Walkers' Trail

Happy New Year!!! NYC time, anyways! :) We just celebrated at 11:00 CST and find that is just fine with us tonight. This year, we had lavish plans to host a party for some families; these plans faded as we realized we had to get up early tomorrow to head to the Cotton Bowl and to see Jason's family for Christmas on the way... So, we made party hats and a cake here, and the four of us had a nice evening. At dinner, we talked about our favorite things from this year. Some highlights from 2009 for our family: Fair Hills vacation The ability to be able to slowly update Jason's office, including 2 brand new (as of yesterday!) operatories for our hygiene patients. Slowly, the others will follow! A church home that we love! Both of us coached our first teams: t-ball, soccer and volleyball First day of elementary school; first day of preschool Several major projects finished at our house, mostly the driveway fix and pergola (complete with skylights now - haven't updated with those...

Conversation tonight at bed: "Mom, can you please have a conversation with God in a burning bush so that we can talk to him and hear him?" "Why would you want me to talk to the burning bush?" "Because when I die and go to heaven, I want to know what meat eaters live there so I can know what dinosaurs to expect when I'm an angel." Not sure how all of those things were put together, but it was a fun story (and I'm glad he listens when we read his little Bible!).

It's been 14 months since my post related to this, but after just spending the best two hours in a long time with my husband, I feel the need to share this again - The Ultimate Gift. That post was in regards to the book that was given to us as a present, and my friend, Kelly, noted that it was a great movie. Hadn't seen it. But, this year, we saw it on the schedule and DVRed , saving it for our quiet time on Christmas Eve. What a great remembrance for this special season and a reminder for the ways that our Christ - OUR Christ -, Jesus our Saviour himself, would want us to live as HIS people on earth. Let's challenge each other to be better people. To go outside our box. To DO and not just BE. Plus, the main actor was just a doll in the movie. :) Now off to go get a chimney ready for Santa's arrival sometime tonight!!! I sure hope Rudolph (you do know that he IS flying tonight since it's so foggy out - Santa needs his nose to light the way - Grant reminded u...

Never thought we would actually be snowed in on Christmas, but we are now! We tried getting to my parents' house today, but didn't make it (watched the car next to us on the highway FLIP into the oncoming traffic) and turned around. We're probably not going to Jason's family's house tomorrow either. So, it's really a let down to not see extended family on Christmas Eve or Christmas day! Anyone in town,.... feel free to stop by! AND, to make matters worse, we have all this snow and ice outside, and every single neighbor is gone so no one else to play with outside! MERRY CHRISTMAS from the snowed in Walker crew!

Just to catch my family and friends that aren't on facebook (!) up on photos, or to send some that I haven't posted anywhere yet! Not sure if this was ever shared on the blog - we were generously given this kids golf cart - and Kyle figured out how to drive it in to the kitchen from the garage. It was one of those parent moments where you are totally laughing on the inside but you have to be serious on the outside - I did get the camera first, though - seems I have a lot of these moments with my youngest, eh!?! Last night... love these following two photos - Jason had the camera near the couch so we snapped these keepers. Kyle woke up screaming - must have been a dream - and I brought him down. Then, all he wanted to do was hold on to me and cuddle. The first is on the way back up to bed, and the second is when he wouldn't let go! :) ahhhh..... and yes, we were watching a Hallmark Christmas movie and I'm in my nighttime gear! This photo summarizes half of his Ch...

What a fun family night we had tonight! Ice skating with some new friends at the outdoor rink, a Christmas sing-a-long at G's school, and then dinner with friends following it (oh yea, not to mention a fire alarm being pulled when all the families were in the gym together!). Here are a few pics from the ice rink - I was the only one who had been before, and all three boys were AWESOME. Grant was off on his own after only a few minutes. One of us was always holding K's hand, but he became more confident and ready as the night continued. This would have been turned in to a Christmas card for late delivery had it not been blurry. Darn it, ice rink worker!!! This one of Grant and me is just about one of my all-time favorites!

What a fun craft project I was able to do this afternoon with one of my DEARest Stillwater friends!

The sweet, angelic child of ours performing in his Christmas program!

