8 is Great and Brig is Great...

Somehow, eight years has passed since we were blessed with an amazing baby boy on a hot summer evening. We are so happy that Brig started our parenting adventure on that wonderful day and we are still so happy to have him as part of our family. Bright and early on his birthday, Brig and Cory woke up and floated the river. When we went to pick them up at the bridge they floated to we dropped a balloon and a candy bar down for him to being his special day. This is the second year that he and Cory have floated the river on his birthday and they are hoping to make it a tradition.

This hungry boy gobbled up his pancakes and was ready for more fun. We spent the day swimming at Cathy Adam's pool and setting up and playing on the zipline we gave him and then having some friends and family over for cake that evening. I knew that Brig was getting older but that little fact hit me right in the face when he told me he didn't want any sort of fun cake this year...just a regular crazy cake!

Here are 8 things we love about Brig:

1. He wakes up early. He is almost always the first one awake in our home and quietly reads until everyone else is up.

2. He is full of ideas and projects. He is constantly thinking up a new venture of some sort and then processing how to go about it all.

3. He is a very responsible big brother. He has taken that role very seriously and is quite helpful and kind to his siblings.

4. He loves to read. He has turned into a little bookworm and I love it!

5. He is always hungry. That boy can eat and eat and usually out-eats Cory and I.

6. He loves to be outside. He spends many hours riding his scooter, riding his bike, playing in the little pond, chopping a fallen branch or building something.

7. He is responsible. Many mornings I will wake up and he will tell me how he has already done most of his chores and he is irrigating the field 99% on his own.

8. He is obedient. He wants to do the right thing and tries very hard to follow our family rules, the gospel and the laws of the land.

We love you Brig! Happy 8th Birthday.

Dad's Birthday...

Cory turned 32 this year (I am only like a month and a half late) and the kids were pretty excited about his birthday. They had some big plans and that morning, we could hear busy little footsteps above us preparing his big surprise.

Breakfast in bed! Made completely by Ellie and Brig. They drew some pictures for him as well and even served his food on a "platter." They were pretty excited about it all.

As per tradition, we had crazy cake (with a lot less frosting than usual...I'll do better with that next year though!) Cory's favorite present was probably the movie Iron Will- he was super excited to show it to the kids. We had a lazy day and watched that movie (Cory may get emotional any time he watches that movie in the wintertime) and followed it up with a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie. Cory's cousin Teresa offered to watch our kids so we could go on a date! What?!? It was really nice- we went to Roystone Hottub and then the Triangle for dinner.

We sure love this man who makes our world go round. And here are 32...yes...32 reasons why!

1. He is so selfless.

2. He is one of the hardest working people I know.

3. He is faithful...to God, his family and his friends.

4. He loves being a dad.

5. He can be quite the romantic! Someday I need to write down all of the things he did while we were dating.

6. He loves to fish!

7. He gets stuff done- he is definitely a mover and a shaker!

8. He has a great laugh...especially when something is really funny to him...he starts clapping his hands and it's the best.

9. He is super thrifty.

10. He is ultra creative.

11. He is handy...and if he doesn't know how to do it he will figure out a way.

12. He is resourceful.

13. He always makes people feel important.

14. He has skysta-runa (I actually don't know how to spell that but it basically means pretty talk in Latvian).

15. He is handsome.

16. He has so many loyal friends and relationships that he has maintained over the years.

17. He can be quite hilarious.

18. He winks at me.

19. He loves the outdoors...especially the mountains.

20. He always says "let me do the math"

21. He is an excellent speaker...like some of the best talks I have ever heard!

22. He is a good cook!

23. He loves his parents.

24. He is always willing to sacrifice for the people he loves.

25. He can ride a unicycle and juggle...I tell him he should join the circus.

26. He loves sleep like no body's business.

27. And he loves business!

28. He makes us get out and do fun activities.

29. He is STILL speaks Latvian fluently and Russian semi-fluently and isn't too shabby at Spanish too!

30. He loved his mission and makes sure to talk about it often.

31. He tells amazing stories to the kids.

32. He is the best person I know!

Ty is 1!!!!!

Ty turned 1! Everyone was happy to celebrate this sweet little guy...which started off with pancakes of course...

Then we took it easy the rest of the day and had cake that evening.

A little bit about Ty...

He is SUCH a momma's boy. All our kids have been quite attached to me but this boy takes the cake- he only has eyes for me and doesn't want anyone else near me.

His first word was also hot- just like Jase.

He is starting to grow into his cheeks and they are thinning out but he has the chubbiest cheeks and we love them! He also has super white hair...a tiny bit of it.

He enjoys being outside and seeing animals and he likes to get a laugh from his siblings.

But mostly...he just loves me. In fact- a friend of mine has a baby that is just a couple days older than Ty and was telling me how they were going to have a Trolls birthday party for her because she loved that movie- well I almost got a complex and was worried about Ty- he didn't really have a lot that he was interested in except his mom! I decided (kind of jokingly and too late to really put anything together) that we should have had a "mom" party with pictures of me everywhere...because really, I'm his only love. I'm flattered.

