Pictures!

He was the most handsome Superman on the entire planet for Halloween!
It took a few times, but he finally understood he was hunting for SUCKERS!

My two handsome boys!

Not the best picture of me or my fingerwaves for the party later that night, but it's an awesome picture of my boy!

This is from our snow play today. He's such a ham!

He's eating snow here, just couldn't get enough of it. New experience :D

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

More snow eating

I can't get enough of that beautiful smile

Em

Catch Up

Here it is, December and I haven’t even posted Halloween pictures. And I thought keeping a journal was hard! Adam went as Superman this year. He was the most handsome Superman in the whole world, of course. We took him over to my parents’ house and he went trunk-or-treating with their ward. Nice and easy for his first REAL Halloween. He carried his little pumpkin bucket around like a champ. It took a couple trunks before he realized that people were putting things like SUCKERS in his bucket! This excited him quite a bit. He loves suckers.

We couldn’t stay long because Scott and I had a Murder Mystery party to get to. We hosted a 1930’s Hollywood Murder Mystery that night. All together there were 4 couples we cooked for. It took me back to high school when my friends and I did murder mysteries all the time! We all dressed up in formal attire, got into character, and had a blast the whole night. I did my hair in finger waves, which was a lot easier than people had made it out to be. All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening. By the way, I was the murderer :D

Adam is a champ when it comes to shots. We had him vaccinated for the H1N1 flu this season. When we got to the center where the shots were being administered, all you could hear was the screaming and crying of children. The vaccine came in 2 different forms: the usual shot and a nasal spray, which I was able to get. Adam was not yet 2 years old, so he had to get the shot. Down went his pants and the nurse stuck him good with that long needle. All he did was a little whimper, as if to say, “Hey! What the heck are you doing??” A sucker solved all of his problems. Not even one tear! Same thing happened when he had to be back a few weeks later for his booster shot. Whimper, sucker, all was right in the world. He’s always been that way with shots. Even when he was newborn he didn’t seem to really mind them. By the 3^rd stick, he starts to notice, but Mommy kisses can cure anything. It’s so nice to have that power!

My business has sort of hit a low at the moment, but it’s ok. I understand it’s the time of year that makes it slow. I’m finally able to accept credit cards! It’s very exciting. I hated asking people to please use PayPal or send me a check in the mail. It’s very trusting to ask someone to just send you a check and hope they follow thru. I found an awesome company that has a very low per-transaction rate, no monthly minimum, and no minimum transaction. I don’t even need a terminal to swipe the cards. All I have to do is call it in to their automated system and the money is in my account within 48 hours. In summary, I’m very, very excited!

Thanksgiving this year was not an enjoyable one for me. I woke up early that morning so that we could go up Morgan Canyon to cut down our Christmas Tree. It’s tradition in my family. Upon awaking that morning, I had horrible abdominal and back pain. It was almost like really bad menstrual cramps, but I wasn’t really sure what was going on. Not wanting to be a poor sport, we went up the mountain anyway, but left without a tree because of my pain. The rest of that day was as follows: Emily lays on the couch with a heating pad on her back from about 11am-3:30pm. She doesn’t move. She takes lots of pain meds. Time for Thanksgiving at Scott’s grandparents’ house. I really couldn’t eat much because I didn’t feel well. Scott had slathered my back with Icy Hot in hopes it would feel better for an hour or so while we were with his family. Every time I walked by someone they would say, “Do you smell menthol?” It was a little awkward, but funny at the same time. We went over to my parents’ house for dessert where again, I didn’t eat anything really. The next day I attempted to find a doctor who was working on Black Friday. I called around the entire Wasatch Front for at least 2 hours trying to find someone who could see me. Finally I just opted to go to the local Urgent Care. 2 hour wait! I couldn’t wait that long. I found a little tiny Urgent Care in Bountiful that didn’t have much of a wait. After doing various tests the doctor concluded I had a kidney infection, which is why my back hurt so bad. He gave me some antibiotics and a “number” and sent me on my way. I’m finished with my antibiotics, and I feel much better now. I hate being sick or in pain. I wasn’t able to pick up Adam or play with him, I couldn’t keep up with laundry or the housework, and I wasn’t very pleasant company. But all is well now, and I have a clean house, clean clothes, and Scott can actually enjoy my company :D

