My Welker Kiddos!

2011-02-23T11:00:00.001-08:00

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First Day of scool

2011-02-23T10:50:00.001-08:00

here are the boys ready for their first day at their new school. Surprisingly Joshua went with a smile and Matthew wasn't too excited. I don't think I'll ever figure these kiddos out!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-09T21:05:00.001-08:00

We Welker's sure know how to ring in the New Year. We may have hit the "cool-aid" a little hard, but we had fun! The silly pictures were fun to do. I got a new camera for Christmas and it has all sorts of really fun things built into it. And of course we had our silly confetti. Happy 2011 everyone!

Me the party girl.....

ok.....the party's over...let's go to bed!

HECK YA!!!! LOLOL

Matthew showing us the 2010 is dead

Logan pretending to be asleep...he's a good actor!

Lilly trying to be like Logan :)

This wasn't on New Year's Eve, but I thought all of you Utah and Idaho people would get a chuckle out of Joshua's HUGE sledding hill, which doubles as our borrow pit

Being cute

2011-01-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Lilly was helping me make breakfast

Here are our girls all dressed up for Church in thier new matching dresses. Lilly, and my two neices Jenna and Rachel. Our family makes cute kids

Giant Holiday Spirit

2010-10-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Papa and Matthew grew these in their garden. Pretty dang awesome if you ask me

Check out this beauty!

My dad is so cute!

Matthew tried to lift it, but it weighed so much he couldn't even budge it! lol

Lilly's First Steps

2010-10-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

We received Lilly's new walker last Friday and are SO excited to watch her learn how to walk. She has been doing awesome with it and we wanted to share these exciting moments with you!

Lilly's Physical Therapist, Karla, helps get her all set up. Her tray on the back is for her to pick up toys and place there etc. VERY CUTE!

Karla walked backwards and Lilly followed her around the room.

Look mom! I'm doing it!!!

This is Lilly's Early Childhood Intervention counselor Sheila. Here she gives Lilly a hug for doing such a great job!

Lilly figured out really fast that she can reach things and get where she wants now. Better keep the piano lid down.

Lilly and Sheila

Karla, Lilly, and Sheila after the PT session was over. Lilly did a great job!

Matthew is 9!

2010-09-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's Matthew after all the gifts were open. I'd say that he made out VERY well. There was an ISpy book that he got too, but we couldn't find int. I think Lilly may have taken off with it.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2010-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry these pictures are really out of order....

Lilly picking up her new toy camera.

Bring on the Cake!

She wasn't really that messy...seams like the boys always dug in..she's a lady lol

Lilly is eating her favorite dinner. Notice the spoon in her hand. GO LILLY!

You will hardly ever see Papa with out Lilly or the other way around. They are friends for life. Here Papa is bringing Lilly into the living room to open gifts.

Bring on the presents!

Look dad! A princess!

Lilly was not overly excited to leave her toys and go eat cake. Blowing out the candles was not her favorite either. I tried to upload the video, but I guess it was just too big of a file :( She still favors her right side of course and most likely always will, but she has made tremendous progress! I can't believe she is already two. She understands about 75% of what we say, but cannot seam to get her needs across to us verbally. She will say things like,
"Papa, go"
Papa will answer, "You want to go in the car?"
Lilly-"shakes her head"
Papa-"you want to go in the van?"
Lilly- "yea!"

She is very smart! Mom and dad were here for a few days and had to go home to get another load of their stuff to store out here. Lilly was very upset that her papa had left her. She went around the house in every room calling his name. We had to go over to Jared's for something that day and when we pulled up I asked her if she wanted to see Jared. She responded, "NO! Papa!" She had figured out that if Papa wasn't at our house, he would be at uncle Jared's. She was so sad to find out that he wasn't there either. But she is SO smart! She really gets things. Here she is trying to get up on the couch

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-07T19:59:00.001-07:00

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And the 3rd place winner is.......

2010-02-01T11:37:00.001-08:00

Matthew's pine wood derby was yesterday and he placed 3rd! He is a in the wolf den and had a blast. Joseph made a car for the "dad competition" and took 1st. He however did not get a medal.

Matthew and his friend Riley watching the other racers.

Matthew was a little surprised that he won.

Matthew coming down off the stage with his medal

Matthew's car, and medal. GO MATTHEW!

January News

2010-01-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

I have gotten so lazy about my blog! I use facebook now and guess I neglect all of you who do not have a facebook account. So I am sorry!

Joseph- Still in pain from the spinal fusion. He has not been able to go back to work yet and we are hoping that someday this will end. He does receive workman's comp and so we are not starving. He has been busy watching TV and keeping up to date on the news. Poor guy really can't do much.

Becca- Still in the Relief Society Presidency as the education counselor. I work with some of the best sisters and I love it! I was also called as the ward Young Single Adult Institute teacher. I am teaching piano again as well and I love that! I wish I had a real piano in my home instead of the keyboard, but it has 78 keys and works pretty good. I was able to visit Michigan over the New Year and loved seeing all of my old friends.

Rachel- Doing really good in school. She was excited because she got 100% on every single asignment except for one and it was a 90%. She was worried because she had to take Speach this semester and was really nervous about it. She got an A on her first speech, so I guess she won't need to worry any more. She is very good at school. She is learning to cook and made a really yummy noodle chicken casserole.

Matthew- Very popular little dude at school. In fact when I pick him up at the end of the day we can't get down the hall without at least 5-6 kids wanting to stop him and talk. (because they haven't seen him all day......) He came home the a few weeks ago upset because Lauren was trying to be more popular than him. 2nd grad drama is so hard :)

Joshua- FINALLY likes to go to school. He waked up and gets dressed all by himself now. He enjoys coloring and learning, but still has a hard time academically. While all of the other kids are reading and blending words, Joshua is still having a hard time recognizing letters and their sounds. We got him a new pair of glasses and we're hoping that will help. He has a disability of some sort but we have not had him diagnosed with anything

Logan- Continues to eat us out of house and home. He will be 4 in March and you'd think the was 14. That kid is always hungry. I have seriously never seen a kid eat as much as him. We have to regulate his meal and snack time because he would eat all day if we let him. He also loves to watch TV....which is a concern. My 3-year-old is a couch potato. I turn off the TV after 2 shows and the lost expression on him face cracks me up. He looks at me like "well, that was rude! now what am I supposed to do?" He does however love to read books too, so at least we spend of our time productively

Lilly-cute and sweet as ever. We took her to Omaha to an opthamologyst last week and found out a few things. Although she does have scaring on her retnas, it does not seam to be affecting her vision. I was very excited about that news. She does however have a weak muscle and so we have to dialate her good eye so that everything looks blury to her. The hope is that her weak eye will have to do the work and become stronger. Never a dull moment for that poor girl. We also got a new toy for her called a Stander. It does just what is sounds like. She gets strapped to the backboard of this equipment and her feet rest on a platform that keeps her standing putting weight on her legs. Her left leg is shorter than her right let so we have to all a little lift. She is getting much stronger and showing improvement already. Her new trick is to scoot all over the house on her butt and is wearing holes in all of her pants!

AS A FAMILY- We are planning on moving to St. George, UT by the end of the school year, but that will only happen if a few other things work themselves out first. We are doing pretty good other than that and send love to you all

Joseph, Becca, Rachel, Matthew, Joshua, Logan, and Lilly

October News Letter

2009-11-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. We've been pretty busy.

Joseph had his second surgery on his spine. This time they did a spinal fusion and he is recovering slowly. Bending, lifting, and moving at all are pretty hard for him to do. We try to go walking together down the dirt road every day and we enjoy our walks.

I have been keeping busy just being a mom of 4 kids. Running Lilly to all of her appointments and teaching piano. I have been volunteering at the school for a number of things as well this month. My favorite is working in the band room with the beginning band. They sound so cute and it brings back memories ;-) I also got to help with the book fair!

Matthew has been busy selling popcorn for cub scouts and thanks all who participated and bought popcorn from him. We have made a little over $300. He is also one of the best readers in his class. He is in 2nd grade now and reads at a 3rd grade level. His math skills are not quite as good but we continue to work on those. He has been making good choices and trying to remember to do what Heavenly Father wants him to do.

Joshua has learned a routine of school now. We don't have to fight him nearly as bad as we used to. He just knows that mom is not going to give in and that he might as well just do it. He is a funny little guy. He doesn't want to have friends. He likes to play by himself and is happy doing so....so I guess what ever makes him happy makes me happy too!

Logan is 3....enough said? He can do EVERYTHING himself now and when he can't its my fault. He loves nursery and is excited to be going into sunbeams in January. He is your typical 3-year-old and makes life pretty interesting for us.

Lilly is still as sweet as ever. She loves to play the piano and smile. She has gotten 4 molars in at the same time this week and has not enjoyed that very much. Either have any of us around her ;( Her health continues to do very well and she is waiting for a standing frame that was ordered a while ago. This piece of equipment will hold her legs together so she can stand and put weight on them. It has a tray for toys and should be really fun.

Rachel is my sister-in-law. She is living with us and has been for a while, but I haven't updated this for a while so I thought I would just mention her. She is so fun to have in our house. She cracks me up with her moods. She can be REALLY happy and then REALLY grumpy and all in the same day....must be a teen-ager ;-) She had a pretty bad day on Friday. She hit some loose gravel on the dirt road about 1 mile from our home and rolled the car. She had Matthew with her and they are both fine. Rachel is very sore and may have injured her hip, but the X-rays showed no broken bones at all! Matthew was able to walk out with out a single cut or scratch on him. He wasn't even scared....boys!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Sorry it's been so long!

Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree

2009-10-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Matthew has joined the cub scouts this year and is selling popcorn for a fund raiser. If he makes enough money he will be able to go to Omaha at the end of the year and do a ton of really fun things. If you'd like to buy popcorn online you can visit
www.trails-end.com Matthew's ID #4212029 If you don't like the high prices as most don't...but still want to help you can mail what ever you'd like to donate to

Matthew Welker
41471 Rd 7684212029
Gothenburg, NE 69138

Thank you for all who have donated already. Please understand there I do hold any obligation whatsoever!

Matthew's Special Day

2009-10-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Matthew turned 8 years old on September 28. In our church, we believe that on that special day a person is then old enough to be accountable to know right from wrong and are baptized into the church. Baptism is a very important step to being able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. We dress in White to symbolize the purity of being cleansed again. The person is immersed under the water and then brought back up again. It symbolizes dieing and being placed in the Earth, and then being born again. Here are some pictures of his special day.

Here is Matthew in his white baptism suit.
He's so cute!

Matthew was baptized by his Daddy.
Here they are together in their white.

Here is our family at the church before the service started.
Rachel, Lilly, Logan, Momma, Joshua, Daddy, and Matthew

Here are all of the generations.
Great Grandpa Welker, Grandpa Welker, Daddy, Matthew, and Papa Hurst.
Great Grandpa Hurst has passed away and could not be here.
I'm sure he was smiling from above.