Jase is 3...

Our little Jaser-roo turned 3! He is such a fun member of our family and we all think he is pretty great. He waited so patiently for his birthday to come...he kept saying "my burtday coming up!" In July as Brig blew out his candles he said those words then again in September as he watched Ellie open her presents. He was pretty excited- which made me super excited to celebrate this sweet boy. One of the cool things about Jase is that he is pretty low-key about stuff like this ...so even though he was excited for his birthday he wasn't over the top about it- he was just happy.

 

We kicked off his birthday with pancakes...I need to get a better plate for these pancakes since my old plastic ones don't make for very appealing photos (the blurry phone pictures don't help either).

Later that morning Cory and I had a funeral that we needed to attend and so Grandma Madsen came and gave Jase her presents and then took all the kids to McDonalds for lunch. They all loved that!

 

Since his birthday is right in the middle of cold and flu season we didn't get to have very many cousins over (just Ammon & Leslie's family) but we still had lots of fun as he blew out the candle on his bear cupcakes...his "baby bear" cupcakes.

Jase still hasn't mastered speaking clearly yet...most people need me to translate...but that doesn't stop him from saying all kinds of things that make us all laugh and smile and sometimes shock us.

I wish I could really capture his little voice and the way he says his words...hopefully I can write a few things that will help us remember...

"my guys" (he loves his toys that he calls his guys...he even named them Carler and Deeney

"Bid" = Brig...he probably says this more than anything else.

He uses the superlatives "beary" (very) and "super" all the time.

"I Hungee"

He always- ALWAYS- refers to Ty as TyGuy.

He squints his eyes when he talks when he is trying to act big. It's pretty cute.

There are so many other things that he says but letters on a screen or a page just don't do them justice.

Three things that we LOVE about Jase...

1- He loves his toys. He is always asking us to play guys or animals with him. His favorite toys are his horses, his planes and his Guys.

2- His stances. More often then not we will look over at him and he is standing like a model or a full grown adult with his body leaning on the wall and his weight on one leg. He also makes a face in almost every picture that I take...I have to take about 10 and hope I catch him laughing so that I can get his smile!

3- He is tough- rough and tumble and an all around boy!

 We sure love you Jase Henry Walker!

Happy Birthday

Ellie Turns 5...

This beautiful girl of ours is 5. She is such a ray of sunshine in our family and we love her to pieces. Her special day had lots of cousins (we even had a little spontaneous hay ride), an owl cake and lots of giggles!

5 things that we love about Ellie:

1- She loves her brothers so much. Ty lights up when he sees her and she will sit there and play with him and entertain him as long as I need her too.

2- She is so aware of other people. She notices things about people that many...kids and adults would completely overlook.

3- She has the best smile...her whole face lights up and one side of her nose will wrinkle when she smiles really big! I love it!

4- She says really meaningful prayers...she actually thinks about what she is saying and usually blesses "everyone in the world."

5- She is my little shadow. She follows me around and chats with me and stays close as she colors, paints her nails or cooks in her easy bake oven (those are her three favorite activities right now!)

We love you Ellie!

Brig Turns 7...

Brig turned 7 this year. It blows my mind that he is that old. He was pretty excited for his birthday this year and while it was on a Sunday so we kept it fairly mellow- he still had a great day filled with family, chocolate crazy cake with peanut butter frosting (a Walker family favorite) and legos.

I could probably say a million good things about Brig...but I will keep it to 7 this year!

1. He is a rule keeper. He tries so hard to be obedient and always follow the rules.

2. He helps me so much. I am amazed at how much he can help us do. He can carry heavy things, do jobs, help with his siblings- it is so great and such a blessing to me!

3. He loves all things outdoors. Sometimes he loves them so much that he doesn't seem to care about much else- but fishing, camping and hunting are his passions.

4. He takes correction well. When he is reprimanded or we tell him he needs to work on something- he usually listens and tries to improve without moping or having an attitude.

5.  He loves his siblings. He is very helpful and enjoys playing with his brothers and sister.

6. He idolizes his dad. He wants to be just like Cory and thinks the world of him. And they are quite similar in so many ways.

7.  He gives long hugs. When he asks for a hug or I hug him good night I don't let go until he lets go...and sometimes we are there for quite a while.

We love you so much Brig and are so blessed to have you in our family!

Jase Turns 2....

Our little JaserRoo turned 2! This boy is our wild child! He certainly keeps us on our toes...and boy do we love him.

We happened to have doughnuts with M&Ms on them that morning and so we didn't have our usual birthday pancakes...judging from the chocolate that covered his face- Jase wasn't too upset about it (but I didn't get a picture).

