Stephen and Jodi Parker Family
We can do hard things!
Mason had fun creating his school project recently and was happy to report he got 100%. He was very honest and wanted it all to be his idea and effort. We are very proud of him.
He also was able to receive his first merit badges – rock climbing and cycling! Some of his (and his dad's) favorite interests and made it much easier to accomplish. Mason really enjoys scouting.
 |
 |
Teacher & Priest Quorum members from our ward that rode – Mason came in 4th place!
This is a face that I love! Warning: this is my mom's brag entry.
Mason was so happy to finish his origami three-headed dragon – all 100 steps were in Spanish (and no, he doesn't speak fluent Spanish yet)! He is amazing at figuring things out. He definitely didn't inherit that gene from me.
What will Mason be when he grows up? Oh, the possibilities….he is my little diamond in the rough.
We now have a special spot in our bookshelf designated for impressive 100-step origami projects.
Q. What do you do when you have a little 2 year old that is being too loud in sacrament meeting?
A. Have your older origami master son make him tractors, boats, airplanes, etc out of paper. If you can think it, he'll try to create it.
This is a talent that can come in handy. Mason will make lots of little kids happy on his mission with his art.
Oh, by the way, not only is he an origami master – he is quite a biker. He took Wanda (my bike) out for a 50 mile bike ride on Saturday. Not just any ride. He rode to Mesa Falls from Rexburg. It is a ride for someone who is tough. Lots of hills and wind. I was a proud momma.
He has also been practicing his very first hymn out of the green hymn book, "God Speed The Right." (Only 9 more to go until he can choose to be done with piano – right now he is being forced and we hope we will get thanked later)
Mason can do hard things and this is proof.
Mason has been growing a lot the last few month – emotionally, mentally, intellectually, PHYSICALLY! Wowzer – he likes to eat to fill up his hollow leg or something and drink tons of milk. He is a very cool kid and we love him!
He loves to ride his bike. Mason, Stephen, and a couple of his friends have been modifying the jumps to the side of our house and he is becoming very skilled with the take off, landings, and bunny hops in between. He has also been reading like crazy. He finished all of the Fable Haven series and is on #4 of the Percy Jackson series. He can really get lost in a book. He has enjoyed going on scouting adventures and even got to go on one with Grandpa Parker! He is my right hand man and is easily learning the ropes of becoming a very dependable second when Stephen isn’t around – to take care of the manly deeds. He finished off a great soccer season in May and learned a lot more about competitive sports. He really is the most happy hanging out at home just chilling – especially price comparison shopping online. He can get lost trying to find a good deal, but is teachable as we remind him that getting "things" doesn’t really matter. He has been a wonderful babysitter this summer as Lex has taken a job for a farmer and I need to run a quick errand. He is rising to the occasion and enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Mason is a sweet boy with a big heart and a teasing, playful nature. He is also a wonderful big brother and son!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Mason turned the big 1 1 yesterday and had a full day of fun! He invited me to have a slumber party in his room with him, but I counteracted for him to slumber in my room – I’m getting too old to sleep in the floor :). He didn’t mind sleeping on the floor at all…he was so excited about his birthday that he woke up several time in the night. Finally 6:30 am rolled around and he was up and at ’em.
We have a tradition of opening gifts before school – a tradition I didn’t even recognize until recently that is a memory from when I grew up. Kind of like Christmas you know? Anyway Mason was happy to get to do that and loved all of his gifts. I think the gift that surprised him the most was the money origami book. Grandpa & Grandma Baldwin heard that he didn’t have a new scout shirt and hooked him up with that and other scout paraphernalia. Mason loves scouts! In fact, Scouts were held yesterday on his birthday – perfect! They went to BYU-I to work on swimming stuff. He had a lot of fun swimming 4 laps. He said it was kind of hard. I was very impressed because I wish I could do that!
One of Mason’s stresses about his birthday were being sung to at school and church. Sunday at church he pretended to have to go to the bathroom right when the birthday songs were about to be sung. Little did he know, Sister Puzey was two steps ahead of him. She pretended to pull his stick out of the helping jar during sharing time and when he came up to "help" she had the Primary sing to him. He said he didn’t really like it, but he wasn’t mad at her. (haha) If you want to know the truth, Mason really doesn’t enjoy being in the spotlight…it makes him uncomfortable with people staring at him. Then he told us that at school the cafeteria ladies sing to the birthday kids…this was not going to work for him. I bailed him out and picked him up for lunch and took him to Wendy’s for 2 chicken sandwiches and a frosty. He is eating like a horse these days – he must be growing! Anyway I’m pretty sure I got some major browny points for rescuing him from the unfortunate birthday serenade.
After school, Mason was able to have all of his 3 best friends over. They had ridden their bikes to school and rode them back to our home. They had loads of fun riding and jumping the jumps Mason built this past weekend. After the riding we invited them in for some soup and cake. Grandpa & Grandma Parker were able to come and celebrate with us as well. We are glad to have them back in town for the birthday celebrations. By the way, when I asked Mason what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday this is what he told me, "I want a mountain and one half to be mountain biking and the other half snowboarding." So Stephen and I joined forces to come up with what you see pictured. Stephen even made the bike out of wire – pretty talented guy!
