Category: Stephen

It has been said it is is the highest navigational lake in the world, at just over 12,000 feet. It takes a freighter over 12 hours to go from one end to the other. The coolest part of the lake are the floating Islands. They are hand made Islands they made from the bamboo shoots growing in the water. They cut them, dry them, then stack them over 4′ thick alternating directions. We caught a glimpse of the locals playing a mean game of volley ball on the Islands as well.

here is there kitchen
	Island Volley ball, where are the Men?

The Train from Cusco to Agua’s Caliente where we spent the nightWhat a cool place to see, we spent the whole day looking at the ancient city. We even hiked up to Wanna Picchu, that gives you a great view back at Machu Picchu. Such a neat place to visit, I would like to take my family here someday.

Hola we have made it here to South America. We landed last night in Lima and hit the night life with a taxi driver, then caught a early morning flight to Cusco and spent most of the day looking at the Sacred Valley. We had an authentic Peruvian lunch. We ate guinni pig and alpaca and a bunch of other stuff that we didn�t know what it was….more to come…We love and miss you all. Tonight we will sleep for the first time since leaving SLC.

		check out that claw on that pig

Comments:

michelle said…

O.k-I believe you now! poor little guinea pig! Other than that, looks pretty amazing! It is so cool to see the people with you. Wow! Keep on having fun and please be safe!
Friday, June 06, 2008 8:04:06 PM

Anne said…

Lance is so lonely for his brothers looking at these pics. Gross you ate Guinea Pig. Did it taste like chicken? Have fun. Love the pictures!
Friday, June 06, 2008 9:54:55 PM

Dad and Mom Parker said…

OK so we know how you feel, TRIED!!!!! Looks like you are having fun. We enjoyed the pic. Watch out for the food, it could give you the runs. Be safe, drink it all in, different cultures are amazing.
Saturday, June 07, 2008 2:35:26 AM

Haley said…

Daddy,
I told you exactly NOT to eat a Guinea Pig. But, I guess it’s O.k. because, we don’t have are Guinea Pigs anymore.
Saturday, June 07, 2008 9:16:50 AM

Stephen Parker Family (at Grandpa Baldwin’s house) said…

You guys are crazy! The foot on that guinea is too much…Lily wants to know what you are giving that little girl Stephen? Glad you got there safe and are enjoying! Keep the pics coming…we miss and love you.
Saturday, June 07, 2008 4:48:28 PM

Stephen said…

In that picture I gave that little girl the 16 cents that Lily gave me. We are headed for Puno tomorrow.
Saturday, June 07, 2008 8:17:38 PM

Steph said…

That food tops anything we ate in Japan eh. I can’t wait to hear more and see more pictures. Have fun guys and be careful.
Sunday, June 08, 2008 12:15:15 PM

Stacie said…

It looks like a lot of fun! I am glad to see Haley is ok with the guinea pig feast! Rick thinks the marinade looks good, can you get the recipe for him to try on his smoker! Have fun and be safe! Love you boys!
Sunday, June 08, 2008 10:19:15 PM

lily said…

we love you dad
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 7:26:02 PM

Amy Baldwin said…

Okay, that does it! If that is what you have to eat there, I am not ever going! 🙂
Friday, June 20, 2008 4:22:49 PM

I can hardly wait to go now, Lily was kind enough to put together a little farewell package for me (Alexis, Mason and Olivia contributed as well). She made me quite a few cards and gave me a present with 13 cents in the bag. That is for me to buy some stuff when I go down south. I will be sure to bring her something fun home. You can see all the kids made me a special card it was very nice of them. I wish they were coming too…next blog will be coming from somewhere in Peru or Bolivia.

