Time keeps on flying

Another weekend is upon us. I am enjoying the fact that work has slowed down and I am getting my three day weekends back. During my crazy month of December I was just too tired to put the effort into things that needed done. I have FINALLY got caught up on laundry and am almost caught up on housework. I am doing much better at keeping my workout commitments and also spending daily time with God which sadly, tends to be the first thing I skip out on when I'm busy. Now that I am caught up on rest the evenings seem much longer and the weekends go much smoother and I have time to do some things that I want to do too!

Peter is currently in taking another CPA exam. Whew, this CPA has been quite the challenge for him. The thing is, he is an amazing accountant, he excels at everything he does at work but he just stinks at taking tests. We were talking last night about how we haven't had the right frame of mind with him and these tests. We cannot succeed at anything in life if our focus is not right. God doesn't want us to go it alone and we haven't relied on God like we should for even these tests. Peter has poured the last 2 years of his life into taking these tests. He comes home from work and studies all night and sometimes late into the night. The first 2 years of marriage he was in school and after graduating he never took a break, he's been studying since we got married! It will be so nice to have a husband after this is all over :) He really wants to be done with these things by the time he's a dad and so that is what we're praying for. If not, we'll keep doing what we're doing and keep plugging away until he does pass them all! There is only so much he can do - study as much as possible and pray about it and see what happens. The worst part is the wait, waiting 6-10 weeks for test results is no fun at all!

I am doing great with my workouts. I'm losing some weight (not a lot) but this week I took a fitness evaluation and I am making some great process! I am losing inches which is what is most important to me :) In every area I have slimmed down and in some areas I have slimmed WAY down! It is definitely motivating me to keep plugging away :)

I did get in touch with USCIS this week. They try to make it impossible to get any one's contact information but I searched and searched (gotta love Internet) until I found someone to talk to :) Our application was under review and our fingerprints had already been processed and approved (yay!) so we should be hearing a determination very soon! Will the US government find us fit to be parents? Seriously, I wish everyone had to go through a screening process before being able to become parents!

Adopting has been an exercise in faith and patience and we've had it easy. Adoption gets way harder than this has been! I am just thankful that God is taking it easy on us! We want our baby more than anything and knowing he is probably out in this world right now, but not knowing how he is, whether he is safe or if he is hungry is really difficult. We don't want this process to be delayed by anything, we want to get over there and get our little guy in our arms!!! Adopting is something that we really want to do again someday, but it is such a journey of the heart from start to finish that I just don't know if I can handle it again anytime soon. I have heard once we get him in our arms it will all be worth it and we will be more than willing to start the journey again - we shall see.

That reminds me of this verse that a friend sent to me this week:
James 1:2-6
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

This verse was so perfect for me this week :)

Another weekend down!

It has been quite a week in the Keyser household - or maybe I should say quite a year so far! A lot has happened already and the most exciting being getting a little nephew :)

On Tuesday of this week we got our updated wait list numbers. Our agency's home did not take in many children in the month of December due to the fact that they were moving so any movement was a pleasant surprise!



We were able to take 5 links off of our girl chain putting us at #31 for a girl!

We removed 2 links from our boy chain putting us at #16!

The sibling chain has not moved since being wait listed and we are still #14 for siblings.

Even since getting this update we have seen a lot of movement - we are guessing that we are now #29 for a girl and #12 for a boy. We anticipate continuing to see lots of movement in the coming weeks and it is very exciting.

On a negative note, this Friday we were notified that we would now have to have our Favorable Determination Letter in hand before being able to get a referral. This is a new rule our agency is putting on family's to protect the children in their care but it has got us on our knees. When I was fingerprinted for this, the USCIS office did not like my fingerprints but sent them in anyway. We weren't overly concerned about it but now we NEED that letter. So we pray (a lot!)! We are expecting to hear word sometime this week on the decision so any and all prayer is appreciated :)


In other stuff. I had the opportunity to win a "party pack" from Jello and 2 wii games - Your Step Fitness Game and Just Dance game. We had a great time eating new (and free) Mousse Temptations from Jello. They are only 60 calories and were actually quite tasty :)

Peter can sometimes get in the spirit and be a total goober. Here he is showing off the free headbands they gave us!

Then it was time to play. Peter and his family enjoyed playing the Just Dance game. It appeared it was quite the workout!

