Over Memorial Day Weekend we decided to take a trip down south. Last minute planning occasionally works for us :)

We managed to find a really good deal on a Hotel for the weekend, and Friday night Walker and I got the car loaded and as soon as Jeremy got home from work we took off.

Walker loved the ride, only asked "Are we there yet" a couple of times. He really liked seeing the city lights in Salt Lake as we drove past.

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Hogle Zoo. We were a little worried because the weather forecast was calling for rain.  Lucky for us we got to wander around, see everything that we wanted to see, the rain started just as the bird show was finishing. We rushed to the gift shop and hid there until it slowed down.

 Jeremy and Walker outside Hogle Zoo entrance

 The really cool globe on a water fountain. Walker thought it was really cool because he could turn it on the cushion of water.

 This Elephant made noise and squirted water out of its nose, it was rather funny

 Walker and the Tigers

After the zoo on Saturday we drove around a little, did some window shopping and headed back to the Hotel. Walker wanted to go swimming and loved trying to drown his dad. My little fish keeps getting better and better every time he gets to swim.

On Sunday we headed to The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was a nice relaxing place to walk around and see all the different kinds of marine life. 

 Walker petting a Ray

The lighting was a little strange here, so the picture is a little blurry, but he loved the Frog lol

So much has gone on since last post. I am rather horrible at keeping this blog updated. We are all doing well and managing to survive life. 

Jeremy is working at Century Link and loving it. I think he really enjoys being able to have weekends AND holidays off. He seems to be doing well, and is not quite as grumpy or tired when he gets home at night. 

Walker just graduated the 2nd Grade. I can't believe that my little boy is going to be a 3rd grader....where did time go? He loves to ride his bike and has a new found love of Cub Scouts. We went to Day Camp at Krupp Scout Hollow last weekend and he had a blast learning all sorts of different things. He is looking forward to Family Camp in Island Park in August. He is getting smarter and smarter every day and he astounds me with the words that he can read. I swear it was just yesterday that he was asking me for help sounding out every other word.

Life doesn't slow down for me, between work and scouts and starting college again I seem to have less and less time. The joys of being a mom to a wonderful kid and a wife to a wonderful man. 

Summer

Summer was here and gone before I even got a chance to really enjoy it.  I do have to admit that it was a fun filled time for Walker, he loved summer vacation but missed school. Walker will be starting at a new school this year. Monticello Montessori Charter School will open its doors on Sept 20 2010 and Walker will start 1st grade. He is so excited to go to a new school and I am very excited for a new learning program for him. I have been a fan of Montessori for quite awhile and was very excited to learn that a new school was coming to our area.
Between work and life in general it has been a busy summer. Walker spent his days playing outside and getting quite the tan (it makes me jealous)
The Blue Angels came and did an air show in Idaho Falls, we are lucky (maybe not the right word due to the noise for the whole week while they practiced) enough to live close to the airport and were able to watch most of the show from our front yard. Walker and Jeremy spend the day on the lawn with the lawn chairs and of course the hose (Walkers favorite summer accessory)

August came and it was finally time to go CAMPING!!!!!!!! I love camping and I love going to Tendoy with the family. Its so nice and peaceful, great conversations and time by the campfire, and the 4 wheeler rides (cant forget those lol)
We decided that 3 days wasnt long enough last year so Jeremy, Walker, Paul, and I left Tuesday morning. We arrived and were immediately greeted by starving super mosquitoes. I firmly believe these bugs were immune to mosquito repellent.........we came home with so many bites our whole bodies itched.
Walker got the worst of it though, a few days after we got home he broke out in a severe case of hives. The only thing I can think of was that it was an allergic reaction to the bites. The Dr. put him on steroids and zyrtec and benadryll, luckily within a few days they had dissapeared and he returned to normal.

We got some new family pictures taken (Im horrible about getting them done). Jeremys cousin Matt was kind enough to take them for us, they turned out amazing!!!!

Well thats the last few months crammed into a short post. I hope everyone had a great summer!

