Merry Christmas!

We thought going electronic would be the best way to update everyone on how the Walker 6 are doing this year. Keep in mind, this blog is updated regularly, so check back for additional updates.

This Christmas season we find ourselves blessed with our children and opportunities of life. We are grateful that during this difficult and struggling times here in Michigan that David is still employed. We know there are so many not as fortunate and we pray for their well being daily. We are grateful for our growing children. They bring us both challenges and joy, both of which make us a better family. This Christmas season, we are thankful for our loving Savior and His sacrifice for us. Having the knowledge of His love for us is such a source of strength for our family. As we look around at the suffering in our world and here in Michigan, the feeling of no hope seems to envelope many people. We are grateful we have hope, hope that Heavenly Father loves his children. We hope this holiday season will be good for all of you. We love you and thank you for the support you give to our family!

Updates of David and LeeAnne.

David had the opportunity to go scuba diving in Mexico with a great friend of his. He had an amazing time. David plays basketball once a week and in the summer he wakeboards with another great friend of his. David spends a lot of time doing service. He works with the young men in the church. He fixes many peoples' computers weekly. David helps out with anything he is able to do. He is a great example of selfless service.

LeeAnne (yep, that's me) had the opportunity to run 2 marathons this past year. I only ran the 2nd marathon because I did so bad on the first. I have the privilege of teaching an early morning scripture study class (yes, early morning seminary) for high school age students. This calling has brought me great pleasure. I also feel blessed to be a stay at home mom (with part time work here and there). I get so many blessings from serving my family.

Santa's helper Madeline

Has Madeline been a good little girl this year? Wait a minute...I mean big girl this year? Madeline passed her mother up in height which pushes her into the big girl status. She is a beautiful young woman. Madeline works very hard to stay on the honor roll at school. She carry as 3.9 G.P.A. She was in the lego club for a period of time at school. She loves young women's at church. Madeline plays the piano and flute. Madeline is such a responsible person. She is very organized and is great with children. Madeline is enjoying being the quiet preteen. She loves T.V and enjoys swimming. Madeline is every one's best friend. We just love her!

Santa's helper Savannah (with Cali)

Has Savannah been a good little girl this year? No question! Savannah has blossomed so much. She has taken that creative dramatic energy and turned it into academic success. Savannah has a 3.9 g.p.a. She has published one poem in a book and made to the school board meeting with another where she shared her poem about our Veterans (see previous posting below). Savannah is a Twilight fan just like her mother. She loves to read. Savannah is changing so quickly into a young woman. She loves make up and fashionable clothes. She hates to match, which drives Madeline crazy. She loves to be in bright wild stuff. We love our tender heart Savannah. She makes us smile every day. When she was a baby she could light up a room with what we referred to as the "Savannah smile." She still has that ability. Savannah's warm personality gets into many people's hearts.

Santa's helper Jonah

Has Jonah been a good little boy this year? Hmmmmm.... no behavior charts for school this year indicates YES! Jonah has really worked hard on focusing on what his teacher's ask and tell him and not getting easily angered. We are super proud of the young man he is becoming. Jonah did flag football this year and really showed his talents. He is amazing at defense. Jonah loves his game boy DS and the WII. He has advanced in Cub Scouts to a Wolf. He loves Cub Scouts and he has great leaders. Jonah is his mom's running buddy, dancing buddy and if you don't tell anyone he is also his mom's cuddle buddy! Jonah rocks!

Santa's helper Abigail

Has Abigail been a good girl this year??? You bet! Abigail will be 7 in January but she acts 20. Sharing a room with her two big sisters has helped Abby to grow up super fast. She is really into fashion and sparkly things. Abigail loves to play with her friends and is definitely a leader. She occasionally needs reminding that there is more than one correct way to do something. Abigail is in a great position in this family. She can use her age to her advanage at any time. She will say "I am big enough to do that" or "I'm too young to make my own sandwhich for lunch". Either way we find her so irrestibly cute that we cater to her needs. So yes Abigail was a good girl this year...She is yummy!