Peter once again being a goober. I stole his warm coat so he decided to wear mine home. I laughed at him the entire way home :)

I got to meet my precious little nephew this weekend!!! He is so cute and so tiny and so lovable :) I could hold him for hours (okay, so I have held him for hours). He is such a good and

content little baby.

Here are some pictures of him at (almost) one week old!!

Yep, it has been a good week. I expect this week to be equally as wonderful. I expect to continue seeing lots of movement on the wait lists and I also trust that God will provide our Favorable Determination Letter this week!!!!

In Getting it Together - I didn't have the best week. I have been so busy that workouts took a back seat. I gained 1 lb but am still 2.6 lbs under my starting weight. I am still eating good though. I am back on track and I can feel that I am getting in better shape which is my main goal! I expect to see great results this week!!!

Cutie!!!

This little guy is just way to cute :)



Seriously, it has been way to long since we've had a baby in the family. I can't wait to meet Johnny hopefully tomorrow night! Yay :) I just had to share more pictures of him because he is just way to cute!!!

I am so happy that everything went well. With my first niece the whole situation was very scary. My SIL had to have an emergency c-section and we were all very nervous. Fortunately Jezzie was okay but my SIL had a long and difficult recovery as she lost a lot of her body's blood supply.

The second time around the c-section went well, but Jillian was born sick with a milk allergy and it was very sad.

I am so relieved to hear that my SIL and little Johnny are both doing great!!!

Isn't he just adorable in his little policeman outfit :)

I love babies! Especially this baby :) Watch out little guy, your aunt is crazy and is going to smother you with hugs and kisses and love :)

One Proud Auntie!!!

Today has been a great day! I have been lookin forward to January 4th for months. Today is the day I became an aunt for the 3rd time! Being an aunt is one of my favorite things - I love my niece's more than anything and there is nothing I wouldn't do for them. My sister-in-law experienced 2 miscarriages in the last year and that was really tough for them and for all of us. Fortunately she has had a great pregnancy and we were all anxiously anticipating the birth of baby #3!!!

I kept my niece's for the night. My goal was to keep them up as late as possible last night. The c-section was scheduled for 7:30 in the morning but they knew that mommy and daddy had to be at the hospital by 5:30 so that was when they wanted to be up. (but there was no way I was going to allow that to happen) Unfortunately with the swine flu going around the hospital is not allowing visitors and so we were going to skype with a webcam from the hospital.

So last night we took them out for blizzards (they asked for them and so who am I to say no!) and then we watched a movie and ate popcorn. They went right to sleep at 11:00 last night and I had to wake them up at 7:00 this morning so my plan worked :)

We got them all bathed and dressed and then we waited! They got to talk to mommy on the webcam and watch them get all ready to go to the OR. After mommy left they kept waiting. They did not know that it would take a few more hours before hearing about their baby.


Jillian fell back asleep while waiting. She played for a while but sleep eventually took over. They were so excited to find out if they were getting a brother or sister!!!

Around 10:00 we got the news we had been waiting for! and ...............IT WAS A BOY!!!

Baby John (or Johnny) was born at 8:07 AM weighing 8 lbs 1 ounce and 20" long. He is beautiful!!

We were wondering who he would look like, we think he looks a lot like his big sister Jezzie!

Such a cutie! I can't wait to get to hold him!!!

After getting him bathed and cleaned up they sent us a few more pictures. He was enjoying his nice warm sunlamp. With 2 energetic sisters lets hope he is a content little guy!

Daddy already has Texas Longhorn booties on his boy!!

What a special and great day! I am amazed at how I can fall so in love instantly with my niece's and now nephew! Being an aunt is great :)

10 Things I am looking forward to in the New Plus GIT week 2

Like I stated in my last post, last year was really a test for us. We had a lot of tough days. Even after making the decision to adopt, the paper chase and waiting have not been easy. We dealt with a lot of things that we did not know how to deal with but we made it. We are stronger and maybe even better people for the things we had to face last year. So with this new year upon us, I just know we are going to have an awesome and amazing year!!!

So with that I give you my top 10 things I am looking forward to in the new year. (They are in chronological order)

1) On January 4th I will become an aunt for the third time. I am super excited to meet my new baby niece or nephew. Yep, we don't know what it will be and that just adds to the suspense. It has not been an easy road for my brother and SIL but after experiencing two miscarriages we are all very happy and excited for this little one to get here!!!

