adventures. Wish us luck on our new adventure!