Update on Adam: 19 months old and still not talking yet. It’s ok, all children learn and grow at their own pace, right? He’s got Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh! and Papa down. Papa, of course, is short for Grandpa. Whenever we are on our way to see my parents or Scott’s parents, Adam knows where we are. Before we even pull into the driveway he’s shouting, “Papa! Papa!” It’s so cool to see him learn and remember things, like the way to Grandpa’s house. He’s such a picky eater now. It drives me crazy! It scares me sometimes, because most days all he will eat is toast and have a cup or 2 of juice. Some days I can get him to eat 3 meals a day, but it’s rare. It’s very frustrating. You would think he’d want whatever we are having, and it usually starts out that way. But when we offer it he turns his face away. Anyone out there have any ideas to get this kid to eat more? He’s not losing weight, he’s still growing, so I don’t feel like a complete failure. The fact doesn’t change that it scares me that he doesn’t eat when he should! He’s definitely a boy thru and thru. He loves to throw things, pull things apart, and hit things. It’s definitely a chore to keep my house clean when he’s awake and running around. Toys are put away one minute, and the next he’s got them all pulled out again, throwing them across the floor and laughing hysterically. It makes me laugh too most days. I think the funniest thing about him right now is he is in LOVE with the vacuum cleaner. Whenever I bring it out of the laundry room to vacuum his eyes get all wide and he says “Ooooo!!” with a big “O” mouth. He wants to push it around and pull all the attachments off. He puts the attachments together and pushes them around like I do with crevices. Looks like he’ll actually enjoy chores once he’s old enough! He’s really good about putting his toys away when Mommy asks. Most days he’s more than willing to help me put them back into his toy box. He’s a very good helper. Even though he isn’t speaking yet, he knows exactly what you’re saying. If I ask him to go get his shoes, he’ll go into his room and get his shoes for me. If I ask him to go put something away, he will turn around and put it back where he found it (most of the time). I couldn’t be more blessed than I am now to have him as my son.

I didn’t mean for this to be so long, but there’s a lot to talk about. Not many pictures to accompany, but I’ll try to make up for it. I have some pictures from the summer that I really want to post, so I will try to get those loaded onto the computer and get them posted soon. Hopefully I will get better at this blog thing and keep it more updated than I do. I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs of my cousins, and I’m sure they’d like me to return the favor.

Em

PS: PICTURES TO FOLLOW! I kinda sorta have misplaced my camera....

Eternal Blossoms

So my business is finally up and running (except for my website, HELP!!) and I'm starting to get into the swing of things. I've had people from Idaho, Oregon, and California call me about flowers for loved ones in my area. The last call I got today was from a guy in Oregon who wanted me to deliver south of Fillmore :( Sorry! Can't drive over 2 1/2 hours to deliver 2 dozen roses. Oh well!

I've done a few flower arrangements and centerpieces so far, which is very exciting. the first one I sold was to a guy who hadn't seen his girlfriend for a while and wanted me to do something in yellow and blue:

Very simple, colored daisies.

The next one I did was a sympathy arrangement for a woman who had lost her son. Her aunt called me from Idaho and asked me to put it together for her. I don't have a good picture of it unfortunately, but I arranged flowers around a plant that she could keep.

I wanted to practice bridal bouquets, so I put together something just to see what I could do:

I used blue and yellow rose buds. There is a slight cascade, which gives it a little character. The greens in the back is ivy, which I'm not too sure about but definitely gave it the body it needed. It also has little yellow tiger orchids as well.

I did a fall centerpiece in silks for my mom's formal dining room table yesterday. I used great big cabbage roses in fall colors with greens and berries as accent. Silk flowers are so much easier to work with! they bend and stay where you want them, you don't have to wire them or water them, and they last forever.

I just barely got a call from a student in Rexburg, Idaho about a flower arrangement for his sister! I'm going to do great big yellow Gerber Daisies. Awesome! That's 2 calls today, I'm on a roll.

All in all, I'm very excited to have sold a few things so far. My goal is to make it something I could do full time, but it's very difficult to get my name out there. Those who have found me have either Googled for a florist close to where the recipients live or have read the magnet on the back of my car. Does anyone have any ideas to help me get my name out there? What can I do to make this work? Any advice is much appreciated and I look forward to reading your suggestions.

As for life right now at the Walker house, everything seems to be all right. Scott has been sick the past week or so and is on an inhaler until they find out what's wrong. Adam was sick for a day or two, but never once let it hinder his happy mood. His temperature spiked up past 103 on Sunday, but it was down the next morning. I'm glad I haven't gotten it myself!

Here is a picture of the boy! Cousin Chrissy took this when we were down visiting her. He will be 18 months old on the 25th. I can't believe how time flies. *sigh* I love him so much!