Little Lamb, Little Lamb, what do you see? I see a bright star shining on me. Bethlehem, Bethlehem, why do you wait? We wait for the King of kings to come through our gate. Donkey, Donkey, why are you so bold? I'm bringing Him to Bethlehem as Scriptures foretold. Innkeeper, Innkeeper, where can He stay? Out in the stable with the sweet-smelling hay. Shepherds, Shepherds, what do you hear? We hear the angles singing everywhere! Angels, Angels, what do you sing? We sing "Hallelujah!" to the newborn King. Brown Cow, Brown Cow, what do you see? I see a little Baby smiling at me. Mary, Mary, who is in your arms? I'm rocking baby Jesus and will keep Him from harm. Joseph, Joseph, who do you love? I love God's only Son sent from above. Sweet Baby Jesus, what will You do? I'll give great salvation to each one of you. Shepherd Boy, Shepherd Boy , who will you tell? I'll tell all the people gathered at the well. Camels, Camels , do you travel very far? We ...

From Last Year :o)

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We just saw a commercial for this Puppy Potty Pad ... what?!?! The idea is to help your dog avoid accidents. Okay,... insert a doggie door. Lay down newspapers. Something - can you imagine the SMELL of this thing - at the end of the day you're just supposed to dump the urine and feces out - they say it like it's no big deal. Yuck. We just thought it was bizarre. Guess it'd be a good conversation piece when entertaining or perhaps you could use it as a putting area?!?!

So, thanks to GG and Bubba, we have a new pet. Let's just say that they got me on this one - I got upset (aka nervous) to have a pet weasel at my house, and I was stunned in disbelief that they would get a pet for the boys w/o asking our permission! Jokes on me... However, the boys LOVE this thing. Kyle asks frequently where his pet is and wants to play with it. Grant, funny enough, is just now getting the nerve to pick it up and touch it (not sure he understands the whole battery thing with it). Welcome to Jingle!

He knew I was recording - this was his second prayer for dinner - but I knew that while I was thinking of it, I should grab the camera!

Even this Pilgrim and Indian can get along when they want to! One of the zillion things I love about my kids getting older (don't be mistaken - I do miss a lot of the emotions that come with having a dependent baby!) - the detailed, beautiful pictures. This was actually a project from Sunday School, and he only made it through coloring 3 of the letters while in class (using as laminated place mats for a dinner) and we need to leave them. He wanted to make it better - so I said I'd bring it back on Monday - and this was his nearly TWO hour project last Sunday evening. It just makes me smile! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU!!!! Our family is so thankful for our family and friends who love and support us.

So, I'm wondering if you think Kyle doesn't like to be photographed by these photos? He just doesn't seem that happy when a camera is pulled out?!?! :) I think he has inherited a legitimate camera smile from me, but thankfully his is actually so adorable. yea, dimples. This was actually a street. Very, very, very meticulous sometimes when he is playing. His wooden block house. Purposely knocked down, rebuilt, knocked down, rebuilt... I'll just mention again how much my "all boy" son just LOVES clothes and shoes. This is his dressy outfit, and he was getting ready for the preschool Thanksgiving program - picked out his own outfit and basically went to the fireplace w/o prompting when I had my camera. I'm just not sure about having a shy child... what to do.... what to do....

We have been privileged to get to know Coach Sutton on a personal, friendly level since moving to Stillwater . Even to the point where my innocent son, handing Coach's empty popcorn container back to him, will yell "Hey, Sutton, here's your popcorn!" :) He's an incredible person - so down to earth and generous and kind. He's gone through a lot that most of us will never have to endure and has become such a legend for many basketball and OSU fans. This is the third year he has offered his basketball tickets to our family but the first where he was actually coming. We were able to get a ticket for Kyle to sit with my parents and enjoyed our time (this happened to be the game where tip-off was 1 1/2 hours late so we chatted for a long time) and the experience. Side story - while we were sitting there, Brodie Myers came to get his autograph. Well, Grant knowing Brodie as a "celebrity" was just freaking out about the 8 year old!!! Guess it's...