Here are all the Grandparents...and Joshua :)
Great Grandpa Welker, Great Grandma Welker, Grandpa Welker, Grandma Welker, Joshua, Daddy, Matthew, Papa Hurst, and Nana Hurst
Grandma Welker and Lilly

Lilly is learning to walk. Very slowly :)

Joshua had a good time watching Matthew.

Omaha

2009-08-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't check the carepage or didn't even know that I had one, Lilly is in Children's again with a pretty serious thing going on. She had some bleeding on her brain and they call it subdoral hematoma. She had emergency surgery on Friday morning and now has a drainage tube coming out of her head. There were 2 wholes drilled through her skull and about 4 inscisions made on her poor little head. She is in Room 208 of the Omaha Children's Hospital if you would like to call or send a note to her. http://www.chsomaha.org/body.cfm?id=619 this is the website in which you can send free greetings to Lilly. Click on Patient greeting cards. They are delivered to her room every morning and it's fun to get them. If you have a second it would be great to hear from you and see how you are all doing.
Thanks!
ps if you know anyone that doesn't check the blog please let them know what's up. I don't know if all the aunts and ucles do or not Tina so please let your mom know for me. Thanks!

Lilly's Progress

2009-08-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

-*

Lilly has been growing up so much and changing too! I can't believe all the things she can do. Check out my angel baby in her bouncer. I know to you it may not seam like anything big, but for a girl who's not supposed to walk, this is a HUGE step in the right direction. Pay close attention to her feet. BOTH feet and on the floor! GO LILLY!

Guess she was in the bouncer a little too long while I was making dinner. Oops....

Lilly's first pony tale. Her hair is getting SO long.

Lilly is such a morning person....kind of annoying at times, but always cute!

Here is one of our favorite people in the whole world. Rachel Hurst and Lilly

Lilly even smiles during her "bad hair" days. And trust me, she has some dandies!

On top of the Freeway

2009-08-07T08:22:00.001-07:00

Nana and Papa came to visit this last week and Matthew, Nathan, Rachel Welker and I were able to go to the famous Nebraska "Great Platte River Road Archway" Museum. You can't tell from this photo, but this archway is actually spanning across the interstate that was once the Pioneer trail through the great plains. We had a BLAST walking through the 3 levels of history.

Here's Matthew and Nathan outside the museum. They look so small next to the wagon!

The map and the trail.

Part of the reason the pioneers went west was to seek the gold in California. Here Matthew and Nathan join the gold diggers camp. The head phones are telling a story. Every stop has information played through the head phones. Music and sound effects too. Pretty cool.

This is a typical cabin for a gold digger.

Here are the boys putting every effort into guiding the oxen lol :)

Some times the native Americans would attack, or the family would get sick and the entire wagon and all the belongings would be left by the side of the trail.

Matthew and Nathan would have great pioneers. See how they pitch right in there?

We decided that we were too lazy to take a wagon, so we went by stage coach. Nathan wasn't too sure he wanted to get too close

Matthew and Nathan chilling at the camp site

You can't see it from the picture, but the fire was electric and had lights and stuff. Here we are warming ourselves after a hard days journey

At the end of the trail you are suddenly set in the 1950's. Showing the roadside restaurant. Matthew and Nathan are pretending to order food.

This is our very attractive waitress.

Here I am with my best friend in the whole world. My mom!

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and I would definitely reccomend this place if you enjoy history as much as me.

Summer Fun

2009-07-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year :)
We took Rachel and went to the train museum in North Platte's Buffalo Bill's "Cody Park" Here are some of the pictures of us. It is a really fun place to be! There is a little amusement park for kiddos, but we didn't go there this time. The train was fun enough.

Here are Joshua and Logan getting out of the van and excited to go.

Joshua wanted to push Lilly in the stroller

Joshua turned out to be a little crazy while driving, so Momma pushed Lilly instead. here we are in front of the engine.

Here are the kids getting ready to go into the engine.

Joshua is the engineer! That is a scary thought..

Logan is driving the train!

Rachel and Lilly seeing what it would be like to drive the train too.

Inside the car there is a museum of the Union Pacific railroad company from the beginning until now.

Momma and Rachel in the caboose. The train workers would sleep and live in the caboose as they traveled. Here we are sitting on one of their beds.

Joshua taking a nap on the bunk

Logan couldn't be left out and so here he is taking a nap too! They would make such great train workers!

Lilly loved the trip!

The boys next to the wheels. Dang those are big!

And last but not least, here is Rachel being run over by the train. It would've been better if we had rope to tie her down with, but the whole effect was good none the less lol :)

My Turn

2009-07-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
I don' t have any fun pictures to show you this time. Just some information that we have found out. I was at Lilly's PT appointment on Monday and had some of my fun little "episodes of sleep". I'm not sure how many times I actually fell, but they must have thought I was the biggest looser ever! I always feel like such a winner after hitting the floor several times. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to faint, get up to walk out to the car only to faint again. Anyway, enough venting from me. I was in the hospital from Monday until Thursday. I learned quite a bit about my narcolepsy. Apparently I have one of the most severe cases out there. Narcolepsy episodes always have a trigger. Some people fall when laughing too hard, some while sneezing, others when cold or hot. Me? My trigger is stress and fatigue. Which is perfectly fine since I don't ever have either of those things in my life. Basically what happens is that my brain decides it can't take any more so it simply shuts off. I was extremely stressed out on Monday and I guess it didn't want to deal with it anymore. So I conked out. I can usually hear what is being said around me but can't respond due do a condition called cataplexy that sometimes goes with narcolepsy. It means the every muscle in my body turns to jello and I can't move them. When others try to wake me up the brain has to work over time to keep me sleeping and get the rest that is needed. So if I wake up from others voices or shaking me I will fall again and again and again until the amount of rest needed is reached. So all I have to do is rest and I'll be better later. Waking up too soon adds stress, and therefor longer resting periods. Can you believe all the fun things we do in our family? It never fails! If there is something very rare and uncommon, our family will find a way to get it lol Anyway, hope you all had a great 4th and enjoy Pioneer day!

Home again Home again Jiggity Jog

2009-07-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

We have been home for almost a week now, and I'm really slow at updating the blog. Sorry about that. I was alone at the hospital because Joseph had back surgery and for all of those who have asked, he is doing great! He's walking and able to get around fairly well. Rachel calls him "cripple" which we all get a kick out of. We like to tease quite a bit in our family. I was finally able to convince the neurosurgeon to check the shunt out after about 9 days of Lilly throwing everything up that went down. The poor girl had to have a million tests done on her before they would finally listen. They did the barium test to see if she had a clog in her stomach. That test consisted of strapping her to a rotating poll and having her drink the barium from a bottle. When she began to throw up, they just flipped her over. Just watching her made me want to throw up. She was not happy! The next test they did was to put the NG tube past her stomach and into her intestine to see if that would keep the food from coming back up. Needless to say she didn't care for that one either. They did a scope and found nothing wrong. They gave her an enema, and did about everything under the sun only to find that nothing was wrong. Next the Neuro surgeon's little peon dude... (he didn't even come himself) came up to see me. He once again said that they were very confident that the shunt was not the problem. They had not however tapped it, checked the pressure of it, or anything that would (in my opinion) tell them otherwise. They simply pumped the valve and since it pumped fine, would not listen to me. After he left I burst into tears and could no longer hold them back. I'm not a person who shows emotion in front of strangers very well with out feeling really embarrassed, and it was horrible. The charge nurse, the hospitalist, and the resident were all there. I had about 3 people that were very (shall we say....frustrated) towards the Neuro surgeon. I felt really bad when the charge nurse had come in and told me that she had filed a complaint against them. It was actually strike 2 against him from us. We had a hard time with him when Lilly was born too. He's such a self confident man that it is really hard to change him mind. After the the complaint was filed the hospital supervisor reviewed our case and sent neuro surgery up to talk to me. They had decided (miraculously) that Lilly's shunt was too small for her and that a larger one and I quote "might have a small chance of making her feel better" She was scheduled for surgery, the shunt revision was done and she was immediately better. AMAZING! I'm not bitter at all though :) Anyway, she's better and we're home. Next time it is three strikes again him so I have a little more lee-way on that. Hopefully there won't be a next time, but shunts often go bad so we'll just have to see. Thank you for all the help, prayers, and messages. It was so fun to come back from breakfast to have a cute little note pinned to our door. I read every one to Lilly and she ate the one from Donna. She loved them! Thanks again, and we love you all
Becca

WARNING! The following pictures are graphic Not for the faint of heart.

Lilly after momma had to insert the feeding tube down her nose. I don't know felt worse about it, her or me!

Just finished a feed and waiting to see if she can keep it down.

Our favorite person in the medical field EVER. She came all the way up to the hospital to see us after she heard about the trouble we were having. She rotates between hospitals and she wasn't working at Children's this month so there wasn't a whole lot she could do to help us, but she was great morale support!

We had students that would come and help out every once in a while. This is Heather. Our favorite one!

Lilly kept pulling the tube out so the nurses put socks over her hands. Here she is pulling the socks off. lol That's my girl!

She successfully got the tube out while I was at lunch. She definitely determined...

Lilly did pretty good keeping food down with the tube, so we tried some clear pedialite to see if she could keep that down too

The morning of her shunt revision she was feeling pretty good. She had finally got some nutrition in her after 7 days of nothing but IV fluids. I felt like we were taking the lamb to the slaughter :(

The incision after surgery. Broke my heart to see that HUGE cut. It was twice as big as the first one she had

The day after surgery I have a whole new girl! Amazing hu?

That's my Lilly!

Home at last and happy to feel good again.

This video was made for Daddy because he missed her SO much!

My sleeping beauty

2009-06-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

We are back in Children's yet again with the same old symptoms. Lilly has been here since Sunday afternoon and has seamed to have absolutely no change what so ever. She sleeps almost all of the time, then wakes up enough to cry and throw up, and then goes back to sleep. They ended up putting a feeding tube down her nose which she pulled out. She also continued to vomit, even with the tube. They have done a number of tests, and the neuro surgeon is 100% convinced that it is not her shunt. I however am not yet convinced. I remember last week when they tapped 10 ccs off her brain and how much better she got. I have expressed my concerns to them, only to get the same answers. My hospital staff however is wonderful! They are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of this. She does not have a high white blood cell count which rules out infection. She had an upper GI study done and can you believe it, she has reflux! DUH! Other than that it was normal. They drew blood to check her kidneys and liver, and they were ok. She hasn't had any solid food stay down since we got here. They did discover that there was some stool blocked in her colon, and that has come out with still no change. We were kind of hoping she was puking because the bowel was filled already allowing no room for anything else, which would totally explain the puke. No dice....so We are back to square one again.

