David & Joanne Walton Family

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!!! Here are some pictures of our snowy Christmas...

from Jeremy pushing the snow out of our driveway a couple days ago...

to our friends giving us some gifts, including this homemade blanket...

an attempt at growing my first Chia - a Chia Tree (not very impressed yet)...

to our little Christmas tree with presents (basically anything we bought in December we just wrapped and put under the tree) :) But we did do some actual presents, and received some from family. Thank you! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Trunk or Treat'n in Chicago

2008-11-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of our costumes from our ward's Trunk or Treat 2008. It was last Saturday after a marathon of sewing to get 4 costumes made (though out of fairness, Kelly did all of her "Alice in Wonderland" costume - she just asked for advice and direction a few times). I wasn't quite sure how the two wizzard costumes would turn out, since I gave them to the girls' mom to put in the zipper, hem them, and let the girls do the embellishments. But I was so happy to see them wearing their costumes that turned out so cute! I'm also posting a picture of what was in our trunk with the candy. Next year we will have bigger and better plans for our trunk display, but this worked.

Eeek! A Mouse!

2008-10-08T08:27:00.001-07:00

This morning was pretty exciting in our household. It started last night after the debate. I had been grading homework and was sorting the pile by last-name for ease in returning to students. From the corner of my eye, I saw something move by Hayleigh's doll house. It was a mouse!

I called Jake downstairs to help me corner it. Jake was pretty excited to be participating, but didn't really know what I wanted him to do. He sat by the couch looking attentive, but had no clue where the mouse was. So I proceeded to build up some barricades out of boxes to contain the mouse where I might be able to catch it. Unfortunately, the mouse was crouching, whiskers a-quivering, under the couch. I might be able to contain it, but had no chance of capturing it.

So I used a little wooden box that holds board puzzles as part of the wall and decided to try to spook the mouse into using that "shelter" for protection, at which time I would have trapped the mouse inside. (Gleeful chuckle :-) Then, I went to get a broom. I used the handle to direct the mouse toward the corner with the box. But the couch legs got in the way, and I couldn't get it all the way.

As I moved, the mouse darted out from under the couch and back into the kitchen. Now we had Jake's full attention! Off went the mouse. Off went Jake. They both hit the wood floor of the kitchen.

Did you know that a mouse has trouble on wood floors? Did you know a dog has trouble on wood floors? I wish I had a video 'cause it looked like Tom and Jerry with their legs sliding on the floor.

The mouse darted under the door of the pantry. The bottom of our pantry has some big buckets as well as bags of wheat and lots of plastic bags waiting for their turn to be either garbage can liners or recycled. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was HQ for the mouse.

I moved my barricade (or at least one box) from the living room into the kitchen right in front of the door. I didn't want the mouse to make a run while I was removing the hiding places in the closet. One bag at a time and one bucket at a time, I started to clean out the closet. I learned that mice really like macaroni and cheese. Mostly the cheese packets, but plenty of noodles sitting on the floor. Jake liked me cleaning that up -- crunch, crunch. One bag of wheat also had to be disposed of later. When I was down to two buckets, the mouse started scurring about on the wooden floor, but couldn't get past the box.

Until it did.

It jumped on top of the box and landed between my sock-laden feet. I tried to hold my feet together and manage to move my not-quite-as-useful-as-I-thought bottle to catch the mouse, but it hopped over my ankles, through my legs, and into the kitchen. Jake followed in earnest, and I was behind Jake. The mouse hid under the dishwasher.

So I proceeded to use a flashlight to see if I could see it. There was also hole where the drain pipe goes from the dishwasher to under the kitchen sink, so I tried to look under the sink. No mouse in evidence. I moved my barricade into the kitchen. No more escaping! But plenty of places to hide. I knew it could make it under the stove, under the kitchen cupboard, and under the dishwasher. I tried to shove towels and rugs into the holes that I could find. Then I began to disassemble the base of the dishwasher to get a look where we saw the mouse hide.

Four screws later, I had the bottom removed and started to look. The beam of the flashlight scanned back and forth, back and forth. Plenty of bunnies, but no mouse (aw-chew!). Jake found something interesting to lick and probably would have climbed under to explore if he would have fit. But no mouse. We closed up the dishwasher once again, left the barricade in place, and went to bed. Heather was asleep and would have to wait until morning for the exciting news. (Besides, who could sleep knowing a mouse was roaming the kitchen.)

