Category: Stephen and Jodi

Sweet as can be!What a fun and memorable weekend! It all started Thursday night – our kids got out of school for Spring Break. Friday morning Stephen was up at the crack of dawn with a borrowed skidster and ready to go get some trees for our yard. He loaded up Lily and Mason and they went out to Hibbard and came home with many large quaking aspens! Very exciting and a lot of work for them. This is the first day mind you that we have been able to go outside and actually work in the yard, at this point there are still a few patches here and there of snow. After planting the trees everyone helped clean up the yard and worked extra hard. THANKS BE TO THEM!!! While they were outside, me and Josh were inside creating our own whirlwind. It was a very productive day. Stephen and I met up with the Parker couples (it was fun to have John and Michelle here) at Mill Hollow for some conversation and sweet treats.

Saturday was a special day for our niece, Kate. She was able to be baptized and confirmed by Rick. It is wonderful to know that she is pretty on the outside and especially the inside. We are proud of her and love her lots. We went to their house afterward and enjoyed some good food and company. My children were so excited about being outside again! They had some good games of basketball going and riding motor scooters and jumping on the trampoline, etc. We came home did a few more odds and ends around the yard and then had Eric, Magan, Grant, and Grace over. So much fun to see them – we don’t get to hang out with them very often. What a cute family! We broke out our 1980’s Nintindo and played the power pad. It was great. Thanks to Eric and Magan for coming over here to support us this weekend for Joshua’s blessing. As they were leaving I noticed that everyone had a little sunburn – a fun sign that Spring has Sprung!

Sunday morning was a bit hectic, but still exciting. It was fun getting little JT ready for his big day. He looked so handsome in the blessing outfit Grandma Baldwin got for him. How lucky we are that he is in our family. We love him very much! We appreciated everyone who came and showed their support and love for his special blessing day. We also appreciate those who weren’t able to come but sent their love. We came home and feasted once again and played some fun games and just enjoyed each other’s company. We found out that Uncle John is very limber – we know where Kenzie inherited this from. We also were able to find out what we would all sound like as pigs! We played the traditional Baldwin “BAG GAME” and “GRUNT PIGGY GRUNT”.

Monday we played some more and went bowling and had an ice cream party at Jana and Ryons! WOW – Spring Break ended up being productive, extra fun, and most importantly a special memory!

Happy to be the Man of the Hour!	We are a Happy Family	Mom and Baby Boy
Father and Sons!	Grunt Piggy Grunt!	Fun Crowd of people.
Jana showing off her fancy moves.	Ryon bending down low.	Michelle – dropped and rolled without touching her hands! WOW
Rick had the longest stretch with those long legs.	Lyn took it serious and stretched her legs out – she probably is the only one to not be sore on Monday.	Victory!
Picking it up through positive self talk – I think I can!	Kissing the ground.	Alexis
Carter – Dave and Lyn’s son	Paige	Hannah
Kenzie	Haley	Ashlyn – Dave and Lyn’s daughter
Stacie practicing up for October.	Look at all those trees!	Doing some hurdles on the power pad.
Run, run, run Grant and Lily.	Grace and Mason in competition.	Love those boys!
Eric and Magan – cute couple.	JT hanging out with Uncle Eric and cousin Gracie.

Comments:

Jana said…

That was a fun weekend..thanks for all the fun memories. Can’t wait to make some more soon. I love being with family,especially ours we put the F in fun if I do say so.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 10:17:27 AM

Paul said…

What is that game you were playing? It looks interesting? Looks like a lot of fun.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 11:50:32 AM

Anne said…

It looks like a great weekend and it sounds very productive with the tree planting too! You guys know how to work hard and play hard. Keep moving forward! JT is SOOOOO cute, I am SOOOO excited to hold him at the sister’s retreat. You have a beautiful family! Hugs to you all!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 2:05:18 PM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

Thanks for the beautiful pictures and comments. We almost felt like we were there. It’s fun to see you having fun. Everyone looked so good.
We love you all!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 2:25:23 PM

Steph said…

That sounds like a great weekend. Your family is looking so big. I can’t believe you guys! I can imagine Michelle doing her trick. I better stretch out before I move back so I can play that game with you all. Congrats on making fun memories, we love to hear about them.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 2:36:11 PM

John said…

Thanks for the good times your bag photos are much better than mine. Lots of fun and good memories.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 3:53:52 PM

For all those planning on attending JT’s blessing…I am sure that I was the last to figure out that JT IS IN FACT getting blessed on a fast Sunday, which means we’ll probably be fasting! Therefore, we are postponing the food get together until AFTER church (4 pm), so all of you righteous people can participate. See you all soon….by the way, no disrespect to all of the blondies!

