Category: Stephen and Jodi

I have been wanting to get family photos in a green field with blue sky and white cumulous clouds the entire 4 years that I’ve lived at this address! I love the view out of my back window and as I drive to take/pick kiddos around. I wanted it captured in a picture with the people I love the most. We are blessed to live in a beautiful world. Unfortunately we had to deal with the wind, which is a reality of living in Idaho. I guess it adds to the charm of it all.

Our family was able to go to Utah for some much needed summer fun! We made it to Orem just in time for dinner on Thursday evening and Stephen treated us all to some Mexican food. Then the girls and boys split up for some shopping. Boys went to DI and Harbor Freight. Girls went to JoAnnes and Plato's Closet. Good deals were found.

Friday morning we were able to hike Mt. Timponogas cave with Grandpa Baldwin. It is a hike we have wanted to check out for a couple of summers and it was worth the wait. We enjoyed spotting "bacon" and seeing the caramel and chocolate sauce as well as the heart of the cave. We are grateful to live in a country that preserves beautiful discoveries and allows us all to enjoy them. Friday afternoon we joined Amy and girls to swim at the Lindon pool. Our family thought it was a huge treat because we rarely get to go swimming. My favorite part of this was showing off my new swimming skills from my 2 swimming lessons. Everyone loved going around the lazy river.

Saturday morning we headed over to West Jordan to witness Jessie become an official member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We also enjoyed our time at Cabella's and Del Taco with the John Parker Family. Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin were soo nice to bring their old bikes for Mason to take home and revive. We were able to take them home because Grandpa & Grandma Parker brought our bike rack from Rexburg for us. These acts were inconvenient but meant a lot to Mason. We are blessed with two sets of loving, caring, and service oriented Grandparents!

We were hoping to make it back in time to drive through Idaho Falls for the firework celebration. We were an hour behind schedule so when we got to Shelly we could see and hear from the radio that Idaho Falls was blasting off the finale. Unfortunately we made it to Idaho Falls when the thousands of people that were viewing the freedom celebration were trying to get on the freeway to go home. It was mass madness at a turtles pace. We made it home by midnight. When all is said and done it is fun to note that we did enjoy many random (from Pocatello, Fort Hall, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, etc…) freeway fireworks from the comforts of our little swagger wagon.

Comments:

Bruce and Sharon said…

Looks like a fun get-away for a couple of days. It really helps to change the everyday things occasionally, it gives a new outlook, and you can get back to the routine again.
Monday, July 05, 2010 9:56:30 AM

michelle said…

It was fun to see you guys-I feel bad you missed the fireworks. Thanks for coming and supporting Jess, it means alot to us.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 3:30:14 PM

Priceless!

When I started dating boys at the age of 16 I hate to admit I didn't take enough time to realize the large impact it would have on the future of my children. Luckily, I had nice boys to choose from – my favorite, obviously, a certain handsome boy named Stephen Parker with rippling muscles :), a permanent smile, and perfect hug. As I dated him it became apparent that he loved to play hard, work hard, and serve with ease. I liked all of that and was very impressed. As the days, months, then years went on that I got to be his good friend, another fact stood out – this boy would always be young at heart!

Taking these thoughts into consideration and weighing in this past father's day – I have determined that Alexis, Mason, Lily, Olivia, and JT have won the father lottery! Without pulling out a list of itemized questions or a detailed examination of credentials while dating, I was lucky (ok blessed!) enough to be able to marry this boy and witness him turn into an AMAZING father to my five children.

A father who teaches the gospel by word and deed. (Gives delightful parables as he guides them through life and then practices what he preaches)

A father who is never too old to play or take time to show support to his children. (Sand Dunes Friday & Zoo Saturday)

A father who works alongside his children. (they washed all of the windows on Saturday!)

