Hadley

So, now I'll put my thoughts down. Hadley being my first born is pretty special to me. Though she does have quite the attitude I still can't get enough of her. She is such a wonderful big sister. She helps out so much, sometimes with a little coaxing, but for the most part she is such a super gal. She is loving 1st grade and LOVES having her sister at the same school. They have become such great friends. She loves her Papa and Grama and her Grama and Grampa Allen. She tells us all the time how much she misses them. She misses all of her friends in Idaho and her family all over the country. If she had her way everyone she loves would all live in the same house. It would have to be a pretty big house! She still loves Littlest Pet Shop, Barbies, and Dress Up. She has an amazing imagination. She can read really well and has taught Avery to read and Lauren knows a few words too. She has gotten 100% on all the math tests they have done in school so far this year. We went to Chuck E. Cheeses for her birthday again this year. They all had so much fun. She really loves to tattle, take charge, be bossy.. you know the typical 7 year old stuff. She is getting pretty excited to be baptized next year. We love our little Hadley and would not trade her for anything in this world (Today anyway!!!) If you have any memories of her please leave your favorite one in a comment below. She would love to read them!

Our little girl becomes a bigger little girl.

I'm going to upload pictures then I'm going to have Jamie tell you all about HADLEY!!! Sorry they are so out of order!

Once we had a little tiny girl.

But then she decided to grow up.

Just a little each year.

She wouldn't stop growing.
This past week she turned 7. We wept.
But then, she went bowling.










We played a little. Gave her some toys to try and slow down the growing process. And then took her to Chuck E Cheese's, because that mechanical stage creeps her dad out. We love you Hadley.

Gabe Crawling

Lots of pictures

The start of our new Family Tradition. Every year the first weekend after school starts we will take the kids to dinner and a movie. This year it was Denny's (The kids ate for free!!!) and the Drive-In "G-Force" and "Harry Potter"

The boy LOVES to eat wipes.
Yes He Is!!
He gets mad at me if I change him and he doesn't get to chew on a wipe!! Funny Boy
Check out that body.
Hadley drew Mr. Crabs at Joe's Crab Shack!!
Hadley and her drawing
Jamie's first trip to Joe's Crab Shack. He loved it, I even tried crab and realized it wasn't too bad. We made all the girls try it too. They got Ice Cream when we got home for trying it and eating all their dinner.
Lauren HAD to show her drawing off too
Avery eating her chicken
Gabe did pretty well entertaining himself
Look at that cute face
He did this all on his own. He's only 7 months old. I'm so not ready for this yet.
He may even skip crawling, he always wants to be up on his feet.
Avery's new hair do!
Back view
Another back view! It did NOT look like this when I picked her up from school today
Hadley's back view
We probably cut more than 6 inches off. Her bangs look odd cause I cut them and she has this CRAZY cowlick, thanks to her Dad and her Grama Allen.

So there you have our recent pictures. The girls are LOVING school. Lulu misses them so much everyday. Gabe doesn't notice, he only has eyes for momma. Jamie's first week back went well. I can't wait for the weather too cool down so he can ride his bike again. Now I'm gonna try to upload some videos on the next post, maybe Gabe's at it again and mauling me to death so you may have to wait until tomorrow. Stay tuned after that for Hadley's birthday post. She will be 7 on the 13th! Man time sure has flown.

How to get rid of the older children . . .

Send them to school. Duh. The two oldest girls started school this past week.

Hadley is now in first grade: too old for baby food, too young to work heavy machinery.

And (Rachel sobs) Avery started Kindergarten. As Rachel took her through the classroom door, Avery said, "Bye, Mom," and didn't look back.

As a new tradition (Seriously, why do the Welkers need so many traditions?) for starting the school year, we went to the drive-in to watch G-Force. It was okay for the first hour. Then Rachel and I regretted not bringing leashes and muzzles. And tranquilizers. And a fire hose.

Jamie never left school, really. He's been working his first Ph.D. project with young steers over the summer. These are the same ones he had to bottle feed over the winter. And after all his troubles, he still won't get to eat any of them. Just like having children.

Oh, and Jamie still wants to know if Aaron drew any of his tags. Southern Arizona's too "unique" to do much hunting (cacti hurt, snakes and scorpions make me nervous, illegal immigrants are sneaky), so I have to hunt vicariously through other people. There are birds and coyotes at the feedlot, but that's different.

Pictures of our latest happenings.

We put the girls to work right away



Gabe bathing in Grama's sink and lovin' it

This is how Jamie watches the babies
Dew
Lulu at Bear Lake
Ave at Bear Lake
Gavin, Gwen, Avery, & Lauren
Matchin'
This boy loved his Glow Stick
Getting ready to leave the fireworks