 

^^We did have something a little exciting for dinner though. Snow Soup. We don't have an ice maker in our rental and our soup was piping hot...so necessity is often the mother of invention and we just happened to have lots of fresh snow outside- So we grabbed a bowl and set it in the middle of the table and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever to see it melt immediately in their hot soup. We decided it would be a fun tradition for Jase's birthday and so we will see if we can make it stick!^^

 

^^He was spoiled rotten by his grandparents (as usual!) and had a couple helpers when it came to opening his presents.^^

^^We had snow coming down like crazy and Jase had so much fun with his brother and sister taking rides on their little four-wheeler. That was probably the highlight of his day!^^

 

 

^^Another tradition (he has only had two birthdays so we will see how much of a "tradition" it really is with time) is that Jase has brownies instead of a birthday cake. This "cake" was one of the easiest ever but it really bothered Jase at first that his tractor was in his brownies. ^^

 

It was a mellow and happy day for this crazy, wonderful kid of ours. Here are just two things that we love about Jase:

1: He likes to make other people laugh...and he can really get us going sometimes.

2: He is very affectionate...especially to me. And I LOVE IT! He gives me the best hugs and the best kisses...and he usually doesn't stop at just one kiss!

Happy Birthday Jase! We sure do love you!!!

Ellie's 4th Birthday...

Somehow our little miss turned 4. She is such a sweet girl and her birthday was no exception!! 

Her birthday landed on a Sunday this year so amidst our normal hustle and bustle, I still whipped up some traditional birthday pancakes. 

We then headed to church. We all walked, the birthday girl wiggled into church. High heels and all. 

She loves to be fancy. 

I love how the birthday cake has become such a big deal at birthdays. This year Ellie wished for a "rainbow-rose cake". I was happy to oblige. And I also love how despite how unprofessional my cakes turn out- they always love them.

Ellie exclaimed with delight- "it's perfect!"

We had grandmas and grandpas and cousins and aunts and uncles come in the evening for cake and cupcakes and then played outside. It was pretty low key but still a fun time.

 

One highlight of the day happened while we were playing outside. Pursey the first (I posted a little about her earlier but she is going to need another post soon!) showed up! We have missed her and it's so good to have her home. (She went on an extended vacation😉) 

 

Four things we LOVE about our Ellie girl...

1- She loves to be fancy. Like I mentioned...she loves her high heels! She will only wear dresses and loves jewelry. She thinks her hair is the most beautiful when it's "just plain down."

2- She is pretty darn funny. She gets humor and she laughs easily. She also talks in funny voices all the time! 

3- She wants to be a mom with all her heart. It is her greatest ambition! And she follows me around wanting to help me almost all day long. 

4- She loves her brothers. Like, she adores them. In fact, just this last week while we were driving in the car she asked me, out of the blue, "Mom...can I PLEASE marry my brother?" I said "No. But you can still be best friends and call each other and see each other all the time. " and Brig said "Yeah! Ellie! Cuz we'll have phones!!" 

Oh how we love this Ellie girl and the sparkle and joy she brings to our family!!

Happy 4th birthday Ellie!

Brig Turns 6...

This handsome kid turned 6! I can't even believe how the time is flying by and how much bigger and more fun this boy gets each year.

He was, as usual, pretty excited for his birthday. But this year he really wanted to start things off with a bang and asked if he and I could wake up early and go for a jog.  It was the sweetest thing and although there was much more walking and talking than jogging- it was a great way to get to spend some one on one time with him on his special day.

 

 

We had our now traditional birthday number pancakes for breakfast. Brig always prefers his slathered in strawberry jam.

 

 

Brig was loved on and spoiled by his grandparents. They are such a big part of our children's lives and we are really grateful for the love that they show them on a regular basis- not just birthdays!

 

 

 

We were pretty excited to give Brig his birthday gift from us because we knew he would love it so much. And we were right! He was over the moon excited about his new pocket knife. Especially since he would get to use it that very night. He got to spend his birthday with his dad at his favorite thing ever...the Father and Son's campout our ward does each year. Seriously. He LOVES it! And looks forward to it every year- in fact, his primary music leader called me and told me that in primary she asked if anyone knew what holiday was coming up (thinking of Pioneer Day). Brig's hand shot up instantly and when she called on him he proudly announced it was the "Father's and Son's."

 However he is quite the wiggle worm at night...so combine that with sleeping in a slippery sleeping bag and it isn't always the best night's rest.

BUT

He loves one on one time, he adores his dad and he thrives in the mountains.

  

 

Six things we love about Brig:

 

1- He is SUCH a planner. He is always planning some extravagant project or creation.

2- Like I mentioned earlier, he loves one on one time and really thrives when he gets even just a little.

3- He can be so helpful. I especially love when he comes up to me and says "How can I help."

4- He takes his responsibilities as the biggest brother very seriously- and fulfills that role so well!

5- He is so confident. He started out as such a shy and reserved baby and toddler but he radiates confidence in almost any circumstance.

6- He wants to be good. And he is good. It is very evident that he wants to follow the rules and be obedient to both our little "rules" at home and our Heavenly Father's "rules."

 

I am so grateful to be this boy's mom. I know he has such big things in store for him and is bursting with potential and greatness! We are so blessed to have him in our family.

 

Happy Birthday Brig