Buffy

1st Annual Walker Family Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

The kids and I decided we wanted to host an Easter Egg Hunt in our yard this year. We have the perfect yard for hunting for eggs! It was so much fun and I just feel so much joy in being able to have everyone here to hunt for eggs and eat some yummy food.

Of course, in true Colorado spring fashion...it snowed on us! The saddest part about that is that there wasn't alot of talking and visiting after the event. That's the mommies favorite part.

We had 38 kids and almost 700 eggs! It was AWESOME!

Happy Birthday Molly

2011-03-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Molly March of 2009

Molly on March 13, 2010

Molly on March 13, 2011

Our fun loving little Molly turned two on Sunday! TWO! I really can't believe that it's been two years since she came into our family. It has been a wonderful two years!
Happy Birthday Pretty Girl!!

We Are A Blue Star Family

2011-02-11T19:06:00.001-08:00

Don't know what that means? Well I'm about to tell you...

Did you wake up this morning with your husband sleeping next to you or in the bathroom shaving his face, did you eat breakfast with him or kiss him on the way out the door? At 5:30 or even 7:30 did you hear the garage door go up and think "ah, reinforcements"? Did he come in a give you a peck on your cheek or even a pat on your butt? Did you have your husband to help with dinner or cleaning up? What about bath time or bedtime? Did you have your husband there to tell your son that there was no choice he was going to karate? Did he fix the closet doors that your boys (or girls) pushed off when they were being wild? What about those kitchen outlets that are mysteriously not working? Or the oil in the car? Or shoveling the driveway and sidewalks in -10 degree weather? What about that nasty fall your son took that needed stitches? Did you have someone to pass off the baby to when they had their 5th poopy diaper that day and you just didn't feel like changing another one?
Ahhhhh...all the kids are in bed!! Did you have your husband there to sit down on the couch with and watch some silly "guy" show just because you wanted to spend a little quality time with him? Was he there when your child came out of their bedroom for the third time concerned that they just can't get to sleep? Was he there to hold the baby so you could clean up the kitchen, pack school lunches, and sign all their homework? When the baby finally drifted off to sleep, did he climb up in the bed with you, turn on his lamp and lay there and read with you? Did he sleep through the baby waking up for the second time that night? Was he there beside you the next morning to do it all over again?
What about the "special" occasions...Did you go out on a date this week? Did you celebrate a birthday? or even two or three in your household? or parent-teacher conferences? What about that 9 am church time on Sunday? Was he there to help you get all 4 kids ready and out the door on time? Was he there on the pew with you to keep them all "reverent"?

Maybe you can answer "no" to some of these questions. Maybe your husband worked late this week or is out of town on a business trip. Maybe he volunteers his time on Sunday to help his congregation and isn't there to help you with the kids. But "blue star" families do this day in and day out for months and months at a time.

We are a blue star family. What that means is that our family has someone serving their country overseas. We are less then 1% of the population. We are in a war that has lasted over 9 years. A war that people are forgetting still battles on.

For our family it continues to have a significant impact every single day. We are on our 6th deployment since 2002. On our 7th wedding anniversary we calculated that we'd spent more time apart then together (not by much though). On our 10th wedding anniversary we spent it apart because he left the day before for his 5th tour of duty. We've endured many marriage failures and successes. Many of those related to my husband's military service. Our life is on hold until "daddy" gets home. In many ways we are just surviving until the other half of the foundation of our home returns. Then we get back to the business of enjoying life, celebrating family, and conquering new adventures. All the while knowing that he will be leaving again.

My husband willingly serves his country. He is a man of honor and commitment. He does what is asked of him most often without complaint. I am asked to do the same. The blue star wife serves too. We don't have the uniform or the awards but I can promise you we serve our country too. The sacrifices asked of our family are tremendous. Every member of our family does what is asked of them often without question or inquiry.

There is something that is ALWAYS at the forefront of the blue star wife's mind and that is the "gold star" families. Did you know that as of Jan. 16, 2011 there are 5,860 gold star families? Check here. They are the families who have made the ultimate sacrifice and have lost a loved one during this war. A blue star wife is always praying she doesn't become a gold star wife. Do you think about this on a daily basis?

You may ask...what is the point of this blog post? The point is: take the time to remember those families who sacrifice so much for YOUR freedoms. Think of ways that you can help them (because I can promise you 95% of them will not ask for your help). There is a great website here set up to help the average American help members of their own communities. Mostly just take the time to think how you could help your neighbor, friend, or family member survive this difficult and trying time. Be aware of those around you. Feel free to share this link and spread the word as they say. I would love it if I could encourage even just 5 people to think about the military family differently.

The Girls

2011-02-09T13:44:00.001-08:00

They grow and change so fast. Some days I can't get it to move fast enough but most days I just can't believe how fast time is flying. I'd post pictures of "the boys" but they are so over the camera! ha, ha

This job is NOT for the weak

2011-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed these days. The job of motherhood is not for the weak in spirit. I was sooo blessed to have my mom here for 4 weeks to help me out but she left yesterday AND I have to say it's not nearly as fun.
Our little Grace is a night owl. She loves to perk right up around 9:30 or 10:00 pm. Right about the time I'm about to pass out from exhaustion. She's so cute but let's be honest how many babies are all that cute at 10:30 p.m.? Especially when you know your morning shift will be starting again at 6:30 am.
The boys are typical 9 and 7 year old boys. Not much help at all! LOL
Molly is a HANDFUL! Wow. I guess God felt that I needed a child that would push me on every single thing and then throw an ever loving fit every night getting into her p.j.s. Ah, Ugg. BUT that girl is about as cute as they come!
I've discovered the one thing I know about Sam being in Iraq is I don't like Sam being in Iraq!
That's all my griping for today! This too will change because if it didn't there would be a very high incidence of mommy abandonment!
Love,
Me

Walker Family Christmas Card

2010-12-12T14:08:00.001-08:00

Family Wall Red Christmas Card

Personalize the christmas season with Christmas photo cards.

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Grace Birth Annoucement

2010-12-10T20:18:00.001-08:00

Storybook Setting Birth Announcement

Find hundreds of cute baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

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Welcome to the World... Grace Anne

2010-12-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Our last family of five picture

Our family welcomed baby Grace on Sunday, November 28th at 11:48 am. She decided to come on her own time frame (and mess up Mommy's perfectly planned birthday). I woke up early Sunday morning to my water breaking. For those of you who know me well then you know that all of my babies have been planned C-Sections and that I have never experienced a single labor pain...not even one.

Grace was scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, December 1st. Her birthday would have been 12/01/10. For those of you who know me well...then you also know I have a "thing" about dates. You also know that I've tried with ALL of my kids to give them a cool birthday and NOT EVEN one time did that work out. Ethan's was supposed to be 02/02/02 and he was 01/21/02. Ryan was supposed to be 02/03/04 and he was 02/02/04. Molly was born on Friday the 13th (which honestly I think is kind of cool). But still not the day I had "planned".

So, of course, Grace decided to come on her own time frame! It was an "interesting" experience to have my water break. Especially since that is not something I've ever had happen with any of the other kids. It's a story we'll save for a more private conversation. Needless to say my "scheduled" c-section got moved up 3 days. There are a few bright parts to this story. My mom was in town for Thanksgiving weekend. She was able to be here and spend the first night in the hospital with Grace and I. She was tickled pink to be able to be here for Grace's birth. Thankfully, she'll be back around Christmas to help us out some more. The other great thing was Sam was in town! He was not scheduled to arrive home from Iraq until Monday or even Tuesday. However, the stars all aligned and he was home on Thanksgiving night. (I secretly think it was all his fault she came early because she sensed he was sitting around anxious. He mentioned the night before "ok, let's get this over with" and I think she was listening. Another daddy's girl!) I was super scared and nervous because my doctor was on vacation in Utah and so I was left for whomever was on call at the hospital. Thankfully it all went well and baby Grace was born healthy. My time in the hospital was mostly uncomplicated and now everyone is home recuperating.

Grace was born with a head full of blonde hair. Our son Ethan, who also has blonde hair, had been praying for months that his sister be born with blonde hair. He always says "Ryan has a sister that looks like him and so I want one that looks like me". I was pretty sure that Ethan was a freak of nature and that all the praying in the world wouldn't give us another blonde baby. Oh the faith of a child! He's so proud of his little sister that looks like him. He was also determined to have her name be Emily. He thought if she had blonde hair then she should also have a name that starts with "E". Thankfully, he handled it well when we told him her name would be Grace.

I'm just so happy knowing that (God willing) I will never be pregnant again!! I could almost drink to that!

Grace Anne

8 lb 13 ounces

21 inches

11/28/2010

For Time and All Eternity

2010-10-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

After 11 years of marriage, Sam and I finally made it to the Temple to be sealed together with our children. There really are not many words to describe the day. It was a blessed event. My heart was full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for my wonderful family. Here are just a few pictures from our special day.

It's a Girl!

2010-07-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

What you didn't know we were having another baby? ☺ I know, I know....I can't seem to keep up on this blogging thing. I've been meaning to post about the new baby for a long time but haven't got around to it. We had our ultrasound tonight and found out we're having another little girl. She is due December 2nd! I'm super excited for Molly to have a sister, now here's hoping they're friends instead of mortal enemies. ☺

Another tooth gone...

2010-05-13T09:18:00.001-07:00

Well we've lost tooth number 3! And it was not without a lot of drama, as is typical in our house. This thing has been loose for 3 months! Finally we got in there and loosened it enough that he was ready for it to come out. Of course, he had to say a prayer...twice, and then do some deep breathing, and some calming counting. All the while his dad's standing there with the needle nose pliers ready to get busy! Extremely entertaining!
It seems that each time Ethan has lost a tooth Molly has gained one! How strange is that! She's up to 5 teeth and working on number 6 now.

Ethan's Baptism

2010-04-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

WoW! My little tubby rolly polly blonde haired blue eyed baby is 8! Ethan was beyond excited to be baptized! His baptism got pushed all the way to April 24th. We were waiting for daddy to get home from Iraq, then we went on vacation for Spring Break, then we wanted Mrs. Linda to be there...and before you know it....it was April. He was very patient with all of this stuff. Just occasionally asking "when am I going to be baptized?". He was so happy to see "Ethan's Baptism" on our kitchen calendar.

We had a wonderful turn out of kids in his class, and family friends. I was especially grateful for the support that was shown to Ethan and our family. We had some great talks and the baptism was extra special. It's hard to believe but I almost started to get teary!! (Some of my friends will appreciate that comment ;-) Thank you everyone for being in Ethan's life and teaching him the gospel and setting a good example for him. He's a wonderful kid and our family is blessed to have him!

Molly's 1st Birthday

2010-04-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

What an exciting time in the Walker house! How fun it is to have a one year old. We all love being here and seeing all of her new accomplishments. I was much to caught up in being a "mom" with the boys to really appreciate the things we do with Molly. It's a big deal in our house when Molly walks, talks, burps, cries, laughs...you get the idea. Her birthday was no exception.