It's indoor soccer season for the little tikes here in town. We, once again, are on the best team - meaning kids and parents, but they've also won all their games so far. Only one team that seems to be a possible match (watch out Rachel!). Here's Grant listening to his coach (this is the same team and coach that Jason has coached with for outdoor soccer and t-ball) but we have some new kids this year (conveniently in Grant's grade at school!). Did I mention these are at 8:00 AM on Saturday mornings?? Yep, we'll be leaving our house in eight hours for tomorrow's game - nothing like a lazy Saturday! These following two pictures are the main reason for this blog entry. Skip back to a few months ago when Jason was making the OSU football team their mouth protection - Grant thought it was the coolest thing ever. So, here's a mini-me just like the big guys. Only ours is for indoor soccer. And trampoline jumping. And baseball playing. And walking. And going to re...

I just ran my first 5K today! I know that isn't very exciting for my runner friends and family, but it was exciting for me! It was also in the rain but that made it cooler and more bearable for me. :) Just thought I'd share! (that's not me in case you were wondering. Dream arms and physique)

N E W M O O N it's coming on November 20th!!! I have not looked this forward to a movie in ages, and it's only been a very recent desire, just since the past two weeks when (oh, thank you, Julie!) my friend thought I should give the books a shot. I did.... oh boy, did I ever.... What's Your Vote? Team Edward or Team Jacob? I have a preference - I'm Team Jacob - but I do give Edward a lot more props after having read the books than just having seen Twilight. I do think the books get better as they go along! There are a lot of times when I see the media and Robert Pattison (Edward) and he just looks evil to me (kinda like a vampire) - obviously in the minority on that one. After reading the books, I truly think the casting agents NAILED their roles for their features, as well as Bella's character. They do not disappoint in their roles. It took me exactly 15 days. Cover to cover, all four books. And the last book was 750+ pages. Does that make me obsessed?!? Perhaps...

Today, as we were playing outside and I said it was time to go in for naps: "Hey, guys! It's time to go inside" Kyle "oh, Mom. I don't waaaaant to go take a nap" "Yes, Kyle" "okay, Mom" and then he goes inside. Grant "No, Mom. Come on. Shut up. Sheeesh" with an at-ti-tooood. Let's just say that I counted 1-2-3 and then asked if he knew what that word meant and where he heard it. He said he learned it from Toy Story (whoops) and didn't know what it meant. He now is aware that Shut Up is not nice and will be spanked next time I hear it. :)

There's the Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood photo we took (sneakily!) at the dinner! Becky is so great to have had her camera! Here's to great friends and a great night! We love you two!

This kind of relates to the end of the previous post but just thought about posting it up here! Last night, Jason and I were invited to the OSU Chef Series, which is basically a really fancy dinner put on by the OSU Hotel and Restaurant students, with various chefs from around the globe. Last night's focus was on the South - Charleston, SC, to be exact. Yummy food. Yummy wine. Fabulous fellowship (thank you very much, Endicotts!). Plus, it was pretty fun to be sitting down for dinner and look up - there was Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood one table away from us - the entire meal. And we were in the ladies room together - Trisha was very kind and smiley and polite. Back to my story - so Jason and I leave the dinner and realize that we are across the street from where our whole story began. (Bear with me - I know this is so cheesy). We decide to go over to the Math Sciences Building where it all began.... September 2000.... when I'm just chit-chatting with Erryn on our way to...

My college roommate for nearly 3/4 of my time at OSU was Erryn. We have stayed very good friends thoughout the past decade and are now in an annual routine of celebrating OSU's homecoming walkarounds together. Here are just a few pictures of us goofing around as usual. This tree is at the Theta house and was the subject of many Party Pix photos. Why not add Brinley and Kyle to the fun!?!? We were just secretly thankful the tree limbs didn't snap when we climbed on! The Walkers at Walkaround! Same goofy girls, just with a little more responsibility! Love you, E! 223 was one of the best years ever! One fun fact about Erryn and me is that she and her hubby and Jason and I were all in the same class by sheer luck the time that I met Jason!!! They were just recently dating, too, and it was an odd combo of us being together because we all were different majors in college. Thanks, Dr. Cate! Seemed to have 2 lasting relationships! And Brian Cross was in there.... And Todd Rosenth...

