Parker Family Reunion

We went up to Island Park to Allan's Grandparent's Cabin for a family reunion. It was lots of fun. I love to go up to the cabin but we haven't been at all this summer, probably because of gas prices. We had so much fun and there were so many pictures, a slide show was the only way to do it justice.

We started off by going up to West Yellowstone on Thursday night and seeing "See How They Run" at the playmill. This is also one of my favorite things to do. I had ordered tickets and was able to get four in the center front row; Allan, Hailey, Ally and Natalie sat there and I sat on the side with his parents and Aunt Susan's Family. It was such a fun night, all of the actors would walk by and make a big deal about the girls. I think they really had a great time. Some of the funniest things were the impromptu things that the cast added in, i.e. Lilly sneezed and the pastor, mid sentence, said, "Bless you my child" and did a little cross thing in the air (okay I am obviously LDS because I have no idea what you call that.) Then when another actor came on the stage a kid asked his mom, "Is that a wig" and he made some comment about wigs and then they had this whole conversation about wigs, and the maid totally lost it and was just laughing in the middle of the play! It was great.

Then we went to the cabin and Friday morning Allan's cousin Stephanie got there and she has kids all of my kids ages and it was fun for them to play with their extended cousins before everyone else got there. Also, my neice Chelsie and cousin Kylee took the kids and were doing little activities with them all day long. They had sooooo much fun and I am so grateful for them. They are both almost 17 and I was so impressed with their willingness to play with the little kids.

By Friday night more people had come and we spent the night singing around the campfire. My nephew Justin was halarious, he had just gotten back from Pine Basin, a camp that they have around here, and he was leading us in all of the songs.

On Saturday, we didn't have any real plans other than meals, but the Parker cousins are always ready to entertain! Stephen decided that he would jump the campfire on his mountain bike (here) Paul and Janna came up with a "Gladiator-Eliminator" game on the swing set. We went up to West again in the evening and visited Mooseberry's Ice Cream and The Rustic Candy Shop to get fudge and taffy, both things we do everytime we go to the cabin.

Sunday morning we decided to go to church in Island Park before cleaning up the cabin, but thought church was at a different time then it was so we got there 30 min late and then we thought, well we'll at least stay so the kids can go to Primary, only to find out that they weren't having primary that day after fighting the kids to be reverent for the rest of sacrament meeting which was another hour. Oh well, we tried right? Overall, it was a great weekend and we all had such a great time. I am kind of sad that we have lived here for a year and really not done much at all with the Parker Cousins who mostly live up in Rexburg. I need to try and initiate more extended family play because I always have so much fun with them.

Hailey's Special Day

Allan and I decided that we would start having one night a week when we took one of the girls out for some special just them time. They would get to choose where they wanted to go and which one of us would take them. Last night Hailey was the first one to go. I think wether she realizes it or not she is ready to get back to school. She just seems to need a little time away from her sisters and a little special attention.

She decided she wanted to go out for ice cream, so we talked about all of the ice cream places we could go, and she chose Baskin Robbins. It was so cute because I told her that was my favorite place to go when I was her age, and she was so excited about how we were the same. It was lots of fun getting to talk with her on the way there and then while we were eating ice cream.

Then I asked if there was anthing she wanted to do before we went home and she wanted to go to a store and buy school supplies. So I asked which store do you want to go to and she said Walgreens. Her Uncle Scott is a manager at the Walgreens and she wanted to go and see him at work. We got all of her school supplies and she was very excited.

I think this will be a great tradition to start in our family, and that the girls will reall enjoy their special time with Mom or Dad.

Park Day

REALLY??

So in case you haven't noticed, I am slowly starting to catch you up on our dealings...well, I just have to skip ahead to something that happened today.

I signed Hailey, Ally, and Natalie up for swim lessons that started today. Hailey and Ally did great, took right to the water. Natalie's class is a Mom-n-me class, so we are in the water and the instructor is going around and meeting the kids and she comes to us and I tell her this is Natalie and she says, "Is Natalie going to be having a baby brother or sister?" So I was like well she already does. I am pretty sure she was really embarassed and didn't know what to say. All I have to say is I have been working out and trying to lose weight, and although I really wasn't offended, it kind of stinks when someone thinks you are pregnant and you are not. So I got home and took this not so flattering self portrait of myself (which I don't know why I am posting) and I guess I can see where she was coming from, I still have a long way to go. I guess it can be motivation.

