In the fine tradition of naming our cars, we have finally named the newest edition of our car family....
Erza "the Beast" Walles
Some of you may be wondering why we would need such a big car since we only have two kids. Well all we can say is that we smell a change in the air. And so you will just have to wait and see what grand things lay in our future.
So we have a new member of the family, a kitten named Lucy. She is frisky and full of pep. In fact, we wonder who keeps sneaking her "speed" and putting it in her food cause she goes into this lightning mode that is 100mph. It's crazy!! It's like she's trying to impersonate Dash from The Incredibles without ACTUALLY being a superhero.
She is so tiny compared to Rambo, but way more active, and has a lot of character to boot.
She loves to attack ANYTHING that moves around.
Josh even enjoys her when she isn't freaking out. We think.
Lucy has been good for not just us but to Rambo as well. She gets him fired up and active and they "wrestle" all the time. They act like all siblings should. One moment their best friends the next mortal enemies.
Ever since we were not able to make the ward Father-Son campout last year, Jacob has been anticipating this year's campout. We drove up to Camp Post with a friend and his 4 sons and, though late, were still the first ones there. Others soon followed, though not as many as I had expected, and we made our way to the campsite. When we got there, what we found was an abundance of life that I don't normally see in Texas, including a snake. One of the other brothers caught it so that the children could have a closer look. Jacob was NOT shy. I, personally, was content to take the picture.
We set up the tents and none too soon. It immediately began to rain. About 45 minutes of rain and high winds, and it stopped. Afterward there was a beautiful double rainbow to remind us of God's majesty.
In typical "guy" fashion, we ended up with pizza and chips for dinner. Junk food of champions. But it was a good bunch and some good conversation. The kids had fun talking together and I got to know some of the dads that I didn't usually get to associate with much outside of church.
During dinner, our entertainment was one of the better lightning storms I have ever seen. Got a little bit of it on video to share, but by this time, the battery on my phone was running out, so it's not very long.
Dessert was, of course, smores which is ALWAYS a kid-favorite. Even with all the rain, both what we had already had and everything that was to come, the fire stayed going
The rest of the night, was an adventure. Starting at about 11:00 PM, the wind picked up and it started raining. Our tent might as well have been a sail. The rain flap was about vertical and, as those of you who have spent any time camping in "modern" tents know, the ceiling of the actual tent is not solid, but mesh (to let out the body heat because the nylon of the tent would trap it and make the inside a suffocating, humid, bucket of suck. Mesh, however, has no problem letting rain in, so we started to get wet. I spent some time, half in the tent, half out, trying to tie down the rain tarp so that it didn't blow up as high as it was. It took a bit, but I was moderately successful. At that point, the ground was saturated enough that the stakes of the tent started coming up, collapsing portions of the tent on our gear. Naturally, when that happens, the gear soaks water through the tent so it got all wet too.
The wind got even stronger, and as nice as those tents are, the fiberglass poles that bend and dome so well, do not stand up well to Mother Nature when she gets serious about blowing something down. So in an effort to allow Jacob to hopefully get some sleep, I stayed up and attempted to keep those poles bent the way they were intended: in a dome OVER us. I was mostly successful. This lasted until about 4:00AM, when the wind finally died down, and the rain slowed down enough that I did not have to fight the tent anymore. I managed to get about an hour of sleep (maybe a little less), until the wind and the rain picked up again at about 5:00AM. This lasted another hour and a half or two hours where, once again, I did battle with the tent and Mother Nature. Things finally calmed down around 7:00 in the morning.
Despite the lack of cooperation of the weather, and much of our gear getting soaked, Jacob seemed to have a really good time spending moments with me and with some of his friends that were there. And that was really why I went: to spend time with my son, even if we did it in a man-made water container.
He seems happy enough in the picture below. Of course, that could just be the look of a boy wolfing down a smore. Either way, I'll take it and call it a success.