I have been terribly remiss about blogging as of late. Not because there are a million things going on in our lives, but rather because of sheer laziness.  I do still log in and read everyones updates and stories of life and children and each time I do I think to myself "I should really update, so everyone knows that we are still alive and kicking", but something always pulls me away from the computer.  So here we are almost 1:30 in the morning I'm finally finding the time to type.

Walker is still doing very well in school. At his last parent teacher conference I was happily informed that he is a "strong student" and that there isn't really anything that his teacher believes that we need to focus on with him at home. I am however to remind him to always try to pay attention when she is talking. She informed me that he is not the one starting the conversations but rather the other children sitting next to him that just love to talk to him, and she says that she can see him trying his hardest to not talk, but it just gets the best of him. He lost his first tooth while at school (it would have happened at home if he would have just let us wiggle it out). It came out while he was in gym (his FAVORITE part of the week), and apparently after much crawling around on the floor the prized tooth was found and placed in a tooth shaped necklace to bring home. Apparently however while at recess this necklace came apart and was lost on the playground. Walker came home and firmly announced "It's ok mom, I will just lose another tooth and then the tooth fairy can come visit". As the mom (and maybe its just me) I was sad that I wasn't going to get to hold onto (just for a little while) that first lost tooth. I calmly explained to him that the tooth fairy knew that he lost it, and she would find it and still come visit him, that put a huge smile on his face. He is now working on his second tooth, maybe this one will come out at home, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Walker has always been very fond of animals and loves them all, and is always telling us that he wishes we still had a cat so he had a pet.  Due to his allergies a cat was out of the question, so (putting aside my fears) Walker now has 2 pet mice. Stuart and Ralph have been an interesting addition to our family, they are lively little guys who sleep all day and run all night.  I do have to admit that I even enjoy watching them play on the mouse wheel, they have it all figured out, the run and run and run and then hang on and flip around and around, its hilarious to watch and sends Walker into giggles. Walker is responsible for helping clean the cage every week and making sure that they have food and water, he has done a great job so far and I firmly believe that he will continue to do so. He is so proud of his pets and will tell anyone that asks all about them.

Life here is pretty much the same as always, the house may not ever be spotless but we are happy and content. There is a roof over our heads, beds to sleep in, food to eat, and love for each other.  I'm so grateful for my little family, and the joy and happiness they bring me every day. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful husband who adores spending time with our son, he may not be the best at helping out around the house, but the time that he spends with Walker more than makes up for that in my eyes.

Birthday and Christmas Pictures

Happiness comes from family

It's that wonderful time of year, my favorite to be more precise. From Thanksgiving all the way to New Years'. The time that we get to eat what we want, and spend tons of time with loved ones.
This year was no different and I am very thankful for that.
Thanksgiving was spent with my family in Blackfoot, it was a nice relaxing day, except for the fact that the grey cloud of Black Friday was looming over Jeremys' head all day long. This year he was part of a "Response" team and had to go in at 3:30am, needless to say there was an exceptionally early bedtime for him that night.
The day after Thanksgiving the tree went up, Walker and I stayed home while Jeremy went and "played" with all the crazy shoppers. I have been known to attend the crazy Black Friday events, but this year with Jeremy working and no one crazy enough to go with me and lack of childcare I was lucky enough to avoid it all :)
 I love watching Walkers face light up with the joy of Christmas. He loved decorating the tree with all the ornaments that he has made over the last few years, and picked out his "favorite" store bought ones (the blue sparkle ones). For a craft one day we made a Christmas Countdown paper chain and he enjoyed taking a chain off every night and really liked when it was getting closer to his birthday, without any thought of my own the countdown served two purposes!
For Walkers Birthday this year we decided to stay home and just invite a few people over for cake and ice cream, it was so much nicer and quieter than the place that Walker would have chosen, but I prefer it this way.
Christmas Eve was here before we knew it and Walker kept asking every 10 min if it was time to go to Gigi's house for dinner, he was so excited to go spend time with his various family members. Christmas Day was just as neat, we started off the day by opening presents at home and seeing what Santa had brought him, then one of my favorites Breakfast at Kris and Donalees! After stuffing ourselves and having great conversations, we headed down to Blackfoot to round out the day.
I am so thankful to live close to both of our families. They are all amazing people and I am truly blessed to have all of them in my life.