Another feeding tube has been placed down her nose bypassing the stomach and going directly down to the gut. We'll see if that works. They have also put mittins on her hands to prevent it from coming out again. I will update my care page for any of you who are interested in that. you can send free messages to her room with cute little pictures on them. we hang them up to give her somthing to look at.

www.carepages.com/lillywelker

Children's Again

2009-06-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

hey,
Just a quick note to let you all know that Lilly is in Children's again. Her shunt was plugged and they thing they got it working again, but I am not quite convinced yet. Either way, we will be staying here until Tuesday. For more info and recent updates go to www.carepages.com/lillywelker You may have to create an account, I'm not sure. Thanks and we'll keep you updated

I tag Tina, Heather, and Kira

2009-06-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
I don't really know how to tell you this, but I'm in love with your cat. I think I realized it that night you picked your nose at the mental hospital and I saw you sit on the golden egg. I'm sure you're ashamed enough to understand that your Ford stinks. I'm returning the love letters you wrote to me back to you, but I'll keep the oil tank on your car as a memory. You should also know that I get sick when I think of your feet and I'm scratching my armpits as you read this.

Please don't hurt me.
Becca

Yeah, I know it's dumb. It's midnight though, and everything is funny when it's late at night!

Here's how you do it:

Dear (someone you recently talked to),
I don't really know how to tell you this, but (1). I think I realized it (2)(3) and I saw you (4)(5). I'm sure you're (6) enough to understand (7). I'm returning (8) to you, but I'll keep (9) as a memory. You should also know that I (10) and (11).
(12),
(Your name)
then tag 15 people

1) What's the color of your shirt?
Blue -I'm in love with your cat
Red - Our affair is over
White - I’m joining the Convent
Black -Our romance is over
Green- Our socks don't match
Grey - You're a leprechaun
Yellow - I'm selling myself for candy
Pink - Your nostrils are insulting
Brown - The mafia wants you
No shirt - Purple hedgehogs want to destroy you
Other -I dislike your eyelashes

2) Which is your birth month?
January - When I finally changed my underwear
February -That night you picked your nose
March - When I quoted Forest Gump
April - When your dwarf bit me
May - When you smacked my but
June - When your dog humped my leg
July – When we skinny dipped in the bathtub
August - When you put cuffs on me
September - When I saw the purple monkey
October - Last year when you peed your pants
November - When I threw up in your sock drawer
December - When I tripped on peanut butter

3) Which food do you prefer?
Tacos - In your apartment
Chicken- In your car
Pasta - Outside of your office
Hamburgers - Under the bus
Salad – As you were eating Kraft Dinner
Lasagna - In your closet
Kebab - With Jean Chrétien
Seafood - In a clown suit
Sandwiches - At the Elton John concert
Pizza - At the mental hospital
Hot dog - Under a street light
Other- With George Bush and Stephen Harper

4) What's the color of your socks?
Yellow - Ignore
Red - Put whipped cream on
Black - Hit on
Blue - Knock out
Purple - Pour syrup on
White - Carve your initials into
Grey - Pull the clothes off
Brown - bite off
Orange - severely injure
Pink - Pull the pants off of
Barefoot - Sit on
Other - Drive over

5) What's the color of your underwear?
Black - My boyfriend
White - on the golden egg
Grey – The Catholic Priest
Brown – The Montreal Canadian’s goalie
Purple - My corned beef hash
Red – My knee caps
Blue - My salt-beef bucket
Yellow - My illegitimate child in Ghana
Orange - My Blink 182 cd
Pink – Your ‘My Little Pony’ collection
Other --my father

6) What do you prefer to watch on TV?
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes- Middle-class
Lost - Senile
Simpsons- Scarred
The news - High
American Idol - Frostbitten
Family Guy - Cowardly
Top Model - Masochistic
Other -ashamed

7) Your mood right now?
Happy - That Santa doesn't exist
Sad - That I may pee my pants
Bored - That I get turned on only by garbage men
Angry - That your smell makes me vomit
Depressed – That we’re related
Excited - How awful you are
Nervous - The middle-east is planning their revenge on you
Worried - That your Ford sucks
Apathetic - That you need a sex-change
Silly - That I'm allergic to your earlobes
Cuddly - How boring you are
Ashamed - That there is no solution to you being a dumb kid
Other - That your driving sucks

8) What's the color of your walls in your bedroom?
White - Your false teeth
Yellow - Your pet rock
Red - The cut toenails
Black - Your Hannah Montana underwear
Blue - Your toe ring
Green - Our matching snoopy underwear
Orange - The couch cushions
Brown - Your nose hair clippers
Grey - Your car
Purple - Your old New Kids on the Block blanket
Pink - Your love letters to me
Other - The pictures from Vegas

9) The first letter of your first name?
A/B - The oil tank from your car
C/D - Your mom
E/F - Your neighbors dog
G/H - My virginity
I/J - My common sense
K/L - Your glass eye
M/N - Your photo with the mustache drawn on it
O/P - The results of that blood-sample
Q/R - Your criminal record
S/T - Your left ear
U/V - Your collection of butterflies
W/X – Your credit cards
Y/Z - Your sucide note

10) The last letter in your last name?
A/B -Told in my confession today about the moose poaching
C/D - Love your sweet, sweet ass
E/F -Haven’t showered in a month
G/H – .Never will forget that night
I/J – Will not tell the authorities that you stole the whale from the backyard
K/L - Hate your cooking
M/N - Mocked you behind your back constantly
O/P - Told my psychiatrist about the bruises
Q/R - Get sick when I think of your feet
S/T - Always wanted to break your legs
U/V - Will try to forget that you broke my heart
W/X - am better off without you
Y/Z – Always will remember the pep talks

11) What do you prefer to drink?
Soft drink – I’m off to lead a new life as a lemon
Soda – I will haunt you when I’m reincarnated as an Eskimo
Milk - The apartment building is on fire
Water – I'm scratching my arm pits as you read this
Cider– I have a passionate interest for mice
Juice – You ruined my attempts at another world war.
Snapple/Vitamin water – You should get that embarrassing rash checked out
Hot chocolate – Your Cucumber-fetishism is weird
Other – you should stop picking your nose

12) To which country would you prefer to go on a vacation?
Thailand – Warm tingly sensations
Australia - Greetings to your frog Leonard
France - Please don’t hurt me
Spain - With tears of sadness
China – You make me sick
Germany – Love always
Japan - Go milk a cow
Greece - your everlasting enemy
USA - Best of luck on the weight loss
Egypt – Kiss my butt
England - Go drown yourself

Lilly's First Birthday

2009-05-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos of Lilly's first birthday. The boys kept getting in the way of the camera, which was cute at first, then it got old. They were so excited and it was really funny. If you'd like to see the pictures, you can check out facebook, or Lilly's carepage at www.carepages.com/Lillywelker

When you can't stand it, kneel

2009-05-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my son Joshua did the most touching thing for my mom. We were talking on the phone with her and she has been having a ton of health problems. I can't even begin to name them all. She has been in such agony for such a long time. Yesterday when we called she was having a very bad day. Joshua got on the phone to talk to her. He told her to feel better. When mom asked, "Joshua will you pray for Nana to feel better?" To which he replied, "Heavenly Father, please bless my Nana get better, Amen" He didn't even think about it. It was such a natural thing for him to talk to his Heavenly Father and mom and I sat crying in amazement at the faith of a child. Thank you Joshua for your wonderful example.

So very brainy!

2009-05-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I have good news. I was in the hospital for a few days this week, and they did a ton of tests on my heart and brain. I hold in my hand a copy of my MRI. Yes, that's right, I have a brain and it works! No more wondering! I was trying to get the pictures off the disk to prove it, but they must be copy protected or something. So you can all breath easy now knowing that I really am normal lol

Thank you for all the prayers and concerned phone calls. You are all awesome and I love you all!

Clumsy and proud of it!

2009-05-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever just had one of those weeks? It seams lately that I just can't seem to "snap out of it" I have been dizzy and all kinds of stuff. Anyway, I went to the Dr. this morning and we are going to go through another series of tests. High school all over again! This time however, they are looking at some sort of blockage or pressure on my brain's receptors. They think the dizziness could be caused by fluid, or possibly a bump. They are not thinking cancer or tumor so that's good. They are just thinking that my equilibrium is messed up. DUH! I could've told them that! :) Anyway I will keep you all posted. I could not pass the sibrority test given to me and it was quite homorus as I fell. Hopefully I'll never get pulled over by a cop! lol

In this video pay close attention to Lilly's feet. She actually tries to use them to army crawl!

Here is Matthew's 2009 school picture. He's so cute!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

This goose was seriously going to eat me! This is why I HATE geese!

The boys are so nice......

This was taken at a church social. Sibling love....it's a beautiful thing!

Growing up so fast!

2009-04-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

I'm a little slow getting this posted. On April 16, Joshua turned 5! He is such a funny little kiddo! He wanted a leapster2 SOOO bad. I kept telling him that they were way to expensive and not to get his hopes up.

So, here we go. Everyone is ready. Logan, Jenna, and Nathan wait anxiously for Joshua to open his presents

Rachel is in her "happy place" with Lilly Anna on her lap. And Matthew is right beside her as always.

Okay....a gumball machine is nice.....He also had a few other things that I didn't get photos of for some reason...

Holy Cow!

Joshua was so exited, he actually threw the Leapster into the air! Do you have any idea how much those things cost son???

Lucky for us Uncle Jared was standing right there and caught it for him. Here he is giving it back to Joshua

One happy little boy on his birthday, and after all, isn't that what it's all about?

Working Hard!

2009-04-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Lilly has a really good team at the McMeen Physical Therapy office. We really enjoy going there and playing..I mean working with them! I have received allot of questions about a baby's PT session.

1.What do they do for her?
2. Why does she need PT?
3. Are there many babies who go to PT?

and more. I hope this answers them! :)

Lilly's right side is much stronger than her left. Due to the brain crossing over. (the left side of her brain controls the right side of her body.

Here Richard is teaching Lilly that her left side can grab toys too.
You'll notice that her right hand is tucked safely away :)

It can be really frustrating for her, but she can do it!

I did not get permission to post this photo, and I hope I don't get in trouble for it, but this is one of our favorite people ever! Donna is the PT assistant. The boys LOVE her!

Tummy time is very important for Lilly. She is getting better at getting up on her elbows

Richard braces Lilly's legs while she stands. She's not real fond of this position either, but she does it very well.

BIG THANK YOU TO THE TEAM AT McMeen!

2009-04-10T17:46:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Eggcellent time!

2009-04-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

This year we died our Easter eggs with Jared's family. We had the most fun kits this year. One was Cammo, and the other one had paint, and glitter, and all kinds of fun stuff. Lilly and Jenna were the only ones that stayed in the house for pictures, so we don't have any of the other kiddos. But the eggs turned out really cute. We had Jenna holding Lilly on the computer chair and thought it would be really fun to get their picture. This was the result....

Okay, a little more enthusiasm Lilly

Jenna! Look at the camera

Now, Lilly look at the camera!

