Allen and Cindy Wilkins Family

High Adventure trip

2011-06-20T11:51:00.002-05:00

This year the three older boys, Austin, Caiden,Colton and Allen were all able to go on the High Adventure Trip. They rode bikes on the Katy Trail to St. Louis. They rode 168 miles. It was quite an adventure. They had a really good time!

Peeping Tom

2011-06-20T11:43:00.001-05:00

During a rain storm Allen walked into the dining room to find a PEEPING TOM, looking in the sliding door.

Raising Girls

2011-06-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

Makenna bought a make up kit with her own money and everyday after school she comes home and puts her make up on, since she can't wear it to school. She decided that Madeline needed make up also!

We are seeing what it is like to raise girls. DEFINATELY DIFFERENT! Makenna is ALL girl, where she gets it from we have NO idea.

Hiking

2010-06-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Austin and Allen

Caiden, Tyler Hoffman, Colton and Gavin

Colton

Me and Makenna

Camping at Island Park

2010-06-18T08:52:00.006-05:00

COLTON

We camped at Island Park, It was beautiful but a little bit cold. We overall we had a great time. We enjoyed hiking, fishing, and the campfire! The last day we were packing up it POURED rain.

Grandpa spent alot of time getting the boys ready to fish a nd untangling poles! Gavin spent HOURS he river bank, hoping to catch something.

Gavin

We enjoyed visiting with Grandma Schulthies. We are so glad she came and that we were able to spend sometime with her.

Makenna

Video for the Clawsons---Alexis Leigh

2010-06-10T09:01:00.002-05:00

"THAT" Gun

2010-06-09T12:10:00.001-05:00

The boys were so excited to shoot "That" gun. It drives Todd crazy when we call his AK-47 "That" gun. They had a great time acting like little terrorists.

COLTON

CAIDEN

AUSTIN

GAVIN and DAD

Even Allen had a great time shooting, even though I know in his mind he was thinking ChaChing, ChaChing, ChaChing everytime

he shot a shot at basically nothing :)

Teuscher's - Chubbuck Idaho

2010-06-09T09:23:00.001-05:00

We stayed the night at Allen's sister Sharran's house in Chubbuck Idaho. Her two granddaughters, Halie and Jaycee came over. Makenna was SO excited to have a few GIRLS to play with.

Jaycee, Makenna, Halie

The girls attacked Caiden and followed him around.

Flower Girl

2010-06-09T09:14:00.002-05:00

Makenna loves to find flowers. She can never resist picking them. She has started pressing them and saving them for her scrapbook.

Trip to Idaho

2010-06-09T08:56:00.003-05:00

We went to Idaho for a Hoffman Family Reunion. Our reunion was supposed to be in Missouri this year but since my brother is sick with cancer we all went to Idaho instead. We went from Sunny 85 degrees to Cold 30-50 degrees. But overall we had a great time most of the time :) We wanted to leave on Friday, but ended up selling cows on Saturday. So we left as soon as we had them loaded and the shipper left. (By the way...those of you who know "DOT" the cow I talked about in my Homemaking lesson.....Yeah that one! She was one that was loaded.....a very funny story.....ask me about it! or maybe I will use it in another lesson or talk!) It was an eventful trip out. We ran out of gas in the middle of NoWhere in the middle of the night...I wasn't driving. Thank goodness for AAA! The back flap thingy on our van blew off which shorted out our tailights (ok, that one is my fault, I took the van through a carwash and broke it partly off. So I tried to Gorilla glue it back, guess it didn't work) But we finally made it safe!

We drove all night straight through...best way to travel with kids in our opinion! It was so nice to have a third driver this year (Thanks Austin!) While driving for a while I looked back at Makenna and this is how I found her asleep...Out of her carseat and on top of all the blankets and pillows...when did that happen!

Sunday morning we stopped Geneva to see our Brother in Law Daryl Teuscher. He happened to be at their ranch for the weekend. It was fun to see him and Gavin and Makenna were happy to get out of the van. They both loaded up with smooth, round rocks.....they were so facinated with them! You can find them in Missouri :) We stopped in Soda Springs Idaho to see a geiser.

AUSTIN

MAKENNA

CAIDEN

!HANNAH!

2010-03-31T09:26:00.000-05:00

Charlie Bird spent last weekend with the boys. Somehow Saturday they ended up at Hannah Woodlands soccer game. This is how they left the house.

SILLYNESS

2010-03-31T09:19:00.001-05:00

Caiden convinced Makenna to let him stick (Suck) erasers all over her face.

She thought it was pretty funny until she took them off and had red "hickie" dots all over her face. Some lasted a couple of days!

Baby CHICKS!

2010-03-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

Gavin's chicks arrived in the mail the day after his birthday. He was sooooo excited! He ordered 100 baby chicks. He is going to raise them and sell the hens. He then plans on keeping about 30 of them and selling their eggs.

Caleb Stock was here the day they arrived.

They are so cute when they are little!

