Homecoming

Grandma and Grandpa Walker made it home! We got there a little early, so we had plenty of time to sit and talk to family (and to play with the baggage carousel).


Finally they came down the escalator! Sorry about the fuzzy picture- I accidentally had the camera on the high sensitivity setting.


There was much hugging, laughing, crying, and lots and lots of talking.


Grandma and Grandpa really are the glue that holds the family together. They are so kind, and my kids have no doubts about how much they are loved. I see many trips to Levan in our near future... especially now that we live only 1 hour away!

Band Concert

Rebekah has an awesome band teacher this year. Mr. Mott does amazing things with 7th graders, and his percussion ensemble in particular is amazing. This was a combined jr. high/ high school concert, and everyone did a great job. Ethan got done with his basketball practice at the rec center next door just in time to hear the marching band (Marching inside. Not quite ear-drum-popping, but almost.). He thought they were pretty cool.

Sleeping Beauty

That's who she's going to be for Halloween, too!

Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa Walker are coming home on Monday!

They have been serving in the Australia Brisbane mission for the last year and a half, and we are so excited to see them! We took everyone down to their house this afternoon to clean up and get things ready for their arrival. It was fun to be there again, but after a little while the kids started asking, "Can we come back when Grandma and Grandpa are here?" It's not quite the same without them.

Tim will not, unfortunately, be able to go to the airport to see them come home- he has his hardest statistics class on Monday, and he's afraid if he misses it once he might never catch up. Instead, the kids and I will go up (along with Tim's brothers and sisters) to greet them. Tim will see them as soon as he can- I know he has really missed them.

It will be nice to have them back... and we'll be way closer than we ever have been- only an hour (instead of the four hours we're used to). I am so blessed to have these wonderful people as my in-laws. They are kind, patient, generous, and loving, and they are wonderful grandparents. We are so grateful to have them in our lives!

Colorado Trip

This last weekend was UEA, so the kids didn't have school Thursday through Monday. To take advantage of the break, the kids and I (following Grandma and Grandpa in their car) drove to Fort Collins to visit Katy and Erin and kids. Max turned twelve last week, so we got to be there for his Aaronic Priesthood ordination, as well. We had a great time- they live in a beautiful neighborhood with trails, ponds, a waterfall, and this park that we played at:

Grandpa pushing Ethan.

Shoeless Price.


Grandpa got quite the workout- here he is pushing Jenna while Kira watches.

Cute girls- Jenna, Anna, Emma

Josh in mid-jump!

We also did plenty of just hanging out- watching movies, playing games,

messing up cousins' bedrooms (but they have such cool toys!),


playing computer and watching the fish.

Saturday was Max's birthday party. Katy and Erin took us all to a corn maze to celebrate. We successfully navigated the maze, but endured much walking and complaining in the process. I have decided that I don't really like corn mazes. If I'm going to walk that far, I want something to look at besides dessicated corn stalks.



This one was taken by Annie. She was very serious about getting everyone to pose.


The rest of the day was spent in the corn box (no wonder I'm still dumping corn out of pockets and shoes!),


braving the inside of the Beast,


playing on the bouncing pillow,


driving fun pedal Go-Carts (Rebekah and Price were troopers, and rode with little kids on their laps- boy were their legs tired by the end!)



and riding on the barrel train "roller coaster".


We ended the day with dinner at Wendy's, and ice cream sandwich cake back at home.


We all had a good time- thanks, Katy!

Group Lessons with Grandma

Emma and Scotty at their monthly group piano lesson last week. Emma has been asking several times a week when the next one would be. Finally! It's a good thing we have such an amazing grandma!

Visiting the Pumpkin Patch

For weeks we have been driving past a yard on 1600 N. in Orem, admiring the huge piles of pumpkins for sale. After perusing the $4.97 mediocre pumpkins at Walmart, we knew we definitely needed to pay the "pumpkin house" a visit. Last Tuesday we finally made it. Each kid chose their own pumpkin (notice Josh's- he identifies with long, skinny things for some strange reason...). Anna's pumpkin was $1. The rest were $2 each. There were much bigger pumpkins- up to $20 for gorgeous, huge ones. We refrained, however, and now have 6 beautiful pumpkins residing under the table in the entry, waiting to be carved.

Tags

We will be leaving tomorrow to drive to Colorado for my nephew's 12th birthday and confirmation. Tim can't come (oh why can't BYU take UEA weekend off?), so I am driving with all of the kids. My parents are also coming, but in another car. I guess if it gets too bad I can pawn a kid or two off on them, but I do have to drive the entire way. We have lots of movies and audio books. Don't you wish you could go in my place? Yes? Be here at 8 a.m. tomorrow, and I'll let you! Seriously, though, wish me luck on our 7 or 10 hour drive.

In the meantime, I'll finish these tags. Well, only one was really a tag. Sarah sent this one:

This is the fourth photo in the fourth folder on my computer:


This is one of the walls of the Heidelberg Castle that we visited while chaperoning the Model United States Senate students in Germany last spring.
Was it really only a few months ago that I was there?

This other tag is from Meredith, although she didn't actually tag me- it just looked like fun. Plus I'm looking for excuses not to pack my kid's clothes.

One Word Answers:

1. Where is your cell phone? charger
2. Where is your significant other? meeting
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? patient
5. Your father? steady
6. Your favorite thing? ring
7. Your dream last night? forget
8. Your dream/goal? eternity (sorry, had to steal that one, Meredith)
9. The room you're in? basement
10. Your hobby? baking
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? pumpkinpatch :)
14. What you're not? svelte
15. One of your wish-list items? books
16. Where you grew up? West
17. The last thing you ate? grapes
18. What are you wearing? t-shirt
19. Your TV? playstation
20. Your pet? none
21. Your computer? on (well, duh!)
22. Your mood? anticipatory
23. Missing someone? Tim
24. Your car? Sienna
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? book
27. Your summer? relocation
28. Love someone? family
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? dinner
31. Last time you cried? Conference

I tag Rebekah and Jenni. You can choose which one you do.