Comments:

Anne said…

I guess we can’t always get it right, right?!? Anyways! We wish we could be a part of JT’s special day! We will not be there in person, but in spirit! Good Luck with everything and love ya guys!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 9:58:59 AM

Jana said…

I hadn’t even thought of that until now so you’re not alone! I guess we all have blonde roots!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 11:41:23 AM

John said…

What is Fast Sunday?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 2:47:48 PM

Aunt Susan said…

Which fast Sunday? Tiffany and I are coming to Idaho on the 13th. I would be so thrilled if that is your fast Sunday. 801-641-3169
Thursday, April 03, 2008 9:05:58 AM

Jodi ran in to grab some milk and came back out to the car and told me that there was no way she was waiting in those lines. Today at Albertsons they had Kellogg’s cereal on special for .57 cents a box. When she told me about the deal, I just couldn’t resist.

So Jodi took the rest of the family to finish off the errands while Mason and I ran in there and grabbed 4 cases plus 7 more – you had to buy them in lots of 7. As we were standing there in line we noticed a few people had apple jacks, we couldn’t find them anywhere in the store. So I had Mason wait in line while I scoured the store for any stray boxes. I was able to locate 5 of them and rushed back up to the cart to check out.

It was quite the experience. Now we have 70 boxes of several different flavors of cereal. The total savings was almost $300 well worth the waiting in line. Plus I loved the rush of it.

We are out of school again!(no surprise)It is bad weather in Idaho!

Comments:

Amy said…

What? On March 27th? I wonder how many days in June you’re going to have to make it up… :-). Be wary of Spring flooding too.
Thursday, March 27, 2008 6:45:20 PM

Jana said…

I know we need the moisture and all but please tell the farmers to think of the children!! (and their mothers that have been inside for the last 6 months) It could be worse right?!
Thursday, March 27, 2008 9:13:40 PM

It all started on Saturday, the day before Easter. We were excited about going to an Easter Egg hunt. After checking out the information in the newspaper, we decided to go over to Madison High School parking lot. Whoever was in charge decided it was too cold and snowy for a traditional hunt so they made a line up of about 4 people who handed candy out of a plastic bag…the candy wasn’t even in an easter egg?! It felt a little like Halloween. Though our children were happy with the candy, they still felt slighted on the hunt. Stephen told them we could go check out the Easter Egg hunt in Sugar City (mind you they both started at 10 am). We zoomed over to Smith Park in Sugar City and they literally ran out of the car and tried to snag some eggs. It was quite a site – one I have never experienced…the children were running to find eggs across the field of frozen snow. They didn’t get too many eggs, but they had fun. A boy in Alexis’ school class gave her and Mason a large Soccer Egg each – I thought that was nice. He must have read the story from the Children’s Friend.

Sunday we went to church…it felt nice for me because I haven’t been for so long! (Three Weeks) I almost regretted that I went when I got several tactfully disapproving comments about bringing my baby out in RSV season. I decided to not be offended – even though I am feeling somewhat like a bad mother. Oh, well – to each his own, right? After church we had dinner and invited Tara and her boyfriend Jordi over. The kid crew had much fun enjoying their company.

After dinner, we journeyed over to Ryon and Jana’s and “rolled” some hard boiled eggs…Rhett won the event! Stacie and Jana also hid some eggs in the basement for the easter egg hunt…Alexis was excited to find the golden egg. Jana also made some very cute cupcakes and a delicious torte to eat for the festivities. To top it all off we played a quick game of tennis on the Wii.

Fun Days!

So, we have been wondering why Easter is so early this year (especially when we look out to our yard and see all of this snow!) … here are our findings, just in case anyone else is curious.

