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!

Independence

Caleb learned how to ride his bike without training wheels last week. With this new accomplishment has come a whole new feeling of independence for him. We'd tried to get him to ride his bike last fall. But his tire went flat and then it got cold. So we quit trying for several months. Then last week Parker finally fixed that tire. He handed the bike over to Caleb. He hopped on and rode away. That was it! No teaching. No running behind him telling him you're there when you're really not. He just rode his bike. I couldn't believe it! What a big boy!

So now it's all he wants to do. He is ALWAYS riding out in the driveway. He comes in for mealtimes and potty breaks. We hardly ever turn on the tv since he's been riding his bike now! Anyway. On the first day he wanted to ride to all the neighbors and tell them all what he could do. He walked into the house, "Mom! I went to the house with kids!"

"You did what?"

"I crossed the street to the house with kids!"

Ok. Hold the phone. He took me outside and pointed to a house across the street that belongs to a family in our ward. There were a bunch of kids playing in the front yard. So. We had a little discussion about crossing the street. I told him he was only allowed to cross the street if he comes and asks me first. One great thing about my son. Stuff like this....I usually only have to tell him once. He's pretty obedient.

Although today he told me he would be going outside to ride his bike in the driveway. I sat down for a few minutes on the computer while Angie was taking a nap. After about 15 minutes of silence I started to wonder where he was. (He almost always comes in every 5 or 10 minutes to tell me about a new trick he can do, or to tell me about something he found outside). I peeked my head out in the garage....and he wasn't there. Ok check inside the cars. Nothing. Maybe he's in the house. I yelled for him and no answer (he never doesn't answer). I go BACK outside and start yelling for him. A twinge of panic in my voice. My thoughts are easily getting out of hand. He's been hurt. Hopefully he's just hiding? He's not kidnapped..... ok. Lets just check next door. (the neighbors have a 4 year old boy that Caleb loves to play with). There he was, sitting on the living room floor. Relief. Now I'm angry.

The boy's mother said Caleb had told her I knew where he was. Hah. I pulled Caleb outside and we had a little chat about telling mommy when he goes to Victor's house. About how scary it is when mommy can't find her little boy. And of course there was tears and sobbing and lots of "I'm sorry!" Then I left and he stayed and played.

He's just growing so fast. I can't even believe it. He's starting kindergarden this fall. And he's just so big. The other day I asked him, "Caleb- how come you keep growing so big?" and he answered, "I duno. Maybe it's the food."

Last here are some videos of Caleb doing some tricks on his bike. A couple days ago some teenage boys came riding by on their BMX bikes while Caleb was outside. He stood there in amazement while they did tricks for him. Now he thinks he's gonna try some as well. I suppose we'd better get him a new helmet. The one he has is broken and uncomfortable. He won't wear it.

Does anyone else love how he sticks his tongue out when he's doing tricks? So cute! And Angie's yelling in the background "Wow! Wow! Wow!" Which I never really noticed when I was making the recording. Incase you were curious....right after taking this video angie stuck her arm up the tailpipe of the explorer. Bleck! The girl has no shame.

Oh gross....

Not in the mood for much "fun" today. I kinda had a rough day at work. When I got home, Parker decided to stay in Jackpot and play a round of golf. This meant I had the entire evening with the kids. They were actually really good.....for the most part. We did microwave burritos and green beans for dinner (they gobbled it up) and then I let Caleb go outside and ride his bike in the driveway for a while so I could get Angie in the bath.

Angie had thrown a bunch of her green beans on the floor, and so once I got her in the tub, I tried to get them all cleaned up before my little HOOVER (Angie) could make it over there and start eating them off the floor. I peeked my head outside to check on Caleb and then went back into the bathroom to get Angie washed up. Something smelled funny....

She was holding the washcloth and rubbing it between her legs. Wait.... what? Why? Oh no. Oh no no no no no NO NOOO! There they were. About 6 or 7 little brown balls floating around in the tub. That's right. She pooped in the bath. AUGH!! Ok think. How do I clean this up? Our bathtub drain has a rather large mouth. I can't just drain the tub.....the poop would go down too. I don't exactly have a little net or anything. Well. I ended up getting an empty can (which housed the green beans before dinner) and scooping out what I could, then dumping the....poo onto a LARGE wad of toilet paper and then throwing the wads into the toilet and flushing them one by one. All the bathtub toys that were ALSO in the tub were put into a bucket of clorox. And Angie was allowed to run COMMANDO around the house for 15 minutes. After the major floaties were removed, I drained the bath. That took FOREVER. (I've never had to actually SIT and wait for the tub to drain before. Normally you take the kids out, pull the plug and walk away. Do you have ANY idea how long it takes for that thing to drain? Well, anyway. Then there were still TONS of MINIATURE floaties stuck to the bottom of the tub after the water was gone. I used MORE large wads of toilet paper and essentially mopped the floor of the tub till all brown-ness was gone. Then I scrubbed it with Comet. I put the can of Comet on the bathroom counter so Angie couldn't get it (forgetting that even tables and counter surfaces are no longer safe because she climbs EVERYTHING! Including chairs, bar-stools, and toilets). After scrubbing the bathtub I turn around to see naked Angie STANDING on the bathroom counter ( I didn't even hear her behind me!) She has Caleb's toothbrush in her mouth as she knocks down my FULL can of Comet onto the floor. AHHHHH! Ok. I try to sweep it into a pile with some toilet paper. And Angie squats down and tries to help. "No no no!! Don't TOUCH!!" Ok.... So. Re-fill the tub and put Angie inside so she won't cause any more trouble. Get out the vaccuum and suck up all that Comet sprinkled on the floor. THEN finish washing Angie and drain tub again. Blah!

For some comic relief....I just thought I'd add this little blirb. This is what was going through my head as I was trying to keep any poo from going down that drain.