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 :)