Derek and Christine

February

2011-04-26T09:07:00.003-05:00

In February:

Garrett turned 11! Wow!

His cake of choice: Texas Sheet Cake, yummm!
Garrett earned his Webelos rank, all four compass points, and the Arrow of Light
Good job Garrett!
Hopefully we will only have good scouting memories (not that I ever have to coerce you into working on requirements:)
We love Garrett. He is creative and a great (although often reluctant) pianist. He has really enjoyed learning to snow board with Derek this season and they are can't wait to go even bigger next year!

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Minute to Win It!

2011-04-04T10:10:00.005-05:00

This is Elena. She is 51/2. She is intense! She is in it . . . to win it!

Another Walker Graduates!

2011-04-04T09:50:00.006-05:00

I had great intentions of documenting this before Christmas . . .then before New Years . . .then with the little video we shot, but alas I can't figure that part out. So I thought I better get it in before David gets his MACC next year.

Raquel's mom and sister came to Idaho to support the grad!

Congratulations David!

We were glad to be there and show the Walker support

(especially because my parents were missing--missions don't allow graduation leave of absences)

Next stop for David and Raquel. . . Notre Dame's MACC!

We are proud of you and hope to be there when you walk across that Catholic stage too!

just a little catch up!

2010-12-20T14:09:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas from Temple Square!

It was a great night. . .love that Elena is taking a "break"

Tis the Season

2010-12-14T08:09:00.008-06:00

Family Home Evening--November 8, 2010

Luke 10:29-37

And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went to Jericho, and fell among thieves. . .leaving him half dead . . .

A priest . . .and likewise a Levite . . . came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan. . . when he saw him, he had compassion on him . . .and took care of him.

Which now was neighbour?

Then said Jesus . . .Go, and do thou likewise

Thank you for your example of service--particularly this time of year!

a few more events to remember

2010-11-19T19:13:00.013-06:00

We hiked the "Y"

Never did that while we attended BYU, so that was fun and another check mark on our bucket list.

It's a much steeper hike than I thought. . .everyone did great . . .well Carson did okay:)

other news: Derek had a sandwich named after him at work

I would be embarrassed; Derek loves it!

The hospital chef and catering staff have won numerous awards for their excellent food--come visit and he'll take you to lunch. . .

maybe you can even try the "BIG D"

feeding the ducks at the pond

our little boy can't wait to own one of these

(only after he moves out of my house)

yard work

also note the pacifier . . . we are finally rid of it!

Derek's High Adventure with the Young Men

A visit with cousins before their move to Oklahoma

What cute girls (check out Camille's pose)

A trip to Steve's (Derek's coworker) cabin

a little archery

and some 4-wheelin'

Thanks Steve!

We also did some fishing over the summer

Carson patienty waiting for a bite

Camille's catch

The summer was nearing its end when the girls had their birthdays

First Camille turned seven

and then two days later Elena had her 5th birthday

Hmm. . one cat and then one dog cake . .could it be that is how they fight!?!?

Camille and Elena definitely have their fair share of fighting, but they also can't stand to be apart and can be so sweet and kind to one another. I hope they will come to be as good as friends as I am with my sisters. . .

We love our girls and are so thankful for the love of pink, babies, art, princesses, and all things girl they bring into our home!

We also celebrated Uncle Blake's graduation (yeah for DR. Jones) from BYU and enjoyed seeing cousins from Arizona!

And then school started!

Camille began 1st grade with Mr. Wheeler

and Garrett started 5th grade with Mrs. Cox

We said goodbye to summer with an Orem Owls (minor league) courtesy of our good Dover, DE friend Jason Badel and his lovely wife and boys

still playing catch-up

2010-11-19T18:43:00.003-06:00

We visited the graves of Grandma and Grandpa Pack and Walker in Alpine

It was fun to see Michael and Niki's crew there as well as more extended family

We also participated in a couple parades with the hospital and our own Primary

And of course we tried to beat the heat at the splash pad a few times

Our abbreviated summer

2010-09-22T15:47:00.009-05:00

As I mentioned before, our kids have year round school. That means our summer did not begin until 4th of July weekend. As soon as school was out we hit the road for Washington to kick off our short summer with Derek's parents

Its tradition to get some donuts at Krispy Kreme while we are in Washington. Although now we have one very close, the five years we spent in Kansas made us appreciate having a variety of stores close by and so this really was a special treat for our kids . . .

