Category: Stephen and Jodi

Alexis has been voting at frostedflakes.com with Stephen and I’s email addresses(you have to be above a certain age, and we gave her our permission) for a purpose. If you have the time, she would be so excited if anyone helped vote for a new baseball field in our little town. Apparently the votes only count as 50% of the decision, but wouldn’t it be cool if we WON? I found the following article at kpvi.com, it explains what Lex is so excited about:

"Park in Sugar City a Finalist in Upgrade Contest

It’s known as America’s favorite past time and a local baseball field could soon be revamped in a big way.

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes is helping playing fields across America get an upgrade.

The Heritage/Niebar Park is one of 100 parks in the country that Kellogg’s has chosen to potentially help rebuild.

During the month of May, people across America can vote for one of the 100 parks on frostedflakes.com.

The voting will count for 50 percent of the decision and then 30 fields will be chosen to be re-done by Kellogg’s.

Sugar City Mayor, Glenn Dalling, said the park has a lot of needed repairs and members of the community would love to see a new playing field.

Mark Willis, Hopes to get a new field: "I think it’s a great opportunity for the public to see how great Sugar City is. It’s usually a small town but it has a lot to offer. And to bring more to the families in the community. That’s what we need, what we want."

You can vote once a day from each e-mail you have on www.frostedflakes.com and the voting will end at the start of June."

Tonight we held the second informal Puzey Parker Recital. We kept it low key because some of these pupils are a little shy to play for the masses yet, BUT they really could and should. Maybe next time we’ll make it bigger and test the waters of nerves out on aunts, uncles, and grandparents. (does that even make sense?)

It is really fun to be involved in a recital where half of the children playing are your own and the other half are the children you teach! What (good) proud flowed out of my heart for these awesome young pianists! Lily is a very funny girl. She didn’t want to do the duet with her teacher because the music would be on the piano and she didn’t want people to think she didn’t have her piece memorized! Cracked me up- I wouldn’t’ have even thought of that. Needless to say she was flying solo on both of her songs, "William Tell Overture" and "Leapin’ Lizards". Mason loved learning "The Pink Panther" and also "Saucer Men". He has made great strides this year and improved greatly. I owe it all to his teacher! Lex participated by playing one of her festival songs and also a song she wrote entitled, "Thunderstorm". You should ask her to play it for you, it is really good.

We also had a celebration for all of the kids making the "perfect practice club", they had to practice at least 4 days out of the week for 10 consecutive weeks. They ALL did it and by doing that they were rewarded with a huge ice cream party. They also had to pass of several flash cards naming notes and their location on the piano for their favorite candy bar mix-in. They all did that too, so it was an exciting night.

Stephen had the biggest bowl of ice cream of anyone,and he doesn’t even play! (he must have inherited that ice cream passion from someone?)

		These two didn’t want to get left out of all of the fun!

Comments:

Michelle said…

Talented kids and parents! I am so glad they have gained the love of music. Keep up the good work.
Monday, May 04, 2009 8:28:23 AM

Jana said…

Fun times…maybe next time we will have to sneak a peek from the window so we can get a glance at these awesome kids and their talents!!
Monday, May 04, 2009 2:13:59 PM

Steph said…

Olivia is going to outdo them all! Good job guys, your talents will be needed, in Grandma and Grandpa’s Branch the missionaries are the only ones who play the piano. Keep in up.
Monday, May 04, 2009 3:05:01 PM

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Piano playing is a great talent. Most of the missionaries who play are sure thankful that Mom made them practice. Even in seminary , it was a blessing to have kids who could play in each class.
Friday, May 08, 2009 11:10:56 AM

Patricia said…

Great job everyone!!! I’m sitting here smiling and feeling so pleased with all of you. Keep up the good work. You’re all awesome.
Grandma Baldwin/Mom
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 9:12:56 AM

This is for you dad (Grandpa Baldwin)…

Yesterday my dad sent an email to our family suggesting "that each of us, as well as the grandchildren who are old enough to read and understand it, review the conference address given by Elder Gary E. Stevenson (http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1032-31,00.html), and perhaps use the talk as a basis of a Family Home Evening."