“Easter this year is:Sunday March 23, 2008
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
* This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
* Found out a couple of things you might be interested in! Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above). None of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
* The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around then).
* The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!”

Comments:

John said…

Thanks for the trivia. You are a walking almanac. Happy early Easter.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 9:24:36 PM

Dad Parker said…

Interesting information. I never heard how they decide when Easter is.
Thursday, March 13, 2008 9:40:13 AM

Patricia says: said…

Thanks for the information about Easter. I wondered why it was so early this year. Those Easter eggs are going to get cold this year.
Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:34:57 AM

Stacie said…

Thanks Jodi! I am wondering why I am going to have to put on boots,gloves, hats and mittens to goto the easter egg hunt! I am glad it only happens every 220 years! Do you think we will ever see our grass again?!!!
Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:13:03 PM

One of our families favorite movies is, “Hoodwinked”! Click here for a reminder
of the lesson that must be shared! Hope it puts an extra smile on your face, it does for us!

Comments:

mZb said…

Grace’s all time favorite movie! I shared this song with my Webelos Scouts.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:25:58 PM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

Looks like a fun movie. I think it’s a good idea to be prepared, especially to confront sas and difficult challenges with faith that things will be just fine at the end of the day, if we are positive and not whiners. We wnat to be winners not whiners.

Thursday, March 06, 2008 3:01:34 AM

Jana said…

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that movie it is a goo done. Thanks for the laugh and lesson.
Thursday, March 06, 2008 4:38:07 PM

Patricia said…

One just has to love this movie. It is so funny!
Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:37:47 AM

We met friends from my dad’s mission (he taught them the gospel and baptized them) the last time we were in Texas. They are now our official adopted grandparents from the south. They send us letters and gifts quite often now. We sure do enjoy them, and the gifts are great too. Thank you grandma and grandpa Wright from Gilmer Texas.

From Jodi to her main squeezeWe all got a little something special today for valentines day. The kids even received one from the Wrights (a great family that I baptized while in Texas) tons of fun.

Comments:

tio pablo said…

mason I expect some Spanish from you now that you have Spanish For Dummies! vale! lo puedes practicar con tu padre.
Thursday, February 14, 2008 8:17:18 PM

Dad & Mom P. said…

We loved the squeeze. It reminded us of Aunt Dot, maybe Jodi’s getting a little “fiesty”, go Jodi. I need a book like Mason, speaking Portugese for Dummies.
Friday, February 15, 2008 2:13:55 AM

Anne said…

Looks fun and love the squeeze!
Friday, February 15, 2008 10:19:30 AM

Stacie said…

Stephen, do you still not have a robe!
Saturday, February 16, 2008 9:48:33 PM

The GangWhat a bunch of troopers, we all slept out last night in the snow cave we dug. I was surprised that everyone made it all night. I have seen scouts that just couldn’t hack it. Even Lily was happy in the morning, and wanted to stay longer. They all want to sleep out tonight again…good thing it is Sunday tomorrow. It was 9F outside but inside the cave it was a toasty 36F. We all had a great time, tough kids there.

Comments:

John said…

Nice work. You guys are ready to go move into the cabin on the hill and live off the land. That sounds like a great time and some good memories.
Saturday, February 02, 2008 9:13:10 AM

Steph said…

Looks cozy!
Sunday, February 03, 2008 1:26:53 PM

Jana said…

Looks like we needed your help building ours!!The kids pooped out so It didn’t get as big as we hoped! What a fun dad. Still building fun things eh?
Monday, February 04, 2008 11:22:18 AM

Anne said…

What a fun memory!
Monday, February 04, 2008 12:37:03 PM

Dad said…

Lokks like grat fun and good survival skills. You are a great family.
We still can’t seem to send ou own blog, but we can comment on others
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 2:24:59 AM

Stacie said…

Way to enjoy the snow! Good times!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 9:52:12 PM

Aunt Susan said…

It never occurred to me that we could sleep outside in the winter! It would be a lot safer and quiter here than in the summertime.
Friday, February 08, 2008 2:25:03 PM

Amy said…

I don’t know…I think you’re all crazy. I’ll wait for a disaster when I have no choice but to sleep in a snow cave… 🙂
Sunday, February 10, 2008 10:26:16 PM