Merry Christmas!

We had our first Christmas in our new house and it was so fun!! Little things like actually have a fire place to hang stockings made this year extra special.
Joe roasted an amazing prime rib roast for Christmas Eve dinner. Then we read from the scriptures and acted out the Nativity. (Not quite so amazing but definitely memorable.)
Emily was Mary, Dallin was Joseph, JJ was the Angel, Becky was a Shepherd, and Joe was the Donkey. It started off a little rough when 'Joseph' decided to shove 'Mary' off the 'donkey' because he wanted to ride instead. Finally we reached a compromise and both 'Mary' and 'Joseph' rode the 'donkey' to bethlehem. Then when 'Mary' wouldn't let 'Joseph' hold baby Jesus so 'Joseph' pulled out his staff (a golf club) and started wackin' her with it. After all that we kind of rushed through the shepherd and angel part so we could separate everyone before someone lost a limb. Better luck next year I guess. Later on the kids opened pajamas and it was off to bed!

Christmas morning was so fun. The kids were so excited! (I don't think Becky of JJ slept all night.) We were so blessed to have such a great Christmas.

Becky's Birthday!

Although it's kind of cool having a Christmas Eve baby. It's always a challenge trying to do Becky's birthday and Christmas at the same time. This year we tried celebrating her birthday the afternoon of the 24th. Becky got to pick a place to go to lunch then we came home and did presents. That night Padilla's came over for Christmas Eve festivities and Becky blew out her candles.

I can't believe she's 10!!!! She is so excited about growing up. I don't know how I feel about it!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBECCA LYNN!!!

Let it Snow!

Well, I was just talking to my parents about how much I miss the snow in Utah.
I guess this is what happens when you complain:
It snowed hard for a whole night and the entire next day until when it was all said and done we had almost 3 feet of snow on our lawn! Luckily we didn't have anywhere to go so we just sipped hot chocolate and enjoyed looking forward to our first "White Christmas" in Virginia.
We all loved it except for Joe who spent hours and hours clearing snow off our driveway.

Coming Soon!

Announcing Walker baby #5!!!!
Due June of 2010!

I had my first Dr. appointment today and everything looks good. It's been a long few months as I have been sicker with this one than the last two pregnancies, but hopefully we'll be through that in a few weeks.

Christmas in Utah!........Well, sort of...........

We just got back from a quick trip to Utah. My parents flew the kids and I out to see everyone for a few days this season.
We got there just in time to see my nephew read his mission call!!! Congratulations TY!!!!

My brother Joe treated me to a night out on the town to see 'The Forgotten Carols'.
The kids decorated gingerbread houses.

My mom took all her granddaughters to 'The Nutcracker' at The Capitol Theater. And Becky, JJ, and I took a quick walk through the lights at Temple Square.

Before we knew it we were on a plane back to Virginia. It was a quick four days but we had a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've been married 10 years and until this year I've never hosted Thanksgiving!
We had Tony and Sue, Steve and Kathy, David and Crystal and their families here for the day.
David and Crystal brought their Wii and Rock Band.
We had a great day and I didn't even ruin the Turkey!!!!

Halloween!!

Another Halloween has come and gone.
We had Joe's family in town to spend the weekend with us.
We had a blast!

Becky was a Bride:

Julianne was Hannah Montana:

Emily was a Kitty:

Dallin was a BYU football player:

This was Becky's first year to go trick-or-treating with friends. She is growing up so fast!!!!!!
I'm afraid Emmy and Dallin had kind of a harrowing experience this year. They were both so excited to go trick-or-treating, but the first two houses we went to had HUGE dogs that weren't tied up. As soon as the doors opened the dogs came sprinting out the door barking scaring Emmy and Dallin to death! After that we couldn't get them to go up to another door. So they just rode around on Daddy and Grandpa's shoulders and shared Becky and JJ's candy.
Maybe next year will be bettter! :)

Julianne's Baptism

We baptized Julianne the morning of Halloween!!
Joe's parents and Adam and Andrea were able to be here and participate in the program.
The spirit was so strong. We had a wonderful day with family and friends.
We're so proud of you JJ!

October Birthdays/Palmyra and Kirtland

We've had a great last couple of weeks!
First- Julianne had her very first sleepover party! She turned eight this month so we wanted to do something extra special for her birthday. We had all the girls in her primary class over for a "Princess Diaries" Party. We had a 'royal banquet' with lots of yummy finger foods. Next we did makeovers with glitter make-up and finger polish and the girls made jewelry and decorated princess crowns. Then we had a 'rockin' royal ball' as the girls danced around the room with pink ribbons and played freeze dance. Finally they all got ready for bed and watched "Princess Diaries."
Believe it or not we had them all asleep by 11:00pm!
It was a great party and Julianne had soooo much fun!




A few days later Joe and I left the kids with Sue while my parents took my brothers and sisters and their spouses to Palmyra and Kirtland! It was sooo much fun in soooo many ways. It was fun to go away for a few days with my sweetie. It was a wonderful experience to see the church history sights. And while we were gone Joe turned the big 3-0! Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!!!!


Kristie and Lincoln standing in the "air space" where Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in The Log Home.

The Palmyra Temple

Some of us infront of the Frame House where Joseph loved with Emma and the rest of his family.

My brother Brett's foot on the same bricks that hid the Gold Plates under the Frame House fire place.
The Sacred Grove....................................................Amazing.

Joe and Lincoln in the Grandin Bookstore and print shop where the Book of Mormon was published.
My cute sister and sister-in-laws infront of the memorial in the top of Hill Cumora.
We celebrated Joe's birthday by having a little party in our hotel room one morning before sight seeing. All my brother's and sisters gave him some sort of "white elephant" gift! We had a lot of fun!My camera battery went dead shortly after this and I forgot to bring my charger so I didn't get any pictures of Kirtland but when I collect some from my siblings I'll post them.

Conference Weekend!

I'm riding on a total spiritual high today! After watching General Conference over the weekend I am ready to go out and conquer the world! (Ok maybe that's a bit overstating it...:)
Still, I thought it was a great conference as usual.
The kids were actually pretty good to let me watch too. The big girls enjoyed doing their conference packets and even Emmy got into the whole 'Conference Bingo' thing.

First Day of School!

It's our first day at Bennett Elementary School! The girls spent all last night and this morning agonizing about what to wear :)



I can't believe they are starting 2nd and 4th grade!!!!! (Am I really that old!?)

Labor Day/Back to School Bar-BQ!

The girls are starting a new school this year due to our move last spring. So we got together for a Labor Day/Back to School BBQ with a few other families from church who have kids who go to the same school. We had a great time with everyone and it was a great way to kick off the school year.