We enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving last year. Our traditional family blessing given by Grandfather was especially meaningful. This Thanksgiving, grace will unite us in heart and soul as it has through all our years together. This is Grandfather's blessing to each of us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2008

Preserving our Heritage

The Keepper family farm has been recognized by the state of Illinois for "preserving our heritage." I visited with Uncle Howard last summer in Hillsboro. He holds up the plaque designating the Keepper farm as family owned for over 100 years.

July 5, 2009

We stopped in to say hello to Grandfather and Adele on Sunday, July 5, just six weeks ago. The girls walked into the living room and Grandfather said, "Hi Zoey and Lucy!" We took pics of the girls smelling every flower in the garden and brought the digital camera in to show Grandfather the photos. Here he is grinning from ear to ear.

Dinner on Monday!

Hey everyone,

Please come over to our house on Monday for dinner and to share stories about by George/Grandfather. Lynn will be speaking at the funeral on behalf of all the grandkids. (Thank you Lynn!)

Looking forward to seeing you all,

Joannie and Mike

Lester Haywood Keepper Sr.

Visitation for Lester Haywood Keepper Sr. will be from 9:30-11:00 Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the First United Methodist Church of Waukegan, 128 N. Martin Luther King Ave. (847) 623-2433. The funeral will begin at 11:00 with a luncheon to follow. Burial will be at Benton Greenwood Cemetery in Zion, IL.

Born March 4, 1907, he died peacefully on August 21, 2009 at the age of 102.

The oldest of five brothers and one sister, Lester grew up on a farm in Hillsboro, IL.

Lester lived in Waukegan for over 78 years and raised his family there with his first wife Martha. He founded Boy Scout Troop #10 at North School, was a trustee at Waukegan High school, a block air raid warden during WW II and was a founding member of the Waukegan Garden Club. He was proud to work for Abbott Laboratories as Director of Purchasing for 42 years where he was President of Abbott Laboratories Study Club.

He was a lifelong member of the Methodist church where he actively participated in Bible Study until his passing. He accomplished two “hole in ones” and enjoyed the fellowship at Glen Flora CC, was a patron of his Alma Mater, Illinois Wesleyan University, and traveled around the world with his second wife Adele in his eighties.

Lester will be remembered for his love of family, his strong constitution, commitment to the American tradition, and warm “by George” greetings.

He will be greatly missed by his wife Adele; son’s Lester Jr. (the late Letra), Bill (the late Ruby), John (Beth) and daughter Beth Foster (Mark); his 14 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren, and one great, great, grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Herrin Keepper, brothers Kenneth and Delbert, sister Elizabeth, grandson’s Bill and Jeff Keepper.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Salvation Army in his name.

For information contact Marsh Funeral Home

(847) 336-0127

The Berkeys Visit DC

We spent last Wednesday night and Thursday in Washington DC visiting Uncle Kevin and Lindsay. Lindsay just returned home from her study abroad in France about three weeks ago, so it was great to see her and hear of her adventures. This was also the first time I had been to Washington DC. We spent Wednesday night at ESPN Zone watching the Red Wings win game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals in overtime. Unfortunately we only had one full day to wander about and sight see, but we saw the White House, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. We had a great time despite the heat and humidity and Jameson did fabulously! We are so lucky to have such a good little traveler. Thanks for hosting us Uncle Kevin! We can't wait to come back for a longer visit.

The White House

Eisenhower Executive Office Building (such a cool building!)

Represent!

World War II Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Silly boys

Hangin' with Abe

Cute duckies, not at all afraid of humans!

Probably one of my favorite pictures ever!

Touching the Washington Monument

The Capitol Building from the Washington Monument

Exhausting day, but it still gets a thumbs up!

Welcome Maia!

This just in from San Diego: Sara and Andrew welcomed the newest addition to our family on April 8th at 8:11 pm. 6 1/2 pounds, 20 inches. Spirited from the start, Maia came into the world with eyes wide open and a very healthy set of vocal chords, according to Andrew. The family went home from the hospital today, Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter From Little Chute

Saturday April 11th, sunny day in Little Chute, WI celebrating Easter at the Zinda home. In attendance; Matt and Becky Love (Keepper); Adam (13 months) and Garrett (8 years); Todd and Sue Zinda; Kyle (10) and Tyler (7 ), Uncle Bill and friend Lew Ryan, Scott Zinda and Jane; Lynn and Ken Baehr; Drew (20) and Letra (19); Mike and Joan Foley, Jack (17), Matt (14), Katie (10), Lizy (9), Uncle John and Aunt Elizabeth and Budddy, and Lester Keepper Jr.

Minneapolis joins the party

Hi everybody from sunny Minneapolis. Since this is our first post, we'll quickly introduce ourselves properly: Amy and David, Zoey (5), Lucy (3), and dogs Tasha (11) and Marley (8). We'll try to update and check in with you guys often.

For a video picture of what we're up to, check out our posts at vimeo by clicking on "Dave Keepper" beneath the video frame below. We'll continue to blog updates here when we make new posts others may be interested in seeing.

We love the photo at the top of this blog: The Keepper family farm where so much of our combined history and heritage began. Below is a link to Grandfather's 100th birthday video, which also begins on the farm. I have extra DVDs (and CDs containing all submitted photos), so if you'd like one drop me a line and I'll mail one out to you.


Lester Haywood Keepper's 100th Birthday from Dave Keepper on Vimeo.

More soon,
David

Hendersonville

Does Hendersonville ring a bell? It did for me as I drove past the Hendersonville exit, back and forth 4 times this past week. And each time I thought of Amy and David's beautiful wedding and the ceremony where their minister said we are a blessed congregation and it is important to share our blessings with those in need. That's when Ken leaned over in the pew and whispered it was time for us to get a foster child. It took us awhile to get licensed but the message at David and Amy's wedding resonated with us. I find it special how each of us touch each other's lives in simple but profound ways. And the really special part for me is our rich, colorful family history of shared connections. So driving past Hendersonville, all four times made me smile. Thanks David and Amy.
Lynn

Uncle Ken in Montana

Hello from Montana.

