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Colorado

COLORADO COUSINS

My sister has a 4-year old and 2-year old twins and I am always amazed at what she gets done in one day. We were able to witness her in action when we visited a few weeks ago. Like any good big sis she took excellent care of us! Sarah and her husband Ben showed us a great time. The first day we went to some caves close by and went exploring. The kids were funny they didn't want to go in at first but by the time we were leaving we couldn't get them out. They were afraid of bats but as you notice in the pictures we had Batman to protect us. It was a little rainy the next day so we went to their amazing community center (I hope Lovell gets one someday). Sarah and Ben have a membership which includes 2 hours of daycare a day! I can tell ya that I would be in way better shape if we had one here. We swam in the morning and climbed the rock wall in the evening. The kids did so great and they were so proud of themselves. On Saturday morning we woke up and the weather was looking clear so we loaded up on bikes (I wish we had a picture of all of us...we made the neighbors laugh) We had 5 bikers, 2 trailers each with 2 kids, 1 bike seat and 1 tag-a-long bike for Brooklyn. We were a biking advertisement for birth control!! Sarah had brought instant oatmeal and hot water in a thermos and made us a nice breakfast up in the canyon. Saturday in their family is donut day (only if you ate your oatmeal). I defintly had a donut, I had just biked 4 miles pulling Brooklyn on the tag a long bike. On the way back it started to rain and eventually hailed. We were soaked instantly but took cover under some trees. Most of the kids were covered in the trailers but poor Brooklyn, it's hard to see out of glasses with rain drops on them. Good thing the storm didn't last long. Each night we had a nice soak in the HT (code for hot tub) to relax our weary bodies. I wish that we lived closer than 10 hours away but it sure is fun to go visit. Thanks Sarah and Ben for a fantastic time. We may make it yearly!

Oh yeah, we took a detour on the way home to see Becca before she left for China. That's why you see pictures of the Vernal Temple. It was the first time I had seen it. At the time is was dedicated it was the first Temple to be made out of an existing building, it was their old Tabernacle. I was a beautiful pit stop.

Another funny moment brought to us by Alex

This is my Alex. She is always making the funniest comments or doing the funniest things. Sometimes on purpose but most of the time she is just stating it like it is. Last night during family business we were discussing Brooklyn's upcoming talk for Primary and how since she is the oldest child in our family as well as extended family, all the younger ones will be looking up to her as an example. Here is our short conversation:
Ben: You know that when you get your Young Women's award that it will be an example for Alex and Candace and hopefully make them want to get theirs.
Brooklyn: yeah (nods head)
Alex: Yeah, Mom has her Old Women's award, right?

Love you the most Alex. Thanks for keeping us smiling.

Three

"THREE" Today is Candace's 3 month birthday. It's hard to believe that she is already that old. This morning I came in from watering the flowers to find Alex snuggling Candace singing " I am a Child of God" and Candace was coo-ing along, as if she knew the song. It was so sweet and made me smile. Why are these precious moments so far and few between or am I just rushing through them. I love being a mother of 3 girls but why is it so hard sometimes. I have never felt this unstable in my life! I am pretty sure I yell more, cry more, and have less patience. (tearing up as I am admitting this) Everyone says that 3 is the hardest and that it doesn't get worse, but not better. So I guess I better get used to my 3 girls, 3 minute showers, 3 loads of laundry a day, 3 times a week I get to check my email, 3 heads of hair to do everyday, 3 times I have to run back in the house because I have forgotten something, 3 times I get to sing the same song, 3 sets of hugs and kisses before bed, 3 moments to ponder how blessed I am.

Walker Family Reunion & Five Springs

The last weekend in May we had a Walker reunion with Ben's family. His Aunt Sandy got us all together for hot dog fry and games on Friday, which I thought turned out to be pretty fun. It had been a while since I have had a s'more, it was just as good as I was hoping! So good that I had another! The weather was perfect: warm & a slight breeze to keep mosquito's away.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day so we all headed up to Red Lake in Cody to go 4-wheeling. If you haven't been there before, it's actually not a lake but just lots of red sand and hills great for 4-wheeling. When we pulled up we were all a bit confused and asking where the "lake" was. The girls had a blast and enjoyed many rides with Aunt April and pretty much anyone who would take them. Of course true to myself I have NOT A SINGLE PICTURE of the events!