Grandma Joy, I hope you were able to pull this blog up at home. I will work on getting more pictures posted for you and see if I can round up more to send since you didn't get the last bunch. I love you!

Passion Red Bouquet and Matching "Accessories"

This is my first experiment with LIVE flowers, in this case Roses. They were such a beautiful deep red that I couldn't resist. It was good practice and I think I'm getting better :D

This is a live rose bud Boutonniere, silk Stephanotis blossom for accent, backed by a silk rose petal, Rose matches Bouquet below

This is another Boutonniere/Corsage that I did for the same Bouquet package: Deep red Cherry Blossoms (silk), Stephanotis blossoms (also silk)

This is a Live fresh flower bouquet in Passion Red Roses (Deep deep red, they are almost velvet looking). 14 total roses used. It's a smaller bouquet, but very elegant

I'm Jumping on the Bandwagon

So my beautiful cousins have started these awesome business: Simplicity by Design is Meg's Invitation and Announcement business and Rachael Tyler Photography is Rachael's, you guessed it, Photography business. Let me just say now how incredibly jealous I am of them! I have ALWAYS wanted to start my own business, but haven't really been able to find my niche. So today I got thinking and discovered that I LOVE to arrage flowers. So since those 2 are in together on the Wedding scene, I thought I'd get in on it too!

So, presenting my first ever attempt at a Bridal Bouquet! I have called it "Purple Elegance." It's very simple, but I think it would make the perfect addition to any Bridal Shoot or walk down the Aisle. So please, let me know what you guys think. Should I continue and try to make a business out of this? Oh, and by the way, these are Silk Flowers, so it will last FOREVER.

Come What May

This song is stuck in my head. And so, for your reading pleasure, I present to you the lyrics for one of the most romantic songs ever written! (in my humble opinion)

Never knew I could feel like this,

like I've never seen the sky before.

Want to vanish inside your kiss.

Everyday I love you more and more.

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?

Telling me to give you everything!

Seasons may change: Winter to Spring.

But I love you until the end of time.

Come What May! Come What May!

I Will love you until my dying day!

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place.

Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace.

Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste.

It all revolves around you

And there's no mountain too high, No River too wide.

Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side.

Storms cloud may gather, and stars may collide,

but I love you until the end of time

Come What May! Come What May!

I will love you until my dying day!

Come What May! Come What May!

I will love you until my dying day!

***

And it repeats itself... *sigh* Sorry, had to share :)

1 Year Down, Eternity to Go

Today is the 1st anniversary of our Temple Sealing. Scott and I will be going to the Temple tonight to do sealings for the dead to celebrate! It's amazing how time flies. Our little family has grown so much in the past year and I cannot forget how blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives and for what it does for us each and every day. We will be together FOREVER, a fact that keeps me going through the tough times.

I haven't been on here for a long time, and I regret that. I was reading in my cousin's blog yesterday (Meg!) and she talked about how she does this because she sucks at writing in a journal. I, too, am guilty of poor journal writing, and as many journals as I have purchased with the promise to write in them at least once a week, I think I've written enough times to fill maybe HALF of a 100-page journal. It's so much easier to type than it is to write. I can type at least 80 wpm, and I'm pretty sure that I can only write about 25. Anyway, hopefully I will keep at this and get you all updated with what's going on in our lives, and at the same time keep a dutiful record of my life and the life of my family.

We have recently moved to North Salt Lake to some brand new apartments. Rent is cheaper, we'll be able to save a lot more a month, and there is NO ROOMMATE!! As long as Scott and I have been married, we have never lived alone. Isn't that crazy? We've always been with someone else. It's so nice to be able to walk around nake---I mean, nevermind... :) Like I was saying, it's great to have a place all to ourselves. We are about 2 minutes from my in-laws, which is great. It's nice to have family so close!

Adam is getting so big, I can't even keep up with it. How amazing it is to watch a child grow. I find it strange that I'm a mother a lot of the time. I'm only 21, in the prime of my life, and I've got a little family where most others my age are in college, hanging with friends until 2am, enjoying being young. I'm in bed by 10 most nights, if not earlier. I don't have time for friends really. My time is consumed by working every once in a while, cleaning, laundry, and anything else ADAM related you could think of. Sometimes I sit and think about where I would be if I didn't get married 2 years ago, if there was no Adam or Scott, if I stayed in college and graduated... but then I think about the blessings I would be missing out on right now if there was no Scott or Adam, no eternal family, no temple visits (which keep me sane, honestly). I don't think I would change anything.

