Christmas Eve

Hard to believe a year has gone by already. We had the usual tradition of opening Christmas jammies and an ornament on Christmas Eve. The boys wanted to open pjs at 5:40! Crazy kids. But for once we got everything done early enough that we opened the presents and all went down to watch a Christmas movie together. It was a nice change to have things done early so that I could relax and enjoy the family.

Another Teenager???

Yep, that's right. We've got another teenager in the house. Jake turned 13 today. Hard to believe this cute little guy is 13!
It's been a busy and eventful year for Jake, so I thought I would try to recap:

We arrived in Pennsylvania at Sharon and Rob's a year ago today. Exciting way to spend his 12th birthday...onb the road. But Sharon made him a cake, and he had a good attitude about it.
His new friends threw him a surprise birthday party.
He received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of a deacon.
He went on his first winter Klondike campout.
He spent months earning money and preparing for the BSA Jamboree.
He spent two weeks at the National Jamboree, and made memories that will last him a lifetime.
He spent another week at Scout Camp.
He tried out for and was cast in his first school play (and did a good job!)
He started playing the Bass in orchestra. (It is bigger than he is!!!!)
He advanced in rank from Tenderfoot to Second Class to First Class in Scouts, and is well on his way to Star.


I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting, but that's a good synopsis.

Through it all, he has really matured a lot. And somewhere deep in there is the sweet tender-hearted little boy you see in the pictures at the beginning of this post. Occasionally he lets us have a peek at that boy he once was.
But in all seriousness, I am so thankful for Jake. He has taught me so much over the years. And he really is a good hearted boy who just wants to have fun. He has a strong testimony and is deeply rooted in the gospel. And I don't think I could ask for much more than that.

Sorry!

It has been awhile since I last posted. Actually, I think it has been since school started. Which may tell you something. Life has gotten extremely busy for us. I honestly intended to keep up, which actually has kept me from doing new posts, as I feel I need to catch up on everything that has gone on. I am over that now. I will add random pictures from the last three months as I am able, but I am going to continue by moving forward from here on out. So hopefully, now that I am in the swing of things with working at two schools and two callings, as well as my roles as wife and mother, you will be seeing more regular updates on the Wilkins family.
Now that I got that out of my system, I can go to bed! Good night. Know that the Wilkins are still alive out here on the East Coast, and doing fine. The kids are very involved in everything they can, and Phil and I are busy with work and keeping up with callings and kids.
More to come. Soon. I promise.

Ignorance is Bliss

Since Phil and I got married over 17 years ago, I have rarely had a reason to go to the doctor. Other than pregnancies and annual visits, I have gone on two other occasions. The first was in 1997. The second was for a sinus infection last fall. So I wasn't too excited when I was told I needed a physical to volunteer at Gabe's cub scout day camp. I finally made the appointment a week before camp, and went for my visit. The doctor was extremely thorough, but it was pretty painless. Except she wanted me to get blood work done.
Ignorance is bliss as far as I am concerned. If I don't know something's wrong, then I am healthy. Isn't that how it works? I finally got my blood drawn last week (a full month after the physical) because Mady had to have hers done for a volleyball physical (she tries out for the team this weekend). I couldn't make her get her blood drawn and not have mine done as well.
Mady wanted me to go first. (This is the girl who left the room when her little brothers got shots. From the time she was little, she has done this. To say she doesn't like needles is an understatement.) Seven tubes later it was her turn. I kid you not, they filled seven, that's right I said 7! tubes with my blood. (I told you the doctor was thorough.) Mady only had to have two done.
I got a call from my doctor's office yesterday. They got the results from my blood work, and wanted me to come in to discuss it. Uh, hello, that's never good news. Let me go back to my ignorance please...
They set up an appointment for 8:00 this morning for me. Phil didn't work today, so he went with me. I admit, I was stressing. Come to find out, my vitamin B12 levels are low. I need to start taking supplements and get retested in 3 months. And my insulin levels are really high for fasting.....Fasting? I wasn't fasting when I had my blood drawn. Oh.....
Stressing for nothing. I need to eat better. I need to take a multivitamin. And we could have found all that out on the phone. Oh well. I guess knowledge isn't so bad either, especially when you are blessed with predominantly good news.

Scroll Down for Jake's Jamboree Post

More Pennsylvania

Here's the rest of our weekend down in Pennsylvania:

On Thursday we made a trip to Hershey's Chocolate World with the kids (we had to ride the ride twice):








On Saturday we visited a park for a picnic lunch. We enjoyed playing in the river until the park ranger told us to get out.








Then we visited the Pagoda seen in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" movie that just came out.


Saturday night, Rob and Phil took Jake and Gabe shooting. Gabe said it was the best two hours of his life. They couldn't stop smiling.

Seventeen Years

Yep, seventeen. That's how long we've been married. We have celebrated our anniversary in many ways....