In Lynn's post she explained the reason for my last minute trip to Montana; we (Leeder Furniture = Lynn and I) are working on a two year project at the University of Montana.

Yesterday I spent the day skiing on Big Mountain which is north of Whitefish, MT. In general the weather has been cold and wet (except in the higher elevations = snow). It is hard to relate how impressive the scenery is in this part of the country.

The ski conditions were great. We were literally skiing in the clouds with very minimal visibility due to snow and the "fog". I am happy that I was able to have a good time and not need any bandages or crutches!!

On Friday, I went to the gun show in Kalispell; if there was a gun type made, it was there. They had pistols, machine guns (and machine pistols), shot guns, rifles, and cannons available. The place was jammed with people buying guns and ammo. Not sure if I feel safer or not, but know that there are plenty of guns up here.

Here is a picture of the furniture (desk, file cabinet, bookcase and bed) we have made for the University of Montana. The residence hall is under renovation (floor and walls). The furniture looks great, but it is hard to tell in these rooms. If we win this project it will be ~ 1500 pieces of furniture this summer and again another ~1500 in the summer of 2010.

We will keep you posted on the progress of this project. Today, we drove from Whitefish to Glacier National Park to Missoula. We will be here until Tuesday; that is when the school will evaluate our furniture against the schools specifications. We are confident that we have the "right stuff".


I hope to come back here soon and try my luck at fishing. I love to fish and the fish don't mind because I don't catch too many!

Here are some additional photos ... hope all is well.

Mr. and Mrs. Keepper go to Washington

Hi all!

Les and I just spent a fantastic long weekend visiting Kevin in Washington D.C.! He was a great tour guide and we visited all kinds of hot spots. Highlights included Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria, hiking (actually rock climbing) at Great Falls, and Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. We went to the American History Museum and saw the special Abraham Lincoln exhibit as well as Julia Child's kitchen, the Star Spangled Banner, and Seinfeld's "puffy shirt." We spent an afternoon visiting all the monuments - very awesome - LOTS of walking. Culinary highlights included Ben's Chili, Zorba's Greek Restaurant and Kevin's bleu cheese bacon burgers that he cooked for us on Sunday night at his house that he shares with 3 roommates. Kevin literally lives in the kitchen, so he is currently apartment hunting and has tentatively found a 2 bedroom apartment RIGHT downtown 8 blocks from his job. We visited Technoserve (check it out) where Kevin works and got to meet some of his coworkers and get a feel for the exciting, fast-paced environment he's in! His office is on the 10th floor of a high rise 7 blocks north of the White House.

Eagerly waiting for baby news from Sara and Andrew!!!!

A Whole New World.....

It's taken a few tries but after reading Dan's instructions and hitting "new blog" I appear to be off and writing...oh good, I see a spell check icon.
As Letra said a bit earlier we're in HHI together. At the last minute Ken had to head to Montana, but he's able to mix a bit of pleasure with business as he enjoys the weekend skiing. Drew's spring break was a few weeks ago. He spent a few days at home and a few days at University of WI - Madison. This weekend he Fraternity's Spring Formal is taking place in Tennessee. It'll be fun to hear about it - Letra and I plan to stop on our way home in Oxford, OH to have dinner with Drew, then on to Greencastle, IN to drop Letra at school.
Ken and I are having a blast with Leeder. We're in the height of the selling season for summer installations. We've just passed final inspection for a nice state contract with WCU. If we're this happy when the orders come in just think how happy we'll be when the installations are done.
Thank you Dan and Kevin for setting this up!!
Lynn

5 Generations!

A couple of weeks ago we were in Illinois for Jameson's first visit with the Keepper side of the family. He got to meet Great Aunt Lynn and Great Uncle Ken, Great Aunt Joan and Great Uncle Mike, second Cousins Letra, Jack, Matt, Katie, and Lizzie, his Great Great Aunt Elizabeth and Great Great Uncle John, and his Great Grandfather. But the most amazing and special meeting was between Jameson and his Great Great Grandfather and Adele! On Saturday we went over to Great Great Grandfather and Adele's to take a 5 generations picture. Great Great Grandfather Keepper was beaming during our visit. It was a rare and incredible event to share in and we are so blessed to have him in our lives! After the picture we headed over to Joan and Mike's to hang out and have dinner. Katie and Lizzie did a great job helping me take care of Jameson! Thanks girls! It was really special for me to see my cousins interact with Jameson the way I did with them when they were babies.

Below is the 5 generations picture and some more pictures of Jameson with the Keepper family.

5 Generations

Great Great Grandfather

Great Grandfather

The family

Great Great Grandfather and Adele

First family photo (outside the hospital)

Second Cousin Letra

Second Cousin Katie

Second Cousin Lizzie

Blogging Tips

With the Keepper Family Blog launching, you may be thinking, "Blogging looks like fun! But how do I blog?" Great question! It's actually not as hard as you may think.

First Dan, Kevin or Courtney needs to provide you with blogging permission, just send one of us an e-mail. Next, you'll have to accept the invitation in your e-mail box, follow the link to the blog and click on 'New Post' at the top right corner of the page (need help, click me). From there you can add a Title, Content text, Pictures or Movies. For pictures and movies you can upload anything you want from your PC using the little Add Image or Add Video button.

If you ever aren't sure what you are doing or need some help, feel free to e-mail or call Dan with questions. If you have any suggestions for how the site should look, additional content, or whatever, let us know!