Eliza in her Bumbo

 I'm not sure who took these pictures- probably Annie, since she was home with Tim and Price during our rehearsals and part of our performance of Christmas in the Grove.  

I am so grateful for Tim, who made it possible for me to sing in the choir this year.  Since it's only once a year, I really have a hard time thinking I should miss it.  So I didn't- I went to the first practice when Eliza was 2 1/2 weeks old.  She pretty much screamed most of the time for the first few weeks.  I know it wasn't easy for Tim.  He knows how much singing means to me, and he is willing to sacrifice so I can do something I love.  I am blessed to have him for my eternal best friend!

As a side note, Christmas in the Grove was wonderful.  I think, for me, that the message of the songs is the most important thing.  My favorite lyric this year was this one:

"Come lay your heavy load down at the Savior's feet.  

Your shame will be removed; your joy will be complete.  

Come crucify your pride and enter as a child; 

for those who bow down low he'll lift up to his side."

It's not that I think my voice is so wonderful or even that the concert touches the congregation (although I'm sure it does)- as I sing the songs every year, the Spirit bears witness to me of the Savior.  And I need that at Christmastime.

Eliza Jo at 2 months

13 lb. 8 oz.

24 1/4 inches

And just to document the cheeks and chin:

 

I'm not sure I dare hope for blue eyes, so I'll just say that I'm enjoying them now!

Thanksgiving 2011

A new house with a huge family room meant that we got to host Thanksgiving this year!

We had Mom and Dad Steele, Mom and Dad Walker, and Peter, Mary and Grafton.

On Wednesday, Rebekah, Emma, Annie and Ethan made the turkey placecards- you can tell which ones Annie made!  they turned out really cute- and the kids had a good time with them. While we were doing that, Tim, Price and Josh drove down to Levan, got on four wheelers, and went up in the mountains to find us a Christmas tree!  Tim says it was much, much easier than the years when we did it in Manila with 3 or 4 tiny kids.  I remember, in particular, trudging through thigh-deep snow in the forest, carrying Price and Josh, while Rebekah sat on Tim's shoulders with her frozen feet inside the collar of his shirt.  Good memories, but not very fun at the time!  This year, the boys found a great tree. Tim and his Dad sat on the four-wheelers while Price and Josh crossed a ravine, cut down the tree, and lugged it back.  Teenage boys are the best!

Here is our Thanksgiving table- Rebekah was the decorator.  She had lots more planned, but I had to veto the extras at the last minute, since we were running out of room for food.  Sorry, Rebekah!  It looked great.

Tim's Dad carving the turkey.

Grandma Walker with Eliza.

The whole crew- seen from my end of the table...

and from Tim's end.

The after-dinner relaxing and holding-of-the-babies.

For future reference, here's what we had:

Turkey (cooked in an oven bag)

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Sweet potatoes (the really bad for you kind)

Mom Walker's famous dressing (yum)

Orange rolls (by Mom Steele)

Cranberry Jello Salad (by Mary)

Vegetable Platter (by Mom Walker)
Stewed Apples (from our trees!)

and then there were the pies... which I sadly did not take a picture of...

Apple

Blackberry Cream Cheese (which wasn't that great, but made awesome pie shakes the next day!)

Lemon Meringue

Banana Cream

Pumpkin Maple

Chocolate 

Pecan (those last three were by Peter and Mary)

Pumpkin Flan (by Mom Steele)

Everything was amazing- although I did overdose on pie.

I love Thanksgiving- and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to express thanks and recognize my blessings right before the Christmas season.

I am so blessed.

Tim's Birthday!

Yes, it's that glorious time of year when Tim is once again older than I am for 9 months!

The kids were very excited to give him his present- last year we bought him a model train set, and this year we added an expansion set so he can make better layouts!

Tim and the kids (especially Price) spent most of the rest of the day figuring out track configurations.  I didn't get any pictures, but I will- I think we have enough track this year to go around the Christmas tree.

The house smelled amazing all day- between the smothered pork chops in the crock pot and the pineapple upside-down cake baking in the oven, we had a hard time waiting to eat it all!

I am so grateful for Tim- grateful that I have him as my companion through life and eternity.

Smiling baby

I figured I'd better document this- Eliza smiles at us all the time now, but we haven't managed to capture it on film very many times.  It's pretty fun to see how the kids react when she smiles at them- 

I can almost see their hearts melting!

Jr. High Band Concert

Having kids in band is fun- especially now that we've had Rebekah go through and we know what we're doing, at least a little.  The picture above is Price- they couldn't get the lights in front of the stage to turn on, so we got to watch his shadow. :)

The picture below is Josh- kind of.  You can see his head and a little of his trombone slide behind that first saxophone.  Pretty much I was too lazy to get up and get a better picture.  Plus I had the baby on my lap.

  

All of the bands sounded great- Mr. Mott does an amazing job with all of these junior high kids!

And here they are after the concert- those are some tall kids there.  Josh has passed the 6 foot mark.  Price isn't far behind.  It's pretty hard to get my arm around their shoulders these days.

The beloved baby wrap

Saturday Hike

Since we've been in our house, we haven't gone hiking nearly as much as I would have liked- that might have something to do with pregnancy.  Last Saturday, though, Tim suggested that we all hike up to Battle Creek.  The park is only about a 5-10 minute hike from our back door.

The baby sling made the hike possible with Eliza- it was the first time I'd tried anything but the "newborn hold", which she hated, and I was ecstatic when she immediately snuggled in, went to sleep, and stayed asleep for the entire hike.  My horizons just expanded!  The kids do tell me that I look pregnant again when I carry her around in it, but it's a small price to pay for the use of both of my hands!

I don't have any pictures from the canyon itself, since the boys wanted to hike straight up to get a view from a cliff- they took the camera with them:

We didn't make it all the way to the waterfall, because we didn't send a phone with the boys, and they hadn't caught up to us when I thought they should have.  We turned around to go and find them.  They had come down from the cliff and thought we went home, so they called us from there.  Oh well- hopefully the weather will cooperate for a little while longer, and we'll actually make it to the waterfall before it's too snowy!

Tim and Jen

I never did get a picture of us on Saturday, when I did the kids' photos, but we managed to run outside and have Rebekah take a few before church on Sunday. 

Here we are. 

Somebody at church recently told me that I looked like I was 20, and they never would have thought I was as old as I am.  Ha!  I now love that person forever... but I did point out that I have a 15 year old daughter.  20 is pretty much impossible.  Anyway, I would NEVER go back to 20.  I much prefer 40, even with the wrinkles, sags, and grey hair!

Photo Shoot 2011

I don't know why it's so hard of me to get individual, semi-posed pictures of my children.  Today, a photo shoot made it to the top of my priority list, and we did it!  In the backyard, with a lame camera, and a decidedly non-professional camerawoman, but still.... 

You get two of Eliza- I couldn't decide.

Here's two of Bek, too- the top one is the one she likes, and the bottom is my choice, mostly because she's showing her TEETH, which we paid good money to straighten!

And here's a gratuitous picture of our house, for posterity, and because I want to change lots of the front yard next year, and I needed a "before" picture!

Annie and Eliza

 Annie is an awesome big sister! 

Also, she doesn't believe in smiling for pictures!

Eliza is lucky to have so many wonderful siblings.