Derek and I took off for a couple days to Vancouver Canada without the kids. It was great! We were within walking distance of Stanely Park (1000 acres right downtown, dwarfs Central Park in NYC--but you get the idea), and because we have continued running Derek said, "let's get up tomorrow morning and run around the seawall that is part of Stanley Park." Did Derek check on the mileage? No. Was this suppose to be a vacation? Yes. How many weeks since we ran a marathon? Oh abooot (for you Canandians) 3. We kept running and running. 8+miles later I said forget it and we veered off the sea wall trail and headed inland to the city. Once we reached the street we walked back to our hotel.

While we were without kids, we took advantage and attended a session at the newly constructed and dedicated Vancouver Temple. It was beautiful!

Do I look bored?

Does Derek?

That is because of this.

Wow. Border Control.

Getting into Canada we waited for maybe a total of 30 minutes.

We waited all that time to be asked:

1. what is your business in Canada? vacation.

2. do you have any fire arms or weapons? No.

3. do you have any drugs? No.

I will now be peering in your windows and looking in the trunk. (I assume for the aforementioned items)

To get back into the US (on a Wednesday morning) we waited for 3+ hours.

Really.

We waited all that time to be asked:

1. are you bringing anything back from Canada that you purchased there. No.

2. are you sure? Yes; well, we do have this soda we are drinking.

3. what about produce? any produce? No.

4. are you sure? Yes.

please release your trunk and I will be peering in your windows. (looking for produce)

thanks have a nice trip.

Now I don't want to damage the agriculture market in the US, but even if we did have produce we were driving our car not our semi (oh wait we don't have a semi) so how much produce could we possibly be bringing with us?? Apparently enough to effect the local farmers.

Nice.

Oh Canada!

Thanks for a great kick off to our brief summer. We love Washington and visiting with the Vances!

Where to begin . . .

2010-09-15T14:29:00.002-05:00

I don't even know where to begin . . .

so you'll have to come back soon to see what we've been up to!

No the marathon did not kill us . . .

2010-09-15T14:12:00.005-05:00

You may have thought so due to our lack of blogging . . .but we are well and still running!

run. run. run.

2010-06-14T17:43:00.008-05:00

shoes with our time chips ready to go!

heading out early Saturday morning

A BIG THANKS to Derek's sister and husband!

Blake and Laurissa spent the night with our kids at our place in Syracuse and let us use their comfy home down in Provo to crash Friday night. The kids had a blast and love their Uncle Blake and Aunt Rissy!
Fuzzy shot of the starting line.

Notice it is very dark.

That is because it is very early.

The first bus left Provo at 3:30 am!
Not sure if I'm ready!
Totally ready!
Crazies.

There was a shortage of porta-poties at the start line so pretty soon people were (trying) hopping the barb-wire fence and semi-secluding themselves to take care of business. At the front (there were like 1500+ marathoners) people just dropped their drawers and kept their precious place in the line up

(guess they were out to win!)

We had to go too.

But modesty matters to us.

We waited for the crowd to start running and then started our race about 20 minutes after the official clock time. No worries we had a time chip (see picture #1) to record when we officially started and stopped.
Drenched.
It rained hard and harder for the first 10 miles.

Otherwise the day was perfect--cloudy and about 55!

We were soaked.

Beautiful scenery running down Provo Canyon.

The looooong road ahead.

More lovely scenery.

Provo River.

Derek was enjoying the view.

Our biggest fans.

Uncle Blake and Aunt Laurissa helped the kids make signs for us!

Thanks!

Coming around to the finish. Trying hard to look good the last .2!

Slapping five with Camille.

The kids wanted to run the finish with us but we had to shooo them back to the sidelines.

So close.

Done.

For those of you who must know--our time was about 15-20 minutes better than recorded.

Elena saw our medals and said, "Mom, but you did not win!"

I know.

Camille said, "We had to wait a loooong time!"

I know.

We did it!

When's the next one??

Just kidding, Derek.

(that makes him sooo mad when I say that:)

26.2

2010-06-12T19:27:00.001-05:00

We did it! Today Derek and I ran the Utah Valley Marathon. It started in Wallsburg (near Midway/Heber) and ended 26.2 long miles later at the Provo Towne Centre. More pictures and details later, but I just had to post it TODAY!

