Journey to Unity

My good friend Heather that I met when I moved to Boston for grad school 5 years ago was joined with her partner Kara in a wedding ceremony in Amesbury today. The ceremony was very heartfelt, personal and special. Kara, her family and many of our friends attending are Deaf and so the ceremony was done completely in ASL with no interpreters. It is one thing to hear the word of God and witness vows but to see them through the air in ASL is indescribable. They wrote their own vows and shared their "sand story" as they poured sand from different places that hold a special place in their heart. Heather is such an amazing person who gives more than she has to the people around her and has now found her soul's counterpart in Kara. They are such a lovely couple to watch and I am so thankful to have been there with them on their special day. Here is a slidshow of the event.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Brennan's Climb

I thought I should do a blog about my brother Brennan and the feat that he just accomplished. He just got home from a 17 day trek up the largest mountain outside of Asia, reaching the summit at 23,000 feet. Aconcagua in the Andes mountains of Argentina boasts severely high winds and even snow regardless of the fact that this is their summer season. This climb took months of preparation both mentally and physically. Brennan spent countless hours in a chamber to get his body ready for the drastic elevation changes that it would undergo. His team of people that ascended the mountain with him spent 15 of the 17 days going up the mountain, stopping at each drastic elevation change to get used to the conditions. Not all of the climbers were able to reach the summit as there were many cases of elevation sickness, injuries and just sheer exhaustion. Brennan was one of very few that made it to the top. He was so ill at one point, he described not having the energy to open food and eat it. Now that he is home safe (minus one very frostbitten foot) and can reveal what a dangerous undertaking this expedition actually was, it is frightening to think of him in a place so barren and treacherous. But it also shows his tenacity and drive to experience things and push himself to his absolute limits. So congratulations Brennan on this amazing accomplishment. I am sure that these pictures don't do the experience justice.

A day to remember...

Regardless of how you feel about our now current president, I hope that you took away today the same feeling of hope and national unity that I did. I did have a very unique view on the inauguration however. I was lucky enough to be in a room of about 45 elementary students while President Obama was sworn in. There is no better feeling of hope for the future than to hear that youth and spirit of our future cheering for their leader. The kids were so cute and excited although VERY CONFUSED. We had somehow gotten this event mixed up with Martin Luther King day so when asked what special day today was I got a few "MLK is going to be our new president" or "Obama died and today is his birthday"... I even got one "Today we will have a new MOOSE" haha! If you don't know sign language the location of these signs are similar and this student was very confused. We also had some very interesting interpretations of the musical numbers given to us by our Deaf, Autistic students. I think they were wondering what that woman with the very peculiar hat was doing?!? :o)
But after all of the confusion and the interruption of classes today, it was a moment I will hold with me. We should all feel so excited about our country and just as hopeful...
Here's to what's to come...

Christmas and New years

We spent Christmas day with Mike's family in Massachusetts this year and then headed off to Phoenix for our Keisling celebration. We got to do a little Christmas with the little girls and headed to Punkin Center for camping with the extended family. It was great to be able to see Kellen and many of the cousins there. Always a good time filled with lots of food, fire and fire water!! :o) New Years was a great time spent with Bree and Eric. We got a chance to see Seren, Edmund, Anne, Brian, Melissa and Chris. So great to catch up with old friends- especially when karaoke is involved. It was a great break from the cold and some much needed sunshine. Hope all of your holiday events were happy and safe. Enjoy the slideshow!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Snowed In!!!

We are on the third day of our winter whiteout. We had school cancelled on Friday due to last years mess where it started snowing in the middle of the day and it took people many hours to get home in the gridlock that was Boston. This year everyone was prepared but we are still in the third day of house arrest. The streets are terrible for driving but its definitely fun. Meli is a huge fan of snow so she thinks this is HEAVEN! I had my "little sister" over yesterday for holiday cookie baking and some fun in the snow and she and Meli had a great time romping around. 

So here are some pictures (and a video) of our winter wonderland- Meli out on our deck finding treasures and how the cats spend days like this. Enjoy

meli's treasure hunt video

Make a Smilebox slideshow

All Things Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
It has been a busy couple of weeks! It felt like we had barely eaten all of the turkey and it was time to get the tree up. I am not a big fan of passing over the Thanksgiving holiday to get to Christmas, but with everything being so late this year it all just seems like a blur. We went out with Mike's parents to cut down the tree for their house ( it is Mikes turn to spend Christmas with his family.) The dogs had a great time picking out the tree and for once it wasn't snowing!! We decorate the tree together every year, and every year I get to make fun of all of the decorations from Mike's childhood that he thinks are soooo precious. Now before you judge me too harshly on this one, there is actually an ornament made out of leftover fast food foil.... so yeah- not exactly the sentiment you think of when you imagine childhood memories. haha

We set up our tree shortly after... short being the key word. We still have to have the tree up off the ground to prevent all of the furry children from making a snack and or toy out of the decorations. The house looks really cute and we had our good friends Marty, Jamie and Brady over for a dinner party. We don't see them nearly enough and it was a nice night of my fabulous cooking ;o) and a chance to try my hand at table setting...

Happy Holidays to everyone- hope you are all feeling the spirit of the season and know that we are thinking of you and hope to see all of you that live near the Phoenix area very soon. 

Holiday Hugs!!