Thanksgiving

My friend Marcie inspired me to post all the things I am thankful for! Marcie thanks for the great idea!

This Thanksgiving is going to be the hardest one I have had in a long time, actually in my entire adult life. Every year we have always been around extended family. Last year all of Jim's family made the journey down here to spend it with us and it was such a great time! This year Jim is on call and all of our family is going to other places which is really wierd for me. My brother, sister, Dad and my beloved Mother were always always at my house for the Holiday's this year I won't have that and I am not exactly sure what to do? Honestly I don't know how to cook small. I guess I should be grateful that I have my immediate family around.

so here are the things I am thankful for...

Darrien the smartie pants he is
Connor for his hugs, snuggles & kisses
Patrick his random stories and imagination
CJ his beautfuil eyelashes and his laugh
Aubrey her outgoing personality
My wonderful husband need I say more? Actually I do Jim is my rock, my foundation, my best friend, his love, his kisses and most of all the way he makes me feel I love him so much I don't even know of any words to say to emphazise it any more
My brother Kylon he is always there for me
My sister Michelle and her crazy stories that make me laugh
My Mom even though she is not by my side physically she is in my heart
My Dad his crazy stories and his love
My Gramma Tanner she is the most caring Gramma a gal could ask for
My Mother & Father in law how they have accepted me and the kids in thier life and love us
My job especially during these times even if some days I feel like pounding my head against the wall
Jim's job him being able to save lifes
My home...even if it is not always the cleanest it is our Home
And of course my friends who I love dearly
Even if my health isn't the greatest I am thankful I am alive and not as bad off as I could be
All of our extended family that we love

There are so many things in this world to be thankful for! I have learned to not take things for granted because plain and simply life is to short!

I am thankful for each one of you and how you have made a difference in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love you all!

Happy 9th Birthday Connor Aldon!

9 years ago today at exactly this moment Connor Aldon came into this world. He is such a special kid and boy are we glad we have him! He is the peacemaker the one that protects the others, you will often find him reaching out to Patrick to make sure he feels important, he will read to his little sister and help clean up around the house. He also is a very loving little boy there isn't a day that goes by that Connor isn't giving Dad & I kisses and hugs telling us how much he loves us, and not at the normal times like bed time either.

Connor you are such a special lil man, I am so proud of you and who you are. Dad & I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful year!

Happy 9th Birthday Buddy!

We LOVE you!

9 things I love about Connor:

-His compassion
-His love
-The way he tells a story so into it!
-How he protects Patrick
-His hugs and kisses
-When he turns his head and smiles at you
-How he has to have his blue blanket to go to sleep each night so he can play with the "nobbies"
-How smart he is
-How strong he is, his ability to fight like heck when he needs to!

Adventures in Dentist's

Can you all take yet another story from the diary of the Walker Family? I guess that really isn't a question since if you are reading this you must somewhat get a kick out of the adventure's we seem to have in our house. Anyhoooooowwwww...here goes the story of the Adventures at the Dentist....

Monday morning Aubrey wakes up saying my tooth hurts...me thinking she just doesn't want to go to school "Aubrey you are fine, now hurry up so you aren't late for school" she comes home from school and goes to play with a friend. Around lunch time I get a phone call that says Aubrey says her tooth is hurting can I give her some Motrin...I say sure hang up and pound my head against the wall for not listening to her, buck up and call the dentist. We were able to get her an appointment for 4:30...Mind you this is the first really BIG thing Aubrey has had in her life. Never had a shot (no I don't immunize her), never had to give blood nothing. So we get there and they do an X-Ray they see that her tooth is BAD I mean to the point the infection went down into her jaw!! Can I just tell you I feel like the worst Mom ever!!! Dr. Miller tells me there is a very slim possibility to save it, but the pain wouldn't be worth it since it is a baby tooth so we decide to pull it....