The Ennis Visit

2010-06-01T22:22:00.004-05:00

Jessica, Shawn and family came out to visit for week the beginning of May. We had a great time with lots of visiting, playing games late at night, and eating good food.

We started off the week celebrating Ronin's third birthday and then spent the rest of the week trying to cram in as much fun as possible!

girls and Carson at the Hill Air Force Museum

We have been there lots, but this was the first time this "kid area" was open--what a blast!

Camille and Renae. Camille loved Baby Renae and told everyone (people at the store, kids at the playground) all about how her cousins were here visiting and emphasized how cute her new baby cousin is!!

The Walkers came up for a b-bque the night before the Ennis's went home

Running through the Air Force Museum

The cousins had a good time even if there was occasional yelling and fighting.

How I wish my sisters lived closer . . .

Carson and the camera

2010-04-27T16:29:00.003-05:00

nice "up the nose" shots

his foot

one more in pjs

Whenever we download pictures off our partly broken digital camera (Derek recently ordered a new viewing screen and we are hoping he will be able to replace our broken one!!), we find pictures taken by Carson. Above are some of his best shots . . .

Baby Andrea

2010-04-27T16:04:00.006-05:00

Derek's youngest brother Nick and his wife Becky had baby #3! Andrea Nichole is super small and super cute. We stopped by with a frozen meal and diapers & wipes. Camille (of course) was in heaven! After meeting baby Andrea we headed up to Provo for dinner with Laurissa and Blake. Dinner was yummy and the girls learned to play GO FISH! with Aunt Laurissa while Garrett checked out Uncle Blake's coin collection.

Snow in April

2010-04-27T15:58:00.002-05:00

Spring in Utah is weird. We had a bunch of snow a couple of weeks ago and Derek and the kids made a friend. The next day he was doing a strange back bend as the temperature kept rising. Day two--only his hat was left behind.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-04-27T15:39:00.003-05:00

My birthday was last Saturday (April 17th). I turned 33?!?! Strange. I ran 20 miles that morning in honor of the day. . . .we only have 7 more Saturdays until June 12th and our marathon. Yeah! We are looking forward to being done!

The rest of the day we spent watching Brayden (8 months) and Chandler (9) (my brother's two boys). It was fun to have them here--Chandler kept Garrett busy and Brayden was a good baby. Throughout the day Elena kept asking me when I was "gonna make yer [my] cake?" Much to her relief the anticipated birthday cake was purchased by Derek. Yummy chocolate cake from Sams! That night Derek and I went out for dinner. Thanks for another great birthday!

Happy Birthday Carson!

2010-04-27T15:14:00.004-05:00

Carson turned 3 on March 9th. We think he is such a great boy. Carson enjoyed his truck cake and an assortment of fun gifts including a toy shotgun and LED flashlight. Carson will probably always be our baby (which is why he is still in a crib and diapers . . . ) and he is definitely a momma's boy. Life would not be complete without Carson!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-04-27T15:06:00.003-05:00

Late, yes.

But so cute!!

Where does the time go . .

2010-04-14T10:19:00.006-05:00

I hate to post without pictures so I keep putting off posting. The viewing screen on our camera broke on our hike in the fall and its just too much effort to take pics now. Anyway, I want to do better with this and keep in touch and all. . . . so here are is what I dug up for your viewing pleasure and I will try to get on the ball and post about Derek's birthday and Carson's birthday and Easter and my trip to Kokomo and such soon.

The top is from an outing Derek took the girls on in February. They loved making jewelery holders at Lowes. The bottom is also from February. Derek and I took the kids to BYU to check things out. We got a little nostalgic for our college days and visited both the English building where I spent my time and the "great and spacious" building- I mean business building- where Derek spent most of his time. Funny while we were there Derek was explaining to the kids that these were the buildings we studied in to prepare for our futures. Camille said, "yeah, like this is where mommy learned to make dinner and clean the clothes and the house." Nice. So glad it took me four years and a degree in English to get that down.

