A Halloween Tradition


The reason we all got together.It was time for the traditional Parker Pumpkin Carving today. It is an event that we have all grown accustomed to, especially our children. Jana and Ryon invited us over to carve our pumpkins and eat chili. (BTW – we learned that Jana is an excellent chili chef, she even won first place at the chili cook off at Ryon’s office last year) Our kids enjoyed eating donuts tied to string and going home with a homemade caramel apple, compliments of Stephanie. Stacie was on her way home from the hospital. Yesterday was a big day for her family – sweet little Cooper was born!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!




Eating plums from Grandma’s tree.

Olivia had fun playing in the leaves with Harry and Parker.

Apparently Mason had a scary fall – he went over a jump, rolled three times, and got a fierce grass stain on his hair. Never seen that before – had to take a photo.

Hannah had fun chasing her donut around.

Paul taught all of the boys how to make a fly a pet by using a piece of long hair and tying it to the flys neck. It made us laugh and the boys thought it was awesome.

Stephen had Olivia and Lily choose the face for our pumpkin using his iphone. Carson told his mom he couldn’t carve his pumpkin because he didn’t have a phone. ha ha

Comments:

Grandpa and Grandma Parker said…

Family , food, fun what more could you ask for. Looks like a great day for all.
Sunday, October 19, 2008 3:48:05 PM

michelle said…

Looks like we missed a great party! Everyone looks great! We are lucky to have such a great family!
Monday, October 20, 2008 11:14:25 AM

Grandma Baldwin said…

Hi Family,
What a great tradition with lot of fun and food! I enjoyed all of the pictures and watching the fun video’s. It must be nice having so many of the family getting together for a great time. I love seeing all of the children! Aren’t they what life is all about??? Thanks for the great blog. I love getting all of the latest happenings! Thanks for sharing.
Monday, October 20, 2008 11:45:22 PM

Jana said…

It was a great day the weather was amazing and the kids and adults all had a blast..it’s always fun to get together. Family is what makes life complete! Thanks for being the family blogger Stephen!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 8:15:55 AM

Anne and Sami said…

Looks like lots of fun! Love the videos to!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 4:05:03 PM

Good Intentions


I had planned way back in August when we had Olivia’s birthday party, that I would save some cotton candy for Mom and Dad when we go and see them. I filled a ice cream container to the top with an extra large batch. With the time drawing nearer I thought I would check to make sure it was still looking fresh. I opened the container to find that it had shrunk to the size of a thick pancake! All I can say is my intentions were good…sorry Mom and Dad, JT sure had a good time with it at least. He grabbed it when I wasn’t looking.


Lex thought it looked like it had a belly button

Eureka!

Don’t even think about taking this from me!

Halloween Treat


Lily and friend, Sam, played “Raking up Fall Leaves”. Lily also performed “Halloween Fun”. She is dressed up as an ice princess.Today was the day of our anticipated Halloween Piano Recital at the Nursing Center. All of my kids dressed up to go treat the fine people there.

I have been teaching my friend’s kids the piano in exchange for her teaching mine. We had them learn a Halloween/Fall piece and they also each played a piano duet. This was Lily and Mason’s first experience with playing in public (non family) – they did very well! I’m not biased or anything! Alexis also played her violin and a piano/festival song. It was kind of cool to say these are our students and they are also all of our children!

After the performances we passed out apples and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins – my mom would have been so proud. It is just what she taught me to do when I was younger! I am glad that she was a good example of service to the elderly and also encouraged me to share my talents. I did it a lot more willingly when I was a little lassie – today I broke out of my comfort zone and played a piano piece and fiddle tune. I appreciate the accepting eyes of my audience.

My heart smiles big when I think of those amazing people trapped in the confines of old age…I wonder about each person and what they were like when they were my age and just what their story is. It would be fun to discover that!



Mason played “Halloween Witches” with hisi friend Ashlyn and then “Leapin’ Lizards” with his teacher. Mason was obviously dress up as an army guy.

Alexis wore the costume that I wore when I was in fifth grade for a high school play. She also played the “Tambourine” duet with her friend Tanner.

