A favorite birthday gift...

Parker was so thrilled with one of his gifts from his daddy for his birthday. Jonathan had him a baseball shirt made just like his! He now has a Carino's shirt like his daddy and has his favorite #41 on the back!!! He wore it to the game on Monday and thought he was "big stuff!" He got to run around the bases after they won their game and even had to slide into home! (Much to Mommy's dismay!) He has already been asking when is Daddy's next game? A true sports nut...

A visit with Dana!

We got to see Dana last night as she was here in the US for another business trip. She lives in Czech Republic and flies home today! It is a 10 hour flight once she gets to Atlanta! She loves shopping at our outlet mall and always says she can't believe how cheap our clothing is here. She usually has to "sit" on her luggage to get it shut when she goes home! This time, she bought a huge suitcase here and was disappointed that she didn't completely fill it up! She said she may have to stop on the way to the airport today to fill it some more!
We met her at Johnny Carinos and enjoyed our short visit. The kids were getting restless and we were finished so we decided to go talk outside. They were running all over the place and once I looked down and they were all three laying down on the dirty sidewalk, looking up at the sky! We had a nice visit and I am sure by the time we left, she was probably calling her husband telling him how wild the kids were!!!

She doesn't know when she will get to come back to the US as she is changing roles at her job! We hope it isn't too long and we look forward to seeing her again some time! (Maybe Jonathan will have to go there on a business trip and I can tag along like Tamra!!!) Yeah right...

Our week...

Nothing much exciting has been going on around here which is why I haven't posted recently! I spent Monday cleaning up after the birthday party and worked the next couple of days.

Tuesday was Jonathan and LuRhe's #20th wedding anniversary!!

Tuesday evening, I took Mom to the Derby Dinner Playhouse and we had dinner and watched the musical, "Sing Hallelujah!" It was a fun girls night out! (Thanks Jonathan for keeping the kids!)

Today the twins were total terrors and have demolished parts of the house! They started out by somehow getting our "trackless" shower door off the track! This was before I had showered and the door is stuck and I simply cannot budge it! (I had to take a bath and wash my hair in the sink. Not my favorite way of doing it, but it worked!) Then I discovered they had de-capitated one of my Boyd's Bear resins, and the list goes on and on today!

Mary Jane finished her radiation on Tuesday of this week! We are so happy she is done and that she did so well! She deserves a big vacation Chuck!!!

Our good friends, Darin and Amy Shearer just celebrated their #15th wedding anniversary yesterday and spent the evening in prayer meeting! (They have big plans for a romantic getaway in the winter months!) I thought I had a picture of them, but can't seem to find it!

Anyway, that is a brief look at what is going on in our lives this week. Pretty boring but a "post" nonetheless!!!

Now, the twins are screaming, it is time to get ready to leave and this is how I feel...

Karen's celebrity look alike...

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No matter how many pictures I tried of me, it would mostly come up that I looked like some male and more than once it said I looked like Bob Saget! Guess the glasses are similar! Most of the females it showed, weren't even close!

Now, I am off to get a complete makeover... See you later!

Jonathan's celebrity look alike...

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Parker's celebrity look alike...

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Jonathan was excited to see this. Apparently he is the world's highest paid soccer player. Maybe Parker will have to change sports!!!

Peyton's celebrity look alike...

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Paige's celebrity look alike...

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(Okay...it's a stretch!!)

Parker's Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had Parker's big birthday party. He had so much fun and enjoyed playing outside with all the kids. It was a really hot day so we went through the drinks trying to keep everyone cool and hydrated. He got lots of nice gifts and really enjoyed his party.
Now it is time to write out the Thank You cards! (My favorite part...)

Parker's Birthday Party

Tag... I'm it!

I was "tagged" by Angie Davis and so many are doing this, I felt obligated to respond! I don't have any really neat things to say about myself but here it goes anyway... I will do as I was told and list 7 random things about myself and "tag" seven others to do likewise...



#1. I am 1 year and 10 months older than my husband! (I can't believe I told that!)



#2. My first job was at Kroger's in the cheese shop. (People used to tease me about cutting the cheese at my job!)



#3. I have been to Israel.



#4. I am left handed.



#5. Someone supposedly heard me say at my bridal shower that "I would LOVE to have twins someday!"



#6. My favorite vacation spot is Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.



#7. I hate meatloaf.



Now... I "tag" Michelle Krick, Jenny Grissom, Tamra Craycraft, Denise Bittinger, Katressa Killinger, Brother Hight, and Leanna Pitcher! (Their links are all listed on my blog.)