National Honor Society

2010-03-22T08:43:00.002-05:00

Austin was inducted into the National Honor Society at Lakeland High School. WAY TO GO AUSTIN! He is currently #1 in his class in academics. KEEP IT UP! He was presented his certificate and pin by a friend of his, senior, Bret Rodabaugh.

Lakeland Spelling Bee

2010-03-22T08:35:00.001-05:00

Gavin drew #1 and was the first one up!

HE WON in the first grade competition. Now he goes on to Osceola to compete on March 27th.

Every year our family gives a cash award in Westons name to the top three winners in each grade. It is the Weston Wilkins Spelling Award. It was exciting to be able to give it to Gavin.

The Bird

2010-02-17T15:06:00.002-06:00

Gavin came running into the house yelling, "Mom, you gotta come quick and see this bird!" I went outside to see what he was so excited about. Caiden and him found a bird in the hay bales. It was very unique. They wanted me to take pictures of it. We have never seen anything like it.

THANKS CHANDLER!

hi, this is chandler I've looked up what kind of bird it is and it's a European Starling. If you look it up it is puffy in the winter. Debbie, Linell you don't need Uncle Benny to find out what kind of bird it is anymore. I got the brains right here. ha ha

Homecoming

2010-02-17T13:03:00.001-06:00

The kids had spirt week last week for homecoming. Colton really got into the Green and Gold day, the day of the game. He made duct tape, shirt, pants and shoes. He spiked his hair and dyed it green.

Lakeland Won!!! Here are a few pictures of Austin.

Makenna danced in front during half time. Everyone got quite a kick out of her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs6PzvZV46U

SNoW MuCH FuN!

2010-01-25T23:14:00.002-06:00

I think we had 37 kids over this day. We went sledding behind the 4 wheelers and the truck and enjoyed a Bonfire. We came in for Hot Chocolate and Chili afterwards. It was a Great Day!

Caiden

Heading Back to the House
Joseph Stock, Whitney Woodland, Eli Stock, Kaylee Foster, and Jack Lankford

Gracie Lankford and Makenna

Makenna

Gavin

Caiden and Hannah Woodland

Colton, Bret Foster and Gavin

Caiden (on the 4wheeler, Colton, Levi Fellhoelter, Hannah and Whitney Woodland

Mia Woodland

Hannah and Whitney Woodland

Extreme Sledding - Missouri Style

2010-01-25T23:06:00.000-06:00

We ended up with a 3 week Christmas break due to the snow. I had to take the kids in to school for a week after that because of the roads. It was so awesome. We haven't had a snow like that in a very long time. Our home was filled with lots and lots of teenagers and kids! The main fun was as the boys named it "Extreme Truck Bed Sledding" Their adopted cousins Bradley and Aaron Stock would come over and bring their Bronco. They found Dads old truck bed in the barn and hooked it up to their bronco. Three of them would sit in it at a time while being pulled. It was hilarious. They took it over to our other farm and had 100 acres to pull around on. They wore their paintball maks and looked like quite the professionals. I called it Hillbilly sledding! It was so fun to watch!

They also pulled each other on Sleds. Austin tried it standing up.

Sunday Before Christmas

2010-01-25T22:55:00.000-06:00

I put Makennas hair in curlers and told her that I was making Princess hair. (I have a lot to learn about little girls, especially doing their hair) Well......It was very drastic when we took the curlers out. She was sooooo Mad! She refused to go to church. I told her I thought it was really cute and she said it was really stupid. I had to take her out in Sacrament meeting 3 times! She finally sat on the bench with her coat on with her hood over her head. Once it was time to go to class she was fine. I told her I would never do that to her again!

Gavins Memorable Memorial Day

2009-05-25T23:15:00.004-05:00

Today we went to the river. A tornado hit there a week or ago and several trees were blown down and Allen went to cut them up. The boys were exploring the river and found a crawdad. Gavin bent over to look at it at the same time Colton threw a rock in. Well.....Colton hit him in the back of the head.

Gavin had about an inch cut in the back of his head. I think he was crying the most because he was afraid he was going to have stitches.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T22:33:00.006-05:00

Today we went to Weston's Grave. It is the first time we have seen it completely finished with his picture. I was so pleased with how it turned out. I was feeling bad that I had not gotten anything to put on his headstone. I was telling Allen about it and he had already taken care of it. He had gone around our yard and had picked several flowers. Weston LOVED our flowers and was always picking them. Allen said he thought it would be more special if we picked our own flowers. I was so glad he thought of it. Gavin and Makenna enjoyed placing the flowers and decorating his headstone.

Gavin Turns 6

2009-03-24T12:07:00.001-05:00

OKAY...So he turned Six 3 weeks ago, and I am a little bit slow at getting this blog updated....But Better Late Than Never...My Life's Slogan :)
When I asked Gavin what kind of cake he wanted he said, "Mom, I really don't like cake. I want doughnuts instead" .... So we made a doughnut cake!

