The Busiest Weekend Ever - Part Saturday

Yes, the weekend before going to Las Vegas was perhaps one of the busiest of my life. Everything just seemed to culminate in 2 short days. Crazy! So, let's start with Saturday, December 18th.

The morning of the 18th proved to be very cold and the ground was snowy and icy. I guess you could say this is 'ideal' weather for running a 10k (hope you sense the sarcasm there). But, I did it anyway.

My mom and I had signed up for a race at Hains Point. She was doing the 5k and I was doing the 10k. The course had a slight change at the last minute - instead of the 5k doing one circle and 10k doing 2, they had to do an up and back course. That meant that the 5k went up and back and the 10k was up and back two times. Ugh, not ideal, but whatever, nothing could be done to change it. But, the fact that it was icy on the ground made it even worse that I had to turn around 3 times during my run! Ah well!

I saw my mom during the race briefly. We ran past each other twice and gave thumbs up and clapped. Always good to have someone motivating you and vice versa. :) I almost slipped turning around, but I did stay on my feet. Phew! Crisis averted. I was sure that my time would be slower than my previous 10k, but to my pleasant surprise I ran it about 30 seconds faster! I finished in 52:14 minutes! I was very pleased expecially since I had to slow down to turn around and the running conditions were not the best. My mom was happy that she completed the race! So, a great start to the chilly morning!

Post race....starting to get cold :)

We drove home and I had to hurry and shower and leave for the choir practice. Originally, I was going to skip the practice since I knew the songs and go to a cookie exchange (since I had never been to one before), but that all changed when I got asked to play the glockenspiel! My friend who was supposed to play had to end up having surgery (she is ok!), so I got asked to play. Thus, I had to show up to the Saturday morning rehearsal to play with the choir and practice at least a few times before the performance!

The glockenspiel is kind of like a xylophone, but I think it sounds prettier. The first time through was rough because I was figuring out where the notes were. On a glockenspiel (at least the one I played) there are no flats written on the notes, just sharps. So, your mind has to think a little backwards when flats are involved.

It all worked out and the practice was good. 2 things checked off the list by noon!

After going home to have lunch, I immediately had to start getting ready for my piano recital. My friend, Mina, hosted it at her house (thank you again, Mina!). She lives a good 20 minutes away and I had to be early since I was the teacher, so it got a bit tricky. Not to mention, Tyson was at the church building helping with tithing settlement. So, I had to get the kids ready and loaded, get myself ready, bring the presents for my students, plus cookies I had made, and be there before 3:30 p.m.!

Thankfully, it all worked out. The program started a little late because people were caught in traffic (holiday traffic is horrible!), but it turned out great! I was so proud of my students! I guess I should have prepared something to play, but I just did not have the time to actually learn something new. Next time I will just have to play something I am already familiar with.

My students all did great! Even some of the shyer ones did a great job at introducing themselves and bowing when they finished. It was a great moment for me as a teacher!

My students and me

Luckily, that was the end of Saturday for me. We were able to go home, eat dinner, and prepare for Sunday, which ended up being more busy for me!

Let it Snow! plus week 10

I tried really hard to get all caught up on my blog before going on Christmas vacation, but did not. Here are some posts from a while ago! Enjoy :)

On Reed's 10th week of preschool he learned about Christmas! They ended up having S'mores as treats and then making little S'mores Christmas tree ornaments. So cute :)

The ornament

The next day, December 16th, it snowed!! I wondered if Reed would remember what it was since it has almost been a year since he has actually seen snow. Well, he remembers. That morning he looked out our back window and shouted, "Snow!!" He was so excited the whole morning because it was snowing!

After lunch we got all bundled up and headed out into the snow. Reed loved it! He loved crunching the snow with his feet, brushing off the bushes, and making little snowballs. He even found a stick (in true boy fashion) and used it to draw in the snow and wipe off more bushes! I think snowballs may be innate because without me saying a thing Reed made little snowballs and threw them at the trees! Such fun :)

Reed was severely disappointed when he had to go inside, but I promised we would go outside again that same day. So, when Tyson came home from work, we had a family outing in the snow. :) Reed still loved every minute! He especially loved when daddy threw snowballs as high as he could and hit the apartment building as it came down. Eve didn't know what to think. She just stood there, expressionless. Maybe next year she will a little more feeling toward snow. All-in-all a great day!