We get the happy gas on her and of course she gets all happy and giddy it was actually quite hilarious. At one point she became quite un-girly like and started tooting!! I said "Aubrey say excuse me your a girl" Aubrey's reply "NEVER giggle giggle giggle" this had us all laughing pretty good. They started the anesthesia and she was such a big girl no tears nothing...it was good...until Dr. Miller tested the tooth and it wasn't numb...UGH...so we had to move up to the "high pressure" numbing stuff...mind you I am getting really nervous now..and this time the shots hurt her she had alligator tears and everything....I am trying to hold back tears of my own and then....finally this stuff started working and we were able to get that puppy pulled out!!! WHEW is all I could say....

After we got home she was actually in pain poor baby and she didn't want Mommy how sad is that???? she wanted Daddy who was out tilling the garden...so I go outside and tell Jim Aubrey wants Daddy, so he comes inside dirty boots and all Aubrey says "Daddy I want you to hold me it hurts" For those of you that know us well know that Aubs and Jim don't always see um let's say eye to eye they actually butt heads quite a bit so I am really surprised by all of this...Jim proceeds to take off his boots and get Aub's comfy blanket and cuddles with her all night!! It was the cutest thing actually even if my feelers got hurt I am glad that Daddy and Aubs are getting closer.

Needless to say Aubrey is now a member of the. "I lost a tooth club" at school, she got a nice present from the tooth fairy can you imagine 5 bucks!!! tooth fairy must have deep pockets now days LOL! (or be a total sucker, i am going with that one) She was proud to go to school today and even pose for some pictures of the gap now in her mouth.

I guess for the first experience it went as good as it could have....unless it wouldn't have happend in the first place..but then again these are the days of our lives!!

Kitty Meow

Jim & I had to make a sad and heart wrenching decision regarding our Kitty better known as the fat cat that lives under our bed.....Kitty has been with me for 7 years now, honestly I don't even know how old she would be.......as I seem to have this weird ability to inherit animals from other people. I inherited Kitty from the owners of the house I rented next to the church. She has been a good cat, very quiet and shy she doesn't like crowds or kids probably why she decided to make under our bed home. She ruled the house though even though she was a hermit, the dogs knew not to mess with her unless they wanted a good butt whooping, Cloe (my friend Jen's cat who I am watching) wouldn't mess with her either. The kids knew that if she was on the bed they better not come close or they might loose a finger lol. However every night without avail she would come out from her "hiding spot" climb up on the bed and lie on Jim's chest and purrr....we both came to love this about her she would morph from being this grumpy fat cat to this loving cuddly kitty.

Kitty lived a good life full of love, joy, food and family. Her physical ailments were starting to get the best of her and we wanted her to go in dignity so we decided to put her to sleep. On Thursday morning the vet came to the house and gave her some sleepy medicine. Jim was able to hold her until she was calm then I took over. Kitty peacefully passed in my arms at 8:23 am. Jim had to go teach a CPR class so it was all on me at this point. The vet offered to take her, which we had decided we were going to do, however I couldn't bring myself to let her go when it was time. Instead I wrapped her in her favorite blanket that she would kneed and buried her in the yard. Kitty will forever have a place in our hearts and our home.

We will miss your fiestyness, spunkiness, purring and love in our lives. We love you Kitty!

Fall Break

We had the pleasure of having the Bascom family come visit us for fall break. It was so nice to see and visit with Jen & Mike and to see the kids, they are getting so big...it is crazy what you miss when you don't see your family as often as you used to. I guess I have learned to lavish every moment of being able to spend time with my niece's and nephew's since I don't get to do it very often. Austin, Cody & Mistee I LOVE you guys so much thank you for coming to visit us!!!!

The weather was very pleasant for the most part....We enjoyed the hot tub one night, watching Gary-Unmarried and having us all in stitches while poor Mistee puked, watching Aukmed the dead terrorist on comedy central, visiting newspaper rock, the dinosaur tracks, watching the kids both big and little (i.e. Jim) sliding down the red dirt slide trying every possible way to come down...YAY no injuries reported there!, taking the scenic route home, making carmel apples, visiting, good food, family what more could we ask for???