Picking Flowers for Mom

2009-03-24T11:37:00.002-05:00

Since the first Daffodil bloomed, Makenna has been fascinated with picking them! I was going to tell her to quit picking them but I can't resist the look on her face when she brings them to me. So we taught her to pick them with stems instead of just the heads so that we can put them in water. My table always has a beautiful vase of freshly picked daffodils by Makenna. She spends alot of time picking just the right ones. Here are a few pictures that I snapped of the process.

Westons Headstone

2009-03-24T11:16:00.001-05:00

We finally got Westons headstone. I don't know why but it was one of the hardest things for us to get done. It seems to be the final thing and we just wanted it perfect. We ordered it before Christmas and never heard from the company. I was getting ready to call them when one of our nieces was at the cemetery and called to tell us it was already in place. They haven't put his picture it yet. I guess that takes awhile to get done. But there will be a tile with his pictures on it in the corner above the giraffe.

Lakeland Homecoming

2009-02-24T11:20:00.004-06:00

Austin was the Freshman Candidate for Lakelands Homecoming. I spent HOURS looking for a nice outfit for him to wear. On my way home from Springfield I called Austin to tell him that I got him something and he said, "Mom I just wear my uniform" I could have killed him! He still looked good :) The principal asked if Gavin could be the crown bearer. He was not too excited about it. I told him the principal called and asked if he would do it and Gavin just said, Why would I want to do that. I talked it up and told him that he was picked out of the whole kindergarten. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "So". I still made him do it because I had already told the principal he would. He did great and looked so cute, except when he started rolling his eyes because it was taking so long!

Caiden 7th Grade Basketball

2009-02-24T08:15:00.004-06:00

Basketball is Caidens favorite sport. He likes to play them ALL but this is his favorite. I think he is a pretty good player and you can tell he LOVES it. He is going to a BYU Basketball camp this summer and is pretty excited.

Austin Basketball Freshman

2009-02-24T07:47:00.005-06:00

Austin is really enjoying playing on the High School Jr. Varsity Basketball team. He has grown quite tall and is getting good at being aggressive under the basket. We played Morrisville a week or so ago. We missed seeing Spencer on the team. It would have been fun to see them play each other.

Dancing Makenna

2009-02-23T22:58:00.005-06:00

Makenna has been dancing all around the house. She twirls on her toes and prances around. One day she said to me, "Mom, you need to get me into a class that can teach me how to dance right". Allen wanted to get her into a tumbling class. She also wants to cheerlead! We are trying to discourage that. Allen said if she is going to cheerlead then she better be the best acrobat out there. Not that we really have to worry much....she is only four years old! But I checked around to the dance companies in Clinton. We found a combination class for preschoolers that offers Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Tumbling all in a 1 1/2 hour class. I was a bit nervous at first, because they don't let you watch, and they make the parents leave, but she didn't care! She absolutely LOVES it and looks forward to it every week. Today when Allen picked her up her teacher told him that she was sorry they got out late. But that it was Makennas fault! She had to show her every trick she knew!

Here are a few pictures from the One observation day that the parents get

Video of Livvy/Haley for Bob and Sharon Cole

2008-12-12T07:51:00.003-06:00

Austin Cross Country

2008-11-07T08:19:00.004-06:00

Austin ran cross country this year to get into shape for basketball. We found out that he is a runner! He loved it. He was the only freshman to run on the varsity team. His team missed going to state last weekend at districts by only 2 points! Next year we plan on being there! At districts he came in 3rd on his team, beating out 3 upperclassmen. WAY TO GO AUSTIN!!

Letter from Principal

2008-11-05T12:48:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to thank all of you for all you have done for our family. I don't know how we could keep going without all the family and friends that we have and for the support you give us. The cards, emails and phone calls mean so much to us. I can't even begin to express how much. I also want to thank you for making it possible for us to give back to the school district. The things we have been able to do mean so much to us to keep Weston's memory alive. I had no idea how much it meant to others until I read a letter from the principal. Thank you for helping us to make an impact on others and help them also deal with losing a friend.

Here is copy of the letter the principal sent to community businesses and individuals:

9/15/2008
Please give me the chance to introduce myself, and to explain the purpose for my request. I am Trish Munsterman and I am the principal at Lakeland Elementary. The reason for my letter today is complicated and sad.

Next month, October, marks the one year anniversary of the death of one of our students. Last year in October, Weston Wilkins, a six-year old in first grade, was the victim of a hay riding accident. I cannot even begin to tell you how much the news of his death tore up our school. At the time, we still had three of his brothers as members of our school family. And this is how we feel about ourselves—as a family. The Wilkins’ family is a beloved part of our community and we were all deeply saddened by his death.

What is remarkable about this whole situation is rather hard to explain. Instead of what we could do for the family—it became what the family of Weston could do for the school district to comfort us. Their concern was for Weston’s friends and classmates and how to get them to understand: why? As the donations to the family came in, the family thought of ways to give back to the school district where Weston and all their boys attended instead of ways to use the money to help their family. They have started annual Spelling Bee prize money for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for grades first through sixth grade for the duration of their children’s educational experience at Lakeland Elementary.