So tonight we took him up on his offer. We took a virtual tour of our home as we listened to Elder Stevenson talk and reviewed our family standards as well. It was definitely an FHE to document for the record books…everyone was happy, everyone particpated, everyone left wanting to try harder. THANKS DAD for the great suggestion! Our children took one of the quotes from Elder Stevenson’s talk literally. It said, "Even our young children have been encouraged to visit the temple grounds and touch the temple. President Thomas S. Monson once counseled, “As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us." After hearing this they all asked if we could go touch the temple tonight, because we live so close we did.  We are very blessed to have a temple to "touch" our lives. Stephen and I’s favorite quote from the talk, "There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple." Good things to think ALWAYS!

 

Comments:

Dad and Mom Parker said…

Take care of the little things cause sometimes they become the big things. We are excited to go to the temple again. It’s a big thing in our
Monday, April 27, 2009 11:38:31 PM

Magan said…

We to had a positive experience from our FHE. Thanks to Grandpa B
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 2:15:56 PM

John said…

Thanks for sharing. I loved the great photos. They represent many things. We will have to give that talk a try for one of our upcoming FHE’s. Our new temple is almost complete.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:09:02 PM

Patricia said…

Your dad and I are so pleased for what you did with your family. Thanks fordoing what he sugested you to do and then some. What a blessing it will be for you and your family. WE love you all and miss you!
Dad and Mom Baldwin
Friday, May 01, 2009 10:03:20 PM

Stephen said…

Sometimes ideas come (perhaps inspiration). When we act upon the promptings blessings come. We are excited to know that our children and grandchildren are “touched” by the temple. Touching the outside just makes is a stronger touch upon our hearts. I can promise the grand-children that their heart will be touched and forever strong when they (as youth and adults) are able to go to the temple. Thanks, Stephen and Jodi for being a positive influence upon your children.
Sunday, May 03, 2009 12:51:59 PM

finished and ready for the shrubs and bark!

We were able to check something off of our lists this weekend! For two years we have talked about building an arbor and we finally did it, rustic style. Stephen recycled some wood from a caved in potato cellar – a man in our ward was getting ready to burn. The only pieces of wood purchased were the 4 posts, pretty cool huh? It feels so good to be productive and frugal all in one. It felt like old times – me running the chop saw, Stephen nailing, kids running wild and crazy, and a more than a couple of slivers to show off. At least none of us had to get a tetanus shot from the rusty nails we were pulling out! Alexis also participated in piano festival and did a fabulous job. Her morning consisted of practicing her 2 octave scales for 2 hours. She was very nervous about them, but all of that practice paid off! It sounded good from outside the door and she felt good about it in the end. The other pictures are from a crazy night this past week. It had been cold all day and a snow storm had blown in just in time for Lexi’s soccer game. We decided to stay home and warm. Mason and Lily got a little crazy with the rubber bands, but had lots of fun. Olivia ended up flicking herself in the face, that’s when all of the fun had to end.

Comments:

Dad said…

Mom loved it. She wants me to build one like it at the new house.
Monday, April 20, 2009 7:24:53 AM

Magan said…

Yes, love the arbor
Monday, April 20, 2009 2:10:01 PM

Jana said…

Very cool, we all want one!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 10:21:12 AM

Patricia said…

What a nice addition to you place. We can’t wait to see it when we come up. Your family is always doing neat things at your house. It’s all good; so very, very good!
Dad and mom
Friday, May 01, 2009 10:06:21 PM

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend filled with Easter pleasures. One of the best gifts was the fabulous weather. We also got to have fun Ricks’ cousins all weekend to make it even better! Glad Steph and Trevin got to go have a get away and that we could get to have some good bonding time. Mason, Lex, and Lily especially had a fun 3 days.

