We partied it up this past weekend with the Parker Families! Many good memories were made….
THURSDAY: All of us headed bright and early over to Stacie and Ricks for a delicious fourth of July breakfast. We then headed over to get a spot to watch the parade. Mason talked all of his younger cousins to ride bikes in the parade to hand out flyers for his Eagle Project. They looked official in their scout shirts and it made me proud of all of the Parker Scouts for representing & supporting Mason in such a way. Thanks to even the cute girls who helped out!! After the parade we went over to Mill Hollow for lunch. It was fun to see Paige and Lexi working! (There were many other random visits to Mill Hollow over these days for a yummy frozen yogurt treat) Stephen snuck home after this to finish making a cool three-wheeled bike for JT. It was worth the effort as JT felt very special and happy riding this bike over the rest of the days. The water slide – a fourth of July Parker tradition took place afterward. Lex got to experience of her most embarrassing moments and took it in good stride. 🙂 Jana and Ryon provided a delicious dinner of Pulled Pork for all of their very many guests and then Ryon put on a spectacular firework celebration for all of us to enjoy. He even got a license and permit to shoot off some pretty spectacular bursts.
FRIDAY: Stephen, Lance, John, and Mason woke up early for a fun Mt. Bike ride! Anne and I went for a lovely walk. After lunch we met out in Hibbard at the warm slough for a gentle canoe ride. While we waited for the vehicle drop off – most of the crew did a little bridge jumping. From our family Lexi, Mason, and Lily participated. It was fun to float down the river and look at the clouds with Olivia and hear JTs happy voice as Stephen paddled the canoe. Matt added some excitement when he found a cool turtle. After the canoe float all of the boys were taken to the skate park by the oldest granddaughters. It was so nice of them to take care of the boys. It was equally as nice of the second oldest set of girls to take care of and entertain all of the younger girls at John and Michelle's house while the parents enjoyed a trip to the temple and dinner. A disappointment came to the oldest kids as their reward for babysitting backfired when they realized the drive-in movie was sold out! Then ended up coming over to our house to watch a movie.
SATURDAY: Aunt Stephanie made lots of people smile as she invited kids to come over and participate in the Color Run 5k she was helping with. They had a blast and looked very colorful afterward. Most of the girls that participated drove down to Rigby Lake to rinse off and enjoy some more water fun. The boys puttered around our house building bike jumps. Poor sweet Zach had a sad four-wheeler accident and ended up with a gnarly broken leg. He is a tough little guy! The plan for this night was to go to the Demolition Derby but those of us who were running behind schedule ended up getting turned away – it was sold out! The girls ended up going to the movie and boys hit the bike jumps again. At 11 Lance & Stephen decided they wanted more ice cream so they took Anne and I over to Mill Hollow for a quick treat. It was fun laughing with them!
SUNDAY: We slept in! After we willed our eyes to open we went to church. Stephen received some new callings. He was called to be a Sunday School Teacher to the youth, a scout advancement chairman, and also a Camping Coordinator for the YM. He will be busy. We came home, ate dinner and then played a fun game that Anne taught us. It is called the no name game. We went over to Jana and Ryon's house for FHE and it was fun to see/talk to Bruce and Sharon via skype.
It was a FULL and FUN Holiday weekend.