Category: Stephen and Jodi

Stephen is more than willing to help out…he found a more efficient way to crank out the juice a few years ago – isn’t he clever?When I was married close to 14 years ago I was introduced to a new meal, macaroni and tomatoes. This consists of elbow macaroni noodles and tomato juice, yep that’s all folks. Usually always served with random condiments, cheese (my favorite), hot sauce, lots of salt and black pepper, cayenne pepper, etc. Shh, don’t tell Stephen but he likes to add a “secret” ingredient – a Tbsp of butter. If I didn’t try it myself I think I would be skeptical of all of this. Apparently this meal was served to the Bruce Parker family often, and before that the Fred Parker family. I learned that when times were plentiful, hamburger was added to the concoction. I also quickly realized, all of those years ago, that I would need to become a canner to fill my husband’s tummy with love.

Stephen has anxiously helped me introduce this food to each one of our children. He is thrilled to report that every single one of them love it and want to eat it at least one a week! (We are sure JT will follow suite) I periodically quiz them on their “favorites”. All of the kids at one time or another have dubbed this their favorite thing to eat. Alexis swears that if she eats this when she is sick, she will get better! As you can tell, it is also a comfort food. This leads me to my purpose of this entry.

Yesterday, Stephen took a trip down memory lane and had me and Olivia go out to a local tomato farmer’s garden to hand pick our tomatoes – just like his mom. By doing this, we get more bang for our buck. After loading them in the trunk of our van we were proud to report that we had three bushel.

Today, in order to sustain our food supplies, we processed 75 jars of tomato juice! It seems to be a lot, but with the army I am raising we hope to make it through until next year!

Comments:

Dad and Mom Parker said…

Way to go Parkers. We are proud to see the whole family canning. It gives you such a feeling of satisfaction to see all those jars full. This winter you can make many things with tomatoes, soups casseroles, mac and tomatoes also. Where did you get the tomatoes? We love this time of year, a time for preparation.
Sunday, September 07, 2008 7:03:58 AM

Stacie said…

Way to go Jodi! Isn’t it nice to see your shelves fill up with all the colorful foods in a jar! I love this time of year! It is tiring, but very fulfilling!
Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:38:31 AM

Steph said…

I am doing mine Saturday. What a great talent. Thanks Mom! I love macaroni and tomatoes over any other meal, it’s easy, fast, and the whole family likes it. I wonder if any of my dad’s brothers and sisters still eat it like we do. Good blog!
Monday, September 08, 2008 8:47:12 PM

Meg the Gem said…

Go Jodi! I canned peaches last week and so I am expecially impressed w/the 75 jars!! I’ll try out the recipe on my tribe, sounds like a great one for food storage purposes, so simple!

Monday, September 08, 2008 11:38:00 PM

Anne said…

Way to go Jodi! You and Michelle will have to be the favorite daughter in laws! I am just not very good in the canning department with all these moves and things in storage and honestly, I am glad that Kassie gets to eat macaroni and tomatoes whenever we visit Rexburg. I have not been good to follow suit with the mac and tomatoes. It is a wonderful thing to teach the kids. What great memories they will have working along side you. When I grow up I hope to be as good as the great Parker women. So did you have macaroni and tomatoes for dinner that night? Happy Harvesting!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008 12:42:16 PM

Mom Baldwin said…

Way to go Parker family! I am so pleased you have worked so hard together and accomplished such a great task. Having 75 quarts of tomatoes on one’s shelf is wonderful to see and even better to eat when you need some tomato juice. I love macroni and tomatoes, too. My grandmother Belnap fixed them a lot. We had them at our house when I was growing up, too. I do believe they are a comfort food, also. They always make me feel good inside when I eat them. Three cheers for macaroni and tomatoes!!! Long may they be with us!
Monday, September 15, 2008 11:41:50 PM

Pam said…

Canning is one of the best parts of Fall. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment after canning our tomato “crop” into salsa or speghetti sauce. I’ve never just done tomatoes, do you blanch and peel them? It also helps me justify the cost of watering the tomato plants all summer.
Friday, September 19, 2008 9:33:56 PM

Amy Baldwin said…

You are the ultimate homemaker. Hey, will you send me that recipe? Maybe it’s something that my kids would eat.
Friday, October 10, 2008 12:35:02 PM

Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain…

This song came to my mind today on our bike ride through the rolling hills of wheat and potatoes as we looked east to the Teton Mountain Range. We are pretty lucky and blessed people to live in such a beautiful part of the world. It was a gift to be able to witness another day from a loving Heavenly Father.