We had a great time hanging out with them and the kids sure enjoyed seeing and playing with their cousins! We hope the Bascom's enjoyed the visit as much as we did. Thanks for coming down, we know it is a long trip, sorry that Mistee got the stomach flu courtesy of us...and we are glad we got you addicted to a new show!! We love you lot's!!!

Connor's Hospital Visit

Thing's are never dull at the Walker house that is for sure! The stomach flu made a stop at our house of course getting all of the kids sick, however what it did to Connor was much worse than the rest. On Saturday night the 11th he was really sick after a night of no sleep and constant vomiting (i know i know to much information) I finally decided to take him to the ER at 4am. It was a very exhausting night for all of us....After some fluids, having to drink some nasty contrast that he didn't like to much and getting a CT scan we found out that he actually had an infection of the lymph nodes in his abdominal cavity...there is some fancy dancy medical term that goes along with it but I have no idea even how to say it let alone spell it...lol...Anyhow, Dr. Redd admitted Connor on Sunday and he stayed until Tuesday getting constant fluids and anti-nausea medicine. It finally calmed down and they let us break out of there on Tuesday not early enough for any of us! Connor was a trooper thru all of it...even after the lab tech poked and prodded him a gazillion times to get his blood, he cried for daddy to come poke him and once Jim stepped in the room the lab tech wouldn't touch Connor again she kept saying Jim you do it you do it...Well he got it and we were all good!! Some days that Paramedic license does come in handy!

An emergency room visit $100, A CT Scan w/contrast that tastes HORRIBLE when you are already sick to your stomach another $100 bucks.....The fact that my kids cry for their Daddy to be the one to draw their blood or start IV's PRICELESS!!

I think MasterCard has a new spokesperson!

I am a sLacKeR!

I know I know I am starting to slack again on keeping my blog updated...But hey at least it hasn't been a year...yet....It has been pretty hectic between football, soccer, cheerleading (which are now over YAYAYAYA!), dance, scouts, homework, baths, hospital visits (and it wasn't me this time), birthday parties, ok I could go on for hours but you get the drift...I will get you an update of the coming's and going's sometime this week.

Happy 6th Birthday Aubreyann!!!

Aubrey is now 6! I almost can't even believe it! As I was thinking about this post I decided to write 6 things I love about Aubrey so here goes (in no particular order):



1. Her beautiful Smile
2. Her Dimples
3. Her being so loving
4. Her spunky attitude
5. She is so smart!
6. The way she can brighten up a room when she comes in

I love you Aubreyann I am so happy that I have the privilege of having you as mine!

Here is a comment from Daddy: (she call's Jim Daddy!!! :)

Aubs I love you so much thank you for the smiles, the fun and being who you are!

Hope you enjoy your day, your an amazing girl!!!

What about all of you what are 6 things you love about Aubrey?

Another Addition to the Walker Bunch!

About a month ago I got a phone call from my Gramps Neves, we were able to spend some time just catching up which I find pretty hard to do anymore. Talking to Gramps was such a nice break. Needless to say he had a question for me so here goes the story as I have been told :)

My uncle Dave (my dad's brother) recently got married to a wonderful woman! I am so happy for them! They decided to move into her place which really doesn't have enough room for Ellie his dog to enjoy. So Gramps got the idea to call Nat and see if she would take her. Of course you all know I am a total sucker when it comes to animals. I told Gramps sure I will take her have Dave call me. Well a few weeks past and nothing from Dave. Out of the blue one random day Dave did call me we talked about Ellie had set up some arrangements for her to come to her new home in Monticello.

Patrick and CJ had been up north so we were able to work it out to pick up the boys and Ellie at the 1/2 way point which is Woodside. Right off the bat the boys just loved her. We had stopped in Moab on our way to Woodside and dropped Aubrey off for a play date at my friend Jen's house. So we pick up Aubrey and head the remaining hour home. Well can I just say it is incredible to watch animals bond with children. Aubrey took a real fast and adorable liking to Ellie. She was so cute we stopped at McDonalds for some dinner and Aubrey spent the majority of the time walking Ellie around the parking lot....Cute I tell ya.

