The Walker Talker!

Thanksgiving/Christmas

2012-01-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Sawyer loves fried turkey now thanks to my dad so we have a deep fryer and he volunteered to make it for the ward party and for his family.

Here he is with pride and joy.

We were so lucky and blessed to go to Houston for Christmas to be with the Tolman side! It was a lot of fun with ups and downs. When you have 13 kids under the age of 11 there is bound to be sicknesses passed around and that is definately what happened! Almost every kid got sick with fevers, throw-up or just a runny nose. And most of the adults including me. Despite the sickness we had a fun time and it was fun to see everyone all together. Our camera was dead on Christmas day so I'll have to get pictures from my family. We had a ward Christmas party and the whole time Santa was there Isaac would not stop looking and pointing and saying "tanta"! So we took him over there and he freaked! We also had a little family Christmas before we left where Sawyer and I opened our stockings from eachother and Isaac opened a few gifts from Santa.

The Redwood Forest

2011-09-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

My mom and sister came to visit us!! We love having visitors because it gives us an excuse to do touristy things. We first went kayaking on Whiskeytown lake and that was my mom and sister's first time kayaking and it was a lot of fun. Our tour guide was a crazy person but we had fun anyway. Then the next day we went to burney falls(our second time). Then it was off the the Redwood Forest for 2 days. It was a short 2 hour drive to the coast where we stayed. The Redwood Forest isn't all talk...it is AMAZING! So much beauty in one area! There is the ocean, wildlife, freaking huge trees and perfect weather. We had a great time!

Isaac's 1st Birthday

2011-09-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Isaac was so spoiled for his first birthday. First he had his aunt Morgan and Grandma Tolman here to visit the week before and they gave him some cute presents! Then we had a little family party on the day of his birthday where we took him to his favorite restaurant (red lobster lol)where he got to pet a lobster! Then we came home and opened some more presents and had cake and ice cream. He LOVED his cake and wanted to share too. That weekend we went to Sacramento to celebrate with his cousin Emmett(his birhtday is 2 weeks later). He got a lot of construction trucks and a real soccer ball from dad and a few clothes. I'd say he was very spoiled for not even remembering it in a couple weeks!

Sawyer's Birthday!

2011-09-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

Sawyer's Birthday was on Aug. 19th. It was a friday and we celebrated by going on a date to all you can eat seafood and the local casino! We definately ate all we could then tried our luck on the tables! Just kidding we watch people bet their money away so that was more fun than loosing the money ourselves. The wednesday before his birthday we had a mutual activity that was a surprise birthday party thrown together at the last minute. I wanted to make him a cool cake but I didn't want to have to eat it all so we shared with the youth. I also made him a candy cake and it was my first one and it was really cute, it would be a good present to anyone.

Triathlon Season

2011-09-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

This summer Sawyer has really gotten into riding his road bike. He has been looking for races and he decided to do a few triathlons where you swim, bike then finish with a run. He did his first one with his brother and friend. It was really fun to watch and he did really well! Then a few weeks later they had talked the girls into doing one! It was a sprint triathlon so it wasn't as long but it was still hard and fun! It was 1/4 mile swim, 8 mile bike and 2 mile run. Sawyer, me, Robby, Cami, and Shelby were all in it. It was miserable at the time but now I look back and say it was fun!

Getting ready and really nervous!

The girls starting. We are in the middle in two black tanks (me and Shelby) and Cami in pink

Our cheering section!

Fun in the Sun!

2011-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

This summer has been really fun for us! We have gotten to do a lot of fun things with family and friends and most of them were outside under the sun.

One of the first things we did when we got to Redding was went to see Burney Falls, and the Lava Tubes. They were both really pretty and Isaac loves seeing new things, he is very observant.

On one of the many trips to Sacramento we went to six flags. Isaac was a very good boy given the circumstances of being really hot, not riding any rides and getting pushed around in the stroller the whole time. It was fun to ride a few rides with the other kids though and we saw lots of animals and a whale show!