Happy Birthday Garrett

2010-02-01T16:51:00.003-06:00

self portrait

Garrett loves, loves, loves Nerf guns. On Friday we had a nerf war birthday party. The boys had a great time and enjoyed their prizes: reese's peanut butter cups (Garrett's favorite), whoopee cushions, and flarp-a little can of goo that when you stick your finger in it, it makes a lovely farting noise. I tried to pick out other prizes, but Garrett insisted on those lovelies. What is it with boys and their amusement with bodily functions? Oh well a great time was had by all . .

And I even made a nerf gun cake!

Happy Birthday Garrett! We love you and are thankful you are part of our family. Hard to believe you are now in the double digits (how can Derek and I have a ten year old?!). Thank you for being a great big brother, good student, and practicing the piano without too much coercion. We are lucky to have you in our family!

No School for a Month!

2010-02-01T16:41:00.006-06:00

One new adjustment to life here is year round school.

Today, Monday, February 1st, we went off track.

We are off until March First.

What do you do when there is no school and it is February and it is 34 degrees outside.

Apparently you still have breakfast sitting on the table at 5 minutes till 11 am (lunch time at our house).

Apparently leaving breakfast on the table means Elena will continue to pick at cold cereal for 5 1/2 hours (the kids were up at 6:30 am).

And, apparently you watch mindless television.

I will try to be a better mother tomorrow.

The Basement

2010-02-01T11:46:00.009-06:00

We started construction in November. Here is the great room looking toward double closets, the two kid bedrooms, kid bath, and toy room.

Garrett's room

play house under the stairs and door way leading to toy room and cold storage

Began dry wall and the messy job of mudding and taping. This will be the play house under the stairs.

crooked door to play house

Great room! Lots of closet storage, small wet bar, fireplace, and cabinet for (future) tv & components.

Finished a week before Christmas!

Toy room. Messy now, but lots of shelves for storage.

Window to play house under the stairs and magnet board.

Guest bath.

Great room! With loads of closets and door to guest bath and bedroom.

So my grand plan was to photo journal this project with lots of details and pics. Grand plan took back seat to life and holidays. We are thrilled with the end result and loooove the basement. Please come see for yourself!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T17:16:00.009-06:00

The festivities began for Elena, Camille, and Carson on Thursday. Elena's preschool had a fieldtrip to a local pumpkin patch. Unfortunately the weather was freeeeeezing, but we still enjoyed the hay ride out to pick a pumkin, a "train" ride around the corn maze, and some play time on the slides.

Friday night we were suppose to take a doctor the hospital is recruiting to a Utah Jazz game, but he canceled and we got to invite Laurissa and Blake (Derek's sister and her husband) instead. The seats the hospital has for the season are really close to the court and we enjoyed watching a great game. We even enjoyed watching some really dedicated fans that sat nearby. One guy in paticular brought a ginourmous Jazz flag, mega-mega-megaphone, and a rubber chicken to use both for cheering on the Jazz and for trying to distract the Clippers when they took their foul shots. It was fun, thanks for coming guys!

Prior to the trunk and trick or treating we took the kids to see some sights in Salt Lake City. Instead of taking the van we made it especially fun by taking the light rail--a commuter train that runs from various northern cities to SLC. The kids liked the train ride (Carson loved it) and seeing some Mormon Church Sites like the Conference Center and the beautiful Salt Lake City Temple.

According to some, the most exciting part of our Halloween Weekend involved Carson, Elena, and Camille dressing up as a spotted frog, a black cat balerina, and a fairy-butterfly-balerina respectively.

Lastly we were protected by a blue ninga from all the "tricks" lurking about on Halloween night(thanks Garrett!).

hiking

2009-10-25T16:37:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we took the kids to Adams Canyon (about 12 minutes from our home) to do a little hiking. We were looking for a waterfall, but took a wrong turn. It turned out mostly fine though . .. the kids loved hiking on the mountain and we were warned by several hikers returning from the falls that the falls trail was pretty steep and not very good for little kids. The only bad part to the day was that I slipped with the camera on my wrist and it smacked into a rock and killed the viewing screen. Soooo enjoy these pics because I don't know when we will replace the camera!

You may see this in a future Christmas Card??!!