Comments:

pablo said…

ya esta!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:25:17 AM

Steph said…

Send me a post card!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 1:23:58 PM

Jana said…

Way exciting! have fun with the boys!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 6:34:18 PM

anne said…

Have a great time. Lance wishes he could be going with you. Next time though.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:48:24 PM

Mom and Dad said…

Buena viagem e cuidado. Hope you have a great time,
Thursday, June 05, 2008 4:53:08 AM

Lily and I were watching for the bus today when we noticed a Skunk! He was just on his way north past our place, we opened the window and yelled at him but he didn’t seem to mind us too much. Just hope he keeps on moving and doesn’t bother us.

Comments:

Mom and Dad said…

You need to drive him into the shop and spray water on him. Stacie and Jana can put on coveralls and you will be sure to get him.
Thursday, May 29, 2008 3:31:31 PM

John said…

Lance does well with skunks. Just ask him. You should get it and keep it as a pet.

Thursday, May 29, 2008 4:54:30 PM

STeph said…

Fish and game told us to drowned it when we caught one in the rock chuck trap. We let it go but as soon as it walked out of the trap it rolled over and died. We were very careful not to make it spray. That’s a good story I will have to tell you it some time.
Saturday, May 31, 2008 12:12:22 AM

Paul said…

You know in Texas there was a family that had a pet skunk. It was a great pet. And they would let it go play with the dog every so often to get it to spray.
Also I remember when you were building your house I saw a whole family of skunks running along your road. So you may have a few of them around.
Sunday, June 01, 2008 10:46:02 AM

Today Uncle Everett and Aunt Dot came up to visit. Everett brought all of his gardening tools to come help me get mine planted. He was so cute about it, it was raining but that didn’t deter him one bit. We set out in the rain to plant the tomatoes, as only he knows best. He was a little perplexed at my strange square foot gardening style, but said, “only one way to find out if they will grow.” He then mixed up a special brew of chemicals that are supposed to really get them growing, we planted them and then watered them with the secret brew. I could hear him sniffling a bit, as it was quite cold out, as well as raining on us. I thought to myself these are priceless moments that I hope never leave my mind. We went to lunch after we finished planting with Stacie, Rhett, Dot, Everett, Jodi, Olivia, and JT. Truly Time well spent.

Comments:

Steph said…

That is a cool experience. It’s times like that that make us want to move back. I want my kids to have moments with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. I planted my garden last week, I used chicken manure for fertilizer. I think it will be hard to sell our house until the smell goes away. What kind of vegies did you plant? Did Uncle Everrett plant any cuc’s?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8:06:03 PM

Anne said…

That looks great! It’s those simple moments when we work together that bonds are formed and treasured. Keep up the good work!
Thursday, May 22, 2008 8:29:54 AM

Pam said…

Del loves to grow tomatoes too. All you guys can get together and exchange tips and trials in growing tomatoes. Good Job. Priceless memory to share with Uncle Everett.
Friday, May 23, 2008 10:09:42 PM

I had a neat experience today at the temple that I had to write down. It was getting close to the end of my time there for the day when an older couple walked in. I immediately thought they were a cute sight to see, I was in the font at the time so I lost sight of them for awhile while they were being confirmed. Then they came walking into the font area, I was asked to baptize him and then let him baptize his wife. They had brought in a stack of personal names to be done, it was a struggle to baptize him as he was a little older and a little heavyset. Once I was done baptizing him I left the font to watch him baptize his wife. She reminded me of Aunt Dot a little shorter though.

The first time he tried to baptize her she didn’t go all the way under, so he had to do it again. This repeated a few times as she couldn’t quite get under the water all the way, it was cute as he would make some suggestions on how to make it work better. She would smile and say, “this time we will get it.” The best part was the name they were doing was Mary, and she would say as if she was talking to Mary, “we are going to get it right this time.” Finally after about 10 tries the got it. It was such a neat experience to see this old and tired couple putting their all in to help their ancestors. The Temple is a great place to be.