Comments:

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Improving our talents is a big one in this life. It is a good thing not to hide them. Pres. David O. Makay said that it was one of the first things the Lord will ask us when we have a personal interview with Him. In fact, it was #3, right after our relationships with our spouse and children. Keep up the good work.
Friday, October 17, 2008 1:34:54 AM

Sharon said…

Jodi, I’m sure it makes your mother happy to see you following some of her traditions, as well as using your many talents. Thanks for sharing.
Friday, October 17, 2008 1:46:54 AM

Michelle said…

Jodi- You really could have borrowed my outfit from the King & I – you and Lex could have matched. 🙂
Sunday, October 19, 2008 9:03:02 PM

Collections


I decided that I am going to start physically collecting something. I have lived 33 years of life and not settled on anything until just recently. I have noticed that I love to admire cake stands (not the cheesy seasonal or thematic ones – but the classic timeless looking ones) – they are so fun to look at and tempt my budget. The truth is that I never buy them and then wish I had it when I get home. Guess how many I have? A big fat 0! I would love to use them to decorate with in my kitchen – but perhaps that would require more dusting?! Nonetheless, I would love to always be prepared for a special event – I may even use them on a non eventful day just to make my day more pretty.

Something that I just realized that I DO unconsciously collect are good quotes. I love a good saying or quote – my house is full of them. My biggest fear is that I will become complacent when walking through my house and not even notice what I have posted on my walls, etc. I love it when people quote movies, songs, or books – I take it as a sign that one is living life in the present and not just going through the motions! Here is the quote that I have come to believe in and tried to live this year especially – “When you say yes you’re ultimately saying no to something else” by, Aby Garvy.

Comments:

Diana said…

What a fun thing to collect. It’ll be fun to see how many different kinds are out there!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 1:50:13 PM

Magan said…

I now know what to get the Parker’s for Christmas
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 4:05:45 PM

Whitney said…

I like those. How fun! I’m glad you like the hair blogs. I need to look on them again.
Sunday, October 19, 2008 11:43:53 PM

Karma


Tonight Mason and I both experienced in real life “Karma”. As we were leaving to go help a women in the ward move (whom Jodi and I HT, we teach her together because she is single now). Mason asked me, “what is Karma dad?” I gave him the quick explanation of what goes around comes around. Little did I know we were about to experience “good Karma”. As we were helping her move she kept giving items to Mason, he would take a few trips to the trailer and then she would offer him another item. He was sure happy with the odds and ends she was awarding him with, she even gave us a Ping Pong Table.

I told Mason as we took the load to her storage unit, now is where we see who is really dedicated to helping her (I don’t say that to make others feel bad, I was just trying to teach Mason). We had to take some of her stuff to a storage unit, then some of it to her house and after each stop we lost a few more of our volunteers until at the last stop it was just down to the first two people who came to help her. Mason thought it was interesting that we were the first to come and the last to leave. I told him that is how we always should be, and then reminded him of Mosiah 2:17…Call it what you want, I just call it a blessing.

Comments:

Dad and Mom Parker said…

There is no better teacher than that of example, and you are a good example of having a good teacher. That sounds just like your dad. Another man’s junk is also another man’s treasure. It always feels good to help others, especially when they appreciate it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:16:29 AM

Jodi said…

Nice post – I liked your thoughts and example!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:04:59 PM

A Roly Poly Good Time at the Cabin


Chilly Sawtell TopWe went to Island Park last week – from Wednesday to Saturday! It was as much fun as we knew it would be. We were welcomed by Stephanie and her family and got to hang out with them Wednesday night.

Thursday, we met up with our new great friends, The Puzeys. We drove to the top of Sawtell in hopes of having a picnic and to hike around. The chill in the air deterred that idea pretty quickly. We did walk around a little and take a few pictures until we couldn’t stand it any longer! Everyone thought it was awesome that the ball on top of Sawtell looked like a giant soccer ball. (The Puzey’s are really good soccer players and fans) We decided to picnic back at the cabin, and had fun playing games and playing piano duets. It was a disappointment that all of the frogs went into hibernation since that was our selling point in inviting the Puzeys up to the cabin. Luckily ping pong was a big hit.
FOOD FOR THURSDAY: we ate a great lunch, cracked open the peanut m&ms, E L Fudge cookies, and other random treats. Had a spaghetti dinner and then made the famous caramel dip for apples and rolled into bed! Of course I brought my cocoa latte machine to crank out hot chocolate whenever our hearts desired it!

