One busy May!

This may have been our busiest month ever! But it was much better than busy - it was great all the way around. Here's how it went.

3-5 Kim and I were invited to present a Marriage and Family seminar in Montreal, Canada. This is a place and people we know well and were happy to go there again. There were no field trips this time (inside joke) but it was good to see Guido again! (Another inside joke!) Thanks to Nana and Pawpaw for keeping the kiddos.

8 We entered the world of Teenhood! Molly turned 13 and was treated to a surprise party (does she look surprised?) to celebrate the special occasion.

9 We had another important birthday - Nana's! Happy birthday Mom!

10,11 I accompanied Kyle and a bunch of other students to Cinncinati for an overnight trip to the Newport Aquarium http://www.newportaquarium.com/ and King's Island http://www3.paramountparks.com/kingsisland/#actions. This was a reward to the select group of students who scored very high on last year's standardized tests. Way to go Kyle!

11 Blake was in his Kindergarten play starring as a stuntman. He is 2nd from the left in the pic. Blake had a great year and is rarin' to be in 1st grade. Well...not exactly rarin', but ready anyways.

13 We celebrated the love we have for our Mothers!

15-28 Keith Blackburn and I went on a mission trip to Zambia (via Johannesburg) and Ukraine. It was a very successful and completely uneventful trip. Quite amazing considering the "numbers". Here they are:

24,828 flight miles

14 days

12 flights
9 places in which I spent at least 1 night

8 airports (several more than once)

5 countries (US, Netherlands, S. Africa, Zambia, Ukraine)

4 currencies (Dollars, Rand, Kwacha, Gryvna)

3 languages (Bemba, English, Russian)

1 lucky guy!!! (Me)!

25 The last day of school!

26 Molly played her last soccer game of the season. They had a great year and, as usual, Molly played great!

29 I got my new car! It is an 81 Mercedes and only has 203K miles! She's a classy European gal who hopefully has many miles left to give. Blake likes it because it has a sunroof! Me too!

Until next time...love from Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

April update

April around here has been about as full and as good as it good be! This update actually begins with the final days of March when Kim and Becky Johnson met in Gatlinburg for a few well-deserved days without husbands, children, and responsibilities. From all accounts they had a blast. Molly probably best summed it up when she told me, "I'm glad I'm not there because I'm afraid they're acting a lot younger than they are!"

Then the kids and I met up with Kim in Lebanon, TN where I was to preach for several days. We had a great time seeing our old friends and catching up a little. Pictured here are the kids with there friends and our family with good friend and blog-watcher Beverly Newman.

Also, we were able to see my "cousin" Arusik as she just happened to be in Nashville at the same time. We all spent the day together and had a great time!

This is the 2007 version of the Easter morning picture. It's amazing how much the picture changes every year!

On April 21stI ran the Charlottesville Marathon. This is my first marathon and I was amazingly slow! But, it was a beautiful course (the entire area is incredibly beautiful), I had a perfect not-cloud-in-the-sky day to enjoy being outside, and I can say that I finished the most physically and mentally demanding thing I've ever undertaken. More pics can be viewed at http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?19316055

This probably isn't the best thing for your body but I really enjoyed the discipline if the training regimen and the excitement of competition. I'll do it again (and faster)!

Many of you know that Molly enjoys writing poetry and I want to share a sampling with you.

The Soft Summer Nights

by Molly Kasarjian

The summer moon, so big, so bright

the lightening bugs glow, so alive in the still night.

The gentle summer breeze flowing freely through the trees

and a far off cry of a bird saying goodnight on the soft, sweet summer night.

That has me ready for summer evenings on the deck!!!

And I close with the latest Blakism: As he and I are riding down the road he asks, "Dad, if I throw an eye crusty on the ground, is that considered littering?" Now that's funny!

See you next month!

Love,

Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

March update

Hello everyone!

The past 2 months have been wild and wooly and an update is long overdue - so let's get right to it!

The first 2 weeks of February found me in Chimala, Tanzania, East Africa. This was my first time to visit this part of the country and I was surprised at the beauty. Having only been in the northern part of the country I had never seen such greenery before. We even saw gigantic waterfalls. Everywhere was green and beautiful.