The first steps outside...

Reed standing by the car.

He found a stick, of course!

Wiping off the bushes with his stick!

Proudly showing off the snow on his gloves :)

Eve wondering what this stuff is...

'Ok, I guess I will look up for the picture.'

Throwing snowballs at mommy!

Christmas Fun and Week 9

On Reed's 9th week of Preschool he learned all about winter. The kids made this adorable snowflake -well, they decorated it themselves. It is now hanging in our house with our other Christmas decorations. Reed and Eve love to touch the snowflake and make it swing. It has been one of the most fun decorations ever! Yeah for preschool :)



Last Saturday (December 11th) we did some of our Christmas tradition stuff - by that I mean we went to see the trains at the Botanic Gardens and saw the National Christmas tree.

This year the trains were especially cool for Reed because they had a Thomas and a Percy (from the Thomas & Friends trains) train. Reed LOVED it and was really upset when we had to leave (but it was closing time, so we were kind of kicked out). Reed still loved all the other trains, especially the ones that went above your head.

I just love how they always do a great! The other decorations this year were famous structures - i.e. Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, etc. They were just gorgeous!

Grandma and Grandpa Rowberry were able to come with us to the trains. Reed loved showing Grandma all the cool trains, especially the one that went around the bottom of the huge tree at the entry way. Trains = always a good thing to see at Christmas time!

Eve was a trooper the whole time! Such a happy little girl!

Percy

Great Wall of China

Thomas just passed (he's the blue engine)

Eiffel Tower

What happens when you take a picture when trains are passing.

That's better :) Our family + 1 (in the background)

Grandma and Grandpa Rowberry

The tree at the entrance with a train going around it.

Grandma and Grandpa had to leave, but we decided to brave the cold and see the National Christmas tree. We found pretty good parking (thanks to my good parking karma) and walked over to the tree. There were so many people there! I felt like we were being herded through like cattle. Everyone was super squished, but at least it was to see something awesome!

The tree was gorgeous and huge, like always. There were little trains going around the bottom - always a Walker family treat. We also found the Nevada tree - they have all the states/provinces/districts represented by a tree sort of surrounding the main tree. It was so crowded that we didn't get a picture with it and didn't get a picture of VA at all, but Nevada was a lot easier to get to.

By the end, everyone was freezing and hungry, never a good combination. But, Reed still talks about the trains and the Christmas trees, so it was worth standing in the cold! It's all part of "Christmas stuff you have to do," so it just has to be done!

Merry Christmas! As it gets closer and closer to Christmas, I am reminded more and more of the baby Jesus and how amazing his birth, life, death, and resurrection actually are! He truly came to this earth to save us and give us an opportunity to live with Heavenly Father and Him again.

The tree with Tyson and the kids

Navada's tree

There's the sign to prove it.

Pushing Things

Eve LOVES to push things around - especially Reed's yellow Tonka truck. Reed usually gets upset since it is technically 'his' toy, but doesn't seem to care if he is playing with 'Eve's' toys. That sharing thing is a hard thing to learn. He does well with other kids, but his own sister is a bit tougher. But, it is a work in progress!

Reed also doesn't mind Eve pushing the truck if he is sitting in the truck! Yes, that's right my 11-month-old pushes my 2 1/2-year-old! They both have a great time! Reed loves being pushed around in that thing, but thinks it's awesome (I am going to say the most awesome) when his little sister does it. Sibling love :) I even got a short video of it! Check it out :)


When they get to one side of the room Reed will say, "Ok, turn around Eve."

She just loves to push things - fun times!


Eve pushing Reed. She is super fast, so I only got a little bit on video!

Temple Lights

December 5th we went to see the temple Christmas lights. Reed was so excited the whole day to go and see the lights, then he fell asleep on the way there. We had to wake him up and he was not happy! We looked at the nativities scenes from all around the world (inside, so we could warm up) and at the beautifully decorated Christmas trees.

