The Kieffers - Announcements

If you want to help ...

Amy — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:07:34 +0000

Family:

Announcements

If you are at all interested in contributing to the small yet mighty fight against corporate media consolidation, you can visit stopbigmedia.com.

Chad gets a new job

chad — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:38:58 +0000

Family:

For those of you who know me, you're probably thinking that this is one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse. I've been at the Laboratory since July 1994, I started work a month after I graduated from college, and now I'm leaving the Lab for a job in Santa Fe.

I've been really fortunate to work with so many talented people who've been willing to share their experience and expertise with me. My first mentor, Pete, taught me a lot about having fun, never taking anything too seriously, and patience. Leslie, Chris, Doug, Bob, and many others helped me get started with the Unix world, web programming, and databases by fielding my countless questions and sharing examples of their work with me.

I've been a supervisor and web development instructor for the past few years and have really missed not being able to do web development on a daily basis. I told my current boss about this and am incredibly thankful for her supportiveness during what has been a difficult time for her and many others at the Laboratory.

So here I am, heading into the last week at the only job I've known in my adult life. I'm a little nervous, very excited, and a little sadâ€”all at once. Here are the things I do know

I'll miss working with my friends at the Lab
I won't miss the commute (was 50 minutes but will now be 10-15 minutes)
I'm looking forward to working for a company that I've heard so many good things about
I'll relish the extra sleep in the morning!

A new family member

chad — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 09:22:58 +0000

Family:

Announcements

Note: I lost a significant portion of this post at some point. I rewrote what I thought I had written.

I grew up in a house that always had a dog. Alphie was the first in a line of terrier/poodle mixes in our household. Clifford came next and is the dog I remember always being there waiting for me after school.

Amy and I kept things kept things simple after we shacked up. A cat and fish were about all we could manage. Yep, just toss some food in a bowl once a day. However, we eventually longed for some canine companionship.

Bonnie was a sweet manored shepherd mix brought home from a shelter shortly after Ryan was born and the purchase of our first house. It didn't take us long to realize we were in over our head with a new born, a long commute, and a dog that needed more attention than we could give.

A few years later, while at the playground with Ryan, we made the mistake of falling for the cure factor without knowledge of the breed. Sammy was the cutest Boxer pup you'd ever set eyes on. A breeder had driven a few hours to Santa Fe to sell Sammy to someone who never showed up at the park. The next thing Amy and I remember was writing a check to the breeder.

Sammy was a great dog that needed more time than Amy and I had. We were both still commuting and Sammy was left in a yard which he soon laid barren. We soon found a good home for Sammy with someone who had an older Boxer who needed companionship.

Five years later and after several "We oughta get a dog" conversations later, we've gone and done it again. This time, however, we did it right. We picked a breed that I had some experience with and one that won't aggrevate Ryan's allergies.

Louie is a West Highland White Terrier, and the latest addition to the Kieffer family. He was about nine months old when we first brought him home. It took a few months to get him fully house trained, but he hasn't had an accident for a few months now.

Owen turns 4!

chad — Mon, 09 May 2005 03:48:42 +0000

Family:

It was four years ago today that Owen Patrick Kieffer entered the world. It's hard to believe that this energetic and carefree kid was a premie. Each night this weekend Amy asked me if I remember what we were doing 4 years ago. On Cinco de Mayo 2001 Amy and I were awakened at 5 in the morning by her water breaking. Blame it on Cinco de Mayo. Blame it on the full moon. Blame it on the freak drop in temperature and the snow that fell the night before. Who knows, it just happened. We rushed to the hospital here in Santa Fe where we were told that they don't handle births before six weeks from a due date. Amy was whisked by ambulance down to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque where they gave her meds to slow down or stop the contractions. On May 6th we were a bit more relaxed and were starting to wonder how Amy would stay sane if she were forced to stay in the hospital for weeks. On May 7th Amy and I were relaxing and watching Amy's childhood favorites, the Atlanta Braves on T.V. A few friends had stopped by to check in on us. On May 8th the contractions were back and there was no stopping them. At 6:01 p.m. Amy gave birth to Owen in what was a fairly smooth delivery. We were luckier than most. Owen weighed in at a little over 5 lbs. and Amy joked that she was relieved that he didn't go full-term, he would have been huge! Owen spent the next four weeks in the NICU. He had a tube that was fed through his nose to his stomach to feed him and wore an oxygen canulas for nearly his entire stay in the hospital. He was a bit jaundiced and spent some time under the bilirubin lights. During these 4 weeks Amy and I drove back and forth 50 miles from Santa Fe to Albuquerque every day to spend the day with Owen. Finally, Owen was breathing well-enough on his own and Amy and I could take him home. Talk about a nerve racking drive! Amy and I were so nervous having Owen on our own without the medical monitors and the nurses watching Owie around the clock! A few weeks went by, those weeks turned into months, and at some point the whole bizarre experience of Owen's birth sort of faded away and we haven't looked back since. Happy birthday Owen! Check out the pictures from Owen's party.