In the morning, Michael came in at 6:30 to look for socks or something. Now that she was awake, I informed Heather of my adventure to explain why the rooms looked different. (Barricades in the kitchen are not really status quo, nor is an emptied pantry on the kitchen table.) Heather went down to help Michael finish getting ready for school. Five minutes later, Michael returned to tell me that Heather was hearing "scritch, scritch, scritch" sounds under the cupboard.

So I went downstairs and opened the cupboard under the sink where the sound was louder. Yessirree, that mouse had stuck the night out under the kitchen sink. We soon realized it had gone into the box of our very old bread mixer. I put duct tape over the hole (no more escaping little Ralph!) pulled the box out and set it down inside of a large Rubbermaid container (about the size of a big cooler). But the container was too small to open the lid of the box and still keep the mouse guaranteed to stay inside the big container.

I grabbed my pocketknife and cut away one of the sides of the box. Silence. I started to remove parts one at a time. Silence. After a few items, the mouse scurried about. I had it! I turned the box upside down and shook that mouse down into the Rubbermaid container. The problem was contained! It tried to jump but could only reach halfway up.

The easiest, most sanitary disposal method was upstairs --- a snake. But Michael had to go to school, so I put the lid on the bucket and the mouse would be on death row until the afternoon. Just at that moment, Nathaniel, Hayleigh and Zachary announced their awakening and entered the room. Since everyone was awake, we called Michael back from the bus stop and decided to shorten the mouse's wait.

I caught the mouse from the box with a glass jar and we headed upstairs. Moving the snake's terrarium to the middle of the room so everyone had a good view, we dropped the mouse and started to watch. At first the snake seemed asleep. Until the mouse started running around and jumping. Then the snake started looking around and smelling. It made a few bad lunges, grabbing onto itself while the mouse was already at the other side.

The mouse started to bury itself in the woodchips, and we thought it would stay hidden from the snake. So I took Michael off to school. But evidently, the mouse had made a fatal mistake. The snake scooted over the top of where the mouse was hiding and proceeded to constrict on top of the mouse. The mouse was at the least unconscious when the snake turned and gobbled it up.

Everyone was pretty excited. Jake wanted his chance at getting the mouse and could barely keep away from the glass. I'm sure the kids will have had a fun day telling this story at school!

Sorry. No pictures -- who thinks about pictures at a time like this?

Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma!!!

2008-08-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Happy 60th Birthday! We all wanted to make something special and give you a big hand for all that you've done for us.

The attached photo will have to serve as a miniature version of what is in the mail and should arrive shortly.

We love you. Three cheers for Mom/Grandma!

Love,
Heather, Brian, Michael, Nathaniel, Hayleigh, Zachary
Stephanie, Dallan, Amelia, Lucy,
Kim, Jeremy,
Richard,
Chris, Regina, and Gregory

(This was copied from Heather's email.)

Cake Flour Substitute

2008-07-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

So I just remembered that I didn't use cake flour. I had looked up a substitute and after doing the measurements that it said (subtract 2 Tbsp flour from each cup of flour and replace with corn starch), I used 2 cups flour and 1/4 cup corn starch for the chocolate cake.

Also, the first time I made the cake I used an angel food cake pan. It worked just fine, it just didn't have the decorative top that a bundt pan has. The second time I made the cake I bought a bundt pan and thought I greased it well, but I did have to scrape off the top of the cake from the pan and "mold" it back in place on top of the cake. Next time I'll either grease it better or try not flouring the greased pan. If you do flour the pan, adding the cocoa really does color the flour so the cake stays chocolately brown.

Enjoy! We're going to make it this weekend...

Really GOOD Chocolate Cake!!!

2008-07-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe for a really easy chocolate cake, we love it! :)

Featherlight Chocolate Cake

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), plus more for the pan
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for the pan
1/2 cup good-quality cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups ice water

Serving suggestion: Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with milk

Arrange a rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a bundt pan or tube pan. (You can use a mixture of cocoa powder and flour instead of flour, to prevent white spots on the cake.)