Next was the Tolman Cabin Trip. Sawyer wasn't able to go with us this year so it was mom and Isaac flying to St. George for 4 days! The plane rides were amazingly really good. Isaac slept on almost every plan. (we were on four different planes, 2 there and 2 back) He even had his own seat on one and was making sure he knew what to do in an emergency! Here are a few points about the cabin that you need to know. There is good food, good hiking, and playing lots of games! It was fun to see everyone and Isaac loved going on hikes.

Shasta County Fair (saying it with an accent is more fun!)

2011-06-17T14:17:00.001-07:00

We took Isaac to his first fair last night! It was so fun. He loved seeing all the animals and tasting all the fried fatty food! We looked all over the park for a ride that he could ride but they were all too big. Next year he will be going on a lot of rides! Sawyer and I took a turn on one ride each and I chose the scariest one! I loved it, although it was a little wierd riding it by myself. Sawyer chose the gravitron which he said was his favorite growing up so he needed to see if he still liked it...he did.

Sawyer's Ride

My Ride (it did a full circle)

The area that we live in is so beautiful that we have started a fun little tradition of a sunday drive. Our backyard is the mountains and Shasta Lake so it's fun to look at the beautiful creation Heavenly Father made. Isaac loves to get out and look at the lake and watch the boats go by.

New things with Isaac:
-He is turning 9 months this month:( (it goes by so fast!)
-HE CAN CRAWL!!!
-He loves food. I rarely feed him baby food anymore because he will just eat with us.
-He still loves his walks
-He likes riding in the bike trailer and laughing at daddy while he is pulling him up hills
-He likes to walk holding on to our fingers
-He loves his sippy cup and drinks lots of water and juice from it
-He waves bye bye and night night.
-He points with his chubby fingers
-He is still the cutest baby ever!!

Daddy made yummy cookies!

I found him like this and he played under it for a long time!

March-April 2011

2011-04-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

In March we celebrated Isaac's 1/2 birthday with cupcakes...he just licked the frosting. We also decided to take a job at Interstate Battery in Redding, CA where Sawyer's brother-in-law was able to give us something temperary and we are really grateful for that! We moved in on April 11th and I left a week later for Utah for an exciting road trip with Erin, her kids and Shannon. There was only a few minor mishaps like 7 out of the 11 people in Kelsey's house had the flu and was throwing up one by one the whole week. Other than that it was really fun seeing lots of family and having a really good Easter.

Maya and Isaac are good friends and Maya loves to play with baby Isaac. She is such a good cousin!

On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt and Isaac was really into the easter baskets! Just wait until he knows whats in them!

Two of my nieces were blessed on Easter! It was a busy Sunday. We started in South Salt Lake in Jamey and Dave's ward blessing Avery Jill Hulsberg at 9:00AM then we had muffins and juice and jumped in the car to get up to Logan for Clara Tolman's blessing in Rock and Jen's ward at 1:30PM.

Here are some of the things that Isaac is doing lately:
-rolling over both ways
-rocking back and forth on his hands and knees (hopefully crawling soon)
-eating gerber snacks and lots of baby food
-puts his pacifier in his mouth all by himself
-he loves going on walks outside
-he loves his giraffe (see picture)
-loves seeing daddy and gets really happy (gets bored with mommy all day)

He is growing so fast and it makes me sad and happy at the same time. I miss the times he used to cuddle and fall asleep on me but he is so fun and always smiling and laughing. Being a mom is hard work and I admire all of the moms out there especially the ones with more than one kid! I don't know how you do it!

2011-03-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

We have done a lot of fun things since we moved to California. Mostly enjoying the sunshine and good weather, walking, Kings games, playing with cousins and watching Isaac grow up so fast! He is now eating mush and baby food and he loves it! He also can sit up all by himself for about 1 minute then falls but we are making progress everyday. Another thing that we have been trying to do is get him to go to sleep on his own for naps and bedtime. It is really hard to leave him crying but he gets better everytime we put him down.

Sawyer's brother Jake just got married last weekend so we saw lots of family. It was fun to see the wedding and remember when we got married. We are so happy for Jake and Shelby!

