Treats and Lessons Learned

Brandon loved all the candy and sweets we had around Christmas this year. We often found him with hershey kiss wrappers all over the couch and a guilty look on his face. After being put in time out a few times (and fighting every minute of it), he got the idea--until one day when he couldn't resist the urge to get into the candy. Right after indulging, he quietly walked over to the stairs and sat down, telling me that he got into the candy so he needed to sit in time out. I was shocked and amazed that he sat there the whole time without complaint. We're not really sure which lesson was learned; to not get into the candy or don't underestimate your kid. At least we're not finding anymore candy wrappers anymore.

Happy Holidays!

The season wouldn't be complete without a visit (or two, or three...) to Santa!

It's the most wonderful time. . .

This is such a great time of year where we get to enjoy so many fun traditions, family, and friends. Kelsie has been working really hard on her Christmas Wish List. Upon reviewing the list, this is what we found.

Notice the 3rd one down.

I guess it doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it is something princess. Do you think Disney would oblige? Hmmm, this should make for a very interesting Christmas morning!

Snow?

We woke up this morning to snow! The kids were super excited and couldn't wait to come home from church and put on their snow clothes and build a snowman! I guess we didn't think we'd get snow in the desert, at least in November!

We Survived!!

Well, we finally made it to our new home in Richland Washington after 2 weeks on the road across the U.S. We really had a good time seeing everyone that we saw and doing all the fun things that we did. We started out by traveling to Columbus, Ohio where the 1st ever Wendy's Restaurant was built. We're big fans of Dave Thomas and the Value Menu at Wendy’s ("chicken nuggets" is the most important food group for our kids, followed by pizza and fruit snacks) , and I couldn’t pass up the chance to stop by the place where it all started. We got a few Frosty’s and browsed the odd collection of Wendy’s paraphernalia, including a 1979 picture of Arnold Swartzeneggar, as "The Burgernator", serving up famous old fashioned burgers for a Wendy’s promotion. Priceless!

After a stop in Indianapolis, we went onto Nauvoo and toured the Carthage Jail and saw the temple and everything. Kelsie learned how the early saints made bricks and was able to bring a souvenier home with us (at least one more thing in our already crowded car).

After our quick trip to Nauvoo we drove to Ames, IA where Wally's brother and his family live. The kids had a great time visiting their cousins and going to the butterfly pavilion the next day. We continued on our journey to Denver where we spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Paxton. We had a great time swimming at the Rec Center where Kelsie passed a swimming test so she could slide down the waterslides all by herself. We also went to the Natural History Museum and learned all about the art of making rockets. Wally, Kelsie, Brandon, and Grandpa all built rockets and launched them to try to reach 100 ft. After about the 4th try, we decided to call it a day (at only 40 ft, all little disapointing for the scientists of the family). We also had a snowstorm while we were in Denver and the kids had a great time playing and throwing snow balls.

We drove on to Moab, UT after Denver and met with my sister and her husband who live there. We had a lot of fun hiking around in Arches National Park. The pictures don't really do it justice, but this is one of the most beautiful parts of the country!. Wally HAD to see the petroglyphs, so Kenna looking at some Petroglyphs, and taking a Safari Hummer ride. It was super fun and such a beautiful part of the country. We would have loved to have spent more time there (Wally was itching for a nice mountian bike ride) but had to continue on to St. George, UT where we stayed with Grandpa Scott. We had a nice visit with him and stopped by Grandma Scott's grave where we put some flowers on her headstone from us. It was nice to finally be able to pay our respects and see where she was buried. We didn't get to stay as long as we had hoped in St. George, but we had to hurry on to Visalia, CA to be there for my sister's new baby blessing. It was really fun to see a lot of my side of the family that weekend and the kids had a great time with their cousins. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Watkins for about a week (a VERY much needed break from the car) and were able to spend some time with Great-Grandpa Watkins, eat lunch in Grandpa Watkins classroom, do a little shopping, and go to Grandpa's football game. Kelsie and Brandon had a great time and really liked the football game where they got to go down on the field with Grandpa at the end of the game and lead the team huddle in the "1, 2, 3 Go Rangers!" cheer. Between that, the cheerleaders, and the band, it couldn't have been a better night!

We left early the next morning for our trek up to Washington. We stopped at the Big Trees in central California and hiked around for a little while. The kids had a good time walking through trees and seeing how big the trees really were. We found out that Kelsie is a little claustrophobic when we tried to go through a tree that was a little more of a tight squeeze to fit through and she decided that was enough for her. We spent the night in Northerns California and then drove the next day through Oregon and onto Washington. We stopped at Crater Lake in Oregon and finally reached Richland that evening.