Now, Lilly, Smile!

Oh forget it!

Interesting fact. We colored white and brown eggs this year. And I bet you can't spot the brown ones! The white ones were colored brown from the camouflage pack, but the brown ones are colored. Can you spot them?

The ones on the top are Joshua's. He liked Grey....

The ones on the bottom are Logan's. He liked all the colors!

These are Rachel's.

These are Matthew's

These are Heather, Nathan, and Jenna's

These are the unclaimed. :)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

The amazing Lilly!

2009-04-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

Lilly learned to sit up on her own! YEA! Pretty good for a kid that isn't supposed to roll, crawl, talk, sit, or do anything! You go girl!

Oldly Weds

2009-03-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of Grandpa's wedding. I know some of you will not know the "fam" but if you do, enjoy these really fun and cute pictures! Congrats to both of them!

We all congregated at Aunt Diane's house. Here we are as a huge group invading her! Some of us haven't seen each other for years! Here is a list of all relatives that I know were there

Grandpa and Grandma's 5 girls are

Linda-2 children. Travis and Kimberlee. Both were there with there children
Diane-7 children. Jenny, Denis, Emily, Alan, Kelli-Jo, Daniele, and Holly. 6 were there
Karen-2 children. Jared and Heather. Both there
Nyla-5 children. Michael, Boyd, Curt, Tina, and Bryan. All were there
Vicki-3 children. Emily, Jason, and Ryan. All there.

Now that you have a history lesson on our family, enjoy the photos. The list does not include spouses or great grand children.

Bryan and Karen Kent arriving at Aunt Diane's

Matthew and Ryan playing fuse ball.

Holly Carter

Aunt Diane and Lilly

Aunt Vicki and Karen Kent

Holly holding Lilly at the church

Karen Kent and Rebecca Welker getting to know each other better.

Joshua hiding from all the people

Jared Hurst, Nathan, Jenna, Grandma Jean, Rachel, Grandpa Preston, and Heather

Grandpa Preston and Rebecca Welker

Boyd Kent and Lilly

Emily Carter

Jared Hurst (in white shirt) talking to Alan Carter (in brown)

Elizabeth Johnson

Grandma Jean, Rebecca Welker, and Grandpa Preston

Group of family members eating

Lilly, Aunt Linda, Rebecca Welker, Tina Coleman, and her daughter Lindsay

Aunt Linda just has the touch! She put Lilly right out.

Marcile Preston and Rebecca Welker

Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the look into our family.

Twitterpated

2009-03-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hey,
We got a call a few weeks ago from my mother informing me that my Grandpa Preston is getting remarried. He is 81 this year and has been lonely for a long time. I was really excited for him. He is getting married to a lady that I haven't ever met, but I figure if he's happy, I'm happy for him. Please fill out my survey just for kicks! Thanks!

Picture Tag

2009-03-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Natalie has the cutest blog ideas, and I had to copy her. I tag Kira, Tina, Katie, and Christine. Go to the 6th folder of your pictures and post the 6th photo from that folder. This is Joseph holding Logan when he was little. He was worn out from church.

2009-03-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

Hey,
Just a quick note about the contest. I think Tina nailed it with the whole rat thing. (very nice) But the closest was......Kira! It is a Chorkie. Chihuahua and Yorkshire terrier mix. He's a good boy and we really like him.

Now, on to the main event. Logan turned 3 yesterday! He is such a big boy now. He's learned to use the potty, gave up sippy cups, and can do a better job at disciplining his siblings than either of his parents. He has also acquired an even more pronounced little attitude. He definitely makes me laugh. Here are some photos of our party.

Here's our birthday boy getting ready to open presents. (I love that smile!)

SCORE! Logan is really into tractors this year.

Matthew and Daddy show Logan how to play with his new toys.

Lilly just hanging out while the party goes on around her.

Daddy showing Logan his new airplane

Here's Joshua showing us one of Logan's toys.

Lilly has to preform the taste test on Logan's Legos to make sure they are satisfactory.

Logan playing with his toys.

Joshua made Logan's cake for him this year. I think he did a great job! Talk about sugar loaded :)

Puppy Contest

2009-02-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hey,
The Welker family has a new member! Meet Killer. He is the size of our cat, and thinks he can take on the world until one of the kids comes running in, or he hears a noise, or sees a light. Then he runs with his tail between his legs! LOL Poor guy. He's getting braver though.

Anyway,I thought it would be fun to have a little contest. I have nothing to offer the winner, but I will post your name on the follow up. The first person to get email with the correct bread of this adorable little guy wins. I'll give you a hint. He is a vanity breed. Good luck!

Funny Moment

2009-02-19T11:40:00.001-08:00

Have any of you just looked at your kids and wondered what was going through their heads? Just a few minutes ago Joshua walked through the door with mud all over his clothes. I asked him if he'd been playing in the mud. "NO! I was outside chasing chickens and one pooped on me! Where's the fly swatter? I want to smack him!" I could not help but laugh.

Pregnant Again.

2009-02-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Just kidding! Everyone else is blogging about new babies and i was feeling a little left out. Not sure why, Lilly is only 9 months old. So far 5 out of 6 blogs i follow have either just had a baby, or are expecting. Bunch of Mormons! LOL Well, our family is doing great. Logan's finger is healing very nicely, Lilly's eye is still crossing so we have see what they say about that in March. Matthew has a new best friend and talks about Andrew constantly. Joshua had his IQ tested to see if he is ready for Kindergarten next year so we'll see how that turns out. And Joseph and I are just doing our thing. He bough me a ring for Valentine's Day and nearly knocked me off my feet! It is really pretty. Every once in a while husbands do the most romantic things and I just sit there and marvel. For you out there who have husbands that do this sort of thing all the time, be sure they know how awesome they are. I'm just posting this because I'm bored and had nothing else to do, so I'll quit rambling for now.

HELP

2009-02-02T06:32:00.001-08:00

Okay ladies I need help! I am now the enrichment counselor in our ward and I have this great idea for this month. I have a lot of resources, but I wanted some other suggestions too. We are entitling our night WWF (wrestling the worldy family) Basically we're going to do home evening packets, entertaining children with good educational stuff instead of letting the TV babysit all day, and doing on a fun cheap date! If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. Thank Tina for the FHE idea from primary. She has found a yearly plan of FHE that coinside with the primary themes for each week. VERY cool!

Arg matie!

2009-01-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

We got back from Omaha yesterday and all went well. Lilly's eye is doing fine. The reason for the cross was not neurological. Hooray! It was just a week muscle. So now she gets to look like a pirate for a month. (thanks Nanna Gill!) We will go back in a month and if she is still crossing her right eye, they will have to do a muscle surgery on it. But it is completely fixable! Enjoy some pictures of how cute our one-eyed-Lilly is.

See how crossed her right is?

Vwa La! Patch works wonders!

Pink is the New Healthy

2009-01-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Again,
Just a quick update, it's late. We went to the doctor with Logan today and unwrapped the finger to look at it. I could not believe it. The tip of his finger all the way down to his hand is a beautiful shade of pink! The doctor was so happy. He kept saying over and over how good it looked. The nail will not be savable, but the finger will remain intact! Thank you all so much for your faith and prayers on his behalf. We could never have had such a great miracle with out you. We had a speaker on Sunday talk about miracles and I have to share with you what he said. It really touched me. He talked about the people in our lives. Nothing is a miracle without the people in our lives, or anybody for that matter, there to make it happen. The lord softens hearts of people, and can work miracles through them. So thank you for being our miracle workers. We are taking Lilly to Omaha tomorrow so I will write more on her in the next post. Nothing serious, just checking out a crossed eye. I hope this all makes sense, it's really late and I'm going to bed! Good Night!

Logan's Update

2009-01-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for the comments and prayers. We really appreciate all the support we have from friends and family. I took Logan to the doctor today, and when the bandage was removed, the tip of his finger was no longer pink. :( It was totally white. I will quote the Dr..."well, the jury is out on this one" Because the skin was still attached it is serving as a protection for the bone. Because the bone was crushed, his finger has sort of "imploded" in on itself. I about fainted right there on the spot when I saw it! (which really isn't saying much for those of you who know me) So from here, we will wait and see what happens. One of two things are expected...
Either the skin will rejuvenate and replace the old skin...or the tip of the finger will fall off. The bandage is keeping it all together for the time being. We'll just have to wait and see. Saving the tip is no longer an option however. It has died. I'm actually doing surprisingly well, and Logan is doing terrific as long as he doesn't see his finger. When he saw how bad it looked he freaked out along with me. When it was all wrapped up again, he acted like it had never happened. He's been playing outside all day with it, and I guess I should've kept him in because his nice white bandage is now brown, but he was having such a good time playing with Joshua that I couldn't keep him in. Especially since it's so nice out today, and snow is on its way. Maybe I should've had girls instead! What do you think Naomi? Are girls easier? LOL (just kidding) I would never trade these moments for anything!

Poor Logan

2009-01-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and Family,

I am writing this to ask for prayers on Logan's behalf. Yesterday morning while cleaning the living room, I was sweeping under the couch. There were some places that the broom could not reach, so I lifted it up and leaned it against the wall. When I was done sweeping I let the couch fall back to the ground unaware that Logan had reached for a toy. The wooden block holding the couch up felt on Logan's hand, cutting the tip of his pinkie on his left hand off. Needless to say I freaked out! The ambulance came and rushed him to the hospital. They X-rayed it and discoverd that the end of the finger was totally crushed. They did their best to sew it back together, but are fearful that the blood supply will not be strong enough to keep the tip alive. We are praying that he will be able to keep his finger. If it dies, they will have to amputate it. I felt so bad! He seams to be in good spirits and did very well. Here are some pictures of the poor little guy. If you have any question please fell free to ask. Thank you for your support and love,
Becca

All is well

2009-01-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

For those of you who did not know it, we just got back from Children's hospital again. Lilly had a clog in her shunt and was throwing up everything that went in. They were able to fix her shunt in less than 5 min. Wish we didn't have to drive so far for that! But they did end up admitting her for dehydration. We were there for 3 days until she was able to keep everything down again.

Have you ever been bored? I mean, really, really, really, bored? I guess I must have been because these are the pictures from our trip. Hope you enjoy them and don't think I'm too much of a dork..

Lilly was not happy about being away from her bed.

Must be time to go home.

Yea! We get to go!

I can't even comment on this one...

Christmas is finally here!

2008-12-27T08:18:00.001-08:00

The Welker Family had an awesome Christmas this year.
There were such fun presents and good food.! Unfortuneatly we did more video taping than picture taking. I hope you enjoy the New Year and with you all the joy in the world!

Every Christmas Eve we have a tradition of opening new pjs. Here they all are looking cute as ever!

Here's Matthew playing with some of his new toys.

Here's our Christmas tree after Santa had visited.