Mason had a wonderful day!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Wow Mason-what a great day. Happy Birthday-you are growing into such an awesome boy. You are very talented and your family is lucky to have you.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:54:42 AM
Mason so glad you had a great birthday! Love the cool cake too. Hope you have a good year.
Monday, March 15, 2010 10:00:09 AM
Mason participate in his school’s 5th Grade America Program. They sang many songs about America as well as speaking parts. The 5th graders were the only people on the program. My favorite part was watching the dances. Each 5th grade class performed a song. Mason’s class got to do the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – I love that song! I was very proud of Mason, he was even smiling while he danced. That is something I wasn’t expecting. He is a great little dancer. He chose to dance with his friend, Lindsay Wise, from our ward. She is his little tutor in class, she helps him if he has a question on his homework. We like her a lot because of that. She has helped Mason earn straight A’s! It is fun to watch Mason progress through life as a handsome, talented, and intelligent young man.
Tonight was our ward scout banquet. We had a pasta dinner that was delicious. Lily, Olivia, and Lex love scout nights as much as Mason. This night was extra special because Mason received his Arrow of Light award from Cub Scouts. He set this as one of his goals for this year and was unstoppable at achieving it. Mason has really loved Cub Scouts and this was the perfect way to make his exit. Next month he will retire his blue shirt and trade it for a khaki. He is comforted to know that his arrow of light patch will get to come with him as a reminder of his first experience in scouts.
He told me that some of some of his favorite memories of Cub Scouts are: Pinewood Derbies (making the cars), Earning his Bobcat "in like a week", the Blue & Gold Banquet, knot tying, earning his engineer activity pin in Webelos, & collecting 14 belt loops.
This year Mason wanted to raise the bar for the difficulty of his car. He chose to make a Ferrari Enzo, it was a combined effort from Grandpa Baldwin helping him get the wood all glues together and built up. We then used Grandpa Parkers bandsaw and dremmel to cut out the body and shape the car. From then on it was slow and tedious, we had to carve each wheel well out with the dremmel and slowly shape the rest of the car. Mom and Lex helped paint the cool features on it, it even has a European license plate on it.
Great looking car and boys. You did a great job Mason.
Monday, February 01, 2010 4:11:55 PM
Nice looking car, Mason. It looks like JTis ready to be Cub Scout too.
Monday, February 01, 2010 5:43:07 PM
Mason you had such great sportsmanship – it made me proud (in a good way)! I think you’re car was THE coolest. Your cub scout days are going quickly. Way to go on your Webelos Badge too!
Tuesday, February 02, 2010 9:07:15 PM
Mason had a great soccer season! Something clicked and he became a star. He was so excited to tell us when he made a goal. Stephen and to peel back on his ice cream rewards or we would have gained some serious pounds. I am proud of Mason and his determination and stamina. One night both he and Matt had climbed Mt. Borah and they showed up to play soccer and they played hard! It is nice to have a good friend to encourage and push you. Matt is a great friend to Mason. Even though Matt also deserves a lot of glory to for his mad soccer playing, he was very complimentary toward Mason and happy for him. He helped give Mason the confidence he needed to stay positive and enjoy the season. They definitey became the most improved team over the season! Unfortuantely I wasn’t able to capture any of Mason’s goals on camera over the season, but we caught Matts!
Way to go Mason and Matt! Looks like some great times. You guys are quite the tough guys-keep it up.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:31:07 AM
Matt and Mason are grandsons to be proud of. They are strong but real gentlemen.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:50:46 PM
I thought that it was fun. I saw my third grade teacher, Mr. Kennelly, who is my teacher now. I got to have popcorn chicken in the cafeteria. I ate lunch with my friends, Hunter, Matthew, and Max. I played with them at recess too, we played soccer. I am excited to learn about the states this year. I am excited that Lily has Mrs. Smith.
mason has been very diligent about trying to solve his rubiks cube this summer. he has been printing out booklets, and watching youtubes, even asking people he knows the tricks involved. well, of course he figured it out and this picture is what he looked like the day that he did. he looked so cute and so proud, i loved it! he is currently trying to challenge himself with speed. he has been clocked at doing it under 2 minutes. all i can say is he is a patient person… i look at a rubiks cube and want to scream.
next pic is of his self made bike gloves. he has seen stephen and i wearing ours and one day i caught him with a pair of scissors and an old pair of "magic gloves" you buy for $1 at christmas time. he solved the problem of not having bike gloves with his resourcefulness – you can count on him for that. He is a lot like his dad!
 |
 |
 |
The only way I can do a rubix cube is to take the stickers off. Good job Mason. You are so impressive and you sure do use your mind!
Monday, August 17, 2009 9:27:23 AM
You are awesome! Girls love a guy who can solve the Cube.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 10:30:15 PM