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar. One at a time, mix in the eggs, then the vanilla, occasionally scraping down the mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then 1/3 of the ice water. Repeat, mixing after each addition.

Transfer the batter to the pan and bake until springy and dry, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Let cool in the pan on a rack, then carefully turn the cake out. Just before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over the top. Serve with very cold milk!

(courtesy of Food Network http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_23846,00.html)

Midwest Earthquake

2008-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

In case you heard the news and were wondering, yes there was an earthquake here in Illinois yesterday! Crazy, huh? I had no idea there was a fault line in our state. But sure enough, it shifted and Jeremy actually felt it! He was up doing work stuff early in the morning and felt the shaking. One of my coworkers said she thought someone was shaking her bed (she lives alone) and she was afraid to open her eyes! I slept right through it, so I still have to say I have never felt an earthquake. But no worries, we are safe and sound.

Reflections on a great weekend with Kim and Jeremy!

2008-04-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from our wonderful weekend with Kim and Jeremy. It was fun for my girls to get to spend some time with them. Yes Kim, Amelia was very distraught when she realized you were gone this afternoon. So we looked at some pictures and she felt better. We love you guys so much!

This is our trip to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. Kim got so many good pictures it was hard for me to pick which ones to show you. She has quite the eye for beauty! This was a fun place to go.

We also had an all inclusive birthday party Friday night that involved much silliness.

To be continued....

Happy St. David's Day!

2008-03-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would wish you all a Happy St. David's Day! As you may or may not know, it is a national holiday in Wales....and since our family shares some Welsh bloodlines I wanted to recognize it. This is also partially due to the fact that they wear daffodils today, which to me means spring must be around the corner!!! (At least I'm hoping so!)

Chris and Regina's Christmas

2008-01-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Whew! That went by in a hurry. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day packing for our trip to England. Around 2:30, Regina headed off to church for the family service. I stayed home and made dinner, and when she got back around 6:00 we sat down to eat our modest recreation of her family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. I am what you might call a highly literal chef: Even though there were only two of us at the table, I still prepared the entire frozen batch of manicotti and an entire loaf of garlic bread. I was so focused on trying to get everything done that I didn't really stop to think about how much food I was making! At any rate, here is Regina sitting down to enjoy the meal on our brand new Christmas dishes -- with lovely pitcher, sugar bowl, and creamer from Kim! -- before we opened our presents and headed off to the late Christmas Eve service.

The late service started at 10:00 (I sang in the choir and Regina helped lead the service), and we didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. Early Christmas morning, we cleaned up the kitchen, loaded the car, and hit the road to New Jersey, arriving around one in the afternoon -- just in time to open presents and head to her aunt's for the Laba Christmas dinner.

On Wednesday we repacked and got ready for our early morning flight to London on Thursday. I won't try to describe our full England adventure just yet, but here are a handful of pictures of us across the pond.

You might say that we focused on churches and cathedrals. Here I am outside Wells Cathedral, which has a wonderful facade chock full of sculptures. We also visited cathedrals in Winchester, Salisbury, and London, and smaller churches related to Regina's Ph.D. in Bemerton and Little Gidding.

Oxford, as you can imagine, was a real high point for me: Here I am in the nook of a pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and their friends used to hang out, surrounded by mementos of their literary circle, pretending I'm waiting for them all to arrive. You can tell I'm pretending because my eyes are closed! The pub is called The Eagle and Child, but Lewis and Tolkien liked to call it the Bird and Baby.

And here's Regina in London!

On our last morning in England, we climbed to the whispering gallery in St Paul's Cathedral in London, very s-l-o-w-l-y, marveled at the fact that you really can whisper to the person on the opposite end of the cathedral dome, and then agreed that England had worn us out. We can't wait to go back -- but somehow I think it may be a while!

I'll post a photo or two from Regina's ordination last weekend as soon as I can. We only got back to Massachusetts Tuesday night, then hurried to try to get our house ready for visiting friends and family, and enjoyed a whirlwind weekend of events and guests through Sunday afternoon. And then we slept. And slept. And were grateful that a snowstorm shut down the city today so we could catch our breath.

Happy new year!