(note the ever present binoculars with Carson)

Carson insisted on holding on to the binoculars the whole time. We could not convince him to turn them around to look through . . . funny kid

So we're here

2009-10-20T16:17:00.013-05:00

Boxes and boxes and boxes . . .but we are getting settled and look forward to our new adventure

Garrett and his new teacher, Mrs. Bowen

Elena and Carson at Bluff Ridge Elementary for Garrett and Camille's first day at their new school

Elena trying out the kindergarten park
Camille approves of her new park and school

Here are some pictures of our new place . . .

nice big master closet

hall to garage entry, 1/2 bath, laundry room and master bedroom

kids bath

kitchen

Front door and entry

The drive goes on and on and on

2009-10-20T15:49:00.007-05:00

These pictures are to fool you into thinking our kids actually slept in the car on our long drive.

They did not.

Okay, they slept for maybe 2 hours total (and that's a generous estimation) of the 19+ hours.

Camille, bless her heart, never did succumb to slumber.

This is what we really did.

Talk on the phone. Watch movies. Eat. Complain. Cry a little. Eat some more. Continue watching movies. Eat something else. How much longer? Can we play in the snow when we get there? Can we swim when we get there? Is there anything to eat? Let's watch a movie.

Before the looong drive . . .

2009-10-20T15:16:00.004-05:00

So sad to see our empty space

We were so well taken care of before we began our long drive West. Thanks to all those who kindly fed us and helped watch our kids that week as we packed and prepared. The night before we left (Thursday 10/08/09), with our things all in boxes, our fabulous neighbors (and Parsons grandparents) housed us in their five star home. We had a great dinner with the Al & Norma Jean Hendricks and Kay Lawrence and then the three youngest enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath that lasted far longer than their Mom would ever have agreed too . . . aren't grandmas great!

More of what we miss . .

2009-10-20T14:53:00.005-05:00

our Home & the best neighbors

our friends and teachers

Garrett's 4th grade class with Mrs. Smith

Camille & Mrs. Spielbusch

Elena & Mrs. Kutz

The things I will miss most

2009-10-06T22:13:00.004-05:00

I had such a great time tonight. Thanks Jen and Traci!

Camille's Funny Faces

2009-10-06T22:00:00.005-05:00

Just some funny faces from Camille

Crazy Busy. Crazy Good

2009-10-02T15:34:00.008-05:00

The crazy began a month ago . . . Derek got offered a new job in Layton, Utah at Davis Hospital and Medical Center. Although we never thought we'd end up back in Utah, westward ho we go! The job offer came just before Heidi and Tyler's wedding in Seattle. Debbie kept our kids so we could make a fast weekend trip there. The wedding, reception, food, and company were perfect. Thanks Heidi and Tyler!

While we were in Seattle, our house in Kansas sold! Yeah! We couldn't believe it--it was on the market for one day and after four showings we had an offer.

Then we were off to Utah for a few days of fast and furious house hunting. Jessica drove all they way from Indiana and stayed at our house to watch the kids. She had six kids for 5 days--we offered her our next born (no I am not making an annoucement), but she declined. After 30 houses we ended up choosing the first one we saw . . .

While we were house hunting we got to meet Michael's latest (and totally adorable) addition-Brayden. It was fun to see his kids and we are excited to see more of them.

A HUGE Thank You to my fabulous sisters (and Luke and Ronin) for keeping my kids while we went to the wedding and house hunting.

You guys are the BEST. . .thank you! thank you! thank you!

And finally, we had a great trip last weekend to see Grandpa and Grandma Walker on their mission to Houston, Texas. Garrett, Camille, and Elena did great on the 9 1/2 hour drive (yes, I did not mention Carson, because he did not do great--we're hoping the "practice" works and our move next week proves better). We visited the Children's Museum, Houston Space Center, and touched the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston. I miss my parents, but am thankful for their service and example!

That's our latest. We'll check back in when we get moved!

NEW DO!

2009-09-02T08:16:00.009-05:00

Camille got a hair cut after school yesterday--doesn't she look cute!?!

13.1 Miles - Aug 30, 2009

2009-08-30T20:22:00.006-05:00

First of all, I must tell you that this post is completely unsanctioned - at least from Christine's standpoint. She has never wanted me to share the fact that she is training for a marathon. But I (like my oldest son) just can't seem to help but tell everyone "everything I know". Christine has trained very diligently for the past few months. Her goal has been to run a marathon by her next birthday (Aprill, 2010). At the rate she's going, she could run one much sooner.

Yesterday (Aug 30th), she ran 13.1 miles--half a marthon. As her post earlier today mentioned- I've been running as well- but not like her.

