Walker Thanksgiving

Our favorite Thanksgiving Tradition is to host "Walker Thanksgiving" on the Saturday before Thanksgiving with the Walker side of the family. We love this so much because it allows us to spend time with both of our families at Thanksgiving without having to rotate or to choose between them. 

This year because mom and dad are renovating the house in Lyman and currently do not have countertops or a kitchen sink - my mom asked Melissa if she would host. Then the week of Thanksgiving my mom called and canceled Thanksgiving because they were working to prep everything for the flooring people to come and lay floor the following Monday. We asked if they needed us to come help, but I think it wasn't as much a dire need for help, it just felt like too much to prepare for that and make it all the way down here for Thanksgiving. After assuring them that, of course, that would be fine - we siblings started talking and we decided that we still wanted to do Thanksgiving together. 

It was absolutely beautiful! Melissa did a great job hosting and the tables were absolutely gorgeous. We ate delicious food (my family knows how to make amazing food and I love that each year is just a little bit different). We went around the table and talked about the things we were grateful for. We got to know Jacob's girlfriend, Alexia, a little better. We just had a lovely time. 

One of my favorite parts is that during our discussion about how Melissa finds so many beautiful goblets and china plates at the DI, plus a need for a new Walker Cup trophy, we spontaneously decided to run to the DI. The boys stayed back with the kids and the girls went on a quick trip to look for fancy dinnerware and a new trophy. We were successful and it was fun and funny. (Poor Alexia might not have known exactly what she was getting into, but we were glad to have her and Jacob there.) 

I am grateful for this family of ours. 

Shantel Friends and Girls Nights

December is always a busy month filled with Christmas Activities, but this month I was able to sneak away to spend some time with friends/sisters. I have been feeling the need to make extra effort to nurture my friendships in this season. (season meaning season in life, not holiday season) I feel the need to connect with other women, to strengthen my relationships, and increase the bonds I feel within my community. I have had some really great women come into my life in the past few years and I have a great appreciation for my sisters/family and the role they play in my life. 

Here are a few things that I was able to make time for this month, and a few things that I don't have pictures of, but that I am feeling grateful for anyway. 

- An early morning temple appointment with Bethany Zarbock at the Draper Temple. We met up at 6 am to do an endowment session and it was just such a cold but lovely morning. I have always wanted friends to regularly attend the temple with, and Bethany is a gift because she has started initiating an early morning temple appointment and even though we live far from each other - we can meet in the middle and help each other accomplish our desire to be in the temple more. (It is infinitely easier to get up at 5 am to drive to the temple at 6 if you know you have someone expecting you!) 

-I went to the theatrical release of the Taylor Swift concert with my sisters. As an update: Taylor Swift is a 
cultural phenomenon. She is easily the most successful musical artist of my time. I think she's comparable to Elvis Presley and is doing some really incredible things. I don't listen to a lot of music in general, and although I know some of her songs, I'm not even close to an avid fan. But I have incredible respect for her and what she's accomplished. Even though we weren't going to pay hundreds (thousands) of dollars to see her perform live, I didn't want to miss the chance to be part of this historical experience. Melissa is a "Swiftie" (Taylor Swift fan) and it was fun to be able to connect with her on this, too. We got together and made matching friendship bracelets (a ritual for the Tswift fans) that say "SWIFT SISTER" on them, plus we made a few extra to hand out to others in the theater. I may not listen to a lot of music in my regular day-to-day, but I can definitely appreciate a good performance, and the performance value for this concert/movie was incredible. I had a great time being there with my sisters. 

-I've been making a concerted effort to connect with the women in a MOI group that I was invited to last year. The group is centered fairly far away (Springville) but it's made up of some really incredible women who are well-established in the homeschool world and who have a vision of their homeschools filled with art, poetry, nature, music, and literature. I really love learning from them, and if I'm being honest, part of the draw is that I am not in charge of a single thing in that sphere. I can take off my "in charge of all the things" hat and sit back and listen and learn. It's been a good growing experience for me. MOI stands for "Mothers of Influence" and I love the belief that as mothers, we have great power to influence for good.

-When I drop the kids off/pick them up from Coop, there are several friends who are also dropping off/picking up their kids and we get to stop and visit for a few minutes. It's just been so great, especially lately. I've had some really good discussions with them, albeit brief. We've talked about helping our kids find uplifting literature, troubleshooting problem areas with each other, making plans to go to the temple, and just generally cheering each other on. It is a small, casual, thing. But I'm grateful for it. 

-There is an app I have on my phone called Marco Polo. It's a video messaging app, where you can send video messages back and forth. It is my #1 way to keep in touch with Jenna and I really love it so much. I also use it to talk to my friends Amy and Karli, along with others. But I'm grateful that I can send a message when I'm available and then watch their replies while I am doing laundry. 

I'm thankful for David's support in helping these moments be possible and grateful for the strong, smart, kind, women that I am surrounded by on this Journey. 

November Wrap Up

November was filled to the brim with fall activities, mostly hanging out at Cornbelly's. However there are a few other things that don't really fit into the other post categories but still should be documented. 