We lived out of a hotel for 3 nights after we got here and were finally able to move into our new home on Nov. 1. We signed Kelsie up for school and she started her new school. She was really nervous but had a really good time her first day. We live close enough to the school that she gets to ride her bike now and has a lot of fun doing that. We spent Halloween trick-or-treating at the mall where both kids got more than enough candy, but still had a great time dressing up and getting the candy. After being in a car for most of the past two weeks, and all sugared up with their fresh stash of Halloween candy, we had a hard time getting them to sit still for a picture of their costumes. The picture here is the best we could get. Now that we are in our new place, we have been busy unpacking and trying to set up our house which is always more work than expected. We took a break yesterday and saw the Care Bears at the mall. Kelsie and Brandon were both really excited to meet a real live Care Bear, and secretly so was Wally. We met with our ward for the first time today and it seems really nice. It's huge compared to where we came from, but both kids had fun in their classes and Wally and I met some nice people. Wally starts work on Monday and we're really excited for everything to get back to normal again!

Sixteen days, four thousand three hundred and seventy two miles later, we're at our new home. Hopefully it wasn't too boring to read, and I guess if you got to this part I was able to keep it interesting enough to read on! Hope we can all keep in touch!

Boalsburg

We're moving in a week from Pennsylvania to Washington. It was a beautiful day here so we thought we'd take advantage and take a few pictures of Boalsburg. This one turned out to be a favorite. It's one of my favorite places in downtown Boalsburg.

We're not really sure how we're feeling about moving. It's exciting and a new adventure, but change is always hard. We really have some great memories here in PA and it will be hard to leave. Thanks for all the good times and memories!

First Day of School

School started again and Kelsie is in 1st grade! She really likes her new teacher, Mrs. Tubbs. What a fun and exciting year we have ahead of us!!

It's Official!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
WE LOVE YOU!

More Pictures

Paul Revere's House

















Boston's Cow Art

















Cape Cod

















The Mayflower

















Plymouth Rock

New England Trip

Riding on the ferry across Lake Champlain from VT to NY
















Wally and Kelsie at Thunderhole (Acadia National Park, Maine)
















Brandon enjoying the only Sand Beach in Maine





















Brandon wasn't so sure about the lobster...
















On our way to the Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Factory Tour (Waterbury, VT)
















Ben and Jerry?
















We had a great time! : )

1928....

Wally threw me an **AWESOME** birthday party last night. It was so fun to dress up and play Bunco with a bunch of friends!






















My friend did my hair 20's style and it looked really cool...






















the back...






















Wally, the Gangsta...























The Group Photo...

Piled Higher and Deeper!

Ahhh! I just defended my PhD thesis and my 5-year headache immediately started to go away.

Thanks to everyone who helped out and made the journey enjoyable, easier, or more interesting: Matt "get's things done" Dirmyer, Dave "of course I have time to talk about something besides science" Newsham, Shakuntala "Shak Attack" Sundararajan, Megan Nagel, Rong "not Right" Luo, and a bunch of other people who will probably never read this blog.

Thanks especially to the love of my life, Ronni!

Happy Happy Birthday To You!!

You had a birthday; shout "Hooray"!
We want to sing to you today.
One year older and wiser, too,
Happy Birthday TO YOU!

Happy 6th Birthday Kelsie!

Our American Girl

Kelsie was part of a school play entitled "Growing Up In America" with all the kindergarteners at her school. She did a great job singing all the songs that she learned. We especially loved all the dance moves that went along with all the songs!

Our favorite part was the medley they sang with "Comin' to America" and the disco moves, the decorated sunglasses for "Born in the USA" and finally, "God Bless the USA". What a talented group of kindergarteners!

Way to go, chica!

To my best friend...

Through all the good times and bad, I'm glad that I've got you to share it with. Thanks for sticking through it all with me. Happy #7! I love you.

Soccer Girl

That is some serious concentration!

Go Kelsie, GO!

The Amazing Race

I have only one thing to say...

TOTALLY AWESOME!

The Perfect Day

I am so happy that it is warmer outside and that the flowers are blooming! We had a great weekend together enjoying the beautiful spring weather! We went to lunch, went geocaching, played at the park, went on a bike ride, bbq'd pizza on the grill....it was a perfect day. It is so nice to do things like that as a family every once in a while and put all the "have to's" on hold.

It made me think about the all the things that I am blessed with. I have two great kids who make me laugh, cry, and proud. I have a husband who loves me despite my imperfections and who likes to have fun. I am an individual, comfortable in my own skin and ready for adventure. Sometimes I wonder why I am so lucky to have what I have. I really don't have any answer for it, but would like to think that I am doing the best that I can as a wife, parent, friend, and person.

Sometimes it takes a perfect day for me to appreciate what I have right in front of me. I love you guys.

Royalty

Kelsie and Brandon love to dress up and play...tonight, we were Royalty!