End of 2010

2011-01-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a few months but my new goal is to blog at least once a month! We'll see how it goes. Here are the last couple months of 2010 including Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!

For Halloween we had a fun party with a few couples and we played games and had good treats. Isaac was a cute pumpkin that Grandma Tolman helped me make for him. Sawyer and I found our costumes at Kmart...we weren't very creative.

Thanksgiving was also spent in Rexburg because Sawyer had to work on black friday so we didn't have too much travel time. Sawyer begged me to get a deap fryer and he would do the turkey so I obliged and we had a really good dinner. We had some good friends to spend the day with so it was an enjoyable day.

Sawyer Graduated!!! He received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science with 2 minors in Business and Spanish. We were able to have Isaac's baby blessing the same weekend so lots of family came to support us. It is a little wierd with neither of us in school but we are ready to move on!

Christmas was spent in Sacramento with the Walker family. We had a good time with lots of babies! Isaac has two boy cousins only a few weeks apart from him. Drake is 7 weeks older and Emmett is 2 weeks younger. They should have a good time later on playing together. Of course we went shopping a lot, ate lots of good food, went up to the snow for sledding, Sawyer got to go shooting, and we saw a few movies. Overall, a very fun filled trip. After Christmas we went back to Rexburg to find out that the job we were waiting for fell through so now we are back in Sacramento waiting to hear from a few other jobs, hopefully one comes up soon!

And here are just some cute pictures I want to brag about how cute Isaac is...

Isaac Sawyer Walker

2010-10-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Our Handsome Baby Boy is Here!!

Born September 20, 2010
7lbs 15oz
21 inches long

So the last couple of appointments I had at the doctor were exciting because I was already dialated 4 inches and 75% effaced. They said he would be here before I came back the next week on September 16th. Well he wasn't coming so they said I could be induced on Monday the 20th so I jumped on that opportunity. We went in at 7:30 am and I was all set up by 8:30 waiting for the doctor. He came in and broke my water around 9:00 and I was already having good contractions. I never even needed the patosin. I love epiderals by the way...it was wierd having no movement in my legs for hours but it was totally worth it! Everything went well and we are loving being parents!

My mom was able to be there which was amazing help to us. She stayed for almost 2 weeks and we were so spoiled by her. Also Sawyer's parents were able to come for the weekend to meet him and they spoiled us too...mostly Isaac though! Kelsey, Tommy, and Maya were able to come up Saturday to spend the day too and it was really fun to spend time with family.

Isaac is now 3 weeks old and doing great! Overall he is a great baby that rarely crys. He does have this little lamb grunt that he does and it's pretty cute but he can do it really loud! We can't wait to have him meet the rest of his family at Christmas time.

Summer Fun 2010

2010-08-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

This summer has been a fun filled and exciting summer. With Sawyer in school and me working it didn't start until July after school got out, with a Tolman family reunion in St. George, UT. We did lots of fun things like four-wheeling, boating, hiking, shooting, and lots of games and eating!

After the St. George trip we were able to come to Salt Lake and have an amazing baby shower thrown by my sisters and mom. Isaac was so spoiled! Thank you mom and sisters!

While we have a few weeks off from Sawyer's school we took a road trip to California to visit the Walkers. We did lots of shopping, went to a River Cats game, toured the capital building, took the girls swimmming, and ate at all the good restaurants we are deprived of in Rexburg. I also was thrown an amazing shower by the Walker girls where Isaac was spoiled once again! We are set and ready now! Most important we were able to see Drake the same night he was born! He was so precious and made us more excited for Isaac to come.

It was really good to see all our family and we can't wait for everyone to meet Isaac soon! Only 4 more weeks until he is due!

We made it back to Rexburg and still have a few weeks to relax before school and Isaac come so we have been playing with friends and trying to get a lot of fun things in. Sawyer had his birthday and we went to dinner and a movie for his birthday. We went camping by Mesa Falls and it was very exciting because we saw a big black bear about 1 mile away from our campsite. The whole first night no one was able to sleep because we were tricked by our ears thinking we heard something outside. Luckily the bear never came around and we had a good time. We went to yellowstone, fished, shot shot guns, and had a good time around the fire.