Perhaps one day, we'll be able to go camping without a "weather-related incident" causing havoc (tornado alley, I'm looking at YOU). Until then, I guess I'll take whatever I can get. The kids are growing up fast. Both Sarah and I are trying to make as many memories as we can and are capable of with them. They'll be on their own soon enough, and when they are, I want them to be able to remember fondly how their parents loved them and wanted to spend time with them, even in the rain.
Today, our marriage is 16 years old. It's kind of weird for me saying that, because honestly, I didn't expect that someone would ever allow themselves to get married to me in the first place. I didn't have a great self-esteem growing up, especially about the opposite sex. At times, I still wonder what the heck causes my wife to stay. Apparently, she noticed, because this year, she came up with a unique way to remind me of what she sees in me.
Some of these reasons are more personal than others, so I'll just post the picture without explanation, but I have to say that I may very well have the greatest wife living. I am grateful every day for her. Though, like most marriages, we don't always agree, I know that I am a better man for having her around to counsel me on being a better husband and father. I am forever grateful that God led us together and that, for whatever reason, she agreed to begin this eternal journey with me.
May we have many more anniversaries together, my beautiful Sarah. I look forward to walking forever side by side with you.
Jacob has always had a sweet spirit and a kind heart. The other day Josh was in some unbearable pain. Jacob saw this and went straight to work, making sure Josh had everything and anything he needed. He came to me and said, "I wish I could take some of his pain for him."
My heart just melted and I felt his love for his father and the wonderful spirit about him. For the next few hours, he sat close to Josh and made sure he didn't need anything. What an amazing thought and spirit he had. I am so proud of him and the man he tries to be each day.
Way to go Jacob for trying to model your life after Christ!!
We are trying to spice our life up a bit, and get out of the same old rut we have been in for a while now. We decided to go bowling with some friends for F.H.E.
Josh is a pro when it comes to bowling. He even played so well that the manager came to him and asked why he wasn't in a bowling league. He even told Josh he would love it if he would join his team.
Meagan is always on the move. When she wasn't bowling, she was over at the dance-off game, cutting a rug. (I wish I could bottle up some of that energy and use it when I need it.)
Even the little ones had a blast!!
Meagan showing off her crazy character. She is soooo dramatic!
The night was perfect. We had good friends, good food, and good times. I love my family!!
So this summer, since we are finally in a house, I really wanted to have a garden. I knew it would be small, but you have to start somewhere. We decided to plant red potatoes, peas, carrots, and sunflowers.
Now I am terrible about remembering to take pictures, so I didn't get any of the actual plants (which were all in containers since that is what I had to work with). They all grew really well, and it was hard to keep the kids from the vegis that grew (especially the peas - the kids ate the pods before I could stop them, they were quite sneaky some days), but we had enough to make one meal out of the surviving vegetables. So for our first harvest of the season, we chose to make pot roast.
Our favorite kind of potato is red. They really have the best flavor.
I will admit that waiting for the carrots to grow big is hard. So we excavated these ones early because I LOVE carrots straight from the ground.
Dinner was really really good that day. Knowing that we, as a family, grew half of what we ate made it even more special to us, but it really was a very tasty meal. I can not wait 'till next spring when we can start our garden again. We learned a bit and learned how to fix the problems that may come up for next time. Also, we are hoping to expand our container garden and add more delicious goodness to it. (P.S. - gardening in Texas is harder than I thought)
Winter this year was a hard one for us Texans. A lot of cold freezing days and, let's face it, we have become accustomed to warmer weather since our move here. So when the weather finally got nice enough to actually stay out and play, we headed to the park with my good friend and her two girls.
And what trip to the park is not complete with out feeding the ducks?
I wish I had my camera ready at the time, but I wasn't fast enough. If I had been, you would have had the pleasure of seeing Josh riding one of these little riding toys. It was hilarious!!
