Lehi Rodeo

My aunt Cheralee bought us tickets to the Lehi Rodeo. This was Hudson's first rodeo and I think he had a pretty good time. Before the rodeo, we went to the little parade they had on Main Street. They were throwing candy and Jeff had Hudson hold out his cowboy hat and he got a little special treatment by having a lot of people throw candy right into his hat. After the parade and the rodeo, we asked him what his favorite part about the rodeo was, and he kept saying "candy in hat". But the rodeo was a lot of fun for him, too. He loves seeing the horses and cows, but his favorite part was the motorcycles doing tricks. He thought that was pretty cool. We all had a good time at the rodeo! Thanks, Aunt Cheralee! (We forgot our camera so these pictures are taken with Jeff's phone. I was so mad we forgot the camera, but at least we got these!)

Our Trip to the Dairy Farm

We went to the dairy farm as a ward assignment. We weren't sure if we were going to go, but decided Hudson would have fun seeing the cows and tractors, etc. so we rolled out of bed at 7 am on Saturday morning and rushed over to the church where we had donuts and milk, then headed over to the dairy farm. When we got there, the guy in charge said we were going to be WEEDING! I think we were all muttering under our breaths, a few not so under. After a bit of weeding, someone finally talked the guy into letting a couple of the little ones do something that actually involved cows. So Hudson and his little friend, Bridger, (and their parents!) got to go scrub and clean out the calf's watering troughs. Hudson and Bridger had a blast (for the most part) chasing the calves and causing a ruckus. We got BYU creamery chocolate milks (you reap what you sow!), and then we got a sneak peak into the milking area. Then we threw tires off the huge mounds of stuff (we're not sure what it was: mulch, feed, bedding?), and that was it! We were there for about 3.5 hours. You can imagine what we came home smelling and looking like. We decided to have a water fight in the front yard to get a little cleaned up. Our morning was fun but exhausting!

Fathers Day 08

What a busy Fathers Day! We had to get to church early so I could meet with the bishopric to get a new calling. I (Nichole) am the assistant Bear Leader. Then we went and just took the sacrament and then snuck out so we could get a visit in to all of our families in the day. First we went to my dad's house in Midvale. We visited and had dinner with them. Hudson always has fun playing with his Aunt Samantha and their little dog, Chiquita.

Next we went to Jeff's parents house. They had a BBQ but we were pretty stuffed from eating at my dad's so we didn't eat too much there. Hudson had fun playing with all his cousins, and we got a game of dice in before we had to get to our last stop.
We ended our day at my Grandma and Grandpa Schumann's where we had another BBQ. We sat outside and visited and Hudson played with more cousins. My aunt Karen made homemade ice cream (my favorite) and there were lots of other goodies there, too. It was about 9:30 before we even got home and we are tired and ready for bed.
I just want to tell Jeff and let everyone else know how wonderful he is. He really is the best daddy and I am so thankful for that. Hudson is truly a daddy's boy which I get a little jealous of sometimes, but it's okay cause Jeff is a great pal and a great example for Hudson to follow. We love you so much, babe! Thanks for all you do for us!

4-Wheeling Monks Hollow

Jeff and I went with the Pathfinderzz ATV club today and went up Monks Hollow. It was a fun ride. We got pretty dusty. We drove through a big mud puddle and got our legs pretty muddy, too. We rode over the mountain and had hamburgers at a little cafe/gas station on the other side of Monks, there were about 25 people in our group that showed up all at once. The only employees there were a kid that was about 14, and the kids dad. He was trying to get all of our orders and drinks, so Jeff's dad decided to pitch in and start taking orders, and another lady in our group took over drink refills. It was pretty funny. But it was fun for Jeff and I to get away for most of the day and have a fun little ride.

First Swim of the Season

Since we built Hudson a sandbox, we were going to get rid of his little turtle sandbox, but I thought I would fill it up with water and let him swim in it today since it was so hot. He had a lot of fun in it. I thought about inviting some of his little friends over to play in it with him, but realized that would be a little crowded. So he had fun in his pool for one all by himself. The water stayed clean for about 3 minutes when he decided to start shoveling gravel and dirt into the pool.

What a Way to Wake Up

Hudson is my alarm clock. I wake up when he wakes me up. He usually accomplishes this by climbing in bed with me and then driving his trucks all over me or wrestling with me. Or he'll grab some cereal and start chomping on it, getting it all over the floor until I decide I should get out of bed and give the kid some breakfast. Well, this morning it was a little different. I woke up to weird squishing sounds and than patting sounds, and it smells like cucumber melon. I look over and see Hudson having a ball with the lotion. I got mad and yelled at him which is why he's crying in the picture. Then I rolled out of bed to clean up the mess. Other than the obvious places shown in the picture, it was on the carpet and the walls, and in all the little crevices in the alarm clock, in Hudson's hair, all over his p.j.'s.....What a way to wake up.

Potato Bugs

Hudson loves finding potato bugs! The other day while we were out in the yard we found a big stash of them. Hudson had a whole handful of them, probably at least 7 or 8! They were crawling all over him and he loved it!