Ellie has now offically met all 5 kids, 2 cats and JoJo our dog. She is a really great dog, JoJo was way excited to have someone to play with as I think he get's pretty lonely hanging out with boring ol' me all day. If JoJo isn't with Jim down at the Ambulance Garage then he is usually taking in the sun on the sidewalk. JoJo and Ellie seem to be best buds now which is way awesome. The kids all love her and I am enjoying having her around.

So to my dear Uncle Dave and my cousins Trent, Aly, Heala & Chad thanks for thinking of me and sharing your wonderful pal with us. We sure love her!!!

Football & Soccer and everything else...

This week has been a pretty busy week for us. As I am sure you all saw from my post earlier tonight....Needless to say this week we actually started games for the various sports and activities the kids participate in.

Tuesday was Connor's first football game of the season!!! Wooo HOOO!!! They beat Blanding by 25 POINTS!!!!!! He has so much fun running around and playing. This year is proving to be pretty special to him because he has Dad helping coach. He thinks this is pretty neat that Dad would take time to go to all the practices and games he can unless he gets called out. It was also Aubrey's first Cheerleading performance I guess you would call it. She got to cheer for her big brother's football team which made both of them pretty happy even if they won't admit it out loud, they do love each other!
Today was Patrick and CJ's first soccer game! Both boys started out playing the field then CJ moved to goalie and had a great time! I have to say he is a pretty good goalie, he actually really loves soccer and seems to do very well at it. He is very outgoing and always right where the ball is if he doesn't have control of it he is off trying to get control, that is what you are supposed to do right??? Patrick enjoys it as well for all of my family and friends that know Patrick this is absolutely remarkable for him to be out running so close to other kids and playing on a team, he even got to goalie this evening he didn't let 1 ball past!!!! He was all over it concentrating on every move the ball made so he could catch it!
I was able to go to the boys soccer game tonight which mind you I froze at....winter is coming way to soon for my taste.

Even with all the running around we have done this week and the bump in the gas consumption (good thing gas prices have come down) it has been well worth it. I am enjoying watching the kids do stuff they love and hanging out with friends and loved ones. I had the pleasure of ending a great Thursday evening at a birthday dinner for my friend Marice.

Happy Birthday Marcie!!! I loves ya!

The Madness

The madness has started it is official! The days seems shorter, time is of the essence now more than ever. A few weeks ago I was gloating about school starting and how great it would be to have all of them in school. Can I take that back? Is that possible? Was worth a shot right?

Anyhow...it seems like all I do anymore is drive around town dropping off this kid picking up the next and repeat I feel like I am the star in the Gene Simmons work out video "lunge, step back, repeat..." however all that it really works out is my gas bill. As I try and think long term...all I can pray for is all of the kids to do the same sport next year.....

Here is what a typical week at the Walker House looks like. Monday morning hurry scurry get ready for school! Aubrey yelling NO I don't want my hair done...The boys racing out the door to see who can be the first one at school. Finally they are out the door and I sit down to work...Oh wow it is Monday!!!!! Monday evening you mean the 6pm horn is already going off???? the start of the week of homework at least plan on spending 2 hours at the kitchen table tonight. Cook dinner, clean up, run Connor & Jim to football practice (Jim is helping out this year w/Connor's team) pick them up, come home, give baths, put the kids in bed, read stories, go to sleep, get up and do it all over but...add a few more things..

Tuesday....Soccer practice, football practice, Cheerleading, Scouts for Patrick and Connor and everything you did Monday again....

Wednesday....Dance, soccer game, football practice, Darrien's scouts.....and repeat do you feel those muscles burn??

Thursday....Maybe today is a break...um NOPE! Now it is the crunch to finish homework as it is due to the teacher on Friday so of course all the kids are running around accusing each other of taking the other ones homework, book, pencil you know what I am saying right? Plus throw in football of course...

