The First Annual Wallace Gingerbread Challenge

Please take a moment to judge and vote~

"Exhibit A"

"Plan G"

A Wallace One-Liner (kind of)

A couple of weeks ago Mike was editing Henry's story about aliens. It ended some what abruptly and Mike commented as such. Henry said, "Ya, it's kind of a hiff clanger."

Parallel Parking Baby!

Taysom just parallel parked 9 times in a row successfully - license is in sight!

The Thanksgiving Top Ten Countdown

10. The gorgeous weather

9. Mom (Grandma) eluding Mike during croquet

8. Becca's delicious salad, Tucker's apple pie, Thanksgiving food in general

7. The guy's ping pong tournaments

6. Black Friday shopping with Taysom and Becca

5. Mom (Grandma) and Ilah's centerpieces

4. Izzy, Henry, and Ilah's fort

3. Dad (Grandpa) teaching Tucker the jump shot

(Sure wish we lived close enough so that you could work with him daily. He LOVED having you here!)



2. The Candle Club (are the kids creative, or what!?!)

Invitations sent out - Signs posted around the house - Brownies and Popcorn made - a whole dance hall created in the laundry room...

Henry creating the disco ball...

Everyone dancing in the dark (besides the flashlights...er... candles). What a blast!!!

Drum roll please...... The number one thing about Thanksgiving is....

FAMILY!!!!!

(as Ben and Becca said, "Isn't it about time")

Although I ran out of room on the countdown, I also LOVED Theo finally beginning to call Mike - "Uncle Mike" instead of "Uncle Russ" the last day or two of the trip :) And of course, I LOVED being out of school.

Thank you guys sooooo much for coming!

Yesterday, Ilah and I went on a walk, and I was telling her about my Thanksgivings growing up, with all of the cousins either at a church or at G&G Crosby's in AZ. I have such fond memories... I hope the kids remember this one. It was awesome :)

Thanksgiving Photos by our photographer Taysom

Donkey?!?

About a week ago, we were doing our family scripture study...I believe some where in Moroni... When it was Ilah's turn to read, her verses contained the word "hell". I have explained to the kids on multiple occasions that a word only becomes a bad word if it is used as a curse. I guess that doesn't change the fact that they don't feel comfortable saying it though. Anyway, Ilah decided to replace that word since she didn't want to say it. We were completely amused and surprised when she replaced "hell" with "donkey" - TWICE!

Locks of Love

Two years ago, when Ilah turned 8, Ilah decided to get her haircut "short" and donate her hair to Locks of Love. Our hair dresser wasn't sure if her hair was long enough to donate so we saved it in a bag. Two years later, Ilah's hair was long enough to cut off 11 inches - definitely long enough to donate. We went to the hair dresser (taking the hair from before as well) to get her hair cut. The hair dresser sent both batches of hair in to Locks of Love for us. Hopefully they will make a beautiful wig with her beautiful hair, and it will help some one special.

Cutting it off....

Ilah said that she was light-headed afterwards.

Check out the cute new hair style.

Why is everyone saying it's only 5 days until Christmas? I FIRMLY believe that it is barely past Halloween...

For Halloween we invited some friends over for Grandma Wallace's Halloween chili, karaoke, and trick or treating. Christy has a son Tucker's age, a daughter Ilah's age, a son Henry's age and an adorable five year old son. Our children have been good buddies ever since we moved here. We decided at the ward party that it would be fun for the kids to trick or treat together. Taysom invited her friend Brittany over too. After some delicious chili, we took turns singing, and sent the younger kids around the block. Then Mike and I dropped Ilah and Lydia off at Zoe's house so the ketchup and mustard could trick or treat together. We capped off the evening taking the boys around the neighborhood. It was packed!!!!

The Spook Light adventure didn't pan out so Taysom and Brittany challenged Tucker and Matthew to an ice cream carving contest. Then they left their creations on an unsuspecting strangers doorstep... I don't get it either... Later they watched Monsters vs. Aliens and, of course, handed out the candy.

Christy and our adopted daughter Brittany singing some Michael Jackson and Ghost Busters.


Revealing who we truly are...

(Matthew, Taysom and Tucker - in case you're not sure :)

The Erkle pose

Long lost twin???

Eat the Almond Joy - Eat it - Just eat it...

