First Family Pictures EVER!

Parley and I are total slackers. The only pictures we have that you could call "family pictures" are the ones from our wedding (I would call those "wedding pictures") or the ones we took ourselves in our back yard (aka "lame-o"). So we finally had my cousin, Diane, take our pictures while we were home over Thanksgiving. She takes amazing pictures and I love what she was able to capture of our family! Check out her website to see her amazing photography skills: http://dianebphotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks Diane! We love them!

A couple other pics I love that aren't on her site: I'm not sure what this face is, but it makes me laugh!

If you say "Yay!" She claps! Cute.
I just love her face in this picture. I can't help but wonder what is going through her mind.

Thanks again Diane! You made taking pictures so much fun and we love the outcome!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope yours was as grand as ours. But now I am ready and geared up for Christmas! I love it! So Merry Christmas to one and all!

The kiddos I'm grateful for:

My friend taught me how to make these flowers and as I was trying to capture a picture of the hair clip, Paige just wouldn't stop looking toward the camera! Why won't they look when you want them to, but they will look when you don't?!

Side note--these flowers make great accessories for moi! I love them! So don't be surprised if you see me sportin' some flowers in the hair. It makes me feel exotic in a Hawaiian kind of way!

Parker loves to climb on top of this toy (or anything else) and jump off! I know...so immodest! But you have to love those muscles!

And for the finale. For family night before Thanksgiving we did a little painting. This is Parley's:

He's never watercolored before. Yup. I know it's not perfection, but I'd say it's pretty darn good for using a dollar store watercolor packet and a half hour at the dinner table.

Especially when you compare it to mine...

Which one's mine? You can't tell? Me neither. Sad. I know. I hope our kids get their father's artistic ability.

Oh well. I guess you can't have everything right?!

And just because I thought this was funny.

Smile. Maybe even laugh. It feels nice!

From the mouth of Parker

I've been delaying this post until I got the hundreds of pictures from our camera onto our computer. But since that looks like it will never happen, I'll just post this anyway.
Parker has been saying some very funny things lately and I have to share w/ his fan club (Abuelo, Lita, Grandpa, Grammy, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc...)
I'll start w/ the most recent since it is the freshest in my mind:
Last night when I way laying down by him for bedtime, we sang "I am like a star" which ends with "for I know Heavenly Father loves me." And then he promptly said "not YOU!" in the sweetest, happiest voice. I then explained that He loves us all. So then he said "Jesus loves me, not YOU!" again with such a sweet voice. And again, I explained that Jesus loves us all. Then he looked at me and said, "Jesus loves me, and you, and Dad, and Paige, and Abuelo, and Lita, and Grandpa and Grammy, and..." you get the picture! He makes me laugh!

A couple weeks ago, I was having one of those days where you've got way too much going on and everything seems to be falling apart and I said "Aaah. I'm going to lose my mind!" And Parker looked at me and said "Don't lose your mind, Mom. *smile* Just kidding!" Needless to say, I had to chuckle and also think about what I'm teaching him.

For a while, when we were talking to Parker he was having a hard time listening and Parley would ask Parker to "focus". Well, I think on the same day in the previous story, I was running around looking for something and Parker calls out to me "Focus Mom!" And when Parley is talking to Parker, Parker will randomly say "Focus Dad." He's such a character.

Now this story may be too much for some of you. So if you don't like stories about poop or bums, stop here. As you may remember, we were struggling to get Parker to poop on the toilet. However, he has finally mastered that! *Thanks to a suggestion by Lena to pay him every time he pooped on the toilet. I just had to start off by paying him--a penny--every time he TRIED and if he actually went, I gave him lots of pennies. He loved getting the money* However, when he first began pooping on the toilet I had to get super duper excited about it and one time after he had gone I said "Wow, that's a big ole' poop, Parker" as I was cleaning him off. And he patted my bum and said "That's a big ole' bum!" Thanks Parker.

He is such a sweet boy and he definitely has a sense of humor!

Some fish story!

We went down to a beautiful park to see the salmon run! It was so much fun and my friend, Brianna, caught some great pics of the kids. So I had to share!

I love this look!

Parley caught this fish with his bare hands!