You can’t begin to believe the kids’ reaction to receiving this money last year. The family purchased over one hundred books for the elementary library in Weston’s memory on his favorite subjects because he was an avid reader. These are some of the favorite books at our Elementary. Weston’s extended family had written a book based on Weston’s young, full life, and at the end of the year, the family brought a book for every child in his class and had a class celebration while reading this. This is now one of the favorite books at these children’s homes and in some cases the only one.

What is it I would like to do? I would like to give something back to the family who has given so much to us. I would like to do something to honor the life of Weston Wilkins. I would like to give something to his classmates who still miss and think of Weston often and probably will for a long, long time. I hope to put a memorial for Weston on our Elementary playground and invite the family out to dedicate the area in memory of Weston with his classmates. He loved nature and loved being outside. It would be wonderful to be able to place at least one sturdy tree in his memory with a small memorial stone with Weston’s name and at least one bench so his classmates can share the outdoors with him.

If there is anything that you feel like you could donate to help with our cause, it would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience. My contact information is at the bottom of the page. I would hope to have this project lined out by the first week of October. We just want to do a little something to give back to the family that has given us so much, and to remember our friend that the kids know is till here with them in spirit.

Thank you, Sincerely, Trish Munsterman

Thank you again to all of you. You have definately help ease our burden some at such a devasting time in our lives. Allen and Cindy and Family

Westons Birthday

2008-11-05T12:30:00.002-06:00

The school surpised us on Westons birthday with a project they were working on. The principal had sent a letter out to several businesses and she received donations to put a bench, fence, tree and a memorial rock with Westons named engraved on it in a corner of the playground. A local florist brought over a balloon for each 2nd grader and our family to release. They sang Happy Birthday and then told of a memory they had of Weston. It was really sweet.

Alot of other classes and faculty attended the ceremony also. We wanted to remember Weston's birthday but weren't quite sure what to do. This was perfect for our family. We are so thankful to be part of such a caring community!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-10-14T20:48:00.001-05:00

We went to Dennis and Marcie Stocks for Labor Day. Robin and Grant went also. We had a barbeque, volleyball and 4wheelin! It was fun. Gavin LOVED the little ATV. He was so fun to watch.....No Fear! The faster the better!

Colton

Rebecca, Gavin and Colton

Guess what he wants for Christmas!

MaKenna McCain

2008-10-14T18:26:00.004-05:00

I was going through Caidens pictures on his camera and found this video. It made me laugh :) It is MaKenna dancing with a John McCain mask on.

Email from Lakeland Prinicpal 08/28/2008

2008-09-02T15:00:00.004-05:00

I received this email from the Elementary principal. I was glad she shared it with us. Garrett was Westons best friend.

"....I noticed it when I was in Miss Cook's classroom today and had to take a picture of it for you.
After I asked her about it later, she said that the boys had done that the very first day that she put the red and blue magnets on the desk.
And Weston's name was the first that they spelled out. I thought you'd like to know that he's still a part of their class! Trish"

Good Ol' Basketball Game 8/9/2008

2008-08-31T11:43:00.008-05:00

They had a great game until it started pouring rain. They played in it for a while until they were sliding everywhere.

Irinia and Bradley. Irinia gave Bradley a good challenge.

Slip N Slide

2008-08-31T11:43:00.006-05:00

Bradley made a HUGHE Slip N Slide. The kids had alot of fun on it.....So did Bradley :)

M'Kay

Austin

Watch out MaKenna!! Here comes Bradley!

TADA! Here is Gavin

Annie

Even Irinia gave it a try!

Gavin and Lacey

St. Louis Zoo

2008-08-31T11:42:00.017-05:00

After the wedding Brent and Linell and us took some of the kids to the St. Louis Zoo. It is probably one of my favorite zoos. We had a great time.

The kids found the waterfall at the zoo and Gavin decided it was hot and he was going in!

Then Britton decided to join him.

Before we knew it they were all in it!!

Then Linell and I decided to join them....It felt soooo good!

Then they attacked Allen and tried to get him wet also :)

Turtle Park

2008-08-31T11:42:00.016-05:00

After Rachelle's wedding Brent and Linell came with us to Turtle Park. This is the first time we have been back since Weston died. So it was kindof bittersweet for us. He loved coming to this park. A few months before he died we were in St. Louis and he was soooo adamant about going to turtle park. At the time Allen and I thought it was kind of funny because he wanted to go so bad. He never really begged us for things like he did that day to go to the park. Turtle park is just a little park off the side of the highway in St. Louis. A lady made the park for her grandchildren and other kids to play at. Each turtle is a named for one of her children or grandchildren. My kids have always enjoyed climbing on the turtles and running around. There is also a huge cement snake coiled around some eggs.

08/08/2008 Day

2008-08-31T11:42:00.015-05:00

Vernet and I were in Bolivar and I went to write a check and noticed that the date was 08/08/2008. Vernet said "We have to do something fun!, there won't be another 08/08/2008". So we had this awesome party. The kids had a great time. We had divided up into teams and had 8 games. 1 -Relay, had to run to the end say something nice about that person and then they got a Hershey Kiss. 2-Drink 8 oz of kool-aid, Go Colton!