Stephen reminded us again that when we do hard things it ends up being well worth it – I am starting to see that this is becoming a reoccurring theme in our lives in teaching our children. Lily spouted that she couldn’t wait to give a talk in church about this…Life hands us many teaching moments.

Comments:

Mom and Dad Parker said…

“Work should be enthroned as a crowning principle in our lives” Pres Kimball. WE have always liked and trusted in that quote. What a blessing to be able and willing to do the hard things in life. Keep up the “good work”.
Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:03:34 AM

Aunt Susan said…

How far did your family bike together? You look amazing- Outstanding in your field:) Love to you/
Sunday, August 31, 2008 9:13:42 AM

Jana said…

You guys are awesome I am proud of your hard work …the family that plays together stays together!!
Monday, September 01, 2008 12:45:25 PM

Anne said…

Looks like you are working hard and enjoying it too! What a great family picture!
Monday, September 01, 2008 10:18:30 PM

Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin came up for a visit. It was so much fun.

I loved it. We went to Island Park on Saturday so that Grandpa could get some quaking aspens for walking sticks. When we made the first stop I got stung by a wasp! I was NOT happy. We loaded up and went somewhere else. We had lunch with lots of flies and wasps flying around. Olivia got stung too. Alexis and Mason weren’t happy about it – they were feeling nervous. Grandpa said he might make Olivia a walking stick with a bee on it.

When we came home Grandma took all of the girls shopping. I really loved this part. Olivia got to pick out a birthday present. She chose to get a Cinderella Polly Pocket. I got to get some gum.

We love our Grandpa and Grandma.

Comments:

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

It looked like a fun time Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin are always fun to be with. You are lucky to have them around. You guys are so sweet, the bees love you.
Monday, August 25, 2008 1:58:42 AM

michelle said…

How fun! I wouldn’t have done well with the wasps however. You guys are so fun!
Monday, August 25, 2008 11:43:05 AM

Grandma Baldwin said…

We had such a good time with the Parker’s last week-end! Thanks to all of you for being so nice to us. Lily, I think grandpa was going to make you the walking stick. You were the first one to get stung, remember? He can make one for Olivia, too. You two were such good sports. Those wasps were really too overbearing. It’s a good thing we left before all of us got stung!!!! Love to all.
Monday, August 25, 2008 12:15:29 PM

Meg the Gem said…

How fun! You always do such a great job posting pictures. Post me on my blog (or I guess you could email me) how you get multiple pictures up. My set up will only allow 4-5 and they post much bigger than I’de prefer. I like the way you do it!
Thursday, August 28, 2008 11:00:53 PM

Last night all of the Parker cousins gathered at Jana’s house to have a party for Harry and my dad. They have the same birthday – August 14th. Mason and my dad rode Sancha to the party in their outfits, it was funny! It was fun to have Uncle Everett and Aunt Dot come.

First we ate. We had beans, corn, chips, and salsa. Then we made nacho masks – this was my favorite part. My mom even put one on JT, it made us laugh! We also had and ice cream cake decorated with luchadors, it was funny too! My dad and Paul had awesome costumes and I really liked John’s mask. It was fun to dress up, even JT did it. Jana and Paul made a very cool pinata and Jessie cracked it open. All of the kids went running and me, Paige, and Haley just walked.

I am glad that Jana had the idea of a Nacho party!

