Because of my Dad

I have an awesome dad. This Father's day I wanted to dedicate this blog post to him, and share a few memories.

My dad is one of the most patient, selfless people I know. I can't imagine how different my life would have been if he were not a part of it. And although there are not many physical characteristics that he passed on to me, I did get quite a bit of his personality. It is because of my dad, that I learned the characteristics that I would want in a husband (hard-working, fun-loving, and a strong testimony of the gospel). My dad is tough but tender. Strong but gentile. Some physical attributes that he passed onto my siblings, but NOT me include:
* Brown eyes
* Bushy eyebrows
* Tan skin (or at least the CAPABILITY of having tan skin)....I have neither.
* Large, straight teeth (mine were small, and crooked).
However- I DID inherit his thin hair. Thanks dad. ;)

I searched through all of my pictures, and this was the ONLY one I could find of just the two of us. I think the MAJORITY of pictures from my childhood werer actually taken BY him.

It is because of my dad that I know how to water ski. We got the boat when I was 8 years old, and I didn't learn to ski until 2 years later. I was completely terrified. I had NO desire to be drug behind a boat and then fall and drown as they drove away. Of course my dad eventually made me face my fear, and I was terrified. He told me that if I would ski once on every boating trip, I could have a wetsuit. That was enough. I cried just before going almost every time that first year. But my dad didn't give in. And because of my dad, I not only learned HOW to ski....but I learnd to LOVE it. To this day, water skiing is the only sport that I am quite good at. And (more importantly) the ONLY sport at which I am better than Parker.
Like my dad: I have a love for things that grow. I love planting flowers, and growing vegetables in the garden.

Like my dad: I have an ear for music, and can perform at the drop of a hat without too much anxiety.

Like my dad: I have very strong opinions, and sometimes voice them when it might have been better to just keep quiet.

Like my dad: I often think that MY way is the best way to do something. ;)

Like my dad: I have a love for the gospel, and a desire to learn more.

Like my dad: I like to write my thoughts and feelings better than say them.

Like my dad: I have a somewhat forgetful nature. Despite my organization- when it comes to multi-tasking...... if I try to do too much at once.....I am BOUND to forget something important.

And the last quality only shows itself in glimpses. What patience I DO have, I can thank HIM for. That's not to say that my mother is not patient, but Dad is ALWAYS patient. A quality which he inherited from HIS mother. My daddy is amazing. Even now that I'm grown, he constantly does things to show love, patience, and kindness. He is a great father.....and an even greater grandfather. All of his grandchildren love him to pieces. And it's safe to say that "Grandpa" has been one of the first words of almost every grandchild. Grandpa is always including his grandchildren and making memories with them. Even though the majority of the time he is working on a project and they are "helping."

I love my dad so much, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful example in my life. I am grateful to be so much like him. Happy Father's Day dad!

Front Porch

We've been doing a lot of work on our front yard. Our project this month has been to build a porch by the front door. I dug this picture out of the archives to show you what the front of our house looked like last year. Wow. I'd forgotten. :)
And here's the beginning works of the porch. Parker used the best materials (Trex decking) and a very sturdy foundation beneath. I have to say. He really surprises me sometimes. He just knows how to build something like this? I wouldn't even know where to begin! And it's not like he's a contractor or anything. He's just knows this stuff somehow. Anyway, I was impressed. High quality, and it turned out so good!
I'd like to say I helped..... but honestly I just sat there and handed him screws. Apparently that's all he wanted though. Just someone to talk to while he worked. But I DID help with one thing!! After it was all finished, I got to go to Lowe's and pick out 2 planters and some really pretty flowers. I felt like a kid in a candy store! I LOVE flowers so much! I am usually pretty good at making decisions, but I REALLY struggled deciding which flowers were the prettiest, and most affordable. I wanted one of each!! Anyway.... here's a couple pictures of MY handywork! ;0)
And next are some pictures of the deck while Parker was building the foundation.

And below, he's just putting the facial boards up.....
And then the finished product!! We have 2 other things that need done here. He's gotta change the rain gutter. He's gonna put in a chain. As it is now. he had to move the gutter to put in the deck. So right now it's kinda flopping in the wind. But that'll look good once we get the materials for that. And he's gonna paint the post white, and put some molding-looking things around the top and bottom of the post. Ta daa!
My super-handy husband really pulled out all the stops on this one!

Dinosaur Park

After our continental breakfast at the Hampton Inn, Parker had to rush back to Burley to make his tee time for a golf tournament. His dad went with him so there would be room in Mom's car for me and the kids plus Jayne.

