Go Baby

We have good news about Walker this week! He has made so much progress in just six weeks with his helmet that he now only has to wear it for naps and bedtime! During the day he is free to roam without the restriction of that hot thing on his head. We are thrilled with this. I love that when I absentmindedly kiss him on his head I get contact with his actual body instead of of mouthful of plastic! He is also doing much better with the Torticollis. He will be going to physical therapy every other week from here on out!
He looks oh so confident pushing his cart in the picture above. That is actually not the case. He fell over right after I took it. But we will not be surprised if he does try to walk soon. He already maneuvers his way around on the edge of the furniture.

Georgia was such a cutie yesterday. She was SO excited when I told her that we were going to Dad's office to eat lunch with him. We don't get down there very often because it is not very often that Del or I have that much of a break in our day. Georgia first said a prayer that she could eat restaurant food with Dad, ( she has become quit the prayer giver lately, she covers everything from asking that Walker will never cry again, to blessing Dad to "moo" the lawn.)  then she picked out her "Mexico dress" all by herself, let me curl her hair!!! (holy cow, that is progress) and then she even wanted to take a picture of how pretty she was before we left.

Of course the minute we got there, and she started to get any kind of attention from everyone at the office, she turned back into a clingy, shy wallflower. She had so much fun going to the office, but this girl is so ready to go to preschool. She needs to have something that is just her "thing." We are looking forward to the first day of school next week.

The Boys Are Back In School

Here are the official first day of school pictures for the boys. Wally is in second grade this year. He really seems to be taking to second grade well! He is very enthusiastic about going this year. The picture above is not an accurate portrayal of this. He is excited about school, but not about getting his picture taken.

And the backpack shot.

Will is in Kindergarten. FULL day! It has really been so strange not having Will around during the day. Georgia is a little lost without her bestiest friend.  I will be so thrilled when the boys are on the same bus next year! Yay for minimizing bus stop visits! I spend my life there it seems.


We were talking about being good boys at school around the dinner table and how much the teachers would like the boys if they tried really hard to be good. Will got a big smile on his face and told us, "Yeah, my teacher is going to say, "Wow! This is one awesome Will!"
I am sure that she is going to think he is "one awesome Will."

 Georgia goes off to pre-school next week. It is hard to see them go, but I must admit that I love not having to get a babysitter to go to all of the doctors appointments and therapy for individual children. Or, the alternative, hauling them all in with me and having the doctors want to shoot themselves! There is something to be said for that bit of freedom.

Walker Is A...Crawler!

Oh Boy! Now we are in trouble! We took this video last week, and he has perfected the art of crawling since then. He is all over the place and pulling himself up on everything. It sure is cute, but it is time to get out the baby gates! Please excuse Georgia's outfit, or lack thereof in the video. That is another story.

Mexico

Hola! Es hermoso, verdad?

  Del and I were able to go to Mexico for five nights in the middle of our Utah trip. We celebrated ten years of marriage on the Mexican Riviera.  We stayed at the very pretty, and very friendly,  Secrets Maroma Riviera Maya resort.

It has been such a fulfilling ten years being Del's wife. It has been a privilege to be by his side through the joys and trials of life. I have gained more than I ever would have dreamed... four beautiful children that define so much of who I am, a stronger testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it's power to strengthen families, a greater appreciation for hard work, and the ability to exercise more faith than I ever had before our journey started as a married couple. I have a long way to go in learning all that I need to know in this life about how to be a better person in all of the above areas and more, but I am so glad that I get to learn with Del as my husband. Everything is just more fun when we can do it together.

Okay, maybe not shopping. Sorry My Dear, but who are we kidding, you hate shopping. And that is not fun. I'll tell you what was fun though... Mexico!
Now, I apologize for the upcoming picture-o-rama.  

There was no shortage of activity to keep us busy while we were there. The resort had around 8 options of restaurants to eat at, I believe I read that there were 25 pools, a beach, basketball, and tennis courts, shows in the evenings, volleyball, ping-pong, yoga and pilates, a gym, rifle shooting, and bike riding, among others on the list. Del joined in with many of these activities. Here is is playing volleyball on the beach. Yes, he is chasing the ball out of bounds, but I thought he looked cute in the picture.

We gave archery a try. I wasn't the absolute worst person at it, but I was compared to Del, who grew up with a bow and arrow.

We attended a fiesta one night. I am probably one of the only people to go to an all inclusive resort and walk away having lost weight. But, when you have a food allergy, and every bite could equal a life or death situation, and despite the people knowing English, there being a communication barrier, you tend to lose your appetite when the food is set in front of you. It was agonizing deciding weather or not I believed them telling me that there were no nuts in the food. I found it easier to just go hungry most of the time. I was able to find things to sustain me, like fruit and guacamole, and with the granola bars and Wheat Thins I had packed, I did okay.  I was just so happy not to have an anaphylactic incident!

The beauty and relaxation was worth the food drama.

We were asked about five times every day if we were on our honeymoon. When we would say it was our ten year anniversary, or that we have four kids, people were completely shocked. We would say, "Yes, we got married young." a lot.
I am so glad to have the ten years that we do under our belts. I would not change those years for anything.

We went on a visit to the Mayan ruins of Tulum one day. It was interesting to see the buildings of those who inhabited the land of Mexico so long ago. It was also interesting to hear about how their pagan religion was based on the Tree of Life.
It was so stinkin' hot! My poor pale skin could only handle so much before I had to hunt for shade.