"Me Parley. You fish. Me eat! *grunt*"

....it was mostly dead lying in the shallow water. But I wasn't suppposed to tell. shhhh.

The simple things

Happiness. It's hearing children laughing. Outbursts of laughter, then quiet giggles. It's sunshine on my skin. Or rain soaking the parched ground. Happiness is green grass, blossoming flowers, singing birds. And it's falling leaves, pumpkin carving, apple picking. It's family. It's love. It's sweet unexpected hugs and an "I love you."

Happiness is not expensive; it's free. Happiness is thinking of others. It's trying to live the life we know we should.

It's loving.
It's living.
It's dreaming.
It's doing.

Happiness is how we choose to see the world.

I am happy.

September? Are your there? Don't leave yet!

This has been one crazy month with lots of fun happenings. Hopefully, I can get you all up-to-date on our ever-fascinating lives that I know you're just dying to read about!

First off:

I DID IT! I did my first triathlon! Wahoo! It was so much fun and it was the perfect tri for a first-timer; there were only about 150 people total and it was pretty simple! Everyone was so friendly and they even gave me a medal for being a division winner! I know! Exciting, huh? BUT, I really don't think I won in my age division. At first, while I was on my tri-finishing-high, I thought "wow, I am so amazing! I was the fastest person in my age group!" But then reality hit *a day or two later*, and I realized that they were giving those medals to everyone. Plus, I paid $$$$ for the extraordinarily flattering t-shirt. Have you ever seen an uglier t-shirt? Seriously. I paid how much money to swim, bike and run and they give me this?

However, it was all worth it! This was one of my goals for the year and I accomplished it. And I actually want to do more! Next up is a 5k (or 10k if I get ambitious) on Thanksgiving morning. Parley's going to do this one w/ me which will make it even more fun!

Post-race, tired but happy!

Fancy, pantsy swim gear. Oh my heavens. Getting into a wetsuit is a workout alone. Holy moly! If they weren't so restricting I'd where one all the time because they just hold everything in. Nice!

Also this month, we celebrated our anniversary. On Saturday we went to the temple and then on Monday we went rock climbing plus hit Cold Stone afterwards for a very healthy snack (icecream has milk in it. that makes it healthy. right?)! Then later that night we went swimming as a family! We had lots of fun and it was nice to spend time alone--thanks to our friendly babysitters! I am so glad I took the plunge (marriage) with Parley! He has been so sweet to me. He makes me laugh every day. He provides me so much strength. And I can't imagine anyone out there better-suited for me!

September has flown by and I wish life would slow down. But, since I can't stop time, I try to enjoy the moments! Here are a few fun moments for you:

Paige just being her adorable self. She loves to smile, unless she's tired.

Parker got caught w/ the chocolate

Parley pulled Parker's pants up to his ribs the other day and this is what Parker did. I guess we have a Steve Erkel on our hands.

And, Paige loves her little jumper

What to doo-doo?

I am at my whits END! Parker is pretty much potty trained except for poopin' on the toilet. The child refuses. Today we sat there for nearly 1 hour. Yes. I am mean. But the boy had just been hiding behind the couch, which is his traditional pooping spot, and I caught him before he began and we ran and I sat him on the toilet. You'd think he would just go, right? Nope!

At first I tried showing him that poop goes in the toilet by dumping it into the toilet. When I ask him where poop goes, he says "in the toilet!" So we've been doing that for a while. Then yesterday, I had him remove his own poopy underwear (thanks for the idea friend) which was supposed to create a huge mess that would completely disgust him and greatly encourage him to go poop in the toilet. But instead, he easily removed his underwear and when he went to dump it into the toilet, it fell on the floor. So then I had him pick that up. Now, that was disgusting. In the end, I helped him, we had a great big poopy smear on the floor. And he still won't poop on the toilet. However, he has not pooped in his underwear yet today. *We'll see after his nap.*

Anyway, I could really use some suggestions. Any ideas on how to get your child to poop in the toilet w/o traumatizing him for the rest of his life?!

lazy days of summer are almost over

We have been enjoying this summer so much w/ lots of visits from family, lots of time outside, many BBQ's, fires (in the fire pit of course), and camping! I am sad to see this time ending. The other day, Parker saw the leaves and wanted to go out and watch and listen to the leaves. Grandpa Walker had told him that the leaves are telling stories so now he loves to listen the the leaves. I think it is so sweet. This is just one picture I captured of him watching and listening.






