Well, Ben is finally here. He was born on 12/29/06 @ 10:03 AM. He weighed 7.4 lbs and was 19 1/2" long. Kristin and Ben are doing great! Sam is very excited to be a big brother.

One last picture.















Here is a picture from July 2003 and today. Tomorrow is the big day, and I've been spending today with Sam on our "last" day as just Sam and mom before Ben joins us tomorrow.


Happy Birthday to me!

Christmas 2006





Here is Sam helping mom tell the Christmas story before we opened our presents at the Keefer's house. Sam used the nativity to act out the story.

Sam and Uncle Kevin "playing" the Tractor Tipping Game from the Cars Movie.













Sam is showing off Diesel 10.

Sam really got into Christmas this year, and didn't show any signs of the Keefer trait of "saving the paper." Sam is definitely a paper ripper. He went from present to present, and netted several trains for his train table (the 3 he requested from Santa: Diesel 10, Fergus, and Harvey, plus a few more from mom and dad). He also got some cool gifts from his Uncle Kevin who visited from California, and made it back home again before the next storm went through Denver. The most heard phrase over the week was "Uncle Kevin, can you......" followed by "read to me, play with me, do this puzzle with me."

December 2006







Well, December 2006 was a very busy month. Sam was definitely more in to Christmas this year, and is also anticipating the arrival of his new brother, Benjamin Lewis. He will be here via FedEx on December 29th. No really, he will be here though on December 29th with a scheduled delivery. Sam enjoyed his time with mommy making cookies, and making a plaster train that he got to paint. Please look for Sam's new show on cable as he starts his own arts and crafts show. Sam enjoyed riding that train at Towne West mall. His faces were priceless as he rode around the track. Sam almost missed riding the train as dad left the digital camera at JC Penney. Thankfully, a customer turned the camera in. Sam is also enjoying some bedtime stories with mom.

My New Friend Joey

Joseph Richard Hudson came to see us on Thursday. Our good friends Scott and Jennifer Hudson recently traveled to Vietnam to pick up their son, Joseph Richard. He will be four years old in April. We had a really good time. Scott and Jennifer gave Sam his little gold outfit pictured below. Sam liked his outfit so much that he wanted to wear it out to dinner. We ate at P.F. Chang, so Sam blended in quite well. Thanks Scott and Jennifer!

Boy, Christmas can sure wear a boy out!

The Cars collection is pretty much complete. After traveling many miles to get the different Cars from the movie, Sam still thinks there are more to get. Not really. Sam really enjoys playing with his cars and continues to have meaningful conversations with them. I think we have learned a lesson though that Sam just doesn't need that much to be happy.

One more funny story...
Sam said several weeks ago that it would be snowing when his baby brother, Ben came. I'm not sure where he got that idea, except that Sam knows that Ben is coming after Christmas. On Thursday morning when Sam got up, I told him to look outside to see what was going on. When he saw the snow, he turned around, looked at me, and said "Is my baby brother here?"

More Snow Pictures


Not heeding the warnings from his Uncle Kevin, Sam made a snow angel this morning. (Some of you might know, Uncle Kevin, while trying to make a snow angel, fell back onto the corner of a brick, and received a cut on his head that required stitches).

While dad was busy working on the very cool snowman, Sam enjoyed his time outdoors eating the snow.

The snow outfit. Ski pants from Target bought on clearance last year for under $4, Snow boots, waterproof mittens (we haven't quite figured out how to get the thumb in the right place, so it makes it difficult to pick up items outside), dinosaur hat with ear flaps, and Old Navy Coat (also bought on clearance, but not for $4). Sam thinks the yellow parts of his coat look like the lightening bolts on the side of Lightening McQueen (a car from the Cars movie, of course.)

Sam and Uncle Hugh

Here is a photo of Sam at St. Benedict's Abbey with his Great Uncle Hugh. Sam graciously allowed Uncle Hugh to hold his latest "Cars" acquisition, "DJ" finally located at the "green Walmart" in Atchison, KS on Thanksgiving Eve. (our Walmarts here in Wichita are blue.)

Here Sam is patiently waiting for the Thanksgiving dinner to start, of course holding DJ.

Also a picture of Sam in room #2. One of Sam's most uttered lines over the 2 days we were there was "I want to go back to room #2. He had his own "yellow" bed, and even though Mom woke up many times to check during the night, he never came close to falling out.

Aren't they a little too big to be playing on playground equipment? Thanksgiving in Atchison, KS was quite warm this year. Sam got to stay in his usual room#2. Do you like the cement at the playground? This was at an elementary school. Lawsuit anyone? Enjoyed reading the sticker on the pole that said that death could occur if the equipment was placed on concrete. The concrete is new, so would assume they will eventually put a rubber padding over the concrete.

Sam ventured out for his fourth Santa visit. He's becomming quite the pro and knows how to work Santa over. This year, Sam wants some more Thomas trains, Diesel 10, Harvey, and Fergus. Sam's new baby brother Ben is supposed to get him George.

Well, we got our first snow storm of 2006. This is also the first posting from dad, thanks to the blog teachings of mom. It snowed, that's all I know. I think we received about five inches. It was windy, which caused the snow to drift a bit. Sam was more interested in eating the snow than building a snow lady. The nice round balls of snow were made possible by the lid from a George Foreman grill. The snow was packed in the lid and two halves made a nice ball of snow. The snow was not wet enough to roll. Sam enjoyed the snow. While it was snowing on Thursday, dad only worked half a day and Sam and dad went sledding at the Indian Center. They have a nice hill to sled down and is safe. No worries about sliding across the highway. Sam could only stomach two times down the hill. I think he was cold.