Christmas at the Wood's

2008-01-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

Just thought we would share some pictures of Christmas at our house. We were very lucky that it didn't snow so that I wouldn't have to work! It was a very snowy December in Illinois, so we didn't get our tree until a week before Christmas. It was decorated on the Saturday before Christmas, and I finally finished my tree skirt project on Christmas Eve. I made my first attempt at Swedish meatballs & potatoes, which we both devoured...sorry, no pictures. On Christmas morning we opened our gifts (some of which we had bought for ourselves and decided to put them under the tree to extend the gifting) and then went to the Wood family's house for the afternoon. Merry (late) Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Here is our tree...

and the finished tree skirt...

and our gifts... (had to play photoshoot!)

and some ornaments I made a few years ago that were on the tree...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Woods!

In the news

2007-12-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

Nathaniel's 3rd grade class made a front-page appearance in the local newspaper for an economics project. You can read about it at the Daily News Record

To see the actual layout, go to the e-edition of the paper. Since a link doesn't work (see Chris's comment), go to DNR Online and look at the far right of the page for "e-editions" and then go to back issues. Choose Saturday, December 22, and then read the 1st and 3rd page. You can read an excerpt of Nathaniel's job application on the page 3 inset (e-version only):

"I'm a good worker because I don't fight with others. I'm a smooth cutter because I can cut a hard piece of paper. And measure very well and count to 1,000 and can be willing to work with others."

To a Special Red-Headed Uncle

2007-11-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Chris, from the Simper Quartet.

We were thinking of you today. For Amelia, it was any excuse to make a cake! So we had a birthday party for you! We would have invited you, but the commute is a killer..... so from a distance, a very happy birthday to you! We love you.

Travels in Virginia

2007-11-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

During our whirlwind trip to Virginia last month, we spent at night with Brian and Heather and the kids. (Alas, we were all so busy playing Sunday night that I forgot to take any pictures. I wish I had some of Zachary rolling around on his ball.) Bright and early the next morning — and I do mean bright — Michael and Nathaniel peddled off to school:

While Hayleigh and Zachary peddled around indoors:

In Virginia, we also visited Paul (who's teaching in Charlottesville) and Kate. We're going to England for their wedding a few days after Christmas. Here's Regina with Paul and Kate on the University of Virginia campus:

Since this will be my first trip to England — and our last big trip for a while! ;) — let me know if there are things you think should be on our itinerary.

Ah, back in warm October!

2007-11-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to post some photos from Regina and my adventures back in balmy October. After only eleven years in Massachusetts, we finally rented a canoe and paddled up the Concord River to the historic Old North Bridge where the Concord Minutemen chased off the British troops in that famous April battle that kicked off the American Revolution. (Okay: enough history!) Here's Regina in the lead, with the bridge in the background:

And here I am:

And here's where we got out of the river to stroll around:

Fall at the Woods

2007-11-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Life continues to be busy in Illinois for us, but we have managed to have some good times. We went to a "trunk or treat" at the church the Saturday before Halloween. Jeremy dressed up as a farmer with bad teeth and bushy eyebrows. I was a witch with purple embellishments and long black hair. Jeremy had a good time decorating the trunk like a haunted cemetery!

I tried to leave work at a decent time a few weeks ago but traffic was so bad that I stopped at the craft store. Two hours later I left the store with some silk flowers, a piece of green foam, and a ceramic planter. I ended up getting home later than usual and with a little less money! But this is what our kitchen table looks like now. I also bought some fabric to make a table runner and a christmas tree skirt, which I still need to make. (Moral of the story is don't try to drive home in all the traffic!)

And last, but not least, this is our pet: Fish. Yes, his name is Fish. Sometimes we call him "Fishy" for short. He's a crazy one, and I'll explain why. He is very picky about his food and will not eat soggy fish flakes, so we have to point to the fresh flakes until he eats them. He also get's very active in the bowl if he is hungry. He swims back and forth and if we put our finger at the surface of the water, he will jump up and nibble the tip of our fingers! The last thing is that when he is sleeping he doesn't move at all, but sometimes we think he has a bad dream, wakes up swimming rapidly around the bowl, and then just stops and sinks back to the bottom. Who said a fish couldn't be an exciting pet?!