And if I can get it to work... here's a quick video of the victorious FINISH!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

2009-08-30T19:35:00.006-05:00

Wednesday we celebrated Elena's 4th birthday. She continues to be a firecracker in our house. We are amazed at how much energy she has . . .preschool has been great and she is always up for the next fun thing in life. Sister Palmer (her Sunbeam teacher) and Brother Palmer came over for cake. Elean insisted on a snowman cake (even with her August Birthday); it was fun to share it with friends. I am thankful Elena loves her Primary teacher so much and wanted to include her on her special day.

Sunday afternoon is a great time to play dress up . . .

August 23, 2009

2009-08-23T19:27:00.005-05:00

We had an exciting weekend celebrating Camille's and Elena's upcoming birthdays with a party! On Saturday, the girls enjoyed games, a treasure scavenger hunt, a magic show by Garrett, and lunch & cake with friends.

Today (Sunday) is Camille's birthday. She is so happy to be six and in school! Camille is usually a great peacemaker in our home. She is a great singer and belts out the songs in Primary. Camille enjoys being a girl--finding joy in all things pink, princess, and precious. We love Camille! Happy Birthday!

Aug 20th - Camille's First Day of School

2009-08-20T20:27:00.005-05:00

Camille officially started kindergarten today. She had to go in for a "screening" process on Tuesday when all the other grades started- so she and the rest of the kindergarten students had their first "real" day of school today. After saying goodbye to Camille (she did great- much better than her parents) - we headed down the "upper classman" hall to see if we could find Garrett. He wasn't as excited to see us... I suppose we've now officially ceased to be cool.

Aug 18, 2009 - First Day of School

2009-08-18T08:22:00.005-05:00

Yeah, for the first day of school! Garrett is starting 4th Grade at Garfield Elementary. Camille is beginning Kindergarten at Garfield. And Elena starts Tuesday and Thursday preschool at Wesley Preschool this year. "And one little piggy stayed home"....

August 16, 2009

2009-08-16T19:50:00.014-05:00

It's been so long since we've "blogged", I don't know where to even start. In lieu of trying to catch up from everything since the 2008 summer, I'll give some short updates and recommit to doing better going forward.

This past week, Christine and I celebrated (loose term) 12 years of bliss. We "celebrated" with the branch at the annual summer swim party. We'll have our real celebration when we travel to Seattle next month for Heidi's wedding (Derek's younger sister).

Runner... Two months ago, Christine told me that she wanted to train to run a marathon. After she picked me up off the floor, we started running- first a mile, then 2, then 3.... Yesterday morning (starting early), Christine ran 10 miles for the first time. I ran 7 (a personal distance record) and then went inside (someone has to be the cheerleader, and our kids were getting up :) Christine and I run 4-6 miles each day during the week, with longer runs on the weekend. I've never enjoyed running, until we started running together. Elena also loves to run, and she finished the last 100yards of the 10 mile run with her mom.

Garrett has had a busy summer. He has a real turtle fetish, and has recently began collecting indian arrowheads. He finished a very (very) long baseball season earlier in July and did very well. He's trying to figure out what to do with his last day of summer (tomorrow). Garrett is quite the techy... and tells me he plans to start his own blog soon (so, be watching...)

Camille loves to swim, and spent her summer doing gymnastics and swimming lessons. She's really been working on her handwriting and learning her letters. She can't wait for her first day of school... Thursday.

Elena has become quite the little swimmer and has very little fear of the water. She has more energy than the rest of the family put together. She really does love to run, and will probably be a runner...just like her mom someday.

Carson has grown a lot this summer (at least he's on the charts now) and is slowly but surely

saying more words. After extensive hearing tests and continued physical therapy, we've determined that we just have to be patient. He likes to talk with all vowels... which makes communication a challenge. He's pictured here in his favorite shirt "Live Long" - with a dachsund that wraps around his shirt.

We feel very blessed and have enjoyed a great summer as a family. Finally, Christine's parents (Elder and Sister Walker) have just begun their first mission together and are serving a welfare mission in the Houston area. They are doing great and we are very proud of them.