Jackson Hole, WY

2010-06-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

When we had Monday off from school and work for Memorial Day, we decided that we didn't want to stay home and be bums like we do on Saturday's so Sawyer and his friend Dallin decided about 30 minutes before we actually left to go to Jackson for a night. It's only an hour drive and a really pretty one too. We ate a ton, went on the alpine slide at Snow King Resort and did lots of shopping (just window shopping though, everything there is so expensive or has Jackson Hole written all over it!) It was fun to go visit the place of my birth too! It was short but fun!

2010-04-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

The term Tax Season has a whole other meaning to me now. I have been working for a small CPA firm here in Rexburg since January and it has been a really good job...until now!! Just kidding but I really know now what Cami, Kelsey, and Shannon mean when they talk about tax season! Anyway that is my excuse for not blogging since January!

Most of you already know that we are pregnant! I am 16 weeks along and due on September 27th. I've had a few appointments and everything is going smoothly. I've gained 3 pounds total but it feels like a lot more considering I can't button my pants anymore! The nausea was bearable, nothing compared to what I hear Cami has had before, and I can eat good food again. We find out on May 7th what the gender is so we are looking forward to that.

Sawyer just finished a semester of school and is now obsessed with anything outdoors, mostly fishing and shooting his new shotgun. He starts another semester in a week and an internship with the Rexburg Police Department! Not as exciting as it sounds, there has been one gun shot in the last 25 years, and well it was shot at a back tire to slow the car down.

That is our update for now. Here are some Easter pictures too!

Christmas Vacation

2010-01-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

After spending 4 months in Modesto, CA working at Interstate Batteries we packed up again (for the 4th time this year) and headed to Sacremento for an early Christmas with the Walkers. We are so grateful to Shannon and Richard for the many wonderful presents given to us! I got even more for my birthday and I have to remind Sawyer that I had a birthday too because he thinks I got spoiled a little more. The next morning at 4 AM we hit the road back to Rexburg with the Uhaul. We got about 45 minutes into our drive and got stopped and had to put on chains because of the nasty weather over the Donner Pass. The chains helped but we had to go super slow and the whole drive took us 2 hours more than usual. It was snowing the whole way there! We finally made it and unpacked all our stuff and left 2 days later for Salt Lake City Airport to fly to Houston for 2 weeks.

We got there and right away we celebrated my birthday. I am so grateful to my wonderful husband for making it special and seperate from our anniversary and Christmas because they are so close. He spoiled me rotted and so did my parents! We did my favorite thing that day...shopped! Then went to authentic Texas BBQ that was really tasty!

The next day was our 1 year anniversary! We made it! It only felt like forever... No this year has been the best year of my life. I have loved it so much and we have had so much fun. With all the moving we are able to go on several small vacations starting with our honeymoon in Park City, UT. We have also been to Monterey/Carmel twice, San Diego, Ensenada, Mexico, Catalina Island, Oakland, San Francisco, St. George, Houston, and Salt Lake City several times to visit sisters. For our anniversary date we were able to take the date car (corvette) to a nice seafood restaurant called Babins for fresh shrimp! mmmm! After that we walked around the market street outside mall and enjoyed the nice Texas December weather.

After a few days in Houston by ourselves with my parents the madness began when everyone started arriving! There were a total of 22 people in one house for 2 days and it was crazy! Sawyer and I had fun being the puppets and moved around almost every night for the first couple nights trying to get our share of a bed before we ended up in the office on the airmatress for 8 nights. The matress wasn't bad at all though it was brand new. The boys started out the trip by going fishing and duck hunting but no luck with either trip. We saw Avatar in 3D (very good) and went to the Houston Arboretum (a big garden).