Friday...for sure it has to be Friday the good ol' TGIF right?????? I gag as I realize that I spent all of my time during the week running from here to there, working, homework you know the drill and now I look around...And I swear it looks like World War 3 has hit the Walker house! Well maybe tomorrow I will get a chance to relax..

Saturday...Laundry, chores, more laundry, more chores, pick the garden, go grocery shopping....

Sunday...Finally the day of rest...again a big fat NOPE! It is the day for preparation for the next big week....

As I sit back and watch this absolute chaos go on around me and I feel as if I may loose it at any moment...All I can do is smile????? Why you ask....??? One day we will look back and say I miss those days!!! To all of you Mom's out there! Keep your head up it doesn't last forever...even if it feels like it does today!

My Mom

As most of you know I lost my Mom a little over 3 years ago. It was much to sudden, quick and of course painfull. As I think about my own children it makes me reflect what my Mom taught me. Here are three most valuable things my Mom taught me....Ingetrity without comprimise, Loyalty & Compassion. I believe I have done a pretty good job at living by these in my 30+ years now. Here is a poem that I put on the program's for my Mother's funeral.

A million times we have needed you, A million times we have cried. If love alone could have saved you, You never would have died. In life we loved you dearly, In death we love you still, Within our hearts you hold a place no one else can ever fill. It broke our hearts to lose you, but you didn't go alone, for part of us went with you the day God took you home.

In memory of my loving Mother LaRonda Lynn Neves. Mom I love you today, tomorrow and forever. Thank you for the memories, love and all of the things you have taught me.

Back to school/starting school

Well it is now official all of my kids are back in school and the baby Aubrey is in Kindergarten. The first day of school was awesome.....at least for the kids. They were so excited to get to know their new teachers and see their friends. Aubrey was especially excited as this marks such an important journey in her young life...Don't I wish I could go back and do things differently? Spend more time with them, run thru the sprinklers, get into water fights...instead I am grumping around telling them to "knock it off"....I am sure you have all been there as well. I guess the realization that there aren't anymore to see off for their landmark days of starting school is what is the hardest for me. However the joy's that I have been able to have because of my children no matter how old or young they may be is still worth more than anything in this world! The best advice I can give all of you mother's is to cherish every minute of your kids while you can. Time goes by so fast that in the blink of an eye you are looking into their eyes as they talk about stuff like a girl they have a crush on, the Chemistry homework they have, the next big dance at school. I often find myself trying to remember what I thought about when I was their age....the problem is I can't seem to remember LOL :) I have started to use a term when I can't remember stuff like where did I put those keys? where did my wallet go to? so on and so forth...they are officially what I like to call "senior moments". If you have not yet hit 30 you don't get the privilege of calling them senior moments quite yet. Needless to say I am excited for this school year to see all of the fun things the kids will do, the sports they will play and of course them grow, learn and continue to improve.

I consider myself privileged every day that I have been blessed with 5 children that in their own way are special, unique and loving. I thought I would leave you with this quote for one because I love it and two because it reminds me of my mother which has resulted in my next post...a tribute to my mother.

A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. ~Honoré de Balzac





Aubrey looks a little scared in this one doesn't she??? Also Darrien was a lil camera shy this go round. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Lots of Love!

-Nat

The rest of our summer

On Memorial Day weekend we went on a camping trip to South Cottonwood with some friends of ours Marcie and Benny their 3 girls Shelbie, Kaitlyn and Ashley also Marcie's parents Larry and Diana. Shery and Quinn and her monster's (hey she calls her blog that so I figured I was safe) Brexton, Jensen and Teagan. Laurie was supposed to join us but the weather was kind of iffy so she decided against it. We had such a great time! Jim and Benny made a swing for the kids that kept them very entertained. Other than me being scared of the cow's coming thru our camp and stomping our tent down it was great. Ya I know I am a dork! We also did a few other camping trips thru out the summer; we went up on the mountain by our house which was nice, close etc. At one of the camping trips up at 70's we were with Marcie, Benny & their 3 girls, Chance, Marcie and their 3 kids, Krista & Eric their 2kids and Chet & Tracy and their 2 boys. We were having a great time until it was dinner.....I was munching down on a pretzel and broke a tooth a molar at that, so Marcia scrambled to find the dentist phone number and Jim and I made a 9pm run to the dentist's office, nothing like calling him at home on a Friday night and making him come fix me! Well we got that taken care of which resulted in a few more dentist visits and an extraction boy was that fun NOT!