Good Speller?

Ethan brought home a 2nd grade spelling test the other day.

One of the words was "side".

He wrote "sighed".

He got it wrong.

I don't think I'm worried about his spelling.

Living with Mom and Dad

When someone finds out that we're living in my parent's house, they usually say, "Oh, are they on a mission?" We reply that no, we are actually living WITH them. In the same house. All ten of us together, one big happy family. Most people can't seem to really wrap their brain around that one. Mostly, I think they have sympathy for my Mom and Dad, and they probably have a point. There are some things about living together that aren't always easy, but there are also lots of really good things about our situation. So I've decided to compile a list:

The Advantages of Living With My Parents

1- Grandma teaches 5 of my kids piano lessons. She is really good. And knowing that she teaches them a weekly lesson, I am actually motivated to help them practice. They have made lots of progress since we got here- and they got to play in a hymn recital last night. As far as I'm concerned, piano lessons is a HUGE plus to living here.

2- I very rarely cook and do the dishes in the same night. On most weeknights, I cook dinner, since Mom is teaching piano. Dad usually does the dishes. Sweet.

3- I have someone (aka an adult) to talk to during the day when the older kids are at school and Tim is gone. It is nice to talk in person with my Mom- not just occasionally over the phone.

4- My children are really getting to know their grandparents. I think this may be a problem when we eventually move out... ("Aren't Grandma and Grandpa coming with us?") The other day at school, Emma had to draw a picture of "My Family". I was thrilled that her drawing contained 10 people- Grandma and Grandpa are definitely part of our family.

5- Annalise not only asks when Daddy is coming home, but also when Grandpa is coming home.

6- Although I try to keep things clean and to keep all of our junk out of the way, I fall short a lot. I am grateful for my mother's patience with our mess, and I love having another mom in the house to share the workload. That's the one thing that's always been slightly attractive to me about polygamy.... Just Kidding!

7- It really is an advantage to have 4 adults in the house to counterbalance the 6 kids. I feel like my kids are picking up traits and learning values that I'm not always great at teaching them. Plus, I'm a tiny bit more patient with my kids when I know my parents can hear me yelling!

8- My parents live in a great place. We love the ward, the neighborhood, the view of the mountains, the schools... it will be hard to leave when our time here is done.

We didn't originally plan to be living here with my parents... in fact, when it was first brought up, I thought it was a terrible idea, mostly for their sake. Things just worked out this way, and now that we're here, I'm glad they did. Tim and I are so grateful for their willingness to take us on- we aren't easy, I know. They are really making Tim's education possible. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Maybe someday we can return the favor! :)

A different point of view

I'm not exactly sure which one of these cute kids "borrowed" my camera this week, but I've found some interesting photos... they show a slightly different view of our home life.

Cousin Abby on the fridge.

Let's face it- I never take pictures of the REALLY important stuff!

My kids must get this view of me a lot- it seems like I'm always in the kitchen.

A carpet downstairs. Now see, I would never have thought to record this for posterity!


Ethan's stuffed eagle, Soar.



This is a leaf-shaped cupcake topper that Ethan brought home from a classmate's birthday party.


Emma's dolphin music box- do you like the extra "decorations" on the base?

And finally, this was the view out the back door this morning. Snow! The kids were so, so excited. It has been 18 months since they've seen any of the white stuff.

Tagged

This is a tag from Debie: seven random facts about me. Hmm... I'm not sure I have enough brain power left for this tonight, but I'll try.

1- There are certain things that get cleaned every day in my house. The kitchen floor is not one of them. I don't mind sweeping, but mopping gets put off... and put off... until I stick to the floor. Then it's so bad that I have to scrub it on my hands and knees. Not the smartest plan, I know.

2- Giraffes are my favorite animal. I think I must relate to the long neck or something....

3- I refuse to buy school pictures. I do buy class pictures and the occasional yearbook. It's just the $20 per kid for 6 kids that really turns me off. I also hate that I have very little control over how the school pictures turn out- at home, I can fix hair, change clothes, and then take about 50 pictures so I can choose the very best. In theory, I take my own pictures of each kid and order 8x10 prints from Snapfish for a lot less money. In reality, the photos we have up are 2 years old. But hey- I'm trying.

4- I am married to my 4th cousin. It wasn't intentional. We found out when we were doing family history a few months after our wedding. Apparently my grandpa and Tim's grandma knew each other- they were 2nd cousins. Our kids are all very cute and smart, by the way. No damage done. The really funny thing is that this has happened multiple times in my family- I think 4 of us are married to semi-distant relatives.

5- I read really fast. Always have. And I am always reading. I have been known to read while I vacuum, shower, and ride a bike (that last one hasn't happened for about 25 years). Don't worry- no reading while I drive. I get carsick.

6- Along those lines, I can't play 3-D type computer or video games. They make me carsick, too. My kids think I'm weird.

7- Carbs are definitely my weakness. I love desserts. At various times in my life (like when nursing twins) I have been known to make an impromptu carb feast by mixing butter, brown sugar and milk, heating it in the microwave, and adding oatmeal. That may sound fairly healthy, but with the proportions I used, it was more like a bowl of no bake cookies. I ate it all. Out of the bowl. With a spoon.