In Nauvoo on our way to Kentucky

In Colorado on a family reunion camping trip

at the Inn at Midway (outside Heber) a couple of times

at Ruby River in Provo

at the Holiday Inn in Provo with dinner at Olive Garden, the only time I got sick when I was pregnant with Mady

at home while the kids were with the Jorgensens overnight (thanks Amie!)

a surprise trip home a day early (last year)

Hawaii (celebrated a couple of weeks late)

This year Phil took 3 days off work so we could go off and do something. We even had friends who were willing to take the kids for a few days. Then Sharon and Rob told us they could hook us up with tickets to Hershey Park. So we loaded up the kids and headed to Pennsylvania.

Mady and Jake watched the other 6 kids, and we spent the entire day at Hershey with Sharon and Rob. We had a blast. We haven't been to an amusement park since Jake was a baby...12 years. The weather was iffy, so the lines weren't bad. We had a great time! Thanks again, Sharon and Rob (and Mady and Jake for babysitting)!
On the log ride:
Sharon's last smile on this ride! (She got the brunt of the water)
Sharon and Rob went on this one at the end. Phil and I decided we were just too darn old for this one! It started off with 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds. The whole ride only lasted 29 seconds! It did loops, corkscrews, etc. This was them just before they took off.

Farewell to Summer

Gabe decided to end the summer with a bang. I mean crash, ...uh... snap...uh splat.


See what I mean? Our home teacher (the bishop) came over for the first time last Sunday. Gabe got up and took off down the stairs. Phil called him back up, but he needed to go to the bathroom. "Now. And Jake is in the upstairs bathroom." So he continued down the wooden stairs in his socks. And we all heard the crash. Tuesday he got this beautiful cast. His second one. (Last time it was the other arm). He broke both his radius and his ulna. A "buckle fracture" Phil calls it.
The good news is this one is waterproof.

Quick update

Jamboree post is coming...just have to help Jake upload some of the 100 or so pix he took. He had a great time, but you can read all about it soon. If you missed Mady's girls camp post, scroll down past Boulder Field and you will see it.
And more coming about my job and our anniversary...Stay tuned, I know you are on the edge of your seat in anticipation!

It's Official!!!

After months of working to get my Connecticut teaching certification, lots of money, and 6 interviews, it's official. This Mormon gal will be working at a Hebrew school come the end of the month. Who'd a thunk?

National Jamboree

On July 23rd, Troop 437 left Sherwood Island Park to leave for Virginia. We drove twelve hours and set up camp that night at Fort Eustis. The next day we spent at Busch Gardens, an amusement park. We went on all the roller coasters, including GRIFFON and ALPENGEIST, both going hundreds of feet up and going about 100 mph. Sunday we toured some U.S. Navy ships and met some pirate hunters.
This is a military hummer we saw at a museum on our way there.
This is the first medical copter.
This is the pentagon.
This is the navy ship we toured. It was the biggest ship there and it had a 5" round cannon on it.

This is my friend Spencer and me on the ship. I am wearing a Kevlar helmet, it's not pigtails!
Here are Spencer and Rhodric, two of my buddies, on the bus after leaving the ships.


This is Clayton, our SPL (Senior patrol leader):
Monday, we left for Fort A.P. Hill. That day we set up camp. Tuesday we walked around and got familiar with the site.
Other activities I did during the week were:

-Buckskin Games, where I threw knives, tomahawks, and met Shaun White (he is in the black t-shirt)
-Pioneering, where we used swings, see-saws, and bridges made of wood and rope
-Motocross, where we raced BMX bikes
-Shotgun, where we shot clay pigeons (on my first try, I got all 6)
-Snorkel, where we snorkeled in a pool with 2 logos on the bottom
-Archery, where we shot bulls-eyes

Me at the Armed Forces Adventure Area holding a bazooka.
-Rifle, where we shot more bulls-eyes
-Bikathlon, where I biked then shot, biked some more and shot some more, the biked again
-And Rappelling, where we slid down fifty foot walls
My friend Merrick rappelling.

Pix from the arena shows (there were two of them):



These are pictures of Honor Society and Switchfoot.
This is Vocal Point, the BYU mens a cappela group.
I also went sailing and canoeing. Saturday night, we went to the Arena show, where Eagle Scout Mike Rowe talked to us. We saw a lot of fireworks.


This is Mike Rowe, star of Dirty Jobs.



The Fireworks.

One of the big activities is patch trading. I got around 40 patches. This is a picture of the Star Wars set from the Occonneechee Council. I didn't get these ones, they were very popular so they cost a lot of patches in return.

I got an Eragon book signed by Christopher Paolini, and a Daniel X book signed by James Patterson. I am now CPR certified for the next two years. Jamboree was really, really, really fun. I want to go to the next Jamboree in three years (held at a new high adventure base being built in West Virginia).


This is a cool racing car at Subcamp 8.

This is our troop's gateway. We were the Comanche Troop, so we had a Comanche gateway. The gateway was the entrance to our campsite we got in trouble for not using.