This is our poor attempt at a ginger bread house. It was fun to do though.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm being lame this year and doing our Christmas card on the blog. What better way to send pictures out and cards and make sure that NO one is forgotten. Face it, there always seams to be at least one person who doesn't get a card.

Lilly (is the youngest and only daughter we have. She was born with some health problems but is doing wonderful now. She is physically delayed about 2-3 months but progressing every day. She responds well to her Mamma's voice and loves to smile. She keeps the peace in our home. With physical therapy and a brace for her left hand she is slowly making progress!

Logan (4 years old) is what you might call our family clown. He is into everything and all the time. He's not happy unless he's making a mess or getting into trouble. However he cannot stand to be dirty or sticky...go figure! He keeps us all on our toes and makes life very interesting.

Joshua is my sweetheart. He's always trying to do what's right and follow the rules, but he has a hard time with it. He is quick to forgive and always there with a hug and a smile. He is very emotional and will fall to pieces at the slightest thing which can sometimes be hard to deal with, but he is the light of our lives!

Matthew is our eldest child and the biggest helper a mom could have. He loves his little sister and does everything he can to help her. He is now 7, in 1st grade, and getting to be quiet the sassy little guy. He's not disrespectful, but he teases me now. Which I think is really funny. He is "totally into transformers". He was trying to explain to my mom what they are all about. He went off about autobots, and the all spark and all kids of cute things.

I think this picture is awesome! You don't mess with mamma! LOL I have been released out of the primary and called as the enrichment counselor in the Relief Society. So if you have any ideas you can send them to me. I enjoy staying home with the kids and stay busy running Joshua to Speech and headstart and Lilly to doctor appointments.

Joseph keeps busy working for the school system driving bus and working on maintenance. He would love to move back to Arizona someday and reminds me of that quite often. I have to admit that I agree with him on days like this when the windchill is -10! He is a very good dad and is really funny when it comes to Lilly. That girl has him wrapped around her finger!

I also thought it would be fun to start out with some old family photos up to the most recent. None of these were taken by professionals, but please bare that in mind. (No laughing!)

Here we are. Just starting out. Matthew is 2 months old in this photo. We were living in Michigan and just our own apartment.

Here we are with Matthew, Daddy, Grandpa Preston, Momma, (Baby Welker in mommy's tummy) and Joshua. This was in 2004. We were living in Utah and had just purchased our first home.

Utah was too cold, so we moved on to the great state of Arizona. Joseph was installing solar panels there. Our family now includes Joshua, Momma, Matthew, Daddy, and Logan.

And here our family is complete and happy as ever! We are currently living in Nebraska where we are closer to Becca's family.

Over the River and through the corn to Omaha we go....again!

2008-12-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. We made it back from Omaha with some good and bad news. Good news is that Lilly is doing SO much better than most kids with LCMV. She is social, she is eating, growing and I quote, "wow, she is one of the most high functioning kids I've ever seen with lcmv!". She is even the subject of a very awesome medical presentation given by our favorite resident Doctor. Bad news is that her eyes are getting worse and we'll be heading back to Omaha to see a Nero optometrist. I didn't' even know they existed! We may be coming back with glasses. How cute is that? Glasses on a 6-month-old baby. Hopefully that's all she needs.

I have decided that I really do hate Christmas. See what kind of a scrooge I've become? It's horrible I know. One of my children has really made me laugh. He told me last night that he didn't need any presents this year because Jesus is the true meaning of Christmas. But his attitude sure changed when he saw a present under the tree. "Mom, can't I just open one present now? Please mom?" To which of course I said no he'd have to wait, followed by one of the biggest temper tantrum in the history of them. So we had to take the present out from under the tree to keep him out of it.

It is really hard to me to deal with winy kids and I do pretty good for the most part, but at Christmas time I really struggle. Maybe I should sit down and watch the Christmas shoes or something. :)

Quick Note

2008-12-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

Hello!
Sorry I've been a little slow at updating this month. We are heading back to Children's Hospital to see the neurologist. Lilly has been doing fine and it's just a quick check. He hasn't see her since she was 6 weeks old so I'm excited to show him how good she is doing. He was the one that predicted she would be a vegetable. She is still sluggish on the left side, but she is doing SO well. I'll write more when we're back!

Okay, so I copied Kira....

2008-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

1. Where is your cell phone? In the car

2. Where is your significant other? Still at work :(

3. Your hair? bad day....

4. Your mother? At home in Michigan

5. You father? At work in Michigan

6. Your favorite thing? Me! lol no jk. Food has got to be my favorite thing!

7. Your dream last night? I'm dreamed about sleeping

8. Your dream/goal? To see Lilly walk and talk.

9. The room you're in? Big giant hall between the dinning room and living room

10. Your hobby? who has time for a hobby?

11. Your fear? Dieing in a stupid way!

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hopefully in a new house a little closer to civilization.

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. What you're not? Rich! LOL I'm not lonely

15. One of your wish list items? A day devoted just for me. All by myself

16. Where you grew up? Idaho, Oregon, Michigan, and Utah

17. The last thing you did? Put the clothes in the dryer

18. What you're wearing? Jeans and a T-shirt

19. Your TV? it works....

20. Your pet? died

21. Your computer? Just got it. LOVE IT!

22. What do you think of tags like this? sweet!

23. Your mood? Soft of cranky today. (believe it or not, it happens)

24. Missing someone? Matthew's at school and Joseph's at work 40 min. away

25. Where would you rather be? Somewhere warm

26. Something you're not wearing right now? socks and shoes

27. Favorite store? Ebay

28. Your summer? was too short

29. Love someone? almost everyone. I just love people

30. Favorite color? Purple

31. The last time you laughed? Just a second ago. Joshua wanted to go running outside in the snow barefoot and in shorts. He didn't even make it past the porch before he ran back in! he's so funny

I tag Gill!

Medical Mystery Solved

2008-11-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone
I will not go into detail on the wonderful test they preformed to find it, but I have now been diagnosed with Diverticulitis. Basically it means I have to eat more fiber. If you would like more info google it. It's a very "special" thing to have. Thanks for all the prayers and sympathy.

2008-11-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

Even though Lilly is 5 months old, she is physically only 2 months old. She has just learned to touch her toes. We are so happy!

Ghools and Goblins and Us

2008-11-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

I will update on my medical stuff later. Right now I want to focus on the kids. This Halloween was such a Blast! Matthew was a pro at knowing what to do. He wanted to hit every house he could before the sun went down. And then everyone he could after the sun went down too. Joshua didn't like the crowds of people, so he went home with daddy and Lilly early. Mathew, Logan, and I trooped off into the night. We had allot of fun together. I was surprised but Logan didn't poop out on us either. The thought of even more candy at the next house seamed to sustain him :-) We didn't get very many pictures but here are some of them we did get. I know our homemade costumes aren't the best, but Joshua sure loved his. As long as he was happy, who cares?

Matthew was a commando. Costume complete with helmet, gun, radio, knife, and canteen. He was all set to go.

Here's Joshua. He really wanted to be Mickey Mouse, and this is the closest thing I could come up with. Disney took the official Mickey Mouse ears off the market, and Ebay prices for them were outrageous. So, we tried our best. Daddy thought he looked silly, but like I said earlier Joshua liked it so who cares!

Here's Joshua and Logan. Logan was a pumpkin. I just suited him. Wearing Daddy's orange shirt and a stem on his head, he looked adorable!

Lilly went as an angel, but we didn't get any pictures because we're loosers. Here she is in her "I love Mummy" shirt. She is such a happy girl!

There was just a little spit up on the shirt...

You are so funny mom!

Finally some good news

2008-10-29T08:02:00.001-07:00

Hey! I've got some good news. Mom's last Chemo session was today! We're so happy for you mom. Hope you feel better soon.

More no news

2008-10-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

The cat scan showed a very very very very small kidney stone on the left kidney which is not causing any pain apparently, and everything else looked normal. So, so far I have a cyst on my uterus that I didn't know was there, and a kidney stone, but still no source for the pain. Oh well, guess it's one of those things I'll just have to learn to live with.

Anyway, want to hear a funny story? 2 nights ago Lexington came to Gothenburg for a volleyball game. (Joseph drives bus for Lex, and we live in Goth) So Joseph dropped the girls off and brought the bus home to wait. (which is really cool because he got paid for the whole thing). When it was time for him to go pick them up again, the boys wanted to see Daddy bus. So we all went outside and sat on the bus for a while. I asked Joseph to give them a little ride. We started to role forward and suddenly stopped. Then we tried again and stopped again. Then we tried to go backwards. Turns out, the more we tried to move the more stuck in the mud we got. We tried digging the tires out. Just made it worse. Tried hooking the "man van" (2000 chevy asto) to it and pulling it out. Didn't work. Then Joseph had a brilliant idea. We live in Nebraska! We called the nieghbors and used their front end loader to pull that stinking bus out. LOL MOO! (sorry, it's a hate nebraksa thing) Anyway, we finally got it out and were able to get the kids back in the house. The other thing is that is was snowy on the ground and the boys would NOT stay in the house. Logan kept coming outside without his shoes on and screaming. I was so frusterated with him. I got a small glimps of what the pioneers must've felt when they were forced out into the cold for a massive migration with nothing more than their nightclothes. I could never have been a pioneer.

No news is good news

2008-10-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well,
You can all laugh at me now. Turns out that my kidneys, gallbladder, and everything else looked good. The only thing they could find was a small cyst on my uterus, but that doesn't seam to be the cause of any pain. I am going back for a Catscan on Friday to see if the intestines are kinked. NEVER a dull moment. I hope they can figure it out soon though. I'm about ready to preform exploratory surgery on myself. Maybe it'd be quicker :-) We got Sn** this morning. White all over. I think I officially hate Nebraska now (jk) Times like this make Arizona look even more wonderful. I wish the Lord was ready for us to move, but it seams like we have more to learn here. We are pretty slow learners. I now have a facebook account as well as the blog, so if you get bored you can check me out on there. Enjoy the Halloween Season! Happy Haunting

Angle in my life

2008-10-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

I went in today for an ultra sound on my kidneys, gallbladder and all the other organs in the stomach ;) We won't have the results for a few days. Hope I make it that long. Joseph has been so wonderful through this whole thing. He took yesterday and today off of work to help me out and you know what? He learned how to do the laundry, sweep the floor, wash off the table and do the dishes, and entertain 4 kids. It's incredible! Seriously though, I don't know what I would do with out him in my life. He really is my rock and keeps me steady through hard time. I can't imagine loving anyone as much as I love him (except of course the kids). I would be lost with out him. Thanks for all the sympathy. It makes my pity party easier. :) I'll post the results when we get them. Thanks!

Ouch!