Comments:

Mom and Dad Parker said…

Looks like fun. Your weather is getting better than ours now. We sent the good weather home with John and Steph. It’s supposed to rain all week. It looks like Stephen lost his shaver again. It is good to see Mason doing well in his flying lessons.
Monday, April 13, 2009 6:27:06 AM

Susan said…

Looks like your “hunt” was a big success. What a fun thing to do as a neighborhood and family. You are all building great memories!
Monday, April 13, 2009 4:16:16 PM

We had a relaxing conference weekend and a little productive too. Stephen decided to finally refinish the church pew that has been sitting in our garage for 2 years. We were able to get a nice bench to put out back on our deck and a smaller one to use with our kitchen table. Favorites were listening to amazing talks and just being together. When Stephen went to the priesthood session Mason started playing with his food and started a fun creative outlet for everyone. Here are some of our pictures to help us remember the good times.

Paul has some new chicks, the kids all want some now…they do look kinda fun to have around. And hard to beat fresh eggs.

Comments:

Patricia said…

Oh how cute! Baby chicks are lots of fun. Sure wish I could hold one. Grandma Baldwin
Monday, April 06, 2009 12:09:51 AM

Dad and Mom Parker said…

They are so cute, and so are the chicks. It looks like you might have a ducky too. Remember they grow up and cause damage to plants. Be careful not to get to attached.
Monday, April 06, 2009 6:54:53 AM

We are the dots under the archOur getaway to Utah was so much fun – none of us wanted to come home! We were able to do and see amazing things:

First stop, SLC – temple square, we enjoyed feeling the warm air as we walked through temple square and enjoyed the beautiful flowers. It felt like we had stepped into heaven being surrounded by the beauty and inviting temperatures. Short sleeves and shorts and sandals made us all sooo happy! The boys then went to Cabellas the girls to IKEA and then we met up at Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin’s house for some good eats and a mini recital. Ashley and her friend McKay came over and performed for us and our kids played their songs too.

Next day we headed to our final destination – MOAB, UT. The red rocks were a welcome site! We drove to the expo center to pick up packets for the half marathon and got to see the cute baby Josie for the first time. What a sweet baby girl. The kids played at a cool park by slick rock and then we hiked delicate arch. Lily was wondering if it would all be worth it, but of course it was! She was glad she plowed forward. It was more difficult than we remembered. It is a different hike when you have 9 children to encourage along. The lizards were definitely a huge inspiration and bonus.

Saturday was the day of reckoning as I got finished what took us to this wonderful place. (more details on my blog) The husbands and kids played at slick rock and then met us at the finish line to take photos. They couldn’t stop talking about how fun slick rock was, so we found ourselves going back to see what all the hype was about. Those kids are tough! I took a ride and found out what a scaredy pants I am! We went to find some souvenirs with the money that our kids had been saving up. They were successful. We then went and found some cool petroglyphs. Swimming wrapped up a long day of fun.

Sunday found us driving..then driving…then driving some more. We finally arrived home at 9:00 pm after stopping by to see the Manti Temple, a quick stop by G&G Baldwins again, and then on to the Babcocks for a fabulous dinner. We were entertained by the musical bunch once again and Michelle taught me how to “cast off” on my newly knitted dishcloth! She is so amazing with her knitting abilities. Lex also met Edward Cullen from Twilight (he lives in Emily’s room).

There was a lot of melancholy when we arrived home and the reality of life came crashing down on us. I suppose we wouldn’t love a trip like that so much if we came home to exactly the same circumstances. It is Cold, Snow, School, etc. for us now. We are so glad we got that we got to have a great family vacation but now it is back to life – back to reality!

