Category: Stephen and Jodi

We had a lot of boo hooing going on around here, coupled with lots of sneezing. Unfortunately, our family was hit with the flu as I mentioned in the previous post. Lex had it the worst of all, it had her home from school the entire week! We hope that she doesn’t ever get that sick again…it wasn’t fun for any of us! Lily, Olivia, and JT also took a turn and I was found quarantining them to their bedroom to get a handle on the germs. It was quite a challenge for me to take care of that many sick kids and keep up with the rest of a busy week that didn’t want to stop.  The day of the quarantine I took the meals on trays downstairs to the girls and had them eat on the beds. By dinner time Olivia was fever free and fine to be up with the rest of us, but she informed me she would take her dinner downstairs :). I think she was enjoying the pampering – who wouldn’t?

Luckily, from Lexi’s perspective, she mustered up enough energy (thanks to Kenzie and Haley) to make an appearance at her highly anticipated first Junior High Halloween Dance. She has been helping plan it for over a month and would have been very disappointed to have missed it. There might have even been a little boo hooing about it. How fun it was for her to take her cousin Haley and booogie down!I will leave the rest of this dance commentary for her to blog about…

We were excited to have John and Michelle’s cute family at our home for a visit this weekend. Hopefully they escaped our home unscathed and germ free??? We are glad they braved it out and came for Quinn’s baptism. It was fun to be able to get the whole Parker Family together for a quick mini reunion. At his baptism the bishop talked about "cousin power" – it really made me reflect on what a blessing cousins are to my little family (Baldwin’s and Parker’s). There is definitely some "cousin power" happening.

This year for Halloween I was in a sewing mood and made skirts for the girls. Olivia was very set on being a witch, and I talked to other girls into being 50s girls…I think they(the girls) looked so cute if I do say so myself. Mason was super excited to wear his Uncle John’s Air Pilot outfit and JT made a cute frog. Stephen and I ended up going to our ward Trunk or Treat as runners, because we didn’t get a chance to shower after our Trick or Treat Half Marathon from 10:30 am. I’m sure it wasn’t a treat for any of our fellow ward members to smell our stench, but what do you do? I hope this will let you know how darn important that candy was for me to eat out of their bags (he he).

Also pictured in this blog is Stephen’s latest invention…you know his motto "GO BIG or GO HOME". He made a gigantic food dehydrator! Out of a sheet of plywood…I would love for him to blog about all of the things he has made from a sheet of plywood since we have been married! It has been A LOT trust me. Anyway, it is making us some tasty apple (fruit) leather right this instant.

By the time we came home from the trunk or treat we were pooped! We decided to turn off all of the lights and hide downstairs to watch a scary movie…Stephen and I chose Alfred Hitchcock’s, "The Birds". So, I knew it was kinda freaky, but NOT that freaky! We ended up turning it off before it was too scarring for the children…what was I thinking? Stephen and I turned on a different "fun" show to clear their minds of any worry and then put them to bed at 9 pm. We forgot about the time change until after they were in bed and counted it as a bonus to be hopping in bed at 8:30 pm on Halloween night. We finished watching "the Birds" and I’m happy to report that Stephen didn’t even try to cover his head in his sleep.

Comments:

Anne said…

Way to make lemonade out of lemons. Not to fun to be sick when so much is going on. (I am with Lily, Maybe next time I am sick I will have to be at your house and be quarantined, hee hee) The costumes were all great. Loved the cute poodle skirts you made. Way to go on your trick or treating challenge. Happy Halloween!
Monday, November 02, 2009 8:58:38 PM

Magan said…

Love the skirts for the girls, I need to put my name on the halloween costume list.. By the way I love my apron
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 4:54:42 PM

Here is a photo update of the random things we’ve been up to these past few days…

• Applesauce Manufacturing
• Pack Night where Mason received so many awards I lost track of how many he actually received.
• Mason had a quick surgery in Idaho Falls on his non descending tooth (Not pictured)
• Feeding the Spanish Speaking Missionaries – We found out that the one from Guatemala was on the Olympic Soccer Team!
• Annual Primary Program (Lily was disappointed and unable to go because she had the flu, Olivia was scared to give her part in front of the whole ward so Jodi got to do it, Mason felt the pressure from trying to learn his part as well as both his sisters)
• Piano Recital at the Nursing Home (Sickly Lex asked if she could "Dress Up" as a nurse and wear a mask so that she could go and perform the songs she has been practicing for that past 2 months – Jodi said "No". We will have to have a recital later for all to hear "Bella’s Lullaby" and the "Chicken Dance")
• Current Mild Flu Infestation (Not photographed but hit Lily, Olivia, JT, and Lex) – low grade fever and a cough remedied by ibuporfen and cough meds, but doesn’t allow them to leave the house yet. Lily’s lasted 3 days, and we suspect to be done with all of this by Tomorrow. Just in time for Halloween festivies and House Guests…don’t worry we are stocked up on Lysol here!

