Just for the record...

I just love the way Talmage says the following words:

Disgusting. 

He says

"scusting!"

Delicious.

He says

"Licious!"

And also, for the record, when I went in to check on Sydney the other night before I went to bed, I found her fast asleep, like this:

I love my kiddos.

Happy Birthday Old Man

i *love* this picture of him

Tyler is finally in the same decade as I am...2 years and 2 months later... He's not quite as excited about it as I was when I turned 30, but I'm sure he'll soon realize that the 3rd decade is a beautiful thing.

We celebrated with doughnuts, and balloons, and candy wrapped up and given to him by the kiddos. And dinner out on Friday (thanks mom & dad for watching the kiddos:) I also made him a light dinner last night...Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce, mushroom rice, buttery rolls, broccoli, an iceberg wedge with Blue Cheese dressing, and Eclair Cake. I'm pretty sure Tyler knows I love him a lot thanks to that awesome Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce...it is so good. That Pioneer Woman knows how to cook for a man with a hearty appetite. If you are cooking your Valentine a dinner this week, I would highly recommend the Grilled Ribeye + sauce.

Last year I posted 29 pictures (I fixed the link so it goes to the right place now) of Tyler to commemorate his 29th birthday. This year I thought I would ask him about some birthday memories over the years.

I already know about the story of his arrival a little bit...Tyler's mom's doctor was not available so a different doctor agreed to do the delivery as long as his entire class of nursing students could watch. What's a woman in labor supposed to say? So, Tyler's arrival was observed by quite a few folks and as I remember the story they said he had the biggest smile they had ever seen...or was it the biggest mouth? Same thing right? To this day he still has a big smile and lips that don't look like they belong on a person of his ethnicity. I always wish I could have his lips and can't help but think how great they would look with lipstick, on me of course. I'm still hoping that the lip gene might kick in a little later and that Sydney will get his lips.

Let's see if I can get him to reminisce a bit for me...

hmmmm...no luck.  All he gave me was that they always played "Heavy heavy hangover thy poor head, what do you want with a bump on the head" before opening presents. Not exactly what I had in mind.

And geeze no pictures of the man either. I will have to take more pictures of him despite the dirty looks I get when I point my camera in his direction.

Well then, here are 30 things I really like about Tyler:

1. Tyler is really good at getting people on the phone at credit card companies and the like to do what he wants them to do. No getting mad, just persistance and lots of rational thinking. Some qualities I am short on when on the phone trying to get vendors to remove erroneous charges etc...

2. He's tall

3. And handsome

4. And Smart

5. And funny

6. He likes to have fun

7. He likes to eat

8. He makes me look little

9. He reads stories to S&T every night before bed. (and does funny voices to go along with the books)

10. He loves going grocery shopping...back in the day we used to go grocery shopping to Macey's in Provo and he would insist that we go down every single isle.

11. He LIKES taking the kids grocery shopping and does it. Like we're talking Wal-Mart people. He takes the kids shopping to Wal-Mart. And. Likes. It. Do you think I am kidding...nope, this is for real people, for real. He might even hire out his services if you are one of his favorites.

12. In fact he now does most of the grocery shopping

13. And makes most of the dinners. (we made a deal you see)

14. He loves to learn new things and isn't above reading books such as "Running a restaurant for Dummies"

15. He always drives.

16. He takes risks.

17. He's a good hugger.

18.  He gave me an iphone for my bday/Christmas

19.  He is very ambitious.

20. He's an expert mover (he used to be a professional mover actually and lends out his services generously)

21. He is an AMAZING packer. As in packing boxes or suitcases into a vehicle but not as in putting those things into those boxes or suitcases.

22.  He's not obsessive about watching sports, but he likes to sit down and watch a game once in awhile.

23. He's always on the cutting edge of technology.

24. His smile

25. He is very low maintenance with clothes, hair, etc... (but even so, he let me put some product in his hair this morning so it would stay curly)

26. He's a really good snowboarder

27. And volleyball player

28. He thinks I'm beautiful

29. He loves our kids.

30. He helps me to become my best self.

2006

Playing in the snow and praying for hamsters

A few weeks ago we went to see my friend Karene (who btw just started a super-fun gourmet food blog) and S&T had a blast playing with their real hamster. Not too long after that we were at Angie B.'s house and they also had a blast playing with their toy hamsters/zuzu pets.  Ever since, Sydney has been saying this in a prayer at least once a day: "grateful for a hamster and flarp for my birthday..."


