The Walker Warbler

A couple weeks ago, my grandfather was sealed in the temple to his sweet wife, Babette, who we have known and loved for more than 25 years. She was baptized into the church along with her daughter's family over a year ago and we were so excited when we heard that this day had finally come! Andy and I were actually suppose to be flying to Boston the same morning as the sealing, but things miraculously worked out so that we could fly to Boston out of Spokane instead of Salt Lake. A big thanks to Andy's family and a sweet neighbor who helped out with the kiddos, to Mom and Kim for letting us hitch a ride with them up to Washington, and to Steve and Barbara Jorgensen for giving us a ride from Richland to Spokane! And, thank you to Andy who understood my deep desire to be there and was willing to change the flights and help me with all of the last minute craziness in order to get there! The peace and joy we felt in the temple that day was so worth all the effort and we appreciate all of our family and friends' sacrifices for us to be able to be there!!! It was truly priceless!

It was a beautiful morning!!!

A picture really does say a thousand words!

Family and friends

I thought I would also include pictures from the Sparks Reunion this past summer. This is a group shot and sadly the only picture of my Mom, who was in charge of the festivities. It turned out great and it was so good to be together with almost all of our family! My mom's sweet cousin allowed us to camp on their property and provided a wonderful dinner for everyone when we got there. Then we enjoyed the Martin Harris Pageant that night and fun games and a potluck the next day. My mom knows how to plan a party :)!

The kids loved spending time with G-ma and G-pa Sparks and their fun dog, Licky Nicky!

One of the highlights of this fun place was the tire swing. The girls couldn't get enough of it along with their cute cousins!

Getting some grub with Grandpa Sanderson!

I really think I should invest in one of these for next summer - the kids had way too much fun filling up their little cups over and over and over again!

Nathan and I slept in the van - he actually slept through the night - that is until the sun came up a little too early. But, we had some fun times playing with the giant flashlight. It was fun to spend some time, just Nathan and I, before the rest of the world woke up!

Here are the other boys awake at last :) after spending the night in the tent.

Apparently the night was too short for Kassi :)!

Nathan had no hard feelings that he didn't get to sleep in the tent - but he sure loved playing in it after everyone else was awake! I almost forgot due to no pictures, but I have a new bug phobia after that camping trip! Since Nathan and I were sleeping in the van, we took out the car seats and put them by the tent. Andy warned me that bugs might like the crumbs in the car seats. I told him I wasn't worried about a few ants and thought it would be fine. The next day everyone was noticing earwigs crawling all over the ground, the tents, and just about everything touching the ground. As I went to put the car seat back in the van, I saw a couple ear wigs. Come to find out - they were crawling in and out and around the car seat - and I'm not joking when I say there were probably a hundred ear wigs on Kassi's car seat alone! It was so creepy crawly disgusting!!! Andy hosed it off and saved the day, but I think we still took a couple home with us and they are really now one of my greatest fears. It probably doesn't help that I remember hearing stories during my childhood about ear wigs crawling into ears?!?

Jesi with Nicky and G-pa!

Nathan loving Babette and Nicky loving G-pa! I wish I'd gotten a shot of G-pa holding Nathan when we first got the reunion. But, the camera wasn't unpacked yet :). Nathan sure loved all the attention!

Jesi doing the gunny sack race.

Andy was relieved that he just had to display the auction items at the reunion and not be the auctioneer - Alan did a great job of that! These awesome handmade flags provided a lot of the cash for next year's reunion.

Alan and Barb kept kidnapping our kiddos - this time I discovered them up at the park. Nathan and Kassi LOVED the swings almost as much as they loved Barb and Alan! And, Drew was ecstatic to find out that Alan owns a towing business and he is determined to get up there soon so that Alan can make good on his promise to let Drew drive his tow trucks!

Drew with the family tree. I love you too, buddy! And, I'm glad you're on my family tree!

And, we had to stop and take the scenic route when we saw the Brigham City temple not too far off the freeway. It was beautiful - although not finished! And, I'm kicking myself for somehow missing the super cute picture of Zach! It was so fun that Michelle traveled up for the reunion and stayed with us for a few days! Tami also traveled down last minute with her kiddos and exchange student. Dave had to work, but Sara was a trooper and came for the Saturday festivities. It was a wonderful reunion! We are so grateful to all of our family for all of their love, support, and examples!!! We love you all!