Happy Birthday!

This is the day before Chad and I got married and my family took family pictures. The boys thought it would be funny to come out in wife-beaters for the pictures and surprise me. This picture of my dad always makes me smile.

Dear Dad,

Happy birthday! Wish you could be here so we could celebrate! I'd give you three cards like I always do. This year will have to be different, but I did find something to give you. When I was helping mom clean out the house in the process of moving to another house, I found a gift that I gave you for father's day in 2002...a tribute of sorts. I am going to share it again as it has even more meaning now.

"Dad,

I remember eagerly awaiting your return from business trips. You always brought us back a gift from your trip: the dog for the bathtub that had ears that shook water, the Alf puppet from Burger King, and the fluorescent slap bracelet.

You spent countless hours after work with me teaching me how to ride a bike without training wheels. You held me up and then pushed me off so I could do it on my own.

I loved sitting with you on the stand at church. I'll never forget how you would twist the hair at the ends of my braids and tickle my ear with it.

Every Christmas morning you made us wait at the top of the stairs as you changed your clothes, brushed your teeth, and shaved.

I remember our many trips to the hardware store, especially the tip that ended up being minature golf at Fun 'n' Stuff.

When I was in elementary school, you came early with me in the morning before you went to work to have "Doughnuts for Dad".

One of my favorite memories is when you accompanied me to the Daddy Daughter Square Dance when I was in third grade.

Our exhausted legs carried us as we ran through Disney World late one night after riding Space Mountain.

You baptized and confirmed me on November 7, 1987.

We rode Magnum together for the first time and you held my hand up in tha air as we sped down the first hill.

Throughout the years, we have shared many games of cribbage together, counting fifteens, making pairs, and forming runs.

You spent countless hours with me, working on math homework, checking and rechecking the problems, helping me to master the concepts. They may have seemed like torturous hours, yet I look back quite fondly on the time we spent together and the sacrifice you made for me.

You have filled my whole life with corny jokes and expressions. We may tease you about saying these things, but I love them. The scary part is that your words always pop into my head at the approriate times.

You patiently taught me to drive, practicing maneuverability by guiding me around the milk jugs with sticks in our culdesac.

You have always been there and have been worthy to give me father's blessings in times of need or comfort.

You have always encouraged me to do my best and excel in whatever I am doing.

You took the trip to West Point with me and my friends and their dads so I could attend the cadet ball.

Late at night we went fishing together in the canal in Key West, catching no only many snappers, but also Jim's boat.

You have noticed when I have made improvements and progress in my life.

On several occasions you have helped me troubleshoot problems with my car over the phone.

In the past several months, you have conunseled me nearly daily as to my graduate school decision, following the process every step of the way and giving me the much-needed reassurance.

There are so many more things that I could add to this list, however, if I kept writing, I would never finish. I love you dad and I am so grateful for all that you have done and continue to do for me. It could not be counted in time or money. This is just a small list to show you how much I care. Happy Father's Day!"

Now there are many more things that could be added to my list:

You danced with me at my wedding to My Girl. Although it was a difficult song to slow dance to and I kept stepping on your feet, it was a special moment.

You danced with me again during the Dollar Dance and gave me a $100 bill.

We continued to talk on the phone all the time discussing school and then jobs.

You came to live with us in Vegas for seven years, uh, I mean a couple months while you were looking for a job here.

You were one of the first people I called when we found out that Parker was going to be a boy. I knew you'd be excited to finally have another boy in the family. You had always told me that you couldn't wait to sit next to a grandson at a priesthood session of General Conference. I know you'll always be next to him in spirit.

You and Chad worked many many many hours on Parker's room so it would be ready when he arrived. The room is still the nicest in our house and will always remind me of you.

You were in the room when Parker was delivered. Although you promised to stay above my head, as the pushing went on, you moved closer and closer so you could see Parker come into this world. I'm glad you got to have that experience.

We went to Costco countless times together and sat and had lunch. Lots of good discussions.

We did lots of Durdee Furn together. You started a little iffy, trying to help me carry a mattress without actually touching it. Gradually the money must have made those mattresses and couches look a little better.

You scrubbed down lots of furniture and went as far as taking a couch in the back of our pick-up through the car wash.

You and Parker played a lot together while we were trying to work.

You anxiously awaited the arrival of two new grandchildren.

Many people gathered and filled a chapel to celebrate your life. Lots of tears were shed and many laughs were heard as we remembered you.

And we always will.

I will keep all of these memories as cherished treasures forever to remember when I miss you and to share with my children so they can know you.

I love you and miss you!

Love,

Kellie

Parker is 2!!

On Saturday Parker turned 2! Where did all the time go? We had a little family get together to celebrate. It was all things Cars - Parker's favorite.

We had pizza for dinner. The hand from the Mr. Potato Head

that Wendie gave Parker is helping Parker to eat his dinner.

(Apparently we needed to tell the person at the grocery store who decorates the cakes that 2nd is written with an 'nd' after the 2 and not a "th". Parker wasn't have a 2th birthday) :)

The cake was a big hit and Parker was excited to eat cake, until...he realized Lighting McQueen and Mater cars were sitting on the cake. Who cares about cake at that point?

And who knew that of all the gifts, his favorite still seems to be the toys from the top of the cake?