Betcha didn't know that Albert Einstein and the Ninja turtles were close personal friends.

Too cute condiments!

(Ilah and Zoe made their own costumes.)

Happy Halloween!

Pre-Halloween

With football/debate season, family time is rare and therefore even more precious than usual. Last Friday was parent teacher conference day which meant that the kids had the day off of school, and Mike and I only had a half day. No football practice for either Mike or Tucker - No half time band show since it was an away game - AND the debate tournament wasn't until Saturday. Soooo even though Mike and I are fighting colds, we decided to head to the pumpkin patch in Carl Junction. It wasn't quite Roloff Farms, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. I even some mums... my first ever :)

(Tucker is wearing Grandpa Hinckley's overcoat that Grandpa passed on to Mike.)

Sunday after Stake Conference the kids decided it was time to carve the pumpkins - any of you who know me well, know that I don't enjoy carving pumpkins... So I volunteered to do Taysom's dishes and watched as the carving commenced. I had such a good time listening to the four of them. Sometimes they can be such good friends.... I LOVE IT! Here are some pictures of the finished products..

Ilah's happy pumpkin:Taysom's creation, the Space Invader by Henry - and below is Tucker's pumpkin flower....

The proud carvers ~

Ilah is trying to look like her pumpkin (above).

Taysom is trying to look like her pumpkin (below).

Not Bad!

We are looking forward to some traditional Halloween chili this Saturday and some tricks and treats. Since we banned Taysom and Tucker from trick-or-treating, they are planning on checking out the 'Spook Light'... Hope they make it back safe and sound! Sure wish everyone could come and join us.

Happy Grandparents Day!

9/11 a day not forgotten or rather a day to always be remembered.

Every year since 2001 the remembrance of this terrible day in American history seems to be treated with less and less significance. Through my fourth-fifth grade we had a special ceremony, my middle school years we had discussions in a couple of my classes over the horrific events that affected every citizen in the United States of America. My ninth grade year my school made a presentation that every class was obligated to watch. This year and the year previous I did not watch one movie on it and I hadn't even heard people talk about it except when my teacher announced that we would not be watching the presentation of it...and sadly, I was okay with that. I suppose that I was so wrapped up in my homework and selfish thoughts of how I was going to handle my busy schedule this weekend that I did not realize how important my memories of that time were to me until my very last class of the day.

I walked into my seventh hour debate classroom and caught my breath. I had just pushed through the a busy hallway that had been crowded with students going the opposite direction that I was heading, and I was tired. Not only tired of my experience getting to class but also because I was thinking of all my homework that I had to do... It seems like that's all I ever talk about or do anymore. Anyways, I went to my seat and pulled out my math textbook and did homework of course. (I was trying to cut down on the number of textbooks I would need to bring home.) After the tardy bell rang and I had gotten a couple of math problems done the lights suddenly went off and the smart board screen had turned blue. I looked up, ready to tell whoever had turned off the lights to stop messing, only to find that Mr. Stackhouse was the one who had done it.

Ignoring the questions all of his students were asking him, Mr. Stackhouse said we were going to watch a movie and to be quiet. A few moments later all of our eyes were on the screen watching the second tower fall. We watched it fall about twenty times from different view points each time. After he had sombered us, he again told us to be quiet and he presented a slide show on the board... The slides said something like this...

"Please be quiet"


"don't talk to your neighbor."


"Today each person will be giving a speech."



"The speech will start with these two phrases..."


"I was in (blank) grade when 9/11 occurred... and...on 9/11 I remember..."


"Your speech can be as long or as short as you want it. I (Mr. Stackhouse) will go first and after I'm done and when your ready you can go up to the front of the room and give your speech."


It was after we had finished reading the slides that Mr. Stackhouse got up and gave his speech. Immediately emotion filled the room as were remembered 9/11. After he was done my classmates also gave their speeches. Some ending in tears... others memories of confusion and fear... and others with statements of how it brought our country closer together.

As each student got up I knew my moment was becoming closer and closer, and I dreaded it, because as I listened to the speeches it seemed like everyone remembered exactly what they were doing that day and I remembered nothing specific about that day. When I thought of September 11th there was only one thing I really thought of...

Finally, every one else had gone, and it was my turn. I walked up to the front of the room knowing that I would either end up balling or not being serious to cover up my emotions... knowing either one would be bad.