I love that girl.

How cool is this?

A few weeks ago Tyler's brother Ryan started taking ski lessons at Park City through their adaptive ski program. Tyler has been going up each week to go with him and they have both been having a blast. Last week the kids and I went up and dropped Tyler off at the resort and walked up and down Main Street in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival that was going on. We didn't see any super famous faces but we did score some non-VIP swag. After the ski lesson we all had dinner with Ryan's awesome ski instructors and also, randomly, the director of Saints and Soldiers.

Note: For those of you who don't know Ryan, he broke his neck while at work 5 years ago and has no use of his legs and only partial use of his arms and hands. Since then he has served a 2-year LDS mission in North Carolina and is currently a student at BYU in Provo, Utah. What an inspiration.

He Said

"Mommy! I have a wedgie in my eye!"

-Talmage

Taken this past summer in our backyard, on my phone.

Angels & Demons

 

  

Would you believe me if I told you that these angelic little faces sometimes act more like little terrorists trying their hardest to make their mama lose her mind? It might in fact be proven at some later date that Mr. T's pitch of scream does in fact correlate with that particular area of the brain known to drive people insane. 

Stay posted to see if I end up in the looney bin.

I have finally discovered the secrets to loving winter

#1. Buy lots of warm, cute sweaters.

#2. Buy a few pairs of warm, cute boots (however, I still need new snow boots with better traction and new snowboard boots...living in a place where there are four seasons can be expensive in the wardrobe department).

#3. Get out and have lots of fun...

This time, my second time paint balling, I had lots of fun. The first time I was pretty much just scared the whole time, but this time I really got into it and I can't wait to go again. We weren't planning on bringing the kiddos, but my main 2 babysitters (my parents and our babysitter across the street) weren't available so after calling 7 other people at the last minute with no luck, they got to come watch the fun too. We just switched off playing and for the last game Jamie's parents kept an eye on them so we could both play.

That might look like a tough crowd, but when Talmage's gloves got wet and he was crying because he was cold, one girl gave us some hand warmers and one guy gave him some dry gloves. They just look tough:)

Live music is the best. I LOVED the song 'Memoria' by Cori Connors. It was so fun to be in such a small setting in a venue that feels so familiar. My other favorite was 'Dream Big' by Ryan Shupe.

We have been having so much fun lately and this self-proclaimed summer girl is loving winter more than ever before.

My Christmas House

Now that it's all taken down, ready to make our home magical next Christmas, here's a peek at what Christmas looked like at our house this year.

I am realizing I didn't take pictures of a bunch of things before I took it down...darn it! We had a garland on the mantle over the fire place, some garlands on the stairway, and some lighted garlands around our front door along with a Christmas wreath along with other decorations scattered around the house. We won't be in this rental home next Christmas, so I just wanted to remember. It seems like we are in a different place every Christmas.

It's a Wrap

In honor of taking down the Christmas tree, some Christmas memories...

health care and quote of the day

My day has been all about health care as have been many of the headlines so I thought I'd blog about health care today.

Today the kids and I went doc shopping and found a great family doctor and got some shots. We all have matching Bugs Bunny bandaids and my arm is sore. I was trying to avoid having a pediatrician and instead just have a family doctor, but the doc said that with Talmage's medical history we need a pediatrician too. He was one of those great doctors who had all sorts of great doctor recommendations. Thank you!

I also got a call from Shriner's hospital saying that Talmage was accepted as a patient there and he has his first appointment in March to treat his scoliosis. Do you know about Shriner's? They treat all their patients for free and have top-notch doctors. Our first interaction with them was visiting their hospital in the Philadelphia area since one of our dear little Ronald McDonald House friends had had surgery there. She was 10 years old and from another country and was completely hunched over. She was Sydney's little buddy in the Camden house while we were waiting for Mr. T to be born. If I am ever rich The Ronald McDonald House Charity's and Shriner's are going to be at the top of my donation lists.

Oh, and that brings us to the quote of the day from our very smart and funny friend. One of our awesome, and maybe just a tiny bit liberal friends has this as her description under "political views" on her facebook account: "I think people should have health care... I guess that makes me a communist"

This picture has nothing to do with the post. These are my fabulous brothers and my sister (who is also fabulous:). This was taken on Christmas day at my parents house.