Friday we woke up and feasted on pancakes, eggs, and more hot chocolate. We drove to the cabin on the hill and had a picnic inside the cabin and played around up by the ski lift – it is such a fantastic view from there. We traveled back to the big cabin to make the next meal. (Do you see how much of our lives revolve around food? You really notice it at the cabin. It feels like you just cleaned up a meal or snack when it’s time to start another one) The Puzey’s brought a great activity for the kids to enjoy…we made cool shirts with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol. The kids thought they were great. We watched movies, played more games, sang songs, played more piano duets, told fun stories, and had a taffy pull!
FOOD FOR FRIDAY: above mentioned breakfast, a quick lunch, we were introduced to Puzey Grunt – we all loved it!, more hot chocolate, more m&ms, sweet tarts, chocolate cinnamon bears, and yes taffy – our favorite was rootbeer flavored!

Saturday we woke up to a snow covered ground, but the guys decided to go fishing over by the fish hatchery anyway. Lily and Mason thought it was cool – they don’t get to do that very often. On our way home the roads were so slick that a car and turned over on the side of the road!
FOOD FOR SATURDAY: Ate muffins and bacon! Casey was quite the bacon master – he rationed the bacon like I ration cheese! Diana got kicked out of the kitchen for helping too much. We made potato soup for lunch and also had cupcakes!

I don’t even need to explain the title anymore do I? I will be spending the next month trying to make up for one weekend worth of pleasantries, but I guess it was worth it!

With the Puzeys around everybody has a friend. The kids ages in our family match up to the kids ages in their family. I have so enjoyed getting to know Diana through daily morning runs. She is such a remarkable person – I learn a lot from her selfless example. It has also been so much fun to have a friend that loves music as much as I do.

Cabin Update: Stephen and Casey finished nailing all of the trim that was waiting to be done around the windows and a few doors (they just need to be stained now). Stephen also fixed the carpet at the top of the stairs and fixed the fan in the bathroom.

Comments:

Meg the Gem said…

My Mom was telling me that it was starting to snow up there. You can see Mt. Sawtell from my parent’s house, so it’s fun to get to see what it looks like there right now!

It hit me when I saw you’re cute family picture–I can’t believe all those bundles of coats are your kids!! Jodi!! It’s hard to believe that we have little tribes of our own!
Monday, October 13, 2008 12:11:27 AM

Mom and Dad Parker said…

It looks like a fun time at the cabins. It’s hard to imagine snow already. Way to brave the weather and have a fun time.
Monday, October 13, 2008 2:11:22 AM

Diana said…

Great fun and food was definitely had by all and I dare say that it was worth it. We will just have to run a little bit harder. But, I wouldn’t have wanted to have any less of those M&M’s. Thanks for the memories!
Monday, October 13, 2008 9:02:55 PM

Girly Do’s


Lately my mom has been in to doing our hair. She has us go to the websites on her blog: girly do’s and she does hair. (She found the website’s off of her friend’e blog) Today we all chose a fun hair do! When I went to church, my friend Emi, kept saying “I love your hair.” You guys should check out those websites – they are really fun. I told my mom we should have a late over with all of the girl cousins sometime soon. Each family can bring a hair do.

I like to do hair. My grandma Baldwin bought me a Manichean from DI last year, like the ones they use for beauty school. Me and my friends like doing her hair when we hang out.

Homemade Tent


Multi ColoredWe decided after Lex gave a talk in church last week (about the people of Mosiah who “pitched their tents round about the temple”) that we should pitch a tent to watch conference. I thought to myself I wish I would have grabbed that popup tent from Sam’s last week. It would have been perfect and easy, since the only other tent we have has wheels on it (the popup trailer). The only other option now was to build it from scratch. So we started like every good fort starts with a couple pillows blankets and some crazy idea’s. Before we knew it we had 4 ladders, over 15 blankets, two 55 gallon water barrels, and several extension cords, oh ya and a box of pins. I think it turned out pretty swell and the kids enjoyed sleeping in it the last two nights as well. Like always it was the journey that made it fun.


The first settlers…

rear view, it is almost 9′ tall

Comments:

John said…

Looks like a great idea. Life is always fun in a tent. It will be a great memory.

Monday, October 06, 2008 7:53:44 AM

Dad and Mom Parker said…

The tent is great. We have lots of fun memories from tents. It’s good to remember to keep our tents pitched toward the gospel and good things.
Monday, October 06, 2008 3:13:21 PM

Jana said…

Pretty good looking tent, Fun idea and fun memories.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 11:13:50 AM