Here is what I said:

"I was in the third grade when 9/11 occurred. I don't remember what my class was doing that day and I don't remember how I found out what happened, but I do remember that about a week or so after 9/11 rumors began being spread around my hometown of Las Vegas that a similar attack was to happen to the MGM... and obviously that didn't happen but... (this is where I burst in tears) my dad worked there! I was a third grader and who wondered every day if my dad was going to come home alive. I always thought someone was going to attack my hometown."

I sat down and began mopping up my tear stained face with a tissue, and Mr. Stackhouse got up again. He said that he heard someone say this earlier today and he wanted to share it with us. He said, "9/11 is always referred to as a day that will never be forgotten, but it really should be known as a day that shall always be remembered."

I hope that none of you allow math homework or busy schedules to get in the way of your remembrance of this important day in history. Please don't let it pass by without a thought. It is a day that should always be remembered.

Taysom Wallace
September 11, 2009

Taysom makes my life sound easy in comparison, and it's not

7:00-7:50: seminary (usualy late because of Taysom)
7:50-8:30: band practice
8:30-3:30: school
3:30-7:30: football practice
8:30-10:00: basketball(on wendesdays)

do you think, after all that I want to explain to Taysom how my day went? no. I just want to eat, and watch some sports. even on Saturday we have pratice from 8:30am-11:30am. even this monday, with no school, we have practice from 8:30am-11:30am.

I was a ball boy on friday for the Varsity, the game was at West Plains (which is about a 3 hour ride). they have the weirdest mascot. they're the West Plain Zizzers, which is supposed to be the sound of lightning. Anyways, we're supposed to start the game at 7pm, but it get's pushed back to 9pm, because of lightning. the game gets done at about 11:30pm. we actualy leave West Plains about midnight. I was home, in my bed, sleeping at about 4am. of course we have a full contact the next day at 8:30 am, which the coaches don't exempt me from, and of course I was in the whole 2 hour scrimage, and I got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep the night before.

but, on the bright side, BYU beat OU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14-13, it was a nail-biter from the begining. 4th and goal, on the 6 yard line, Max Hall finds a reciever at the back of the endzone! Max Hall threw for over 300 yards that game, it was incredible. now I can rub this win in several of my OU-loving friends faces.

Tucker

Tis' the Season :)

This is my first paper of the school year. Thats right, I've only been in school for 3 weeks...maybe four and i've already had a paper due, I've taken 6 quizzes, 1 exam, have had a couple of hours of homework every night, been called as seminary class president, gone to a couple of tennis tournament things, I go to all of my church activities, and I'm learning how to drive. I have been stretched to my limit. Thats how fall always is, busy and stressful. Despite that fact, fall is actually my favorite season, which is why I wrote my first paper of the school year about it. I hope you enjoy a couple of my memories that I have of fall :)