From Hissing...to playing...to cuddling

All Savannah wanted for Christmas was a kitten. She asked Santa to help her find just the right kitten. Requirements: orange like Crush, our other cat, and super cuddly. Santa caved and went on the search. It didn't take long before one of Santa's elves (a.k.a. good friend) found the perfect kitten. It was exactly what Savannah wanted. The transition for Crush was difficult. There was some hissing (actually, a lot of hissing) some depression (he refused to come upstairs and eat for a few days). But then he started to play with the kitten and eventually they became buddies. This shot of them together was not staged. They actually seem to like each other. Santa made Savannah's Christmas memorable. Crush and Cali are now the Walker 6's cuddle pets.

Thank You Veterans!

Savannah did it again with her creative writing! She was one of four students picked to share their poems to the veterans at the school board meeting. She did an amazing job presenting her poem. Savannah has such a great talent with creative writing, we are so proud of her. Here is her poem:

Thank You Veterans
by Savannah Walker
6th Grade
They go to war for years.
Wives and husbands' not knowing if or when they'll come back.
They risk their lives for yours.
Giving all they own for the fate of our country.
With this unselfish act all I can say is Thanks.
They are the reason we have peace.
While they are in war they don't get to enjoy all they worked for.
These people are veterans, the heroes of our country.
The reason we are peaceful here.
Thank you Veterans

Corn maze or Corn Craze?

What do you get when you have a lady who can't see without her glasses, a directionally challenged person and two young women? Us at a corn maze! Our good friends Paul and Lori took us to this fun corn maze. You could pick your maze, three to choose from. The men and Abigail went to one way and we took the opposite. We ended up back at the beginning 3 times before we got the hang of this. It was super funny. Finally Maddy decided she could save us all, and she did. She helped us figure out where to go. Lori can't see without her glasses and I am just challenged. We were so slow that the men found there way through their maze and caught up with us at ours. To our defense we started with the hardest one. It was a turkey maze...a lot of feathers to go through. What a great activity though! Next year I will do better, now I know what I have to do (go with the men!). Love, Love, Love it!

And He Scores!

Way to go Jonah! He has really blossomed this year in football. He has played on the same team, with the same coach and boys for 3 years. This is the first year we can actually say he is good! I love to watch him go! He is best at defense but in a pinch he can get that ball and run it home! Gotta love it!

Afer uploading some picutres I had forgotten that over the summer we had some fun friends, Ashely and Danielle, come and teach us how to make cake Fondant. It was so much fun and we were suprised at how nicely it came out. It was so nice that none of us wanted to eat our creations. If you look closely at the cupcakes you can see the layers and layers of detail. Thanks Ashely and Danielee for the fun memories!

15 Years of Marraige for us young love birds!

We decided to return to the temple we were married in to celebrate our anniversary. We had a great weekend in Toronto, minus the crazy drivers. I decided I would dedicate a little of my blogging time to the best husband in the world.

Top 10 reasons David is the best rockin' awesome husband.

10. If I say "I feel fat in these jeans", David says " You know my pants feel tight too, I think the dryer is shrinking our stuff"

9. If I say "I am cold" David says, "Here is a blanket honey"

8. When I don't want to finish my plate of food at home or at a dinner event...David quickly switches plates with me after his is empty...he rocks!

7. I fall asleep every night with David rubbing my legs

6. He loves being at home with us so much so that if I say "I wish you didn't have to work today" I almost have to kick him to work...he would absolutely stay home (but we need to eat...must work)

5. He is our families biggest cheerleader in all occasions. He's the first person I see when I finish a race.

4. He is a great friend to all that know him.

3. He is a great leader for our family in righteous living and good decisions.

2. If he is the last out of the bed, he makes it

and the number one reason I think he rocks!

1. He is way HOT and a GREAT man in every way!

My oh My Jonah is 9!

Ok here is my "pool"cake. It is an ice cream cake with cool whip. We loved it. Happy Birthday to our favorite son!

This was the most fun...We gave each boy a duck (pop bottle decorated) and they raced to the opposite end of the pool. It was super fun.

Too funny for words!

We had a garage sale with my mother in law...fun! During slow moments Madeline and Savannah created this dance... They used props from the garage sale items , they were awesome. We actually had them do the dance for a couple of customers. It was precious!