We were soooo excited that Grandma, Grandpa, and G-Ma Julie were able to come out to help us celebrate. I am beyond appreciation when family is able to come to big celebrations. That's one thing about being in the military that is truly difficult. The extended family misses out on lots of things. I'm grateful for my new Flip video camera so we can send them videos.

For Molly's birthday we took her down to Canon City to ride the Royal Gorge Railroad. It was the first train of the season. So there was some excitement for the crew which added to the fun. It was Molly's first train ride, Sam's first through the Gorge, and g-pa is a big train enthusiast. It was a good time. We got some really great pictures on the train.

We got home pretty late in the afternoon. Just in time for dinner and cake. Isn't it fun to watch a one year old eat cake? Molly was no exception. She was bushed after dinner! There would be no opening of presents for Molly. She was in bed by 6:30. I guess all that partying pooped her out. There was a benefit to that though because the next day, Sunday, we had invited people over for dinner and everyone got to be there while Molly opened presents.

It's hard to believe that a year passed by so quickly. That also means that Ethan is another year older, Ryan is another year older, Sam is another year older, and I'm another year younger!

Of course, Molly is actually 13 and 1/2 months old now. But nobody's paying attention.....right?

Recent Pictures

2010-02-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's just easier to do a photo journal. As I recently heard...you can either live your life or you can blog about it. :-)

Believe it or not...Molly is now 11 months old! This is her on the morning of her "celebration".

This is a perfect picture to capture her personality. A picture is worth a thousand words!

I've been busy with a few birthdays. Ethan and Ryan both celebrated their birthdays in the last few weeks. We went with a dinner and a movie theme this year. Since I was home alone (Sam was still gone) then we kept it small. They each had a few friends over on a weekend night for pizza, popcorn, cake, ice cream, and fun!

Ryan with his Bakugan. He loves these little round balls. I would guess that at least 80% of the time he is carrying one somewhere on his personage.

The party goers...

Ryan and Ryan on his actual birthday. Ryan was going to be out of town on party night so we invited him over for a playdate and our annual b-day dinner at Red Robin. Ryan loves chillaxin with Ryan (I know confusing huh)

Ethan had his party on a Saturday so I actually had time to put towards a fun cake. I love the way the cake turned out. That's a giant platter of spagetti and meatballs in the background. Bet you can't guess the movie the boys picked out...

The party goers... That's Molly picking up popcorn crumbs.

Did I mention that my wonderful husband made it home safely? Wow what a difference one more person makes in our house!!

Let the Party Begin...

2010-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

Our Ethan is 8!

2010-01-20T20:38:00.001-08:00

Can it really be true? Have 8 years passed by since we welcomed this beautiful blonde haired baby boy? What an amazing 8 years it has been! Ethan is full of life. He was given so many gifts from his Heavenly Father. He has the gift of kindness, consideration of others, respect for his teachers, empathy, music, and many others. He is the best big brother! It is extremely funny to just sit and listen to him talk. From the time that he started talking then we would talk about Ethan's "Ethanisms", meaning funny things he would say that just made us chuckle. Of course, he's usually very serious when he says these things and isn't try to get a giggle at all. That's what makes it cute. Here are some fun pictures of Ethan's life (so far ;o)

When Ethan was born (via C-section) the very first words that came out of Sam's mouth were: "He has blonde hair!". That was a shocker. Neither one of us expected a blonde haired baby. On top of that he had TONS of blonde hair. It was fun to have all of the nurses on the unit coming into the room to touch and rub his hair. Everyone was amazed by the little blonde boy.

We had a lot of fun with his hair! I gave him SEVEN haircuts before his first birthday!

Before we knew it he was ready to eat. Of course the chair was a little big for him (but that didn't last long)

Some favorite pictures as a 1 year old

Two Years Old

Shortly after he turned two he became a big brother. A role he usually cherishes.

3 years

4 years (shortly after moving to Colorado Springs)

5th year

6th year. He loves art and his awards he got in 1st grade really helped him have even more interest.

7th birthday helping to make his birthday pizza

Shortly after his 7th birthday he became a big brother again. He most definitely takes the role of big brother to Molly seriously.

and now he's EIGHT and 8 is great!

Happy Birthday Ethan, we love you and cherish you so much!

Christmas Pictures!

2009-12-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

A Good Pic of Molly's First Tooth

Merry Christmas from the Walker Kids!
And we're done!

Christmas for a Soldier

2009-11-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

Anyone who would like to send a card or yummy Christmas goodies to Sam...let me know. I know that he (and all the guys he works with) would appreciate anything. It's VERY hard to be away from home for the holidays. I don't think he would appreciate me putting his address out there for all of the world to see so just leave a comment or send me an email.

Here is a some cute pictures of Molly "helping" decorate the tree this weekend and the boys doing their tree upstairs. We are ready for Christmas!! (just wish daddy could be here with us, do you think Santa could bring me daddy?)

Halloween

2009-11-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

The Ward Trunk or Treat Party (as if you couldn't have guessed based on the beautiful background)

We had the privelage of going to Disneyland for Halloween this year! I feel very blessed that my mom was able to meet the boys and I in California and that we were able to have so much fun. We spent 4 days in the parks. We could have probably even used another day. We had AMAZING weather. That was a super nice perk considering there was a foot of snow all over the cars in long term parking the morning we left. Molly was a wonderful traveller. She's just a mellow thing that goes with the flow. She loved all the neat things to look at, and danced to the music. She learned how to ask for "more", play patty cake, and pull herself up to standing while we were there! We had lots of time to sit and play with Molly. :-) She also loved the rides.

The boys were beside themselves with joy. They were ready to go to Disneyland again next week. Ryan was a little nervous with some of the indoor rides and chose to stay outside with Molly on several of the rides but in the end he still had a really good time. Ethan gobbled up every ride he could. He got to go on most of the rides twice, once with me, and once with g-ma. What a lucky boy.

We are so grateful to my mom and loved spending our family vacation with her. It was sad to not have Sam with us at the Happiest Place on Earth but maybe again someday.

The night of the Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. Frankenstein, Vampire/Dracula, Little Witch, and Miss Piggy.

This is why I'm not a fan of my yard in the Fall....

2009-11-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Molly's Got the Giggles

2009-09-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

I was feeding Molly lunch today after church and I got a nasty case of the hiccups. Every time I would hiccup she would laugh outright. Ryan and I were cracking up. So I went to get the camera and of course my hiccups stopped. Ryan started pretending to have the hiccups and it still got her giggling. LOVE it.

We Made it 6 months!

2009-09-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe but Molly is now 6 months old! It's been a good fulfilling 6 months. She's just now getting to that animated stage. She just lights up and gets all giggly when her brothers get home from school or anytime they come around and start talking to her. Of course the boys LOVE this.

Pictures from her 6 Month "Birthday"

Her new trick she loves to do

We were given a jumper, which she LOVES. This was her 20 min after her first time in it.

Everyone says they look alike so I had to get a picture of the two of them together.

Hanging out with Ethan. See how she is holding on to him. She loves her Ethan.

This is a great program available to deployed soldiers and their families. Sam is able to go to the USO tent and read books to the kids. They record up to 20 minutes and then they send the video and the book to the kids. The kids get to sit and listen to daddy read to them at night. It has been great for the kids to see him and to read along with the books. It's called "United Through Reading"

The Summer of 2009

2009-09-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

You know it just reaches the point that there is so much to update that you're overwhelmed and so you don't do anything. I'm not generally like that in "real" life. I usually just dig in and 'geterdone' but the blogging thing overwhelmed me. :-)

I literally need to update my whole entire summer. That's how long it's been since I wrote anything at all. WoW.

I had a really busy busy summer. Our family was trying desperately to jam as much as we possibly could in before Sam left for his "extended overseas business trip" (that is for operational security LOL...inside joke). He left the day before our 10 year wedding anniversary. For all of you out there that don't keep up on when my wedding anniversary is, that means he left July 15th.

The first trip of the summer was a fun boys only trip. Sam took Ethan and Ryan back to his homeland of Tennessee to see the grandparents and pick up an old Ford Bronco that his dad was giving him. They spent the first part of the week in East Tennessee at his dad's house. The boys went on their first fishing trip with their grandpa Marvin and had a blast. Didn't catch a darn thing but they got to run around without their shirts on and get filthy dirty every day. That is boy vacation heaven. They spent the second part of the week in West Tennessee at his mom's house. They love grandma Mary's house because she has old toys especially Transformers. Grandma let them drive the riding lawn mower so again little boy heaven.

Shortly after they returned home, Sam got the jet ski out and started and ready for the water. Nothing makes Sam happier then his need for speed. The jetski is just a small stepping stone for now. I'm sure in upcoming years you'll see Sam driving down the road in a fast car, riding on the water in a fast boat, and speed down the slopes in fast skis.

Thankfully we were able to get in two trips to the lake before Sam left on his "business trip". We spent one day at the lake with his good friend from college, Chris Badurek, and his family. We were super grateful to the Gray family because they have a fast boat! We love, love, love to go to the lake with the boat and the jet ski. Everyone trades off riding in the boat or on the jet ski or getting pulled on the tubes or skiing. My boys are 'scaredee cats'! However, Ethan did ride on the "screamer" (this is the Gray's name for the tubes, but a horrible name for someone like my kids who are scared of everything). He had this sort of panicked look on his face the whole time and the boat was literally going beyond slow BUT he did it. Sam and I had fun jumping the wakes and getting some good air. Leslie and I had fun too! However, it's more fun when I drive.

On one of our trips we camped at the lake and then played on the water all day the next day. That was so much fun for the boys to go camping. So we went camping again the next weekend up in Woodland Park, CO at the US Air Force Academy's campground, the Kingdom of Farish. We tried to fish again. That lasted 10 minutes. Then we hiked around. The best part was smores around the fire and playing UNO as a family.

Our big family vacation of the summer was a trip to South Dakota and Mount Rushmore over the 4th of July weekend. What an amazing trip! I highly recommend it to all my friends that I care about. There is ample things to do in the area to fill up 4-5 days and we were only there 3 days. If you've never seen the Badlands National Park...you must. If you've never seen Mount Rushmore in person...you're missing out. It was on the way up to South Dakota at a little park off the highway that we had our first ever family of 5 picture! Don't ask me why it took so long to get all five of us in a picture. BTW...Molly was a champ for the entire trip. I hung up her 'taggie blanket' on the side of the tent and she layed in there laughing and giggling at that. She slept well except one night it was a little cold. Did I mention we camped on this trip? It turned out ok but honestly I would have liked a hotel room. BUT if you want to camp when you go the KOA in Keystone was great. Two pools, playground, mini golf, pancake breakfast, jump pillow, bike rentals, horse stable, ...

The Badlands

These are pictures of a very very funny moment during our vacation. One of those times you wish you had a video camera. We were going into Custer State Park to see the buffalo. Well they also have wild burros there. They are left over from the gold rush era. The burros come right up to your windows looking for food. It was pretty incredible. They are not the least bit shy. Ryan was fast asleep when we got there so Sam rolled his window down and I put some popcorn on his shoulder. The reaction when he woke up was priceless. We laughed and we giggled for a good 20 minutes after that one.