Autumn in Las Vegas is honestly just an extension of summer. The cacti and tumbleweeds don’t change color and pigeons refuse to fly South for the winter, which meant, that when I lived there, I had the stomach wrenching task of cleaning up bird droppings all year round. (Lucky me!) I can’t even remember when wearing a jacket to school was actually necessary. All of these things or rather the fact that I was deprived of ever experiencing a season other than summer, made my first fall in Joplin magical.
The bell rang and a mob of middle school kids burst out of their classrooms and made a mad dash for their lockers. It was pandemonium! Conveniently every student was on the side of the hall that was completely opposite from where their lockers were. The stronger and older students primitively forced others out of their path, while sixth graders put their textbooks in front of their faces and walked slowly through the mob of students hoping to avoid collisions. Everyone was anxious to leave the school and go home to play video games or spend hours on the phone with friends discussing there most recent crush. (Yep, if there was one thing every student was good at it was making sure their brains were empty for the next day of school.) Well, everyone besides me. I wasn‘t in a rush. I had just moved to Joplin a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t have any friends to go talk to. Nor, did I have parents waiting outside to pick me up. (Both of my parents were teachers and my house was only a mile away. Put two and two together and I was the perfect candidate for that “privileged” group of students who got to walk home.)
Eventually, everything but the stench of seventh hour’s gym class and the echoes of squeaky shoes had cleared the halls. This was when I would make my escape. I hastened to my locker, threw in my textbooks and got out of the middle school’s oppressive walls faster than a nerdy kid can solve a math problem.
When I stepped outside the school, I was bombarded by exquisite senses. Panting, from sprinting out of the school building, I stopped to catch my breath, and breathed in clean air. After a day of walking through Axe fumes and boys who were going for a man’s natural odor, I cherished the brisk cold oxygen that reached my lungs. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes only to feel Jack Frost nipping at my now rosy cheeks. When I opened my eyes, I opened them to a world of vibrant color. Mango and crimson leaves cascaded down from balding trees across the street, covering the local lawns. The blue translucent sky took a supporting role to the bold colors of the leaves and created the perfect screen saver.
Although I never left that state of wonder and adoration, I did recall myself back to reality when I began to shiver. I pulled on my jacket and headed senses first into this new realm which I had already fallen in love with.
The brittle leaves crunched beneath my shoes as I walked home that day giving purpose to my walk and allowed me to strut confidently to my house. My mind was not on homework, neither was it filled with sadness from the move. Instead, I felt the spirit that kind of scene inspires. In that moment I was an artist capturing details that would help recreate the scene in my mind.
I silently wished that all year long could be this way, but alas seasons come and seasons change. And to my disappointment fall disappeared just as soon as it had come.
I am now a junior in high school and although I live too far away to walk home and relive my first fall, I constantly watch for sneak previews that tell me my favorite season is right around the corner.
I recently experienced one of these “sneak previews” at a friend’s slumber party. It was a typical all girls party. It was loud, fun, and filled with talk of boys. We played games and watched “The Office” and a couple of the girls even reenacted Twilight. It was hard not to burst out laughing when the actresses had to profess their love for each other! The hot tamale sugar rush, we were on, could only last so long, though, and eventually all of the party goers passed out amidst the popcorn and pillows on the floor of Rachel’s bedroom.
Ten hours later, my friends and I were back to partying. We were jumping on the trampoline teasing each other about our bed head and non made-up selves when I breathed in the brisk morning air and smelled fall. My favorite season was almost here! I was exuberant!
Although fall hasn’t changed since my first experience of it in seventh grade, it now takes on a deeper meaning. Now when I picture fall I think of much more than the beautiful scenery or walking home amongst the crunch of leaves. Rather I remember and anticipate spending Friday nights at football games where my friends and I cheered as if the number of touchdowns scored by the Joplin eagles depended on us. I recall all the times my friends and I lost our voices from trying to be louder than the cheerleaders at those games. I think of all the cute sweaters that I will be able to wear as the chilly weather sets in. I picture spending nights with my family drinking the kind of hot chocolate that is always watery no matter how much chocolate mix you put in it. I think of my September birthday and ponder the fact that I will be driving in less than a month. And I pause to wonder if the residents of Las Vegas know what they are missing.
People often comment that I must hate living in Joplin when I tell them I was raised in Las Vegas. To this comment I have only one reply: Cacti can look pretty and heat may prevent a person from getting the flu, but I would never go back to a Vegas summer after experiencing a Missouri fall.


I hope you all enjoy this magical season :)

<3 Taysom

Once again I have gotten to the point where I am sick of looking at my family's blog and seeing the same thing that is has been for the past month/s. It seems like my mom will do this to me on purpose just so I will take the initiative and write a new post. I don't know if she actually plans it, but whether she does or not it has worked and I AM WRITING A NEW POST...

A terrible thing occurred last Wednesday... that's right, school started. Ilah and Henry being as naive as they were, were actually excited for it. They had gotten their backpacks all filled with their school supplies the night before. They had packed special lunches and picked out their cutest outfits for the first day back. And the whole night before all they did was stay up and talk about how much fun school would be and how they hoped that their teacher would be as cool as they had seemed at the open house. The next day Ilah and Henry woke up early to get ready, eat breakfast and get to school on time. Needless to say, they were very annoyed with me when I caused them to be only twenty minutes early to school instead of thirty... I know I am a very cruel person. They came home beaming and claiming that it was the best first day of school ever!

I'm not sure how Tucker's first day of school was, seeing as after football practice he only makes the occasional grunt or two, but i assume it went well because he had no homework.

However, I am now a junior taking 3 college level classes, chemistry, and french 1, and you can only imagine how different my day was...

