A Peek into the Lives of the Kettman 5

Copyright Taylor Swedberg Photography, http://www.taylorswedbergphotography.net/

Kayli and I were married 7 years ago today! Over the past 7 years we’ve had the privilege of really experiencing life together. Some people get married, wait years to have kids and ease into trials, Kayli and I have taken the fast-track. Here is a quick summary of the last 7 years:

• Been to the tropics and been to the arctic
• Eaten whale, seal & herring eggs
• Flown across the Tundra
• Made incredible friends
• Experienced being “broke” and feeling richly blessed
• Experienced being “broke” and feeling broke
• Learned how to “fight” fair and really listen
• Forgot how to fight fair and really listen
• Experienced the fear and joy of having our first child
• Graduated college
• Got my first “real” job
• Packed up everything & moved without having a job or home to move into yet
• Purchased our first home
• Felt the disbelief of finding out we were having twins
• Dealt with the fear of knowing the twins may not be born healthy
• Learned to cope with separation and distance as Kayli spent months in the hospital with them after their birth
• Prayed and cried together as we wondered if our boys would really “make it.”
• Cried for others whose experienced the death of a child
• Rejoiced in the simple things: getting to hold our boys for the first time, getting to bring them home
• Experienced the reality of sleep deprivation as we learned to adjust to have 3 kids under 3 at home
• Experienced joy watching our babies turn into little boys
• Played “pretend” too many times to count
• Changed a ridiculous amount of diapers
• Experienced the ups and downs of pursuing a career as a firefighter
• Laughed at the funny questions our kids ask
• Took our first family camping trip
• Took our first family hiking trip

I think the most important thing that we’ve learned though is to trust and hope together. Over the course of the last 7 years we’ve experienced joy and sorrow, tears and laughter, boredom and excitement, but we’ve learned a tremendous lesson. Life is all about trusting God to provide what we need and remaining hopeful, knowing “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Kayli…thanks for being my wife & my best friend.

Kayli surprised me with an awesome trip to Oregon for my birthday. We got a few days away from the kiddos (Thanks Heidi!!!) and had a great time enjoying the sun on the Oregon coast.

Kurtis told us the other day that he can’t really play songs, but he can make beautiful music.

Here are two examples:

From September 2009

From September 2009

Kayli and I, although quite busy chasing after 3 boys, often sit back and laugh at the things we hear. We’ll try and share more examples as they come up.

Kurtis: Dad, what is that thing? (Pointing to black and white piece of paper)

Tom: That’s from your brothers’ church, they were talking about God making Day & Night

Kurtis: Oh, I already learned about that, it happened on the first day God created the earth. It’s in Psalm 18:91 I think.

Tom: I think it is actually in Genesis, that’s the first book of the Bible.

Kurtis: I don’t think so, that doesn’t sound familiar.

Later in the day:

Josh: I slept good Dad!

(This was said after getting up and down out of bed for an hour and refusing to take a nap for the 2nd day in a row)

Almost every night when I tuck Kurtis in he has one reoccurring question, “Dad, do you have work tomorrow?’ If I answer “no” he gets really excited. If I answer yes then he moves on to the next question, “Do you have firefighting tomorrow?” If I answer yes to both he usually gets disappointed and tells me how we need a “date” soon.

I’m glad that tomorrow night I won’t have to say “yes!”

We have had quite the summer and I can’t believe it’s been 4 full months since I’ve posted on here. So sorry all you faithful friends & family who read our blog to catch up on our fam. I hope this finds you all well and pressing into the Lord with all that you are no matter what your situation.

Here are some highlights for us over the last few months (and as always, we update the folders on the right with more pictures from each month):
~ A date night out to dinner, then to Boulevard for a long walk and watch the sunset and a Cinnabon for dessert (THANK YOU, Dustin & Abby)!!!

~ Lots of swimming & playing in the water with all this HOT, HOT weather we’ve had. This is probably Tom’s favorite pic of the year he said…it’s a sweet one!

~ Our newest nephew Patrick entered the world at the end of July on the HOTEST day EVER recorded here in Seattle. He is such a handsome little guy and we were priviledged enough to go visit him in the hospital. Isn’t he precious?

~ We went camping with Melissa & Kevin (my sister & brother-in-law) which was a blast…okay…not really…but we have fond memories from the trip. My boys didn’t get naps before we left which was a MISTAKE so it was a rather long evening as Josh in particular whined about EVERYTHING until the boys finally were able to fall asleep when it was pitch black out at 11:30pm.  For pics of the camping trip – take a peek at the July 2009 folder.

We love you & hope enjoy taking a peek at the recently updated June, July & August 2009 folders to the right.    I’d take the time to write more…but then this post might NEVER happen!   

XOXO…from the busy Mama of 3 growing little guys…