Yet another year

chad — Sun, 09 Jan 2005 18:15:27 +0000

Family:

Happy New Year! The boys had two weeks off while I only had one and Amy actually had to go into the office a few days between Christmas and New Years. We stayed home to have our first family Christmas in New Mexico in a few years and our "first Christmas morning at our current address. Owen is happy to have received several remote control cars which he now chases around the house daily. Ryan's busy building geodesic models and bionicles. We enjoyed a pre-Christmas visit from Amy's folks and after Christmas spent a few days in Durango with Phoebe. Ryan and I went skiing at Durango Mountain Resort (aka Purgatory). I enjoyed my first full-day of skiing in several years while Ryan attended ski school. The highlight for Ryan was taking his first chair lift ride. Both of us hope to get out on the slopes again soon. We spent New Year's Eve with our friends in the neighborhood and had a great time eating fried shrimp and guessing the artists and titles of songs from the 80s. Before we knew it, the break was over. The best word to describe our first day back to work on the 3rd was "foggy" but we're getting back into the swing of things. We hope all of our friends and family had a great holiday break.

All Settled in the New House

chad — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 22:46:00 +0000

Family:

We passed our second month anniversary in the new house and are very happy with the new digs. We've met a few of our neighbors and they are very nice. People out for evening strolls have stopped and introduced themselves and welcomed us to the neighborhood. Ferbie, our neighbor to the east was kind enough to invite us over to watch fire works from his balcony on the 4th. Ryan's having fun playing with Ferbie's 5 year old grandson when he comes to visit.

We have almost all of our boxes unpacked. What we really need is an entertainment center and a place to store my CD collection. We also need some book shelves and I hope to build some soon. It's been pretty hot but the swamp cooler (evaporative cooler for arid environments) has done a good job of keeping the house comfortable. I've been working on building a fence to keep the boys corraled, just putting the pickets on the gate this evening. It's very dusty since we have dirt as far as the eye can see. The next step is to run irrigation lines and then start to layout our landscaping. I'm actually looking forward to this.

Well, time to hit the sack.

Amy and Chad start new jobs!

chad — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 02:42:59 +0000

Family:

Amy just started a new job as the executive assistant to the president and former CEO of Translux. The job has a great part-time schedule and is located two blocks off the Santa Fe Plaza. The best part is that we get free passes to go see movies at the local Translux movie theatre!

Chad just accepted a team leader position within his division. He'll lead the Advanced Technical Computer Training team which teaches a curriculum for web designers and programmers. The team also brings in outside vendors to teach courses to support the Lab's scientific computing efforts. His first day on the job will be July 12th.

We're both really excited about our new jobs!

Congratulations to the 70 something graduate!

chad — Sat, 22 May 2004 00:37:42 +0000

Family:

My mother's mother will graduate tomorrow at the age of 76. Way to go, Grandma! The graduation invitation reads "After 9 years and a million cups of coffee, Leona Clift will receive a bachelor's degree in religious studies."

I am incredibly proud of both my grandmother and my mother for going back to college. For a graduation gift, we have sent her an angel and a cross made out of rusted tin, and the following letter will explain the gift.

Dear Leona,

As the postcard says, the church at Chimayo is a very sacred place. Every year thousands of people will make a pilgrimage to this church between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Many will walk on foot to the church, some as far as a hundred miles or more. These devoted believe that the earth around the church's building has a mystical healing power and they will take a tiny bit away with them in a small vial, etc.

Just recently Chimayo replaced the roof of the church, and rather than throwing away the old tin roof, they decided to make crosses and angels to sell to raise the funds for the new roof. This is where your angel and cross come from.

We are so happy and proud that you have reached this extraordinary goal of graduating from college! We're sorry we couldn't be there for your big day, but all our thoughts are with you.

Love, Chad, Amy, Ryan, and Owen

Owen turns 3!

chad — Fri, 07 May 2004 02:29:35 +0000

Family:

We celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday this evening a few days early to accomodate friends schedules. We had a great time! Owen's great grandparents Bob and Jane Hemphill were in town to help us celebrate and friends stopped by for burgers and cake. The highlight was when Owen saw his birthday cake. He was asked what's going on and he gleefully exclaimed, "My Birthday!" Thanks to everyone who came by and we thought about those who wished they could be here. And to those who brought wet toys, all Amy and I can say is paybacks are hell ;-) View the pictures of Owen's birthday (no longer available).

The Southern Kieffers add a new member

chad — Thu, 06 May 2004 11:04:46 +0000

Family:

Congratulations to my cousin David and his wife Sarah on the birth of their first child, Willa. Willa was born on May 3, 2004 at 3:03 p.m. She weighs just a hair over 8 lbs. and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Mom, baby, Dad and all the grandparents are doing well.