The Wallick Way....

Whew! It feels so good to finally take a load off my feet and sit down for a sec! We had a crazy week filled with lots of activities. Makenzie has been practicing to try out for State Choir so she had late practice Monday night(and of course Adam had to be out of town!) and then we were in a rush to get FHE done and treats wrapped up to go booing in the neighborhood. Then of course Tuesday night is always YM for her,so after practice it's rush home to feed her and send her off. Thank goodness for carpooling! Wednesday after school I rushed home to get kids off the bus, get them each showered-redressed and dinner made and everyone fed so that we could get Makenzie to her fall concert. She looked so pretty in her formal (it is the same black one from last year- although new green ones should be in soon) The kids are really good and Im always amazed at how many kids are in the choir. Currently there is almost 200 6th-8th grade boys and girls and they sound great! Thursday I was so excited to head out the door in the morning because I knew at lunch time I would be off to pick up Adam from the MARTA. To celebrate his return home... I made him go shoe shopping for Parker- who has finally had a growth spurt and needed new church shoes. That didn't sit too good with Tay- since she insisted she needed new shoes as well. We told her as soon as we got home we would check her inventory and go from there. As her luck would have it- she needed some new shoes too- so Friday nights date was dinner and shoe shopping for Tay! Sat-uggh what a day! Early in the morning we were off to Road Atl for the motorcycle races. Awesome day for Parker since we got VIP passes from our friend Jessica. Her boyfriend works for Pirelli and was so nice to let Parker into the Tire area. During a race it takes the crew 7 seconds to change the tires! CRAZY! Then after a few hours there we whisked Makenzie to her State Choir tryouts. THOUSANDS of kids from grade 7th-12th tryout from across the state (there were lots and lots and lots of buses)and each year the tryout location is different. For the first round we only had to drive about an hour away. The tryouts consist of sight reading, vocal tryout and tonel memory. It is very nerve wracking and difficult because each kid has a solo audition in front of two judges. The lower the score you get the better. For instance- a 10 is the best you can get and a 20 would be the worst. We got the call at 9 p.m that Makenzie had scored an 11.5! We hope that she will get a call to the second rounds of auditons! We wont know until November. Sunday was Stake Conf and that was of course AWESOME! Tay was able to see her artwork on display and she was thrilled. Later that day we headed off to Macon Ga with plans to head to the State fair on Monday. As our luck would have it- Parker wasnt feeling well and it rained. True to Wallick form though- Parker took some medicine and we forged ahead with umbrellas in hand. It was awesome and our kids are such troopers! Makenzie was so good to go on all the baby rides with her brother and sister. She really didn't have a choice since most of the big rides were closed because of the weather. Now... I am finally able to relax and take a deep breath before another hectic week! Love and hugs...
P.s- Makenzie had auditioned for Chamber Choir and was second alternate however, when her choir teacher found out Makenzies score and realized how hard she worked on her sight reading and tonel memory she asked to see her today. She said "welcome to chamber choir- good job!" She was so excited!

The Great Pumpkin.....

Or as they say here in the south... "punkin". We had a great week. I tell you- the weekend couldn't have come any sooner! Saturday morning we got up early and headed out to Burton Farms with our friends The Yohlers. It took us about an hour to get there but the drive was worth it! For miles.. all you can see was pumpkins! It was so exciting because I'm used to rinky dink pumpkin patches. This was totally awesome for us. We took a 2 and a half mile ride (in a hay wagon pulled by a tractor)up the mountain and I swear going thru the patch all you could see was a sea of these giant pumpkins! We had a great time shopping for the perfect one and the kids were super impressed. We finished our trip by having a nice picnic lunch by the creek or "crek". After we got home- it was yard work for Adam and housework for me! We wanted everything done so that we could watch Conference all day Sunday to get caught up with all we missed. Then we remembered that Adam was leaving so we had to get him packed for his flight on Sunday morning. I did watch Sundays sessions and will re watch all the other sessions when Adam returns. Maybe that can be our date each night when the kids go to bed! I'm so smart! As for our babies- they are all healthy and happy. The weather has gotten cooler and it rained again all night and most of the early afternoon today. I love it! Now- I have to dig out all the winter clothes for everyone! Lovely.... it never ends! Love and Hugs
p.s- anyone catch the movie after the last session yesterday? It was so good!

Singing In the Rain.....