We celebrated Christmas by watching the Nativity movie and reading Christmas stories. Christmas morning was pretty crazy with 7 kids tearing open their presents and wrapping paper everywhere but it was fun to see how happy they were. After the kids were busy with their new toys it was the adults turn to tear open their presents. Once again we were very spoiled and are very grateful for all that we were given. Sawyer of course broke our spending limit and gave me many wonderful gifts that I love. The last day we were there before our flight left at 1, Sawyer was able to squeeze in paintballing with his brother-in-laws and got back just in time to jump in the car for the airport. We had a very nice time with family and are lucky that we were able to go. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts!

Oakland/San Francisco Day of Fun!

2009-11-17T20:29:00.001-08:00

We had the most amazing time in the Bay Area. First of all how much better could one start the day than going to the Oakland Temple, it was my first time and Sawyer's first time in 5 years. It was decorated for Christmas and had an amazing view of the bay.

The Golden Gate Bridge was the next stop. We walked halfway across then walked back but it took us a good 45 minutes. Good thing we are not scared of heights! It was beautiful.

Our next stop was the most important of the whole trip, seeing the full house house (well the next important after the temple)! It took us a while to find it (like 2 hours) but we found it and it is not like they showed it in the 90's but it brought bake a lot of Tanner family memories. The last stop was the Fisherman's Wharf. We ate some good crabs and shrimp at Joe's Crab Shack and walked down the wharf to end the night. It was a fun one day trip needed to rejuvenate until Thanksgiving break.

2009-10-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is the biggest donut we have ever seen! We got it in the one and only Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We were able to go because Sawyer's cousin Jane had a reception nearby so we spent the day there beforehand.

We rode a roller coaster and met up with Shannon and Richard and watched the surfers ride the waves. It was a fun day in the sun!

2009-10-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Finally we are updating the events that have been happening in the last few months. Maddie graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Business Management degree and Sawyer decided to treat her to a cruise! The cruise was five days and four nights, starting in San Diego and then going to Catalina Island where we went snorkeling and moved on to Ensenada, Mexico where we rented a scooter and toured the city. Maddie was stressed out when we went shopping because no one leaves you alone! Can't get enough chickles in that city. Sawyer loved speaking spanish to all the locals and telling them that he was actually from Uruguay and I'm his American wife. Bargaining for the already cheap prices was Sawyer's favorite part. The cruise was a ton of fun. Sawyer won us a bottle of champaine by shaking his booty in front of the whole cruise ship! We were called on stage because we made the mistake of sitting in the front row. He was in a competition with another guy in a "dance off" it was hilarious to say the least! The food was great and we both have finially lost the weight we gained from all steaks and lobsters. After sucking the ice cream mechine dry and taking in the rays for the week we went to Sacramento to visit family and then headed back to Rexburg.

Tolman Family Reunion

2009-07-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Maddie's brother-in-law is a police officer and has a lot of guns. The one Sawyer is shooting is a M-16 Assult Rifle. He looked like a kid at Disney Land while he was shooting it and looking back with a silly grin. Maddie is shooting her grandpa's 12 gauge right at the clay pidgen and not a bad shot I might add.

On the 4th of July we spent most of the day on the lake with all the siblings and all the kids. There was a huge three person tube that got drug around by the boat. Sawyer was able to get in a little bit of his wakeboarding and skiing fix. He still has it! Rock was unsuccessful in trying to throw us off the tube! The holiday was finished off with dinner and fun with the family.

The cabin is in Pinto, UT 45 minutes Northwest of St. George on a mountain side. We decided to climb to the top one day with everyone including my sister Joey's baby Britt. Sawyer was a gentleman and voluteered to have the baby on his back most of the way up the mountain. On the way down Britt fell asleep and his head was flopping back and forth but enjoyed the ride and slept through it.

One of our favorite things to do at the cabin was ride 4-wheelers. Every night we would end our day with a nice ride through the mountains sometimes riding together and sometimes on our own.
It was fun to be reunited with the whole Tolman family. Even though it was only a few days we had a great time and got away from our busy lives at school. Can't wait for next year!

