MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SANTA'S ELF, CODY....

Hey, all....This sure is a quiet blog considering this is the WALTERS family. Usually you can't get a word in edgewise. I guess everyone is busy getting ready for x-mas. May, I am getting totally hooked on the lolcat website. I loved the one you posted. Well, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Love, Mindy

more animals

Sign Of The Times?

Yesterday, in broad daylight, my car was stolen out of my driveway in plain view of at least three of my ten neighbors. In addition, the thieves entered our pickup truck and removed a GPS nav, a laptop and a printer all while we both were home, without the neighbors saying a word.

The 911 call to the police department upon noticing the theft, resulted in a wait of 5 hours for a patrol car to arrive to take a report.

Inside the stolen car was a cell phone. The thieves bagan using the phone last night. This morning, I called my provider to have the incoming calls to that cell phone forwarded to my other phone. This afternoon, I received calls from people saying that they got a call from that phone and were returning the call not knowing that the calls to that number were being forwarded to me.

One of the persons that called was a 17 year old girl whjo informed me that the thief, a kid named Reinel, had called her and said that he was on his way to her house and should be there in an hour. With her living in Fairfield, CA and the theft occuring in Vallejo, CA where I live, I called the Vallejo PD and told them where the thief and the car would be....they told me "there's nothing we can do, car thefts are not high on our priority list." So I called Fairfield PD and told them the same thing. But due to the large volume of "hot" calls they were currently dealing with, they did not have a car to send to the address where the stolen car and the thief would be.

So all in all, be it the nature of and sign of times to come, or the fact that we presently live in a lawless society with little or no police protection, the thief, my car and it's contents are still out there driving around while the aggreived sits and wonders what's next.

Hmmmmmm, what a wonderful world in which we live.

Other than that, all is well!

training Max

Max is so CUUUTE! and he's kinda big- or is he just fluffy? Where did you get him? I want to glom on him! Does he shed? I could get you a furminator for Xmas :-)

And of course Tyson is charming, too, in a slightly less fluffy way :- ) A friend of mine has a 4-lb dog named Tyson, they would make a great pair.

FYI- my housemate Sydney is a dog trainer, and she was telling me that Ceasar Milan's methods are actually outdated and considered to be unnecessarily frightening for the dog. There are more effective and humane ways (even Oprah doesn't use him anymore). Sydney loaned me a training video that I am mailing to you today, so try it out. Basically it is clicker-training, and you can research that on the intertubes (what Lolcats calls the internet :-) one of the best being Karen Pryor. That lady on "Me or the Dog" is pretty good too, but I don't remember what she uses for training.Clickers are not the only way to go, but they are simple and effective and positive.

This blog has gone to the DOGS!

I guess it was bound to happen. So with my burning desire to be one of the pack (no pun intended) here's a pic or two of Tyson, our 110 lb. American Staffordshire Terrier, more commonly known as a pit bull. Although he insists on eating anything left on the kitchen counter, including plastic wrappers, when we're asleep, he's a great dog that keeps the burglars away.

Bay Area Christmas

It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with 60+ degree temps and sunsets like this one but we're trying.

By the way, for those of you who are unaware, this is Kathy, my latest (and hopefully last....fingers crossed) love interest. Being a good 'ol fashioned midwestern girl, she appears to have the skills necessary to tame my wildness (we'll see about that one...haha).

Finally got invited.....geez, talk about low man on the totem pole!

Hey, I'm somebody now! Ye Haw!

Everybody -- say hello to
Max. This is the newest addition to our family. He is a registered Cocker Spaniel -- 10 months old.

Being so young, he still chew on stuff -- so far, my slippers, two pair of my good shoes, one TV remote, Tom's glasses

He has had no discipline in the past but we are working on it. Luckily, we have been watching Ceasar, The Dog Whisperer, so Tom can get him down on the floor flat, and hold him for a while, and that settles him down for a little bit.

He has fallen in love with Aunt Helen and when I took him over there last night, he would not leave her alone -- jumping and chewing and humping her leg -- so I finally had to take him home.

But he WILL learn in time -- if I can make it through it.

Carson said he looked on the internet and it said that Cockers are good companions for children and the "elderly." Guess that put us in our place.

Thanksgiving at mom and dads!

Here is a pic of most of the gang on Thanksgiving!

Oh, oh, I'd better say "a couple of good-looking boys" and their beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, gorgeous mothers!!!

Oh, we also had another donut night while May was here. Scott, Amanda (his friend), and May glazing donuts. Gropo makes the best donuts and we have more fun.

Hi All -- we had a great Thanksgiving!! With Scotty back in Marietta and May visiting, it was a blast. Just wanted to show you how the boys are outgrowing their mothers. Couple of good-looking boys, huh!!

Hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving -- put some pictures on here, please.