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 44th Wedding Anniversary to Jonathan's parents today!
They are going to Kentucky to the "apple festival" to celebrate.

Hope you have a fun day!
We love you!
Jonathan, Karen, Parker, Peyton & Paige

Birthday photos...

Parker's 5th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Parker!

5 years ago today, our lives changed forever! I had been up all day and had worked a 12 hour night shift and was nearing the end of my shift. I started feeling "not too swell" and had a "gush" and one of my co-workers insisted on wheeling me down to LDRP in a wheelchair! How embarassing! Sure enough, my water had broke and I was there to stay! I had my labor nurse run and clock me out for the day!! I begged them to let me run home and shower and I promised I would "be right back!" Nothing doing...

I should tell you that my Mom was in Kansas visiting her mother who was suffering from Pancreatic Cancer, and Jonathan's parents were in Michigan on vacation! (I was 2 weeks early and had no signs that I would go into labor early! My doctor told my mom she would be safe to go out of town!) WRONG... My mom was trying to get a flight home asap and my poor Grandpa Brown was laying on the couch with crushing chest pains! (They found out later he was having a heart attack!)

Jonathan's parents were out in the middle of "no where" vacationing and had no signal on their cell phones!! Things were not going as planned at all!!

My doctor told us I would be at least 12-18 hours in labor so Jonathan settled in for what he thought would be a loooooong day! To make a long story short, 3 1/2 hrs later, at 12:39pm Parker David Walden was born! My Mom was sitting in the airport at Chicago, Jonathan's parents had no idea we were even at the hospital and my dad was on a lunch break! At least Jonathan was there! (Things happened so fast that he almost didn't even get the cameras out! The nurse had to tell him, "This is it, turn your camera on!) He took the doctor seriously when he said 12-18 hours!

My dad and brother came to see us about an hour later and were our first visitors! My mom didn't arrive until 7:30pm that evening! Her flight had gotten delayed, tornado's ripped through Indy, and her luggage got lost! Talk about a stressed out new Grandma!!! Jonathan didn't get a-hold of his parents until the next day and they headed home as soon as they could! (They too drove through the tornadoes with their truck and trailer to get here!)

Our lives have been forever changed and we wouldn't trade him for a million dollars! He has truly been a joy to have in our home and we can't believe 5 years have passed so quickly!

Happy Birthday Parker David! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Click on the photo below for more Parker pictures!

Parker

NQC Highlights...

We are back from our busy 2 days at NQC. We had a blast and got very little sleep! We arrived on Thursday evening and watched the awards, then stayed for the entire evening concert which did not end util 12:30am! We only touched the surface of the exhibit hall that evening! We did not get to eat supper prior to the concert so we were completely starved by the time the concert ended! We went out driving around and found an Arby's that was open 24hrs! (Arby's never had tasted so good to me!) We fell into bed at almost 2am and were back up before 8am to go at it again! We went to the "NQC All-Star Baseball game" which was a hoot! Let's just say, many of the players have NOT missed their calling! We ran to a showcase at noon to hear The Collingsworth's sing and were also able to hear our friend, Tim LeBeau and his son, Timmy sing in an afternoon showcase as well! We walked up and down every isle in the exhibit hall on Friday afternoon which took 3 hours! Wearily, we climbed to our seats about 7:00pm for the evening concert! I never left my seat for the rest of the night, and once again, we stayed until the last song had been sung! We headed home at 12:20am to rescue our babysitter!!! The kids were all snuggled in their beds and we "crashed!" Thank goodness, they all slept in today! Good babies!!! I will upload more pictures of our time at the NQC but here are a few of our favorites! Have a great weekend!

Jonathan and Bill Shiver's (Lead singer-Brian Free and Assurance)

Bill felt the need to stand on his tip-toes during this photo!
The Collingsworth Family performing in the afternoon showcase

Jonathan and buddy, Tim LeBeau
Such a pretty face, Mark!!!

Dino and his wife talking with Legacy Five

National Quartet Convention

Here is the link to Solid Gospel to hear the NQC live. (It's free...)

John Myers, if you are watching via the internet, we will be in the nosebleed section both Thursday and Friday night! (One year we sat in the very top row... )

Listen for Jonathan cheering loudly for Ivan Parker at 9:50pm Friday night!

http://www.solidgospel.com/subpage.asp?StationId=SolGos&PageNo=77

Parker...

Parker woke up this morning and said, "Look Mom, I have a "spageeto" bite on my arm!