Trip to Utah July 8-13

I went down to Utah for a week with the kids. It was a really nice trip and I got to see a lot of old friends. First of all I have to give props to my children who have been super good for me on two trips down to Utah in the car for four hours. So that makes 4-4 hour trips and Lilly didn't cry once! When we got down to Utah I went over to my grandparent's house and the incident with the ducks happened... I wish I would have taken pictures, the picture is Natalie by the rocks in my grandparent's back yard. My grandpa had surgery for cancer about a month or so ago, and his sister was over visiting and brought him some duck figurines that day. Well, my grandparents have this fountain in their back yard and they put the ducks out by it. Hailey and Ally came in and wanted to tell my dad a secret. Turns out the secret was that Natalie had thrown the ducks into the pond while they stood by watching. She had broken 4 of the baby ducks, one miraculously survived. Well thanks to the internet we found the ducks and I bought 4 replacement ducks. The girls all had to apologize to my grandpa, which they did not like doing, and got a little lecture about not touching other peoples things.

The next day we went to the Dinosaur Museum, a Utah staple for our family...We have had a Thanksgiving Point Membership for the last year which includes the museum, Farm Country, and Gardens. My college roommate Kristen was visiting her husbands family in Utah so we invited her to come along with us. Also my cousin Laura came with her kids. It was great to hang out with both of them. Laura and her family are moving to Texas at the end of the summer for 2 years because Doug, her husband, is in the Air Force. We also went over to the farm country and I got a picture of some of the kids feeding a donkey.

Then on Thursday we went to The Legacy Center, a big pool with slides and other fun things, with my friend Kim Davies. Our husbands were in Dental School together and they graduated a year before us. We were workout buddies and were due with Natalie and Kamryn on the same day. Once again loads of fun seeing her again. We also met up with them on Saturday night after Allan came into town. That night, not so much fun for me, I was feeling sick still, BTW, I hadn't had a voice for the entire trip, but I threw-up in their bathroom and mostly spent the evening laying on their couch. The kids had fun, and I still enjoyed talking with them. Sorry no pictures, so I threw in this one of Ally and Lilly in the back of Emily's car, you would think I would take more pictures now that I am blogging!

So back to Friday, I went over to "my dear friend" Emily's house and spent the afternoon. It was such a fun day and she helped me teach Hailey to ride a 2-wheeler in her "magic circle." The funny thing about this picture is I made her look at me and smile and then she fell off her bike because she wasn't paying attention. You can read more about the fun we had here. I feel like Emily is one of my kindred spirits. I just love spending time with her, and even when we don't see eachother for a long time we just hop right back to being great friends.
Allan came down late Friday night with his parents who were on there way to Arizona for a baptism. The kids and I were very excited to see him. On Saturday I dragged him out shopping with me to look at house decorations. We still haven't bought anything because I really just need someone to come over and tell me what will look good in my house...ANY VOLUNTEERS ARE WELCOME! This picture is a bouquet that I liked and kind of am thinking about decorating my great room in these colors. Then Sunday we played some games with my parents and got ready to go. We were supposed to meet Allan's parents at the airport and drive back up with them, but a monsoon came through Arizona and their flight got delayed and they didn't end up gettin to Salt Lake until around 11:00 p.m. So we took off a little earlier than that and just dropped their car off at the airport. We still didn't end up getting home until after midnight so I am glad we left before them. So even though I was sick the whole time, it was a really great trip and I had so much fun seeing family and friends.

4th of July Week

We went camping at Lava Hot Springs from the 2nd to the 3rd for a Staker Family Reunion. For those of you not from around here, it is a recreational water area heated by natural hot springs. It was lots of fun. On the night of the second Allan and I went over to the pools for about an hour and a half while his parents watched the kids. We jumped off all three platforms and went down the slides several times. It was great because it was still great weather, but the crowds had all left. The next day two of our sister-in-laws came with their kids as well as several of Allan's dad's relatives. I was so glad we had gone over the night before because I spent most of that day in the shallow end of the pool with Natalie and Lilly. Allan and I did take a couple of hours and go floating down the river on inner-tubes with our neice Kallie. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera, so I only took 2 pictures. In the first one you can see Allan and the kids waiting to go on the slide. You can also see the platforms that we jumped off. In the second one is Kallie coming down the slide.

Then we went home in time to stop by our friend's The Layton's BBQ. You can read about that fun BBQ here. We got there late for home made ice cream, smores, and fireworks.

The next morning we went to the Parade and then straight over to the river to claim our spot for the fireworks that night. Idaho Falls has an amazing fireworks show over the river by the falls. During the show, 7 shells a second are lit off. Supposedly it is the biggest show east of the Mississippi. Anyway, we spent the day playing cards and walking around the festivities. The kids had lots of fun with their cousins.

The next day we went to see Wall-E with Allan's family, which to be honest I kept falling asleep during. Then we went over to this Equal Access Park at Tautphus Park. Then out for pizza. It was a really fun week, but when we were out for pizza I started feeling sick and am just now starting to get better two weeks later.