Aubrey got to play T-Ball this summer with her friends. She was on the same team as Shelbie and Rhianna! They really had a great time smacking the ball around! She also learned how to ride her bike with out training wheels. I am so proud of her she takes off now down the street with not a care in the world..even for the car's coming down the street LOL!


We ended up on deciding to go "home" to Pleasant Grove for Strawberry Day's and we are so glad we did. We went to the Rodeo with Jenny and Mike, got to go to the parade which was really neat as the theme this year was "Everyone comes home for Strawberry Days" kinda kewl considering.....We enjoyed funnel cakes, caramel apples and some fun carnival rides Jim also took Heather up to hike Timp, CJ went with as well as Jenny. We got to take my nephew's Anthony and DreShawn to the carnival. DreShawn was a total doll I loved having him and getting my baby fix! You know it is kind of funny now to think of home as Pleasant Grove....the reason being is that we now own our own home in Monticello and have some great friend's and honestly it is beginning to feel like HOME! It's only been a year so I will give it a little more time to settle in!!! :)

Every year on the 4th of July Dove Creek, CO which is on the border of Utah/CO hold's what is called the Pick N' Hoe! Ya I had to laugh at the name too but boy was it fun. We went out there with Marcia and her family since she is a native to Dove Creek. We got to enjoy the parade, the games, the pig chasing and yes if you catch the pig..The prize is the pig. Needless to say I wasn't encouraging my kids to catch it!!! Anyhow we had a really good time out there, it was nice being in a small town and seeing what has brought the city about. We ended the night off by heading to Blanding to watch the fireworks. All in all a great way to celebrate the 4th of July!


We were able to go to the Walker Family reunion/campout. This year it was up at Mirror Lake. We decided to head up North on Thursday. We headed for Mirror Lake on Friday of course making a stop to see Grandma and Grandpa Walker. The weather ended up on being pretty good except the night I had to cook dinner of course it had to rain. Other than that and the occasional pine beetle it was good. It was so nice to see all the family. Grandma & Grandpa Hansen, Aunt Cindy, Aunt Mary, Laurie, Brandon, Maddie & Braydon, Jenny & Mike, Heather, Austin, Cody, Mistee, Shery & Quinn, Brexton, Jensen & Teagon. We got to do a lot of visiting and catching up on what we have missed over the past while. We also got this amazing opportunity....I was sitting in Mom & Dad's trailer....something catches my eye and I look out the window...What was it to my surprise a MOOSE yes I said a Moose....So of course I am thinking wow I have never seen one before, I want pictures...So I went Moose chasing.....With Brandon and Jenny following suit and Austin & Braydon trying to get as close as Aunt Nat would let them. Just check out this picture I got.....In retrospect I probably shouldn't have chased her but hey it was worth the photo opp!

CJ lost all of his front teeth and is patiently waiting for them to get in and for Soccer to start. There has not been a day yet that he hasn't asked "Mom is today the day for my Soccer" He spent most of the summer up visiting with Mama Kirsty I know he had a lot of fun. He also got to hang out with Grandma Walker which he always thinks is neat.

Patrick is also in the loosing teeth camp. He also has lost all of his front one's and is so excited to loose more so he can try and catch to tooth fairy the next time she comes. He is also "patiently" waiting for Soccer to start. He was able to spend some time with Mama Kirsty but decided he wanted to come home early. He was happy to have a break from CJ...in fact he proceeded to tell Kirsty that he was so glad CJ wasn't here...We all had to laugh at that one...nothing like sibling rivalry!