Then, we headed into the cold, cold night to see the lights. Man, it was so cold and windy! We were all freezing, but the lights were beautiful! They even had a nativity set up outside with scriptures about it on a loud speaker. It was nice. :)

Reed ended up being really upset that we couldn't go inside the actual temple! He loves the song, "I Love to See the Temple" and knows all the words. So, I guess he thought the line "I'll go inside some day" meant that particular day. We explained that it was closed, but he was still upset. We explained that he could go when he turns 12, but he was upset. He was just being a grouch (mostly due to cold, I think). But, once we got in the car and gave a last drive by the lights, he became the excited little boy that loves Christmas lights. Silly Reed.

Eve was a trooper the whole time. She was just happy, curious, and excited to be there! A fun family tradition each Christmas season! :)

The whole fam with the temple in the background

Some of the Christmas lights

Freezing everything off!

The blue tree was Reed's favorite tree

I loved this view - it was just beautiful!

Week 7, Birthdays, Santa, and Christmas Trees

The first week in December was quite eventful!

Wednesday, the 1st, Reed has his 7th week of preschool! Can you believe it?! It is all going too fast for me! He learned about gingerbread men and houses and even came home with a fun cookie! He decorated a paper gingerbread house and made a gingerbread man and puppet.



Thursday, Reed's friend, Juliet, had a birthday party! Reed was so excited to go to her house and play! They decorated paper birthday cakes with markers, stickers, and pom poms. They also ate some apples and popcorn (Reed's new favorite snack apparently) and then ate 'ice cream' cupcakes (cupcakes that were put in ice cream cones and frosted purple). Juliet kept saying that is was her "ice cream birthday." We didn't actually sing "Happy Birthday" because she doesn't really like the song, but Reed and the other kiddos really had a lot of fun! Reed was also delighted to fine Raisinets in the bottom of the ice cream cone. He actually just took the cupcake off the top and ate the Raisinets - silly kid!

The finished product :)

Decorating the pictures

Eating the food

Brooks - he is the only other boy in our preschool group and he and Reed are 1 day apart! They get along famously :)

Friday was our ward party. It was my last Primary thing since I was released the previous Sunday (I almost started crying when I got released. I really had a great time with those kids!). The kids sang, "Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus" and sounded great! They had a dinner and then the program. It turned out nice and was family fun! :) I was also eager to see if Reed would sit on Santa's lap. Since his first Christmas he has just bawled or screamed, so I wasn't counting on much. He likes the idea of Santa Claus, but when it comes to sitting on his lap, he is not so sure. So, we got in line and the closer we got, the most nervous Reed got. We let him just stare at Santa for a while. After a few minutes Reed said, "Mama, I like Santa!" I said, "Good!" Then, he went and sat on his lap without crying!!!! He also was very happy when he realized that Santa gives out candy canes! Eve, was another story. She was so excited to see Santa walk in, but when she went to sit on his lap, she screamed!!!!! Ah well, at least one of my children had a good Santa experience. :)



Saturday we put up our Christmas tree and decorated it! Tyson is always in charge of putting up the lights. He has a certain way of doing it, so I always give that job to him. He did that during the day and we put up the ornaments at night. We watched our friends' girls and they helped us put up some of them. The girls left and then we finished putting up the ornaments with just Reed and Eve. It was a fun little family project! Reed did great! He was such a good helper. He did keep wanting to put lots of ornaments on the same branch, but it all looked awesome by the end!

I can't believe that Christmas is coming so soon! The days are ticking down faster and faster it seems! Merry Christmas to everyone :)

Our fun little family!


Reed turned at just the wrong moment. It is really sweet - he will just stare at the tree.

62, 11, 25

I promise there is a reason for the number titling this post. First, 62. On the 21st of November my dad turned 62! It's weird because I used to think that 62 was "so old." But, the older I get, the younger and younger 62 sounds.

We had my parents, Barb, Ryan, and Jared for dinner. I made ribs (so delicious) and a salad, Barb brought these yummy potatoes and dessert, and my mom brought rolls. The dinner was awesome! The company was awesome! All-in-all, a great night.

Barb made a homemade apple pie and made a 62 out of the crust. It was pretty sweet. We spent the evening chatting and just having fun. Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!!