The night before I set a notebook, the 2nd work and the glory, and a pen in my purse. I made sure i had my tennis gear in a bag, and I went to sleep. The next morning I awoke to my alarm clock five times (I had pressed the snooze button four times), before deciding to go take a shower. I then waited for Tucker to get out of the shower. When I finally had gotten "ready", (My hair was wet, I was wearing older clothes, and I hadn't eaten breakfast yet) Ilah and Henry pushed me out the door and into the car.

When Tucker and I had arrived at the high school, I was greeted by a guy named Chris who had been in my orchestra class the year before. And I know what your thinking,"ooh, a guy was waiting for Taysom!" No, it wasn't like that at all, you see my friend Chris is a person who can NEVER stop talking. So, for the next 15 minutes I had my ear chewed off. I tried to introduce him to Tucker, hoping to draw his chatter elsewhere, but before I could Tucker had walked away to go put his football gear in the locker room. But even though that plan didn't work, I eventually explained to Chris that I had not had breakfast yet and was able to depart from him.

After having the nutritious breakfast of a chocolate muffin, I made my way to the library and compared schedules with my friends. Unfortunately, I did not have many classes with friends. (This didn't surprise me because I am taking three dual credit classes, and who else is crazy enough to do that as a junior?)

Throughout the rest of the day I collected five syllabi's, 2 hours of homework, and 1 big head ache. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to reunite with friends and to have something to do with my day, but I am not overjoyed with my new weekend homework and not being able to sleep in. Growing up is so much fun! lol

To all of you starting school, I do wish you a happy first day of school! And I'll be crossing my fingers that you don't get homework :)

<3 Taysom

Snoop Has a Message...

We are both really lonesome... But I hope you have THE BEST time with Grandma Wallace and make her feel extra special on her 60th birthday.

Hugs and kisses xoxoxox

I love you all!!!!

Mom

Fun on the Fourth :)

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

~Erma Bombeck

I love this quote and how true it is. Although my family did not throw frisbees (which is great for me cause the whole concept of catching and throwing frisbees goes way over my head and directly to my lack of hand-eye coordination), but we did have a bunch of potato salad and much happiness. A few families from the ward were also there because they know that fun is with us Wallace's : )

Here's some of the fun activities that we did...

WE HAD WATER BALLOON LAUNCHING!

Matthew, Sam, and Tucker were our water balloon launchers.

Bro. Tucker, my dad, Megan, and Lydia getting ready for the launched. (As you can see my Dad was really into catching the balloons.)

Lydia posing, and Ilah trying to squeeze some water out of her hair.



I figured that if I stood in one place with my arms out, then a water balloon would magically end up in my arms.... my plan didn't work out to well, instead my dad would randomly come up behind me and try to push me into the flying water balloons, but I never got hit by one :)
Also notice Bro. Tucker behind me admiring my phenomenal technique lol



WE HAD SLIP AND SLIDING!!!

Notice the technique.

Ilah having fun on the slip and slide.

Henry making a big splash, like always :)


That expression says it all lol


Henry trying to stop Ilah from sliding in first.

WE HAD ICE CREAM DROPPING!!!!

What you do is have everyone get a partner. Have one partner get on the ground with an ice cream cone in their mouth and try to catch the ice cream their partner scoops and drops over them. It was very entertaining to watch :)

Ilah not wanting to see what happens next...

Sam catching the ice cream! He was the champion ice cream catcher of the night.

Henry getting ready for the drop!


Michael going for a second scoop or catching the first one... either way :)

David enjoying some fudge swirl ice cream!


AND WE HAD FIREWORKS!
Sorry, we don't have pictures of this, but they were awesome! We started off the night with Henry and his friend Michael melting an army man in half with a sparkler bomb they created. Sadly, we didn't question this act... Next we went to the park and lit some more fireworks and watched other's fireworks around us until the show began. (It actually started raining at this time, but cleared up in a few minutes, so the show still occured.) The rest of the night consisted of us talking about which fireworks we liked best, me and Matthew admiring how big some of the fireworks were, lighting the rest of our fireworks, Tucker and Matthew having a sparkler war(they tried throwing the sparks from the sparklers at eachother... again we did not question this act), and eating more delicious food.

It was an awesome fourth of July!