Lily and Sam played two duets, “Indians at the Fair” and “Ghosts”.	Lily played “What should I Be for Halloween”, and “Halloween Witches” – she did great!	Mason played his solo – “Chopsticks”.
	Mason and Ashlyn played a duet, “Magical March” – they did great! BTW – this is a staged photo because I was video taping the original performance…I’m pretty sure Mason wouldn’t have been smiling in the real performance :).

Stephen grabbed the camera to document this for posterity sake

Usually on Monday Night I still haven’t gotten my laundry folded that I washed on Saturday. It just sits pooling in the laundry room crying to be folded. Earlier this year, I got a brainstorm one Monday after school –  Laundry Basketball. Of course my  kids (like all kids) need to be tricked into working so I told them to grab their laundry basket – we were going to play some basketball. I told them to be ready to catch anything that belonged to them.  I would toss up the first thing my hands laid on from the mountainous pile and they would swoosh in to collect their item. It was the start of something really good for me and them. Sometimes Stephen even plays. This past Monday, we found ourselves in the above mentioned laundry predicament so I explained that for our FHE activity we would be playing laundry basketball. There were moans and groans (they now have come to realize the trick involved), but they grabbed their baskets and we played.  By the end of the process I had 5 silly, happy, giggly children. They were all wearing a pair of underwear on their heads as they walked down the stairs to put it away.

I have now come to realize that I am a true Parker – they can make any type of work sound fun by calling it a "party". Maybe that is why my husband is a workaholic?

Most times JT causes more damage than help

Those are Olivia’s underwear – hope this doesn’t embarrass her

Saturday night came and we participated in the annual Parker Pumpkin Carving at Rick and Stacie’s house. We had lots of fun and there were plenty of interesting pumpkins to look at when it was all over. This traditional Pumpkin Carving has evolved as we have had more kids and many were old enough to carve their own. This was Lily’s first year of carving her own from start to finish. Thanks to the Puzey’s for sharing the pumpkins from their garden. Next year we plan to plant our own patch – we are really excited about that!

Mason’s pumpkin was voted "pumpkin with the smallest smile".

Lily’s pumpkin was voted "worst breath pumpkin".

Olivia’s pumpkin was voted "smallest face pumpkin".

Alexis’ pumpkin was voted "most likely to start a fire".

JT thought Uncle Ricks tools were very interesting and had fun hanging out with birthday boy, Cooper, in a metal basket and also the in saw dust. A little boy’s dream!

One more fun fall memory to bottle up in our souls and perserve until next year.

		Jana carved Jodi’s favorite (the Grinch)
October Birthdays (just missing Sami from Utah)

Comments:

michelle said…

What a fun time-I am impressed with the creativity going on
! Wish we could have joined y’all.
Monday, October 19, 2009 1:07:05 PM

Patricia said…

This sure looks like a fun activity. There are lots of interesting and creative pumpkins! The best part is the memories you are creating. They’ll be with you forever!
Friday, October 23, 2009 9:37:03 AM

Conference is now over for another 6 months and our little family is making our way home from a great weekend.

Because we were on harvest break we wanted to doing something a little extra special and a trip to Utah seemed to fit best. I personally love to visit Utah because of nostalgic reasons and also because we have so many people we love to see and visit with. Stephen likes that part but isn’t a fan of traffic and city life so much, so he was very happy that his brother John threw their bikes (along with Mason’s) in the back of his truck for a ride at Yellow Fork Canyon. He said it was a blast, a great workout going up with a sweet payback coming down. He said he had to work hard to keep up with Mason. John said Mason is as skilled as any adult he has ridden with – that made Mason feel cool.

Michelle P took the rest of us on a fun afternoon to Gardenier’s Village to see the witches. It really got us in a festive mood and gave us fun ideas for home decorations. I love the witch riding the bike over the pond – all of the witches were just so clever! It was UEA in Utah this weekend, which brought out the masses, especially at the Village. We had to park far away, but it really was worth it all (crowd and walk). After visiting the witches we went to Jumping Jacks – a fun bouncy toy place. All of the children loved it from Lexi to JT.