The Best New Years Party ever + Flashback to Santa

We went to see the big guy while we were in Denver visiting family. I have never really been into the whole taking pictures with Santa thing, but my sister-in-law Hayley had this darling Christmas frame with a picture of her little boy on Santa's lap on her kitchen counter as part of her Christmas decor and it was so cute, so now I am a Santa-picture fan:)

 

The Walters Cousin Crew

 

This is a picture of all the kids that my sister had over to her house on New Year's Eve. She invited all the cousins over on both sides of her family for a cousin party so all the parents could go out and celebrate without having to get a babysitter. (it was even a slumber party for 4 years old and up!) Isn't that so nice and such a great idea? I have a friend in Dallas who did something similar during the Christmas season for her family so that parents could go out and do some Christmas shopping. I decided to join in and do a Valentines Party for all the cousins who live close by and my adopted sister-in-laws kids too. Angie Ballard, Emily and Kacie, consider this your invitation...Saturday, February 13th, 6-11pm, my house. Drop off your kids and go have fun! (please r.s.v.p.)

 

When I was a little girl...

Sydney has totally been cracking us up with her stories and imagination and her talkativeness...hmmm...I have no idea where that could have come from. Her mother is such a shy, reserved person. No idea. Anyhow, her favorite way to start a story these days is with the words: "When I was a little girl..." It is so funny to hear a 3.5 year old refer to her "younger years". She will also go up to Tyler while holding up two fingers and say, "Daddy, when I was this many..."  The other day Tyler took her on an errand in the car and said she did not stop talking for the entire 25 minutes in the car, 10 minutes at the place and 25 minutes back. Like I said, we are just scratching our heads, no idea where she would have picked up such a talkative nature:)

Sydney is a certified snow bunny. She loves sledding, skiing and just romping around making footprints in the snow. When we were sledding the other day if she tipped over or fell she would just pop up with a big 'ol grin on her face and want to do it all over again.

 

 

The guy dishing out the potatoes at our ward party asked me why I had dressed my kids like leprechauns.

 

Here is Syd with Ryan consulting him on his class schedule.

And here she is on her first day of Sunbeams at church. No more nursery. She is in with the big kids now and she is giving a talk this Sunday in Primary.

I guess she's right after all, she really is all grown up. {weep}

Lessons from my children: Just look around

I am always learning something from my kiddos...most of the time I am learning the hard way how to be patient:) but sometimes there are these sweet little moments that all parents live for...

...the other day when Talmage was praying I had one of those moments. Usually when he prays his eyes are open most of the time glancing around the room and adding everything in sight to his prayer...

..."grateful for blankies, and doors, and books", etc...

...the other night it made me think of what a lesson this is...sometimes I forget to just look around me and be grateful for the every day things that I take for granted. I AM grateful for doors and blankets and books, but I rarely take the time to think about that.

I am so grateful for the prayers of my children.

Overheard

Sydney to Talmage while in the bath tonight, in a matter-of-fact, calm voice:

"Just deal with it." 

Quote of the Day: the hope that is in me.

"Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a 

reason of the hope that is in you." 1 Peter 3:15

The reason of hope that is in me ...because I know I am a daughter of God and that He loves me and each of his children more than we can understand...because I know that I can become a better person and that because of Jesus Christ I can repent and be forgiven...because I have been given the opportunity to be a wife and a mother...because I know that joy comes with pain...because I know that growth is hard, but worth it...because I know that the Lord speaks to me through the quiet whisperings of the Holy Ghost and that those feelings are real...that is the reason of the hope that is in me.

Heaven. Total Travel Distance: 46 minutes

Tyler had the best day of his life two times in the last month. He shared his passion of skiing/snowboarding with Sydney who loved every second of it. I cannot even tell you how happy he was. So happy. And it made me so happy so see two of my peeps so happy:)

 

 

 

Tyler reports that the only incident was trying (successfully) to convince her to keep her tongue off the metal on the gondola. Phew. Good thing he has some serious negotiating skills.

 

All. Tuckered. Out.

Finn, Gabe and Everly or Cora

About 85% (or so it seems) of the birthdays on both sides of my family fall between November and February and this year another new baby was added to the growing lists on each side of the family. I was feeling crafty and when that happens I have to take advantage of it because I am not a very crafty person. Artistic yes, crafty not so much.