Paige had her six month appointment. She is in the 95% for her weight and the 50th for her height. And, again, the doctor called her the Michelin Baby. I love those little rolls!
















Parker loves his sister so much and Paige adores him! They are so sweet together. I hope they are like this forever!
















This is a dress my mom made for me when I was about this age. I put it on Paige to see how it looked and to see if she looked at all like me (I think she does--what do you think Mom?). I love this picture because she is just so excited!



















Parley is the Young Men's President at church (works w/ boys 12-18). For one of their activities they did some crazy paint throwing (kind of like paintball but w/ balloons). He was very, very messy. It looked kind of fun!

80% off at Restaurants.com

For all the info see this site: http://hip2save.blogspot.com/2009/08/restaurantcom-25-certificate-for-only-2.html

It's a great deal!

now i HAVE to do it!

I just signed up to do my 1st Triathlon ever! aahh...my adrenalin is already pumping from nervousness. One of my goals for the new year was to do a triathlon--thanks to much inspiration from my lovely sister *Lena*! She's been doing them for a few years now and raves about them. I always thought she was crazy. Why in the world would a person choose to go through all that swimming, biking and particularly the running?! I guess we'll see. It very well might be torture. But I can say that I have had so much fun training for it. Who knew "spin class" (indoor cycling) could be so much fun? It's my favorite! Plus, just mixing it up with all three events has really broken the monotony. I even somewhat enjoy the swimming. Besides half-way drowning every time I swim, my only problem with it is the swimsuit. Swimsuits and I do not get along. Why is it that all athletic swimsuits seem to be about 10 sizes too small? Anyone else have that problem? I had a swimsuit that was doing the job, but then that one got left at the gym *I know. I'm a dork.* So then I had to go swimsuit shopping. Wow. If you ever want to feel real great about your physique, go shopping for an athletic swimsuit. I grabbed the size I normally wear and when I started to try to put it on, it wouldn't even budge past my hips--gotta love birthing hips! So I tried a size bigger. NOPE. That didn't work. Two sizes later, I found one that didn't squeeze me out of it in every single direction. I get that they are supposed to streamline you, but really...I'm not going pro.

But on with the post...the triathlon is Sept 7, Labor Day! I'm just doing sprint which includes 300M swim, 13 Mile bike, and 3 mile run. It should be fun. I hope. I only have two goals: 1.finish and 2.finish with a smile!

I'll let you know how it goes. And maybe I'll post pictures...just not in my swimsuit!

This past weekend we went camping on the WA coast w/ some friends. We had lots of fun, the kids got too little sleep, we got wet, we got dirty, and I want to go again! Check out some of the pictures!

*you can click on the image to see it in a bigger size*

Thunder thighs!

It is a bad sign when the most worn section of your cookbook is the dessert section!












Amendment: Thanks to you friends who said such nice things about my thighs *sigh*. However, I really am not feeling gloomy about these big-hunkers (I probably should be and if they were a teeny-tiny bit smaller, I wouldn't complain). I just noticed how well-used my favorite section is. I thought I'd better add this so I didn't get any more sympathy comments! But thanks anyway!

We have been having lots of fun lately w/ the hot weather. Trips to the beach. Swimming pools. Slip and slide. And an air conditioner (hallelujah!) which has allowed us to have fun inside too in the 100+ weather (very unusual for Western Washington). Parker has graduated to a big boy bed and is doing pretty well. It's not near as bad as I had imagined, let's just hope it stays that way. However, last night he did lay in bed for 2 hours talking to himself--and his bears. Let's just say he was somewhat of an emotional wreck this morning, but we made it to nap time! Whew!

Here are a few pics of the kids over the past few days.

Bubbles. And Baths. Need we say more?

Parker giving himself a beard.

It looks like Parker is being mean here, but they were snuggling and

both were having a great time. He's always been nice to Paige, but lately has has

been extraordinarily sweet. I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

I love flashlights. They offer hours of entertainment for a minimal price!