Camping fun!

This was our trip to Michigan's Adventure. This was are awesome fun group. The children rode the roller coasters until the very end. It was great. Madeline and Mia did the Rip Cord...You couldn't pay me enough to do that...brave girl! We ate junk food, played and had a great time. I love this family tradition.

I love this photo...they are all looking at the air show off the beach. It was neat. It was a great day watching the air show and then the fireworks with great friends in Traverse City.

We thought this was so cool. We were camping in Traverse City with friends and our campsite had an Abigail Avenue. How cool is that?

Rip Cord Fun......!!!!

Abigail and her reading dog!

Abigail had the opportunity to read to a dog at the White Lake Library. This was so neat. She read about 6 books to the dog, I forgot his name, and she really enjoyed it. She thought it was super cool...until the dog sneezed on her. She was done after that. But I thought this was such a cool summer program for her age.

Fun at Uncle Jamie's House!

Abigail and cousin Mira...They are both super cute!

Cousin Derek and Jonah...They kind of scare me!

I just love my freckle faced girlies! They are so special!

We had a lot of fun enjoying my brother's pool. I just love watching children play in water. They had so much fun being wild and going down the slide. That is what summer is all about.

What are these children doing?

As I looked out the window to see if the children were on the bus ...I noticed this. I wonder what they were doing?????

Yeppers...they were reading

This was not staged. They were waiting for the bus to come and instead of playing I guess they were too involved with their books...they were reading....It was so tender! I love it when they want to read!

We are sure enjoying our fun summer time... we have been camping and playing. Madeline and Savannah are babysitting somewhat and are enjoying some freedom. Jonah and Abigail are good but they sometimes use the hated phrase "I'm bored"...I am quickly trying to remedy that with unwanted chores. Hee Hee....I would love to be bored!

My poster!

The time has come that I have been released from serving in the Young Women's Presidency. I will sure miss working with the girls! But as a tradition they did make me a poster and it had my very favorite yummies on it. I am addicted to this chocolate granola and Jen Petersen used Hershey bars for every word she needed. It was super great. I so appreciated it! And in case you are wondering how this will affect my recent chocolate recovery problem...it hasn't I shared my candy bars with my children...I didn't have one! That is such progress.

Fifth Grade Graduation

Fifth Grade graduation proved to be emotional for Savannah. She is really going to miss her elementary friends and teachers. She is excited to be in the same school as Madeline but at the cost of missing elementary. She is an amazing student and we are super proud of her!

RANDOM

OK this is a completely random picture, but I find it funny. This is how my yummies pose for a picture...

what are they looking at? They aren't even looking at the same things...Hee Hee.

The end of the school year is approaching and here are my conflicting thoughts.

Miss the kids it will be good to have the home.................They fight when they are together, drives me nuts!

I love making sure they eat right..........................They eat so much when they are home, I know my grocery bill will go through the roof.

I love down and relaxation time............................... Refer back to number 1, they will fight in down time.

I love that I will have them home to do activities with................................My house will be a constant mess and they will complain when I ask them to clean.

So these are my random thoughts on summers fast approach to children home... I do really look forward to summer (I think?????)

Let the running begin!

I had high hopes for a good finish time for this Country Music Festival Marathon... the hope was diminished at mile 17. Shelli and I did good at first. We were keeping our pace time well. It was hot but doable. Then We hit mile 16-17. We were running in an area with no shade and the mid morning sun had come up, and no water station for 2 miles. I started to struggle. I kept going with my sweet friends encouragement. Then at mile 19 I was really struggling. The heat was melting me. They said on the course that it was over 90 degrees. It seriously felt like it. At mile 21 I tossed my cookies as they say and I really struggled to stay vertical. I didn't think I could finish... I was soooo hot. I ended up walking the majority of the last 4 miles...what a disappointment. I was so mad at my self, but I was really struggling not to pass out. I finished with a time that isn't even worth mentioning. But on a positive note, the weekend was super fun. We had a free concert with Billy Currington and that was great, the food was great and we had fun with our great friends. I guess I just couldn't take the heat.

Can you take the heat?

This is the after view. Don't we look great? I am actually surprised we had the strength to still smile.