Connor spent the summer at the swimming pool....hanging out with his friend's, going to Daddy's work, riding his bike all over town. He is patiently waiting for Football to start.

Darrien spent the summer working! Yes I said working! He got a job at the race track down here flagging races. He absolutely loves it and it actually pay's very well too. He also did some work for Marcie’s parents tearing down the barn. He had fun driving Diana's lawnmower...I don't think she will let that happen again!

All in all we had a GREAT summer! We hope that everyone else did as well!

Love you all!!

Summer quick summary

Just in case you don't want to read thru all of our summer here is a quick summary: (not in any particular order)

Several Camping trips, a broken tooth, going to the pick n' hoe, going home for Strawberry Day's, several birthday's Darrien, Jim, RJ, Tug (Krista's boy, Marica, Krista, Steve, me (I am sure I missed someone so sorry!) T-ball, an uh-oh falling off a trunk, an awards ceremony for the bus accident Jim was on, a river run down the San Juan and getting 2nd degree burns to show!, Aubrey learning how to ride without training wheels, several lost teeth (besides the broken one), the San Juan County fair, Darryl Worley concert....as if that wasn't enough....a family reunion which led to an encounter with a moose! A visit from Cody and Sarah, some exploring up the mountain....WOW!!! I guess we were busy!

River trip down the San Juan

Jim and I started out our summer with a river trip down the San Juan. We went with a bunch of Dad's river rafting buddies and of course Mom and Dad. The trip itself was beutiful, breath taking and so much fun. Our friend Brad let us use his boat since he doesn't get to use it much it has now taken up a permanent spot in our garage. It was a 3 day trip where we camped along the river as we made it down. I even got a chance to Kayak down the river, now that was totally fun! The last day was by far the hardest day on me, between the sand bars, the water fights, Jim kayaking down the river and leaving Mom, Dad, Shiloh and I in the boat. Jim even got to go cliff diving at slick horn gulch which is absolutely breath taking. That day the sun was especially brutal and relentless...When we got to Hall's Crossing which was our take out point I was totally fried!! I looked like a fried crispy tomato. One of Dad's friends rode home with us since they parked at our house. Stan and Roxanne tried to get it to cool off but everything made it worse... Besides that it was GREAT! The kids got totally farmed out for this outing...Jen (my friend that lives in Moab) took Aubrey and Connor, CJ went to Marcia's and Darrien and Patrick hung out with each other and spent some time with Marica and Krista. The kids had a totaly blast as well! I am so gratefull for the wonderful friends that we have made down here and the one's we got to move closer :) You all know who you are we luvs ya! (If you want to see more pictures from the river trip, let me know)

To be continued.....

As the Summer days started to dwindle down we had to come to the realization that all of the "Walker Bunch" kids are now officially in school. It was one of those bitter sweet moments you know what I am talking about?..Sweet because the boys were starting to get sick of one another and the fights became more and more, the yearning of wanting structure order and routine back to the house. Bitter because it makes all of them yet a year higher in school, Darrien that much closer to driving which is scccarrrryyy and of course the fact that Aubrey is now officially in Kindergarten. As I curled her hair this morning (it was the first day of school) I couldn't help but look into her darling little face, sparkling blue excited eyes and cry..wow how time fly's....It seemed like yesterday.....Darrien a tiny little 5'lb baby gooing and gaaing needing a bottle...now he is an actual teenager! I am just amazed at how quickly time passes you by especially when you don't realize how quick they are growing when you see them everyday. As I heard the school bells ring this morning (the school is a block away) I thought back to my school days and how excited I was, how I wanted my kids to feel the same and was so glad they did....until 10:30 when the phone rang, the caller id shows San Juan School's, which of course makes any parent gasp. I figured it was Patrick trying to adjust to a new teacher and having a hard time. To my surprise it wasn't him in fact he did wonderful which is totally awesome, rather it was Aubrey who mind you was the most excited out of them all. She proceeds to say her tummy hurts, so of course Daddy ran right up and got her. She came home and didn't look like she felt well she went and laid down on my bed and zonked out! By 1 she had woken up put her school clothes back on and declared "I feel better, I am going back to school!" Of course I had to explain that it was already over so on and so forth. The funnies part of this was what proceeded to happen later in the day. Aubrey and I were out and about I stopped in at the Pharmacy, Tim the Pharmacist proceeds to ask Aubrey how her first day of school was. Aubrey all cheery replies back and says great but I got sick to my stomach "I think I was nervous" it had Tim, the technician and myself laughing so hard,needless to say let's hope tomorrow is a better day!