2) Getting away for a couple of days sometime in January or February. It seems like our weekend get-aways are becoming scarce so we value each one more and more! I am really looking forward to just getting away for a weekend together!!!

3) I am looking forward to referral day. The day that our baby gets a name, a face, and a birthday! I know that day will be filled with a lot of different emotions. Excitement, happiness, but caution as nothing is for sure at this point. I am sure we will also experience sadness as our baby's story is told to us and we grieve for the loss they've experienced in their short life.

4) Getting the news that we've passed court! I know this doesn't necessarily sound like a big day but it is probably the most important day on this adoption journey! This is the day that our child legally becomes our son or daughter!!! It will definitely be a day of celebration as we welcome our first Baby Keyser :)

5) Gotcha Day! The day we've been waiting for. The day we will walk into Hannah's Hope and be handed our little one! I know this will be quite the day and I cannot wait!!! There is no way to put this day into words and I am sure we will be experiencing a lot of different emotions on that day as we take our little one to the hotel and get to know them and allow them to grieve the loss they have just experienced.

6) 4th of July. I imagine that this will probably be our first holiday celebration with our baby. We may get to celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day this year but this would be the first holiday surrounded by friends and family!

7) Our 4th wedding anniversary! Every anniversary is a special day and our 4th will be no less special than any of the others. Every year of continued partnership and commitment is worth celebrating if you ask me :)

8) Our trip to Disneyland in September or October. Disneyland is ALWAYS something to look forward to!!! This trip is going to be extra special as it will be Dash's first trip to Disneyland. We've already planned which rides he will do first and who gets to hold him on which ride - Yep, we are going to be those nutty parents running around Disneyland that are more excited about everything than their kids are :)

9) I am not sure when this event will take place, but I am confident that it will happen this year. I am looking forward to being married to a CPA! Peter has been working so hard the last 18 months to pass his CPA exams. It has been a battle and a struggle for him but I just know he will succeed this year and become a CPA and we will celebrate and party when that day gets here!!!

10) Baby's first Christmas. This Christmas was hard but I know that next years Christmas will be fun and exciting as Dash will be experiencing it (or maybe we'll be experiencing it for him) for the first time.


There is quite a bit to look forward to this year and I am looking forward to documenting it all right here as it happens :)

So My Getting It Together Week 2 update:

I will be honest and say that I have not eaten as well this week. Mainly because I haven't been eating much of anything. I have a cold that has gotten me pretty good and I haven't really been hungry so I don't think the eating has really played a factor this week but I do need to try to eat more responsibly.

Working out has proved to be a challenge this week. I did get my Monday workout in but the rest of the week has been a major fail in this department. I have just not felt well enough to workout. I have a cough that will not stop and that wreaks havoc on my back problems. My cold is slowly getting better as of today so I may try to workout today but my back pain is really high today so we shall see.

Like I said last week, I fluctuate weight a lot so I am not really concerned with the weight as much as my measurements. Sometime this week I will take some new measurements and see how I'm doing. The greatest advantage with working out is that I feel so much better and am so much more productive when I workout. So this week I am up 1.6 lbs over my last week weight but still down 3.4 lbs over my starting weight. That is sufficient for this rotten week as I did not do well at keeping up my end of the bargain. Hopefully I feel better soon and get back going in the right direction again!!!

2009 In Review

2009 was quite a year. It is a year that I am glad to see put behind us. This year changed the course of our lives drastically. 2009 was the year that we learned that our plans are not always God's plan. We grew up and became "adults" this year.

So with that I give you our year in review:

In January of this year we made a decision that I think years from now when we look back on our lives will be a monumental moment in our lives. In January we began Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. We spent less, saved more, ate beans and rice for 6 months and paid off almost $20,000 in debt! Life changing decision that has been worth every sacrifice we've made!

March 18th was a devastating day. It was the day before my birthday and Peter informed me that he had been laid off. Our "dreams" came crashing down. Peter had the dream job and was starting out his perfect career and the economy threw a curve ball that destroyed our plans for our lives. We became desperate for God's help and began to truly seek His will for our lives in a whole new way.




March was not all bad. On March 28th we celebrated our little Juno's 1st Birthday!!!