Comments:

Mom said…

Thanks for sharing, that sounds like a touching experience. It’s good to write them down. Glad you have such a neat opportunity to be in the temple.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:48:21 AM

Steph said…

That is so awesome. I am glad you share your temple experiences with us. I bet Mary was so excited, she probably thought they were diligent too.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 10:01:26 AM

Anne said…

What a neat reminder of the blessings of the temple. I am so glad there are people that take their time to do temple work. I am sure Mary is thrilled.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:10:36 PM

Jana said…

What a neat experience you got to have..I love to watch older couples they make me smile when they show their love for each other. They seemed to have a great love for each other to put up with that much for Mary! I would have been cursing Ryon I am bit like grandma I think! Poor guy!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 8:12:47 PM

Amy Baldwin said…

That is a cute story. It’s members like that who make the work successful.
Sunday, May 18, 2008 3:06:56 PM

-Mow weeds in forest and out by fruit trees!
-Clean up all garbage & misc. debris
-Cut out around trees so it is easy to mow (especially pines out by swing set)
-Cut branches from pine trees (making them more uniform & so it will make mowing easier)
-Weed fabric under swing set and also edge, then fill with pea gravel
-Cut around trees out front by driveway instead of putting bark and weed fabric
-Add more bark to house flower beds
-Buy shrubs and perennials for house beds
-Build Arbor to finish off backyard entrance
-Get enough gravel to make the driveway nice

What a priceless sight to have all of my capable kids helping me dig holes to plant trees. Even Olivia was in on the action, she wasn’t always taking dirt out but she was moving it back and forth. Someday they will all look back and love the trees that we planted and are able to climb.

Comments:

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Ah, the wonderful blessing of hard work. It is magic in learning to become capable people. We will be excited to sip lemonade under those trees with you someday.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 2:39:28 AM

Jana said…

I love the pictures… Mason looks thrilled and Olivia has some serious sag in her pants,but it’s good to see them all out there working together git’n r done!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:45:24 AM

Anne said…

I too love having my kids work right along side me. Keep on teaching them and you will have some hard workers just like yourself!
Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:37:09 AM

It was great to see the excitement in Mason as he would jump his bike. Made me reflect on days when I was younger. Lance and I would jump just about anything we could find, Tonka Trucks, Garbage Cans, Siblings, Cars. Lance even jumped a ditch, you will have to ask him about that one. I need to add that John taught Lance and I what not to do when he popped a wheelie just after replacing the front tire, that one cost him a couple front teeth :-). Anyway I just had to smile when Mason jumped over Lily, Alexis and Myself all at the same time. We didn’t get a shot but it did happen.

		Pull anything you can find.
		My first Mobile Home, it even had a car light and battery for those late night rides.

Comments:

John said…

The best part of those pictures is Jodi and Her mom pulling the “bruce” pose with their mouths. I also loved the cowboy boots you were wearing. It is great to see Mason acting like his dad. He will be just fine if he keeps copying you. Great Blog. I am still laughing at those pictures and remembering some great bike jumps.
Saturday, May 03, 2008 8:47:48 AM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

If a son is going to be like his father, It’s a good thing that the father is a man of honor and kindness. These are fun memories.
Sunday, May 04, 2008 3:25:00 PM

Anne said…

Looks like fun! Those are some of Lance’s favorite times with you and John. Just be careful!
Sunday, May 04, 2008 8:14:31 PM

Jana said…

I loved those days you were the best big brother growing up! I love going down memory lane. Thanks for the fun times. I guess you were always a cowboy at heart…cowboy up you nut!!
Sunday, May 04, 2008 9:45:57 PM

Stephanie said…

Those are great pictures, do you have one with the box on wheels you pulled? I loved that neighborhood! I am with John on the pictures with Pat and Jodi. Awesome!
Monday, May 05, 2008 10:04:19 AM

MzB said…

Stephen, I had the same dirt bike as you. I will look for a picture. Nice jumping Mason, your mom looks like she is excited your are jumping your sisters.
Monday, May 05, 2008 5:16:14 PM

Amy Baldwin said…

Okay, that is a little too frightening for me to have someone jump over children on his bike. I have too much of my father in me. Although I wouldn’t have put it past my brothers to do something like that.
Sunday, May 18, 2008 3:08:47 PM