A father who loves the mother of his children. (I get lots of TLC and XxOos ad I love yous)

A father who eats Mexican! (We took him to dinner @ Plum Loco Saturday night)

Moral of the story: pray hard, read your scriptures, and live as good as you can so that Heavenly Father will guide you to date and choose a worthy companion who will in turn be the very important parent of your children.

look at the size of that mallow!	one of the kids	another “heaven on earth” moment for Stephen
		Play hard kids you only live once
Maybe Lex learned her cheerleading moves from him?	good times with good friends
Mason rarely smiles when I shoot a candid camera at him – this one of the few!	Alexis is such a nut	The aquarium is ALWAYS a hit until the chips and salsa appear!
Olivia always asks me to take her picture.	YIPPEE!	“Heaven on Earth” Quote from Stephen Saturday night
Cutie!	THE dad	Funny Story! Olivia pulled a string on Stephen’s pants during sacrament meeting and just kept pulling until THIS is what Stephen looked like at the end of sacrament meeting! He escaped afterward with our giant church bag pasted to his leg.
Good morning papa – I think Lily made him at least 5 cards	Baked him one of his favorites – Apple Pie!	Stephen talked me into sleeping in his new tent Saturday night
This lion was at the zoo when I was a little girl		Is it any surprise that JT like the monkeys the best?
Lex & Mason were trying hard to have fun for the little guys	JT had so much fun
Lily got Olivia to warm up to petting the goats.	JT was also very nervous initally, but finally came around	Free admission to the zoo with a teddy bear day
happy to be inside after a long wait in the admission line	Notice – I’m the only one outside the fence?

Comments:

Michelle said…

We have some great dads in the Parker family. I love the pants at church-that is a classic.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:19:48 AM

Anne said…

Very funny pants moment :). Sounds like you had some fun times honoring him this weekend.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 2:17:00 PM

Dad Parker said…

“Man is that he might have (fun)” Permanent forever fun.
Monday, June 28, 2010 8:02:35 AM

Lex got a little crazy from all the rain

With Jodi leaving town we decided we didn’t want to be home alone so we headed north to the cabin on the hill.  It was tons of fun, even though it was muddy and rainy,  We just hunkered down in the cabin around the warm fire and enjoyed each others company.  We played a little Uno, watched some movies, and Lex and I had a movie marathon and watched the first two shows in the Bourne series.  We can hardly wait to go again.

Treasures from Stephen

This month has just flown by!

Alexis & Mason have been participating in Madison’s club soccer with Stephen coaching Lexi’s team. Lots of fun, especially when it isn’t snowing, raining, or blowing too hard. So our weeks have been full of soccer games and practices.

Stephen went on a business trip to Guam for 10 days. His dad was able to travel with him. They had fun stopping for a day in Hawaii on the way and Korea on the way home. Stephen reports that the Korean temple was the highlight of his travels. Our family was lost without him and I (especially) was excited to see the whites of his eyes. It is not easy to be a single parent or have your BFF gone for that long.

My parents stopped in for a visit while Stephen was away and that helped me get through Stake Conference, bless them! It was also nice to have an adult to talk to for a few days.

We are now down to 2 days left of the 2009-2010 school year. Olivia is so excited to attend her Pre-school Graduation Picnic with Mrs. Jill. She is looking forward to another year of preschool at Central Elementary where she will get to ride the bus home with Lily, Mason, & Lexi everyday. She still loves to do reading lessons and play webkinz on the computer. She also loves to play with her doll and tease JT.

Lily can’t wait for tomorrow at school when she gets to wear her pajamas to school and celebrate her teacher’s birthday as a surprise. Lily can usually be found writing & illustrating a story these days. Her and Alexis make great roomates and have lots of laughs in their bedroom at night. Lily is very sweet and sensitive, always looking for an opportunity to make a card of love.

Lex is learning the inner strength that can come from loosing (she ran for student council again and this time didn’t make it, she also tried to get on the yearbook staff and only 2 out of 18 could make it, she wasn’t one of them). We are proud of her for trying and doing her best. She had a defining moment as she decided to drop out of cheerleading this month. I beamed with pride as I witnessed her being inducted into the Junior National Honor Society at her school a few weeks ago. Alexis is very excited to start voice lessons, finish learning her "10 hymns from the green hymnbook", go to girl’s camp, and practice volleyball & soccer hard all summer long. She will be 13! next Monday.

