A Utah Man Perhaps

I am a Utah Man Sir!

My credentials you ask. Let me tick off a few:

• I grew up in Utah
• Followed the teams of the Utah Utes in high school (mostly football, basketball and gymnastics)
• Attended the U during Ron McBride's tenure as football head coach and Rick Majerus' tenure as basketball head coach when the Utes were still a part of the WAC
• Tailgated at Utah Football games with my brothers from Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Phi Alpha to you all. (Yes there is tailgating in Utah and yes they know how to do it right)
  
• Worked at the Salt Lake Marriott University Park Marriott (the hotel where Rick Majerus lived while coaching at the U and that plays host to Utah football and basketball before every home game)
• Watched from the sidelines in 2004 as Urban Meyer took Utah to an undefeated season
• Then got to see Utah put the beat down on the University of Pittsburgh Panthers in that year's Fiesta Bowl

This post is about my love of the school and the teams that play there. It's also about my realization that if my son becomes a football star, he has a good chance of playing for the Utes. Why? In looking at the 2010 football recruits, 8 of the 24 players played football in California. That's 33.33333% of the recruits.

Time to get that kid out to some more football games! He has to learn the fight song like this Utah Man in the Making!

A "Super" Dad Moment at the Super Bowl

So last night was the Super Bowl XLIV, just in case you live in DVR land and don't watch anything live. There's a big spoiler coming here if that's you, so don't read on.

The New Orleans Saints won! The WHO DATs and Mardi Gras Nation have something to celebrate after the last several years of recovering from Hurricane Katrina. I was happy for them. I was almost happy for myself - I was close to winning $100 in our office pool until the interception in the 4th quarter that was returned for a touchdown that is.

About that time, the ladies broke off into wedding talk and the game wound down in a very anticlimactic way. Our home was a cacophony of tv announcers, the babbling brook of women planning the trappings of a wedding and looking forward to the day and the sounds of a two year old overly tired and stimulated. In the midst of playing a balloon game with our son, I turned around to watch the tv screen and post game ceremony and noticed something I don't think I will ever forget. Drew Brees, the Super Bowl XLIV MVP, was holding his son, complete with Saints jersey and more importantly protective headphones, in his arms and sharing the moment one on one with him.

Did you get that guys? He was sharing THE MOMENT OF HIS CAREER LIFE with his son!

He was spending the time with his son and loving it! I am not the first dad to mention this, I am not sure who the first one was, and I am certain that I won't be the last. It's not an accident either. Drew Brees is a man of the Christian Faith, I learned today. His faith is inspirational.

As I write this, I pick up on a journey that I started 20 years ago. I am going back to school to get my college degree! Dad's every day face their own version of a Super Bowl, big and small. This is one of my life long dreams. A few people have told me it isn't necessary. I am successful and can grow without the degree. I know it's going to be a challenge to add one more thing to balance in my life. But keeping my family first is most important, and the images after the game yesterday will stay in my mind for a long time. Jen pointed out that there will be several times in the coming months where I won't see Aaron for 3 days. It's hard to fathom how hard that will be. I miss him if I just can kiss him good night and read him his bed time story.

I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that in this great time of success, Drew Brees also spent time with his wife after the big game. I am sure that she is his biggest fan and supporter. In this same way, I am sure that she is also his hero. A mommy's job is never done, especially when her husband travels as much as professional athletes do. Jen is my hero for being the best mommy ever to our son Aaron. There is no surprise that he is the happy, loving and talkative boy he is. She will take on a lot more by having me gone two nights a week, like less adult conversation and more coping with tantrums and the terrible twos. Thank you Honey!!!!!

So Dad's everywhere, you don't have to be in the Super Bowl to be a Super Dad. Live for the little moments every day!

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• Brees rewards rebuilt city that helped rebuild his career

Web Sites I Love - The Big Picture

We all have sites that we like to visit on the internet. They are funny, informative, educational, entertaining and occasionally visually stunning. So I thought that I would start sharing with you my favorite sites to watch.