Comments:

Grandpa and Grandma Parker said…

Thanks for having lots of fun with your cousins. We think that’s great. Keep up the happy life.
Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:29:40 PM

Anne said…

Super fun stuff! You just make 35 look great Stephen! Harry and you look like you had a great day and celebration. We are so glad you were both born! Way to enjoy life and have some fun!
Sunday, August 17, 2008 9:23:45 PM

Jana said…

That was a blast what a fun filled weekend…Glad you guys make life fun!
Monday, August 18, 2008 9:42:06 AM

We had a great time with the first official Parker Olympics. Thanks to all for coming and participating. We eventually were rained out but that just makes it more fun.

Comments:

Mom and Dad Parker said…

Looked like a lot of fun! That’s a great way to develop neighborly and family unity and friendship. Thanks for the many pictures. We almost felt we were there. We love the Olympics.
Saturday, August 09, 2008 2:26:10 PM

michelle said…

Looks like a great time-sad we couldn’t be there! You guys are some fun parents!
Saturday, August 09, 2008 2:35:14 PM

It was fun to be able to see all of our crazy little kids growing up and having fun tonight. Each cousin had a cousin on their team, made it fun for all to watch. They all played well, even Alexis as a cheerleader.

		Riley found a 4 leaf clover

Comments:

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Boy, the people here in Portugal like the pictures of futebol (Soccer). It is the most popular sport in the world and you kids look beautifully powerful playing together on your teams. Good Luck and Lexi, they need cheerleaders too.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008 11:41:00 AM

Anne said…

Fun…fun…fun! So fun they get to play together!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008 1:34:34 PM

Pablo said…

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!

Nice pictures! Who’s behind that camera?
Thursday, August 07, 2008 8:23:23 AM

Aunt Jana said…

Fun… let us know when we can come see you guys in action! Carson has his last game tonight!! YIPPY, be sure you are thankful to your coaches they have to sacrifice lots of time for you guys!! (I’m his coach!)
Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:06:13 AM

Grandma Baldwin said…

Good job, kids! It’s fun to see you playing soccor. I like how the camera man gets such unique shots of you, leg up in the air, etc. You’re lucky to have your cousins to play with you, too.
Thursday, August 07, 2008 1:46:05 PM

The Brother’s from our house!Celebrated brother’s day one more year…this year we were graced by the presence of Stephen’s brother, Paul. We also thought it was extra special to have a brand new brother, Joshua Taylor, to honor. Brother’s are pretty cool and fun to have around.

Alexis and Lily were so anxious to make cards for their brothers and let them know how much they are loved. Lex even made a frog for Mason, a teething ring for JT, and a “P” for Paul. It is nice to see and be apart of genuiune kindness and love.

Happy Brother’s Day to all of the brothers in our lives: Brad, Eric, Scott, John, Lance, Paul, Mason, and Joshua!

Comments:

Patricia Baldwin/Mom/Grandma said…

Such a great idea, Mason! I loved seeing all of the pictures and knowing you had such a good time. Brothers are special. I am glad there are brothers in our lives.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:57:43 AM

Anne said…

How fun! Brothers are a great blessing…I love my brothers. Happy day!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:56:03 AM

Aunt Susan said…

I’ve never heard of brothers day, but it sounds great. My brother Bruce is just about the coolest brother in the world. It was great to see you at the family reunion! Thanks for coming
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 4:42:30 PM

Pablo said…

Sure is fun to have family around. Not to make anyone homesick or anything.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:17:11 PM

John said…

Happy Bro. Day. I want to celebrate with you guys next year. We will have to invite you to our groundhog party. I loved the David Archeleta shot of Paul. Mason you are one heck of a good bother. So are you Paul, Stephen, and Lance. Brothers sure are a great invention.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:33:56 PM

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Hey, that’s a good idea. Maybe there would be nicer brothers if they weren’t always told that they’re “snags and snails and puppy dog tails”, even if it’s kind of true.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:03:00 AM

Mzb said…

What a party.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:26:14 AM

Scott Baldwin said…

My favorite picture was Paul sitting on Stephen’s lap. I hope my brothers never ask me to do that. 🙂
Tuesday, August 05, 2008 11:38:24 AM