Even Brody Got into the Game!Vernet beat Eric....By cheating a little :)

Don't Throw it up M'Kay!3- Put on a shaving cream beard and then their partner had to throw and have 8 marshmallows

stick to it.

Lacey looks great!

Partners Austin and Britton

M'Kay and Caiden

Taylor, Connor, and M'Kay

Lacey, Taylor, Colton, Hunter, M'Kay, Austin and Gavin

Annie

M'Kay

Looking Good Taylor!

Britton

The game obviously ended up in a huge shaving cream fight! It was sooooo hilarious. I went to get the hose on the other side of the house and I heard Vernet yell.....CINDY!!! I turned around as I was smothered in shaving cream, I am still not sure who even started it!

Caiden

Ciara and ME!

Taylor, Kayla Stoll, and Ciara

Why do you look so surprised Austin?

Annie and ME!

Austin and Colton

Annie (Are you eating it?)

Looking Cool M'Kay

Taylor and Annie

We sprayed off and went on to play a few more games

4- Catch 8 M&Ms in their mouth. Gavin and Britton beat the game by just putting the M&Ms in each other mouth instead of toss them to

each other.

Notice the Shaving Cream still in Hunters Ear!!

5-Lay on each others stomach and laugh, then they received a Snickers

6- Chew 8 pieces of gum and blow a bubble,

7-Pick up 8 or more pieces of trash for Mr. Goodbar, 8- Look up 8 scriptures per team and read to the group. It was alot of fun!

State Fair 2008

2008-08-31T11:42:00.014-05:00

Good bubble Porter!

What happened to your bubble Bradley?

Way to go inside the bubble Aaron.

That looks cool, Joseph!

AWESOME bubble Gavin!

Lets see what you can do Sadie!

Great job Britton!

My sister Robin and her family met us at the State Fair. Her Brother in laws family also came. The family discovery center was one of their favorite places. They had this awesome bubble booth. I think they would have stayed there all day if I would have let them.

The petting zoo was another big hit. They had lots of exotic animals.

Sadie was picked as a volunteer for the magic show.

It was $$Dollar days at the fair. The admission and many treats were only $1. We got $1 corndogs and snow cones.

Gavin, Britton and Porter got to meet Buddy Bear.

They were sooooo worn out. They really didn't want to go home, but I was getting worn out. We walked and walked and walked the whole fair. They were out before we even hit the highway!

McDonalds, Motel and Pool

2008-08-31T11:42:00.013-05:00

I don't know how Allen and I got so lucky! After Rachelles wedding we ended up with Britton, Porter and Gavin...That's it! We decided on the way home that since Allen had to be at the State Fair early in the morning we would just stay the night close to Sedalia and go to the Fair in the morning. We had so much fun with just these three. We went to McDonalds and got happy meals, went swimming and the next morning we spent the day at the State Fair.

Rachelle Wedding

2008-08-31T11:41:00.008-05:00

Taylor and Rachelle Bolton

In the water fountain in front of the temple.

Best Buddies

Makenna really wanted to dance with Gavin. Of course, he didn't want to dance. So I tried to get her to dance with someone else, but she insisted on dancing with Gavin. So I paid Gavin $1 and he reluctantly danced with Makenna :)

He made her day!

This was so funny to watch Gavin and Britton dance.

Colton went to go help decorate the car and ended up getting saran-wrapped.

Silver Dollar City

2008-08-31T11:41:00.005-05:00

Youth Conference

2008-08-31T11:41:00.003-05:00

Weston Wilkins Adventure Night at the Fair

2008-08-31T11:41:00.001-05:00

Fun at the River

2008-08-31T11:40:00.008-05:00

Pigs

2008-08-31T11:40:00.006-05:00

County Fair

2008-08-31T11:40:00.005-05:00

Golf

2008-08-31T11:40:00.001-05:00

Fun with Melissa and Kids Summer 08

2008-08-31T11:39:00.008-05:00

I am so glad Melissa came to Missouri and stayed for a month. Once we got baseball over with then we were able to go down to Springfield and spend some time with them. It was fun to get to know their kids better. I can't wait for them to move to Missouri (LOL) One day a bunch of us went to the Springfield Zoo. It was very, very hot!

The kids all especially enjoyed feeding the Giraffes.

Melissa dared anyone who would jump in the Tortoise pen and touch the turtle she would give them $5. Next thing we knew Colton and Hunter had jumped the fence and were sitting on the turtle. Some sirens in town started going off and Melissa said, "Colton the zoo sirens are going off!" He got this worried look on his face and said, "Well then hurry up and take the picture!" He wasn't leaving until he got his picture and his $5!

After the Zoo we went to a park in Springfield. It was really fun. It had water fountains that the kids could play in. We had a picnic lunch and played in the water.Even Mathias got his toes wet.

Dawson is quite the dancer!

Another day we went to play Miniature golf and to the batting cages at FUN ACRE in Springfield.