A Snake, A Cake, and Jake

2007-10-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

The Walton family of Virginia --- not the famous Walton family of Walton mountain --- has been changing since we returned from Utah this summer. First one snake, and then another arrived to take up residence in Michael and Nathaniel's room. Here they are:

They eat frozen mice (thawed, of course, but not cooked :-) It's fascinating to watch them detach their jaws to swallow their meals.

We have also added a fence in our backyard. That makes it so that Nathaniel's big wish could be fulfilled -- a dog! This is Jake. He is a 5 month old Beagle puppy.

Jake isn't so sure about which toys are his and which ones aren't. But he is already getting better. We haven't had much trouble keeping the children from eating Jake's food (or the snakes' food, for that matter). The other way around is likely to be an interesting development.

Finally, we thought you'd enjoy seeing Zachary enjoying his dessert. Actually, this isn't cake; it is an ice cream sandwich. But that doesn't rhyme well with snakes and Jake.

Hope everyone has a happy Halloween!

Amelia Speaketh

2007-10-29T22:31:00.001-07:00

To her dad:
"I love you daddy, you are my boy ever."

On doctrinal subjects:
"Adam's transgression." (sometimes "Adam's discretion")
"When Jesus was resurrected, the angels come and put his body back together."

About the cat:
"Tula is my best friend."

About her pumkin:
"This is my Jackolin."

Meta Blogging

2007-10-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

My family is into the blogging scene and they post more regularly then I do. My little sister blogged the weekend we went to my cousin's wedding. Number #1 appears in three days of that week.

Thursday
Friday
Sunday

Sorry, the littlest is not on these posts. I will see if I can dig up some others.

Nathaniel's baptism

2007-10-03T17:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's been a month since the event. But here is a quick report.

Grandma and Grandpa Halls as well as mom and dad came out for Nathaniel's baptism on the weekend of Labor day. Nathaniel was excited about his baptism until he realized that everyone was there to watch him. However, after he made it in for the meeting, he didn't really stop smiling. Grandpa Walton gave a great, personal talk to him that I know made Nathaniel feel special. The baptism and confirmation both went just great.

Here are some pictures.

photos by Caroline

2007-09-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

By the way, we finally got the DVD from Caroline and we will be sending copies to you this week. Stephanie & Dallan's picture has white sky in back. However, Dad took some landscape pictures and is photoshopping the background in. The trial runs look cool. All the other pictures look great

Look! It's Mom

2007-09-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dad helped me. I'm going to try this out also...a little at a time. Love you all. Archway looks cool. I'll have to make those carrot cookies again, Kim. They really are good. Dad says, "Thanks, Chris for the Bluff pictures. " Bye

Under Construction!

2007-09-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

This is what we've been working on all summer long! Dallan has done a lot and learned a lot about house building (although he now KNOWS he doesn't want a construction job, or anything similar. He's happy with his computers!)

This is what it looked like before. Notice the placement of the gate made it very difficult to get to the laundry room located in the carport. With the help of a neighbor we cut out some walls and doors and put in new ones and, VOILA! We have indoor laundry! HOORAY! :)

Get family blog updates via email

2007-09-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Worried that you'll forget to visit the family blog and miss out on exciting news? Sign up for email delivery and new posts will arrive in your inbox:

Our trip to Bluff

2007-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of the new Hole-in-the-Rock monument in Bluff, Utah, from our trip to southern Utah in early August. Here are more.

Orange Carrot Cookies

2007-09-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

These cookies are so good! I think they're perfect for the fall.

Cream together and set aside:
3/4 cup butter or shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup cooked carrots (mashed)

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix wet and dry ingredients together. Add 1/2 - 1 cup chopped nuts (optional).
Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes on a greased cooking sheet.

Drizzle this glaze over warm cookies. (I like to put the cooling rack on a cooking sheet or parchment paper to make for an easier cleanup from the drippings.)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp orange juice
pinch of salt
orange rind (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Welcome!

2007-09-15T10:58:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be cool to have a family blog that could act like a newsletter for all of us. We can use it to post pictures, recipes, funny stories, jokes, etc... I think the MyFamily.com website just didn't work out very well. Maybe we could try this? Let me know what you think.

Kim