Fun at the Zoo

Adam and I went to the Zoo today! We went with my friend Bekah Shupe and her son Zakkary who is 5 months younger than Adam. We had a blast! Adam's favorite were the elephants and the zebras. Here are some pictures from Adam's first visit to the Zoo!

The Penguins!

Zakk is at the top looking at the camera. Adam decided he didn't want to be in the shot with the giant rats. Zakk is the same size as Adam is and he's 5 months younger!

The giraffe. There were 4 total: 2 females inside and the 2 males were outside.

Adam thought it would be a good idea to put his hand in Zakk's mouth

The boys in front of the Mountain Lion enclosure. You can't see them, but they're back in their little caves. They didn't feel like sunbathing for us.

Here he's pointing at the Zebras. Once he saw them move he pointed and cooed at them. It was so darling! It was so awesome to watch him discover.

Here we are in front of the Zebras

The elephants were the first animal we saw and Adam was amazed. He kept pointing and grunting at them. We watched the elephant show.

Here we are sitting on the Tigers. The only real Tiger we saw was also in his little cave and we could only get a shot of his rather large foot.

Yay for the Zoo! Did you know it's only around $60 to get a family pass for the year? We might do it. I love the zoo and Adam really enjoyed himself too.

UGH I am so bad at this!

I am terrible. I can't believe that it's MARCH and I still haven't posted any CHRISTMAS pictures yet! *sigh* And unfortunately I can't do it right now either, but I promise you that it will be done no LATER than tonight. But until I can get pictures loaded I will do an update.

We shall start on Scott's Birthday, which was February 3rd. He turned 22 (woohoo!), which isn't all that special a year I suppose, but I decided to put together something extra special for him because he certainly deserves it. We originally wanted to do a bed and breakfast thing for Valentine's Day weekend, and so I thought, "Hmmm, it's the beginning of January, I should probably just go ahead and reserve our weekend because I'm sure things will fill up quick." HA. Understatement. I called the first week of January to book 2 days at Anniversary Inn for Valentine's Day. They had been completely booked since NOVEMBER for that weekend. November?!? And I thought I was thinking ahead. Apparently not. So, I decided that we'll just do dinner that night (I booked a reservation that same day) and we would do the bed and breakfast weekend for Scott's Birthday. I found Castle Creek Inn in Sandy, which was very reasonably priced and simply gorgeous. Jetted tub and separate shower stall, king-sized bed, 42" flat screen TV and leather couch... yeah. It was so wonderful. Scott's birthday fell on a Tuesday, which was perfect because he has Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off. My parents watched Adam for us, we packed our bags (full of all sorts of romantic things) and were off. It was far enough away to feel like we were getting "away" but close enough just in case something went wrong with Adam or anything else for that matter. We had a wonderful first night, had a gourmet breakfast the next morning, and headed back up to our room to watch movies and lounge about the rest of the day. Scott gets a phonecall. It's work. "We just wanted to let you know that as of today you are no longer employed with Verizon Wireless." *click* That puts a damper on things just a bit... The rest of the story involves a trip to West Valley, getting dragged out by my hair by the security guards (haha, not really), and lots and lots of tears. Good thing my wonderful husband is able to keep a smile on my face. We went back to our room and attempted to salvage the rest of our trip. It was mostly successful.

Thankfully, I was able to keep my job at Tuck Landscaping and move to full time. I also got insurance squared away so we are ok there. Scott has been diligently looking for a new job. It's hard to be kicked out on the curb like that when you've worked for a company for over 2 years. All we have to do now is move forward, trust in our Heavenly Father, and continue our lives as a family. I believe that as long as we continue doing the things we are supposed to, our lives will be blessed and we will get through this tough time.

In the mean time, I am thoroughly enjoying my son. Adam is the light of my life. He is getting sooo close to his first birthday! 2 months away. I can't even believe it. He's the most amazing crawler you will ever see in your life. He can crawl faster than I can run, and I'm not exaggerating! He has 4 teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom. He is so close to walking and he wants it so bad! He'll stand up by himself for a minute and then realize that he has no where else to go but down. And he's so steady! What an exciting time to be a mother. He plays pattycake with me, gives me cheesy grins, lots of hugs, and no matter what he's gotten into I can never stay mad at him for longer than a second. He's just about grown out of all his clothes (he's into 18 months now, and he's not even a year old yet!) so it's just about time to go shopping. He still has NO hair except on the sides of his head. We're pretty sure he'll be a dirty blonde. *sigh* There is so much to talk about when it comes to him. I am definitely the epidomy of a proud mother. More boasting, I'm sure, will come when I post his Christmas pictures and others. MANY others. I swear my mother-in-law takes a hundred each time he's over. That's ok Jenny, I LOVE IT!