Sam and I went out to a REALLY nice steakhouse here in Colorado Springs called Mackenzie's Chop House for our anniversary dinner. Yummy. Lovely Carrie Badurek kept our kids overnight for us so that we could go to dinner and then a nice night at home by ourselves having fun. :-) I will say that I might have screwed up royally and may possibly not live this down for another 10 years.... For my anniversary gift we took the diamonds from my grandfather's, Paul Weight, wedding band and had them put into an anniversary band that matched my ring. It turned out so pretty and most of all those diamonds have a great deal of sentimental value. Sam brought the wrapped ring box to dinner so that I could unwrap it and he put it on me. (Ah how sweet, you can all sigh) then he says to me..."so what did you get me?" Seriously! I did not get my own wonderful husband a gift for our 10 year anniversary! To be honest...it never even crossed my mind. I felt horrible. Beyond horrible. Yeah, yeah I've been a little busy with the new baby the last few months and up until the night we went to dinner I hadn't even thought of gifts but I do feel pretty bad. Don't worry though, Sam will help remind me for a very long time to come. He poked and teased me about it for 10 days before he finally left the country and his mind was on something else. Any ideas to help me make it up to him? I'm not to prideful, I'll take any help I can get!

After Sam left then I had one major medical procedure to get over with...man I was worried, and then the kids and I planned a two week vacation to Utah. Just something to get our mind off daddy being gone and help the summer go by a little faster.

The major medical procedure we had to do was my little Ryan's colonoscopy. This was his second one in 6 weeks. He had one just after getting home from Tennessee. He's had blood in his stool for over 9 months. They've done all kinds of tests but couldn't determine a cause. In fact he had 5 or 6 vials of blood drawn at the hospital the day Molly was born. When we talk about the day Molly was born we have to talk about the time he went to the lab with daddy too. The first colonoscopy they found a GIANT polyp in his colon, which they removed and sent to the lab. It was benign...thank the Lord. However, he had extensive bleeding and they were not able to finish. The doctor wanted to do another one in 6 weeks. Of course, that would be after Sam left. I'm so grateful for Holly Badurek, Chris' wife, who willingly came with me to watch Molly while I was in the surgery suite with Ryan. The second colonoscopy had much better results. There was no infection and they found no more polyps. Now we just have to keep watching him. He has to have another one in one year. I'm hoping he forgets about it before then. Although honestly for anyone who's ever had one (I'm not included in that group) the two days before the procedure are the worst.

After Ryan was healed and doing great we packed up the van, to the brim mind you, and headed to Utah for an extended vacation with my mom. I always feel that when my mom comes to visit that she just didn't stay long enough. I wanted to be able to stay for awhile and really enjoy her company, let the kids spend time with her, etc. We had a blast! I actually got to play two 18 hole rounds of golf. That alone made me happy. I played a round of golf with my dad, and my old singles ward bishop. The best part...I didn't have to pay! j.k.

So we're home, school has started, and the reality of life has set in. Daddy's gone and it's all up to me! For the most part I'm cut out for the job but there are some days I wonder when it's all going to end. I started back to work only one day a week. We could benefit from the extra income and honestly I love my job so much that after awhile I really miss being out there helping children. It's nice to have another role beside just "mom". Since Sam's gone I don't even get to be a "wife". So now I'm a "mom" and a "speech therapist" and that make me happy. I'm also happy because I found a wonderful, sweet, kind woman to watch Molly in the home. I feel blessed.

Me and my girl before church.

Molly's first food, sweet potatoes. Actually that's not true. Her first food was avocado that was given to her during Sunday dinner at our house with the Badureks. Darrell and Linda insisted she was ready to eat and why not start with avocado. She gobbled it right up!

The first day of school. Ryan started Kindergarten this year!

Speaking of Molly, did you know she turns 6 months old in just a few days! Where does the time go? She is sitting up, rolling all over the place, eating solid foods, sleeping through the night (8 hours), watching everything that happens around her, grabbing anything she can, slobbering, smiling, and having a great life. The boys are enamored by her and she just gets giggly when they come in the room and start talking to her. It's a good thing.

I did it! I'll try to not get so stinking far behind next time. It's like writing in your journal. It's a good thing but you got to keep up. I actually cut and paste this whole thing into my online journal. That way I accomplished two tasks at once! Anyone who knows me really well knows that I can hardly ever only do one thing at a time. If I'm talking on the phone, I'm cleaning. If I'm on the computer, I've got three things going at a time. If I'm at church, I'm.... :-)

Until we meet again....that seriously took me almost 2 hours!

Someday

2009-09-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking about updating my blog a lot lately, BUT I've been thinking about dieting a lot lately too. Obviously, I haven't done either one! Eventually, I'll get around to both.

Our Humongous Fungus

2009-06-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Spring has SPRUNG! These are our humongous fungus!

The Greatest Show on Earth

2009-06-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Took the boys to the circus today. It was a really nice mother/son outing. Sam stayed home and took care of Molly. We had really good seats. We also had a special treat! Ethan was picked from the audience to perform a magic trick. He made me levitate in mid-air! As I was floating, I asked Ethan if I was floating and he said "yes", "how are you doing that?", "I have no idea!". But he didn't want to stop wiggling his fingers just in case that was the magic that was keeping me levitating. :-) A fun treat and something I'm sure he'll remember for a long time to come.
Because it was just the boys and I, then Ryan had to come down to the arena too. He was our official photographer. He also had the special opportunity to sit with the clowns. The clown took a picture of him. :-) How fun to go to the Greatest Show on Earth and then get to be IN the Greatest Show on Earth!

AND Molly turned 3 months today!

Mine Own Book...

2009-06-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

This is a shout out for a good friend of my that is a SAHM. She has started her own business making children's books. Now these are not just any children's books. They are MINE OWN BOOKS. Meaning that she takes pictures that you submit of your child and turns them into a book. For example, you send her pictures of your child's eyes, mouth, nose, etc...and she puts them into their own book. She's a wiz at Photoshop and the books are super well made and definately cute! If you have any kids between the ages of 1-5 this would be a super cute gift. If you know of someone who has kids these ages then pass it on! We all know some of the best advertisement is word of mouth or in this case "word of blog". Put a post on your blog maybe there will be several readers that would be interested. I'm sure Leslie would appreciate all the business she can get! Thank you kindly.

A Fun Series of Pictures

2009-06-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

We were trying to get Molly to smile for the camera...

One...
Two...

Third times a charm! Say cheese!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2009-05-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ethan had "what do you want to be when you grow up" day at school last week. He had decided he wanted to be a dentist ever since our last visit to the dentist. The dentist lobby has a fire place and he thought that was pretty cool. He had to fill out a questionaire about why he wanted to be a dentist and how he was going to make a difference in the world. Here are his responses; "Well, I want to be able to fix people's teeth but really I'm all about the money!" I said; "the money?" "Of course, I want to be able to provide for my family and buy daddy a Porshe!" In our house it's is highly "publicized" that daddy provides for the family by going to work everyday and that someday one of his boys had better buy him a Porshe!

In the course of all these conversations about what you want to be when you grow up we asked Ryan. His response; "I don't know maybe a paratrooper". I will say that Sam and I have the very same opinions about our children serving in the Military...only as a last resort. Not that it's not a noble career but there are some significant sacrifices that come when serving our Country...and there are A LOT of stupid people. Sam recently had a jump exercise down in Canon City and it was during the day, when the boys were out of school, and nice weather...so I packed up the kids and we headed down to watch him. When we lived in Ft. Bragg then I use to take Ethan, who was very small, to go watch Sam jump out of the planes all the time but since we've left the 82nd Airborne Division we haven't been to see him as a family. Ryan has never watched. This was Ryan's response after watching daddy fall from the sky. "Do you still want to be a paratrooper?" "I don't think so".

Molly's 2 Months!

2009-05-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

We survived our first two months! Molly has changed our home in soooo many good ways. We love having her here and it's really hard to imagine what life was like before she joined our family. Some of her accomplishments...she's holding up her head, she's watching her mobile, she's smiling and even almost giggling, she's sleeping a little better at night but alas not through the night...sigh. BUT she does only go poopy about every 5-7 days! She'll probably start sleeping through the night and then going poopy 5 times a day! Regardless...I love my little girl!

Mother of the Year Award

2009-05-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful to the Motherhood Academy for their nomination and proudly accept this Mother of the Year Award . Thank you to my lovely children for giving me the opportunity to become a mother. Thank you to my wonderful husband for supporting me and encouraging me to be a better mother! Without them this award would not have been possible. Thank you, and I love you!
Happy Mother's Day everyone, you too deserve this award.

We're still alive

2009-05-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

I dropped off the earth for a little bit there but thankfully I'm back. Life with baby Molly is great. She's a good baby. Of course, there are some days that I love her more then others! Here are a few pics. She started to smile pretty consistently this week so the tightening on Daddy's heart begins. :-)

Playing with her mobile

All tucked in for bed...doesn't she look sleepy?

Feeling Better

2009-04-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what a little sleep and having your husband home can do for your mental state. It was also really nice to be at church today and socializing with friends. I do love to see my friends! Thanks to everyone for the kinds words and thoughts. It was incredibly HELPFUL.

I'm Tired

2009-04-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm ready for my husband to be home! I'm afraid the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. It's accumulated over almost 5 weeks and I'm starting to lose it. Most importantly I'm feeling like a bad mom to the boys. I hate it when I feel that way! It's my own personal fear that I'm going to royally mess them up and they'll turn out to be drug dealing murderers! I know some of you have these same anxieties!! Fess up! LOL

Molly's First Easter...My First "Alone" Day

2009-04-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Easter! The Easter Bunny made a quick stop at our house and "pooped" jelly beans all over the house! (this is our family tradition) The boys eventually found all the poop. It was a cold and snowy day here at our house. We had a good 3 inches of yucky wet snow out on the driveway this morning. It was also the first day since Molly was born that I was 100% on my own. Sam is out of the country on a "business" trip. His mom was here last week to help me out but she flew out early Sunday morning (6 am) and so I was solely responsible for getting everyone up, dressed, and to church. The stars must have all been aligned because Molly woke up at 7:30 for her morning feeding. That meant I was able to start functioning at a reasonable time. I couldn't believe that I was able to get everyone ready for church on time. We had our Easter poop hunt, opened our baskets, took pictures....and I even showered for church! Amazing! However, later that afternoon I was feeling super tired so I layed down for a "short" nap. I slept through Easter dinner! I always like to fix a nice dinner on Sundays and we usually have friends or family over to eat as well. This Sunday I had planned something for just the boys and I and I slept right through dinner. So the boys had cold cereal for Easter dinner! Oh Well.

Life Changes...Thankfully

2009-04-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

What a busy second week we had with Molly! Grandma came to town and as tradition warrants gave Molly her first bath. Grandma has given all the kids their first bath! Of course she hated it, but the boys got a kick out of it.

My mom was such a big help throughout the week. I think it was really hard for her to leave little adorable Molly behind. She's already planning her next trip out! Yea!

These are just some cute "sleeping" pictures. I love the second one because I got her when she was "smiling" and captured that cute dimple! She actually has dimples in both cheeks just like her grandma but the one on the right only shows up occasionally. We love dimples in our family! Cutie Patootie.