2008-10-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Has anyone ever had a kidney stone? I'm not sure that's what I have, but I have this major massive pain right over my left hip. I can't sleep, I can't walk, I can't sit, I can't lie down...ect. I tested positive for a UTI 2 weeks ago and have been on 2 different meds for that. Sunday night I went into the ER for some pain killers and they tested the urine again. They got a negative result for a UTI. They said the meds must've been working. They gave me Demoral and sent me home. The pain has not gotten any better and no one seams to be able to do anything but give me pain killers for it. Any ideas? Thanks

Omaha

2008-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hello,
We are back from Omaha with great news! Joshua's hearing test came back normal, so his tubes in his ears are working! FINALLY!!! Lilly's MRI showed that there are some living brain cells not seen before and they are growing. This means that the left side of her brain is filling in. :) YEA! She is predicted to talk and be able to communicate, but to what extent is still unknown. Her fine motor skills will be affected by the right side of her brain, which is not there. So holding a pencil and that kind of thing will be hard for her. But she is coming such a long way! The child therapist told me that Joshua has a speech disorder (good thing I drove 4 hours to hear something I already knew!) I was very disappointed with her, and not impressed much. I believe Joshua has a disorder called pdd. I took this info off a web page

"PDD NOS will present similarly to the kids who have autism (some people argue that these conditions should be combined as one), but will have a lesser degree of a severe impairment. These kids are more likely to be verbal and have some degree of verbal or non-verbal effective communication, yet they must have the autistic features (as per the DSM IV criteria) and a severe impairment in social interaction, communication, or repetitive stereotype behavior. This term is reserved for children with a severe impairment who do not fully qualify for any other autistic diagnosis, due to age of onset or combination of autistic features."

I think it sounds like my Joshua. I'm going to ask another specialist just for a second opinion. Joshua was also diagnosed with ADD. Hopefully we'll get this all straightened out.

The rest of us are doing fine and enjoying the conference session this weekend. We purchased a 2004 Dodge Neon last weekend and that sucker gets 29 MPG! Sure beats the 17 the beast gets...and that's on a good day! LOL We drive a Chevy Astro for those of you who don't know who the beast is. Thanks for all the comments on the page and I'll update some more later
Becca and fam

Quick Update

2008-09-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

Just a quick family update on our busy lives.

Matthew has been keeping busy in the 1st grade this year. He has homework every night and hates it. He does love the social aspect of school however..(why is this sounding so familiar to me?) He is very smart and does a really good job. He met a little friend that rides the bus home with him every day and they always trade toys with each other. He is in 2nd grade so Matthew sees him at some recesses too. He's a really cute kid!

Joshua is still having all kids of trouble. We will be heading for Omaha on the 30th of September and will be there for a few days. Lilly has to see her neurosurgeon, and Joshua will be having 3 appointments. He'll be going to Boys Town Hospital to have his hearing checked out and learn what our options are. Then he'll go to an pediatric orthopedic surgeon (get all that?) He broke his elbow a few years ago and it did not heal properly. He has 360' rotation at the elbow. They are looking at putting a pin is his arm. Then after we see him, we get to go have him tested for learning disabilities at the center of behavioral health. He is also in speech and started head start this year. This boy keeps mom hopping!

Logan has not changed one bit thank goodness. When ever there's trouble or a mess, you'll find Logan right in the middle of it with a huge smile and a very good reason that he's there. In fact, something cute I'll share really quick if you don't mind. We were talking about how Heavenly Father can help us when we need him. All we have to do is say a quick prayer. Matthew commented that Logan already knew how to do that. He had prayed to Heavenly Father to help him get into the locked snack cupboard! That boy is so funny.

Lilly is doing wonderful! She has Physical Therapy once a week, and has been doing very well with it. She is still having a hard time with the left side of her body, but is improving every day. She is the happiest little girl, and here is the most recent photo of her. It was so cute, I had to post it.

Joseph and I stay busy running kids around and working. Joseph has a bulged disk in his spine and will be receiving spinal injections. Doesn't sound like very much fun. I have 1 day a week that I get to stay home and I treasure that day with all my heart. I just wish I had energy from the other days to get stuff done around the house. Who knew that 4 kids would be such a crazy life! Heavenly Father doesn't give us more than we can handle.....I just keep saying that over and over. :) Hope everyone is doing well. Leave me a message! I feel like I'm out of the loop.

Love from the Welkers

Matthew in the spotlight

2008-08-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

This year Matthew started 1st grade. The school has a program called AR. (accelerated reading) They held an AR Olympics every year and here are some pictures from the opening ceremonies. Each grade represented a country, and then marched around the track. It was cheesy, but cute.

Here are the Seniors with the paper torch. They opened the ceremony for the grade school by walking around the track. They would good sports to do that. How many football players would?

Here is the 2nd grade. My niece Rachel is the girl with the headband directly right of the flag.

Here is Matthew's team getting ready to enter the field

Here is Matthew's teacher Miss Van Boening. She is new this year and makes me feel really old!

Fun with nana and papa

2008-08-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

We got a big surprise last week when Nana and Papa came to visit. They stayed for almost 2 weeks and we did a ton of fun stuff with them. We made our own water park at Jared's house, and they found a park in Kearney that has a free little water area with a rainbow shower, and all kinds of fun stuff. We also blessed Lilly. Nana made her beautiful dress and it was a very special day. The boys got to go to Burger King and play and every one was spoiled rotten. Please enjoy the pictures of our time together.

Here is Lilly in her dress. This was taken after church, and she was really tired.

All three boys got new Sunday clothes to wear. There old ones were looking pretty bad. I think they look really cute now. Just look at Logan's smile!

Here's the Dynamic Duo. Matthew and Papa are virtually inseparable. They sure are cute together.

Here's the whole group before church. We decided to change Lilly once we got there so she wouldn't spit up on her dress.

Veggie Tales

2008-07-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Veggie Land!

I've decided to introduce my family in the best terms I know. Veggie Tales! Sad, but I LOVE THESE GUYS!

Joseph is the Bob the Tomato of our family. Always keeps things running, but a little stuck in his ways. He likes things to run smoothly and gets a little upset when they don't. However, he always gets pushed into doing things our way and has a good time doing it.

I am Madam Blueberry. I love getting things my way and being waited on. I also love to spend money and go shopping! I differ from her however because I know that I cannot buy my happiness.

Matthew is Larry the Cucumber. He's always trying new things and making every body laugh. He doesn't really know what's best for him all the time, but doesn't seam too worried about the outcome of things. He provides the entertainment for the family.

Joshua is Jr. Asparagus. Just your average run-of-the-mill kid who loves his parents and does his best. He tries to do what's right and doesn't always do it the first time, but succeeds after trial and error. He is a sweetheart and everyone loves him!

Logan of course is Pier and John Claude Pea. There could be nobody else for him. They are always laughing and causing all sorts of trouble. They seam to thrive when there is trouble and chaos around them. Sound familiar?

And Lilly is Laura Cucumber. Sweet, always trying to do her best and never in trouble. When her friends are in danger or doing something wrong she's always there to bail them out.

Cozad Car Show

2008-07-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday Daddy took us all to the car show in Cozad. (about 15 min from our house) They had allot of really cool cars lined up around the city park. They also had free popcorn and snow cones. Daddy and Matthew got to sit in a dragster. They LOVED IT! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here are the boys on the old fire truck

Matthew really liked this car. It's called the barracuda. Notice the fish hanging out the window.

This little car was fun too. It's the Bulldog mascot car.

Here is the dragster they got to sit in.

Here's Matthew sitting in the car. If you want to see Joseph, look to the right of the page. That is the driver of the car standing next to him.

Lilly Anna

2008-07-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I have been getting allot of question and concerns about Lilly's shunt. I hope this helps. Basically, they made two incisions. One in her head, and one in her tummy. The shunt itself is in the head and it is what drains the fluid off her brain. It then goes down the tube into her tummy where it is absorbed by the body and flushed out. Very cool really if you think about it. If you have any more question let me know. I hope this makes it more clear. Enjoy the pictures!

Here is Lilly's incision

Here is Lilly after surgery. Poor little thing!

We are home and doing much better now!

Don't you wish you could read her mind?

Here we are after physical therapy. She did very well!

The Bedtime Battle

2008-07-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Are all 6-year-olds this hard to deal with? Matthew is so emotional. Tonight I am confused on how to help Matthew. He WILL NOT go to bed in his bed or anywhere for that matter. He says it's too hot, he says he's not tired, he says he has to go potty, get a drink, he's scared, his blankets aren't nice enough, he misses mommy, he need to do this. He's got all the excuses in the book. I don't want to be a terrible mom and scar him for life, but I've about had it! I put him in his room and he screams and screams. Then he comes out again with another excuse. It's the same thing every night. I tell him exactly what time bed is and we have the same routine every night. He came downstairs last night saying he had a bad dream. If you have any ideas please help me. I'm feeling like a mean mom, and I'm also feeling like I have lost authority.

Update on Lilly

2008-06-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

DADDY'S TAKING US TO THE ZOO
Friday night Jared and Heather broght the kids up to Omaha to see us and Lilly. The hospital gave us 2 family passes to the Zoo and so we went with all 6 kids. It was really fun, but we were so tired! Guess we're a little out of shape.

LATEST NEWS ON LILLY
(you can check out Lilly's Hospital Care Page by going to http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=Lillywelker&seed=173290&ClusterNodeID=jb05&tlcx1=chsomaha

Hey,
Yes, we are still waiting to see how things are going. For the last 2 days Lilly has been very tired and has hardley opened her eyes. She wouln't eat and so they ended up placing a feeding tube in her nose. She has also been having episodes of uncontroled heart rates. Then they decided to tap 10 ccs of fluid off her brain yesterday. This morning she has been alert and happy and talking, and moving and wonderful. So now the question is back to the shunt once again. If removing the fluid released enough pressure to have her wake up, then is the shunt neccesary? I think it is and so does every one else. Now we have to convince neuro surgery to do the proceedure. If they are not convinced then we stay here a few more days and moniter her some more. I'll write more when a decision is being made. Thanks!

