My Talented Friend

On of my great friends is doing a launch party for her incredible online budding business. She did my blog design and a bunch of others, she does custom blogs but also has free blog templates that are great.  Anyhow, she has all kinds of great giveaways from lots of different people using their talents.  Check it out and enter to win something

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Proof

So my last post was about how my kids are growing up.  Here is the proof.  Here are their new big kid beds (and the bedding that I am trying to decide on.  I love both and both were a great deal, but I am trying to decide if they work ok in the same bedroom, trying to play off the yellow and green).

This is Jacob's big boy bed, which he LOVES and has done really well at sleeping in (only fell out once).  I love the bedding and it has the same green gingham as their window valance.
This is Claire's big girl bed which she loves loves loves and sleeps in so well at night and for naps.  I am hoping to play off the green and yellow in hers that coordinates with Jacob's, I just put the new quilts on this morning.  Please help, tell me if this is ok!!!!
Jacob his first night in a big kid bed....he was so excited!
This is my so big girl (who is currently throwing a fit on my lap).  She has started to really like posing for a camera.  She is also wearing a ponytail (even if it is messy), big girl panties, and her new favorite rainboots. Doesn't she look so grown up?

Growing Up

For journaling purposes I thought I should post how much my two little kiddos are growing up.  I promise to post pictures soon, but I just needed to get this down quickly.   The following are the ways that they are really becoming "big kids":

*No longer have milk before bed and drink all milk out of a 'big kid' cup.  We actually have stopped using sippy cups and only use regular cups, or for on the go those cups with the straws that pop up.

*This week moved into 'big kid' beds.  We purchased twin bunk beds which we don't have bunked but they are sleeping in their 'big kid' beds and couldn't be more proud of themselves.

*Claire has been wearing 'big girl' panties all day and has kept them dry and almost everytime she sits on the potty she is successful(she is in a pull-up right now because she is napping in her 'big girl bed').  Note: I said dry, not clean...

*Talk in full sentences...sometimes I can't believe the words just streaming out of their mouths.  Yesterday I woke up to two little kids walking into my room and saying in unison "Good Morning Mommy, Breakfast Time?"  then Claire proceeded to say "Get out, Get out Mom" and pull off all my covers. (She can be kind of bossy).  I also love the way they figure out how to say what they want, like when I told Jacob to close his eyes for a little bit in the car he said "Momma, Bubba no SO tired, Bubba No so tired mommy".

*Get their own shoes on and walk to the car and climb up in their car seats (they have been doing this for awhile but it is really helpful...usually).

*Forming their own opinions and making decisions...this became clear as we pulled up to the drive-thru at Wendy's one day where I always get my kids nuggets and Jacob declared "I want a hamburger" (he has never had a hamburger) so I asked him if he wanted nuggets and he said "NO, I want a hamburger" so I asked Claire what she wanted and she said "Nuggets"  anyhow, Jacob ate his hamburger in no time and when I asked him if it was good he said "Uh huh, Bubba like hamburger."  (Last time we went to Wendy's Claire asked for a hamburger and Jacob asked for nuggets.)

*Can climb just about any type of ladder/climbing wall/stairs on the playground at the park by themselves.  It is so nice to be able to sit down for a minute at the park.  Every once in awhile I have to get up to protect some unsuspecting child at the park from my rambunctious little ones, but I still get a little time to sit down.

I am sure I am forgetting something, but for now this is what I am remembering.

More Mexico

Ok, remember how I said we have SOOO many pictures...we do, so I apologize to all of you who this is too many pictures for.

On the day away from the resort we did SOOOOO much.  We started off the day with a trip to Tulum to see some Mayan ruins.  From what I understand Chichenitza is way bigger and grander, but having never seen Mayan ruins before, Tulum was pretty big and grand.  

I love the detail you can still see on some parts of this structure.