We taught 18 students in the Chimala School of Preaching and enjoyed every minute of it. We were impressed with all the work going on there (schools from pre-K - 7th grade, a hospital and clinic that see 20K per year, etc.) It was a great trip all the way around!

NOTE: I've always taken old ties from here to give to the students there. A few years ago I began just wearing those ties before I gave them away. The benefits: I don't wrinkle and dirty my ties & I get a kick out of putting together classic combinations like the one in the picture!

On to the family:

Kim has been as busy as ever with pre-school as the year is coming to an end (That's hard to believe!)

Molly is continuing the have a great 7th grade year! She has been on the honor roll every grading period and recently competed on the Future Problems Solvers team (part of the Academic Team). They placed 2nd in the region and 3rd in the district. She also began soccer yesterday.

Kyle is also having a good school year and just finished a long basketball season. His team won the chamionship last night to complete an undefeated season. They never even had a close game! He's shown here sporting his rec specs and his brother's rabbit ears!

Speaking of... Blake has had by far the best year in his long and distinguished academic career! He's reading like a pro and has been busy learning his lines and songs for the kindergarten play.

So, all is well here. We think of you all often!

Love,

Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

Happy New Year!

We hope that everyone is off to a great new year already. There is something reflective about the ending of a year, which is good, and something exciting about the prospects of a brand new year, which is even better! Here's how we ended our '06.




We had a great Christmas holiday this past year. Both on our annual Alabama pilgrimage and our Xmas at home. Altogether we drove over 1200 miles, did Xmas 4 times, and ate ham so many different times that I'm singing "Blue Christmas" like Porky Pig!

As always, it was a great time of the year to enjoy our family.





























We have had such warm and beautiful weather this winter that I decided we had to do something that we've never done before in the winter: go camping!

So, I took the pop-up out of the garage and drove straight to the campground at Yatesville lake State Park. On Dec. 29, 30 the kids and I enjoyed not-a-cloud-in-the-sky weather, hiked trails, rode bikes, threw footballs, gathered firewood, cooked all our meals over the campfire, made s'mores, laughed around the campfire, played card games by flashlight, and made some memories that will last forever. I have a story on each of the boys that will make us laugh for years!
















That's all for now. Take care and God bless.
With love from,
Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we did something different - we left town and spent the holiday in Columbus, Ohio. On T'giving day, which was just a few days after I killed my first deer of the season (did you notice how subtle I was in mentioning that?!), we made the 4 hour drive to the heart of Buckeye land.

Just like Grandma always did, we ate our Thanksgiving meal at Golden Corral. Boy was it good! While we were there we went to a park, goofed off, shopped, ate, goofed off some more, shopped, ate, etc. But the main attraction was the Columbus Zoo; made famous by Jack Hanna.
















After spending most of the day at the zoo we came back at night to see the lights. There must have been a zillion!














But the best part was the the ice skating. The kids and I ice skated...outside...bundled up...while Christmas music played! It felt like we were in a Christmas movie! We had a blast!

There were a million laughs on the trip but here's one that stands out: I had been pronouning "Ohio" in a yankee-mocking sorta way (Long O - something caught in your throat- Long I - Long O). After a day Blake was imitating me perfectly...but was doing so very loudly in crowds of Buckeyes! Yikes!

A few days ago Kyle's basketball team got to play an exhibition game at the civic center. They played during halftime betweens from Long Beach, CA and Louisville.














For those we will see during Xmas, we'll see you soon! For those we won't, we hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Love,
Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

An overdue update...

My apologies to those who enjoy our family webpage for being so tardy with an update. I could make a million excuses (and a few of them would be true!!!) but I'll just get on with it.

I spent the last half of September in Africa. The time was divided almost evenly between Arusha, Tanzania and Johannesburg, South Africa. This wasn't my first time to either place but there were many "firsts". For starters, the outbound was the craziest trip I've ever been on. Due to delays, etc. it took me 5 flights, in 5 countries, on 5 different airlines to get to Tanzania! But when I finally arrived everything was outstanding, as usual.

In addition to the normal teaching, preaching, etc. I got to do a couple of incredible "firsts": hunt in TZ and golf in SA. The hunt: we hunted in the absolute middle of nowhere (more than 3 1/2 hrs. from town) and at the insistence of a Masaai family, we camped in their "yard". They told us there are lions in the area but that they wouldn't bother us. Good enough for me! We enjoyed fresh gazelle cooked over a fire and more stars than you could ever imagine. I've only seen the stars that beautiful one other time.