Molly received her baby blessing on Sunday March 29th. I cried through the whole thing! I am so full of gratitude that life has brought me to this point. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have been given to have another child. I'm grateful for my beautiful family and the love that blossoms in our house. I think Molly is one lucky little girl to come into our home and be able to grow up surrounded by family that will love her and cherish her throughout her lifetime. I know that Heavenly Father has been looking over this home very intensely for the last few years. I'm so appreciative that he has allowed us to raise this little special Spirit...Molly.
P.S. The absolutely gorgeous dress Molly is wearing was handmade by her grandma Mary (Sam's mom).

Our First Week with Molly

2009-03-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Home from the hospital!

Cuddled in Daddy's arms

My favorite place to sleep

Ryan LOVES to just look at Molly

Happy with a milk mustache

Five minutes later....

Ethan was happy to hold Molly until she "tooted" on his lap

Finally Grandma arrived to hold me and love on me...now I've got it all!

What's in a name? Apparently LOTS!

2009-03-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

I know some of you were starting to think that her name actually would be "Baby Girl Walker" but thankfully we couldn't leave the hospital without a name. LOL With lots of thoughts, and prayers, multiple conversations, trying out of names for several days at a time, we finally came up with a name we think fits and without further ado....
MOLLY ADELINE WALKER
I know most of you know that Molly wasn't even on the radar but it's a name that popped up this past week that we both liked (Have you seen the Kenmore Refridgerator commercial? :-) and Adeline is my grandmother's middle name. We think it's a strong name with a little bit of bubbly and happiness...perfect! :-) Yes we know she'll be a "Molly Mormon". ;-)

Thank you.

2009-03-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Leslie for taking and posting pictures while I was in the hospital. Thank you to everyone for your phone calls and visits, it made the time away from home much better! I am now home as of noon on Sunday and other then being super swollen and a little sore, I'm doing well. I love to see everyone's comments. It is always nice to know that people are interested and care about how you're doing. Thank you!

Announcing. . . . Baby Girl Walker!!!

2009-03-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Born this morning, March 13th at 6:36 am, Baby Girl Walker is 8 lbs, 19 inches long and as you can see ~ Beautiful!
The girls are doing really well!The Boys and their little girl...
The boys are so excited and loving their little sister, and soon enough, were playing in the storage cabinets...

Our Last Family of 4 Picture!

2009-03-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

A lot of recent publicity....usually never good

2009-03-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

I have been asked by people not of the LDS faith from time to time how I feel about the series "Big Love". I've never watched it, but I know enough about it to know that it's not something I am interested in watching or supporting.
There has been even more interest when it was recently announced that the series "Big Love" will be airing an episode that recreates the LDS Endowment or Marriage Ceremony that takes place within the walls of our sacred Temples. HBO claims to be using an "ex-mormon" as their consultant and feel there is nothing wrong with this re-enactment. I obviously disagree.
Other then that I don't give it much thought or energy. I found this to be a thoughtful and eloquent statement that represents my take on it and the Mormon/Media issue in general very well. If you have any opinions of LDS people in light of what you may have garnered from watching the show, or from recent media coverage, I encourage you to read it. If you are LDS, I encourage you to read it too. I have noticed that the Church through the years has pretty much always taken a "simmahdownnah" (simmer down now....classic SNL) approach regarding things hitting the fan. Simmahdownnah is pretty much always some solid advice I find.

Baby News

2009-03-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't been real good about keeping my blog updated these days. I've been going through a creative "slump". I'd love to add cute pictures with fun photoshop details or be really humorous (like Emily H, if you don't read her blog you should, it's always good for a laugh) but instead I'm just normal Buffy. That's good. I like "normal". However, I've been getting slack from friends and family who don't see me on a regular basis to update my blog with baby news.

Truth be told...I'm pretty tired of being pregnant! Big surprise. I have 11 days before my scheduled delivery date of March 13th!! YEA!!! I'm a big waddling duck right now. I say waddling because I have the most unusual pain in my groin that hurts whether I'm sitting, standing, or laying down and it makes me waddle when I walk. It's sooo pleasant! I just love it! I'm managing my gestational diabetes for the most part. Since I can't exercise anymore (see waddling duck comment) I'm eating! What else is a girl to do? I am taking medication to keep my blood sugar under control but part of that means that I actually have to eat properly. Like I said some days I do and some days I don't. On the days I don't, I'm usually sorry because I get pretty sick and icky feeling. However, a german chocolate cake ice cream from Cold Stone creamery is worth every sick feeling!!

Here I am at 6 and 1/2 months.

Here I am at 8 and 1/2 months! Look closely at my feet...lovely! :o)

I now know why I was going crazy nesting in the early months of my pregnancy. I had no idea that I'd barely be able to walk at the end but for what ever reason I went crazy getting everything ready months ago. Her crib has been put together since early December. I've been sewing and painting and washing and cleaning and organizing and... but nothing recently. I'm barely able to keep the house together! It was divine inspiration. Of course, I think it had a little to do with excitement too!

I was super blessed to have an amazing baby shower in February. There is another gal in my ward who is expecting a little boy 3 days after me. This will be her 3rd baby too! We'll both have two boys and a girl. It has been really fun to share being pregnant with someone. She's cute and fun and we have someone who really cares about our gripes...each other! The baby shower was overwhelming. I felt so blessed to have so many women want to come out and celebrate this baby. It was beyond fun to sit around with everyone and talk baby junk. Cassie and I have all kinds of coordinating outfits for our babies! Everyone said they really enjoyed shopping for two and felt like they were shopping for twins. They made sure we unwrapped our gifts from the same people at the same time. Fun, fun, fun. The food was delicious, the company was welcome, and the gifts were surprising. So nice to feel loved. :o)

Our family is just plain excited to welcome this little girl into our home! That's the best way to describe it. There isn't a single one of us that doesn't talk about it in some way every day. We are all dying of anticipation. What will she look like? What will her name be? (no we do not have a name...yet) etc.

Some friends and I are working on the finishing touches of her quilt. I've sewn the top and the back and it's currently on quilting frames getting hand quilted as we have the time. I've never hand quilted. I never had any idea how time consuming it can be, nothing that a little music can't cure. We're recruiting anyone we know to come over this week and help get it finished. I did however get her carseat quilt finished. I'm really happy with how it turned out (sorry no pictures, someday...). So basically it's time for her to get here!

Grandma making the first cuts

The first quilt block

The first two rows

Up on the frame!!

In Honor of George Washington

2009-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is George Washington's birthday. Ask me how I know this? Because it's on our kitchen calendar of course...and because Ethan chose George Washington as his biography this month in 1st grade. We worked together to do the research, put together the index cards, edited the rough draft, and did the final draft. I was pretty impressed with how far a kid can come from starting Kindergarten to the middle of 1st grade! They were supposed to bring at least one visual aid. Ethan decided he wanted to use his "creative brain" and draw a picture of George. He spent lots of time drawing and then I helped him color it. It was pretty big. He said..."mom thank you so much for helping me color George, my hand gets really tired, and plus your coloring is much better then mine!" He also wanted a colonial hat, which I attempted and thought looked ridiculous but he was super excited to wear it while he read his biography. Not my best. :-) There was another little guy in his class who did a biography on Abe Lincoln and I got a cute picture of the two of them. Gotta love first graders!

My Neighbors Ice Tree

2009-02-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

We have the nicest neighbor. He created a beautiful ice tree for us to enjoy last week, and everyone who drove up our street. (It caused traffic mayhem for few days). I will say he is from California so that does half way excuse his stupidity.

We've had some pretty warm temperatures here in Colorado this winter. It's a little unusual to say the least and I guess my neighbor was afraid his newly planted trees would die from lack of water. Did anyone not teach him about dormancy? Despite our warm temperatures during the day it still gets below freezing at night. So one day last week, I noticed he had his sprinkler going and watering his yard. The next morning we had an absolutely gorgeous display of ice. It really was remarkable. There were people constantly pulling over to check it out. It actually stayed frozen for about 3 days and then I saw him and his wife out there with shovels and broomsticks knocking the ice off the trees. Hilarious.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the ground. It was pretty cool looking too. Ryan got quite the kick out of trying to walk on the grass to get icicles off the tree.

All that sewing...

2009-01-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting my Christmas sewing pictures. I didn't want to post them before Christmas because then my mom would know she was getting a quilt. It was the first quilt I had ever sewn and I wanted my mom to be excited to receive this gift. It was an invigorating process. I'm sooo thankful to Tagan for helping me pick out some fun fabrics (which is just about as hard as anything else) and to Leslie for taking the time to teach me how to assemble the quilt top (she rocks at getting corners to match up), making the quilt sandwich, and hand binding the quilt.

My mom LOVED it! It's perfect for her to curl up with on her couch and watch all her favorite crime drama shows (she's addicted to all of them) and reality t.v. (likes most of those too :-). Ryan LOVED the quilt too. In fact everytime I was working with the quilt (after the minky was attached) Ryan would find a way to come and curl up in the blanket. He's been asking for weeks for his own minky quilt and even picked out a color he likes. He'll have to wait until I'm done with the baby girl's quilt though. Thankfully, I had enough fabric to make two lap quilts so he's enjoying snuggling under our lap quilt until he gets his own.

In addition to the time spent making the quilt, I also sewed 6 different reversible aprons as gifts, a carseat quilt for my friends new baby girl, and a super cute toddler girl purse that I gave to my niece who loves to carry her mom's purse around the house. Needless to say I spent a few hours down in the basement listening to music and enjoying a little "mommy" time this past December.

My next project is for the upcoming baby girl. I've already reupolstered a glider that I bought used and I'm starting on her quilt. I found a fun pattern that is challenging but not to difficult. My mom was in town this last weekend and between the two of us we figured out how to get started and piece the first block together (which was the hardest part) and now I'm well on my way to a fun original baby quilt. I seriously know that my grandmother (who tried desperately to teach me to sew as a pre-teen) is enjoying watching me sew my little heart away.

Old Chair New Chair!
New rocking chair!

Quilt pictures coming soon!!

Wishing You All A Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

My last post of 2008!

Gotta Love that Utah Snow!

2008-12-27T08:56:00.000-08:00

That First Tooth

2008-12-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

I LOVE milestones.

It just gives me such a fuzzy bunny feeling. We recently had a new milestone with Ethan's first tooth. I have actually been dreading Ethan losing his teeth because he is soooo dramatic about things and I just knew it would be drama, drama, drama. However, he surprised us all. He's getting older and maturing more so that helps but he was so excited about losing a tooth that we had very little drama. Of course, we left him alone for a very long time as it was getting more and more loose. He came to us when it was just about ready to fall out. "My tooth is ready for extraction!" Sam got his "dental tools" and hid them from Ethan because he knew if he saw them he'd start freaking out. Actually I would too! Ethan had to say a little prayer before Dentist Daddy went to work. It was so cute how he told us he needed a minute to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help him stay calm (see even he knows he gets a little dramatic!). As you can tell from the picture Sam covered his eyes like any good dentist would do!