Lucky for us Tulum is next to the beach.  It was SOOOOO hot that day so we went for a nice swim in the middle of our tour to cool off.  (and yes...the water in Mexico really is that beautiful color.
Proof that we were all on vacation together...again, the water really is that color.
The steps leading up to this place (which was obviously the most important building in Tulum) were so steep and so long.
After we toured Tulum we stopped to get som "comida typica" (typical food) and it was really really good.  Here is a picture of my beef tacos.
This is all of us with our yummy comida typica from some place called Frosties which was recommended by the man who soon became our snorkeling tour guide.  On our way out of Tulum we hired Gabrielle to take us snorkeling in 3 different places.  He brought the gear and hopped in our funny tiny rental car with us and showed us how to get to the places.  He took us to a cenote which is like a natural limestone water cave.  The cenote we went to was called dos ojos cenote and was really really cool and beautiful.  He showed us around the whole place and it was incredible.  Next he took us to a particular stretch of beach where we swam out in the ocean a ways and swam with giant sea turtles.  I think we probably saw between 7 and 12 different sea turtles and they were so big and cool.  Last we went to a little non-commercialized lagoon.  There were several different kinds of fish in the lagoon including a whole bunch of Dori fish (you know the blue one from Finding Nemo).  The weather was good to us and only poured rain like crazy between each of our destinations and didn't rain as we were snorkeling.
Here is our funny rental car.  It was pretty tight with the 4 of us and Gabrielle.  Also, for the first half of our trip we couldn't figure out how to get the car into reverse, so every time we needed to back up Mel, Jared, and I would hop out and push it back.  Luckily, Gabrielle (our Mayan guide who never has owned a car and lives in a palapa) taught us how to put the car in reverse.
On our last evening we went to downtown Playa Del Carmen and walked around and did some shopping.  It is a pretty neat place.
This was one of the many cool looking buildings.
While we were here I picked up some of this to help my poor body through the comida typica that we had after Tulum.
And here is a small sampling of just how beautiful the whole resort was where we stayed.  Jared is also holding a non-alcoholic specialty fruity drink.
For those of you who made it this far thank you for your patience, we really loved our trip.  I do have to put out a warning that there were a suprising number of people without tops on the beach, so if you go, just be warned.  Hopefully I am not displaying any of them in the background of any pictures, I promise I was very careful not to get any.

Viva Mexico

Ok, again, I know I am so behind, but we have SOOOO many pictures and it makes blogging a daunting task.  I decided to at least do a first post of our lovely kid free trip to Mexico...which, by the way, I highly recommend.

So here are some of the highlights or our first day and a half at the resort.  We ate dinner at the resort steakhouse the first night (by the way, all-inclusive is so much fun).  This is while we were waiting for our dinner call, this is half of one of the pools behind us and just a tiny portion of the resort.

Here is our lovely friend Mel modeling for the other half of this particular pool.  I should note that Mel is 5 months pregnant.
Here is the view that Mel and I had from our dinner at the steak house.  Aren't they handsome?  The beach is pretty nice too!
We had to capture Jim in his heroics.  He was so proud of himself for saving this little fiddler crab from sure death in the swimming pool.  I am not kidding about how proud he was of himself...so proud!
This is our lovely room.  It really was pretty dang nice!  It was really big and clean!  We loved it (the bed was extra firm).  Just the way I like it.
This was our excitement the night we got there...kid free vacation!
Enjoying the beach on our first night.
At our resort we tried to take advantage of as many things as possible.  We went sailing... (that picture I took when just Jim and Mel were out on the sailboat, but we went out on it with them a little bit later...Jim stepped on a sea urchin  (woops). 
We also did some sea kayaking on the beautiful clear water and also on a day with more waves.  We went snorkeling on the resort (and off, more to come on that in future posts).

We also did our share of relaxing on the beach.  We ate ALOT, there was so much food to be had, and we had lots and lots of non-alcoholic fruity specialty drinks.  The bartenders were so funny whenever we told them No alcohol.  
Other things we enjoyed on our first two days were beach volleyball and beach soccer, reading, napping, and the show put on by the sports and entertainment team.  So much more about our trip to come...

Home Sweet Home (or at least where I grew up)

So, again, I am REALLY behind, but I am finally posting some pictures of our trip to Cody to visit my family.  We were there for the first week of August and we were busy the whole time, we really had a great time and did some waterskiing, game playing, Jared and my Dad did 4-wheeler/motorcycle rides.  I got to see quite a few friends and catch up a little bit.  We also had a couple of swim days for all of the little cousins.  My mom's crazy cousins came to visit and we had a great time seeing them and playing games.

While we were there Jacob learned to ride a tricycle.  You can tell by the picture that he is pretty pleased with himself.

This is cousin Toby.  He is a funny kid and one of the many 2 year olds.
This is Toby (my sister's 2 year old) and Breckin (my brother's 2 year old).
Claire had to be in on all of the bike riding too.  You may notice that in all of the bike riding pictures the kids are not wearing shoes...it is just something that we do in Wyoming, at home I almost never let them step foot outside without shoes on, but in Cody I just let them roam around and ride bikes and hike through the weeds shoeless.
There were a lot of very big family meals at my parents house while we were there, this is how the little kids at most of them.