Faaleaga

This is Faaleaga, one of the boys we met on our trip to Samoa. He got a mission call to Honolulu, Hawaii. Jeff's parents picked him up from the airport late Tuesday night, took him shopping for a suit on Wednesday morning, and then took him to the MTC. I wish we would have been able to see him but time was too short. He is such a cool guy. He is the one that helped me (Nichole) learn how to weave the baskets in Samoa and probably the one we spent the most time with and got to know the best. Even though we didn't get to see him here in Utah, we are excited he's here and we know he'll be an excellent missionary!

(I swiped this picture from our Walker family website.)

Awww Phooey!

In the process of trying to post a slide show, I lost the background that I liked. I tried to find it again but it wasn't where I originally found it. So, I don't love this one but it was the best I could find after who knows how long and at 11:38 at night. I guess it will have to do until I can find a cooler one. And you'll have to put up with half of a slide show until I can figure that out, too. Looks like I might have to call for help (that means you, Gina!). Sigh. I get so frustrated when I can't do these things myself!
(UPDATE:12:20 AM: Found a different layout. Like it, but found others I liked better but they weren't working for me. Ended up erasing links and had to re-do them. Frustrated. Obsessed. Tired. Slide-show still cut in half. Goodnight.)
UPDATE: 12:26 AM: Well whaddaya know! Wonders never cease to exist! My last attempt and I figured it out! And of course it was simple. Just a lack of knowledge of what to do. GOODNIGHT!)

Our Little Mechanic

For those of you who have never been to our house, our backyard connects to a park that we share with about 8 other neighbors. We all take turns mowing it and I decided I would go out and do it today. It takes at least a couple of hours. Anyway, I got about half way done when the lawnmower died. I couldn't get it started again. Jeff was working in our yard and keeping an eye on Hudson, so when he saw me trying to get it started, he came to help me. It wouldn't start for him either so we both just kind of stood there wondering what to do. Then Hudson ran off to the house and came back with a hammer. I could just see what was going through his head. "Duh, Mom and Dad. If it's broken you need a tool to fix it! If you're not bright enough to figure that out, I'll do it myself." He started hammering the lawnmower and after we gave it a couple more pulls, it started!
He loves "fixing" things and loves helping in the yard. As we've been digging trenches and raking rocks and dirt, nailing, wheelbarrow-ing, pulling weeds, etc., he's been there helping do it all. He's one tough kid who's not afraid to get his hands dirty!

Fire Pit

Here is a picture of Jeff working on putting in our fire pit in our backyard. I think we're ready to get our hydro-seed put down now. You can also see the garden boxes that Jeff built. We still haven't planted anything and don't know if it's too late to get started? We'll probably still give it a shot.

It's been a lot of work getting this backyard finished, and I am so excited for the end result! It will be so nice to be able to relax and play in the backyard! We've also built Hudson a huge sandbox, so he'll love that. Now we just need to save some money to buy bushes and trees. We've pretty much exhausted all of our resources on everything else! Oh well. I guess those can wait. I'm just SO excited to have GRASS!

Hudson's Buzz

Jeff finally let me buzz Hudson's hair! What a relief! It was getting so long! I think it makes him look so much older, but I think it's so cute and great for summer!
Also, notice Hudson's choice of snack. He grabbed the bag of salad that was left on the table from dinner (a very late dinner!) and just started munching on it. He's such a funny kid.
AND! look how cute he is without all those hives! They haven't come back for a few days so hopefully we're done with that whole episode! Only 4 doctor visits in 6 days later...

Our 7th Anniversary Park City Getaway

After a little debating whether we should go or not (because of Hudson's hives), we decided to go through with the little getaway that Jeff planned for our anniversary. He's such a good husband! After we dropped Hudson off and Grandma and Grandpa Walker's, we went and both got an hour long full body massage. Ahhhh. It was so nice, but I think I got mine a little too deep because my back feels bruised today. We got massages for our anniversary last year, too, so maybe we will keep it up and make it a tradition! Jeff is so good to plan all this stuff for us!
After our massages we headed up to Park City. We stopped in Heber at the Dairy Keen for a lunch of hamburgers and a chocolate shake and then went to check into the condo. We mostly just hung out, walked up and down Main Street, walked around outside our condo. We decided to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. It wasn't all that we were hoping for, but it was a fun movie. We didn't get out of it until after midnight, so by the time we got back to our room, we were ready for bed!
The next morning (today) we had breakfast then headed back to get Hudson. We had an early Sunday dinner with Jeff's parents and then came home because Hudson was so miserable with his hives. Now Jeff and Hudson are crashing on the couch. They started watching Nanny McPhee, and both fell asleep. Poor guys. They are both worn out.
But we had a fun time in Park City just hanging out by ourselves and getting a little break from the every day stuff.

Hudson's Hives: Part 2

Well, the hives made a come back after we thought they were getting better. We were trying to decide if we should leave him with Jeff's parents for the night so we could go to Park City and celebrate our anniversary. He looked pretty good so we decided he'd be alright. The morning we took him there, he was starting to break out again, but we still thought it wasn't too bad. Then we came home today and found him looking like this! Poor guy. They are now obviously on his face and still everywhere else. His little hands and feet are swollen and he doesn't like walking. He's itching like crazy and not sleeping too well. SO...it looks like we'll be going back to the doctor tomorrow to see if we can figure out what's going on. We're wondering if it might be peanut butter?