And the much anticipated long awaited results are in...

2008-11-29T18:20:00.000-08:00

We're having a GIRL!!!!

Life Really Comes Down to Two Questions....

2008-11-21T08:30:00.001-08:00

Should I get a dog?.....

Should I have more children?....

Our family tried a dog earlier this spring and that didn't go so well, I guess we're on to choice number 2! yikes!

It's Just One of Those Things

2008-11-19T07:39:00.001-08:00

Have you ever gotten something that you weren't sure you needed and then once you have it you're not sure how you lived without it?
I got two such things for my birthday this year. One was a Kitchenaid Mixer. I've had several people in my life make comments about their mixers lately. Linda B. even said that if she could only take one appliance in her whole kitchen she'd take her mixer (which by the way is about 30+ years old, I'm sure she could take something else and then get herself a new one! :-). So I told Sam that one of the things I'd like for Christmas was a Kitchenaid Mixer. He looked at me like I was losing my marbles and I'm sure attributed it to the "pregnancy hormones". I started looking for a used one on craigslist and came across one the next day. I got it used which is the best for something you're not entirely sure you need. Since I bought it I've used it a handful of times (twice on Sunday!) and really do love the convenience of the mixer. Who'd have thunk it?
The second thing was a "bath pillow" (thank you Alicia). I received this bath pillow from a friend who informed me she originally bought it for herself but then realized she never takes a bath. It ended up in her "birthday gifts box" and I was the lucky recipient! All I can say is glory hallelujah! I love this bath pillow! I can't not imagine taking a bath without one ever again. :-) I'm a huge fan of taking baths in the winter. Just about every night I fill the tub with bubbles, light a candle, and relax just before I crawl into bed. I really can't imagine why someone wouldn't find a bath totally relaxing (Deanna?). Anyway, if you're big on taking baths like I am make sure to get yourself a bath pillow. It's pure luxury.

Is It Really November?

2008-11-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

I can not believe the mild weather we've had this far into November! I'm loving it! I can enjoy fall when it doesn't involve snow! :-) Our family took advantage of the nice weather and decided to go and ride the new Mountaineer Skyride at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Once you get to the top it provides a beautiful view of the valley. We also took some time to get kooky with the giraffes. We love the giraffe display at the zoo. It's got to be one of the best in the country. (this was pre-haircut, so a couple of weeks ago)

The Haircut

2008-11-05T10:42:00.000-08:00

It was time for the long hair to go....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'm loving the new look!

HAPPY Halloween

2008-11-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

What a fun time of year! The fun is accentuated when you have small children the perfect age for tricker treating and carving pumpkins. Ethan and Ryan have had a blast this year. We had a fall festival at the church last Saturday which ended with a trunk-or-treat.

That meant we had a huge bag of candy in our house all week. This was Ryan all week long!...."mom can I have a piece of candy?" 15 minutes later "mom can I have a piece of candy?" I went to the store and got a bunch of fruit (which is not his favorite) and said "no, but you can have a strawberry". He ate alot of fruit this week. :-)

We had a fun FHE carving pumpkins. There were slim pickins at the grocery store so we ended up with "white" pumpkins. Sam was sorely disappointed. :-) Ryan, of course, picked a complex pattern. That's why at the beginning of FHE, I paired him with his daddy! Ethan originally wanted to draw his face on the pumpkin but then decided it looked terrible and picked a face from our patterns. It was hilarious to listen to the boys as they were taking out the pumpkin guts, and watching their pumpkins come together. They love FHE and every week they get excited wanting to know what we're going to talk about or do that week. This week, I was informed...was one of their favorites.

Of course, Halloween isn't complete without a few school parties. This year I signed up to be the "room parent" in both Ethan and Ryan's classes. Thankfully I'm a co-parent. So I worked with the other moms to set up some fun parties for the kids. The older kids had a costume parade throughout the whole school. The 1st graders sat down in their hallway while all the other grades paraded by and then they were the last ones that got to go parade by all the other grades. Ryan doesn't have school on Fridays, so he decided he was a 1st grader for the afternoon and participated right along with Ethan and all of his classmates! Ryan's party was on Thursday (Halloween was on a Friday this year) because he's out of school on Friday. The preschoolers are soooo cute in their costumes! They had their own little parade for the Kindergartners and the office staff. Fun.

On Friday morning then we had some little costume switch-a-roo. The boys were originally going to be a monkey and a Frankenstein for halloween. Both of these costumes are extra warm and made out of fleece. Well for those of you not in Colorado this year it was 70 degrees on Friday! 70 degrees in Colorado on October 31st! That is unheard of for this time of year. Ryan wore his monkey costume for his party and he was all sweaty and uncomfortable. So on Thursday night I was out for some "mom" time after dinner. I went to Target to walk around and burn time and saw their costumes were on sale. I found an Optimus Prime costume in Ethan's size and called him to see if he'd like to be Optimus Prime instead of Frankenstein (my boys are HUGE transformers fans). This is what he said "well I'd actually like to be Bumblebee but if they don't have Bumblebee then I'll settle for Optimus Prime". They didn't have Bumblebee. I came home and boys came out of their rooms wanting hugs from mommy before they could go to sleep and Ryan saw the costume and immediately started crying wanting to know why I didn't get him a Transformer costume. What a horrible mom I am! The only way I could settle him down was to promise him that on Friday morning we'd go to Walmart in search of Bumblebee or Optimus for him. After we dropped Ethan off at school we went in search of another costume. What we found was Bumblebee in Ethan's size but not Ryan's. So I bought Bumblebee, drove to Ethan's school, switched out his costume in his backback (without him knowing), and returned Optimus to Target to exchange it for Ryan's size. It was alot of running around BUT they were sooooo happy to be Transformers for Halloween. Ethan was shocked to see Bumblebee in his backpack when Mrs. Kehayas sent them to put their costumes on. When I showed up to the party he gave me a big hug and said thanks for getting me Bumblebee mom. I'm not a big fan of these types of costumes but the boys were so happy it was hard not to be happy for them.

The boys were beyond excitement last night. At the beginning Ryan was literally running from house to house.

They both kept saying "this is the best night ever!" After about 1 hour of tricker-treating they were exhausted. They wanted us to carry their buckets for them and Ryan would have been really happy if we would have carried him back to the car (we usually trick-or-treat in the Broadmoor Glens, a nice neighborhood with all cul-de-sacs just down the street from our house). When we got home from trick-or-treating the boys wanted turn on our lights, light their pumpkins to put outside, and pop some popcorn that they got in their buckets and watch the Transformer Movie...and of course EAT SOME CANDY!

When we tucked the boys into bed and said prayers I gave Ryan a hug and he says into my ear "ah good times, good times mom". That about sums it up!

Now it's early Saturday morning. For some reason I woke up earlier then normal. I decided to take this time to blog and watch the sun rise. We have these 4 big pane glasses windows that face East in our house. If your down in the living room they are about 15-20 feet up, if you're in the kitchen they are about 10 feet up, but if your in the loft you can see right out of them. It's beautiful just sitting here, having a spiritual moment, reflecting on life. I can't believe I'm 20 weeks along in this pregnancy and this time next year we'll have a 7 month old along with us when we go tricker treating!

An Apron To Remember...

2008-10-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

I really never thought that in my lifetime I would enjoy spending a couple of afternoons gathered around a sewing machine...ever! My grandmother is probably laughing in her grave at the thought that her granddaughter (who she tried on numerous occasions to teach sewing) is sewing and most importantly enjoying it!

Recently several friends met for a "sewing party". Typically there were anywhere from 4-7 of us at one time. Our project was to learn how to make aprons. I have been wanting an apron for a really long time. Another thing that would have my grandmother laughing (she also tried to teach me to bake with no avail). We just put our sewing machines around one table and had another table set up to cut out patterns and we taught ourselves how to sew the apron. It was invigorating! I know what a crazy word to use for sewing but I loved being surrounded by women and creating something that before the day started I had no idea how to do. I learned to gather a seam, to sew a dart, to stitch in the ditch, and to cut on the bias!! These are all things that would have been Greek to me before our "sewing party". It was fun! It took several afternoons for all of us to finish and every time I heard we were getting together then I'd make sure I was there. I loved being there, listening to music, feeling like I was in a sweat shop when all the machines were going, learning a new skill, and talking with friends. Honestly, I can't wait for the next project!

Now I have an apron and it's reversible! I've used in several times already. It's nice to have an apron when I'm cooking because I usually always have a towel handy, now I just use my apron. Ethan came downstairs while I was cooking with my new apron and said "wow, mom that's pretty, let's take your picture". So here it is....

Christmas Unlimited

2008-10-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I took the opportunity to go through all of my boys toys the last few weeks. They had several toys that were really to nice for a garage sale but I didn't want to be bothered by trying to sale them on ebay or craigslist. I remembered about a great charity in our community called "Christmas Unlimited". They provide low income families with a "shopping pass" based on the number of children in their family. The families come in to the "store" during the holiday season to "buy" toys for their children. They take new and used toys in good condition. Sam and I took the boys with us to make the donation and talked to them about the opportunity for other little boys, who's parents can't buy them nice toys, to be able to have toys. We explained we were donating toys they never play with anymore. They just wanted to make sure that mommy didn't donate any of their transformers and then they were on board!
I encourage any of you out there in the Colorado Springs community with an overabundance of toys to donate them to Christmas Unlimited. They are a fantastic charity that has been in our community for over 50 years. They are also looking for volunteers during the holidays to help the families do their shopping, keep the shelves clean and organized, etc. So if you're looking for a volunteer opportunity!!!

The Elk Rut is On...

2008-10-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the opportunity (Sam had a 4 day weekend) to head up to Estes Park, Colorado and spend 2 nights. I casually mentioned to Sam that is was Elk breeding season and that I really wanted to go watch. Needless to say that got a second look and some raised eyebrows. However, I had read in the newspaper an article about how active the Elk are this time of year and how the bull Elk will bugle to attract the females and it is really quite interesting. I really had no interest in exposing myself or my children to the "breeding" and secretly hoped that would not be part of our trip (luckily it was not :-).

We stayed at the YMCA center of the Rockies. I've had friends that have stayed there and recommended it. They have a swimming pool, livery, climbing wall, mini golf, dining hall, bingo, craft center, gym, disc golf, lake for fishing, pool hall, ping pong, and a few other things. They are all available to members staying on sight. We took advantage of the mini golf, swimming, and fun "animal detective" class for the kids. The boys learned a new word in their animal detective class this weekend...scat. As we were walking to the mini golf we came across some scat and Ethan proceeded to tell me he was sure it was Elk scat instead of deer scat because it was all squished together. He also said humans have long really squished together scat. I said did you talk about human scat in your class? He proudly said; "no, I came up with that one on my own".

Our room had a queen size bed and two bunk beds! It was nice to have that kind of sleeping arrangements, however, the "lodge" was more like a college dorm and we would have liked a little more privacy and a little less noise. I think next time we'll stay in one of their many cabins.