The New Edition To The Family

2009-07-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

The best event of the summer in Rexburg is a big hick fest of a demolition derby. The 10 dollars we spent got us an annoying drunk lady wearing half the clothes anyone would wear, that wouldn't keep her mouth shut about her boyfriend that was 8 years younger than her, while leaning back and practically resting on Maddie's lap! About half way through Sawyer looked down from the top bleacher we were sitting on and saw that the support underneath was bending slightly. He said to himself "oh, it will probably hold us but that's not good." Well one minute later the bleachers started falling sideways and Sawyer jumped off the side and helped me up after they hit the ground. The lady sitting next to Maddie got her foot caught and probably broke some bones. There is an experience we can say we had but will never do it again!

On a good note, we were able to go golfing at the local Municipal Golf Course and played nine holes. Sawyer did well for not playing since before the mission. We had a good time in the sun and Maddie learned a lot about golfing, including that eleven shots on one hole is not good!

The "New Edition" to the family is a 2007 DRZ-400sm. Sawyer found a good deal that he just couldn't pass up, well maybe we could have but it is a nice ride to school and not worry about parking and in a small town like this they're not too dangerous. We enjoy going for rides through the farm lands on the old farm roads and looking at all the potatoes grow ha. Sawyer has always loved motorcycles and has finally gotten one of his own and knows that it is only temporally and when children come, the bike goes.

Home Sweet Home!

2009-06-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

We finally have our own home!! We moved in on April 20, 2009 in Rexburg Idaho, the arm-pit of the world because there is not much here but we are managing to survive. Our apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom. It is just the right amount of space for the two of us and we love it! Rexburg will most definately not be our permanent home. Right now we are going to school so we can get out of here. Maddie graduates in July and she will get a job and put Sawyer through school for another year. We enjoy our time here in the summer when it is bearable outside. Sawyer is on a soccer team and we are both on a co-ed softball team with friends.

Easter 2009

2009-06-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our first Easter together at grandpa and grandma Walker's(our home at the time haha). We of course went to church and celebrated Christ's resurrection and then came home and enjoyed hiding the eggs and playing with our nieces and nephews. Helping the little ones find the eggs was a lot of fun. Grandpa was very generous this year with the money eggs and the grand kids loved getting those. In the beautiful California weather we ate a great dinner with everyone there. We also dyed Easter eggs as a family(just the two of us). It was a very nice way to celebrate Easter with our family.

AMGEN Tour 2009

2009-02-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the 14th we attended the 2009 AMGEN Cycling Tour with Robby, Cami and the boys. It was a very cold and very windy day but luckily only a few raindrops fell. It was a pro-log time trial in downtown Sacramento and only covered a few miles of closed down street. It was enjoyable to walk around and stand feet away from the riders as they warmed up and also take free hand-outs from all the tents set up. A cyclist (like the Walker boys) appreciated the very expensive bikes that cost over $10,000 (like Lance's bike which was stolen that night outside his hotel). Lance Armstrong has returned to ride again and made the event very exciting. Although he finished tenth it was thrilling to see a national hero like him in person and ride. Robby and Cami's boys did pretty well considering how cold it was. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going to the event in future years. In the photos are Lance Armstrong and last year Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.

First Vacation!

2009-02-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

When we had our first 3-day weekend we took a road trip to Monterey/Carmel, CA! This was the perfect way to get away and relax by the beach. While we were there we enjoyed The Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Fisherman's Warf, 17 Mile Drive (Pebble Beach and more famouse golf courses), and plenty of shopping. We walked along the beach and watched the beautiful sunset. We were sad to leave but it will not be the last time we visit!

Our Wedding!

2009-02-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

A December wedding is not usually recommended by anyone that lives in a snowy place. Sawyer and I were no exception. We got married on December 19th in the Bountiful, UT Temple. After a beautiful temple wedding we went outside to take pictures and the weather was horrible. The wind wouldn't let up and it was a freezing 28 degrees. We resorted to taking more pictures inside and when we were done inside it was beautiful outside, light snow, no wind, and a good photographer. It snowed all day, so by the time the reception came around it was wet and slushy and miserable driving weather that limited the number of guests in attendance. We will always remember our special day, not even a snow storm could stop us from getting married!