My friend in Dallas posted darling photos with her twinners and these little month cards on her blog last year and I loved them so much I decided to make some for my new nephews and also for baby girl Patsch who will soon arrive (although I haven't quite finished hers yet:) This first set that is pictured here has scrapbook paper glued to the back of the cardstock but I have since simplified them by printing digital scrapbook paper on the back to avoid the gluing step...I told you I wasn't a crafter:)

 

This next gift was inspired by the photo on this post on my friend Whitni's blog. I was so proud of myself for doing some of the sewing and grateful to my sister for doing the rest.

If you have a second, pop on over here to vote on whether my next set of month cards will be addressed to Cora, Everly, Scout, Ingrid, or Violet.
EDIT: They are being addressed to NELLIE...I love it...Hudson, Larkin, Brooke and Nellie. I love that family!



EDIT: Look how cute her pictures turned out! See more here 

 

.

Calendar Girls + Talmage

I gave the 2010 calendar the title of "love" to help me remember my focus for the year. Grandparents and great-grandparents, Talmage's surgeon, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, our specialists in C-ville, The Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey and a few others were recipients of the calendar this year.

 

That is actually not sand he is standing on, but rather salt. This, along with 4 other calendar shots were taken at the far edge of the Great Salt Lake near a place called The Spiral Jetty. The lighting was not the best for these shots, but the backgrounds were so fun and I was short on time to finish the calendar, so it was a very successful shoot.

 

I love my Sydy...can you tell why? She is so full of life!

 

I photoshopped out the big ketchup stains all down his shirt:)

 

Love this quote...so true! Umbrella by Old Navy.

 

I wish I would have put less photos of Talmage where you can't see his face, especially for his medical peeps so they could get a better look at him, but oh well, it's done and I still love it!

 

I have always loved this quote. Wouldn't it be a great one to put up in my house? This was when I got attacked by the stinging nettle so I didn't take many pics, but I love the look of the photo and how they look so natural...maybe like they escaped from church to go play in the fields:)

 

This shot is a reminder of how much I love Photoshop! The original was WAY underexposed and then just like magic, it looks so beautiful.

 

Love this quote.

 

Definitely my favorite calendar shot for this year! Thanks to Jenifer for the quote and Anayansi for the bags:)

 

Those darling suspenders were courtesy of my sister Emily's photographer friend (and now my friend too:) Molly Jones.

 

Sydney misses her dance classes from Miss Lisa in Texas,  but she still remembers some of her moves:)

 

Stealing some milk and cookies:)

You can also see the calendar here at Cafe Press.

I also did another calendar for my friend Angie who did my hair for 2+ years in Virginia and who comes to Ogden every 6 weeks to work at a salon here so I get to have her back as my stylist! Yay for fun trades especially when you need frequent colors...ahem.

I did not take any of these pictures. I added the quotes and photoshopped some of the photos that she already had.

The cover:

 

and the inside. I really love love some of these quotes and I plan to use some of these same ones on my calendar for 2011. You can get a closer look at the quotes (and calendar) here.

This last calendar I did for my friend Anayansi...the friend who would bring me treats when I had a craving and my friend who was always there when I needed anything. I miss having her for my neighbor:( Although we had big plans to do multiple photoshoots to create this calendar, because our family ended up moving, we only did the one shoot. Luckily, as you can see, her girls are so beautiful and photogenic that all 12 shots are from the same photoshoot that we did in a quaint little area in Dallas. You may recognize the quotes from our 2009 Calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

memories...

Can you tell what I'm doing? Going through old photos and trying to clear out some memory on my computer...(needing memory=lots of memories:) my new external hard drive is not working right so I am deciding which photos will be triple backed up and which ones will only get double protection:)

This was my back yard, the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

she said

Most of these latest funny things that Sydney has said are coming to me second hand from Tyler so I will do my best to set this one up...so Sydney sometimes sets Talmage up to get in trouble and that is what appeared to be the case the other day. As Tyler was assessing the situation and deciding if anyone was in need of a time-out Sydney piped up and said:

"Get'im daddy!"

It appears that sibling rivalry begins at a very early age:)

Oh how fast they grow

my 2010 word of the year

At the beginning of 2009 I picked the word 'calm' for my word of the year. The year before I chose the word 'action'.  In evaluating how my last years word went compared to the year before I would say that I definitely did better at action than I did with calm. I suppose they are opposites in many ways. My 2010 word will hopefully help me do better with my 2009 word. Maybe in 2011 I will be ready to give 'calm' another more focused effort. (although I will still be working on it nonetheless) However, I do believe that even though I wasn't as calm as I could have been in '09, it's a darn good thing I wasn't any less calm:)

Enough of the past though...let's move on to the present and the future.