So I went and picked up the kids from Brody and Ashley's house. Angie was covered in scratches....but she'd allready had quite a few to begin with. Ashley informed me that the scratches were from her son, and that she was sorry. Hah. If it hadn't been him, it would've been something else. The girl ALWAYS has a scratch or a bruise. No worries Ash. :0)

So after picking up the kids we went to Aunt Jo's house. Caleb's ENTIRE goal for this trip was to go play at Aunt Jo's house. So I could NOT disappoint. We spent a few hours there and let Angie take a nap. And when she woke up we decided we should take Caleb to the Dinosaur park in Ogden. Wow was he excited! It was pretty fun actually! And Thank Goodness aunt Jayne took pictures on her phone.

The indoor part of the park had fossils and dinosaur bones put together. Quite fascinating actually, but Caleb didn't have much interest in that. Outside was paths and paths through tall trees with dinosaur statues. But they had hidden speakers and they'd growl at you once in a while. Although they didn't move, the sounds were QUITE convincing when you stick them in some tall trees behind a fence. Caleb was scared to even stand close. It was pretty cute. And when they'd growl....he'd jump back. He'd say over and over again, "It's not gonna bite me. It's not real." but he kept his distance just the same.

There was also a children's play area in the middle, complete with slides and swings. This was fun for the kids too. But it got hot really quick, and we didn't stay too long.
Caleb's FAVORITE part about the dinosaur park was the electric dinosaurs inside the museum. They growled AND moved. Not to mention they were in dark rooms with forest trees and sounds. He was CONVINCED these were real, even though we told him many times that they were machines. We had to go into this room twice before leaving.
Outside, there was also a little cave that had some dinosaur bones fossilized into the ground. The picture below is Caleb leaning against it. I'm sure they're fake....but quite convincing for a child!
The kids had a good time. It was fun to see Caleb be so fascinated with this little park. Angie had a good time too. She kept on pointing and jabbering every time she saw a dinosaur.

Blue-door house

I just stumbled across this photo in my archives. The photo was titled "The blue-door house."
Perhaps the 2 photos don't look all that different to you.....but if you only knew HOW DIFFERENT they really are. Please notice the nasty patchy grass on the blue-door house. Some SERIOUS issues that took about a year to clear up.

And now the much nicer looking black-door house. :) Just finished the porch! And doesn't grass look so much nicer when it's green?
I heart my house!

Seven Year Anniversary!

Seven years ago I married my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love: Parker. I can't believe it's been that long! But then in some ways, it feels like it's been forever.....like we've ALWAYS been together. He was a surprise in my life. I was a freshman in college, and had lots of plans to get some serious schooling and studying done. I remember the first day I saw him. I was actually at an institute dance, and my roommate (Lindsay) introduced us. We swing-danced to an old jazz song, and I remember when we did a backflip, I was smiling so big that my gum flew out of my mouth! Hah! We found out we were in the same ward (even though we hadn't seen eachother at church yet). And a few weeks later Parker called me and asked me to homecoming. No I HADN'T given him my phone number. Turns out he called the Bishop to get it. And you know what? Homecoming was THAT EVENING. Whoo. Of course I wanted to go though. I didn't have any formal dresses....so I wore one of my church dresses.

We doubled with one of Parker's friends (Shawn) and a girl he'd just met (Lindsay). It was their first date as well. And wouldn't you know.....they got married too! We went to the dance, and then Jack in the Box for milkshakes, and then Parker invited me back to his place to go sit in the hot tub. Meh! I turned him down to that one. I wasn't ready for him to see me in a swimsuit. I asked him to call me again though.

I remember we went to firesides and ward activities together. We spent our time between classes together. I was fascinated that someone that much older than me could be interested in me. (Parker is 4 years older than me). He was so tall, and always happy. And (a new one for me) extremely athletic.

We dated for 3 months, and were engaged for 4 months. And on June 5th 2004 we were sealed in the Boise Temple by my Grandpa Willis.

The next day we drove to California for our honeymoon in Disneyland. Which was wonderful!
Can you believe how skinny we were? Anyway. To celebrate our anniversary this year, we went to Salt Lake City to see Les Miserables. Parker's cousin, Brody, and his wife, Ashley, were kind enough to watch our kids overnight so we could spend the evening together.

I just love this play! It was just as good the second time. Parker has been wanting to see it for his entire life, so this was REALLY a treat for him. He grew up listening to the music just like I did (meant for eachother....I know). Katelyn got us some discount rooms at The Hampton Inn, and we had dinner at PF Chang's.
I must say....I don't really LOVE Chinese food, but that place was good! Parker liked it too. We really had an awesome weekend. Parker and I have had a wonderful ride together. And I am so glad that we get to spend the rest of our lives, and the rest of eternity by eachother's side. He's all I need. A great husband, daddy, and companion. Happy Anniversary Parker!