I'm pictured with some of my new freinds and our luxurious accomadations.















In South Africa I met people from 11 different African nations, preached to over 600, golfed on a course that had wildlife on every hole, and experienced an baptistry overflowing while I was preaching! Ever run from water while 600 people watch in laughter???

By the time I got home I had made at least one takeoff and/or landing at 10 different airports, including Zanzibar! It was just an incredible trip all the way around. It wasn't grueling; just exhilarating!

Meanwhile, back at home, we've had the most beautiful fall since moving here. All the stars lined up just right for the most colorful leaves we've seen. Mom and Dad K happened to be here during the peak and the whole family spent the day at The Breaks.

That morning I ran in my 2nd 10K. I took more than 6 minutes off my time from last year. At that pace I might be competitive in 2 years! :-)

This year's Trick-or-Treating brought in a mighty fine haul of goodies. Molly was a hippie, Kyle wore some freaky mask that bled, and Blake was Darth Vader (he calls it Dark Vader!).

This past Saturday the boys and I went to the UGA-UK game in Lexington. The score didn't end up in our favor (not many have this year, you know) but we had a great time. I promise: Kyle had been smiling! Really...I promise!






Until next time...
Love from Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

The latest from our house..

This past summer has been the fastest one on record at our house. So fast that we weren't even ready for the kids to go back to school! It flew by because it was busy, but not too busy and becasue we got to do a lot of fun things together as a family. This update is a brief recap.



Blake participated in the "Future Champions" football camp. It lasted for a week and he placed 2nd in the skills competition in his age group. He's shown here (on the right) taking a break.










Kim and the kids (I went once) helped out doing some farm chores for a place that uses horses as therapy for children with special needs. Their pay was to get to ride the horses. Here are the 3 Muskateers!








Off and on all summer we had access to friends' pools which we used for hours and hours. We swam, dived, jumped, and slid til our skin is brown and our toes are wrinkled! Molly and Kyle and I also made up goofy jumps and dives and Kim served as the official judge of our big splash competitions. (Kyle actually did get his hair wet!)






The first week of August, Kim and 7 kids from church (including our 3) went to West Virginia Christian Youth Camp and I spoke on a lectureship in Panama. I enjoyed my trip but nowhere near as much as they enjoyed camp . I don't beleive they could have enjoyed it any more than they did!






On my way home from Panama I picked up the pre-arranged (but still a surprise) newest member of our family. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to say the least. The first thought Kim had when she saw him was that he was a rascal...and that name has stuck. Her intuition has been proven accurate!Rascal is on the left and is pictured with his sister.






That's all for now...

With love,
Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

Important news!

I know it isn't time for another update, but we have breaking, important news at our house...we have a 6 year old! On Monday Blake got together at the city park with a bunch of his friends and celebrated his 6th birthday. It is hard to believe!






Party at the park! It looks like the candle is hypnotizing Blake.














What 6 year old wouldn't smile standing next to Alyssa?!










Also, on his birthday he learned how to ride his bike. Quite a day for a young man!




Big, bad, biker dude!












On a different, and much less important note, last Satuday I competed in and completed my first half-marathon (13.1 miles). I joined with 345 people from 31 states, Canada, and Japan to run the Hatfield/McCoy Reunion Marathon and Half-marathon. Not only did I finish (alive) but my time and placing actually surprised me.

I finished in 2:02:57 which was fifth in my age group and 32nd overall.

You can click http://yoursportingimage.com/Thumbs.asp?BibNbr=329&event=978&Locate=Locate to see a few pics. They are not worth buying but they are good for a few laughs!

At mile seven we began a 1 1/4 mile trip over Blackberry Mtn. and apparently the photographer was taking pics as we went up. It was challenging but I'm happy to say that at no point in the race did I feel as bad as I look in these pics!

You can see the results here: http://www.hatfieldmccoymarathon.com/results.cfm

Until next time...

Vacation 06!

We have just returned from vacation and boy did we have a great time! I don't know how the week (and 2 days) could have been any better.