National Quartet Convention

The National Quartet Convention officially began tonight and runs through Saturday evening in Louisville, Kentucky. We are so excited to get to go two different nights this year! We have never been to the awards on Thursday evening, but get to go this year! We also get to spend the night away from our kids, (another first ever) and will attend the showcases on Friday and the concert again on Friday evening! There is even a celebrity baseball game on Friday morning that Jonathan wants to attend. (Imagine that!) We are really getting excited. It is so much fun to see so many of our favorite artists in one spot, and getting to visit all their booths and buy a bunch of new CD's to listen to all year long!!!

I am trying to find the site where we listened to the NQC live last year on-line! It is available for a fee from the NQC website. You might want to check it out! www.natqc.com I will post the "free" link if I ever come across it this week!

Have a great week and I will be sure to take my camera Thursday and Friday!

Happy Grandparents Day!!

The Walden kids just wanted to say "Happy Grandparents Day" to the best Grandparents in the world!!! (They think so anyway!!!) Happy Grandparents day to Grandma and Grandpa Walden and Grandma and Grandpa Thompson from Parker, Peyton and Paige! We love you all very, very, very much! Thanks to both sets of Grandparents for babysitting us and playing with us! We love to come to both of your houses!!! Hope you have a nice Grandparents day and even get to take a nap!!! (Might be hard for Grandma and Paw Paw since we will be at their house all afternoon!!!)

Love you all bunches...

"MMMMMMAAAAAAH"

Love,

Parker, Peyton & Paige

Dad's family...

My uncle Steve Thompson, was here for a short visit over Labor Day weekend! We all got together for dinner at Mom's on Sunday afternoon! Here are a couple of photos of my grandparents and their children. They aren't together that often so when they do finally get together, we always take their picture!

Left to right: my dad: his brother, Kevin Thompson: sister, Vickie Best: and brother from Florida, Steve Thompson.

Grandma and her son, "Stevie Jo" :)

Parker's rendition...

Last night at bedtime, Parker was saying his usual "night night" prayer and decided to change it a little! He said, "Now I lay me, down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night, and wake me up, in the middle of the night..." Jonathan quickly replied, "Uhhhhh, scratch that!" I cracked up! Parker quickly corrected it to "in the morning light!"

I don't know about you, but when I was little, it had a different ending! More morbid... I like this version better! (Does this make his prayer a NIV?)

Our family day!

We decided on a spur of a moment to spend our Labor Day at Kings Island in Cincinnati. I was on line and saw they had a good rate on their tickets for Labor Day weekend. We didn't get over there until around 1pm and ended up staying until the park closed at 8pm! We took our three kids and spent the most part of the day in the Nickelodeon kids part of the park! Parker had a blast and the twins enjoyed it too! They didn't get to ride as many rides as they did earlier this summer at Disney World, but they still enjoyed being outside and watching all the people! It was a beautiful day and not crowded at all!
The only thing I did not enjoy was the log ride... Parker absolutely begged to ride it and he and Jonathan went and got in line! I had parked myself on a bench in the shade and the twins were actually being good and quiet! My cell phone rang and Jonathan said, "They said if the twins can stand alone, they can ride this ride too! Bring them on over!" So... I go over, empty out my valuables from the diaper bag, grab a kid on each hip and head for the line! It went fairly quickly and our party of 5 filled up our own boat! They made us actually sit the twins down on the bench and not on our laps. No seat belts, nothing... As soon as we hit a wall, water splashed in on us and they started screaming!!! We topped the hill and tried to keep them covered, but it was no use... we ALL got drowned! They really screamed. There was an elephant at the end as we were coasting in to dock and it "sprayed" us and completely finished soaking us! As we pulled in, I felt like a horrible mother, two kids screaming their heads off and an almost 5 year old jumping up and down and yelling "we got soaked!!!" Needless to say, that was our last ride of the day!!! I hope it didn't scar the twins for life...
We stopped at Frisch's Big Boy on the way home and filled our tummy's! When we pulled in our driveway at 10:30pm, all was quiet in the SUV!!! What a nice sound!!!
Here are some pics of our fun day! Hope they don't bore you! There are a couple of shots of the drowned rats in there somewhere...

King's Island 2007

Have a great holiday!

Welcome to McDonalds...

They tore down our McDonald's on Hwy 31 this week and there is nothing left! Parker was crushed when we drove by the other night. He cried the whole way home and decided that the only builder he likes is his Grandpa Bob!!! He was so mad at those excavators and bulldozers! We tried telling him they are going to rebuild it and make it better but he doesn't understand. We heard it will be two stories tall and have a double drive thru! We need it, that place is always packed and cars are lined up on the street! In the meantime, while they rebuild, we will be supporting Wendy's more often... (At least we still have McDonald's on the other side of town too!)