Rocky Mountain National Park was beautiful! I highly recommend a trip to the park for anyone who hasn't been. It was nice to be there in fall and see all the leaves changing. We went into the park in the morning and drove around, took a few pictures, stopped at the visitors center, and then learned that the best time to come is during twilight. The elk start to get active around 5 pm and then "party" all night long. The ranger recommended we bring chairs and just plan to sit and watch for a few hours. So we came back at 4:30, and watched the rut. At 6 pm then the ranger gave a lecture about the Elk and their behaviors and what we were observing. I was fascinated to learn that the men urinate all over themselves to attract the females. Yum. The more urine they have on themselves...the stronger they are...thus the more attractive. Hmm. They can directionally shoot urine all over their necks! They also will urinate in one spot enough to make mud and then roll around in it. Essentially they do these things both to keep the other males away and to get the females to chose them as their mating partner. So in the end, it's the females who make the choice!

Here is a "funny" video of the main bull Elk in the herd we were watching chasing this female. It was really neat to listen to the bugle of the males (there were 5 total males in the herd we were watching). In this video it almost seems he bugles out of frustration. The whole time we were watching (about 2 hours) then the bull kept chasing this one female (she has a yellow collar). Needless to say he never did get her! I guess she was saving herself for a bigger stronger smellier male!

It's September 19th, Need I Say More??

2008-09-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan the "Liar"

2008-09-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

So I went to pickup Ryan from preschool today and his teachers both grabbed me and said "so I hear you're pregnant!". I just giggled and said "it's true". They both looked surprised and said that Ryan had told them his mom was having a baby and they said "no, that can't be right" but they said Ryan was so insistent that I really was having a baby and that it was a girl (we don't know the sex :-) that they started to think that he might be telling the truth. I thought that was pretty funny and asked how did the topic come up. They said Ryan was just sitting at the table and announced that his mommy was having a baby, and they were really surprised by his comment. Of course, they were very gracious and said "congratulations".

Ethanism...

2008-09-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

"Everyday you're just a little bit fatter"

Just Putting It Out There in the Universe....

2008-08-20T08:49:00.001-07:00

Special Thanks to Tagan for the beautiful graphics!

Tagged by Leslie...

2008-08-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

10 Years Ago....

I was working in my first "real" job as a speech therapist for Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City...and I was loving it!!
I had 5 really great (once in a lifetime) friends that did everything together. We got together weekly to watch X-Files, go mountain biking, go 4-wheelin in Corner Canyon, trips to Moab, vacations together (we'd just got home from a really fun trip to San Diego), and chillin' at each others apartments.
I bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee (for 4-wheelin) and then totalled it 6 weeks later in a major rollover accident off of I-80 between Tremonton and Snowville.
I had a huge crush on our singles ward Elder's Quorum president (hint his name was Sam Walker)
I was living in the "strangest" apartment over a strange house with 2 other girls. My room had a captain's bed, my roommate lived in a loft down a dark hallway (I don't remember ever having many conversations with her), my other roommate had a front bedroom that was built off the living room. It was a really wierd shaped apartment but it was dirt cheap!!

Today's To Do List.....

Work on my blog for the first time in a few weeks
Call and set up my Visiting Teaching
Exercise for at least 30 minutes
Finish Ryan's "Star of the Week" Collage for pre-school
Do speech therapy with Ryan for at least 15 minutes
Read with Ethan
Finish my billing for my patients
Finish sewing my "fall" church bag
Take a nap! (absolutely necessary right now)
clean the house to get ready for family coming to town

Places I Have Lived....

Salt Lake City, Utah
Tremonton, Utah
Hollywood, CA (I was 2)
Garland, Utah
Denver, Colorado
Snowville, Utah
Howell, Utah
Naf, Idaho
Stone, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Provo, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Sandy, Utah (our first married apartment)
Monterey, California
Ogden, Utah
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Colorado Springs, Colorado

I may have missed a few but I think that is all of them!

If I Were a Millionaire....

I would immediately hire a personal chef!
I would spend a lot more time visiting my friends and family. I'd definitely go visit Allison much more often since she always seems to be somewhere cool!
I would find the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, with the perfect school, and the perfect ward. (money can buy anything can't it?)
I'd pay off all the bills, and buy Sam that sports car he's always wanted! That would mean we'd need a house with a 10 car garage because there are at least 8 sports cars he's always wanted! :-)

Snacks I Enjoy....

Peanut Butter and Honey on Whole Wheat Bagel...mmmmm
Snickers Bars
Donuts
Cake and Ice Cream...together
Cookies (I really like all cookies except one's with fruit inside...yuk!)
7 layer dip and Tostitos white corn rounds
Chips and Salsa

I'm tagging.....Tagan and Shelley!!

July 2008

2008-08-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

July has come and gone. I'm getting some "flack" about my poor blogging. I'll have to admit July did seem to come and go awefully fast.
We started the month off with a fun weekend in Pueblo, CO. We got a camping spot at Pueblo Reservoir and spent 2 nights and 3 days playing in the water. We were blessed to have the Gray family come down with their boat. They were also extremely gracious and pulled in their "mini-Winnie" R.V. to save us all from sleeping on the ground in a tent! I've never been so relieved! I had tried for weeks to convince Sam to buy this cot at Sam's Club so I wouldn't have to sleep on the ground but he wouldn't let me get it! The big meany! So when Paul and Leslie offered their R.V. I couldn't have been more pleased! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We spent hours and hours out on the water jet skiing, tubing, water skiing, and swimming. Ryan was glued to the seat of the boat the entire weekend. "I'm so scared" We did finally bribe him into riding on the jet ski by offering to go to WalMart and buy him a toy he wanted. The entire Gray clan was cheering him on too. "Come on Ryan, you can do it, then you can get your Bakugan!"
I got up on the water skis for the first time in 10 years!! After 2 icky falls where I had to surgically remove my swimsuit I was done. Actually I was exhausted! Leslie did awesome! She just learned to water ski recently. She had much more stamina then me! :-) She also had the ski gloves! She was holding out on me.

Sam and I celebrated 9 years together this month. Although it's been a stressful life altering couple of years, I'm grateful for the strength of our marriage and for the place we are now in our lives. I look forward to many more years and many more happy times.

My mom came to visit for Pioneer Day weekend. Since she works for the State of Utah she had 4 day weekend and decided to come visit. That same weekend Sam left for Tennessee to help his mom transition to home after 8 weeks in the hospital!! Unfortunately she went home on Friday and Sam took her back on Monday. She was readmitted with dehydration. It looks like they plan to keep her for 2 more weeks and send her to the rehab unit to get some strength and stamina back after having spent so much time in bed and ill this summer.

Mom and I took the boys to the Denver zoo. We were all super impressed with the Denver zoo! We liked it quite a bit more then the San Antonio zoo we visited earlier this summer. When I was a young girl our family lived in Denver for a short while. My stepfather's family owned a nursery in the Indian Hills area and we moved to Denver so he could work for them. I remember alot of things about that house but neither mom or I were able to find the address. I really wanted to see if we could find the house. We remember it was across the street from a Methodist church, I remembered riding my bike over a major road so that my brother and I could go to a pet store, mom remembered a tunnel that we used to walk through to get to a big park, and that they used to joke about being able to walk to the Denver Broncos stadium faster then trying to find parking. We did a little research on churches and parks before we went to Denver. We spent quite a bit of time driving around Denver but were never able to find the house. It had been almost 25 years so obviously the city has changed quite a bit. I was to young to remember much more then details about the house and mom couldn't remember to much about the neighborhood. We tried but weren't successful. Bummer.

We also we to the ward Pioneer day breakfast, stained some new closet doors, we for a 3 mile walk every morning, and enjoyed some really nice quality time together. I love to have my mom visit!! It's hard to live so far from home. I love when we can get together and the boys have the opportunity to get to know their grandma better.

Now we're ready to start into August! This will be a crazy month too. I'm not making promises on any blogging records to all my friends out there that keep giving me a hard time. I'm sorry I can't be the super blogger that all of you are!! :-)

(pictures are coming...you can't expect me to blog and do pictures can you!! LOL)

My Summer Baby....(no it's not what you think)

2008-06-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last year we had our front yard professionally landscaped because honestly it was way beyond needing help. There was no way I (I say I because Sam was deployed) would have been able to make our front yard look like it does today. Well our backyard is very "natural" as well. I've been determined to grow some grass and plant a few flowers and such to make the back yard look nice. Mostly I wanted to prove to Sam that our yard actually is quite nice. He is always saying how much he doesn't like our yard. It consistently rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure none of you understand having your spouse say something that rubs you the wrong way!! :-) So I've been out weeding, raking, planting, and tending to the yard like a small child for the last 6 weeks. I mowed my new grass for the first time today! Yippee. I'm so pleased with the way it looks. Sam is out of town until tomorrow so I told him on the phone tonight that I mowed the grass for the first time and that the yard looks really great! Then I told him; "when you get home tomorrow, I need to hear you say...wow this yard looks great, I'm so impressed with all your hard work!" I've been told that sometimes you just need to put words into your spouses mouth so that they know what to say. LOL

Of course, the deer have eaten just about everything I planted. We have at least 4-6 deer that consistently graze, sleep, and poop in our yard. It is pretty cool to have deer in your yard but not so much when you're trying to plant and establish grass. They like to move the dirt around and lay in the dirt so there are a few areas that I've had to replant. Other then that...I've got a backyard!! Sweet!

San Antonio was HOT!

2008-06-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous vacation!!

I will say that San Antonio was HOT! Meaning it was a great place to go on vacation AND it was stinking HOT. Holy Smoly, I literally thought I was going to melt into the pavement on a few occasions. Sam keeps talking about how badly he wants to move back to the South and after this trip and the "gentle" reminder of how humid the South can be...I'm not convinced. Regardless of the heat we had a fantastic vacation....we just drank a whole lot of water!

We were a little sad that Grandma Mary wasn't able to make it to San Antonio. She called us Thursday night to say she was in the hospital with an infection. We called her everyday of our trip to check on her and make sure she was o.k. She ended up being sent up to the Mayo Clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota to have some absesses in her colon drained. Thankfully she should be headed back home this week. Grandma Mary was pretty bummed out that she couldn't come too.

We rented a house off of a website called Vacation Rentals By Owner about 2 months before we left. We really wanted a house with a pool in the backyard and boy were we grateful for that pool at the end of the day! The house was an older 3 bedroom 2 bath home in an older neighborhood of a little suburb of Texas called Converse. We were about 10-20 minutes from everything so it was a super location.

We started the vacation with a special Birthday celebration for Sam. He will say he celebrated his 28th birthday (for the 8th time ;-). I made him a homemade German Chocolate Cake which is a recipe from my good friend Allison. He always asks for this cake for his birthday. I brought all the ingredients with me so that I could bake it the night we arrived. (we drove all night Friday night to get to San Antonio by 2 pm to pick up my mom from the airport).

Our first true full day we spent at the San Antonio Zoo. This was our first exposure to the heat. After 2 hours in the zoo we were all dragging and ready to head back to the house and jump in the pool. We ate a picnic in the parking lot of the zoo underneath a big tree. After lunch the boys took a train ride around Brackenridge park. Then we went home and played in the pool for a few hours. This heat was going to take some getting used to.