We went to St. Augustine (the nation's oldest city), twice had a nearly deserted beach to ourselves at the Canaveral National Seashore, went to Disney's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, attended 3 different congregations and met good brethren at all of them, took an airboat ride in the Everglades, and held a 12 foot albino Burmese python as well as a baby alligator.

Then there were the fun moments that didn't have anything to do with a ride or an attraction. It was just a great week all the way around! Here are some pics.




The kids on a cannon at St. Augustine















As we're leaving the beach...

















Kim and the kids with the big guy!















At the Animal Kingdom in front of a fake, but incredible upsidedown tree.











Think Molly liked the 12' snake???












Until next time...

Love from,
Keith, Kim, Molly, Kyle, and Blake

The latest

What a good and busy time it's been since the last update. So many good things have happened that I'm afraid I'll leave some out. Oh well, here's what I can remember.

Main Street had another outstanding missions workshop this year in late Feb. In conjunction with that, The Mbewe family, from Zambia by way of South Africa, stayed in Pikeville for almost 2 weeks. We really enjoyed them. Their youngest son, Elisha, became a fixture at our house.

The boys basketball season ended last Saturday. They really enjoyed it! And, considering they had never played before, they did very well!











Kim and Molly went horseback riding one Sunday afternoon with a group from the church. They look like real cowgirls, don't they! Yee-haw!


























This past week a group of students from Faulkner University came to Pikeville to work with us during spring break. Kim and I adopted four daughters for the week. They are great girls and the whole family loved having them with us.
Here you see Jamie and Jessica at preschool and Lexie and Tina at the airport.














And one last thing, the kids can't wait for Nana and PawPaw's arrival in Kentucky! Please hurry so they'll stop talking about it! :-)

Until next time, take care and God bless.
K,K,M,K,&B

Greetings from cold and snowy...Then warm and sunny....then cold again (you get the picture) Kentucky! Things are good at our house and we hope they are at your's too.

I've recently been to Cambodia for almost 2 weeks, with stops along the way in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. SE Asia isn't quite like anywhere I've ever been before. Leaving an affluent "Christian" nation for an impoverished, Buddhist country makes for some differences. The people are poor, but friendly and loving. They are without the stuff that we think makes us happy, but they are happy. The kids don't have gameboys but they smile almost constantly.

One lasting impression is the unbelievable volume of mopeds in the country. They use them because they are cheap to buy and operate and you can go thru traffic quicker with them. There were 1,448 at one time (I know because I counted 859 on one hand and 589 on the other!) :-)
Another thing I noticed there is how much they rely on luck. We stayed at the Lucky Star hotel, drank Lucky brand water, shopped at the Lucky supermarket, and even had a Luckyburger. Lucky was everywhere I went!
One day I got to ride an Asian elephant (smaller ears than their African cousins), and when I stood beside her she decided to sniff me or something. I'm not sure what she was doing, but it half-way freaked me out! Ever stared straight down 2 elephant nostrils???

All in all it was a good and very productive trip! Oh, by the way, I got 2 custom tailored, cashmere/silk blend suits for $75 each in Bangkok!!!






Back on the homefront, all is well. Kim's preschool teaching continues to go very well and this may be the best year ever. Also, she has begun a ladies Bible class at church and the first one was well attended. Go Kimmy, go Kimmy, go Kimmy...

Molly continues to be the top accelerated reader in the entire school. She has also taken up needlepoint and drinking hot tea. She jokes that she's like an old lady! She has also started doing something that cracks me up. Whenever she sees a pitiable or pitiful person, or someone who has goofed up, she says, "poor guy" and then snickers. It isn't in a mean way, just kinda cute.

The boys are both playing basketball. This past Saturday was their first game. In the pictures below, Kyle is 2nd from left on the red team and Blake is bottom left on the blue team. Kyle seems to really know what he's doing and is pretty good. Blake's inability to have a clue hasn't kept him from having a ball!

Kyle and I recently finished putting together the model airplane he got for Christmas. It was a challenge for us but we did it. Now he wants to do another. I can't believe he'll be 10 next week!

Before I left for Cambodia, Blake and I built a birdhouse. Man, does he love tools! He enjoyed it so much that he proudly exclaimed, "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a birdhouse builder!" I have since caught him trying to take it apart so that we could build it again!




















That's all for now. Take care and God bless!