My 2010 word is  love.

I want to love myself better, I want to love my kids better, I want to love my husband better, I want to love life and my life better, I want to love my God better, I want to love my Savior better, I want to love my family better...I want to love more and better in all areas of my life.

Here are two quotes on love that I really love right now...I would {love} to hear your favorite love quotes as well...please share if you feel so inclined.

"Come What May, and Love It!"

Joseph B. Wirthlin

I also want to share a few thoughts from Jeffery R. Holland from his address called 'The Best is Yet to Be' that I especially love as I think about this new year:

"The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."

And I love this scripture that he quoted:

“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14)

Thanks to Ali Edwards for getting me started with my tradition of picking my 'word of the year'.  Here is a post from her blog to help you learn more about it if it's something you are interested in as well.

 

she said

"Daddy, can I have it right now? Because I'm being really patient." -Sydney

Sydney has been saying the funniest things. She is so logical. Like tonight I told her to get back in bed or else I would shut her door (she was laying on the floor in her doorway with her new bunny, new green blankie and pillow and having a deep conversation about letters with Talmage whose room is next to hers). She told me that she couldn't get back in bed because she was never in bed to begin with. Funny girl, she knows how to make her mama laugh!

Talmage is also very verbal for a kid his age. He's really into letters big time. Loves loves loves letters. He spends his spare time singing the alphabet and saying what sounds all the letters make. Such a little character.

We had a great Christmas and hopefully I will have time to post some pictures sometime in the near future:) (Sydney got her requested new pink bunny and Talmage got his requested money that he told us he would be giving to "the poor people")

Happy New Year! 

(stay posted for my 2010 word of the year)

the love of a child

I guess I could be accused of being a hug pusher. But, my kids are too young to know it, and hopefully by the time they are old enough to protest they will already be addicted. Addicted to the smiles that come when they give the Salvation Army lady outside Wal-Mart a hug, addicted to the hearts melting when they give their nursery teachers, grandparents, or even me, a hug. I love glancing at the name of the checker at whatever store I am at with my kids and then whispering to my kids..."Say Merry Christmas Sheri!" When that checker hears her name, which may not have been spoken all day long despite the fact that she is wearing a name tag, spoken by a cute little toddler, a big smile flashes across her face and then I think...maybe taking the kids shopping with me wasn't such a bad idea after all:)

May your days be Merry and Bright!

Fall, unedited

The trees are now barren from their leaves,

their branches covered with snow.

Our snow shovel has been broken in and our yard is now covered in a blanket of white. But not too long ago, this was what was happening in our backyard....

...Sydney, her cousin Fred, and lots of leaves:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Sale

Anyone putting in a theater in their house for Christmas? Anyone need some extra seating anywhere?
If so, we have about 1,000 of these babies for sale. $10 each.

Where are you Bun-Bun?

Bun-Bun is Sydney's beloved bunny and she has been missing since about August(?) or was it September(?) when we came to Utah and Colorado for a visit. I thought that surely she was just hidden somewhere (Sydney likes to hide things:) but even after unpacking almost everything...still no Bun-Bun.

So, if you happen to see a well-loved bunny hanging out in some far corner of your playroom, let me know. It would make one little girl, a very happy camper:)

completely hilarious

They have some ads on their blog so I figure it's ok, to pass on their link, but you tell me, is it just me, or is this blog completely hilarious?

http://richandbeautiful.org/blahg/

P.S. Thanks for being friends with such funny people Diana:) It totally makes up for the fact that you keep standing me up:):)

Shhhh...don't tell Izzy!

I procrastinated once again getting a bday gift sent out to my favorite little Walters niece and found myself on Etsy looking for the perfect hand stamped necklace for her.  I found the perfect one at a great price and ordered it. I left a note to the seller saying that her bday is on Friday and that I was pretty positive it wouldn't get to her on time, but to just let me know when it would.

Do you know what?

This Etsy shop hand made her necklace hours after I ordered it, wrapped it, and even wrote the card I requested and it will be sent out tomorrow!

Yaaay for handmade items and if you want to give an extra special gift please consider ordering from this fabulous Etsy Shop.

This is Isabelle. Isn't she beautiful?

 

Won't this necklace look darling hanging around her neck?

 

There's nothing better than great service!

The winter here is cold, and bitter, it chills me to the bone

http://new.music.yahoo.com/sarah-mclachlan/tracks/full-of-grace--1304970#lyrics

YIKES!