TV JUNKIE

I've had a lot of pressure lately about writing on this...I've decided to give it another try.

I am a TV Junkie. Here's my excuse: I am going, going, going all day long and by the time it is primetime I am so worn out that all I do is sit on the couch and watch tv. No, I'm not proud of it. It's actually a little hypocritical since I am a tv nazi during the day and won't let my kids watch more than an hour of Dora the Explorer. I analyze most everything that I watch on the tube, and can even participate in lengthy discussions to contemplate what is going to happen next. It's amazing how much I get into the shows that I watch. I have my favorites that I will be a forever fan (Amazing Race and Gilmore Girls) but I have found that I get sucked in and it's hard to get back out. I've decided that this is because of living in PA where the sun don't shine and it's too dern cold to go outside (usually) during the winter months--does winter ever end here?

So, here's how I feel about "my shows". I am glad that Rory and Lorelai have made up and that they are back to normal--whatever that is for them. I am tired of the whole Luke and Lorelai thing, I mean just get married already! I'm tired of the reruns too. Let's just get on with the season.

As for the Amazing Race, so far my favorite team is the "hippies". They are very entertaining to watch and are just plain nice to everyone. It's funny to watch the older couple complete the tasks and to watch the other teams fight. It's still a little too early for me to decide who I want to win and stick with that team.

There's another show that I like called "Mythbusters" but I can't for the life of me stay awake for it so I never know if it is busted or not. Just give me the last 15 minutes and I'll be done with it.

So, there you have it. My two bits on tv. If you wonder how I feel about any other show, just ask. Chances are I've seen it and I have an opinion.

Better Late than Never...

So, I haven't been so good at writing on this. I feel like I don't have anything real interesting to say. Wally was gone for the last few days to Denver. He had a great time and got to visit with his family which was nice for him, boring for me. I've decided that I like to go and do things and if someone is having lots of fun without me, it doesn't make me happy. I really like to be a part of what ever is going on. That's not to say that I like being the center of attention, come on now. I just don't like to miss out on anything. So, since I didn't get to go to Denver with Wally, I am now planning an exciting trip to Pittsburgh, PA (or at least am hoping for an exciting trip).

I am looking forward to the Amazing Race premiere coming up next Tuesday. I am a huge fan of the show and after the last family edition (it wasn't too bad) I'm ready for the excitement of traveling around the world yet again. Stay posted, I always like to comment on the goings on of the race. Especially my favorite teams, would I do that challenge?, etc.

Anyway, not to exciting over here. Hopefully the next entry will be something of worth to someone.

Mother of the Year Award...already?

So, I try to do what is best for my family. I help everyone with things they need, get them off to school on time, keep things up and running, and cook them good things to eat. At least that's what I thought I tried to do. I guess forcing my kid to eat her spicy chili in less than 2 minutes time so she can do something fun isn't the best way to go. Well, she did it, but there was a minor side effect. 30 seconds later...yep, you guessed it, all over the table.

Sometimes doing your best can back fire in a gross way.

Brandon's Haircut

Brandon has needed a hair cut for a while now and we finally decided to tackle it. Here is Brandon before....














and here is Brandon after...

Penn State Trophies

We went to the Men's Basketball Game on Saturday. They had the Orange Bowl trophy and the Big Ten Trophy on display for people to take their picture in front of. It's just too bad they didn't tell us to move to the side so you could actually see the Orange Bowl trophy. Anyone want an orange?!

Swim "Lessons"?

Kelsie started swim lessons this week at the YMCA. She is very excited about them and is doing really well. A very interesting thing happened while we were there. Apparently, some kids just don't know how to keep their shorts up or straps on. Swimming, not swimming it doesn't seem to make a difference. And don't get me started on the "accidental's" of diving. Do you think they understand what the drawstring is really for? Don't you think you would notice if you were hanging out of your shorts? I certainly notice if I'm not all put together. Not having a care in the world...I guess that's the joy of being a kid.

Resolutions

Why is it that at the beginning of every year we go through the old routine of resolutions? Maybe it is so we can feel better about ourselves when we accomplish the first thing on our list. Maybe it is for a renewed sense of hope that we'll actually get to it this year. Maybe it's just putting something down on paper so the people you love will stop hassling you about it. So, my resolutions?

1. Be more patient
2. Learn something new every month.
3. Get into a good exercise routine.
4. Be the kind of friend that people can rely on.
5. Help my kids excel in the things that they are struggling with.
6. Find ways to help in the community to serve.
7. Become a stronger member of my church.

So, not that great, but when I sit down and really think about it those are the things that are most important to me. Ask me again in December to see how many I actually accomplished.

out with the old, in with the new

a new time for reflection on life makes me realize what I already have

First Night

Standing next to the Snowflakes during First Night, State College