Excitement is in the Air at The Walker House

Fun and exciting times are happening at the Walker's. Zachary begins first grade tomorrow. He will actually be in a first and second grade spilt classroom so that way he can do second grade math, and yet get extra help with his writing and reading. He is also thrilled that one of his Kindergarten buddies will be in his class too. Kirk and I are also excited about this because I have become good friends with this child's mother and she is very fond of Zachary and provides him with great support at school. Zachary's new teacher has also sent us a couple of e-mails and I believe that she will be a good fit for Zachary. She informed us that she will be a great advocate for Zachary and has had one of her own children and two of her grandchildren, who have been on IEPs and 504s and as a result she said that she understands our fears, struggles, challenges, joys, and concerns in ways that other parents and teachers may not. This has brought a since of relief to us because even though Zachary no longer requires an IEP he will have a 504, and as his team of doctors have said he still needs to be closely monitored, and still has specific needs. We have been fortunate that Zachary has had great teachers the past two years. We are looking foreward to working with his new teacher Ms. Clay.

On another brighter note, Kirk earned another A in his MBA program and he is now down to two more classes. Several opportunties have also been opening up for Kirk so as we check into these opportunties and make decisions we will keep you all posted.

Finally, I'm happy to announce that my cousin Jeni and her family will be moving here tomorrow from Alaska. Zachary and Isabella are really excited to have some cousins live close by. Jeni and I have been chatting back and forth on e-mail and we both said that this will be neat for our children because none of them have had cousins live so close by before. I think we may both feel this way because growing up we both had the opportunity to live near each other and other cousins and we would get together and play at our Grandparent's home during holidays and birthdays. I also have to admit that I'm personally excited to hold her new baby girl that she had a couple of weeks ago!

It has been a busy but fun week for all of us!

She's a Keeper for at least another week Mom

Since Isabella is three now, and is very verbal we now experience sibling rivalry between her and Zachary. Every hour the two of them are arguing about something. Sometimes it feels like the arguing goes on from sunrise to sunset. The other day Zachary said, "Mom sister is a real pain and she bothers me. I wish she was a newborn because then I would have peace and quiet." "She also has to follow me and do what I'm doing." I explained to him that Isabella loves him and that she looks up to him because he is bigger. Zachary then said, "Oh whatever mom I guess we will keep her for another week." About a month ago,I took this snapshot of the two of them at Gene Coulon Beach Park. That day I could not believe that they were holding hands and I thought it was cute that Isabella was looking up at Zachary.

The BBQ

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to attend a BBQ on lake-front property. Some people who we know own a home that has a private beach in their backyard. This was a fun BBQ for all of us because the beach was clean, and only our kids had access to that portion of the lake. The BBQ was four hours long and not once did any of the kids get out of the lake. One of my new friend's named Cindy, who I met six months ago, also attended the BBQ. Cindy and I instantly hit it off because she also grew up in Southern Idaho and in fact she attended some of the same High School dances that I attended. What a small world! I can not believe that Cindy is one year older then me and she is the mother of six children whose ages range from 16 to 6. I tell her that she must be a "saint!" Her one son named Cody really enjoys Zachary and Isabella

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lla and the kiddos really like Cody. Cody stayed in the water with Zachary and Isabella the entire time.

A day at the beach. Discovery Park in Seattle

This past Saturday we took a two mile hike down to the beach and Puget Sound. The kids loved swimming, picking up shells, and playing in the sand! I took a photo of Isabella's feet in the sand because I want to remember how small they once were. In one of the photos you can also see Mt. Rainier in the background.

Zachary's summer

He made this little show by himself and was very proud!

Free photo collage generated with Smilebox

Oh how I love to SPLASH, PLAY IN THE SUN, and SWIM!

Here are some fun summer shots of our little Miss. Bella. As you can see she loved playing in the water and she spent a lot of time with mom since Zachary was busy playing with his friends. In one photo, Bella is very upset because she had to share a purple bucket with another child and sharing is hard for her. However, we were all at a BBQ togther and even when Bella was upset everyone thought she was still cute so we took a photo of her.

Sunshine in Seattle and we are LOVIN it!!!!

We spent the day in Seattle after my doctor's appointment at Swedish, which went well. We went to the Pacific Science Center followed by Pike's Place and the waterfront. I love Seattle summers!

Walker Lake

Evidently outside of Maple Valley we have a street and lake named after us. Zachary was really excited to see this.

Precious photos of Zachary and Isabella feeding the birds

We went down to the zoo and Zachary and Isabella had the opportuntity to feed the birds. They truly loved it!

Trucks and Dirt What could be better?

Here are some cute photos of Zachary and his friends playing with large dump trucks in the garden. What a fun summer night activity

Zachary's 7th Birthday Party at Lake Meridian

Zachary celebrated his birthday with his friends on July 30th. The weather was beautiful and it was a fun celebration for him. He received a lot of CARS 2 gifts which he loved! He invited one girl named Anna, which he says he is going to marry when he is 24.

Isabella's Princess TUTU I made for her.

Last Saturday my friend Michelle and I took a trip to one of our favorite craft stores. Isabella begged me to make her a princess tutu so here is a photo of her pink and brown tutu.