Update...Walter Family

I know many of you have been wondering what happened. In between the Polar Vortex, The Russia/Ukraine Crisis (does the Olympics fall in this category?), the Oscars and everything else we lost a little track of time. And I know you have all been wondering, like your favorite TV show, when are they coming back. Well...here we be.

Since our last installment, we have seen a great many changes take place. After an eventful Christmas season filled with cheer, celebrations, joviality, jocularity, and a generally great time with friends and family we returned home. We were not suspecting we would be put on house arrest for a month.

We rushed home to Indiana so Erica could be in a wedding on New Year's Day. Then the "fun" began. In the month of January the boys and Drew went to less than half of the scheduled school days. Cancellations were so prevalent that we adjusted to a later sleep schedule, knowing we didn't have responsibilities the next day. At least, that's how it was for three of us. The remainder was asked to remain diligent in the face of utter chaos and she has with flying colors.

Erica, over the last two months has completed a round of clinicals in Carmel (just north of Indy), studied her butt off to keep her grades exceptionally high, organized the financing to complete our taxes and buy a house, and has been spending more time cooking for us guys. She really has done everything. The rest of us look like bums in comparison.

So...yeah. We bought a house. Happened much quicker than we would have thought. We closed on it a little more than four weeks after we saw it. We move into it in less than three weeks. (If you feel so inclined and would like to travel to BEAUTIFUL Kokomo, Indiana in the throes of winter to help us pack/move/get settled, please let us know we would love to see you/have help/buy you pizza.)

Much of our time was spent trying to keep from getting a serious case of cabin fever, which is incredibly difficult with two pre-pubescent boys, and not become undisciplined sloths. The boys and I put a 3-D puzzle together of an Alscase Mansion, got the 242 star on Super Mario Galaxy 2, started an Avengers movie marathon (in preparation for "Captain America: Winter Soldier" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" which both tie into that world), and quite a bit of getting ready for the move.

Now, with the weather on the brink of changing, it's time to start shedding some of the winter habits and get ready for warmer weather. With that come more challenges. First of which will be a challenge that I will not be competing in. Today is Liz's birthday and I am curious how well the boys know their "Aunt Beth". Therefore today's challenge is...How Well Do I 'Really' Know my Aunt Beth Challenge. Rules to follow. I know it's been some time, but...here we go again.

Christmas Time is Here...

Been a busy few days in the Walter house.

We've been going like crazy.

Friday:

Ethan's sixth grade band concert and Aidan's first wrestling match of the year, scheduled at the same time.

Saturday:

Red Ribbon Christmas deliveries, sledding/snowman building/snowball fighting at grandpa and grandma's Lilah's birthday party in Toledo (which we unfortunately didn't get to go to), "Christmas" movie marathon

Sunday:

Church, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (review forthcoming), sugar cookie making and icing.

Challenge #4

While we don't have video proof of how well (or poorly) Erica and I did with our "Star Wars" trivia, this weekend gave us the opportunity to do another challenge. While the snow began to fall Friday night, Dean (grandpa Melcher) had the idea of letting the boys come over to sled and ride the quad. Surprisingly, neither boy had any issue with this idea.

After another morning of service, we went back to grandpa and grandma Melcher's. A quick note on our volunteering. Erica resigned from the Kokomo Rescue Mission a couple months ago, but offered her services to helping with the Red Ribbon Christmas. The mission packed over 1,000 boxes filled with toys and food for families in need this Christmas season. The mission actually fills boxes for more than just Kokomo. My school in Logansport was a hub where they were passing out boxes and in Frankfurt the boys, Dean and myself delivered boxes to people that couldn't pick them up. We delivered boxes to nine families and cleaned off the sidewalks in front of several of their houses. I am so thankful to have a father-in-law that is willing to do the work of the Lord and meet people where they are. His conversation with the boys on spiritual matters filled out the day and made it even more meaningful.

When we arrived back and grandpa and grandma Melcher's the boys wasted very little time getting their hands dirty. They built a snowman, we had a snowball fight, then the competition began. We couldn't have asked for much better conditions than this past Saturday. Mid-30's, no wind, bundled, warm and sleds "chomping at the bit".

Rules:
1. The boys are the participants.
2. "Regular" sledding rules apply.
3. Run in two individual heats. The first heat will have the boys sledding at the same time.

4. Second heat will have similar conditions. Each will use the same track, same sled and have the same running distance.

5. In the case of a tie the winner will be decided upon by other means.

Here is how the whole thing shook out...Challenge #4 - The Sledding Escapade

We have our first draw. The boys lost interest in finishing their giant snowballs, so we can only go with the evidence we have. Aidan was the champion of the head to head race, while Ethan edge out in the individual run. We end with our first "Challenge" draw. It was still a lot of fun.