Update

2008-06-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Lilly has been given several tests including an MRI, a cat scan, and so forth. We are currently waiting to get the results of the blood cultures. She has an infection in her blood and in the fluid in her head. They believe it is viral, and therefor and do very little for it except wait for her body to fight it off, but we wont' know for sure until we get the results back. Joseph and I were able to view the MRI this morning on the computer, and it did not look good at all. Lilly only has 1/3 of her brain. The rest of the space where her brain should be is currently full of fluid. The hope that she will ever be able to walk, talk, or have a normal life is growing dimmer by the minute. She will have some mental retardation and after an exam to her eyes, it looks as though she may not see well either. Of course no one can predict anything as the human body is an amazing thing and who knows what will happen. One thing that every one can agree on however is that Lilly will have a very hard life, and will be slower at everything. We have to wake her up to feed her because her senses are not telling her that she is hungry. We may have to continue such actions through her entire life. It's amzing the plans you make for your children and the plans the Lord has for them. They never seam to be the same do they? Right now we are learning to put our entire trust in his hands and just pray that she will be comfortable and happy while here on earth.

children's hospital

2008-06-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
Lilly is now 2 weeks old, and has been having all kids of health problems. For those of you not aware of it, she was born with a birth defect called hydrocephalus. When she was born her head was 3 inches larger than it should have been. Concerned, the Doctors did a cat scan and found that the right side of her brain is not there. They don't know why, but it has never developed. Instead, she has a huge pocket of fluid that has filled in the space. We were able to take her home Thursday night, but then on Friday, she began to shake and act strange. Turns out they think she is having seisures. They are not because of the water, but at the same time they are. The pocket of fluid is causing abnormal activity in her brain, which is triggering the nerves to respond in the only way they know how; seising. We took her to the Kearney E.R. and after seeing her there, they transfered her by ambulance to Children's Hospital in Omaha. That is where we are now. We talked to about 10 different Doctors who all had different opionions. Most of them wanted to shunt her head (it's a tube that would keep the fluid drained in her head). When the nuero surgion looked at her, he wanted to wait and see what happens. If he did the surgery and drained the fluid, he said her head would cave in because there is no brain mass to hold it up. He said that about 40% of kids will be able to absorb the fluid and correct the problem over time. He thinks we should give her a chance to fix her own problem. So, we're praying and waiting for answers. He also ordered an MRI because it shows more than the Cat scan did. I will write again and update as soon as we here. The MRI is scheduled for this afternoon sometime. Jared and Heather have been watching the kids and have been a huge comfort and help. Thanks for all the prayers and help that have been pouring in.
Becca

Finally the update on Lilly

2008-06-02T11:14:00.001-07:00

Welcome the newest member of the Welker Family

Lilly Anna Welker
Born May 27, 2008 7:55 am
8lbs 5oz 20.5 inches long

Lilly was born with a genetic disorder called Hydrocephalus (better known as water on the brain) Her head was 3 inches larger than it should be when she was born so they did an ultra sound and found a large cyst pressing on her brain. If not treated the disorder is very serious. We are obviously concerned about this. We are waiting to hear back from a neurosurgeon in Omaha (about 4 hours away). He will hopefully have some answers. We've been told that he doesn't like to preform surgery unless absolutely necessary, so there must be other options. Please keep us in your prayers and I will keep you all updated. Enjoy the pictures.

Lilly with her pretty bow in her hair in the nursery

Here's Lilly alert and ready for food

Matthew was the first to hold her when the other kids arived

Lilly in the onzie we brought from home.

Memorial Day Picnic

2008-05-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day! We went out on the boat, but forgot to get pictures of it. So here are some pictures of Logan and Jenna being cute as usual. They had a blast with the puppy.

Here's Jenna trying to give the puppy a kiss, but too scared

Here they are trying to figure out how they can both fit in the same chair.

Hey, they did it!

Tired of the chair they decided to play with Coacoa

Here's Logan giving Coacoa a hug

Logan tried to get up in the chair by himself, but it didn't turn out so well.

Logan's determined to the chair work

Climbing up more carefully this time

And Ta Da! Happy Camper

Here Comes the Stork!

2008-05-26T13:08:00.001-07:00

Hello All!
Sorry I have no pictures as of yet. We had a massive storm the other day receiving at least 9 inches of rain. During the storm, the tower that we get our internet from was struck by lightning and I am using Jared and Heather's computer now.

We are going to be in the Kearney Good Samaritan Hospital tomorrow at 6:00 am, and Lilly should be born around 8:30-ish... They tell me that there is a web cam in the nursery and you will be able to see her as long as she's there. As soon as I get the web address I will pass it on. Joseph will have his laptop so if you need to get a hold of us you can email jbwelker@msn.com. Guess that's it for now. Please remember us! Hope to have pictures soon!

Still Alive!

2008-05-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
I'm sure by now you must think we have died. It has been so crazy around here I haven't found the time to update my blog. So here it is in a nutshell. The baby is okay right now, but I keep fainting and we're nervous about me landing on her. So we are planning to do an amnio test and if the lungs are developed enough, we'll take her early. She will be 37 weeks on Monday May 12, so we're almost done anyway. I have been on bed-rest and Matthew and Joshua have been a great help. It is also really nice to have a loving and caring Sister-in-law to take care of me. The ward members have risen to the task and I get a "mommy" sitter every day. So we're doing pretty good. Just ready for it all to be over. Anyway, I wanted to post the pictures of Joshua's birthday before Lilly-Anna is born. His birthday was back in April, but better late than never. Hope you enjoy them. We love you all!

Here's Joshua getting ready to open his presents

He got a Tonka-Truck set from Mommy and Daddy

Aunt Heather and Uncle Jared gave Joshua home-made playdough and it was a HUGE hit. The kids loved it!

Joshua didn't want a cake, so he got his own cupcake with candles. He is now 4-years-old.

Here's Aunt Heather and Nathan enjoying a cupcake.

Happy Birthday Logan!

2008-03-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

March 3rd was Logan's 2nd Birthday. We celebrated with some friends from church and had a lot of fun. He is really cute and growing up SOOO fast.

Logan blew the candle out all by himself. We let him use a cupcake to cut back on the amount of spit the rest of us got.

He was a little slow at first but managed to get it open.

Once he realized there was a toy inside the wrapping paper, he was all over those presents.

We couldn't get him to put the little car down to look inside the bag. But when he finally did, the car got thrown to the floor. There was a bigger car inside.

After all the gifts were open, we had one happy camper!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T08:35:00.001-08:00

Matthew got a really cute stuffed frog that he named Leap. It has a little back pack on his tummy that holds candy hearts.

Joshua got a little puppy that had a balloon attached to it. It was popped before the night was over.

And Logan got a gorilla because he's such a monkey!

All the boys got candy and stuff too, and we had a very good day. Logan's got his mouth stuffed with something...I'm not sure what that is.

Hands-On Fun

2008-02-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

With our tax return this year we decided to update the old farmhouse. The one and only bathroom that we have only had a stand-up shower in it. So, when Joseph was given a free tub at work, we decided to use the money to install the tub. Joshua was really excited until we started the work. He wanted to just get in and take a bath. We had to knock out some walls, move some walls, we still have to place the tile, we bought a new toilet and had to plumb it in and just had a blast working on it...(I'm not in any of the pictures, but I did help...promise!)

Here is the bathroom when we started. The shower is ripped out and the wall is about to come down.

With the wall down, the old toilet is now ready to be taken out.

Hey, this is looking promising...

Logan was the best help of all. He was right in there with the hammer banging the wall out. Getting him to stop when the wall was gone is another story. He's so cute!

Joshua on the other hand was very confused at what he was being asked to do. Working was not on his agenda. Taking a bath was.

Joseph gets the pipes ready for the shower.

Here comes the tub! Don't you just love the blue walls? I was thinking about leaving them, but got out-voted.

Joshua wasn't waiting any more. The tub was on the floor, and the dry-wall was up. What are we waiting for?!?

Here it is ready for use. The shower curtain is actually a sheet, and there is still a lot of work to do, but the kids can finally have their bath!

After all that work, Logan is too scared to get in the water. He's used to showering and so he supervises from the side.

Ready for Summer!

2008-01-28T14:14:00.001-08:00

It is WAY too cold here for my taste. It's been below zero, and I'm a huge wimp. So, here are some happy moments from last summer! Maybe they can help to warm us up!

Joshua loved to swim! We bough 2 pools last year. One for the little guys, and one for the older kids...like mom :)

Matthew got into a huge water fight with Nana. (not too smart if you ask me...)

The boys used the little trampoline to dry off when they were too cold.

Swimming took getting used to for Logan. He didn't much care to be wet, but he enjoyed splashing.

Matthew lost the water fight, and is chilling out in the sun to dry off.

Back to Life as we Know it!

2008-01-23T09:50:00.001-08:00

The Holidays are over and our lives have gotten back to normal for the most part. The kids are into stuff they shouldn't be, and doing really cute stuff as usual!

Here are the boys in the new chairs we found at Goodwill. It was only $5 for the set. Poor Logan doesn't know he got the foot stool. As long as he's happy I guess it doesn't matter. Kids are so funny that way!

The boys are really into Mickey Mouse at our house. Especially Joshua. Matthew found one for $1 and now they both have one. Simple pleasures in life.

Here is Logan showing off his tatoo work, and NO, I was not happy with it. He used a Dry-erase marker, and they don't wash off! This is Sunday morning right before we're supposed to go to church. :)

Santie Clause Came!!

2008-01-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning finally came and the boys came running down the stairs at 3:00 am! Here they are.

Mathew as always was first to appear in his new Batman PJs.

Joshua was so excited that he didn't know what to do. So, he folded his arms and kicked the air.

Logan was really into the bike Santa brought him until he realized there were more gifts under the tree for him.

It took him a while to figure out that he wouldn't get in trouble for opening the gifts, but then he got into it.

Here's Joshua trying to open someone elses gift.

Here's the boys after all the fun is over. Looks like a good Christmas.

Merry Christmas From the Welkers!

2007-12-12T12:00:00.003-08:00

Merry Christmas! I am too poor to buy stamps this year, so we're using my blog as our Christmas card. If you know anyone who I may have missed, please forward this on to them! Thanks.

JOSEPH

Joseph has been busy this year working and staying out of trouble. He is the 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum, and thinks it's boring. (who could blame him lol) He prefers the youth, but the Lord doesn't always give us want we want. He took Matthew and Joshua to the Father and Sons outing this year where he won this fishing pole for catching the biggest fish. He is so cute!

BECCA

Becca is the 1st counselor in the Primary, which she loves. She's been in primary since she was 18. Started by playing the piano there and now is in the presidency. One of these day she'll get out, but she fits in with the kids so well, it's a good place for her! Here she is with the achievement day girls. They did a night of cooking. She is 15 weeks pregnant and we don't yet know weather it's a boy or a girl. With 3 boys already, it'd be nice for a girl, but HOW DO YOU RAISE A GIRL!? She was teaching piano but quit when she got pregnant. She's been pretty sick with this one, but seems to be doing better now.

MATTHEW

Matthew is in Kindergarten and loving it. He has a really good buddy named Heath that always plays with him. He is a good reader but does not like to try harder than he has too. :) He learned to ride his bike without training wheels this year and is just growing up so fast!

JOSHUA

Joshua took this picture of himself so I had to use it. He is also getting to go to school this year but only once a week. He's going for speech therapy and it seems to be helping. He had tubes put in his ears when we found out he had 40% hearing loss. He still uses a nasal sound when he speaks, but is getting better. The tubes have restored all hearing.

LOGAN

I think this picture best sums up Logan! He's full of energy and life. Constantly getting into things and driving me crazy! :) He sure is cute though. He gets into things that I never dreamed a kid could do! But we love him and would sure be a boring family with out him. He's our comic relief.

(Here is a small re-cap of some of the things we did this year. They are not in any order, buy they are some of my favorite memories. I hope you enjoy them.)