Jared is holding Brighton (my brother's youngest)and our Claire in this picture, we just think it is so funny that Brighton and Claire look more like siblings (reddish hair, light skin, blue eyes) and Breckin and Jacob look more like siblings.
Jacob was convinced that he was waterskiing here.
The 2 year olds had a major fascination with "Grandpa's Tracker"  which is his lawn mower. Believe it or not, that antique is what he still mows the lawn with it, it is a good thing he knows how to fix things!
These are my sister's oldest two with Claire at the park.  These two were a huge help the whole time we were visiting and really love playing with Claire and Jacob (as long as they aren't busy catching grasshoppers, spiders, moths, etc...)
That there folks is a small sampling of our trip to Wyoming.  And, so you all know...only 3 more days and we will be in Mexico!!!!

Old Man At His Finest

My kids have a new little trick...if you ask them:

Q: How old is Jacob?

A: 2

Q: How old is Claire?

A:2

Q: How old is Mommy?

A: 25

Q: How old is Daddy?

A: 27

Q: How old is Grandpa?

A: Grandpa OLD

(then Claire must add... "Grandma, Grandma Old too")

Here is my OLD dad, he is 60.  For those of you who can't believe I am telling you how old my father is...he knows that he is 60 too, it isn't a secret.  This picture is from our trip to Cody this summer.

Here is my 60 year old dad waterskiing, on one ski.  As my Dad would say "Not bad for an old fat guy."

Walters' Reunion Fun

So, I seem to be getting worse instead of better at posting, so I decided to deny myself a shower today until I posted a few of the pictures from the reunion in July (now that it is September).  We had a GREAT time at Island Park in Idaho staying on a ranch in a bunch of cabins.  There were tons of family member there and SOOOO much to do from four-wheeling to horseback riding to fishing and canoeing to my personal favorite boating (waterskiing).  There were also jet skis and a family fun run along with many games to be played and crafts to be made.  The weather was so beautiful the whole time.

We did a lot of this.....  

(I really look forward to a day when we can get a boat, waterskiing is my all time FAVORITE activity)

Here are 5 of the 6 two year olds on the day of the family fun run in the WFF (Walters Family Fitness) T-shirts with their door prizes on their heads.
This is Claire on the bus (yes, the family chartered a bus) through Yellowstone.  We went to Old Faithful and then had a big picnic at a picnic area.  My kids LOVED riding the bus.
This is a day floating on the Snake River by the little family cabin by Macks Inn.  The water was SO cold, so floating was only fun if you were light enough to keep your butt afloat.
I went on one of the horseback rides and then Jared brought Jacob down later to ride a horse, he loved it.  
This is a very very small sampling from the reunion pictures.  Maybe I will post more later, but I still have pictures from Cody and the things we have been doing since we came home to post, so...stay tuned, I will try to do better.

The Very Beginning of Our Last Vacation

So, from our last trip we have about a million pictures and we did about a million things, so I am going to do this in spurts.  This first spurt is our pre-family reunion reunion with some of our greatest friends.  We were able to visit with our great downstairs neighbors from Provo the Kiltons and with my best friend growing up and her family the Rasmussens.  We had about one full day before the family reunion started in Idaho to see people.  

We went to a place in Idaho Falls called Blastoff with the Kiltons, the kids had a GREAT time and we really enjoyed the time to visit with Dave and Christina and see how much their girls had grown.  Claire really fits in with their little red-headed family.  Blast off has lots of ball pits and slides and things to climb and play on.

After Blastoff we went out for ice cream, it was fun to watch the kids interacting (and Dave interacting with the kids).
Danica and Claire, don't they look like they belong in the same family!?!?

Dave playing with all of the kids....they really love him!
Earlier in the day we got to visit my friend Ashley and her husband James and their girls.  We went to a park and got some lunch with them, unfortunately Jacob was having a hard day.  Here is a great picture of Daviny and Claire holding hands.
Our best attempt at getting a picture of Ashley and I with all of our kids.
Daviny was really into giving Jacob kisses.  He wasn't really complaining either.
The picture we took when we finally gave up and just let the toddlers go.  It was so great to see her little girls and have a chance to see each other for awhile.
Pictures from the rest of the trip to come.