Comments:

John said…

What a fun trip! It is hard to beat the red rock, family, lizards and warm weather. Glad you had a fun time and were not sick this year.
Monday, March 23, 2009 11:53:54 AM

Anne said…

Back to reality is right! We woke up to snow and decided to tuck the flipflops in the closet again. It was beautiful! So glad you had a good time!
Monday, March 23, 2009 12:54:40 PM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

We couldn’t help but be a bit envious of the red-rock country. We were looking for Stephen’s brace or cast or something. He must heal fast in that climate.
Monday, March 23, 2009 2:09:58 PM

Family FunOne of the funnest parts of being a mom for me is creating fun days and memories, even though sometimes it can be very hectic – it really does just make life more fun. I am glad that I have started a box of stuff for each of the monthly occasions so all I have to do it drag it out of the storage room and do the same thing as I did the year before. I’m finding that my kids love the “old reliables” anyway. On a good year I add something new to the excitement, but on years like this I just reuse. St. Patrick’s day was a crazy, busy day filled with piano, soccer, scout meeting, YM, & library story time. When all was said and done, we were happy to have tried to make our “green” dinner work. All I had to do was throw a green table cloth on and have a hay day with green food coloring and the day became a little bit more special.

Yummy Green Rolls	Green Salad	Green Mashed Potatoes (shepherd’s pie with green beans in the background)
Green Milk	It really was a happy shamrock day!

Comments:

Jana said…

Fun traditions…I need to get some boxes so I can have the things that make family life more fun and memorable. We were pretty low key this year just a green breakfast.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:32:17 AM

Patricia said…

What a fun time. Your mom is the best! Be sure to thank her for the good times she creates for all of you. G. Baldwin
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:41:44 AM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

Looks like Olivia got a little green dye in her eye. Kiss her for us even if we aren’t Irish.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 11:53:38 AM

Michelle said…

I love the idea of the occasion boxes. You are such a fun mom, making great memories for your kids.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 6:37:06 PM

Good timesAlexis, Mason, and myself decided it was time to splurge and pay the $7 lift ticket to go snowboarding. This is Lex and Mason’s first time at a ski resort, and my second time on a snow board. We had a great time, we invited Paul to come along since he knows what he is doing, and because he always makes any activity funner.

I will admit after the painfully slow and painful first run down with Lex, I was thinking this is going to be a long day. It was her first time on a board going down hill. We learned after about 20 falls that if we held hands and I went down backwards we could do pretty well. She caught right on after that, and progressively improved. Within a few more runs down she was excited to report she made it all the way down without even crashing once. I think it helped when she saw her friend Tanner there, had to play it cool with him around. 🙂

Mason, we he is just crazy. He took off with Paul and his strategy was full speed then bail. Worked pretty good for him but after awhile he started to expand his expertise and would do the “wishbone” and “carving”. He looked like a natural. He even caught some good air, he learned how to land from me though, as you can see in the pictures.

All in all we had a great day made some great memories, and now Lex and Mason can’t stop talking about going again.

	Quad seating on the lift, pretty cool
Bunny hop man	“Here she is Miss America”	Paul is a pro
	Go Mason!
This little 3 year old girl looked so cute sleeping on the hill, she was just tired right out.	Paul in the Terrain Park
Now you see me…	Now You don’t	The last run of the day…
Face plant, notice the right wrist…snap

Comments:

Paul said…

Thanks for the invite! It was fun except for the little scare on the jump.
Saturday, March 14, 2009 10:50:41 PM

Dad said…

Looks like fun, but you know the way I feel about paying lift tickets, no matter how small. There is an old song that says, “How you goin’ to keep ’em down on the farm, after they’ve seen Paris. I think I would rather play on an untouched hillside on snowshoes or back-country skiis, but that’s just your stubborn old dad.
Sunday, March 15, 2009 1:34:17 AM

Magan said…

Funny that quote from your dad is my dads all time favorite line. I have heard that so so many times in my life. Where do you find $7 lift tickets. There $50 in our neck of the woods.
Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:27:02 PM

Michelle said…

looks like a great time! Bummer about the wrist. The kids look like little pros.
Monday, March 16, 2009 8:39:20 AM

Anne said…

Oh…SO FUN! Sorry about the wrist, OUCH! Sometimes you got to not listen to your crazy brothers maybe?!? Even though Paul is pretty cool! Glad you had fun!
Monday, March 16, 2009 12:19:41 PM