We joined in on activities like a bike ride through the jungle, (sounds cooler than it ended up being,) and Del participated with some of the staff in a kayak race. I am sorry to report that his team lost.


And yes, I do realize that this one of the nerdiest get-ups possible.

The kayak race.

A few of the resort grounds.

I loved sitting on a chair under the cabanas at the beach with a cold drink and a good book.

I also got a massage at the spa. A word of advice that I wish I had heard before hand. Don't go for the deep tissue!!! Stick with the swedish massage. Eeeoowwww! It hurt so much I had to ask to have less pressure, and even then I was trying not to flinch. I am smiling because the pain is over. I wanted to say, "Yea, that is a BONE! So maybe don't try to break it, thank you very much!" That was hardcore.

Del ran around and played things like basketball.

Del flew his Georgia manager Rullie and his wife Noelle in for the weekend. Our stays overlapped for a day, so we spent some time with them. It was fun to see them and to get to know Noelle better.  Rullie has done a great job for Patient's Choice in Georgia. Del is glad to have him!

P.S. The whole trip was one long bad hair day for me. The humidity was impossible.  But you better believe I wasn't going to spend my time trying to get my hair right on vacation!

We enjoyed the trip so much! I really can't say I had any complaints about the resort. It was so well done. Thanks to Del's sister Renee, her family, and my Mom and Dad being so willing to watch the kids, even when they got sick, we were able to get away. Thanks so much! We love you, and so do our kids.

I wasn't kidding about the amount of pictures, was I?

We got back from Mexico and loaded the family up to drive to Denver to see my best friends Christy and her family. Del recently hired a guy in Denver, and used the time to train him.
 It was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken. We drove through Veil and all the little old mining towns in Colorado, and all the amazing rock formations and mountain ranges in Eastern Utah. It was truly breathtaking! I didn't even snap one picture while we were with the Cutler family in Denver! It guess I took enough in Mexico to burn me out. We did have fun visiting. I love to see my forever friend! I did get one picture at a gas station before we came out of the canyon into Denver. Beautiful! It was a lot of time on the road, but we feel so blessed to be able to drive back, and have Del take time from work to be with us and our extended families. What a great time we had! Now we are getting back into the swing of life. And I am good with that too!

If you are still reading, you made it to the end! :)

The Summer Trip To The West

We made the LONG, LONG, drive out West to visit our family this month.  And, we were gone for almost an entire month.

I was only too happy to abandon the crazy Summer schedule that we had somehow found ourselves keeping, and spend time with the people we miss.

We will have many memories of lots of time spent in the car as a family. I can only hope that my children remember it fondly, instead of as being trapped in a torture device. It is easy to think of the car as that after about the 16th hour on the road. They really are little champs when it comes to traveling, even Walker, who only up until about two weeks before the drive would cry incessantly in the car, no matter how short the trip. Thankfully, he outgrew it just in time. It was unfortunately, Georgia who had the toughest time. We heard plenty of "I'm hungry!" out of that girl. Any time she was bored, or needed to stretch, or got tired, she would repeat it over, and over.

We did make some stops along the way. Del needed to interview two people in Iowa City, so the kids and I kept ourselves entertained for a couple of hours, and then it was back on the interstate.

The drive is worth it when we get to see our parents, siblings, the many, many cousins, and my grandparents, who are still living.

These are all the grandkids on my side of the family at Wheeler Farm.

Me with my mom, and all of my sisters. I love them all SO much. We look like we are backpacking across Europe or something with all of our bags. I guess that comes with the territory when you are a mom, on an outing to the farm.
And you should see how effective we are as a group when it comes to breaking up fights between rival gangs of ducks!  Boy, those Wheeler Farm ducks are vicious!

The two guys that were able to come along, Del and Christopher.

Walker WITHOUT the helmet. I took it off so he wouldn't get heat stroke that day. That is picture worthy these days! We hate that thing!

Then, just days after driving through Wyoming to get to Utah, Del turned around and went back to the Wind Rivers to backpack for a week with his best friend, brother, and nephews. He hiked to this point...

To catch lots of these...

Yuck.

While Del was gone, we had lots of fun with cousins and grandparents. I got to leave the kids with Aunt Renee's kids to go buy new running shoes, get a good six mile run in, and get a pedicure with Renee. We also hit Copperton Park with my parents and sister for a pizza picnic.

Walker is a fan.  And Grandpa is a good pusher.

Grandma gave the kids an excellent demonstration of how to pump your legs.

And then we took up every single swing to practice pumping skills. As you can see Hailey and Mallory are quit advanced.

We were happy to be able to celebrate the 24th of July in Utah with family. This is the anniversary of the day the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, to nothing but a desert climate and amazing mountains. They made the valley thrive and bloom, and began the path that would lead to statehood for Utah.
In Utah the celebration of independence and patriotism continues throughout the entire month of July.

My mom and dad make some KILLER BBQ chicken. It is the best recipe for it that I have ever eaten, and thankfully they have passed it on to all of us girls.
Isn't it pretty?

We ended the night with some real fireworks in the street. In Illinois everything is illegal except really unexciting fireworks that let off colored smoke. This was an upgrade from our 4th of July fireworks show.

Del and I were off to Mexico a few days later! More to come! We do love you and your mountains, Utah!