The Big Picture is a photo blog from Alan Taylor, at the Boston Globe and Boston.com. He grabs the images from various sources and puts together excellent photo pictorials of the subjects. Here is a description of the blog in Alan's own words. . .

Inspired by publications like Life Magazine (of old), National Geographic, and online experiences like MSNBC.com's Picture Stories galleries and Brian Storm's MediaStorm, The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery - with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting.

The quality of the images is terrific and the subjects are far reaching. Here are a few of my favorite posts from this world class blog.

• Watch reenactment go to the extreme with Fiery European Festivals
• Their Year in Photos posts are a great way to capture a quick review of the big news stories of the year.
• Southern California has been the home to many wildfires since I moved here 6 years ago. So this post hits close to home.

There is a formula that really works for me on this site. Alan gives a brief synopsis of the photos and the event(s) surrounding them, usually now more than 2 paragraphs. Then posts the pictures with captions, generally created by the photographer or news source, and credits.

There are a lot of other photo sites out there, but this is definitely at the top of my list. What do you think? Please share with me any photo sites that you like to look at.

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Daddy's Wisdom Wednesday - "Please" and "Thank You" are Priceless

Every parent struggles with how to get their child to say nice words, like please and thank you. Good manners are worth their weight in gold. You my son figured this out early on and I am pleased to tell you that you get an "A" for good manners as a 2 1/2 year old.

In fact you may have raised saying, "Please" to an art form and in saying it it also becomes bribery. How can your mom and I say no when you are being so polite. "Oh please Mama, please!" When I hear those magic words I find it hard to deny you what you want, even if I have told you a thousand times over that you can't have it.

What I want you to remember most of all, is the importance of good manners even as you get older and you find them missing from others you live, work or play with. A good old fashioned and heartfelt "Thank You" can mean more to a person than a gift or money. Saying Please can turn a NO to a Yes. Nice words can turn your mood from bad to good and make someone's day.

You should use nice words.
Please, Thank You and Sorry
Will get you started.

It's About Time - No Really It Is

You may have noticed that there has been a lack of activity on my blog. I know there's no excuse for not writing here. Even if it's just checking in to let you all know that I am still here. I think that I just needed some time after the crazy holiday's to give my mind a break. Rest assured though I am back and writing.

In our Christmas letter this year, we wished everyone a "Fulfilled" year in 2010. We all have our own measures of fulfillment, but the dictionary offers up the following definitions

ful·fil'ment n.
1. a feeling of satisfaction at having achieved your desires
2. the act of consummating something (a desire or promise etc)

This year I have several places that I am looking for fulfillment.

1. I am going back to school to complete my degree. It means a lot to me to be the first in my family to have a college degree. It is also important that I finish what I started almost 20 years ago.
2. I want to be a better husband and father. This could be two separate items, but I believe that they are so intertwined that treating them as one is better.
   
3. I am going to lose weight and keep it off. Right now, my goal is to get down to 250 pounds. This means finding time to go to the gym and finding activities that we can do as a family to get us all more active.

Keener Kronicles 2009

Merry Christmas Eve from my family to yours!

If your family is anything like ours you love this time of year. We put our Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving was here this year. Yes we are one of those families. Christmas time can't get here fast enough for us. We love walking through our neighborhood looking at lights, decorating our house for all to see and giving gifts that make people say, "How did you know. . . "

This year Christmas is coming way too fast. Perhaps it's that Aaron is so into Santa Claus. He asked for drums and a laptop. Then today when we were driving to pick up the holiday ham, he told me that he wanted a Blackberry just like mine. I am not sure if it is the Blackberry he wants or if he is just in need of more of my time. Maybe, it's his excitement to run out into the front room every morning and turn on the Christmas tree lights. Of possibly, its that as parents we keep hoping that they grow up and when they start too we want them to slow down.

Anyway, we hope that you enjoy this year's Keener Kronicles. We had fun putting it together and reminiscing about the past year.