The following Monday was chilly and threatening rain all day but we had planned on going to Five Springs Falls. April hadn't been there in a while and neither had most of us. As we were driving the wind picked up and it started to rain. It wasn't looking good. We were determined to enjoy ourselves and we ended up having a great time. You wouldn't have guess it was the first of June. After a fantastic hobo dinner and some more s'mores we hiked up to the falls. The girls hiked all the way up (Brooklyn did it twice!). It was beautiful up there, cold, mist and all. Five Springs is a special spot to me because that is where Ben asked me to marry him. (almost 10 years ago...yeah Jamie, I'm old!) I have never regretted my answer that day. I am so blessed to have the life I have, to live in the beautiful place I do, and to have the husband I do. Who knew that I would end up here?

Ben with his favorite bundle... Candace is in there I promise!

The other day Alex told me that she wanted to go back to heaven and be born again but this time she wanted to be "first" in our family. I think that she is tired of Brooklyn pulling rank on her by being the oldest. Don't worry Alex someday you will be glad you are not the first and have an awesome big sister like Brooklyn!

Favorite pictures of May

I don't know what you do in your family when all your cousins get together but in my family my grandpas (both sides) pull out the old slide projector and tons of carousels full of slides (I'm talking thousands). They enjoy talking about the past and we always end up laughing at someones hair do or way cool polyester pants. So since I'm not that great of a writer I will get to bore my grand kids with "laptop slide shows" someday! Anyway here are a few of our favorite pictures of May.


We finally get grass and I catch the girls playing in the mud! Mud is lots cheaper and less work! Hey thanks for all those who donated husbands to come and help us we couldn't have done it with out their help!Alex was wanting Candace to wear her "hospital hat". We think she could pass as one of the 7 dwarfs.
This was the girls TaVaci concert. See that big hole next to Brooklyn like someone was missing? Yup, Alex walked off stage again to come and sit with us. We are just thankful she didn't start picking her nose on stage like last time!
Brooklyn and Alex were so excited when Kelli gave them trophies! I'm not sure what the special occasion was here, maybe Brooklyn's last day of school or something. I just loved Alex's expression. Watch out she may bite!

Candace's Blessing Day

May 18, 2009

It all started out a bit crazy. Surprise! Originally we were going to bless Candace in Heber with my family because my sister Mickey was coming home from her mission and we were going to go home for her welcome home. In the mean time my Grandpa Fillerup was put in the hospital in Cody, for complications with his diabetes. (he's doing better at the moment) So My parents and recently returned sister Mickey decided to come last minute to see him. Well I knew that we really wanted Ben's family to be there when we blessed Candace but, the only problem was we had a window of about 1 1/2 hours that we could get everyone together. I am so grateful to all our family for the sacrifice to be there. The spirit was there so strong and I know that it will be a special day for Candace even though she won't remember.

BROOKLYN'S SPECIAL DAY

MAY 5, 2009

Brooklyn's Kindergarten teacher this year was Mrs. Strom and one of the fun things she did was spotlight each child in their class. They each got a day to bring whatever "treasures" they wanted to share or talents they wanted to show. Being a first timer I let Broolyn pack her own bag of stuff she wanted to share. She brought her American Girl doll Samantha, Alexis her pink monkey, heart jewlery box from Grandma Dewey full of costume jewlery, her camera, and as a talent she did a demonstration of a cool pony tail on Aunt Gretchen. THANK YOU, GRETCHEN. When we got there I saw on the board an outline of their day and I guess Special Days were only supposed to be 15 minutes! Well first of all we were late, second she had way to much stuff to show and third they still had a treat to eat! Mrs. Strom being the wonderful, flexible kindergarten teacher that she is gave her precious teaching time all for the sake to make Brooklyn feel special. That's why we love her! As you can tell Brooklyn had very special day and was loving every minute of being in the spotlight. I love that she is proud of herself and it was so touching to hear all the nice things the other kids said about her. My favorite was the little boy who blurted out "I love you Brooklyn" (i think he had been holding that in for a while :) We think that Brooklyn is pretty special and are so glad that she is a part of our family! Love you B.

The Model and her personal hair stylist.