Happy Halloween in Stillwater was celebrated on Thursday the 29th (thanks to a Stillwater home football game on Friday and the OSU v Texas game on Saturday - the town's priorities!) My parents came up for the evening to help celebrate with Spiderman and Dinosaur. Grant was much more interested in the process of handing candy out to his friends rather than collecting it from houses. We made it up and down the street but he was happiest at home! Look how amazing he is as Spiderman! He's flying! Kyle just liked to tell people the sound a Dinosaur (really a dragon outfit but we call it a dinosaur). You can feel the emotion by looking at his face - RAAAAHHHHHRRRR! Grant getting creative for the family picture. Fully in to his character. Thanks to Tom and Robin for coming over so we can take the kids pictures together for the 4th year in a row!

My boys (the little ones at least) love to eat breakfast food for dinner. On this one occasion, we had pancakes and bacon. This shot of Kyle is after he had eaten FIVE pancakes and was still asking for more. I just love this picture because it shows his camera smile (ie "Smile, Kyle" and this face always pops up!) and because he loves to eat (some) foods! Each year, we have at least one session of making homemade sugar cookies. Sometimes at Christmas, sometimes at other times. This year, we decided to make them before Halloween but we did freeze the pumpkins so they would work for Thanksgiving guests! The boys have become a lot more helpful in the past few years so I'm not actually stuck doing all of the work. Grant loves to roll the dough and sprinkle the flour, and Kyle is a "pro" at pressing out the shapes. I had no idea this was going on - within a few minutes, he had run to the garage to get a rake. We have one "old" tree in the front and...

Kyle at the finish... Go, Kyle, Go! The boys with some of Grant's classmates at the start line - they were like this for 5 minutes!

Our family did our first "race" today with the Juke Joint Jog. Jason and I had signed up but then we signed up Grant thru his class (side note: it was so fun seeing them all run into each other and getting so excited to see each other!). Kyle got to join us just because we thought it would be fun to encourage exercise and it was a neat atmosphere. Literally - he was the YOUNGEST one in the entire race. The crowd was WILD when he RAN, with a -very- determined expression, across the finish line. It was darling!!! Of course, I didn't bring my camera since I didn't want to run with it. Grant and I made up a "team" and Jason and Kyle were a team. The latter made it around 15 min and 20 seconds, and Grant and I were 12 minutes and 15 seconds (pretty good for 4!!!). We had my volleyball games this morning, then family raquetball games, and then the OSU football game with our neighbors, and then time at Joe's this afternoon. What a glorious day!

My PSA for the day: try not to door ding other vehicles. I came out from the Y yesterday to find two hillbillies - literally - smoking - at - the - YMCA. They had dinged (chunked) a spot in my door and it was very obvious. It ticked me off. I have always been one to keep my cars clean, and to wax them myself, and to care for them.... It ruined my morning. Not only that, but how rude and unsorry they were...

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Our cousins sent us a fun box of winter gear and this bear costume with the cutest stuffed bottom. We were outside playing when the mailman delivered so we just opened it there - and Kyle went running inside to get his dinosaur (it's really a dragon) outfit and they ran around in 80 degrees in these things for quite a while! When checking on my boys before bed the other night, I was amazed by how fast their healthy little bodies are growing and changing. Kids are the sweetest, most innocent things when they are sleeping so I had to snag a few photos of them. Wasn't it just the other day he was so teeny tiny in this bed!?!? Kyle has no desire for a "big boy" bed and sleeps cozily in his crib still! how perfect are those big, red lips and long, dark eyelashes?? Wish I would have had those! These are Grant's new pictures for his room - and my first Etsy purchase. They're perfect and he is oh-so proud of them! his other wall is a dark navy so they tie eve...

We spent our weekend in College Station, TX! Jason and I were able to drive down and meet up with 2 couples. We started off Friday visiting the local winery in Bryan, TX but none of us had our camera so we don't have those pictures... it was fun! Then we went out to the OSU Alumni Association party in their "strip" area (which was really neat and clean). Saturday was game day - up and ready for The Walk at the team hotel and then off to the stadium. We had great timing -arriving just as the Corp and the band marched by to Kyle Field. Here's Friday night at the Mad Hatter. We also really enjoyed the Dixie Chicken and were surrounded by others wearing orange! Halleys, Walkers and Halls Here we are in our seats. It was fun, but it was cold! It never reached the 76 degrees forecasted. I wore my rain pancho to help block the wind. Just as the game was starting, I looked back and realized my cousins and aunt and uncle were sitting on the row directly behind us! ...