We had all the kids pose on one of the decorations in the middle of the course. Then we realized that they were made of FIBERGLASS! Several of the kids itched for the rest of the night!

Old Glory Days Tractor Pull 07/2008

2008-08-31T11:39:00.006-05:00

Allen and his students helped put on a Kiddie Tractor pull at Old Glory Days in Clinton. Melissa and her kids came up to see us and Robin and her family met us there. It is actually alot harder than it looks! The further down the line they get the heavier the load on the trailer gets. If you stop you can't get going again. Colton ended up winning 2nd place in his age group.

Joseph

Chandler

Colton

Hannah

Dawson

Sadie

Liza wanting in the action

Eli

Caiden Baseball

2008-08-31T11:39:00.001-05:00

Gavin TBall

2008-08-31T11:38:00.006-05:00

Boy Scout Camp

2008-08-31T11:38:00.003-05:00

Sharrans

2008-08-31T11:38:00.001-05:00

EFY June 2008

2008-08-31T11:20:00.004-05:00

We took Austin, Jaycob, Breanne, Lisa, and Kelsie out to EFY in Provo Utah. They had a really good time. They met Spencer there and he roomed with Austin.

Allen and Gavin went upto BYU one day during EFY. They caught a glimpse of Jaycob walking downt the sidewalk with a girl on each arm!

This has to be one of the funniest videos I have seen. This kid went to EFY with Austin.

Gavins Pet Chicken

2008-05-16T16:17:00.002-05:00

Gavin has become the keeper of Weston's pet chicken. This silly chicken will let the kids hold and pet it. Gavin is taking his egg business pretty serious. He takes good care of his chickens and gathers eggs and cleans them everyday. It is funny to watch him deliver eggs to his customer. He will stand there until they pay him. If we get talking and they forget he will remind them that they owe him money! We give eggs away quite often and he said to me the other day, "Mom how am I supposed to sell eggs when you keep giving them away." He was quite upset with me.

Weston's Class

2008-05-16T07:52:00.007-05:00

Vernet (Allen's Sister) wrote a story about Weston and gave it to us at Christmas. It was such a perfect story about Weston. I was talking to his teacher and she mentioned that the kids were really struggling with Westons death. When I received Vernets story I decided to get it published and give each one of Weston's classmates a copy. I got online and emailed several companies for quotes. The quotes were between $1500 and $2100. I gave up on that idea and then one day I got an email from BRIO print. Here is what it said:

Hi Cindy. On behalf of BRIOprint, please accept our deepest condolences. We will gladly donate our services to this heartfelt endeavor. Our hope is this gesture will in some small way assuage the pain of such a profound loss, and forge the life-lasting memory of your son in the young hearts and minds of his classmates.

I was floored. I couldn't believe it. So they got busy and we had the book finished the day before school let out. It turned out so cute!! We added at dedication page to the book. You should have seen us the day they arrived in the mail. We were all so excited, it was like Christmas! Thank you so much Vernet!! It was such a special thing for our family to get.
We went to Weston's class and brought cookies and milk and read them the story. We also invited Landon Dull, Tracy Munsterman and Brooke Dunning to join us, since they were also Weson's good friends but not in his class. Then we had them sign each others books. They were all so cute, they all wanted to make sure that our family all signed their books also. We had them sign our books too.

One little girls came up to me and said, "Mrs. Wilkins, Weston and I had a hard time remembering how to spell purple so everyday we would say to each other P-U-R...P-L-E. I sure miss him"

After then end of the story we gave them an animal that grows in water. Mrs. Osborn surpised us in the end. The girls each gave me a flower and then we all took balloons outside and let them go to Weston.

Nate Shroyer our neighbor let his balloon go before everyone elses. The other kids kindof got on him and he came up to me and said, "Do you know why I let my balloon go first?" I said, "No, Nate how come" He said, "I miss Weston so much" then he started to cry, "I didn't want him to fall off the wagon and die, he was my best friend, so I let my balloon go first so he could get mine first!"

It was a special day for us. It was fun to honor and keep Weston's memory alive. I feel so sorry for his classmates. They have really struggled this year. But I am sure they will be fine with time.

Honorary Student of the Year

2008-05-14T10:48:00.009-05:00

Weston's teacher Mrs. Osborn called and asked Allen and I to come to her room early before the Elementary awards ceremony. When I walked in the room all the kids started saying, "Hi Weston's Mom". It was all that I could do to not start crying. She presented us with these ribbons that she had Mrs. Keith make. Each one of his classmates and her were wearing one. The principal, secretary and others had ribbons as well. It was a neat tribute to Weston.

At the ceremony, after Mrs. Osborn had presented the awards to her class she read the following statement:

As I end my awards presentation, the first graders and I could not go without recognizing our classmate and student that passed away in october. Weston was our friend, buddy and an outstanding student. We are wearing our ribbons in remembrance of Weston. When I asked if I could do this Weston's Mom said to me "It is sad, but it makes us feel good to remember." Remembering is what these students and I have done; As I read the prepared statement from our counselors the class was very saddened---they had many questions but mostly what I heard was "We miss Weston." I heard this when we wrote in our journals, when we wrote our Santa letters, when we made our zoo books, and when we received our Memory Books. I just heard again today that they miss Weston. The children were excited when they checked out books donated in Weston's memory and they call these Weston's books. Thank you, Weston's family for these memories. I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins and their children for letting us have this closure.