Arlene

Landon

Well baby momma won't let us bring him down south w/ us - bummer.

Grace & I will be leaving in the morning - not sure where we're going first or when we'll get there but I have Brenda's and Jeannie's numbers so I'll call when I know.

My cell is 530-351-5953.

Here's a pic of Landon when he lived w/ us in the summer.

Love you all,

Marcia

He is adorable, Marcia. Wish you could have brought him to Ohio with you. Looks like Landon is going to be a reader of books. Or maybe just an eater of books. They will love him down south, if you get to take him. Did you read your email birthday card I sent you?

Love,

Mom

OK - I'll be the first to try to post a movie clip. I got to have Landon last night and most of today and I wanted to get pics but my camera is doing something funny. Plus, my camcorder is broken. So I got one fairly good clip of Landon this morning on my regular camera - it's a little grainy and there is no sound but i wanted to try it anyway. He's walking really well even though he's such a little pudge. He'll turn 1 on the 30th. I will try to kidnap him this week and bring him down south with me. Bianca did let me take him w/ Grace & I camping at Lake Siskiyou for 3 days on the fourth of July. You never know until you ask. BTW, Bianca is one of my students, and she had Landon last year when she was a Sophomore. I kind of adopted both of them :)
Oh boy - it took about 30 minutes to upload - it may or may not wrok - here goes!
Marcia

Me again, with another ancestor picture. This is a picture of F. Alois Walter (Alois is Tom's and siblings' great-grandfather, father of Albert, their grandpa and grandfather of Eugene, their father), and his five sisters.

They are Magdalena (b.1836), Susanna (b.1841), Theresa (b.1844), Mary (b.1850) and Louisa (b.1853). Alois was born in 1838. These are not in order as the picture had no identification on it.

In 1847, Ignatz (their father) and Abundantia (their mother), along with Magdalena, Alois, Susanna and Theresa, who were all born in Sinzheim, Baden-Wurtennburg, Germany, came over on a ship called the "Boston." They landed in New York City, and travelled on to Allegheny County, in Pennslyvania. Mary and Louisa were born in Pennsylvania.

Not sure when they left PA., but it had to be between 1853, when Louisa was born and 1860, when they first showed up on the census in Washington County, OH.

Some Hucks and Rauchs were on the Boston with them, and also settled in PA and then came to OH at the same time. Abundantia was a Rauch.

Aunt Joan had this picture in her drawer and had no idea who it was. I had just discovered that Alois had five sisters, from reading Abundantia's will, and so I was so excited to find this picture.

Still working on why, when and how they settled in PA and then came to OH.

I know you younger ones won't know who we are talking about, but Tom's siblings will recognize all the names. There are only half-a-dozen names in the Churchtown area as they all intermarried. Now you know why this family is the way it is!! (We ARE awfully close to West Virginia.)

Enough history for now -- Tom is at chemo this morning. He is doing so well. This treatment he is taking now does not seem to have as bad side effects as the others, and he is feeling great.

May will be here for Thanksgiving -- can hardly wait. Don't see her often enough. We have such fun together.

'Nuff for now -- love to all of you.

Arlene

Walters photos

I just wanted to see if I was technilogically advanced enough to post some pics too! And since everyone is talking about children I have not idea who they are, here's a new one for you! The asian sweetie is Sydney, my best firend adopted her from Korea and she and I are buds, not to mention the fact she is adored by Hannah and the boys too! The egyptian is Hannah the week of homecomng (just for fun) and of xourse Bryan's proud day.

Hey everyone!

I am so excited, I can write now, I was meant to be in this family, I can't sit and listen without writing to save my soul. Marcia, everyone is looking forward to your visit...who is Landon and Bianca? Be sure to tell Morgan and Colton we'll miss them too. See you a a few...Brenda

Hola

OK - that's an adorable baby - although she's all dress! Our baby Landon turns 1 this month. Even though he and Bianca don't live with us anymore I still kidnap him every weekend for an hour or two. That kid wiggled his way into our hearts and will hopefully be in our lives forever.

So, Grace and I will be coming down to Reedley/Kingsburg/Visalia for T-Giving. Colton can't come b/c he wants to go to Vegas w/ his step-bro and step-mom. Sorry, Hannah. Morgan and Dan have to work all week, so it's just Grace & I, and Bear. Grace is not much fun to travel w/ so we'll be driving the motorhome. It's way more fun than the car. We'll probably head down Tuesday. Dan did promise me he will take the week of Easter off so he can finally go w/ me down south to meet all my family. You'all will love Dan the Man! He's the real deal.

Well it's in the 70's and I am going to go out & enjoy the day.

Love to all, Marcia

Hi everybody on the worldwide net:

How come nobody says anything on here??? May wanted me to put some pictures of the ancestors on, so I am.