Jacob is so kind and patient with these girls. He really would make a great older brother. I thoroughly enjoy watching him care for his "little sisters"
There are just so many good things about living in a house instead of an apartment that it is hard to enumerate them all upon command. We stumbled into another one this month, however: The ability to put up all of our Christmas decorations, including our full-size tree.
Here are some other photos of decorations that we put up this year. Some of which we were able to do in past years and others not (due to the confined space).
We actually have a fireplace with a MANTLE that we can put decorations on, and so our nativity went there this year. Did we mention we LOVE living in a house?
We discovered, though, that with the nativity in this location, at about 9:30 AM every morning, the light shines just perfectly through the window so that it can illuminate the baby Jesus. The following is a close-up picture, but the light exposure was not right to catch the awesome light display.
And now, the obligatory kids gift pictures... For Jacob, a Minecraft shirt (so he is now Powered by Redstone), a series of Minecraft "manuals", a Captain Underpants book, a telescope, some space-themed wall hangings for his room, a nerf gun, and a set of head lamps for those nighttime exploring expeditions.
For Meagan, the latest Rick Riordan book, a microscope, a shirt, a dress, some nail polish, a trading card game, and a quilt (made by Grandma Walles)
This Christmas has been one of focusing on others. We went to Tent City here in Lubbock to help other members in our ward feed the homeless and it was a fantastic opportunity to teach about service and the true meaning of Christmas with Matthew 25 as a text. We were able to pass on the tradition of the 12 days of Christmas that we were introduced to last year to another family. We went caroling with our Bishop and his family (in the rain no less) to bring some Christmas cheer to some of the members in our congregation. We have read Christmas stories, spent more time together as a family, and in general focused (as much as possible) less on material gifts and more on things that actually matter. As a result, the feeling in our home this Christmas has been one of more peace, more love, and closer to our Savior than in past Christmases. I think, that this is going to be a goal for us for next year to try and repeat and improve upon. I am grateful that we had the experiences we did and that we could share them with our children. Hopefully, like Dickens said of Scrooge, we can learn to keep Christmas throughout all the year.
The last 18 months have been torture for Sarah. Ever since our trek through life has led us to Texas, she has been missing her family. They live so far away...except for her youngest sister, Elizabeth, who is currently serving a mission in Dallas, TX for our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). This is something that I did as well, though I served in California with the hispanic migrant workers. For the time that we serve, however, as a general rule, there is no contact outside of letters and packages with family and friends (with exceptions for calls to parents on Mother's Day and Christmas) in order to allow the missionary to focus their entire effort on the work of the Lord.
Once in a while, however, the person who directs the work in that area (the Mission President) will make an exception. A missionary has one day in a week, called preparation day, where they do mundane work (such as laundry, house cleaning, shopping, etc...) in order to allow them to focus on their primary work of preaching the gospel the other 6. Today, was Elizabeth's last P-day (preparation day) in her mission prior to going home. With her Mission President's permission, we made the trek down to Dallas to visit her for a few hours.
For those of you not familiar with Texas geography, Texas might as well be a country in itself it is so big, geographically. The trip was a 6-hour drive, one-way from Lubbock to Dallas, and that's not even close to a "cross-state" drive. The trek started at 5:45 in the morning. We arrived at about 12:15 and as it was lunch time, we took Elizabeth and her companion to a Japanese Restaurant that they had wanted to go to but were unable to the time that they tried (it was closed).
Liz, adventurous soul that she is, opted to try all kinds of different varieties of Sushi... which my daughter promptly offered to help her with. Yes, Meagan likes raw fish. Thank you, Caprock Ward Young Men and Young Women. You've corrupted my daughter...
I on the other hand, am not so adventurous, though it's not from lack of trying, as I did, many years ago with a good friend who is also a sushi-lover. No, it was not Sarah. She still hates fish even when it's cooked. I WILL break her of that one day, however... I have an eternity to work at it. Muah ha ha...
So glad that Sarah was able to see her sister again before she flew home.
