The Walker Family: Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has taken many shapes for me throughout my life. When I was in elementary school it was so much fun giving the valentines to my class and getting some in return. Really all we wanted was the candy anyways and made a big deal when a boy's valentine said the word "love" on it. :) In junior high I remember giving valentines to my friends (since we didn't do the class thing anymore) and some of my friends gave out big items like stuffed animal bears! It was pretty exciting. In high school we could send valentines to each other for different fund raisers (I remember carnations with a note specifically) or we could bring our own, if we wanted to. We also had our names written on a heart and it was placed somewhere in the school. My friends and I always looked for each other's names (and we gave it to the other if we found someone's name). Valentine's in high school also seemed like a much bigger deal because usually you had a crush on someone or vice versa. That's why getting the carnations with notes seemed like a big deal. I do remember one Valentine's when I got a bouquet of roses sent to my house. It was delivered on the 13th (a Saturday) because Valentine's was a Sunday. The card was a bit obscure and was not signed with a name. It didn't say "Secret Admirer, " but it was something like that. I was really confused, but then realized that it was from a guy in college who I had met one time (because he visited my ward with a guy from my ward). I didn't know how to feel about that one. I was excited to get flowers, of course, but was a little weirded out that someone I did not even know was sending me flowers. They were beautiful, though. It did make me feel special on Valentine's. So, thank you person - I don't even remember your name.

Flash forward to college and Valentine's has a whole new meaning. Yes, there were Valentine's when I had a boyfriend, which was always fun. I would get a flower of some sort and we would go on a date somewhere. There were also many Valentine's where I did not have a 'valentine.' It didn't really bother me at all. I still loved Valentine's day and always wore either red or pink or a combination. My roommates and I did throw a "Singles Awareness" party on Valentine's once - that was awesome! I made heart-shaped cookies and jell-o jigglers and we served Stephen's hot chocolate (the mint is my favorite). When Tyson and I were dating, we had Valentine's at Aunt Janet's house (she is not really my Aunt, but we like to call her that because that is what she feels like). The morning of, I kept finding roses on my car (at random times during the day) with little poems/phrases on them! We both had school and I had work, so we didn't really see each other until that night when he came over to Aunt Janet's (I was living there at the time). Tyson made funeral potatoes and something else. We had a candle lit dinner. We watched Beauty and the Beast. He even had 10 presents for me because we had been dating for 10 months. He was trying to trick me into thinking he was going to propose. I probably would have thought that he was, if he would have been a little more nervous. But, it was definitely awesome!

The subsequent Valentine's have been while I was married. It is so much better having a forever Valentine - so much better! I remember working on a Valentine's and Tyson dropped off roses in my classroom at the MTC! All the missionaries were so excited. :) Tyson made homemade Thai food that time. So delicious! The next Valentine's I was very pregnant with Reed and we went to Thai Ruby (still our favorite Thai place in Provo). After leaving Provo, Valentine's Day has changed a bit.

Valentine's Day falls right during the busiest part of Tyson's busy season. He is working entirely too much, always on Saturdays, and sometimes a Sunday (if he has to). So, Valentine's Day takes a little bit of a backseat. We did go to Thai food the first busy season (2009), but only because Valentine's was over a weekend (it was Sunday, but we went out Saturday). The past few Valentine's have all fallen during the week, so we don't really do much. I do get flowers and usually some chocolate! Even with his busy schedule, Tyson finds time to do something nice for me. Yahoo for my forever valentine!

With the kids getting older, Valentine's has changed shapes on me again. Now, we make Valentine's for relatives and Reed's friends. Pretty soon we will be adding Eve's and Aria's friends to the mix. So, I can see the cycle of Valentine's starting all over again as my children get older. I know a lot of people don't like Valentine's, but I still think it's fun to make Valentine's and just let people know that you care for them. I guess I should do it more regularly, but Valentine's reminds me to do it at least on that day.

Here are the Valentine's we made on Valentine's Day. It was very last minute because everyone got sick the entire week before Valentine's, and I hadn't slept well with each kid waking up at sometime during the night. But, we did end up making a few (not as many as we normally would make). Reed also gave out Cars 2 valentines to the kids in his preschool. :)