Mason & Stephen got to go to the Jamboral in Blackfoot with the scouts from our ward. Mason looks forward to going to Camp Little Lemhi in June with the rootbeer patrol. He has been able to learn the benefits that come from turning homework in on time and the pain in the neck it is to do make-up work. He also is happy to see the majority of A’s on his power school report showing him the fruits of all of that labor. Mason loves to ride his bike whenever possible and still loves paper folding.

JT is excited to go outside whenever possible – to go down the slide or ride his bike. He misses Olivia when she is at school, and loves it when you lay down by him when it is time to go to bed at night. He has a fun personality and a super cool laugh. My favorite sound he makes is his tractor sound.

As for me, I was thrilled to spend all day Saturday in uninterupted cleaning of kids bedrooms with success. Yesterday I took advantage of the beautiful day and mowed the lawn, weeded flower beds, planted flowers & garden vegetables, I also learned how to use a weed eater! I love weed eaters – what an amazing invention. I needed to be outside in the sun and loved every minute of it. I also have LOVED having many dandelions brought to me by my little sweet children.

We are all looking forward to a relaxing weekend @ home – we might even sleep in!

Comments:

Magan said…

Very proud of Alexis!
Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:35:47 PM

Michelle said…

I agree-time is flying right now. Thanks for the fun update. We are excited to see you guys this weekend.
Thursday, May 27, 2010 3:02:37 PM

sdfgs

These are the days of our lives this week…(At least the ones we captured in pictures!)

Bubble Baths when I was gone with Lexi at her Volleyball Tournament ALL DAY!

Bike Riding

A Trip to Wendy’s with an unforgettable sign

8th Grade Cheer Tryouts – Lex made it!

Traditional Friday Night Sleep Out (this time JT joined them)

Stephen made awesome soccer posts – I caught them out there sneaking a couple kicks before Church 🙂

Mason, JT, and Stephen planned, prepared, and planted our raspberry patch!

Elder & Sister Baldwin at the Employment Office

We got to take a Break from School – but I’m not sure it would be honest to call it "Spring". Spring to me is birds chirping, leafs budding, rain dropping, & JACKETS. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I woke up to 9 inches of snow today. Thankfully, it isn’t here to stay – I think?

We were able to take a trip down South to visit my family. It was really a lot of fun for me as well as theraputic. i really love my family and spending time with them. It is fun to chat and catch up and see how things are in their "neck of the woods". 

We stopped first at Michelle & Brian’s house to watch Carter play in a soccer game, but it was canceled due to snow. Bummer for us…we were really looking forward to that. We had a brief visit before Stephen encountered a big problem concerning an important server for work. He was very stressed and remained stressed for the next two days. He finally took a break from his worries to attend the Priesthood Session of conference with his Brothers and Dad (they were visiting Utah as well). When he came home he says he experienced a miracle because he checked things out and they seemed to be working at 90%. We were all glad – it isn’t often you’ll see Stephen that stressed…because he is a cool cat. 🙂

We stayed with my parents and got to have cousins come for sleep overs. Jake & Emily came the first night. Emily is so talented and amazingly beautiful with her long auburn hair. Jake is so cute and funny. He gave my kids the spool knitting bug. Before we left yesterday, my dad had made Lex, Mason, & Lily hand carved spool knitters. They have had a ball. Abby and Ashley came the next night. Abby is such a doll and Lily & Olivia really enjoy playing with her. Ashley is a Junior in College and came to hang out with us. When Olivia heard we were going to babysit Ashley she exclaimed, "What the heck! Ashley is too old for babysitting." She loves Ashley. We felt cool with Ashely around – she is a pretty on the inside as she is on the outside and that is my highest form of a compliment. Bridget joined us on night three and it was a party. Lex & her are quite two peas in a pod. They have the funnest personalities together. Bridget is very helpful and also turning into a pretty young woman.

