Walker Oliver Pumpkin Carving

I know I've posted about this before, but one of my favorite childhood traditions was carving pumpkins with my family and our dear family friends, the Olivers. It was one of the few traditions that we did EVERY single year and I always looked forward to it. My parents met John and Denise Oliver when they were very first married and in a married student ward at BYU. They became fast (and lifelong) friends. We carved pumpkins every October and usually went camping or boating with them at least once a year. At my grandfather's funeral, John and Denise came to show love and support and we decided that we should try to make another "Walker Oliver" pumpkin carving night happen again. Before the event, I went through old scrapbooks and found a bunch of old pictures that I printed off and hung around the house. 

Jessie Oliver was just a year or so older than me and she was a great friend and influence on me. (The picture of us above is from summer when she invited me to a Book of Mormon camping trip. We camped in the mountains and each of us (she invited several other friends as well) worked our way through as much of the Book of Mormon as we could manage. It was a really neat weekend and I still remember the impact that one of the hikes had on me in giving me perspective about putting in the effort to make it to the celestial kingdom. There were three different vistas and at the first two, I remember thinking - "this is it! This is enough" but then reluctantly moving forward and being so grateful I hadn't been satisfied with the lower vistas and not made the effort to get to the top. Jessie and I both went to Utah State at the same time and were even in the same ward my freshman year. Even though we weren't ever roommates or even best friends at USU, just knowing that she was there and that she loved me was really special for me. I adore this girl from my past and admire the lovely lady she is now.  

Jenna was kind enough to host because she lives in the middle between Logan (where the Olivers have relocated) and the rest of us. It was a fabulous night of rehashing old memories and making new ones. We loved gathering together with this very special family and I loved seeing both of our kids having that same pumpkin carving tradition holding strong. 

I particularly loved the pictures of John helping his granddaughter Evie and my dad helping Lucy. It was SO reminiscent of the top picture of this post where John and Dad are working hard to make sure that all of the kids had help carving their pumpkins. 

We had a great time together. 

Pictures of the full group, with four generations: 1- Grandma Knowles and their Grandma Oliver, 2- Scott & Lori, John & Denise 3-Shantel, David, Jenna, Kevin, Melissa, Jacob, Mary, Jessie, Billy, Jeff, Jeremy 4-Lydia, Camille, Austin, Jason, Caleb, Sadie, Lucy, Molly, Evie, Ollie, and Jessie's baby. 

Picture of the OG Walker Oliver Crew: (left to right) Melissa, Jenna, Shantel, Jacob, Scott, Lori, John, Denise, Jeremy, Jessie, Jeff. 

We were sad that Matt & Brooklyn couldn't make it - Juniper got sick right before and couldn't come. We also missed Chris, Ben, and Mckell. 


What a great-looking group of pumpkins! We are already making plans for pumpkin carving 2024.