Blowing out the candle (no, there were not 62 of them).

Happy Birthday!!!

On November 23rd Eve turned 11 months! I am really freaking out now because this past year seemed to be here and gone in an instant! It is hard to believe that my little baby girl is going to be 1 on December 23rd! She is progressing and growing like crazy :) Just some of the things she is doing at 11 months:

* crawling like mad
* pulling up on everything
* walking along couches, furniture, and holding our fingers
* favorite song: Hello Song (Children's Songbook p. 260) - she loves when Reed sings it and she will usually wave her hand along with him
* waves for hello, good-bye, and bye-bye
* says, "Hi" and I think "yeah"
* laughs and smiles all the time
* signs "more," "finished, " and (almost) "please"
* grunts and points a lot if she needs something to drink at meal time
* amazed by new things every day
* loves to take things in and out
* eats almost all real people food (she does notice the difference and is only truly satisfied when she has what we have)
* almost exclusively feeds herself (unless it is the occasional jar of food)
* loves her mommy, daddy, and big brother a lot!
* can almost stand by herself, but doesn't like to

Love you little miss!

Lastly, 25. Thanksgiving was on November 25th! I totally failed and did not take any pictures :(. But, we had an excellent Thanksgiving!

We drove to CT and stayed with Justin, Megan, and family. I have decided that the 95 is the worst road ever! It doesn't matter if you are driving to Richmond or CT, there is always bad traffic, accidents, bottle necks, and it is just never easy to sit in traffic and wait. We left for their house Tuesday night, thinking that it would be a lot faster. Well, it probably was, but there was still tons of traffic and an accident. Ah well - we ended up getting to their about 3:15 a.m. and tried to sleep for a bit, but Eve (since she was woken up going from the car to the house) decided that it was time to be awake. I rocked her for a while, tried laying with her, she dozed for a while, and fell asleep probably around 5:30 a.m. I was pretty tired!

Tiredness aside, the trip was awesome! I love visiting Justin ad Megan - such fun and great people! I hope we get to visit more often. We spent the rest of the week making food, shopping, playing games, talking, and even want to see "Tangled" the Friday after Thanksgiving. I love that movie - so cute, and I totally have a T.V. star crush on Zachary Levi (plays Chuck on "Chuck") who happened to be the voice of Flynn Rider. We all loved it! Plus, I bought left-handed scissors! I am pretty excited because I think part of the reason I don't cut straight is because I always use my right hand instead of my left. So, we shall see - re-learning how to cut should be interesting!

Thanksgiving Day was filled with good food - turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, and even a little sparkling cider! Some friends of Justin and Megan came up with their kids, the huband's brother, and his old roommate; Megan's brother and his wife came up; and our family! We all enjoyed our meal, good conversation, and of course we played a game after we were done.

The kids got to go in the back yard and find an egg that had some change in it. They also got to find a toy that had been hidden in the leaves. Reed LOVED it! He was so excited about the whole thing.

The adults played a "thankful" version of the Celebrity game (where you put names in a bowl and then act them out for your team). We had to write 10 things we were thankful for. It ended up being really fun and funny. What a great day!

Reed loves his cousins! He loves to play with big kids, but really took to Michelle this time. Michelle is almost 1 year older than Reed - so they played awesome together. :) He was really sad when we had to leave and still talks about his cousins. I guess that's how I know he really likes someone - talking about them when they are gone.

All too soon it was Saturday morning and we had to head back South. Tyson had to do tithing settlement and I had to sing in a trio on Sunday. So, we got packed, got snacks and gas and were on the road by 11 a.m. It was supposed to be about 6 1/2 hours, so that is what I was prepared for, but it took much longer. We didn't end up getting home to 8 p.m. We were all tired, cranky, and just ready to be home. There was traffic and accidents all along the way. But, we made it home safely and have never slept so good!

Happy Thanksgiving!!


Reed made various turkey crafts during this holiday season. Here are some turkey hands we made at the playgroup the Friday before Thanksgiving. We put a bunch of glue in the middle and he poured split peas, corn, noodles, and black-eyed peas on them (all dried of course).