Remember November.....

We are FINALLY headed towards the end of the year... and as usual, I can't believe that it is almost over. We have a lot of blessings to be grateful for- most importantly, that we are all safe, and healthy. We have really enjoyed our time out here especially since we feel so much closer as a family and so much closer to our Heavenly Father. We have become close with all the missionaries who have served in our area, and have really loved having them in our home. This past week, a young girl I go to school with wanted to meet with them since she had so many questions that I didn't feel knowledgeable to answer. She has committed to read the Book of Mormon and is coming over this Sunday to go to church with us and then have her first official discussion. Regardless of what choice she makes, I am grateful for this opportunity to rebuild my own testimony. Last year and this year (around this Holiday time) seems that I have a lump in my throat, almost like I need a good cry. Not because I'm sad or lonely or missing anything- just because I love my life, I am so grateful and I couldn't have even imagined "me" being where I am and having the family that I have. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving- my MUCH OLDER (ha ha Debra!) sister Debra will be here and is possibly looking to relocate here. Should be fun, especially since she is used to the hot desert of Phoenix AZ!
Love and Hugs-

Halloween 2009

As you can tell by the photos we had a good end to a very LONG week! Adam went as an "80's hair band roadie", I was the "Botox Fairy", Kenzie went as a "Clemson Tigers Fan"-with her best friend Avery, Parker was a "Pirate"-again, and Taylor was a "Pretty Kitty"-again! I was really glad that we were able to recycle last years costumes because I don't think I had it in me to be creative. We had a great time at our ward party. Adam received the award for the most "Original Costume". He looked so good especially since he tapered or "corn rolled" his jeans. Wow! That really dates me! He also won First Place for his chili! After the party of eating and dancing we headed out to the parking lot for some candy! I'm so glad that it quit raining long enough for us to do that. (It started to rain Friday night and literally stopped long enough for our party and then started again.) After our ward party we headed home to trick or treat around our neighborhood and Kenzie headed to her friend Dana's house for an after party. Parker and Taylor were very tired by the time it was all said and done, and to be honest- so was I! Hope your Halloween was just as fun! Love and Hugs-
P.S- We found out on Friday that Makenzie made it to the Second round of All State Choir Auditions!

Wowwie Wow Wow!

In keeping with the Wallick tradition... we have been busy! These days seem to flow into on another and it seems that time is moving sooo fast! We have a lot of things going on with the kids.. my school... Adams work. You know the drill... LIFE! We are so looking forward to Halloween and already feel the chill in the air. I love LOVE love this time of the year. It is so pretty here with the changing of the leaves- it is the only time thru out the year that I light my pumpkin spiced candle. The weather here makes me long to curl up with a good book by the fireplace but.. there aren't enough hours in the day to allow that to happen! I just completed a course in microderm-microcurrent(weekend face lift) and LED. It was a lot of fun... I just wish I was done! The kids are looking forward to carving pumpkins and the Ward party on Sat... as for myself... Im just looking forward to making it to the weekend! Hope all is well with you... Love and Hugs...

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!