Brooklyn's Fan Club

Special Days and Special People

Grandpa Ottesen's Wedding Day

Not many people have the privilege of witnessing their grandpa get married. We did. My Grandma (whom we called Dewey) passed away three years ago last March. Grandma was a very active lively woman so when she had her stroke you could say we were all a bit in shock. We all have missed her dearly especially my Grandpa. My grandma's sister, Aunt Mary, introduced my Grandpa to Margaret (Mary's best friend from high school) and they have been dating for the last year. Grandpa proposed to Margaret on New Years Day and they were married for time in the Provo Temple on April 25, 2009. It was such a special time for our families to be together. To watch Grandpa and Margaret walk into the sealing room holding hands with big grins on their faces you couldn't help but know that they would be happy for the rest of their time together. The sealer understood that it was a difficult but happy day for our family. He said that this was a "bonus" love and that it wouldn't take away from either the love they had for their first wife/husband. I am so glad that Grandpa is happy and has found such a wonderful person as Margaret.

The Happy Couple

Mom, Grandpa, and Margaret

Ben , Dad, Ben T., and James (where is Dan???)

Brooklyn's New Friends

Growing up in Wapiti my mom would read "Little House on the Prarie" to us for a bed time story. We loved it especially because it had all girls and so did we. One day "Little House on the Prarie" was on tv and Brooklyn wanted to watch it. I new what it was about from reading the books, so I said sure. Well Brooklyn is like me, we hate scary parts in movies! I am a big chicken. When it comes to intense or even a little scary part of a movie, I leave. (poor Ben has seen more than his share of chick flicks) Back to Brooklyn, as she was watching there came a part where the Indians attacked. Guess who was hiding in the kitchen? Yup. She went back and forth in and out of the kitchen for the rest of the movie. That night she had a nightmare that the Indians came and took her and wouldn't let her see me. I was feeling so bad so I tried to explain that Indians now days don't do that and that it was just a movie. To try to make her feel better I wanted her to know that Indians are our friends. When my mom was growing up they had lots of Indian foster children and one girl named Frankie just became part of the family. So I told her that Chicky Babe had an Indian sister and she would get to see her at Grandpas wedding. This made her nervous. She wasn't so sure she wanted to go anymore since Frankie and Lisa Marie (Frankie's daughter who is my age)would be staying at my parents house with us. When we got there and reaquainted Brooklyn with Frankie and Lisa Marie she was feeling much better about sleeping under the same roof. I'm glad that Frankie could laugh about it and be the "Indian" Aunt Brooklyn never knew she had!

Brooklyn, Lisa Marie, and Frankie

Here is a cute picture of Candace and her adoring big sisters. They are sharing because they were fighting over who got to hold her. Candace is 3 weeks old in that picture.

I had to put this one on because I thought it was too cute. Ben set her down to help Alex with something and she snuggled right in.

Hats off to Heidi

Hats off to Heidi

I don't think that anyone has a better sister than I do. My sister Heidi came to help me after I had Candace for a whole week. To some this may seem like no biggie but let me tell you she was a lifesaver! You all know that I am a bit bossy (I get it from Grandma Fillerup) and I don't function well when I don't get sleep (we drank lots of Diet Cherry Pepsi and Dr. Pepper). Don't worry she was well aware of these flaws before she came, after all she did share a bathroom with me growing up :) I wish I could say that growing up we never fought but that would be far from the truth. But I am so glad to say that now she is one of my very best friends. I usually don't go a week without a phone call or text. (this may seem long to some people but in my family, no news is good news) I don't know if I can ever thank her enough but let me tell you all the things I love about Heidi.

Things I love about my Heidi Sister: (in no particular order)

1. She can pull off sparkly shoes in Cody, WY. She has great style.

2. Her willingness to put other people first.

3. She is a great mother to Tagg and I know that if she has twins next she will be able to handle it.

4. She is very spiritual and isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes.

5. She can go with the flow... a last minute change doesn't phase her. (something that we all got used to from my dad)

6. Heidi is a great cook and according to Alex she makes better sandwiches than I do!

7. She can join in any group and make new friends.

8. She will cry with you over your sorrows and be happy for you over your greatest moments.

9. She can look for the best in any situation. I need to do that more often.

10. She is a great listener and keeps me from many "open mouth insert foot" moments.

Thanks Heidi, I love you the most!