That evening we were able to fit our traditional Friday date in – this week to Cafe Rio! Yummy! Then John and Stephen encouraged Michelle and I to go do a little shopping – imagine that… 🙂 I had fun finding some fun items and Michelle resisted her temptations well.

Saturday we stopped by IKEA (love that store) on our way to visit the Baldwin children and Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin. We couldn’t believe how tall Jed has become, how much facial hair Dallen had grown, how much money Bridget made babysitting, and how fun Abby’s toy room was! It was a VERY QUICK stop, considering we listened to conference and then said good-bye, but great to see everyone. I wish I would have taken our camera in! Lex got to stay a little longer to go shopping with Grandma and Bridget! They met Haley, JT, and I at Jordan Landing where JT had his first shoplifting experience. He threw a bottle of shoe polish in Haley’s bag – we realized the problem when we weren’t too far away. Lex and Haley ran in back in to the store for him.

Stephen went to the Priesthood session with John and then we had a delicious ice cream party!

Today we made our way over to the Babcock home where we were greeted with happy smiles and cute little conference care bags from aunt Michelle B. Kind of funny that on the way to their house Olivia wondered if Aunt Michelle had crayons…well Aunt Michelle got had her covered in that department. Crayons, Conference Packet, and Treats! Livia settled right on Ashely’s lap and we enjoyed conference and the wonderful food for lunch. Ashley made Lily a couple of CDs making her feel special and Jake and Mason had fun teasing Emily and Lex. My sister really makes me giggle – notice the picture of her awesome shoes, usually worn by Jake. She is also just so fun to be around – it would really be great to live close enough to her to go to lunch once in a while. Stephen and Brian loaded up the bunk beds we are toting home for JT and Mason’s room. It has been an adventure in the rain – thank heaven’s for tarp and new trailer lights!

As we listened to conference (particularly Elder Bednar, President Erying, and President Monson) and drove out of the city my heart swelled in gratitude for such a wonderful family – Baldwins and Parkers wherever they may be and who you are, young and old alike, blood relative, and in-law too! Lexi has been crying in the back seat because we have to go home now, and I have come to realize how much of a blessing our good family is to each of us. We have been abundantly blessed with amazing examples of faith, love, and goodness. We are normal families – everything doesn’t always go perfect and minor character flaws are here to keep us learning, trying to be patient, and refining ourselves, but when I stop to look at the grand eternal perspective of things I feel content and satisfied with the prospect of my Eternal Family. In fact, my testimony has been strengthened with the wisdom and understanding of this truth this weekend. We have been learning about Eternal Families in primary this year too- a comforting message.

Comments:

Anne said…

How fun! Wish we could have been in 10 places at once this weekend. Cute photos and fun memories. Hope you get home safe and enjoy the rest of your potato harvest break.
Sunday, October 04, 2009 9:25:23 PM

michelle said…

Thanks for the fun times. I love the photo’s. It was fun spending some time with you.
Monday, October 05, 2009 8:32:56 AM

Trevin and Stephanie said…

That looks like a blast! I love Gardener’s Village in the fall. The leaves down there are spectacular and the company looks great too. Family is a great thing.
Monday, October 05, 2009 6:14:14 PM

Michelle said…

We loved having you stop by – even if it was only for a short time. You need to stay longer next time. We loved seeing your cute family. Loved seeing all the great pictures! Your family always knows how to make the most of their time and in doing fun things together. The memories – priceless! I love you!
Friday, October 16, 2009 10:24:19 PM

  Yesterday we had the oprotunity to participate in a Youth Triatholon at 11:30 in River Rock estates.We started at 11:30 and !0-12 age group went first.We started with the swim next the  bike ride then the run.Then the 8-9 went next then 5-7.We all did a great job!

Alexis and Mason, Tanner and Ashlyn(10-12)-Swam-0.5 miles Biked-3 miles Ran-1.5 miles

Hannah and Harry Galer(8-9)-Swam-75ydsBiked-1.5 miles Ran-1miles

Lily and Carson and Sam and Owen Galer(5-7)-Swam-50 yds Biked-1 miles Ran-0.5miles

Here are the pics!