Parker wasn't quite sure how to open the presents, but when he realized that the things inside him were for him, he quickly set the present aside to grab the next package. He was extremely quick to set all the clothes from Nanny aside in hopes for something more fun. Classic!

Parker has gotten so big! It seems like he has matured so much in the past couple of months. He if so full of personality. Here are a few things (ok, more than a few things, but I wanted to remember him at this age) about Parker at two...

-He is working on his numbers and is getting pretty good. The other day when he was playing I heard him count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12!

-We are also working on the alphabet. He seems to really be beginning to understand that there are letters everywhere in our world and to recognize what they are. He knows 'D', 'R', and 'O' very well. We went to Red Robin tonight to celebrate Chad's birthday and Parker pointed out the letters he knew on his menu as well as on the "Red Robin" sign outside of the restaurant.

-As I mentioned before, he loves all things Cars. He would watch that movie everyday if we let him. He comes to me multiple times a day, sometime it seems like 100 and says "watch moo-ie, I want to watch moo-ie". He loves his "Queen" and "Mater" toys.

-He also loves trucks, cars, buses, trains, airplanes, motorcycles, bikes, and anything else with wheels. He plays with his car toys most of the day everyday, driving them around, lining them up, and back and forth. It's amazing how long they can keep his attention! He makes sure he brings cars in the bath with him and to his bed every night. We must also take a couple in the car and with us when we run errands.

-He is working on his colors too...for a while whenever I asked him what color this or that is, he always responded "green". Now he seems to correctly identify green, yellow, and red.

-Parker loves to color. He asks to color whenever there is a dull moment. He always wants us to draw a truck or a car for him. Too bad his mom is such a poor artist!

-Parker loves applesauce. He goes and gets it out of the pantry and asks for apples daily...many times daily.

-He has picked up the phrase "Oh man!" from us and so now he crashes his cars together and says "Oh man! Cars crash!"

-He has flip flops that I bought him over the summer. At first he hated having something between his toes and asked for me to take them off. Now he asked for "flip flops" everyday when we get dressed.

-Parker has quite a temper and throws tantrums if he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it. We're working on it, but for now, I guess he's your average 2 year old.

-Maybe we're getting closer to potty traning time. He tells us "Diaper stinks. Change pants." when it is time.

-Parker also loves books! He isn't too discerning about the books that he picks and he could have us read each of them twenty or more times a day. He does have a favorite - it is all about trucks. Imagine that!

-Parker loves bathtime...he now lays on his belly for some of the bath and dips his head under the water as if he is swimming. He always asks for bubbles.

I'm sure I'll think of a million more things when I lay down to go to sleep, but that's it for now. We love Parker. He keeps us on our toes, but he also keeps us laughing. He's lots of fun! It is amazing to watch him learn and grow everyday and just absorb everything around him. It's hard to imagine how much he'll change by the time he turns 3.

Birthday Celebration!

For Parker's birthday we went to Red Robin and then had family over for cake, ice cream, and presents. Enjoying some pre-birthday dinner cheerios :)

Balloons are so much fun!

Parker wasn't quite sure what to think when they came and sang him a birthday song.

Oh boy! More cake!!

Yea for chocolate!!

We had cake absolutely EVERYWHERE, but it was definitely worth it to see him destroy the cake!!

Birthday cake!!

What's the best way to go about eating this cake??

Now I'm getting into it!

Yum!

Alright mom, I think I'm about done!

Happy Birthday to my Chaddy!

(An oldie but a goodie - pre-marriage and pre-Parker)

Happy 27 years to Chaddy!

Happy birthday to my little boy!

It seems like just yesterday, but we've come so far...





Here is the video Wendie put together for us shortly after Parker was born. What a day!

And now we have Parker today...






Happy Birthday buddy!

(Thank you to Wendie for capturing a year of photos and memories!)

Happy birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday and now I'm one day closer to the big 3-0! We had a fun day. I had the day off of work so I got to spend lots of time with Parker.

We went to lunch with Wendie and my mom at Olive Garden for our favorite budget lunch of soup, salad, and breadsticks. We did our fair share of eating and boy was it yummy!

Last night we went to dinner with the whole family to Fukuda, a local Japanese restaurant with a tepan grill. That is one of my favorite restaurants and it has been a tradition to go there for my birthday. It was delicious!

Parker had his first experience with chopsticks

He was also fully entertained by the flames, flying food, spinning eggs, and banging tools in the little show the chef put on.

I also had a pre-birthday lunch at Sammy's while Julie was still in town and Julie, Wendie, and I enjoyed a gigantic sundae! Not too much better than that!

My birthday is the start of a new year in my life and gets me thinking about goals and things I can do to improve myself and my family. I have had a lot of things lately that have gotten me thinking about how blessed that I really am, even though on certain occasions it doesn't always feel that way. I have so much to be grateful for! On days when Parker is acting like a wild indian, making big messes, picking, pulling, and pinching everything he can on me, breaking all my jewelry, exhausting me and on and on....I need to remember that I am so blessed to have a son that is healthy and beautiful and we get to have him in our home. He is amazing and has been such a blessing in our lives. On days when I fret about making ends meet and worrying about this bill and the other, I need to remember how lucky we are to have the jobs that we have and the other opportunities for income that have been presented to us so we can make ends meet. As Chad frequently reminds me, "It always works out." There are so many things that I want do to be a better person and hopefully this new year in my life will be just what I need to make some of those things happen. Here's to a new year!