THE WALKERS
Robbie. Kara. Ivy. Adelynn.
Hang on folks! We have a water baby on our hands.
A couple weeks ago we went to the YMCA to swim. We needed to get out of the house and do something other than get bundled up and play in snow. We had so much fun! Ivy played in the water for 2 ours straight - and she LOVED it. She's definatley a water baby! :)
So I suddenly realize that Ivy doesn't look like she's having any fun in any of these pictures, but she really was. Promise.
Robbie had his 25th Birthday...back in November. I know! I'm an awful blogger. Does this give anyone an indication of how I do on my journal? :) (I'm working on it by the way.) It fell on a Sunday, so we kept everything really low key. His one and only birthday gift was money to buy himself a much-needed, long-overdue new computer. So he waited until the Black Friday deals after Thanksgiving to get him one. He stood in line at Best Buy from midnight to 5am waiting on a computer they only had 10 of, and he got the 7th one! **phew** That was close. But he was so excited about it. And he was such a good sport, because after all of that, he still came shopping with me later. As far as his celebration went, we had Greg & Stephanie & Lilly over for the evening. It was tons of fun, and it made Robbie feel better about turning 25. (He's had a little bit of a complex about it for some reason.)
Ivy enjoying the spotlight
Robbie & Greg having a Cheerio sucking contest. (Don't ask me...after so many hours of laughing things tend to get a little out of hand. :)
Robbie's record was sucking 44 cheerios in one breath. He's 25 now, so older and wiser right? :)
Lilly anjoying the balloons
Robbie losing at Phase Ten
Lilly trying to break Ivy out of Crib-jail :)
Happy Birthday Baby!
Ivy has grown up so much since we last saw the blogging world! She no longer baths like this:
But more like this: (And I know this is probably boring and of no consequence to most of you, but the little things about Ivy are what we love the most)
Some of Ivy's favorite friends are Lauryl:
Grandma Tolman:
Abuelita Walker:
And of course, Lillian Meyet:
She's also reading books:
Her hair is growing sooo long:
She's rolling all over the place:
She's eating real food:
And she's getting cuter by the day!
And in other news...meaning other than Ivy news...
We finally got Rick off to North Carolina on his mission:
We finally got Lauryl and Tyler married! :)
We've been taking a lot of family walks lately and enjoying the beautiful fall weather! Ivy and I pass the time a lot by walking to the bank, the post office, and the store...all within about 10 blocks from our house.
Halloween was so much fun! The holidays really take on a different feeling when you have kids. After how much fun Halloween was, we are really looking forward to the rest of the holidays!
I want everyone to know that we had no idea Lauryl and Tyler were dressing up for Halloween like a tree and a tree-hugger when we picked out our costumes! It was a complete coincidence! (ask her...) :)
Ivy also had her 6 month birthday! She's getting so big! This is a gift from her friend Lilly for her 6 month birthday: (just the balloon and card)
Time has sure gone fast!
Before I continue with my update I just have to shout for joy that tonight at midnight I will be soaking in the love that is Edward and enjoying two hours in a world that I love!!! Go Team Edward!
First of all, hold on to your spats folks, because I have so mauch to catch up on! I am so sorry that it's been so long since I have posted. I can honestly tell you however, that I have still been anxiously engaged in good causes. Blogging has been on the back burner for a while - but no more! I hate scrapbooking and I am awful at keeping a journal, so this is as close as it gets and I need to stay on top of it. (That was just a pep talk for me, please excuse that) Robbie and I have been busy with Church and clogging and Ivy has been growing up!!! (too fast for me) Anyway, won't bore you with the details of church callings and costumes and choreography and bills and couponing and Christmas and calendar crowd-age - I'll just show you some documentation of what we've been up to! :) I may need to do this in many different posts, so bare with me.
Since I have last blogged, Ivy's motor skills have gone from this:
Ivy on the playmat from Kara Walker on Vimeo.
to this:
So, I always thought that things likethe grocery game and the like was something I could never figure out or do. Well, on the CONTRARY! :) I've been collecting my coupons, tracking my sales, and doing my research. And yesterday it finally paid off! (No pun intended!) :) Robbie and I bought $187.00 worth of grocery items for $56.00. You betcha!! Look at us go! And it's only the beginning. Now that I'm starting to "get it", I'm learning a lot more. I'm so excited! I went to sleep last night dreaming of coupons. :) Sadly, that's partly true. :) But it's official, I'm hooked. I am now one of those annoying moms that hold up the grocery line with all her stupid coupons, who is busy correcting the cashier and kepping her baby quiet, but that end ups saving $111.07 on her grocery bill. Booya Grandma! For Rizzle.
**Sigh** What a busy September! Just wanted to quickly check in because we haven't posted in a while. There has been so much going on like taking my little brother to the MTC! Yikes! (Pics to come) And getting in last minute play dates with Lauryl who has since left to go back to Rexburg, my mom's birthday, Robbie's sister visiting from Virginia, 2 of my sister-in-laws announcing that they're pregnant, getting ready for the primary program, Ivy's shots (boo), Labor Day, 6 projects, etc. And that's just the in-between-work stuff. Work has been CA-RAZY! Robbie made a goal to have twice as many students at the beginning of this season, and he has come really close to his goal. I'm so proud of him. We now have 100 students enrolled, which means we have twice as much choreography, twice as many costumes, twice as much book keeping, and twice as many conflicts to work around. And as I look at the calendar it seems as though October will be just as busy. **sigh** I've really been wanting to post, but my picture situation is a mess, and for some reason I can't post without a picture. :) So, someday I'll get caught up. So for now, we are all doing well and hope to post soon!
One day when Ivy was extremely fussy, we set her on top of the piano and Robbie started playing and she calmed down immediately. It was so sweet. We do it often now to pacify her when she needs it. And one of those times, we caught it on video. :)
Thanks for the play date Grandpa! Ivy loves you and can't wait to see you again! :)XOXO
Robbie and I have officially been married for 3 years! Yeah! We had a really awesome day that we were able to celebrate babe-free. We really missed Ivy - but enjoyed just being husband and wife for a while instead of mom and dad. We started out going to Jump Creek to have a picnic - the same place Robbie proposed. 
After our lunch, we went hiking and ran into some hippies who were cliff jumping. To make a long story short, they talked Robbie into doing it too, so I took a video of it. It's a little long, but that's partly what makes it so funny. The majority of the video is waiting for Robbie to get up the courage to jump. But here is Robbie with his side of the story, "If I didn't have a wife and a baby, I would have been quicker to jump. But I have responsibilities now which makes me less of a dare devil. It was not because I was scare. In fact, if I didn't have a wife and a baby I would have jumped twice!" :)
Jump Creek from Kara Walker on Vimeo.
So after our spontanious cliff fun, we went home to change and then Robbie took me to dinner at the Mona Lisa, it was very sweet.
It was a wonderful day. I love you so much Robbie! I am one lucky girl to have been able to spend 3 years of my life with you. Here's to 3 years and many many more! XOXO