One last picture before the trek home. I was good...Liz only got a handshake from me even though there were hugs from everyone else. Another long drive back put us back at home right about midnight, with the next day being a work day. Needless to say, I was kinda tired, but it was definitely worth it.
Thanksgiving this year was a blast. We spent it (along with the other days I had off) as a family hanging out together. Dinner was of the traditional fare: turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole (more on this below), cranberry sauce, rolls, frog-eye salad (also more on this below), along with 3 kinds of pie. Our close friends, Heath and Nicole and their two wonderful kids came over to help us devour the feast. Despite our attempt to keep the meal somewhat subdued by beginning with each of us sharing what we were thankful for, at the end of the night, some of us (I'm looking at you, kids) were completely incapable of taking a decent picture.
Games were played, rug rats were chased, and laughs were had. I was reminded once again how blessed we are to have friends good enough to consider as family.
*For those of you who may not know what frog-eye salad is, I'll tell you. Frog-eye salad is a fruit pasta dish made with Acini de Pepe, pineapple, mandarin oranges, peaches, etc... (basically whatever kind of fruit you like, but the pineapple is important). It is something I had never heard of until I married Sarah but her family has it every year at least at Thanksgiving and often at Christmas as well. If you're interested, I can probably get you the recipe.
*As far as the green bean casserole goes, we have perfected the dish this year. For all our lives, both my wife and I have been "traditional" green bean casserole people. You make it with green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, pepper, and fried onions. This year, we added something and it revolutionized this dish. Drumroll please............
Crumbled Bacon.
Yes, for all those out there who already know the power of bacon, this is probably not a surprise. We had never thought of it, however, and it changed this dish for us forever. We will never be making it without bacon again if we can help it. It. Is. THAT. Good.
Anyway, we are thankful for all of you and hope that this past year has given you much for which to be thankful and that you are able to realize as we do that all those blessings come from Him to whom we give thanks.
The Walles' have been in Lubbock, TX now, for 5 years. We love it here. However, there ARE things we miss about other places that we've lived that are not (in general) to be found here. One of these, for me, is going to the orchards in the fall to pick fresh apples. In my humble opinion, nothing beats an apple straight off the tree. Imagine my surprise, when we found out through one of the home schooling networks that we frequent, that there was an apple orchard here in town (well, just outside) that agreed to do a day for home schooling families. For $5, each of the kids and adults got a bag that they could fill up with apples off the tree, and to taste-test apple cider and fresh local honey. Early in the afternoon, we trekked out with our friends, Nicole, Cheyenne, & Aushania to check this place out.
Once in the orchard, we stopped for some pictures. Jacob, Meagan, and one of Meagan's bestest buddies, Cheyenne loved spending time together.
Meagan, Jacob, and their schoolteacher (that's me, if you couldn't guess).
Nicole, Cheyenne, and Aushania finding some shade.
Waiting in line for hay rides can be so exhausting, so Jacob, Meagan, Cheyenne, and Aushania are taking a break. Life is so tough...
The hay ride was really crowded, so I gave the camera to Meagan to take some pictures of her, Jacob, and Cheyenne. Trust Meagan to make them fit in to the internet "selfie" craze that seems to be so contagious lately...
I thought this was too good of a shot to pass up.
Also had to get some shots with this pond. It is such a COOL decoration.
The cider tasting came in the form of tiny paper cups. Enough for a sip, but not nearly enough to satisfy. And Jacob, was DEFINITELY not satisfied. He kept going back for more. Meagan...not so much. Both of them however, enjoyed the honey, which was apparently, "cotton honey". Prior to moving here, we had no idea that this was even a "thing".
All in all, it was an OK day. I don't think we'll do it again because they didn't really talk much about anything on the tour of the orchard (and we were looking forward to the learning as much as the tasting). But it was still a great opportunity to get out of the house as a family, and experience something new that this area has to offer. Looking forward to our next adventure!
