Keffer Update

Excitement around the Keffer house: Rachel is busy with her Junior year with her busy social life and being on yearbook. Things are going great. I even took her and a couple of friends to Atchinson, KS for an escape weekend. Next time you see Rachel, ask her about Sallie's house. Melanie is busy with her volleyball. She had been practicing 5 times each week with games on the weekend. Her team just wrapped up the CYO league where they took second in the tourny. On to Club V-ball tryouts on Saturday. Brent is into football and having a blast. His team just one three out of the last four. He loves being a lineman!! Scott has gotten to come home a few times. He has been practicing so hard, that he likes to escape when he can. The fall practice season is now over and it is now conditioning season.

We finally opened the new basement for parties. It is not quite done, but we needed to break it in for the KSU vs Texas game. It was a great game to watch. Well this is my first time blogging.

Upcoming Ear Surgery

I (Katie) am scheduled to have ear surgery on November 21. Todd's parents will be visiting for Thanksgiving, so they will be able to help out during my recovery. My right ear drum was perforated this summer, which turned into an UGLY infection. My regular ENT wanted to give it some time to heal on its own. When it didn't after two months, I finally saw a specialist. They redid a hearing test, which I still did poorly on. Then he checked both ears. I got to finally see what the commotion was all about, as he had a little camera that he stuck down my ear. It was neat for about a minute, and then it made me feel dizzy and woozy and I had to close my eyes!! The eardrum is perforated and the flap of "skin" from the eardrum is stuck to the inner ear. The first bone in my ear canal is supposed to be horizontal, but has been "sucked" down into the ear canal as well. There is also TONS of scar tissue everywhere. He basically said that my eardrum is shot. So, I will be having surgery. He will cut my ear open behind the ear, and create a new eardrum in front of my old one using cartilage from my earlobe. He will also be putting a tube in the eardrum. At my appointment, there was also some fluid behind the left eardrum. If it is still there at my pre-op visit, he will go ahead and put a tube in that ear as well. It is only a day surgery, and I should be ready to go back to school on the Monday after Thanksgiving...

Newest Member of the Family

Phil and Nancy are the proud parents of a bouncing 135 pound boy!! (I would say "baby boy," but Jenna insists that she stay the baby!) His name is Chase Curtis Michael Sutton. He is 15 and a 9th grader in Bartlesville. I knew him and fell in love with him last year when he was an office aide at Madison Middle School. He moved in with us on October 6th, and has already managed to meet a large portion of his extended family. I am sure that he is overwhelmed at this point!! He is a foster child that has been in the system for over 8 years, and we are hoping that our home will be his last stop. Six months ago, I would have bet all of my money that I would not be parenting another male at this point in my life, but I feel very fortunate that God has placed him in our lives. He is an outstanding teen. And believe it or not, Phil will actually be looking for ONE more teen car in the near future!!

Chase gets a "Gr-eating Card" when visiting the Janssons


Uncle Chase and Adeline really hit it off!!


Chase challenges Phil to a game of Guitar Hero...and wins!!