Comments:

Magan said…

great job guys!
Sunday, September 27, 2009 4:50:15 PM

michelle said…

Good job guys! Pretty impressive kids-keep up the good work.
Sunday, September 27, 2009 6:07:26 PM

Anne said…

How fun!!! Wish I could have been there to cheer you on. Way to go Mason, Alexis, and Lily! Hope to see you soon!
Monday, September 28, 2009 11:18:01 AM

Patricia said…

Hi Parker Family,
You all cease to amaze me. What a great family. I’m so impressed with all of the good things you do. Keep up the fun and happy times together. You are making such happy, memorial memories together. They will last forever.
I love you all,
Grandma Baldwin
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 10:35:11 PM

This past weekend we hit the road and traveled to visit the Baldwin’s in Boise.

I don’t think I’ve seen Mason smile as much as he did Friday night in a long time. Uncle Eric fed us some burgers and then we loaded up the bikes and visited a bike park that is every little and big boy’s dream! Eric had bragged it up to Mason this summer and it did not disappoint!  Mason  was a maniac trying out the jumps and definitely loved the thrill of feeling the wind go fast through his hair. Grandpa Baldwin even hit the trail! We celebrated Grant’s twelfth birthday with some amazing home made cupcakes.

The next day we all went on a wonderful bike ride along the Boise greenbelt. It was so beautiful and not too hot! Magan was awesome and pulled Olivia and JT in the bike trailer. My broken finger held up well on the gentle ride. We had a fun picnic too. Magan has a fun tradition that when you go through the tunnel you have to scream all of the way through. Olivia and JT giggled every time – I loved listening to it!

By the time we got back from our bike ride we were hot and ready for a swim. It is a rare moment, but even I got wet because I was that hot. Stephen was so in his element eating pulled pork tacos and enjoying a delicious fiesta later that night! Ashley and her friend McKay came for a visit and watched Magan finish up her apron we were working on.

Sunday we got attend church and witness Grant receive the aaronic priesthood. He is really a top notch kid. He is very intelligent & respectful. Olivia and Lily had great fun playing with miss Grace. After church Stephen announced our travel plans for coming home. (check out his blog for his details) I’ll just say that it was quite long (9 hours), windy roads (yuck), lost his wallet (we think at Red Fish Lake), beautiful (sawtooth mts), peaceful (sleeping children), scary & sad (we saw a motorcycle fatality), puky (Alexis vomited from being car sick), productive (Alexis finished her stitcheries), and fun (we played name that tune and had a quick picnic). When we finally got home we went straight to bed!

Comments:

michelle said…

Looks like a fun trip. The bike park looks pretty fun too. Way to make some fun memories. I’m not so sure about the 9 hour drive-that might have done my family in.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:37:30 AM

Riley said..
.

Looks Like a lot of fun!!!
Saturday, September 12, 2009 1:53:04 PM

Megan said…

That sagebrush reminds me of my years in Boise growing up. I haven’t visited there for a long time!
Friday, September 25, 2009 11:35:07 PM

first day family

It’s official: school is in session!

I dropped the children off this morning and they are tucked safely in their desks.

Lex got to open 7th grade with performing at her first assembly. She was cute to watch (check her blog out for the video footage). I embarrassed her a little when I made her get a picture by the SSJH building – hopefully she’ll thank me someday. We had fun yesterday decorating her locker and practicing her locker combo. She is sure to have a great year.

Mason is geared up for 5th grade with Mr. Kennelly as his teacher once again (he had him for 3rd grade too). He packed his new orange soccer ball in his messenger bag and was off with a pleasant attitude – we just hope it sticks. School can be a little much for Mason – he likes to be moving not sitting in a room all day. Enjoy the video footage of our fashion show because we were informed last night that he will never be participating again. We are just happy he graced us this last time because he is a cute "skater boy".

Lily said she was a little nervous for 2nd grade, but as soon as she met her teacher, Mrs. Smith (also Mason’s 2nd grade teacher) she was good to go.  She was the first one up this morning and proceeded to wake everyone else up too. She is a teacher’s dream student: ready and excited to learn and aims to please. She was excited to wear her skinny jeans and thinks she can run really fast in her new tennis shoes!

Olivia and JT are finding it nice to just have each other to hang out with.

I am basking in the semi-quietness and low maintainance in my kitchen for the last 2 hours! Check back later for a first day report from the crew.

Stephen is trying to recover from his gut-wrenching bout with the flu yesterday.

Today is a day to remember.