On the 2nd day we headed off to the world famous waterpark, Schlitterbahn. This waterpark is humongous. I think it was over 80 acres. You had to get on a bus to move from one end of the park to the next. The lines for the tube rides were so long. All of us waited in line to ride a tube ride for over an hour and the ride was not worth the wait. After that we just played in the wave pool, and wave float river. There was also a big fun "pirate ship" that had kid sized water slides and all kinds of fun things for the boys. It took quite awhile for Ryan to get comfortable around the water. He's still a little nervous after falling off the jetski a few weeks ago. Ethan did great! He was a champ and even tried the "surfing" ride without thinking twice about it. I didn't even want to try it. We spent 7 hours at the park...we were a little tired at the end of that day. :-)

On the 3rd day we had planned to go to Six Flags. I was a little discouraged with all the hundreds of people at the waterpark and how long we had to stand in line so I decided to call Six Flags and find out if there would be a better time to come to the park when maybe the lines were not so long. I was told that by about 3:30 the lines really die down for an hour or two until the night crowd starts coming. We arrived at the park around 3:30 and spent 6 hours in the park and NEVER had to wait in line. We took turns watching the kids and going on all the big rollercoasters. They had tons of kids rides so all of us had a super great time. This was one of my favorite days. Who wouldn't be happy when they don't have to wait in line for a big super fun rollercoaster?? There was something really amazing about our trip to Six Flags...Ethan. Ethan was a superstar rollercoaster rider. He was just tall enough to ride on a few of the "big kid" rollercoasters. He was 49" tall this year! This is a picture of Ethan riding his first ever upside down rollercoaster. He's my buddy! :-)

The 4th day was a "rest" day but we still went out to do a little sightseeing. The heat made it seem like it wasn't a rest day at all. Mom and I dropped the boys off at the movie theatre while we headed out to tour the San Antonio Mission Trail. We started with the San Juan mission. It was fasinating to see how the Catholic Priests and missionaries from Spain and the Indians they were "converting" lived in the Mission. I like seeing things like this because it's fun for me to think about how people lived many, many years before us. Other then being exceptionally hot... (did I mention how hot it was??) it was neat. We had planned to see the most famous mission, The Alamo, after we picked up the boys.

We picked up the boys, who were starting to get a little grumpy, from the movies and headed to downtown San Antonio to check out the Alamo and take a cruise down the Rio San Antonio. Then we ate some yummy authentic Mexican food right on river. In the end, it really wasn't a day of "rest".

Day 5...This is the one the boys were really excited about...Sea World! We were blessed to be able to get into Sea World free of charge. Busch Gardens parks are offering free admission to active duty soldiers and 3 dependents. During the Shamu show they had soldiers and their families stand up while the crowd clapped and cheered. It was a little emotional for me. It really hit me just how much of our lives are effected by the Iraq conflict. This trip was a perfect example because this is our first summer together in 3 years. I realized that I shouldn't and can't take advantage of the time we have together as a family.

Sea World was a really great park. We stayed for HOURS! The highlights were...eating lunch with Shamu and the gang, we were able to be only 3-5 feet from the killer whales while we ate our lunch, feeding the dolphins, the water rides, the rollercoasters (of course), and another great day with family!!

So on Friday day #6...we REALLY rested. We (the adults) were exhausted! We spent the day laying around reading, taking naps, and playing in the pool. It was a perfect end to a really great vacation. We left for home on Saturday morning. We dropped mom at the airport Saturday morning and then drove home. It was about a 13 hour drive. We got home really early on Sunday morning. Unfortunately we slept for just an hour or two and then had to wake up to take Sam to the airport at 5:30 in the morning so that he could head to Ft. Bragg for a Military Intelligence class. He'll be home next Saturday...the boys and I should be adjusted again by then!

Off to San Antonio!

2008-06-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well it's our turn! We've decided to spend our summer vacation in San Antonio, Texas this year. It all started because Sam's brother was going to be down in that area for a military school and we were all going to be in the same place. Turns out his brother's school was changed. We decided that we'd still go even though we're a little bummed out about not being able to meet up with Ben and his family. The reason we choose San Antonio is because we could drive there (cost effective for a family of four), we could rent a house (with a pool) for reasonable, both g-mas are coming, they have a Sea World, Six Flags, and a super famous water park, the zoo is pretty nice, the Alamo (remember?), and several other fun things.
I'm looking forward to a family trip. The boys are a good age to take on a vacation. Anytime before now we were still having to plan everything around naptime. :-)
When we get home then we have several camping/jet skiing trips planned! It's all about enjoying the Colorado summer! Because winters here stink!!! :-)

What Makes Sam Smile?

2008-05-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows my husband knows that he's a pretty serious guy who rarely really gets super happy. On the bright side of that he rarely ever gets super mad either. That comes in handy when you wreck the car, buy $100 shoes, or get paint on his favorite sweatshirt. I love to see him get super happy and actually smile. He's got a nice smile. This weekend he was glowing with happiness and I just had to take a picture. We bought a jetski about a month ago. He's home for the summer for the 1st time in 3 years and we wanted to make the best of it. He took the jetski into the shop to get tuned up and ready for summer a few days ago. Then on Saturday we hooked up the hose and started it up. Boy did he smile! If it's got a big engine and it goes vroooom then Sam's going to smile! I told him I absolutely had to go into the house and get the camera to capture this moment because it was so fun to see him so excited and happy about something.

Entire Month of May!

2008-05-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

Wow time has passed so quickly this last month. It's been really crazy. I even thought about taking a picture of my dry erase calendar in my kitchen. The end of the school year crept up fast and along with it came all kinds of obligations. I like staying busy but this was a little out of control.

Come to think of it April was a little like that too!

I promised my friends that I would post a picture of Sam and I the night we went to the Army Special Forces Ball. Unfortunately as always the picture of me is yuk! I am not photogenic! Anyway, I'll post a picture....from the waist up. :-)

We had lots of soccer in the month of April and then the last games in mid May and the end of year parties. That was a little crazy. The boys played much the same as ever. They are the "bees" outside of the "beehive". I think they are afraid of getting stung. Even though Ethan said one day as we pulled up to his soccer game..."today I'm going to float like a Cadillac and sting like a Beamer!" That same day Ryan was being a stinker and I said if you don't hurry up we'll be late! His response was "that's o.k."

The next big thing in April was the Pinon Elementary Art Show. Ethan had a piece of art displayed during the show. He was so proud of himself when people would ask him to show them his art. He would walk them over to his "piece" and say "here it is...my work of art!". I must say I was impressed too! They also had an end of year art show at the school where every child had 2 works of art displayed in the hallways. I thought they'd have the same piece but no two more really good art pieces were hanging up. I've been really impressed with the Art teacher and the "Art in a Suitcase" program they have at the school.

Then came May! The month started off great hearing from my best friend Allison who now lives in England. She had baby #3, another little girl. She was a little unexpected but still welcome. Although she says her other girls are more interested in playing in the orchard then holding the baby. Should be a lifetime of her chasing her sisters.

Ethan learned how to ride a bike this month! We took him to Broadmoor Valley Park and put him out on the grass and away he went. He did amazing for his first time. We still need to work on actually turning the bike but we were super impressed with our "little" guy.

Then I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I woke up in the morning to flowers which Ryan informed me were brought by Santa Claus. The boys were super nice to me. Ethan tried to brush my hair for me because he said he loved me and wanted to help make me look pretty. Ryan wore my church shoes around the house because he said he wanted to be like mommy and Sam freaked out (of course) "boy get those shoes off, those are for girls!"

In the middle of May I played in my first ever "real" golf tournament. My partner and I finished in fourth place for our flight and she got closest to the pin on the 8th hole. I actually didn't play that great and was really upset with myself on a few holes but still had fun. I decided years ago that golf was something that I was going to have fun doing or I wasn't going to do at all. I tend to get a little to competitive even with myself and ruin the fun of things. This is a picture of my partner Diane and our other friend Nancy who came along just to ride in the cart. These are the two women I play golf with just about every Tuesday. They know more about me then most people because we spend 4+ hours a week together on the golf course! I did recieve a huge complement that made up for my average golf game. One of the women from the other twosome that was playing with us asked me how old I was. I told her I was turning 36 soon. She said she absolutely did not believe that and thought for certain I was younger then her daughter who just turned 29! YES! Then Nancy and Diane both said they also thought I was in my 20's!!! I've been feeling exceptionally old these days, even shopping for anti-aging lotions and potions. That made my day. The weather was horrible that day in fact on one hole I literally had sleet and hail hitting me in the face when I tee'd off. Oh well, at least I look young. :-)

And last but most certainly not least!! Kindergarten Graduation! I can't believe it. I literally feel like just a month or so ago I was taking pictures of Ethan on his first day of Kindergarten. Man the year flew by fast. Ethan has really changed and matured this last 9-10 months. He's my little helper and super great kid that says funny things ALL the time. I should post some "Ethanisms" just for kicks and giggles. Then all of you could giggle like Sam and I do.

I will post this one Ethanism that just happened a few days ago....we were talking about last names and how we all have the same last name. I told him that when I was a little girl then my last name was Wood because I belonged to the Wood family. He thought about that for a second and then he said...."yeah, then you married a handsome young man named Samuel and I'm sure glad you did because he's a great guy! Someday I'm going to marry a lovely lady like you and she'll be a Walker too!" Have I ever mentioned that Ethan talks about being a teenager or getting married quite often? He's a little man in a little boy's body.

Sam has skills....

2008-04-16T12:28:00.001-07:00

We went to a friends house for a BBQ and I volunteered to bring a salad. I told Sam that we were bringing a green salad and he says "Oh I can make a mean salad!" I'm thinking to myself "really, hmm". So he gives me a few things to buy at the grocery store. I helped him chop up some lettuce but then I got busy helping the kids. When I came back to the kitchen this is what I saw!! It was a piece of art! And very good to boot. I had to compliment him on his "unknown" talents.

Wii love it!

2008-04-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is our families newest entertainment. Quite unplanned really. The story goes like this....Sam kept telling me that if I was out shopping and saw a Wii that I needed to make sure and buy it because they are hard to come by and the guys he works with are always talking about playing Wii games and there are a few guys at work that really want one and can't find one. Of course, I've never looked for a Wii. :-) Today Sam was at Target and got the last one they had. He called me and said I needed to look on e-bay and see how much we could sell it for. However, once he got home we decided to pull it out of the box and see what all the excitement is about. Our entire family (including the boys) spent 3 hours playing Wii games and designing our Mii characters. The boys (and me ;-) had a blast playing golf, baseball, and bowling. I'm absolutely amazed by the technology that is involved in this game system. Insane!!

The boys can hardly wait to wake up tomorrow morning and play the game some more and literally at this very moment Sam is out buying more accessories for the game!! Who'd a thunk it???

Hogle Zoo!

2008-04-09T15:08:00.001-07:00

Spring Break in Utah. We had tons of fun visiting the zoo. We're just a bunch of animals!!