As the year winds down, I start to think back on the events of this past year. So much has happened both good and bad, but we are all happy and healthy and have loved ones close that we can spend time with. For all of you reading this, thank you for all your love and support, we love you so much and look forward to another great year filled with many fun memories!!!

Still Here

For those of you that follow this blog....We have not dropped off the face of the planet. I've been so busy with getting christmas presents made and trying to keep the house in order, I just haven't been able to find those "extra" minutes in the day to post.
Walker was a Ghost for Halloween and he was so neat, he made all the ghostly noises. I have a pic of his finished costume but its still on the camera, so as soon as I get it uploaded I will post it so everyone can see how "cute" he is/was for that great candy day.
Jeremy is still busy busy busy at Wal~Mart getting everything ready for Black Friday and all the Christmas stuff that follows.
I've just been spending my days, sewing, crocheting, and trying to keep the house cleaned. I have decided that I am backwards in my thinking, I don't usually do spring cleaning, I do it all in the fall (I know there is something wrong with me) so on that note, I have been deep cleaning every room and trying to organize it all so when I go looking for something its the first place I look instead of the last.
I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family, and Christmas with Jeremy's family. I love this time of year, it's my favorite!!!!
Until next time,,,,,,,

Road Trip Pictures

For anyone that didn't already hear, my sister Keri took a job with the Air Force in Alabama. She made all the plans to drive across the country and I went with her so she didn't have to do it alone. It was tons of fun and I thought that I should post some of the pictures that I took along the way.

The Antler Arch in Jackson Hole

An Elk in Yellowstone

The Tetons

taken in Grand Teton National Park

Devils Tower

Bambi at Devils Tower

Another shot of Devils Tower

Mt. Rushmore

Its so majestic

An original Sun Stone from the Nauvoo Temple

The Nauvoo Temple

So amazing!

The Mississippi River

Snake River Youth Jam

The Snake River Youth Jam was this last weekend, it actually ran from Thursday to Saturday but with all our other things that go on we didn't get a chance to make it down there until Saturday

It was a little chilly but we bundled up and Walker had a blast

Here he is painting the big xylophone and then he grabbed a mallet and played it for a little bit too

The graffiti wall, he thought it was really neat that he got to paint on a wall and not get in trouble for it, I had to make sure to stress that wall painting is only ok at the river...lol

This is Junk Jam, they have all sorts of things strung up and there are bats and sticks and tennis rackets to bang on all of it, he had to make sure to hit each and every thing that was up there and told me all about the different noises each one made

He wanted to go to the little overlook thing and see the falls, I couldn't pass up the chance for a cute photo

"The Duck" every year there is a duck race you can adopt a duck and if it is one of the first ones to go over the falls you win a prize. Walker thought this duck was "AMAZING" he told me that he had to have a picture because "its bigger than daddy"

The Fireman Challenge was here this year, we started to watch some of it but as Walker is only 5 he got a little restless, they had this area set up for the kids challenge but it wasnt going on while we were there, the nice people let Walker put on a hemlet and fire jacket so we could take a pic.

It was about 3 hours well spent mommy and Walker time. I love the fact that things like this take place along the river, its something different to do and helps break up our semi boring lives

Camping

What a wonderful weekend we just had, spending time with family out in the great outdoors.

The "Family Reunion" Camping trip turned out wonderfully. Tendoy is such a beautiful place, so quiet and peacefull (even with the kids running around crazy)

There was lots of time to chat and catch up with each other and everyone got a chance to ride the 4-wheelers.

Regan and Leah Playing

Sara, Nancy, Grandma, Natalie, and Abi playing cards while waiting for dinner

Uncle Wynn and Uncle Paul hanging out before dinner

Eric

Kris working on the ultimate "Harry Potter Stick" for Tal

Donalee and Tal playing the bean bag game (I can't ever remember the name of it...sorry)

Im sure that Donalee got way more pictures of everyone and better ones as well, I was doing too much "relaxing" I think to take many pictures.