I think that's enough of an update for now. Again, I promise PROMISE those pictures will be up later tonight. Love to you all!

Em

My New Year's Resolution

SO: I know that it's almost the end of January and you're supposed to make resolutions at the beginning of this month, but this is something that I've wanted for almost 2 years now, and I'm just now finding the courage and the willpower to do it!





I am determined to get back into my Wedding Dress by my Anniversary, which is April 28th. When Scott and I got married, it was a small ceremony just at a wardhouse near my parents' house. We didn't really do pictures and none of the ones that we did do turned out very well. So I want my Bridals done. I never got to get all dolled up before my wedding day and have those beautiful timeless pictures taken that every other bride gets. And since Scott and I were sealed later in the temple, there were no pictures on the temple grounds of us, which I also would like to have. How do I plan to lose 25 lbs and 3 dress sizes by APRIL?

That's right, I have joined the Curves Revolution! This program is absolutely amazing! You go to your local Curves gym, scan your little card which keeps track of you and your workout, and you spend 30 minutes... wait, what was that? 30 MINUTES?? Yeah, that's all the time you need to take. No more spending hours at the gym, wandering around not really knowing what to work out on, how long on each machine, to get the best results. Curves is specially designed around women and the trouble spots that WOMEN have. The belly, the love handles, the upper arms, etc. You go around the circuit twice, stretch afterwards, and you're done. It's the best 45 minutes (that includes my stretching time) of my day. I firmly believe I will reach my goal and fit back into that dress by my anniversary. I am determined!

Thanksgiving Part 2

Here is part 2 full of FOOD!

Here is one of our tables

Here is the "main" table. Look at that pretty center piece. Aunt Penny brought that

That's the main table. Pretty chairs!

Another pic of the main table. Jesse is keeping Hazel company while we finish up in the kitchen

Look at all those snacks! I'm surprised everyone wasn't full after that

The poor roasted turkey all carved

I think I'm stealing a taste of the fried turkey in this picture... Shhh!!

I made these keishes using the recipe on The Hungry Husband site. Thanks ladies! They were delicious and everyone loved them.

Green beans, Mashed potatoes, and "Butter Beans"

Thanksgiving! Part 1

Thanksgiving was full of family for me, that's for sure. My parents had the whole extended family over (most of them) at their new house. We had about 30 people there all together. We ate, played games, watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (excellent John Candy/Steve Martin movie, check it out), and we enjoyed each other's company. Here are the first set of pictures full of family. The second part will include FOOD!

Devanee and Karli Gelter with the dogs (Lily and Toby I think)

April's girls Emily and Rachel sitting with Jesse

Rachael and Tyler! This is a cute picture of them! Call Rachael if you need pictures done! www.rachaeltyler.com

Dad cutting up the poor fried turkey. We do one every year. I can't really say that it's BETTER than an oven-roasted turkey (we do both), but it certainly is amazing! Ooo, how I love that crispy skin. mmmm-mmmm!

Everyone is saying HELLO!!

My Great-Aunt and Uncle Penny and Dan (Grandma Joy's brother). They did my flowers and bouquet for my wedding! They own an Antiques and Floral shop in Orem (Planted Earth)

Cute Cousin Shauna! She's a twin. Her other half is Stacia

This is my Great-Grandma Hazel. She will be 9...4? this year. I think it's 94 in March. She's Joy's mom. She lives at an assisted living home in Orem and is doing pretty well. We all hope that this isn't the last Thanksgiving we will spend with her.

Kyrsten and Me busting a pose for the mirror/camera!

Jesse

My mom's cousin April. Her mom and Hazel are sisters I think, or maybe not...

Grandma Joy (Mom's Mom) She came up for Thanksgiving and Christmas all the way from Ohio. We all say that she just needs to move back here to Utah. We miss her so much all the time. She just barely went home on January 7th. I love you Grandma!

My dad with Adam and his mom, Frances. She came up for Thanksgiving all the way from Georgia! We haven't seen her for a long time. It was so awesome to see her and spend time with her. I miss her so much!

People just chillin' in the Living Room while food is cooking. We starting eating around 2:30 or 3:00 officially. The time before that was full of snacking.