June 29, 2008

2008-06-29T17:29:00.003-05:00

Trip to Seattle
We took our summer vacation during the first week of June. We left for Washington on a direct flight from Kansas City on Saturday, May 31st - and returned home on Monday, June 9th. We stayed at my parent's beautiful new home while we were there and had a great time visiting family. My parents have built a new home in Puyallup that has a clear view of Mount Ranier.

Christine and I left for 2 days while we were there and spent time together in downtown Seattle. While in Seattle, Christine and I took a harbor tour, visited the acquarium, went through Pike Place market, went to IKEA (we'd never been to one before), ate at the Melting Pot, Cheesecake Factory, caught a movie, relaxed, and walked a lot in the rain. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were there. Good thing we had familiy to entertain us.

Christine and I finished our hiatus at the temple--meeting the kids and grandpa and grandma as we got finished. We took the kids to the Museum of Flight, and later that week- went to the Seattle Science Center (which was nice but doesn't hold a candle to the Indianpolis Children's museum). We also were able to be a part Joy's baby blessing. Joy is the new daughter of Alicia and David Millett. We had a wonderful time visiting my parents, Richard, Alicia, and their families.

Sweetpea
The kids were quite tired by the time we landed back in Kansas City--and we still had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. Needless to say, the kids were not on their best behavior for the car ride home- so Christine decided to ask the children to each share their favorite part of the vacation--this got them all quieted down. After they each shared, Christine turned to me and asked what my favorite part of the vacation was. I responded that my favorite part of vacation was when I got to go away with my sweetheart...to which Elena responded "With me?" That brought a huge smile to our faces.

Company
Last weekend, our good friends the Pyes from Ohio came to see us. They were on a special zoo vacation with their family- stopping at various zoos around the midwest. Kansas was as far west as they went- so we felt privileged to be a part of their trip. We had a nice time going to a water park with the kids, and playing games in the evenings with Richard and Denise. This week, we have Kiara (Debbie's oldest) with us. Kiara is 14 and has done a tremendous job entertaining our kids. She's here with us until July 3rd- when her family (the Pratts) arrive to spend the weekend with us.

April 20th, 2008

2008-04-13T19:06:00.008-05:00

While life is incredibly busy between home, church, and work, we continue to have memorable experiences that if undocumented will be forgotten.

Garrett's First Time Bowling...During 2007, Christine and I decided that we would each take one of the children out for an "outing" each month. (Elena and Carson don't get outings yet : ) April was my month to take Garrett out for his outing. He has really wanted to go bowling, so he and I went to the "Tower Bowl" here in Parsons. Garrett did really well, and had a great time. They even gave him a signed bowling pin for having bowled for the first time. For the lanes on either side of us, the real entertainment was watching me try to remember how to bowl (probably has been 15 years) and then teach Garrett- who knocked about as many pins over as I did.

Camille's Dance Class...With all of Garrett's activities (soccer, baseball, piano etc...) Camille has begun to express a desire to do "fun things". She loves to play soccer- which we do in the backyard. Unfortunately, she's too young to play on a team. Camille also loves to play dress-up, and be a princess. So we decided that Camille would enjoy taking dance lessons. So for the past few weeks, Camille has been taking ballet, tap, and tumbling once each week. She loves it, and it appears to be the highlight of her week. I can tell that it really makes her feel important.

Funny Conversation... For being two and a half, Elena has an amazing vocabulary and a real ability to carry on conversation. Not long ago, came down the hall, hearing her talking to someone. I thought this was odd, as Christine had taken Garrett and Camille on errands and Carson was down for a nap. I cautiously peeked into the toy room- as not to disturb her- and found her talking back to one of the toys. While I realize this is not uncommon for toddlers, this was a toy that asks questions, and Elena was frustrated, because she had already given the toy all of the answers. "I alweddy told you that!" she exclaimed. After a few more bursts, she got up in a huff and said "I no wanna talk to you anymoa!"