All in all it was the best weekend of the summer. Walker's first camping experience, first 4-wheeler experience and first mosquito bites lol.

I look forward to doing it again next year!!!

Thank you everyone for all the work you put into planning and excuting this fabulous weekend!!!

6 years

I can't believe that it has been 6 years already....where does all the time go?

Jeremy,

I love you, you have made my life so wonderful. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for us. Thank you so much for being such an amazing husband and father. I am truly blessed to have you in my life.

Road Trip

A couple of days ago I was talking to my sister Keri, she is getting ready to move to Alabama for her job. The best part is that she will be able to come visit before she has to go that far away. I will be going with her on the drive over there so she doesn't have to drive alone. I am so excited! There will be fun stops along the way like Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, and Nauvoo. A couple places that I have not been before and one that I have always wanted to go back to. I will be flying home on the 29th of Aug, just a few short days before my baby starts school.

There will be lots of pictures when I get back, but I was just so excited that I needed to blog about it lol.

Sleeplessness

How is it that all daylong while I'm running around, trying to keep up with a 5 year old that only has 1 speed (super fast), barely able to stay awake that when the time comes to go to bed I'm stuck lying there staring at the ceiling?

So, since it's 1 in the morning and I'm wide awake I figured that I should use this time to update.

Summer has hit us (finally) and Walker is enjoying every minute of it, he is almost always outside on his bike or in the "kiddie" pool or playing with the neighbor kids. I'm so grateful for an apartment with a yard, and not to mention the church parking lot across the street that has become the best place to try to teach him how to ride his bike without training wheels. I have to admit that I am so nervous about taking them off his bike, and thought that I had hid it very well. However he is adamently against removing them. He tells me that he can go faster with them on, they are his "power boosters". School will be starting in about a month and I'm dreading and looking forward to him going to kindergarten. I'm still in shock that he is old enough (maybe it's denial), I have waited for this time to come forever it seems, and now I'm not ready to let him go.

I can't wait to see how much more he learns, we have been working on what we call pre-school time (basically me sitting down with him and some printouts of letters numbers and recently started small books) for several years, and he still amazes me with what he has learned. Just tonight he came up and told me what our phone number was, I haven't even really focused on that yet.

Jeremy is still plugging along at Wal~Mart and trying to survive the remodel of the store, he comes home almost everyday with a new story about what department has been torn apart and scattered across the store. I think that he will be so glad when it is done. I do have to admit that I don't like to go in there while they are working on the remodel, its a mess and things are hard to find.

I have hopes to be able to go camping at the end of the month around Jeremy's birthday with the family, I think Walker would really enjoy it since his only outdoor sleeping experience was in our backyard just a couple weeks ago. Being a typical boy I am sure that there will be lots of dirt and mud involved, but the experience is worth it. I spent many wonderful summers camping and I want to be able to share that with him.

I am grateful everyday for everything that I get to share with Walker, I feel like I missed out so much when he was younger and I was working, I value being able to stay home with him and see him grow. Honestly, this is the best job I could ever have, and he reminds me of that every day.

4th of July Outfits

Once again my friend and neighbor and I decided to make all the kids matching outfits for the 4th.

this is the group minus one

Our friends girls Megan, Katie, Erynn, Melissa's neice Kaycee

Melissa's son Alex, her neice Ashlynn her daughter Gaby and Walker

and our neighbor Chelsea's son Hunter

and ofcourse one of Walker

A day at the river

Walker and I decided since the weather was nice that we would pack a picnic lunch and go to the river and eat and feed the ducks/geese.

He had a blast throwing the bread and he made it all the way around the greenbelt, Im so proud of him!

The gaggle of geese in the flooded area of the greenbelt

The rainbow that Walker saw and made me stop and turn around to see, it is pretty awesome

Walker thought it was really cool to feed the geese and that the baby ones would walk close up to him to get the bread

Some of the greenbelt has flooded and the kids and ducks/geese alike are loving it