#1- Our kids discovered Kong Kones at Macey's. For only a couple of dollars, you can get a MASSIVE Ice cream cone.   We've gone several times, with money the kids have earned and you just can't beat the joy on these faces. Sidenote: we've instituted "kids fast food" money. We already had a kids fast food budget but we've given the kids ownership over that budget and so if they say "Can we stop at McDonalds on the way home?" we can discuss how much money they have left in their fast food budget and then they get to decide if they want to stop or not. It's a little tricky because some of them might want to stop and others might not and I'm trying to keep a good balance for them. But mostly it's been really good at helping them learn the value of money when it comes to fast food. 

(David and I couldn't decide which Lucy ice cream picture to keep and which to cut. So even though it's going to mess with the formatting, we are keeping both because they are so cute.) 

#2- Melissa invited the girls to come to Disney on Ice with her at the Delta Center. We had such a fun time! Lucy loved the show and has talked about it regularly since we went. She's also started asking to go to "Princess World", which is darling. Melissa got tickets through her work and we got to go to her firm's suite and eat snacks and watch the show from their box. It was fantastic and just such a fun time to hang out with her. I was so grateful that she wanted to spend time with us and that she took the time and effort to make such a fun evening happen for my girls. I love this sister of mine. 

#3 - I occasionally like to document gas prices because I think it's an interesting glimpse into the economy and spending fluctuations. This time I had a particularly exciting time at the gas pump because gas had dropped to $2.99 a gallon, which is hasn't hit in a very long time, and on top of that I stopped at a Smiths gas station which I rarely do and apparently had some rewards which dropped by gas to 2.159! I don't even remember the last time I paid that! I was very excited and thus, documentation. 

#4 - It was Lydia's half birthday and whatever she wished for must have come true because that same week she bought a pet bird AND got to pet-sit Riley for 10 days. She was in pet heaven. All the kids chipped in to help care for Riley and everyone got a small portion of the pet-sitting fee (including mom and dad). It's a great thing for Lydia to have exposure to pets without a permanent commitment. 

#5 - Caleb is so cute. For breakfast one morning he wanted two fried eggs and two pieces of toast. He likes his fried eggs with the yolk all the way cooked through and his toast with melted butter. He's sometimes picky about the food that he eats, so when he asks for something good like this - we are happy to oblige. For how picky he is about dinner, he's kind of a breakfast guy! He likes almost all breakfast food and he eats a lot of it. 

Dread Penny Society

I had the MOST FUN experience this month and I am struggling to narrow down the pictures, so I may just include them all because I love them so much. 

Background information: My current favorite author is named Sarah M. Eden. She writes historical fiction/romance and my favorite series of hers is the Jonquil Series. It's just so clever and well-written and fun. Each book follows the story of one of the brothers, but the entire family grows and evolves through each book and it's just so great. Even though that series is my favorite, I love all of her books. 

She announced that she would be releasing the final book in her Penny Dreadful series, which I have also really enjoyed, and that she was going to host a themed event to celebrate. 

Amy reached out and asked if we could get a group together to go, so I asked Jenna, who has read all of her books, too, and Melissa who has read the Jonquil books. Eventually, Brooklyn got pulled in and we booked our tickets! But then we started to look for costumes. My neighbors across the street are incredible costume designers and I won a custom costume at our ward's youth auction last year. I reached out and asked them if they would consider outfitting me and my sisters in Victorian costumes instead of making a dress for me. They said "We only have Victorian ballgowns, would that be okay?" Umm... yes! We had such a fun time being fitted for our dresses and attending the event. 

Dress Fittings

Robin and Roxanne had a rack of Victorian ballgowns and they basically just went down the line from smallest to largest. I ended up in this beautiful pink and cream dress - which is easily the most gorgeous dress I've ever worn, even more lovely than my wedding dress. 

 I especially loved this dress because Robin herself wore this in one of her Opera Productions and it was just so neat to share this dress with her. 

DREAD PENNY SOCIETY 

The night of the event, we met up to do hair, then went over to Robin and Roxanne who helped dress us and get us on our way. My ONLY regret of the night is that I didn't hire a professional photographer to take pictures for us. I thought about it over and over but I just wasn't sure what the timing would be like and talked myself out of it. I really wish that I had, though. That aside, we had such a fun night. 

The event was held at the McCune Mansion in SLC. Our dresses were amazing and it was so fun to arrive at the event all decked out in our finery. Rubbing shoulders with the Upper Crust of society. 

We entered through the front door, receiving a penny bracelet to represent the pennies of the "Dread Penny Society" from the book. Each room had a story and something relating to one of the characters that you had to figure out. 

The ballroom was located on the top floor of the home and it was breathtakingly beautiful. That's where we met the Author, Sarah Eden, and she signed our brand new books. After that, we exited the building through a fun back staircase to a garden area where there were fancy refreshments and tables to visit around. As I was walking past, I heard my name and saw two of my friends that I hadn't seen in a really long time. Sarah and Michelle had been in the group right after us and it was fun to run into them and discover a shared love of Sarah Eden. 

 

These pictures ended up being my very favorite, even though the picture quality isn't quite as good because it was so dark outside. I love them. 

I loved going to this event with my sisters (all of them). Dressing up, being in a fancy house, doing something unique. This night was completely just for fun and I am grateful that I was able to experience it.