Weston had these awards: Reading, Language, Spelling, Math, Science, Social Studies, Craft Club, reading Circle, Book Worm, Perfect Attendance, and he is our, Honorary Student of the Year. Thank You, Mrs. Osborn

Allen was too emotional to speak. I Thanked the Community and School District for the many acts of services that they have given to our family. I also thanked the Students of Lakeland for taking our children under their wings and for being good friends. I thanked the teachers for all they have done. I thanked his classmates for being good friends to Weston. I told them that Weston loved his class and his teacher. That is all I can remember that I said, I was shaking and crying and can't remember anything else. It was very touching, it was very hard, and it felt very good to remember him publicly.

The yearbook publisher made a dedication page to the front of this years Yearbook. It was really cute. They brought by 5 copies to our home the day before they distributed them to the school, so we could see it before they came out. This is the poem that was on the page:

Time spent with you

Was so very precious

Even if only for a very short time

We hold a special memory

Close inside these hearts of ours

To us you were very special
Much more than words can say
We still love you now little angel
And we'll remember you every day.
Author Unknown

Our Pet Monkey

2008-05-14T10:47:00.010-05:00

Gavin is pretty proud of his new trick. Everytime I turn around his is climbing up the door frames!

Caiden and Colton Awards Night

2008-05-14T10:47:00.008-05:00

8th Grade Graduation

2008-05-14T10:47:00.007-05:00

I can't believe that Austin is going to be a Freshman in High School next year. Here is his 8th Grade Graduation. Allen was elected to the school board this month and so he was able to hand him his diploma. He walked in with his friend Brittany Barkley, they have been friends since Kindergarten. Now if we can just get Austin to smile for a picture!

Caiden and Colton Music Program

2008-05-14T10:46:00.016-05:00

The music programs at school this year were so awesome. Their music teacher is so good and she is leaving us this year. Not only were the programs good, but the kids had a blast! Caiden and his best friend ended up wearing the same shirts! They were both sooooo embarassed.

Caiden and Colton Basketball

2008-05-14T10:46:00.014-05:00

It was really fun this year to watch Caiden and Colton play together on the same team. They won 45 out of 50 games. Caiden was number 23 and Colton was number 14. In the pictures, for some reason Colton is always the one holding the trophy.

This video shows Colton Hustling for the ball.

This video shows Caiden's Agressiveness :)

Austin Music Program

2008-05-14T10:46:00.010-05:00

The Lakeland Junior High and High School Vocal Music Department Present

ROCKIN' AMERICA

Austin is the one in the white T-Shirt next to the girl in Pink.

The music programs this year were absolutely awesome. Their music teacher Mrs. May is leaving and going to teach in Clinton. The kids had a lot of fun in their music classes and programs. We are going to miss her!

Caiden Basketball

2008-05-14T10:46:00.001-05:00

Austin Basketball

2008-05-14T10:45:00.008-05:00

Austin is really doing good this year in Basketball. He is alot more agressive. His has really grown tall!

Caiden Stock Market Award

2008-05-14T10:45:00.007-05:00

Caiden and his team won 1st place in their region in the Stock Market game. This is his second year winning. We are considering giving him some Real money to invest for us! Last year they won first place.

His team was Autumn Hehner, Caiden, and Ashton Stewart.

They were treated to a very nice meal at the Hawthorn hotel. They thought the turtle cheese cake was the best!

Caidens Turkey

2008-05-14T10:45:00.006-05:00

Caiden was thrilled to go turkey hunting with the Fellhoelters. Levi and Caiden have been best friends since preschool. They waited quite a few hours before Caiden got a shot at this turkey. He hit it the first shot. He was pretty excited as this is his first turkey!

Pigs

2008-05-14T10:44:00.015-05:00

Here we go again! The boys just bought their show pigs for the County Fair in July. Gavin even bought one this year. He is going to show in the Pee-Wee division.

Flooding

2008-05-14T10:44:00.014-05:00

We have had soooo much rain. This is the first time I have ever seen our road flood. We went to go to town and we were flooded on both ways out.

Gavin wanted to go swimming. He thought the flooding was pretty cool.

Our basement ended up flooding also. The drain in the field couldn't keep up with the rain. We ended up with about 8 inches in our basement. Nothing was ruined.

LOGO Presentations

2008-05-14T10:44:00.013-05:00

Austin, Caiden and Colton are in the LOGO Program which is a program at school for gifted students. Each year they have to do an Independent research project and present it to the entire school K-12. They did a really good job. Colton had a lot of fun with his. He did his on Magic and famous magicians and when he presented he even did a few tricks!

Caiden did his research on the city of Macu Picchu. It was very interesting. It is an ancient city that explorers found in Peru. I would love to go there!