Wow – there has been a lot of family love going on this month! Today we attended our third reunion for the third weekend in a row…we are grateful for family and know it is important. It is nice to be a part of families who enjoy spending time together

Enjoy the pictures of our highlights. Here is a list of explanations:
1. Stephen and Jodi road their bikes from mesa falls to the cabin (39 miles!) while Paul chauffeured the rest of the bunch.
2. Mason, Lex, and Lily had a blast catching frogs and getting wet in the creek.
3. Spent the night in the cabin on the hill in honor of Bruce and Sharon – our kids had a blast!
4. After Stephen and Mason road their bikes down from the cabin on the hill we flipped pancakes for the family at the big cabin.
5. Stephen jumped over the camp fire with his mountain bike to wow the crowd.
6. Participated in the Parker Gladiators (course made up by Paul)!
7. Ate our first Mexi-cones made by Aunt Susan and family, very tasty!
8. Watched as the men folk fell some dead quaking aspens and cut up some firewood.
9. Stephen and Ryon rode bikes from the cabin to Ashton in the wind (40 miles!).
10. Ate a delicious ice cream cone from Daves IGA with Rick, Stacie, Jana, Ryon, and families and Paul.

Now we are going to have to set aside some time on Monday to clean the dirt rings around the bath tub! We had fun and got real dirty, but clean up well!

Memories were made for one and all.

	Stephen made this for Jodi
Olivia Loves water jugs		Racing towards Lily
Couldn’t stop, it was too slick

Comments:

Mom and Dad Parker said…

It sure looks nice and green, and good times and good food. We loved the blog. It did make us a l
ittle home-sick for the cabin, but we are always a little home-sick anyway. We love you all!
Sunday, July 27, 2008 7:03:21 AM

John said…

Looks like a blast. Lots of wonderful Parker’s everywhere. We wish we could have been there. I saw Dennis’ video of Stephen jumping the fire. I liked the wipe out. (if you aren’t wrecking you aren’t learning) We are coming up next weekend. See you then.

Sunday, July 27, 2008 2:25:46 PM

Jana said…

Good times…We need to have a rematch of gladiators when John’s family is up. Let the best man or woman win!
Sunday, July 27, 2008 3:48:13 PM

Haley said…

Looks fun!!! I wish I could have been there for Parker Gladiators, maybe we can do it when I come up!
Sunday, July 27, 2008 3:49:29 PM

Anne said…

Looks like you had a great time…and made more fun family memories at the cabin. Wish we could have been there. Happy times!
Sunday, July 27, 2008 5:36:16 PM

Stacie said…

Jenni said she thought we had the coolest family! We do alot of fun things and get along great! Just a little compliment to pass on to my wonderful brothers and sisters and in-laws who are really good sports! And to great parents who never let us have a dull moment! Thanks! I have to say Stephen’s stunt scared me a bit but way to go Steve! We’ll have to keep working on Quinn’s landing!
Monday, July 28, 2008 10:03:54 AM

Meg the gem said…

We’ve been on the same page with 2 reunions this month–wow, 3 for you though! What a fun family, these are the best times for the kids!

BTW–I’ve been gone for a while but I wanted to tell you how I love you’re blog’s new look!! So cute!
Monday, July 28, 2008 10:15:44 PM

Happy spectatorsYesterday I got an IM about a free trampoline on craigslist, it just needed some parts replaced. I immediately emailed the guy and followed up with a phone call, I need to add he listed it on craigslist at 11:25 and I was at his door at 11:45. Turn out he lives just up the road by Lincoln School. I ran up there and took a look. When I got there he said he has had 4 other calls since me. It had two bent frame bars, he said the legs fell off and he kept jumping and it bent. I said I would take it, he said you will need a Phillips screw driver to take it apart, no problem I said I have my leather man in my pocket. Before he could change his mind I had it disassembled and loaded into the back of my CRV.

I wish I could have caught the kids faces on video when they saw it. Mason was the first to peak through the windows and quickly announced, “Dad bought a trampoline.” I had to hurry and tell Jodi it was free so she wouldn’t get stressed. We bent the bad pieces back and then welded them and set it up during my lunch break. Now that’s what I call cheap entertainment. Hard to get the kids off of it now though.