Lately I have had a lot of time to myself (middle of the night feedings) to think of all the kind things people have done for us in the last two weeks. I am so truly touched and grateful for every visit, meal, loaf of bread, phone call, baby blankets, big sister presents, taking Alex for the day, email, new outfits for Candace, flowers, cookies and much more. Mostly knowing that people are thinking of us has meant the most. I really don't have the right words to express how I feel but I've got the best friends and family so THANKS EVERYONE for making the first two weeks easier for me!

We have had an exciting first two weeks. We started of with Easter right around the corner which led to a visit from my Dad, Mom and sister Becca (who may never have children after seeing how it affects ones mind). Brooklyn and Alex were so excited to see them even if it was only 2 days. I was glad we got to see them at all because it was last minute that they came. My sister Heidi flew in last Thursday to help out and it has gone by so fast! This last week has gone nothing like we had planned or thought. When my parents came Dad wasn't feeling good and developed a cold while he was here. Don't worry he stayed 4 feet from Candace the whole time but Alex wouldn't leave him alone! So who got the cold? Alex. And who couldn't stay away from Candace? Alex. So who got the cold next? Candace. Yup. Poor Candace has had a miserable week. She started out with a bad infection in her eyes, that started a fever and then cold like symptoms. Dr. C has taken great care of her and we have taken every precaution to make sure it's nothing major. She is doing much better and now weighs in at 7 lbs 13 oz. Hopefully we can stay healthy and are looking forward to some fresh summer air!

Miss Candace Carol

Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 7:00 am

Kissing the Belly good-bye

Candace Carol Walker

6 lbs 14 oz

20.5 in

big Sisters







First Family Photo

We are all doing great, a little tired, but great.

Sister Snuggles

Brooklyn giving Candace "cool chick" lessons.

Easter Sunday

I just want you all to know that I had great intentions. We brought the laptop to the hospital thinking that we would post pictures ASAP... well one week later and you are just getting them. Our priorities changed a bit....

So here's Candaces story: Ben and I left at 7 am, and headed to the hospital for a scheduled induction at 8 am. As we were pulling into Cody the hospital calls and says that they are at full capacity and can't admit me until someone checks out. BAD NEWS! They asked us if there was something we could do in Cody for a while and they could just give us a call. Yeah, when you are coming to have a baby you pretty much leave your Wal-Mart list at home!! So we headed to Wal-Mart just for something to do and ended up $50 poorer. Around 9 am I called the hospital just to check in and see where they were at. They said to come in and they would put us in an observation room? We didn't know what to expect but they said that if we were there we would get priority over someone who came in after us, so off to the hospital we head, glad they weren't sending us home. We got there and took us to our room, we got all the paper work done, talked to our anesthesiologist about what medicne I wanted, hooked up my IV and pretty much moved in. Around 11 am someone checked out so they were able to admit me. We had the most awesome nurse in the world who took good care of us, yes I say us because she took good care of Ben too! They had a fridge stocked with sandwiches for all those hungry Dads and she made sure he ate so he didn't pass out. They started me on pitt just before Noon and shortly after Dr. Williams showed up to break my water and that's when the pain started! I tough girled it out for a while then said mercy and got a spinal and epidural (just in case I had a long labor). Much better!! I'm not sure on the timing of everything but Candace was born at 2:47 pm. She is healthy and perfect, what more could a mother ask for? It always amazes me the miracle of birth. I got to hold her right after and snuggle her and tell her that we have been waiting 4 long years for her. I love being a mother and am amazed that God has granted me the honor of raising 3 of his daughters, I feel so blessed. We all are in love with our baby Candace and can't seem to get enough of her. If you stop by to snuggle her you just might have to paper, rock, sissors one of us for a chance!

To be accused of something...

To all of those who know Ben, even a little, know that he never gets mad. So when I was down stairs switching laundry over and he comes down and askes me with a bit of annoyance in his voice if I am trying to drive him crazy? I almost laughed. I had no idea what I had done, though I'm sure I do lots of things that annoy him and he's just scared to confess. I innocently asked what he was talking about. He was looking for the cord to hook up our camera to the computer to download the pictures. (we have a box with all the cords and backup files on CD right on the processor, it's been there for years, thought he knew) I told him where the cord could be found. Happy Ben. Then he was looking for something else that he had stashed under his dresser (waiting to be sold on Ebay...we have lots of those :) It was bugging me under there because I could see it and I put it in his drawer. Outta sight, but close so if he looked he could find it. I wasn't trying to hide it from him, just trying to keep our house looking uncluttered. So to be accused of something like putting things away, that isn't so bad, but hopefully he doesn't go in the garage for a while looking for "something", as I cleaned that out really good a few weeks back!