This is a picture of Laura Anastasia Schwendeman Walter and her firstborn, Mildred. This picture was taken in 1909. Laura was so beautiful, but she didn't age too well. I've had a couple of people tell me, "No wonder, being married to Albert -- that's enough to age anybody." Those of you old enough, remember Grandma Laura and Pop, and Aunt Mildred. All Mindy remembers hearing about them is Pop sitting in his chair, yelling, "LAURA," and then spitting across the room into his spitoon. Tom says he never missed.

Mindy said that Craig's brother, Keith, (who is a photographer) can take these old pictures and clean them up and make them absolutely beautiful. So we are going to send this one to him and see what he can do.

Will find some other good ones to post.

Arlene

Pic!

Forgot to put picture...this one is about a year old. I will put more on later!

Hi all! I am back in Ohio and couldn't be happier! I have a great job working at Childrens Hospital. I'm able to see mom and dad anytime I want.

Love, M5

Latest Picture of Addison

Hey all, I finally got a more recent picture of Addison and Krista (with Cody, too). For those who don't know who Addy is, she is our granddaughter (Craig's daughter's baby). She is 5 months old now. Hard to believe that she was born one month early and hardly weighed a thing. Now she is a real chunk. Bye for now. Mindy

Thanksgiving

Hello to all you mid-CA Walters peeps.

Are there any T-giving festivities planned that Grace & I can crash?

Steve - could you tell me Kristy's #? Maybe they would want to drive down w/ us now that she lives up here. We had a great visit this summer but I forgot to save her # on my phone.

Hope all is well with everyone. We are all enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The latest excitement here is my fruit tree grove. Dan has a green thumb so I am learning how to grow things finally. I have a producing lemon and mandarin. My Tartarian Cherry looks awesome but the Bing died so we are replacing that. The coolest thing is I found a "fruit salad" tree at the nursery last week. I didn't know there was such a thing. It's several varieties of fruits all grafted onto one trunk. So I have one tree that has peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots. Can't wait until that one produces! Plus I have a Fuyu Persimmon. Since Dan lives in the higher elevation we are growing apples and pears at his house. YumYum!

Tammy -- how great to hear from you and your family. I haven't been able to do anything on this blog for weeks and weeks. Tom has been keeping me busy -- passing out on me twice, loosing his bottom denture, throat closing up- couldn't swallow, so many trips to the dentist, doctors, CT scans, two days in the hospital to rehydrate him, surgery to open up his throat. But with his new teeth and his throat open, he is doing great and has gained three pounds in the last week. Is feeling like a tiger and wants to open his used furniture business again. Since he can't do that, he sits around and bugs me to do some work - ha!! I don't know which is harder on me -- him feeling bad or him feeling good.

Glad you are able to hang in there in this economy -- it is bound to turn around someday.

Have been working on the Walter/Walters genealogy for the last few months and it is very interesting. If I can ever get back to it, will send you some info on it. Steve will really enjoy it.

That's all the energy I have for now.

Love to you, Tammy, and all of yours.

Aunt Arlene

thanks Mindy! (And "welcome" to the Davis branch!)

For the pictures and for getting more family members on board -- that was my original intention, just haven't had time to get it all happening. Hopefully it will spread exponentially.

Maybe you should be the official keeper of the blog ("klog"?).

How great to see Tammy's pictures! Gotta Love the worldwide inter-web :-)

Double Pic

Sorry about the duplicate pic of Mom and Dad on their 50th anniversary. May, those flowers are from you. The pics of Addison are earlier. I need to get a more recent pic of her. She is almost 5 months old now. Love, Mindy

Spread The Word

Welcome to Tammy, Steve and family. Please spread the word around about our blog. We would love to have everyone in the family come here to share little bits of their lives with us. It is fun to keep in touch.

My sisters and I with Daddy for Father's Day. It was the first time we were all together for Father's Day in 20 years. What a sweet memory!

Hello all you Walters people from the Davis family!!

Thanks Mindy for the invite. Hello everyone. Mindy invited me to join the blog and I'm so glad I did. It's great hearing a bit about all of you. I will have to take time to really read it all. I will tell you just a short summary of our lives right now, but elaborate more later. How is it the saying goes, "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times." I would say that describes the last month. I lost my dear Daddy unexpectedly on Sept. 18th and I confess I am heartbroken. He was only 69 guys, way too young. I really miss him. As for our business, I'm sure you all know, Real Estate is bad, but we seem to be hanging in there by our fingernails. We still have work to do and I thank God for that, literally. The good news, well I sell Arbonne (natural skin care and anti-aging, that's another blog :-) anyway, I earned my trip to Cancun and Steve and I went there week before last for sun and relaxation. I'll include a photo for you all. Also, Tyler just was awarded his "Life Scout" rank in Boy Scouts. Next step is Eagle, yea!! Steph and Annmarie are doing well. Chris is looking for work as we had to lay him off. YIKES. Well, that's a very short summary and I look forward to hearing more about you guys.



