Halloween, Thanksgiving, 9 Months, 10 Months, Christmas and New Years!

Keeping up with a Blog is hard... Don't judge me!

That being said, hello again! It's that time of the year where we bring much cheer and rhyme when there is time. You know what I am talking about. The time of year where we come together as family and friends and remember what the Lord did for us in sending his son down as a baby and ultimately the sacrifice that this Christ made for us on the cross. I'm so grateful for the family and friends in my life who have made for a great year, full of fun and excitement and great joy!

At this time I do want to take the time to remember Mary Lou Okerstrom, Benson's Great Grandma, Pauline's Oma, who passed away suddenly on Oct. 25, 2013. I had known Mary for about as long as I've been with Pauline, which is a little over 10 years. My first thoughts of her were a little jaded, because I heard rumors of a woman who was strict and had a "no nonsense" approach. But what I quickly discovered is that she was a kindhearted and loving woman. She seemed to always be there for Pauline when needed, whether it be loaning her money for a car or being available via phone for a question almost all the time. A fond memory I have of her is her giving heart, even though I was not a part of the family yet, she had always made it a point to include me for Christmas when we all got together with extended family on Pauline's side. (Which Pauline didn't appreciate since that meant she was given less of a gift.) Overall I just remember how loving and fair she was to all her grandchildren and how much she adored them all. It was great to hear that in her last days she was able to hear the letter that Pauline had made for her and was even reciting scripture as the pastor read it aloud. We love you and miss you, thanks for making such an impact on all our lives!

There was a lot of first Holidays this past couple months for our little guy, and even though he will likely never remember them, I am sure he enjoyed himself!

Shortly after my last Blog post, Halloween happened upon us, like it always does on 10/31. This is the opportunity for parents of small children/babies to dress them up in the cutest outfit they can think of or find. We as parents did in fact fall into that category and therefore did exactly that, and of course our little guy was as cute as ever!

Little puppy dog and I made our way around to a few of the neighbors for this first Halloween, since Benson didn't eat the candy, I helped him out and ate it for him. :)

Another holiday that came upon us quite quickly was Thanksgiving! Obviously this year our biggest thanks was for Benson and all the supportive family members in our lives, what a blessing. This year, at the Keeler household, it was the first ever Keeler Gobble Day 5K, and even though we ran a little bit more than a 5K, it was a great way to start off the Thanksgiving festivities and try to relinquish at least some regret from eating too much later on in the day. Overall it was fun to relax with my immediate family, eat some lefse and enjoy each others company. We even got to Skype with Erik and Ingvild!

We transitioned to Pauline's family's get together a little before I had to leave for work at Best Buy, yes I am working there again. Even though I didn't get a chance to spend much time there, I had a great time catching up with everyone and eating some pie! Benson seemed to have a good time with his second cousins Nate and Zach from the pictures I saw!

There he is with those video games again... Uh oh, might end up like daddy even more!

The final two holidays of the year (obviously) were Christmas and New Years, which were a month long blur of family get together's, parties, presents, and overall chaos. But all of the above were exciting and fun to share with Benson and Pauline. It is again such a blessing to consider the reason for the season, that God had sent his son Jesus as a sacrifice for all people, so that all who believe in Him and turn from sin, can live in eternity with Him in heaven. Even though it is too early for Benson to really grasp that concept, we tried to instill a sense of that as we celebrated this year, so that he doesn't grow up wanting more gifts or more food or more "stuff," but remember the only important gift that any of us can ever receive, salvation.

Here are several pictures of the various gatherings and going-on's from the past month of December:

 The first two are pictures of Benson in his new shirt that he got from the Mehrer's for Christmas, thanks Mehrer's!

 The second set of pictures are from when Benson visited Santa at the mall, credit to Pauline for the meme, she was the one who thought of it and created it. :P

 This is a picture of Benson and I in the IDS building when Pauline took Benson to go see the 8th floor display at Macy's (apparently the last year they are having it as well as the Hollidazzle parade).

 These four are some of the presents that Benson got, an old school phone that Benson will only see in museums going forward and an iPhone/smartphone of his own! (My son has Elmo on speed dial, be jealous)

 A couple of Benson in front of the tree in his PJ's.

 He doesn't look the happiest in this one, but he definitely was, this was over at Dave and Loretta's.

 Here is a shirt he received from our good friend Christa!

Here is a picture of Grandma Larson with all of her great grandchildren on Christmas Eve.

And the last two are him happy as a clam at the Larson household after opening his gifts!

I again missed a couple months of Benson's monthly photos, so I will post those now, this kid is getting huge, but in a good way!

The next few pictures a lot of you may have seen on Facebook or Instagram or whatever, but those of you not on there or not friend's with my wife, here were a few of my favorites from the past couple months!

 I will add the disclaimer to this one, no baby's were harmed or emotional in the taking of this picture, Benson did indeed fall, but he did not cry, was not hurt, and genuinely just laid there while Pauline took the picture.

 Reading the Bible for kids to Benson and his cousin Elijah.

 This little guy loves to look at himself in the mirror, can't say I blame him, what a cutie!

 Another gift from Christa, can you say spoiled?

 The "creepy" picture of Benson seeing the camera after Pauline had moved it and thus staring at the little green light that just happens to omit so that there is night vision in a dark room. Our son is not "paranormal!"

He is getting pretty tall, soon he will be taller than even me!

Whelp, I am so glad to be able to post again on here since I have waited so long to do so.

I again appreciate all my readers and hope that you find some enjoyment reading and viewing my blog!

From the Keeler family, here is to 2014, hope you have a great year ahead!

God Bless,

Bryan