Trip to Kansas City... Last weekend, we made a trip to Kansas City. First we stopped by Children's Mercy Hospital to visit Katherine. This was the first time the kids had the opportunity to see Katherine. When we first entered her room, Camille was extremely shy- she wasn't prepared to see Katherine in a wheelchair- and she visibly looked different. For Christine and I, seeing Katherine like this was a dream. That last time we had been up to see them, Katherine was still in the Pediatric ICU on a ventilator, with very little movement. Katherine is now talking, singing, and eating. We're confident she will be walking before long. Anyhow, while we were in her room, the girls had to go potty (of course- typical girls). Camille walked into the bathroom and announced- "Dad, something's wrong with this potty". We got a real kick out of what we saw. (picture) We had a very nice visit with Katherine and her mother JoAnne. JoAnne and Katherine accompanied us to the hospital entrance, and Camille got to push Katherine in her wheelchair. Just before leaving, Camille tugged and JoAnne and said "Heavenly Father is hearing our prayers". Oh, how's that?- said JoAnne. "Because Katherine is getting better"- Camille said.

I love the faith of little children. And I'm grateful that my children are being raised in a home where a loving mother is always present, and where principles of the gospel are taught on a daily basis.

April 13, 2008

2008-04-13T18:14:00.003-05:00

There are three reasons, really, for starting this blog. First, this is (I think) an effective way of keeping a journal for our family. Second, I feel compelled to document the activities and events of our children--which are always very entertaining. And Third, this keeps us in the 21st century (at least for a few months).

My goal is not to give a daily play by play of events, but rather to mention those things that are most important--most memorable in our family.

Events of Tragedy...The past 8 weeks have been extremely challenging- emotionally. On the evening of Saturday, Feb 23rd (my 33rd birthday) Christine and I had just arrived home from Stake Conference meetings when we received a call from a chaplain at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Earlier that afternoon, our friends the Cooks had been working at their new home in Linwood, Kansas- just outside Kansas City. Three of the Cook children were playing outside on the back patio, when all of a sudden there was a clap, and Katherine (age 5) was shot in the head from an unknown source (appears to be an accidental stray bullet) and fell over unconscious. She was life-flighted to Children's Mercy Hospital- where neurosurgeons gave her 72 hours to live.

After receiving the call from the chaplain, Christine and I arranged care for our children, and quickly headed for Kansas City. The Cooks don't have family nearby, and we felt we should stay with the other 6 children while Lamont and JoAnne stayed with Katherine. 7 weeks later (today), and after 4 weeks in the Pediatric ICU, a number of surgeries, and 3 weeks in the Pediatric Rehab Unit, Katherine is very much alive and doing well--and it appears that she will regain most if not all of her mobility and functions. It's truly a miracle.

Just 3 weeks after Katherine's tragic accident, Emily Russ (2 years) was playing outside in her grandparents backyard. She was apparently playing in or near a small pond, and accidently drowned. The Russ' (John and Linda) are Emily's grandparents and attend our branch in Parsons. Christine- as the Primary President- was asked to speak at her funeral, and I provided the music. The primary children sang a special number of "I Am A Child of God". It was a touching service- and while this tragedy is difficult, Emily's parents who were both separated and inactive from the Church, have been attending church meetings the past several weeks.

What's amazing to me, is how amidst tragedy, our Heavenly Father's love and mercy is so evident. Countless numbers of people have pulled together in prayer and faith around these two families- and miracles have occurred. I am a changed and better person because of the events of the past 2 months. I know more than ever before that Our Heavenly Father lives- and that He is very aware of us- on an individual basis. I'm grateful to have the gospel in my life- I know it is true.
Derek

2007 Christmas Letter

2008-04-08T20:40:00.004-05:00

Dear Family & Friends

2007 has been another good year for the Kansas Vances. . .

We welcomed Carson Orwell Vance to our family on March 9th. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz. He has a great temperament and we are so thankful he is here.

Elena turned 2 in August. She speaks well and is very busy. She likes to play with her older sister, especially dress-up and house, and is a great helper when it comes to retrieving things for Carson.

Camille turned 4 in August. In the early summer she took a dance class and loved it, and in the fall she started preschool. Tuesdays and Thursdays are her favorite days because those are school days—the other five days of the week are somewhat of a disappointment in her bookJ

Garrett is 7 and in the second grade! Reading is still one of his fortes at school and he is coming along nicely with the piano. In fact, he plays the prelude music for Primary most Sundays. Garrett adores his baby brother and was extremely pleased his “prayers were answered” in March.

Derek and Christine are busy and happy with a good job and wonderful family. Derek continues to work for the hospital here in Parsons and serve in the Branch Presidency at Church. Christine finds being a mother of four to be more than full time work but still manages to squeeze in time to serve as the Primary President at Church.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years and are blessed with all you need!