Easter Egg Fun!

This year we colored eggs with Heather and her kids. We also invited a friend of ours from church. It was really fun and the kids made some really cute eggs!

Carving Our Pumpkins

This year we grew our own pumpkins in our garden. This is the one that Matthew picked out. It was too small to carve, so he colored it instead. Cute kid!

The Flood!

We had a major rain storm this year that completely flooded our house. This is Garage Floor. When we walked out to the barn at 10:30 pm we had water running through our property up to our knees. It was CRAZY!!! Fortunately, we didn't get too much property damage.

The Catch of the Day

My parents came out to visit and we all went camping. It was really fun. Here is Joseph with the Big Fish he caught. By the time we were home the fish had only grown by about a 6 inches. :)

Merry Christmas From the Welkers!

2007-12-12T12:00:00.002-08:00

Merry Christmas! I am too poor to buy stamps this year, so we're using my blog as our Christmas card this year. If you know anyone who I may have missed, please forward this on to them! Thanks.

JOSEPH

Joseph has been busy this year working and staying out of trouble. He is the 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum, and thinks it's boring. (who could blame him lol) He prefers the youth, but the Lord doesn't always give us want we want. He took Matthew and Joshua to the Father and Sons outing this year where he won this fishing pole for catching the biggest fish. He is so cute!

BECCA

Becca is the 1st counselor in the Primary, which she loves. She's been in primary since she was 18. Started by playing the piano there and now is in the presidency. One of these day she'll get out, but she fits in with the kids so well, it's a good place for her! Here she is with the achievement day girls. They did a night of cooking. She is 15 weeks pregnant and we don't yet know weather it's a boy or a girl. With 3 boys already, it'd be nice for a girl, but HOW DO YOU RAISE A GIRL!? She was teaching piano but quit when she got pregnant. She's been pretty sick with this one, but seems to be doing better now.

MATTHEW

Matthew is in Kindergarten and loving it. He has a really good buddy named Heath that always plays with him. He is a good reader but does not like to try harder than he has too. :) He learned to ride his bike without training wheels this year and is just growing up so fast!

JOSHUA

Joshua took this picture of himself so I had to use it. He is also getting to go to school this year but only once a week. He's going for speech therapy and it seems to be helping. He had tubes put in his ears when we found out he had 40% hearing loss. He still uses a nasal sound when he speaks, but is getting better. The tubes have restored all hearing.

LOGAN

I think this picture best sums up Logan! He's full of energy and life. Constantly getting into things and driving me crazy! :) He sure is cute though. He gets into things that I never dreamed a kid could do! But we love him and would sure be a boring family with out him. He's our comic relief.

(Here is a small re-cap of some of the things we did this year. They are not in any order, buy they are some of my favorite memories. I hope you enjoy them.)

Easter Egg Fun!

This year we colored eggs with Heather and her kids. We also invited a friend of ours from church. It was really fun and the kids made some really cute eggs!

Carving Our Pumpkins

This year we grew our own pumpkins in our garden. This is the one that Matthew picked out. It was too small to carve, so he colored it instead. Cute kid!

The Flood!

We had a major rain storm this year that completely flooded our house. This is Garage Floor. When we walked out to the barn at 10:30 pm we had water running through our property up to our knees. It was CRAZY!!! Fortunately, we didn't get too much property damage.

The Catch of the Day

My parents came out to visit and we all went camping. It was really fun. Here is Joseph with the Big Fish he caught. By the time we were home the fish had only grown by about a 6 inches. :)

The things we've done this year

2007-12-12T12:00:00.001-08:00

Here is a small re-cap of some of the things we did this year. They are not in any order, buy they are some of my favorite memories. I hope you enjoy them.

Easter Egg Fun!

This year we colored eggs with Heather and her kids. We also invited a friend of ours from church. It was really fun and the kids made some really cute eggs!

Carving Our Pumpkins

This year we grew our own pumpkins in our garden. This is the one that Matthew picked out. It was too small to carve, so he colored it instead. Cute kid!

The Flood!

We had a major rain storm this year that completely flooded our house. This is Garage Floor. When we walked out to the barn at 10:30 pm we had water running through our property up to our knees. It was CRAZY!!! Fortunately, we didn't get too much property damage.

The Catch of the Day

My parents came out to visit and we all went camping. It was really fun. Here is Joseph with the Big Fish he caught. By the time we were home the fish had only grown by about a 6 inches. :)

Thnanksgiving Continued

2007-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures I wanted to put on last week. My computer is running better for some reason. Hey, can't complain with what works.

Here is Logan on Sunday afternoon right after church. He acted as if he hadn't eaten in days! I asked him to share his muffin with me, and I got "the look"

Here's another pictures of Logan going down the slide inside McDonald's. He was so big! He climbed to the very top and then came down with Joshua.

Here's the only picture of me that I won't make Joseph burn. Which really doesn't say a whole lot.

Here's Papa, Joshua, and Matthew playing in the basement. They made a HUGE mess!

There is a big mess, but they're in their "Happy Place"

See, I have proof that I helped out while I was there. I didn't do much of the cooking, but I raked the leaves! A for effort!

Fun in the Great State of Michigan!

2007-11-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate to travel to Michigan for Thanksgiving this year. My parents live there and it was awesome to be home. The boys really enjoyed seeing where Mommy used to live, but
sure hated the drive it took to get there. It is an 18 hour drive from Gothenburg, so it took forever in their minds.

Once we got there, the fun never ended. Joshua had fun watching movies and Matthew cuddled with Nana and played with papa. Logan was being happy as could be in his picture.

Carving up some fun!

2007-10-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Matthew made this scary guy at school.

Daddy put all his strength into cutting the tops off our pumpkins.

Matthew takes his turn cleaning out his pumpkin. He didn't find it to his liking at all.

Here is the stuff Matthew pulled out of the pumpkin. His entire arm was covered in slime.

Joshua got lucky and had Momma clean his pumpkin out.

Logan could not have been bored. There wasn't really anything he could do. He didn't want to get dirty, and the couldn't use the knives, so he got to watch. He just loves pumpkins!

Here is Matthew, Logan, and Joshua with daddy's finished pumpkin.

Here are all 4 finished products! Matthew, Logan, Daddy, and Joshua. Daddy's is a ghost.

Logan and Joshua

2007-10-14T13:57:00.004-07:00

FUN AT THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

Logan and Joshua had fun playing at the playground while we waited for Matthew to get out of school. They played in the gravel, and on the slide. All Logan needs for Christmas is a bag of rocks and he'll be all set.

Logan loved the rocks! He just kept picking them up and throwing them.

Here's Joshua and a friend he met getting ready to go down the slide.

Eventually Logan dicovered the playground had more than just rocks.

Logan tried Spaghetti O's for the first time. He loved them! He loved smearing them all over everything, He also had fun getting them all over the table

Logan and Joshua

2007-10-14T13:57:00.003-07:00

FUN AT THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

Logan and Joshua had fun playing at the playground while we waited for Matthew to get out of school. They played in the gravel, and on the slide. All Logan needs for Christmas is a bag of rocks and he'll be all set.

Logan tried Spaghetti O's for the first time. He loved them! He loved smearing them all over everything, He also had fun getting them all over the table

Logan and Joshua

2007-10-14T13:57:00.002-07:00

FUN AT THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

Logan and Joshua had fun playing at the playground while we waited for Matthew to get out of school. They played in the gravel, and on the slide. All Logan needs for Christmas is a bag of rocks and he'll be all set.

Logan tried Spaghetti O's for the first time. He loved them! He loved smearing them all over everything, He also had fun getting them all over the table

2007-10-14T13:57:00.001-07:00

FUN AT THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

Logan and Joshua had fun playing at the playground while we waited for Matthew to get out of school. They played in the gravel, and on the slide. All Logan needs for Christmas is a bag of rocks and he'll be all set.

Logan tried Spaghetti O's for the first time. He loved them! He loved smearing them all over everything, He also had fun getting them all over the table

Matthew's 6th Birthday

2007-10-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Friday, the Actual Birthday

Time sure flies when your a parent. Our oldest son Matthew turned the ripe old age of 6 last Friday. We took cupcakes to school, went to eat at Burger King for dinner, and had a few friends over to play. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Ta Da! Here is the cake that I made for Matthew this year. I'm not much at creativity, so this is what he got. Joseph added the Lightning bolt.

Here is Matthew with his school principal and very good friend Mr. Widdifield. Matthew got to see him allot last year, but has been doing so much better this year. He is a great man, and as you can see, very tall!

Here is Joshua excited to be at school with Matthew. We took cupcakes to his class and Joshua thought he was in High-Heaven.

After they had their snack they went out for recess. Matthew got a cool sticker to wear.

Here's Matthew with his best friend Heath. They are holding up toys that Matthew got for his birthday. They are wearing PJs because Kindergarten was have a "P" Party to study the letter. They had PJs, Pop, Pocorn, and a movie. Good Birthday!

Friday Night Preasents!

Here is a million dollar smile! Matthew just opened a Lego playset of SpongeBob Square Pants

Joshua is looking inside the box to make sure the toy is real.

I love this face!

Here is Matthew ready to go out the door to Burger King. He is showing how his new Transformer Robot works.

Saturday Morning Party!

Here are Matthew's Friends. L to R. Alix Nokes, Rachel Hurst (my niece) Matthew, and Heath Kieser.

I ran out of room on my camera, but Rachel gave Matthew a Nintende 64. He was very excited about it.

Ode to Matthew

2007-09-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Matthew is my oldest son and he'll be turning 6 on Friday September 28! Here are some pictures of him throughout his life to enjoy. I will post the B-day pictures next week.

Here is Matthew with Santa Clause. Old St. Nick was a friend of ours this year, so we thought we'd get a picture. Matthew didn't trust our judgment very much.

Matthew wouldn't listen at church so he had to have reverence practice. After 5 min of folding his arms, he thought it was the cool thing to do and did it everywhere he went.

Here is Matthew's Birthday Cake for his 2nd Birthday

Here's Matthew (3-years-old) helping to bring joy into our home.

Here is Matthew all ready for school. This is Kindergarten last year.
They really change year to year.

And here's Matthew already to go to the race with Daddy. He was really excited. He's got his hat and pop all ready to go.

Jenna's Birthday Party

2007-09-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

Jenna tries her birthday cake. She's not quite sure what to do about that candle though.

I was not feeling well, but joined the fun anyway. This is me after coughing really badly. Joseph thought it was a great shot.

These are Jenna's cakes. The bakery gives out fee cakes for first birthdays

Jospeh really liked to take pictures of the cake!

We love our Papa!

2007-09-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

The kids tell whey they love Papa so much.
Matthew said "because he plays with me."
Rachel said "Because he loves me."
Joshua said, "Lizzy" (girl he likes)
Nathan said, "I love Pap"

If this doesn't melt your heart, nothing will.

2007-09-04T18:16:00.000-07:00