What a glorious feeling.... I love the rain, even though it has been non-stop. I feel really bad for the folks who have experienced the flooding of their homes and the changes that come with that. It has been bad as many of you know from watching the news so make sure that when you are in your beds in your beautiful homes that you say a quick prayer for them and offer a few words of thanks for your privileges. This past week has been a long one, it seems that all we do is go-go-go! Multiple counties closed the schools on Tues so we headed to Greensboro NC with Adam for a quick 2 day trip. It was fun and mostly relaxing for me. Friday night I did a little networking at an event in Atlanta called "Champagne and Shadows". It is hosted at a makeup studio- you go and socialize/network, and get your makeup done. I looked awesome, but didn't have a camera. I know! So NOT like me. Tomorrow is Adams 35th birthday, which I can not believe! I met and married him when he was only 20 years old, just a baby! Time sure does fly by. Yesterday marked our one year anniversary of us loading up our family and beginning a new chapter in our lives by moving here to Ga. I remember thinking as we left Utah- "what is our life going to be like and where will we be a year from now?" Well- we are happy, and healthy and have met a lot of wonderful people. The mission field is amazing out here, and I have never felt like I was a part of that until we moved here. We have an amazing connection with all the missionaries who have serviced our wards and I LOVE that my husband is finally able to be very involved with his calling. I do think of what we are missing back in Utah- but I keep those thoughts silent. Makenzie still thinks of all her cousins and friends so I encourage her to think of all the great friends she has here and how she is creating a wonderful life here. Well- I am very tired but wanted to post before I headed off the bed! Love and hugs-

14 Years and Counting...

I forgot to mention on my last update that on the first of this month- we celebrated our 14th year of marriage! I know-I can't believe how fast the time has passed! I wish we could do it all over again! Read on about what a wonderful guy Adam is.... so you all know that I am in school to become an esthetician... and so while Joey (cousin) was here last week I talked him into coming in for a spa treatment. Adam has already been in for a facial and he really enjoyed it, and so I had them both in for a European facial. I worked on Adam and my friend Rosemary worked on Joey. After the treatment- Joey wanted to have his back waxed and HE talked Adam into doing it as well! Now- Joey had a sweater- meaning he had a lot of hair to remove, but Adam... had none- but still wanted some of the fine blond hairs removed. We just had 3 new students start 3 weeks ago and they needed the experience- what good sports they were!!! Last Saturday we took the kids to see the house that Adam grew up in and we also did some geo-cashing. This past week was not really eventful other than last night Makenzie was in the Young Womens talent show. She did an amazing job of singing! ( The pictures above show Adam and Joey at my school, all of us Geo-Cashing- a pretty road in Bowden, a really old grave, and a slaves grave marked with a brick, and the Falcons vs Miami Dolphins game) Hope all is well-Love and Hugs-

This past weekend, Adam had some work to do in Charleston SC and of course we all wanted to tag along. We left late on Friday night so that the kids wouldn't have to miss any school, but didn't take into account that there would be so much traffic to get out of the city. We didn't get in to Charleston until 1am! Uggh it was so hard to want to stay awake. We stayed in a sweet hotel (Embassy Suites ) in the downtown area and it was awesome! It was the Old Citadel school from 1822 till 1921 when the school was moved into a bigger facility down a few blocks. It remains the same with a few upgrades(like private bathrooms and airconditioning) but it was set up as a fort to protect Charleston from the slaves who came over from Denmark. In that time the blacks very much outnumbered the whites. In the dining room- the original gun windows that the soldiers would put the rifles thru to shoot out are still there. It was so cool to see all the old artifacts that were found when the Citadel was being turned into the hotel. We loved it there. We went to Folly beach- not one of our favorites but the kids still had fun. The waves were REALLY rough and it was super windy on Sunday, so we only stayed maybe about 3 hours which if you know us.... you know when we go to the beach, it is ALL DAY LONG! So we packed it in, and took the kids shopping and to On The Border! Ummm, when did my Taylor become such a clothes freak? My gosh- that girl tried talking us into buying her everything her heart desired. I am immune to such cuteness but alas- her dad is not! Monday Adam really wanted to go to Patriot Point which is a Museum dedicated to our War Heroes and it is on a decommissioned war ship- The Yorktown. All I have to say is... AWESOME. I am really glad we went even though I complained (a little) I even found my Great Uncles name on the wall of "Above and Beyond the Call" wall. Then I was able to pull his name and photo up inside the Fallen Heroes museum and read his story. He died in the Korean War at the age of 24 when he sustained massive wounds while distracting the enemy so that his troop could get away. Being able to see that was worth the day and it made me feel good... I always knew about him but it was so awesome to see his name... right there with all the others. In the Aviation Memorial there was a quote that read "When you go home tomorrow, tell them of us and say- For your tomorrow we gave our Today." Killed me to watch all the videos and see all the original men who were at one time serving in active duty on this huge aircraft carrier ship because I kept thinking- they were so young... some of them just boys. I wondered- did they think one day that ship would be a museum and that so many people would look at them with awe? So I guess my message tonight would be- be grateful for the many privileges and freedoms you are able to enjoy! God Bless our Troops and the USA! Love and Hugs-