I think the kids going back to school gave me a little extra push that I needed to take some time to sit down and update my blog. I think Marcie has finally realized that hounding me to update my it wasn't going to work, rather the fact that she hasn't said anything is what helped push it along as well.

Needless to say I have lot's of writing to do to catch up. So wish me luck and stuff....My next post will be about our summer.

Love to all :)

-Nat

Yes I will update my blog!!!

Okay Okay! So I stink at updating my blog...I will try and do better I promise...Yes Marcie and Laurie you can fall over because I updated it :)

Catch up series-Connor

Wow this has been a fun year for Connor. He started out the summer playing football, you are probably all asking yourself was it flag or tackle...well my little troppper did tackle!!! I was so proud! As I sat at his games I would often reflect as to what happend to him just 3 short years ago when he had the accident with the entertainment center. I have to admit that a couple of times it brought tears to my eyes just watching him run up and down the field..of course tears of joy and love. He is such an amazing little one. He is always trying to help out around the house. Boy does he also help his little brothers....He makes sure they get to thier classes and makes sure they get home okay every day. Every day he sits down with Patrick and they work on thier homework together, it is just really neat. I love how the kids have bonded as if there was never a time that they wern't siblings. Connor often misses the boys if they happen to go up north to visit thier mom. He will continually ask me "Mom when are my brothers coming home"

He is doing awesome at school acceling really well and is now reading Harry Potter ya he is only in 2nd grade but hey he loves it and it makes him happy.

Tonight he had his first pinewood derby race for scouts. He was so proud of his car (I will post pictures soon) He won the "Judges Favorite" award and he is totally excited about it.

He has made quite a few friends down here and often has playdates. He really enjoys the beautiful country and can't wait to get out in the summer and play on the rocks.

He wants me to let you all know that he loves and thinks of you guys often (isn't that sweet?) He misses you all and hopes to see you soon!

Series of Catch Up Posts-Darrien

So I know I am a total slacker so I thought I would give you all some updates on the family. I will start with Darrien and work my way down.

Darrien was fortunate enough to enter 7th Grade this year, sadly there isn't a Jr. High or Middle School down here so he went straight into High School WOW! So far it has been pretty good for him. He has made quite a few friends which is always good. He joined the tech crew they setup for plays and music performances. He also plays drums in the band he is always drumming on something around the house so I think he kinda likes it :). He took up Wrestling earlier this year he was doing great with it and really loving it until he broke his foot on a Scout Camping Trip. he jumped across a dry creek bed and slid down the embankement and landed wrong. That pretty much ended his season he was heartbroken about it but is ready for next year so look out. His foot has since healed and is doing much better. He turned 12 in July of this year wow does time fly by. He has been such a trooper he makes it to church almost every Sunday. He was able to be ordained as a Deacon this summer. Mom & Dad came down and Dad had the pleasure of ordaining him. He was totally excited about the fact that he got to pass the sacrament and pick up tithing...until he went out in the freezing cold and had to walk all over town to get them...after that he didn't like it so much but has sense gotten used to it. He is very invloved in Scouts and is even the Den Leader for Connor Aldon's Scout Troop. I think he enjoys sharing all of his learning's with him.

Other than what I mentioned above he is doing really good and is totally loving life down here in Monticello. He loves the freedom and the slow paced life style. He does miss his friends and all of the family so I am sure he will be pushing us to come up and visit quite frequently.

I can't think of anything else to update you on Darrien but if you want to chat with him let me know and I can give you his email address :)