Woo Hoo!

I got it moved to the middle! It's amazing how user-friendly these things are....just got to actually read what it tells you to do.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Tidying up the blog....

ok...I figured out how to make this fabulous smilebox scrapbook thing full of fun photos...but I can't figure out to put it in the middle of my blog instead of off to the side. It still works off to the side...but would look much better in the middle. Anyone know how to fix that?? There's music that goes along with that scrapbook...but it seems to collide with my playlist. I don't quite know what to do with that either. It sounds like they play at the same time. With this discovery (the smilebox) I have found a whole new avenue with which to kill many hours on the computer. It's fun and all in the name of preserving memories for posterity, right?? so it's ok.

I was going to change up my playlist...for all you Johnny Cash haters out there.....but that site is down currently. So you'll just have to enjoy him a bit longer (welcome to my childhood...I'll just throw in some Merl Haggard, Jim Neighbors and any other old timey country I can think of and it'll be complete!)

I am so excited for this holiday season! Just to be able to spend some down time with family. We are planning a quick trip for a few days and haven't let the kids know where we are going. (Wisconsin Dells, don't tell them until after Sunday) Cooper said he hopes it's someplace warmer than here. I told him it's actually colder than here, but he won't care (because there are HUGE indoor water parks...he'll be swimming and sliding and having a blast!). Matt got us a really nice room with a hot tub and fireplace on the balcony which overlooks the lake. Then we get to come home and have Christmas! Then it's Cooper's birthday. Poor kid. Although he doesn't seem to mind having his birthday over the holidays yet. For him, it's just all his favorite things rolled into one fun-filled Christmas vacation. He just figured out that he will never ever have to go to school on his birthday because it will always fall over Christmas break. That made him very happy. I can't believe he's going to be 10! (Don't even ask how old that makes me...can't believe that either)

Walker's grown up teeth are growing in nicely. We watched the newest Indiana Jones in our ghetto-fabulous basement (I'll have to take photos....a big screen TV ((way nicer than our old ones upstairs)) in our unfinished basement, in front of 2 game chairs and one queen size bed...it's great to watch movies that way!! The bed was set up down there from when Matt was working a long stretch of nights...we never took it down and now I know why!) But anyway....we rented that video to watch the other night. We saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out (a year ago?) but not since. Walker would say...'oh! I like this part!', or ' this is the red ant part' before it actually got to that part. He remembered so many details that I had totally forgotten. I was quite surprised that he actually remembered that much.

Reese is getting closer to walking. She's taken a couple of steps and now stands on her own quite regularly. She's such a slowpoke about motor skills. Guess I should have taken a few more prenatal vitamins! (Kidding Reese! If you ever read this....) She climbs all of the stairs now...so I can no longer count on the fact that she'll stay on the same level of the house as I am. But she's easy to find...just follow the trail of destruction.

Well...I have now spent 3 hours on the computer...so I'm going to bed now!

Reality Check....

We got home a few days ago from a sudden and very unexpected trip to Utah. Matt's sister, Julie, passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 48 (a week shy of 49) due to a heart attack. We wanted to get home before life support was withdrawn so we were on a plane within about, I dunno...18 hours of deciding to go. (which by the way, flags you for 'extra security' checks by the airline, i.e., go through your things, test for explosives and pat you down. And this is on the trip home, too, my friend. One ticket guys said, "there's that shifty looking Evans family"when he saw the secret code that must mean 'strip search if needed' stamped on our ticket. The boys backpack actually tested positive for explosives on the way back home so they had to unload each item...so picture them removing a box of half eaten candy, a Bionicle guy, another Bionicle guy, 2 more boxes of candy, some chocolate munchy stuff, gameboy, paper, pens, peanut butter crackers...on and on. Then Cooper, as the owner of the offending backpack, had to be patted down....by the deer in headlights look on his face, I'm guessing a career in crime is not in his future.) Anyway, we made it home in time to say good-bye to Julie. And she passed quickly and quietly once everything was withdrawn. She was goofy and funny and said whatever she wanted with no censor. She didn't take crap from her 3 younger brothers either. It just seems so unfair that she should have been here for 30 more years and now she's gone. I felt so badly for Matt's mother. A mother shouldn't have to bury her daughter or son. Just shouldn't. We'll miss her as will many others. I am just so grateful that we were all together last Thanksgiving for the first time in about 9 years.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. They had fun although there were definite moments of sadness. All the nieces and nephews sang a primary song at Julie's funeral. Walker just sobbed through it. Which got Cooper going a bit. Which all got me going. Which made it worse. Walker is such a tender-hearted little guy. He'd cried during the song practices, so we knew he was going to have a difficult time. But he managed to get through it.

The kids got to go to a farm nearby and take a tour and milk a cow (pictures on the camera....still don't have the skillz). They got to jump and play in great big piles of cottonseed and flaked corn (cow food). They were all going to get horse rides, but the dumb horse bucked two of our little cousins off so no more rides. It made for some very scary moments, but in the end, they were physically ok....though Elsie will take awhile to recover mentally.

It was a fun trip despite the sadness. It's not fun to be back home and back in the grind of things. Was life really meant to be this busy? I kind of think not.

Gotta go put the baby to bed.