Saturday morning we all made conference journals to help us take notes. We also went to the funnest store, "Plato’s Closet" between sessions. My mom was such a host and never stopped taking care of all of us – even though I know she was exhausted the majority of the time. She is a special grandma and has a unique ablity to make sure each grandchild feels extra special and loved. My dad is also great. My favorite time with him was going to visit where they are serving their mission. He was so happy and full of excitement…like a little boy at Christmas. He is definitely in his element.

We had a lovely Easter Dinner my mom slaved all day long to make a delious meal that we transported over to Brad & Amy’s house. Dallen and Jed did a fabulous job distributing the easter eggs throughout the backyard for the hunt. We discovered what a bunch of techno nerds exist in our family as we played a game of bananagrams – every person had some gadget to check their words! Including Brad’s maxi ipad that he had just purchased.

The most grand event was being able to go with Lily and Stephen to the Sunday morning session of conference. What a special experience it was to watch her see the prophet in person with her own eyes and have the spirit touch her heart in confirmation that he speaks for our Savior. It made it extra special to have it also be Easter and realize the importance of the resurrection to each individual. My heart feels overwelmed in gratitude when I think of what that means for me and my family. I am grateful to know that we have the opportunity to be with each other forever.

Ashley & Mckay	Mom’s office
Olivia was mezmerized with the obessed spool knitters	the spool manufacturers at work – notice Lily’s headband	The king spool knitter was exhausted after the many hours he’d been putting in
JT was a fantastic traveler!	What I get to look at the whole way home!	I’m not a knitting geek, but a crocheting geek!
		cute girls!
		Amy is always behind the camera – I had to get this one of her.
		Mason became obsesed with the spool knitting during Conference – he made one long enough to be a belt!
		Dad’s Office
	The back room of Desert Industries – VIP Tour
Taking notes from the master	Here comes trouble!
		Cutest 8 year old
My little girl	King Kong Ice Cream from Macy’s – he ate the whole thing (after Grandpa dared him)
Crazy kids	Lexi was sure glad to have a little bro to push her through Target and he was very willing!

Comments:

Bruce and Sharon said…

Looks like a full and exciting break. The Steve and Pat Baldwins have a great and fun family. That’s just how they are.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010 6:42:49 AM

Michelle said…

I’m glad you guys had such a nice break. We sure missed you-but it looks like you made some great memories with your family.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010 8:44:54 AM

Anne said…

Looks like a great break :-). So glad you had a nice time and made fun memories…even with the cold weather.
Thursday, April 08, 2010 6:27:32 PM

Saturday the sun came out to play and we couldn’t resist. We took our first family bike ride of the year.

Stephen helped me motivate the kids while they did the housework by promising them a bike ride to Sugar Food Town. This wasn’t any ole’ bike ride – it was a ride on the bike car! We were turning many heads for 7 Miles with this latest invention Stephen dreamed up and manufactured. I have to admit it was kind of fun. I have learned to let go of all pride (the burley pulling along the back with a romex wire hitch) and live in the moment. My kids and Stephen were sooo excited and happy. Mason followed next to us on his bike (until the tire went flat after him popping the tube on a jump), and Olive and JT were in the burley.  By the time we made it to our destination Lily and Mason were standing on back. I’m sure the "cool bike" wasn’t the only reason people were slowing down to check us out. When we pulled into Sugar Market, Mason’s friend was there to seal the deal, he exclaimed, "Mason that is a sweet bike!"

 

Comments:

Michelle said…

That cracks me up! I can see why you turned heads along the way! You guys sure make life fun!
Friday, March 26, 2010 8:45:33 AM

Stephen said…

It is my therapy to go and ride the bike car. I love the fact that Jodi can identify romex when she sees it in use.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:35:15 PM

These pictures and song say it all…

These photos were taken on Friday and are of our backyard. (First soccer game is April 1- a place to practice becomes a problem; this is Stephen’s solution 🙂  and I love him for it!) The grass unveilng was a welcome sight for my sorry eyes.