Finally, Brooklyn lost her first top tooth!!! It has been hanging on by a thread for weeks and we were starting to worry that she would swallow it while eating. I am not sure how it happened all I know is that she came wondering into the kitchen.."Hi, Mom" with the biggest hill billy smile on her face. She was so excited! Then she took off running to the bathroom to wash it up for the tooth fairy and tripped and fell, of course the tooth went flying and was lost for a whole dramatic 5 minutes! She was in tears but lucky for her she found it!! It was the happiest/saddest/happiest again 5 minutes of the day. Now she is sound alseep, tooth in tooth pillow, waiting for the mysterious tooth fairy. Alex was excited for Brooklyn but is sleeping in the other room because she doesn't want to be near when that tooth fairy comes.

Brooklyn's #3 Tooth

Hill Billy Brooklyn

Our First Day of SPRING
We had a great first day of spring. It was a beautiful 65 degree day and we took full advantage. We suprised Brooklyn after school for a bike ride in town (big deal for us because gravel roads just aren't as easy to ride on). Brooklyn is a great bike rider and learned last year thanks to some help from Tashie. (Brooklyn was sure that Ben and I had no idea what we were doing because we had never trained a kid before) I was a little nervous because out here they don't have to really look out for cars but they did great and listened really well. Alex was a litte cautious and stayed pretty close because it was her first time on a bigger bike. We recruited Gretchen and Owen to come with us and I think Owen was feeling a little jipped he had to ride in the stroller but other than that he did everything the big girls did...even the tall scary slide at Sugar factory park! That kid has no fear I tell ya. I am so glad that we were able to have a little sunshine after being cooped up for so long, hopefully summer will come soon so we can do this all the time!

Brooklyn and Alex were big help getting the babys room ready. They loved helping Ben paint the awsome deal dresser that I found at The Hen House (cool store in town). It makes them feel a part of the whole baby frenzie going on at our house. They did a pretty good job too!

The next few pictures are of our finished baby projects, I know most of you have had a tour already but my family is dying to see the room so here ya go...

Changing table

(we have had since Brooklyn was a baby and never painted)
Not much except it took me 3 different fabrics to finally conclude white was best. Nothing exciting but I am happy with the outcome. The curtain hides the diapers and stuff.

Crib

Dresser - I love how it turned out!

Thanks Heidi and Gretchen for all those annoying phone calls about dumb decisions that I couldn't make with out consulitng someone. Now all we have to do is just wait until the "suprise day" (as Alex calls it).

Alex is 4!!

Thanks for making Alex's birthday so much fun!!!

Poor Alex, she has definite 2nd child syndrome. We are the worst parents ever. We are heading to Billings for a fun birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and realize we have forgotten the camera so I text Jake really fast and ask him to bring his, sure enough he comes through but gives the camera to Ben! How many pictures does Ben take? Nine of the whole day and they are all of Alex. He did get half of Brooklyn in the blow out the candle picture. I am not trying to say that I would have done any better. We both are guilty.
Here is our history.... Alex was born on February 2nd we are in the hospital for a day and a half. When check out time comes we realize we haven't taken and pictures so we hurry and snap a few just to say we did. Alex's blessing day we have a family picture of Mom, Dad, and Alex (where was Brooklyn?.. Asleep on the couch with Uncle Carl) Good thing we have a little evidence that she was blessed. We have never had a professional family picture since Alex was born either. I would like to say that I got better. She does have her 1 week pictures and her year-old pictures but after that it's pretty much hit and miss.
I am in luck.... we were looking through my baby book once and I was asking her who the baby was. She was just sure that it was her and I couldn't convince her otherwise. So thanks Mom for being better at taking pictures when I was young. Now Alex won't feel like she didn't get enough.
We are re-dedicated to taking more pictures with our 3rd child in hopes that there is no other 3rd child syndrome we don't know about. After all Brooklyn is getting pretty good at taking pictures...so maybe she can be our family photographer.