Crazy Hair Day at School

Our school did a fundraiser...Crazy Hair Day. I had so much fun reliving the 80's hair do. Savannah's was super big...just loved it! I tried to get Jonah to let me put some pony tails in his hair but he said "no"...what's up with that?

Easter Fun

Here is the finished product...We don't do too many eggs since no one eats them except Maddy and Daddy. Can you tell Savannah likes to pose?

Savannah is now 11!

Yep it's true my little girl is 11. We had a great birthday party. We did a Twilight theme which included a kiss the Edward game, trivia, blood juice and of course the viewing of the movie. It was super fun... I think I had as much fun as she did. Two of her friends conspired to each get her a webkin, one a lamb and the other the lion. "So the lion fell in love with the lamb..." for you non Twilight fans that is a line from the book and movie. I thought that was super creative of her friends. A lot of fun... Happy Birthday Bansie!

Catapult

Great Job Savannah. Savannah and her partner Hunter created a catapult for school. They built it out of Lego's, daddy's idea. This thing was great and could shoot a tennis ball up to 2 feet. They didn't win... but we were super proud of them.

Shovels!

I was downloading some pictures and I found this cute one of Abigail. I find it funny because every spring I have to buy new hand tools to garden. Either I can't find them or they are rusted and broken. After viewing this photo it has become very clear to me why that is. Don't sweat the small stuff, right?

Chocolate

Ok... I just have to admit the problem then I can get help and be better-right? Those that know me know that I have a strong bond with chocolate. This is not a secret. For my birthday last year my sweet husband bought Hershey Chocolate bars and put them in all my drawers. He was even smart enough to stash some in his own drawers for when my stash ran out, which didn't take long. Well now I have really gone over the edge. My good friend Lori provided me with some bars, just the right brand too, I ate them very quickly. Every morning I get up to get lunches made and while I make the lunches I sneak chocolate morsels out of the refrigerator, at 6:00 a.m.! Throughout the day I find myself completely drawn to the morsels in the refrigerator. I sneak more and more! I think I have a serious problem. There hasn't been a single day in months that chocolate hasn't been in my system, and I wonder why I am holding on to an extra 10 pounds... that is a tough one! Ok... so help! Any advice from other recovering addicts. They should have CAA,choc Aholics Anonymous. Oh and don't say the obviouse that I shouldn't have it in the house, that seems like an easy solution but trust me I will hunt it down. I need direction??? Help!!!

OUCH

Poor Savannah found out the hard way that you should never stick your hand to a frosted window and leave it there. Oops...I thought we would have learned that lesson years ago when Madeline stuck her tongue to the street pole. She was a vision that morning. Just like in the moving Christmas Story...arms were going and screams were heard. But, for Savannah she just feel plain embarrassed. I didn't find out about this for days. Lessons learned the hard way.

Out with the old...In with the new!

The time has come to retire our old van. This was a sad moment for all of us. We had this van longer than we've had Jonah! With a whopping 215,000 miles it was done. There were some tears shed but we are over it. What fun the new ride is. It has more features than we could have ever wanted. I still get out of the drivers side and wait for the kids to come out my door. I have a hard time remembering that the new van has a drivers side door for entrance. For the first few weeks I couldn't believe I was driving something so nice. I no longer have to give it gas at idle to keep it running. This has been better than Christmas morning for our kids. I believe we may be actually cool to them for a while, short lived I am sure...but fun for now.

Abigail is known as the mini Maddy

A few fun facts about Abigail!

She just turned 6

She donated her hair for the 2nd time

She went to state cheer championships in Kalamazoo and her team took 1st place again!

She loves to play teacher, a girl after my own heart!

She looks just like her big sister Madeline

She gets away with tons of things because she is cute!

Big Changes

It seems that Madeline is the least talked about in our blog. That being said it is time we go over some of her highlights.

Maddy is turning 12 next week!

She has really worked extra hard to stay on the honor roll!

She loves her swimming activities after school

She is very responsible and loving to her siblings

She just donated her hair for the 3rd time.

She just became known in the house as "brace face"

She is just the best and we feel so lucky to have her in our family!