So this year has been eventful for the Illinois Keen clan. I suppose as bloggers must, I will review the year and reflect on the journey of our family.

Jeremy- This past year Jeremy has had some great successes both professionally and musically. At work, they re-evaluated his position and deemed that it was worth more money than he was making. Not a bad thing for us at all. His store relocated to a bigger building, and his boss continues to support his creative ideas for the future of the Elgin Habitat ReStore.This year Jeremy connected with alot of new musicians and played quite a few shows all over the Chicagoland area.

Sam- I have continued to work part-time for the YMCA, well if you can consider 36 hours a week part time. This position remains a challenge for me, as it is difficult to recruit so many staff and keep them through the school year. It pushes me to new creative lengths for ideas of how to gain staff.

Maggie - She turned 2 this year, and has not stopped talking since she figured out how. She is very creative and never ceases to make us laugh. We laugh even as she is getting in trouble. Towards the end of the year she took to singing with frequency, and we encourage her alot in that area. We are hoping that she is a future musician for the "family band."

Miles - Miles was born. He eats, sleeps, poops and pees. I'm sure the next year will bring much more interesting updates for him.

As a family we have continued to get more involved with our church. We joined a new small group this year, which has been a great encouragement for us. Jeremy even accepted a volunteer position with the worship team, and now organizes and recruits musicians for the worship team. We have added to our family with little Miles Jay, and while we are challenged daily by the complications of another child in our family, we couldn't be more thankful. Its been a pretty good year, but I'm hoping 2009 will be even better.