Wilkins Easter Egg Hunt

2008-05-14T10:44:00.012-05:00

Flooding

2008-05-14T10:44:00.005-05:00

Wilkins Easter Service Project

2008-05-14T10:43:00.008-05:00

Fishing with Uncle Jimmy

2008-05-14T10:43:00.007-05:00

While we were at Grandmas, Justin called and said the fish were biting and to bring the boys over. Allen brought the boys to the river. Gavin LOVED it! It was so fun to watch him catch fish.

Makenna was just happy to play with the sticks. She would have nothing to do with the fish!

Casted Hands from Childrens Mercy Hospital

2008-05-14T10:43:00.005-05:00

More Colorado

2008-05-14T10:42:00.020-05:00

Spring Break Trip to Colorado

2008-05-14T10:42:00.019-05:00

I decided to take the kids to Colorado for Spring Break to see the Cauble Cousins. We decided to track down Elder Johnson in Topeka and take them to dinner. We tried for an hour to find his phone number and finally found him 10 minutes before we got to Topeka. Luckily they were not busy and could have

dinner with us. Elder Johnson asked Gavin where he wanted to eat....Of Course, he said McDonalds! So that is where we ate. We spent about an hour with him. It was so fun to see him again. We really miss him. He is such a good example to our boys. We feel lucky to have been able to get to know him. MARCH 2008

Coloring Easter Eggs

2008-05-14T10:42:00.018-05:00

Snowboarding with Uncle Eric

2008-05-14T10:42:00.017-05:00

Uncle Eric took M'Kay, Nicholas, Austin, Caiden and Colton snowboarding one day. I think this was the highlight of their trip.
My kids have never been before. They were amazed at how much snow there was! Austin did pretty good. Eric said that his first time down the hill he just took off, he went over the edge and ended up on to a black diamond run! He told M'Kay to hurry and follow him at about that time they saw snow flying in the air and figured he was stopped! He did pretty good and caught on pretty good for his first time. He loved it. Caiden did ok until he got altitude sickness and had a bad headache. He went to the lodge and slept. Once they got off the mountain he was fine. Eric said he thought Colton was doing good and he let him go on his own. He ended up falling and hitting his head twice. The second time he threw up. Eric was afraid he had a concussion. But I am sure it was just altitute sickness also. It was quite an adventure for Eric I am sure! But my boys had a blast!

Spring Break Trip to Colorado - Garden of the Gods

2008-05-14T10:42:00.015-05:00

Vernet and I took the kids to Garden of the Gods, up by Colorado Springs. It was amazing. We hiked around the trails. The kids ended up in snow ball fights along the way. There were snow patches along the way. We had a great time.

Spirit Week

2008-05-14T10:41:00.006-05:00

Gavins 5th Birthday

2008-05-14T10:41:00.005-05:00

Extra Post

2008-05-14T10:41:00.001-05:00

Spelling Bee Memorial Awards

2008-05-14T10:40:00.008-05:00

With Weston's memorial fund we wanted to do something that connected us to Weston, that would encourage education, and that would give back to the community. We know that Weston would have been in the Spelling Bees, just like his brothers. Weston got 100% on all his spelling tests. We decided to set up a Weston Wilkins Spelling Bee award with Weston's memorial fund. We gave $25 to First place, $15 to Second Place and $10 to Third Place.

This Letter was sent out to each of the top six spellers in each grade

We made cash envelopes for each of the top three winners.

First Grade winners

Second Grade Winners

Third Grade Winners

Fourth Grade Winners

Fifth Grade and Sixth Grade Winners. Caiden won 1st place in the Sixth Grade. It was extra special that he won one of the awards. Colton was so disappointed, he just missed the spelling bee by one place.....Hopefully next year! The fifth and sixth grade teachers usually either didn't do the spelling bee or just did a small one. This year they made a big deal of it and held it in the gym with judges :)
This was such a rewarding thing to do. The kids who won were so excited. Many of them came up to me afterwards and thanked me waving their money envelopes. We hope this encourages even more to work hard at it next year.

Caiden Spelling Bees

2008-05-14T10:40:00.003-05:00

Library Books Presentation

2008-05-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

Sams Surprise Party

2008-05-14T10:39:00.005-05:00

Seattle Pictures Miracle

2008-05-14T10:39:00.003-05:00

New Years Eve

2008-05-14T10:39:00.001-05:00

Colton Birthday

2008-05-14T10:38:00.005-05:00

Makenna Birthday

2008-05-14T10:38:00.003-05:00

Barnes and Noble

2008-05-14T10:38:00.001-05:00

Silver Dollar City

2008-05-14T10:37:00.007-05:00

Try a Little Harder

2008-05-14T10:37:00.004-05:00

Christmas

2008-05-14T10:37:00.002-05:00

Making Cookies

2008-05-14T10:36:00.002-05:00

Makenna loves to make cookies. We made sugar cookies for a Young Men/Young Womens combined activity. Makenna was so excited to help. I went to answer the phone and when I came back she was on top of the counter making her own cookies.

February 2008