In April we got away for a few days and relaxed at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond, OR. We had a great time getting away from the stresses of life!
In May Peter started his new job at Precision Castparts! It was a true blessing and God showed His faithfulness to us as Peter was only unemployed for 6 weeks. In this economy that is truly a miracle! Peter is so much happier at PCC! He has much better hours and a much better work environment. Things at his previous employer have not improved throughout the year and it is truly a blessing that he is not there and dealing with the stressful work environment.

In June my family took another blow. My grandmother passed away. I especially took this very hard. I am glad that she is no longer suffering but I miss the old grandma and the relationship I had with her.

Needless to say the spring was not easy for us. In the midst of all the other battles we were facing we were also facing a private struggle with infertility. I never thought we would face that road. The spring was a difficult time in our lives but we dealt with it in the best possible way. Instead of turning from our heavenly Father in the battles and struggles - we drew closer to Him. Our relationship with God and each other grew and changed. We trusted God had a plan through all the tears and pain.

In July God revealed His plan for the growth of our family. We felt led to bring our first child into our family through adoption and we never looked back.

We were so excited to turn in our adoption application!!!

On Peter's 23rd Birthday we received news that we were officially accepted into AGCI's Ethiopian program. We were so excited and so happy!!! The paper chase officially began!!!

In September we took our annual trip to Disneyland! We spent a week down there with my family and had a really great time!

In October we did our annual Fruit Loop trip down the gorge! We picked out pumpkins and bought yummy apples!!!

In October we finally finished up the paperchase! We got the great news that our Dossier had been approved and we could finally take a breather and let the waiting begin!!!

At this time our names were also added to the waitlists! We were finally on the countdown at #14 for siblings, #21 for a boy, and #43 for a girl!

In December we celebrated yet another Christmas! This year we had 5 separate Christmas celebrations and had a wonderful long weekend!

We ended the year with a little snow storm! There is just something very peaceful about the snow (after Peter's 5 hour commute of course, nothing peaceful about that).

2009 was a year we will never forget but are happy to see go. We grew, we changed, and are better people for the battles and struggles we faced in 2009 and we look to 2010 with excitement, joy, and hope!!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Wow, what a surprise the weather was today! I always say that if the weathermen are not calling for snow, it will snow. If they call for it - don't be disappointed when it doesn't happen.

So I have this awful cold right now but I'm trying to tough out my work week and not have to use any of my valuable vacation time. I went in for 7 hours today and finished up some computer work I had to get done. I have to be at work tomorrow for the worst day of the year - inventory, blah! So I left work around 12:45 this afternoon.

Soon after arriving home from work this happened:


At this point in time (I estimate it being around 2:00 PM) I called my wonderful husband at work and told him that I was worried about his commute and that if it kept up I thought he should Head home. He assured me that his commute would be fine. About 30 minutes later I called him again warning him that the ground was covered and that I REALLY thought he needed to start coming home. There was still no snow in Portland so he felt pretty safe still. Around 3:30 when the snow started to stick in Portland he decided to take my advice and come home early. After about an hour of driving and just barely getting off the freeway he decided it was no longer safe to drive on the roads in his Honda Accord and decided to park it in Fred Meyer. He sat there for over an hour and ate dinner at Subway before deciding to try to make it the rest of the way home. His normal hour commute became a 5 hour commute today! Yuck! Fortunately he made it home safe which is really all that matters!!! Us Oregonians really don't know what to do when it snows.

We anticipate that so far we've gotten about 3" of snow which is quite a bit for us, unless you want to count last years over a foot of snow, but that isn't normal by any means. We are thinking that the snow is done and the rain is going to start anytime. So after Peter got home after 8:00 PM tonight we decided to make the most of it!!!

So I got my coughing, sore throated, ear aching body all bundled up and we took our puppies out to play in the snow!

The dogs LOVED the snow this year! Indy was hopping around like a bunny rabbit and running as fast as his legs could move. Juno loved eating the snow and catching snow balls! Even Indy was catching and eating the snow!!!

Daddy with his very hyper and happy babies! Daddy was pretty happy himself with some snow on the ground :)

Our cute house :)

As frustrating and worrisome as Peter's commute was and no matter how sick I am right now - I have enjoyed this little snow storm!!!