Keeles Visit Grand Island

We have really enjoyed having the Keele Family visiting us this weekend. Darren and Melanie brought their wonderful family on Friday from their home in Muscatine, IA, to spend a few days with us here in Grand Island. They arrived late Friday night and we chattered until long into the night.

The next morning, we were able to treat the Keeles to a Grand Island tradition of "Cleaning the Church." This past weekend was the "Primary and Elder's Quorum" turn, and since Becky is in the Primary Presidency and I teach in the Primary, we were pressed into service. We left Meile with all the little ones, most of whom were still asleep, and took the big boys out to tidy the house of the Lord.

Following that task, as well as a quick tour of my office at City Hall, we had a great lunch and took the Keeles out to the Stuhr Museum to see the exhibits there. The Stuhr Museum is one of the largest living history museums and focuses on the "prairie pioneer." It examines the settlers of this area, as well as pioneers who traveled through on their way West. We are always particularly proud of the Mormon Trail exhibit at the beginning of the tour.

Meile, Melanie and Stratton at Stuhr

It was still rather cold and windy, so we spent our time in the Festival of Trees and historical exhibits in the museum's main building. On our way out, we took a quick vehicle tour of the buildings that make up "Railroad Town." This living history section of the museum grounds feature over two dozen authentic buildings of the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Sunday is Quincy Keele's sixth birthday and we were lucky enough to have them over for that. To celebrate, Meile decorated the door of the room that the boys were sharing, a Rosenlund tradition to have posters and balloons on your door at sunrise. Following Church, we had a relaxing afternoon together, Quincy opened gifts, and we all had cake and ice cream.

Facebook Adventures
One of the fun things we did was introduce Melanie and Darren to Facebook. I began my own Facebook journey a few months ago at Adam's encouragement. Since then, we have had a great time keeping up with the latest with all my brothers and sisters (a chore to say the least), finding old friends, and opening up another forum for sharing the best things in our lives. Well, this weekend, I was quite the Facebook missionary as I showed Melanie how it has really allowed me to keep up with my far-flung family with great ease. I have to admit that I have had more chats with them on Facebook then I have on the phone over the past several years.

The best thing about Facebook, its relative privacy and reliability. It doesn't have the openness of MySpace and you are less likely to be burdened with the foolishness and inappropriate postings often seen there. Many of my colleagues much older than I are avid users, if only to see what their own children are doing and saying. It is quite useful. If you haven't looked into it, take a quick try. I think you'll be pleased with the results.

Birthday Cake!!

As the kids are gathering around the kitchen table for a game of Cranium, it makes me think just how wonderful it is to have family close (7 hrs away). Our best wishes to all of our loved ones spread across the globe. As this year draws to a close we hope you all had wonderful and memorable experiences!

Today's News Updates:
Adam and Laura Rosenlund Celebrate their 15th Anniversary, Dec 28
John and Char Crippen have Twins
David Rosenlund celebrates his 29th birthday, Dec 26
Quincy Keele celebrates his 6th birthday, Dec 28