Happy Birthday Keenan!!

Keenan turned 10 today....bitter sweet for a mom. I look back and think about the fact that this beautiful little boy has been with me for 10 of my 15 married years. That's amazing to me. I have a tendency to focus on 'lasts' versus 'eing in the moment 'so I will try not to get sentimental and become a crying mess. I love him. Keenan has brought so much joy and happiness to our family. He has always been a ball of energy with that look of mischeivousnous (sp?) in his eye as well as a huge smile on his face. Even if he gets in big trouble, he still smiles, he can't help it. He is a ham and makes us laugh all of the time. I will share an example of my favorite story of Keenan. As most of you know, he has a cyst in his brain a bit bigger than a golf ball. Because of this, he has to have many CT scans, MRI's etc. Well, we went to one of these scans one time and it happened to be a longer one than the others because he had to have dye injected. Well, if you've ever had an MRI, you know you cannot move. You're in an enclosed tube and your head is placed in a vice. At that time, Keenan was 8 years old....not an easy task for a boy :0) So he was laying in the machine and I was sitting down by his feet. I could tell he was having a very hard time not moving. There's a mirror above his face so he can look down to me. His little eyes were so big and had a panicked look in them. The next thing I knew, he closed his eyes and complete peace and stillness came over him. I knew he had prayed to Heavenly Father to help him make it through the scan. What a beautiful example of faith. I didn't have to tell him, he knew. A few weeks ago we were talking about it and Keenan said, "how did you know I said a prayer?" and I told him that he just looked so relaxed and his eyes looked happy again. He told me Heavenly Father immediately helped him and that he relaxed and his heart quit beating fast. Wenever I have hard times, I think of Keenan. If I will but say a prayer and put all faith where it needs to be, peace will come. So although a manic running crazy most of the time, Keenan has a sweet spirit that will always rely upon what is true. He is the first to pray if he loses a shoe or if his brother is hurt. It's strange,as I'm sitting here typing this, I realize how many times Keenan has turned to prayer in our family. I could literally name 10 stories right off my head. His baptism day was very reverent for Keenan. He is normally quite hyper, but not that day. His presence eminated the solemnity of the day. He was so happy. What a blessing to be a mother to such a precious soul. Happy Birthday Keenan!Keenan is only two weeks old here. He was my fattest baby and one of the hairiest :)


Keenan on Halloween...so cute!

This picture captures Keenan perfectly...yep, that's how he acts most of the time.



Logan looks up to Keenan so much. If they're not fighting, they are best of buds. And I must admit, most of the time they are very close.



My favorite picture of Keenan

Keenan last summer in Hawaii. He loved climbing all the trees!

Time goes way too fast. Stop and enjoy every moment. All the chaos, all the craziness...embrace every moment. Those memories will be your favorite. Like the fact that Logan just brought a card he made to give Keenan when he gets home from school. It's a picture of the two stick figure brothers holding hands in front of the birthday cake. That's the best!

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