Keener Kronicles 2009

Happy Birthday Mira

Aaron had been practicing singing, "Happy Birthday," ever since he got his invitation to his friend Mira's Birthday Party. The time finally came on November 14th.

Well, the time actually came and passed because Aaron was taking a nap at the time the party was supposed to start. A happy child is a well rested child. About 1 hour late, we headed to Huntington Beach Central Park to be a part of Mira's Tinkerbell Birthday Party.

The sleep strategy was right on. Aaron arrived at the party in good spirits and buoyed by the big trucks he saw as we drove through the park. When he saw Mira he was very excited and, wow, so was Mira. She practically tackled Aaron when she saw him. Then they were on to the pinata. Aaron was one of the youngest kids at the party, but he did well taking his shots at the pinata.

It was hard to keep Aaron focused on the party with all of the playgrounds at the park. We had to chase him down a few times, but were able to keep him corralled. Luckily we brought his scooter along and this helped to keep him focused. That and promising him that he could go and play on the slides later on.

Overall the party was a huge success. Aaron loved being the attention of many of the little girls at the party. He loved being up at the table while everyone sang Happy Birthday and watching Mira blow out her candles. Oh and yes, he got to go and play on the slides. What a little boy.

Happy 4th Birthday Mira! It's great to watch you grow up. Kim and Scott thanks for inviting Aaron to the party. We look forward to more parties.

Early Christmas Present: 25 Days of Free - Daily Free Downloads in December

Do you love Christmas music? Do you love free stuff?

Then you need to go to Amazon and check out their 25 Days of Free. They are giving away one free holiday song a day. It started on December 1st and you can still download the songs from the first two days for free.

So far they have. . .

Joy to the World by Casting Crowns
Snow Angel by Tori Amos
The Coventry Carol by Mediaeval Baebes

Thanks Amazon for this early Christmas gift. Happy Caroling and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Halloween Horror on Saratoga Street

This past Halloween, we had a Doctor in the House. Dr. Aaron Keener that is. Our little man loves playing doctor, so being one for Halloween was very fun for him. Jen and I were going to be John and Kate, but the Kate wigs were all sold out. So I settled for being a biker dude. Thanks Uncle Dennis for the Harley t-shirt.

We live in the best neighborhood for holidays. There are a lot of kids so everyone really gets into it and Halloween is no exception. Houses get decorated inside and out. Candy is given out by the truck load and everyone parties in their driveways.

This year we had a ghoulish group of friends over for our monster bash. Mom made some awesome homemade chili and two really good cheese balls. GG made the cornbread and some cookies. Jen made her blood curdling sangria. Chant and Casey brought over spiked Sweet Tea. And how could we forget the mini cupcakes that Lori brought. I loved the vanilla, and so did everyone else. That was the one flavor that was gone by the end of the night. Jen's favorite was the red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

This year the Mom's and Grandma's took the boys out trick or treating. Aaron and Riley really got into it. They would go up to houses all by theirselves and knock. They were pros by the end of the night and could gather candy with the best of the big kids. Aaron's favorite was a house in the neighborhood that was actually making fresh popcorn. The adult favorite was a house serving Lemon Drops for adults. The ladies had a great time trick or treating with the little ones, buy had to call for a Diet Pepsi delivery in the middle of their trip. All of that walking wasn't easy and it was warm for being the end of October.

The boys wanted to stay up all night playing, thanks to the candy high. We gave out over 10 bags of candy from our house that night and even had to steal a bit from the little ones bags to get through all of the kids out hunting for candy.

We want to thank everyone who came to our party. It was special with you all there and we look forward to celebrating with you all again next year.

Now on to Thanksgiving!

Beautiful Sunrise on Saratoga Street

This morning when I walked out the front door of our home, I was presented with the most amazing sunrise. It was the perfect start to the day! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

The colors were amazing and honestly the pictures don't do it justice, but I had to capture it. Hope that you have a Great Halloween weekend and be safe.