Comments:

Jodi said…

If you’re not careful our kids might nominate you for Father of the Year! What a great find…glad Joe told us about it.
Friday, July 25, 2008 9:57:28 AM

Mom and Dad said…

We always loved cheap best. Looks like it fits right in there in your yard. Good find!
Friday, July 25, 2008 11:06:43 AM

John said…

WoooooooHOOOOOOOOOOO! Never stop jumping. It is always fun to get a bargain. I will have to do some jumping on it myself in a week or two when we come and visit.

Friday, July 25, 2008 3:21:10 PM

Fast, Fun, Family! That was our reunion in a nutshell.

We had loads of fun with the Baldwin’s this past weekend. We all met up at Seven Peaks pn Friday for a day in the 100 degree sun. Despite burning our feet on the scorching hot sidewalks we had fun! It was a great place to go for children and adults of all ages. After that we went over to Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin’s for dutch oven cooking and a temple Family Home Evening. FYI, Carter is quite a piano player (I heard him jamming out on my parents piano). Scott and Jeana made an announcement – they are expecting a baby on February 5th! JT is going to have a friend on the Baldwin side now – yippee! Grandpa and Grandma also let us guess how much money was in a jar that they’ve been collecting. The family that guesses the dollar amount the closet gets $25 to buy a new movie. Stephen took it pretty serious, we’ll find out who the winner is next week. That night we spent the night with the Babcocks.

The next morning all of the women including Ashley had a girl’s morning out. We ate breakfast at IHOP and distributed our top 10 favorite things/lists to each other (thanks Anne for the idea). It was fun to learn more about each other. We journeyed over to the spa and most of us got pedicures. Michelle and Amy had body wrap and facial. Stephen and Brian plus children got to be in a parade and have a neighborhood breakfast put on for Pioneer Day. After that we rushed over to meet up with each other at the Beattie Reunion (my Grandpa Beattie’s family – mom’s cousins). Some of us got a little tennis in. At precisely 2:00 pm we departed, boys to go play golf and girls to go letterboxing. It was Mason’s first golf experience and he liked it even in the heat! Lily found the letterbox and was so excited. We ended up that evening at Brad and Amy’s house for more food and fun. It was fun to listen to Dallin, Scott, and Eric jam out on their guitars. I thought when I heard “Sunday Bloody Sunday” down the stairs that it was the original for a minute. We finished the night out with a few songs on Rock Band and we were definitely ready for bed!

We did not waste a moment and it was great to be with the Baldwin’s. We don’t have a lot of moments when we are ALL together at one time, so it was a treat. Grandma Baldwin was in seventh heaven. This will be one of her favorite weekends of the whole year. It will be one ours too.

Comments:

Dad and Mom Parker said…

Glad to hear you had a great time. We thought you might be too tired for another reunion so soon, but it looks like you recover fast. These are the best of times, making memories with family, cousins and parents. Families are great, a great blessing.
Sunday, July 20, 2008 4:00:54 PM

michelle said…

Looks like a great time! What a fun family!
Monday, July 21, 2008 2:57:58 PM

MZb said…

Thanks for taking all the pictures Stephen. It was good to see al of you. Grant can’t stop taking about going down shot gun falls with Mason. He claims they got some seriously unbelievable air!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:07:32 AM

Jana said…

What a FUN FAMILY! You are such fun people..you guys got a lot in, in that short amount of time!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 4:16:15 PM

Patricia Baldwin/Mom/Grandma said…

Wow! We had a great time, didn’t we? I can’t wait for us to get together again! Thanks to everyone for all you did to make this a successfull time together. And, thanks for all of the pictures, Stephen. I love them all.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:53:40 AM

Stephen/Grandpa B said…

Thanks for doing such a great job with the pictures, Stephen. I suppose it is easy, and fun, when the subject matter is so good. You contribution to our family is very much appreciated.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:59:34 PM