Mr. Sicko
	olivia get to go to BYUI preschool next month
getting these trays out each year is like setting up the christmas tree at oue house…. it is funny how excited everyone gets for this simple meal	famous bus cake – do you like stephen’s apron?
	the back to school meal – this toffee apple dip was sooo amazing you have to check it out in the family recipe section	kind out hard to make croissants with a broken finger!
this girl is as nostalgic as her dad – she is all about traditions	good at playing with his food

Comments:

Magan said…

“JT” is the star of the fashion show!
Great looking kids headed back to school
Friday, August 21, 2009 5:45:44 PM

michelle said…

Great Show-Looks like a great first day of school! You all look great too!
Saturday, August 22, 2009 6:25:29 PM

overlooking the waterfalls at Yellowstone

our summer has been a whirl wind of fun times! so much fun we  haven’t had time recently to do any journaling.

one of the best things we’ve done is witness the marriage of paul and karma. they had a lovely wedding day and made us all proud. it was great fun to see all of my daughters along with their girl cousins eye up the day events – they were sweet. i can’t wait to go to many more temple marriages in the distant future.

our garden is looking good and producing well! Olivia and Lily loved helping me pick the beans and peas and prepare them. they were so proud that they helped them grow and take care. stephen is getting excited about biting into one of his tomatoes!

swimming at the ashton pool was a treat as well as floating the canal.

oh and we also went to the cabin with our puzey friends and took time to travel through both yellowstone and grand teton national parks. it was so relaxing and enjoyable. we had primary at the cabin to help us remember it was sunday. mason was the chorister, lex was the self proclaimed primary president, lily and olivia shared scriptures and talks. i am always amazed at the beautiful world we live in. i was a bit disappointed we weren’t able to see a bison though. we ate the imfamous alomd joy ice cream at arrowleaf and lex, lily, and i went to guys and dolls at the playmill. riding bikes and catching frogs was again a hit. stephen also took another chance at the rope swing – i guess to overcome fear and see if he has an iron rib cage.

stephen had a birthday and turned 36, he acts like he is still 18 though. it can be a problem to try and keep up with him :).

we have been trying to keep up with the soccer games every tuesday and thursday evenings. it is bam, bam, bam. one kids game after the next – this year we decided to take dinner to the field and it’s been helpful. stephen is coaching lily’s and lexi’s teams this year.

this is the official week of summers end for us – thursday is the first day of school! best word to describe it, like i do every year, is bittersweet! and it’s a wrap folks…

		putting on another show
	lex and grandma parker made the birthday cake – toffee poke cake, very yummy!	36
after church snack	old faithful	lily by the lily pads at the continental divide
grand teton national park after JT’s old faithful poop explotion (notice my red shirt is gone and he only has a jacket on)	crazy eyebrow photos – there was a lot of time to come up with things to do in the car	beautiful
lexi’s soccer team		this kid can catch a snake anywhere
lazy summer days in sugar
love this – very nostalgic of my childhood	lex decided to swing out and then back to shore –	that is a big log cabin
dinner in the rain	smore s were made inside this time
		geysers at yellowstone
lily loved this one best	cute friends	brave
lily	mason	swimming in the rain
insanity strikes again	cute cousins	another round of cuteness
we are all hitched now	lots of neices and nephews	these 2 were tired!
parker boys	love the wishing well	famous aunt dot with olivia
these 2 remind stephen and i of lex and mason	chinese lanterns were fun	unique exit – we all loved it
ladybug	stephen’s water jumping shoes	looks like an elf from whoville
never to be slowed down	looks at the pride in these girls’ faces
boys will be boys even if they are dressed up	first five	lovely garden growth
ashton pool is fun	taylor and lily had a custard date – compliments of lily’s reading coupons from school	playmill

Comments:

Diana said…

What an awesome summer! Thanks for letting us be a part of some of those memories!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:29:37 PM

Trevin and Stephanie said…

What fun memories. I love the shoes, are those grandap Parker’s slippers? I am glad you got back on that rope and showed it who’s boss. You guys are fun parents, I can tell you like to be with your kids; rain or shine.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 10:47:59 PM

It has been a fast, action packed month with many good times and memories.

	Thank heaven for Michelle and her inner tube – they both saved Stephen’s life after a bad jump!
	Trevin set the bar high	Stephen’s near drowning – the rope wacked him in the ribs and knocked the wind out of him making it hard to swim back to shore!
Go big or go home!