Trip to California Slide Show

2008-04-09T15:00:00.001-07:00

March 14th Snowman

2008-03-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

What did you do today? Did you make a snowman? Well if not then you're day was not complete!! It was the most perfect snow for making snowmen that the boys and I could not resist getting out there and making our first snowman of the season.

She sews!

2008-03-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is a very proud moment in my life...my first ever quilt! I learned how to sew back in December when Tagan ever so kindly took the time to show me how a sewing machine works and how to sew a simple pattern. Now I have the entire basement as a sewing room (yes I own a sewing machine, and several other sewing "necessities" now)!! Sam moved up into the living room and I moved my sewing machine and music downstairs. The other day I sat down and sewed a fun little baby quilt for my nephew, Otto, who was born last Saturday. My mom and I are headed to California on Sunday to deliver it!
I'm really excited about sewing. Had you known me when I was 15 years old you'd be surprised that I actually enjoy plugging in my Zune (that's the Microsoft version of the Ipod for those of you who didn't know...like myself until my husband got me one for Christmas) and sewing for a few hours! I've also sewed new sheers for our master bathroom. I will say that both the quilt and the sheers are less then perfect. I fact it's really best if they are viewed from a distance!!
I'm encouraging all you others out there who've ever wanted to learn how to sew to just do it!! It's something that our ancestors had to do and it's something that our generation really should do. TRADITIONS! (I like that movie...can anyone name the movie? :-)

Quote from Majorie Hinckley

2008-03-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

I came across this quote today and it really hit home for me....I 100% agree (except maybe the part about the sports car, that would be nice LOL) with the late Sister Hinckley!

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from

taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes

from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge

of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed

someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived!!

AMEN!! Nothing makes me happier then helping family, friends, and neighbors. I feel inspired by Sis. Hinckley's quote. What a wonderful woman!

Slow Down...

2008-02-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

I know none of you ever feel like you just need to slow down. I know none of you are running from point A to point B only to remember you completely forgot about needing to go to C, D, and even E!! Well...today I got a nice "friendly" reminder that I need to slow down.

I have been feeling crazy lately. From 7 am to noon I'm running like a chicken with my head cut off! Of course I got pulled over while I was driving from one patients house to the next and the whole time I'm thinking if I don't get to point "B" soon then I'm not going to have time to get to point "C" which was picking my son up from preschool! uggg....

Needless to say it was a construction zone so now I have to go to traffic court too! Great one more point to head to on my already crazy schedule. SMILE!

Loser....

2008-02-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

I'm NOT "making the cut". Oh well. Life does go on....

Making the Cut

2008-02-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

I'm attempting to "make the cut" right now. What does that mean exactly? Well it means I've got some serious areas of my body that need to be "cut" off. So I'm teaming up with Tagan to see if we can lose that last 20 lbs in the next 30 days. If I really wanted to lose the weight I'd post my "before" pictures that you're required to take so that you can have something to compare. I'm afraid I don't want to lose the weight that bad!! :-) I almost started crying in my bathroom after I took the pictures. I don't remember eating that many donuts!!
I've been doing some intense exercise this past week. May I say...I'm getting old! I'm so stiff and sore...ugg. I remember playing basketball for hours and not even feeling even a little discomfort. This stinks. Let's just hope this works because I can handle anymore disappointments. LOL Anyone else want to join our party....come on you know you want to be the strongest, sexiest you ever!!

Making Homemade Candy Canes

2007-12-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

This week we were invited to participate in a long standing family tradition with the Baer family in our ward. They are a wonderful family. They have a tradition of making candy canes every year with their children. The tradition is passed down from Dan's family. They gave a nice lesson on the candy cane and all the meanings behind the shape, the colors, and how it applies to our Savior, Jesus. There were several families who were invited and had the opportunity to see how it is done. I've never been privy to homemade candy before so I found it fascinating. We got to pull the candy until it became white, mix the food coloring with the candy to make stripes, and then the Baer family starting pulling, twisting, and cutting off pieces. The kids then got to take it to the table and shape it into a candy cane. What a super fun evening!! What a treat to be invited to participate in this family tradition.

Rampart Range

2007-12-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Sam got a fancy new pistol recently (which he very firmly states was purchased specifically for me since it's for someone with smaller hands ;-) and so he wanted to take the boys out to shot the gun. The boys and I went sledding while Sam played with his gun and then after sledding the boys got to have one turn each shooting daddy's gun. Ethan was really interested in shooting. Ryan thought it was to loud. He did want to shoot though. It was a nice Saturday morning Walker family outing.

P.S. that's the famous Pike's Peak in the background.

The Christmas Spirit

2007-12-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of year! Our house is most definitely buzzing with the Christmas Spirit right now. The boys are super excited! I thought last year was fun but it looks like this year will be even more fun....(for mom and dad :-)

We took the boys to see Santa yesterday. They spent the afternoon drawing pictures and making their lists. Ryan spent the day singing Santa Clause is Coming to Town which is his new favorite song. (See video) Ryan went right up onto Santa's lap and explained everything on his list. It was fun to see Ethan still believing in Santa. It won't be long before he's in on the secret so I'm enjoying it while I can.

We of course are still focusing on the true reason for the season, our Savior. The boys enjoy listing to the scripture stories and often tell me what they've learned. It's refreshing to have children who enjoy the scriptures. Ethan said "Mom I know Jesus is really important but Santa is the bomb!" He's a crack up. You really just have to spend a short amount of time around Ethan before he says something hilarious.

I hope all of you are enjoying the wonderful Spirit that comes with this time of year....I know I am.

3 year old singing Santa Clause is Coming to Town

2007-12-10T11:02:00.001-08:00

Soccer Begins

2007-09-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Has fall really arrived? The beginning of soccer usually means the beginning of fall and last year it meant the beginning of winter as we had 3 games cancelled because of snow. I can't hardly believe it. I'm not ready for snow again. I've loved summer here in Colorado! No snow! Maybe we'll have a mild winter this year. Of course, my first winter in CO was the worst in many, many years.

This year my baby...Ryan started soccer! I can't believe it. He's a little more athletically inclined then Ethan and so he was super ready to play soccer. He's been trying on his uniform for weeks. The big day finally arrived and he was ready. It was hilarious to watch a 3 year old play soccer. He spent most of the time chasing his shoelaces and chewing on the string to his shorts. If the coach gave him a chance to kick the ball then he stayed in there at least until the other kids took the ball away. He's playing with kids that are 4 going on 5 because I wanted him to play on the same team as his friend from church, Jackson. Jackson missed the first game but we're excited to have everyone next week.

Ethan is getting better and better every year. I count it as a good game when Ethan doesn't cry and he stays on the field the entire time the coach expects. :-) We discovered last year that Ethan has poor muscle endurance and so he gets tired much quicker then other kids his age. He was in physical therapy for almost a year but graduated. Now we just try and keep him active. Honestly, I think he'd be better suited behind a piano because he is very musically inclined. Or maybe a stand-up comic microphone. Hmmm.....

A GOOD Labor Day Weekend...

2007-09-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

I must admit...Labor Day weekend is not my favorite weekend in the year. It's the end of summer and traditionally has been a "bad news" weekend. So I was happy to have my mom in town this year and to be able to have an enjoyable time.

We started the weekend by attending the Colorado Springs Hot Air Balloon Classic. They had 81 hotair balloons all take off at 6:30 in the morning. We dragged the kids out of bed because we knew they'd love it. And they did....except Ryan thought it was a little loud when we were right down in the middle of the balloons and spent most of the time with his ears covered. Ethan was his usually self when he's super excited about something...full of constant chatter. You can tell by the pictures that he couldn't even stop talking long enough to have his picture taken. He looking, pointing, talking, and getting his picture taken!

After the balloon festival we went to Ihop for breakfast. Ethan has been dying for smiley face pancakes for weeks!

Next, we took the boys camping! I haven't been camping in years. I've wanted to go but didn't want to take small children. I was excited when the boys started talking about wanting to go camping after setting up their Star Wars tent in the bedroom. I asked mom if she'd like to go camping with us. I definitely didn't want to be out camping alone with just the boys and I. Even having two women and no men attracted attention from fellow campers. :-) We had a camper on the right come over and let us know if we needed anything just to let him know and a camper on the left that came over and started our fire! I will admit that our fire was being stubborn and because of the weather not really starting well. He came over with newspaper and lighter fluid...I'll remember those next time. ;-)

We arrived at the campsite in the middle of a horrible rain storm. Fun. So we all sat in the van and played Uno for an hour. I was amazed at Ryan who is 3 years old! He played right along with us and for the most part understood the concept of the game. Finally the rain subsided and we pitched the tent. The boys were beside themselves with excitement. We got the tent pitched just in time for the storms to come again. The boys stayed in the tent and mom and I sat under the back door of the van. The wind started blowing pretty hard and the boys were screaming with joy. Ethan said "get down it's a tornado!". I took a picture just for the visual. Mom and I were laughing. I was secretly thinking it was time to go home. But the weather subsided and we had a wonderful rest of the night.

The best part about the storm was the rainbow! We actually had a double rainbow. I've never seen anything so beautiful. We were all pretty excited about the rainbow.

It was a great deal of fun to go camping but I was glad it was only one night. If I'm going to do any amount of camping I'm going to need a much more comfortable sleeping arrangement!

So that's the story of my GOOD Labor Day weekend! Hopefully, there will be a few more of these in the years to come. :-)

Kitchen Blog

2007-09-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a new kitchen! Isn't that every girl's dream? I know I've been looking forward to it for about a year. We bought the house about a year ago. :-) Here are some fun before and middle pictures. We took out the wall seperating the dining room and kitchen and closed off the door into the kitchen from the front door. The end result is a nice big open space that will be super fun when it's finished. I'll post more pictures later!

2007-08-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, I read your blog. Took me a while for figure out how to post. That just goes to show how old I am.

The Blog Begins

2007-08-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Never thought I'd be a blogger. A few years ago the word didn't even exist!
Never thought I'd play Bunco either. 10 months ago I didn't even know what bunco was.... This past week my bunco pals and I were talking about blogging. I was feeling a little behind the times when I realized, I didn't have a blogspot. What no blogspot! Imagine.
I'm only blogging because I hope to keep in better contact with family and friends. That is always my objective with the computer...maintain family and friendship relations. I'm deeply connected to people who've touched my life in some way or another. I like to take one good quality from every person I meet and incorporate it into my life in some way. I learned that after attending the funeral of a handsome young man with whom I attended high school. His family said he did that. I admired him so much and felt such great pain that he was taken from this earth that I decided at that time I would do the same thing.
Take for instance my friend Allison. She's amazing. She knows how to go with the flow better then anyone I know. Fortunately for her the flow has taken her all over Europe! Now that's a trait I really admire. :-)
Take my friend Georgia. Another amazing gal. I say gal because she's just bubbly and bright...full of sunshine. You just wouldn't call her a woman. The term doesn't fit. She taught me that life is full of surprises and it never hurts to make lemonade out of lemons. She also taught me that I may never want to have two babies at the same time even though I've wanted twins since I was old enough to know I could have babies.
So here I am blogging. Just because I want to keep in contact with friends and family. The core of my life.