Parker loves doing tricks. This is one he loves!

chocolate everyday

Paige is 5 months and she is not rolling over. Is that normal? If I remember right (which I generally don't), Parker was really late w/ all his physical developments until he started walking. So I'm trying not to worry. She is such a happy baby and I just love her to bits and pieces. I hope this is a sign of how she'll be as a teenager--very little drama. I can't stand drama (stupid drama, that is).

This is her at tummy-time. She just relaxes during it. No screaming at all.

That's not natural. (But Oak Express is).

She loves to stick out her tongue. And she loves to blow bubbles!

Parker has recently become enamored w/ his father! He loves his Daddy! I think it is really adorable, and for the most part very handy because he wants Daddy to help him w/ everything. However, I must admit, I sometimes get a little jealous. But I know he loves me; I'm his mother.

Helping Dad change the oil!

Building forts is a frequent activity at our house. I hate the mess, but love the distraction!

This fort was "fully awesome"!

I just love his smile!

Funny story about Parker. In our family, we like to add "everyday" to the end of sentences where it would be appropriate. For example, I might say "I love to eat chocolate everyday." Or "I hate running everyday." So Parker hears that phrase everyday. And today after church, Parley and I were joking around about which was better: chocolate or cream cheese frosting. Well, Parley had just finished saying "cream cheese is the very best frosting ever made" and Parker piped up and said "everyday." So then we were laughing about it and he kept saying "everyday, everyday..." and covering his mouth and laughing like he was the cutest thing on earth!

So I guess he has his father's warped sense of taste. Seriously. Chocolate is best.

Little bit of this and that!

This month has been pretty busy, but we have been having lots of fun! Some of the most recent happenings:

Abuelo and Lita (Gpa and Gma Jones) and Uncle Grant came to visit! We relaxed, had BBQ's at home and on the lake, went to the zoo, participated in some healthy competition (a mini racquetball tournament) saw some local sites and had lots of fun! It was so wonderful having them here; we weren't ready for them to leave!

Parley and the kids at the lake--Parker wasn't too fond of the cold water.

Abuelo and Parker chillin' out in the hammock! Parker and Uncle Grant--this is Parker's "say cheese" smile. Great, eh? I had to put this in so you could see his real smile! He loves his Uncles!
Parker and Lita. He was just a little spoiled while they were here! :)And now everybody wants to play Chubby Bunny whenever we have a fire goin'!

...I know...it's dangerous. But we like to live on the wild side! We had a great 4th of July get together! Lots of friends came over and we had the slip n slide set up as well as the pool. We had a BBQ and then after most of the families had left and there were just a few of us, the guys and then the ladies decided to join in on the slip n slide fun! Most of what I have is video, but this, here, is just a picture of the aftermath that occurred as a result of continuing onto the grass from the slip n slide w/o a shirt. OUCH!

Parker being crazy w/ his shirt. He was laughing hysterically.

Paige loves her bouncer!

And finally...we caught Paige really laughing on camera! She apparently thinks the idea that she might get her good looks from me is very hilarious! :)

Stop, Rewind, now PLAY!

I wish I could just PAUSE life. It goes too fast. I fill my life with too many things that just don't matter. Sometimes I find myself getting impatient and short-tempered w/ my kids but only because I have unnecessarily cluttered my life. Generally these things are not bad, they are just not the best things I could do. It reminds me of the the talk by Elder Oaks Good, Better, Best (it's amazing--it will inspire you). Sometimes I just need to stop what I'm doing and enjoy the little moments like snuggling with my kids, reading a book to them, lying in the grass and watching the clouds go by. These are the things our kids will remember. They won't remember that the house was spotless--just keep it clean! They won't remember how amazing you were because you recovered a chair in ONE day--take a week to do it! However, they will remember the time you took to help them learn and discover new things, to teach them about God, to comfort them, to play with them, and to love them!

I never imagined I would love my children like I do. Being a parent, particularly a mother, is my most precious calling in life. I am going to LOVE it and LIVE it!

I know it's cheesy, but it does the job!

I love having a girl!

My friend, Jenny, made this tutu for Paige and I love it! She was just about ready for bed when I started taking these, so she was pretty tired, but cute nevertheless!
Thanks so much Jenny!

By the way, check out her website where she sells these and other cute girl items:
www.plumbabyboutique.etsy.com