Challenge #3 (Part II): Ethan's Second Go

As I said earlier, in a misguided attempt to make the three and a half hour trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving a little quicker I tried doing the first two videos of "Challenge #3" on the road. This turned out to work against us as the noise of the road drowned out any chance of hearing the answers or the questions themselves. As it were, Ethan got 50% (5/10) right and will be credited as his posted score. But just for fun we had him do another 10 questions. Here's how he did.

Aidan: 6/10
Ethan: 5/10

My second attempt and Erica (flexing her newly released from nursing school brain power) to follow.

Challenge #3 (Part I)

I must admit to making a goof. I had wanted our "Star Wars Trivia" challenge to take place over Thanksgiving break. Brilliant Drew decided to use the hours in the car as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. 1. Entertain the boys and 2. Knock out a challenge. Not knowing that the road was going to be ridiculously loud. Re-watching the videos (Ethan and myself) it became obvious that the videos were unwatchable. The results of those two videos will stand. As a result, I finish getting 4/10 correct and Ethan besting my score getting 5/10. (But I call shenanigans because I didn't get a single question from "The Empire Strikes Back" nor "A New Hope", so I call bunk!)

Aidan was first up tonight. Here's how he did.

So proud of our boy

Ethan was given an incredibly unique opportunity last Sunday to compete on the same field as some truly elite athletes. Keep in mind he was not competing at the same time as said elite athletes, but it was a tremendous opportunity. His team was at the top of their division in 6th grade this year. Because of their exceptional play, one of the parents reached out to the Colts and inquired about an exhibition. This led to something special.

We were given a chance to watch our boy play at Lucas Oil Stadium minutes after professional NFL players had played on the same turf. What was set in motion a couple months ago came to fruition as we (Aidan, Erica, myself, Chad, Andrea, mom and dad Melcher) were able to scream our lungs out as Ethan played in the stadium.

We were not only able to cheer Ethan on, but went to the slightly less exciting game that preceded it. The Colts battled hard to win an intra-divisional game against the Titans. This wasn't even the second most exciting thing that happened. We were very fortunate to get field passes which allowed us to go on the sidelines before the game. We were, literally, 20 feet from Robert Mathis (who is absolutely huge by the way). Chad and I couldn't help but comment about how fast these huge guys were. It was nothing short of mind blowing.

The boys were the lucky ones. While we were on the field as a family before the game we saw:
1. Andrew Luck warming up
2. T.Y. Hilton stretching
3. Robert Mathis looking intimidating...just standing there
4. Jeff Saturday (whose autograph was gotten by the boys)
5. Trent Richardson (Erica and I saw the preseason game when he was on the Browns pre-trade, it was the second uniform I have seen him in this year).

6. The boys made it on the jumbotron 30 seconds after we made it on the field.
7. We got to share this great experience with a great aunt and uncle to the boys. Thank you Andrea and Chad!
8. Grandpa and Grandma Melcher were able to be there and get excited with us. (Even if Grandma HAD to sit through a whole football game to get to the game she wanted to see!)

It was all super exciting. But this all came in a distant second to the pride our family felt being able to watch one of our own compete in a scrimmage after the game. We are so proud of Ethan and Aidan. All of the hard work they put in this year competing and cheering each other on. They are the consummate teammates. And we are so glad they are on our team.

Another amazing experience I could have never imagined being able to participate in even a single short year ago. Looking forward to everything else we will get to do as a family.

And there are some pretty big plans in the work. Stay tuned for what's still to come.

Thanksgiving, and giving

We honestly hope that everyone had plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. It was a very busy week for the Walter family. We drove back to Mommo and Bapa's (my mom and dad) on Wednesday.

Thursday started with our family serving with the Galion Free Methodist Church. We helped package 200 Thanksgiving dinners that were delivered to 190 people who wouldn't have otherwise had a Thanksgiving. The boys were great helps going through the line multiple times and filling plates for others, while their mom and I were stuck passing out turkey and gravy respectfully. After being able to serve we made our way to the Melcher family Thanksgiving.

It was a great time. 24 people sharing in great food, wonderful conversation and plenty of fun games. It is surreal to think that a year ago was the first time I had ever met Erica face-to-face. Now I was being welcomed with open arms by a new family. They certainly are a great bunch.

Friday was Walter Thanksgiving. 34 people crammed into Mommo and Bapa's house. We were missing very few to make it complete, but Liz, Mark, Lilah and Claire (and Ben) were able to join us via Facetime. Amazing food and quality family time.

Saturday was another opportunity to serve. The boys and I spent the morning helping the GFMC with a 5th Saturday project. We spent nearly 3 hours raking, bagging and hauling leaves for a neighborhood of people we didn't know. And many were truly appreciative for having been served, it was truly worthwhile for our boys to see how blessed we are to be able to give to others.

We are so very blessed. I am thankful for so many things. Health, community, winter coats. The greatest of these being the people whose lives I am daily blessed by. I love my family. They truly are a treasure.