Love you all,

and Morgan....sweetie, there truly are more fish out in that sea. You just hold out for the right one.

WAY CUUUUTE!

Boy I can just feel the summer Ohio heat looking at those pictures...and taste the yummy corn!

What totally cute cousins (and auntie ydniM too:-)

Thanks for posting them, aicraM!

-yaM

check these out :)

Thanksgiving in Ohio sounds like fun, but is way out of my budget. I guess we'll go South.
Oh, tell Matt that Grace is now speaking backwards. She must see words in her brain too. She reads words and then tells me what they sound like sdrawkcab. Isn't that a hoot?
M4

What's the latest?

1. How did the erbatux go?

2. Marcia - ya gotta go to Ohio for Txgiving - I am! (no dog :-)

3. Mindy - did you say chopped liver donuts??

love
Yam

???

What happened to everybody?

Maysie - what are you doing for Thanksgiving? I have the whole week off and want to get out of Dodge. Didn't know if Grace & I should head north to see you or south to see all the other peeps.

M4

oops - i meant addition not edition. didn't realize it til after dinner when io re-read it. duh!, guess my brain was lacking glucose.

Wednesday

This is the latest edition of the Walters-Ramstom-Trousdale-Larkin family. His name is Brother Bear. He's an incredible dog that we rescued from the mission. He's Grace's dog and they love each other.

We had a rough week last week - Morgan experienced her first heartbreak. Poor girl. But at least she came to me instead of turning to drugs or alcohol. I'm very proud of her. Of course a few dozen Camel's helped (Yuck). So she smoked her first cigarette in front of me. We were at Mental Health awaiting a therapist and she wass dying for one so I said OK. I remember mine & Missy's first puff in front of mom :)

Then Friday morning Carrie, Dan's oldest, gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. OMG - that was rough. Something that is usually so enjoyable was so heartbreaking. But she's hanging in there - what else can you do?

Glad dad is doing OK. Did Megan make it out there to Ohio? Love, M4

Trip to doctor was okay. She gave him some more morphine -- he never took the last -- scared of it -- but he will use it now. She had given him a pain patch, which we were hoping would keep the pain down at night, but it didn't do anything at all. So she gave him a prescription for double the dosage. Had some of the others left, so she said put two on him -- so I did -- so he got up too fast, fell on the floor and I couldn't find him. He was by the front door. Got a little stronger, stood up, I tried to get him to the couch, but he had to go to the bathroom -- got about one footstep and passed out completely. Called the squad (I swear they have to be male models before they let anybody on an emergency squad-WOW)they are right around the corner. He was conscious by the time they got here. Blood pressure was down a little. The EMT looked at the box of patches and said OMG that is Fentanyl -- no wonder he passed out. But he always comes right out of it and is okay in ten or so minutes. So he's okay -- but I'm not yet.

He will start another round of chemo next Tuesday. Erbatux this time. It's different every time. That is the chemo that can cause a terrible rash, so he will take one and then schedule one for two weeks after that. If he can take it without too bad a rash, will continue with it.

That's all for now -- Mom

Marcia -- you can't sign your blogs with an"M". Everybody in this family is an "M". Glad to see you got on. We have an appointment with Dr. Cawley this morning, so will advise all how it went when we get home. Alsos will try to scan some of the genealogy pictures and post them. Good luck to this technophobe!!
Love to all my "M"'s.
Mom

Oh, Peeps got killed by a car yesterday. Gropo put her in a box and Craig dug a hole and buried her, and the boys said a prayer for her. I will miss my furry alarm clock.

Yipee!

Hello All,

It took me a few minutes but I got on - how groovy.
Yes Grace is an excellent speller, but it is Mandarin Chinese she is now speaking, not Montessori. ;)
I'll add pics later.
M

Forgot to explain the Gromo and Gropo. Princess Grace told us on the phone that she was coloring a picture just for us and was going to mail it. She did, and she did, and at the top of the page she had written "Gropo" and Gromo." That must be the Montossori spelling for the grandparents.

Here is a picture of donut night at the Walters' house. Carson, Cody, Scott, Amanda (Scott's girlfriend) Gropo and Gromo. Gropo makes the dough, the boys cut it out and while it is raising, we play a racous game of Foo. After the donuts have risen, Gropo fries them and we all dash around grabbing donuts and dipping them in our favorite topping -- chocolate, plain glaze, powdered sugar, sugar and cinammon. Of course, then we all have to taste each kind (at least once, sometimes more than once) just for quality control's sake. This is as we are all assuring ourselves and each other that "they are never very good the second day"!!!

Cielo

first photo-load attempt...

Greetings from Seattle!

Hi, we're here!