Parker turns 3!

***I am posting a lot so if you have not been here for a while please scroll down there are 3 more new entries***

Parker turned 3 on Jan 4th. I can not believe how fast time flies. It is a tradition in our family to have doughnuts on your birthday. Since his birthday was on Sunday Mac went out Saturday night and got them. It was a great surprise to Parker (and Mackenzee).



We also made mini- cupcakes for his nursery class at church. He missed the cut off for Primary by 4 days!!! It is probably a good thing though because I dont think he is ready. He was really excited to celebrate with his class and the cupcakes (unfrosted) were a hit!

For his dinner he wanted pizza. So on Monday night we went out for pizza. Parker was so excited. He is in love with Buzz Lightyear (3 pairs of pjs and 3 t-shirts not to mention a blanket and several more Buzz things) so he wanted a Buzz party. It was not his year for a BIG party because 1) we didnt know two many people his age and 2) he had a party last year for his 2nd Bday. Thursday we had our great friends (and Parker's best buddy) come over for cake and ice cream. Even though it was not a huge party I wanted to find a Buzz balloon for him. No luck and it was too late to order it online. So we settled with a Buzz cake. I think it turned out quite well.





Then it was time for presents.
He loved the eyepatch that Marco had picked out especially for him and the green car. It is so sweet Marco pays attention to detail of Parker's favorite color.

All the kids and Parkers gifts. Mac and I got him a tool set so he can "help" daddy with fixing up the house. It has come in handy more then once.
We are truly blessed to have Parker in our family. Although some times he drives us crazy he is the sweetest boy I know. He is so protective and caring twords his sisters it is really sweet. He is also very creative and athletic. Parker is so much fun to be around. His bright blue eyes and smile can light up the room and pull at your heart.

Gymnastics Holiday Show

If you have not checked back recently I am posting again (got our new computer) so be sure to scroll down so you dont miss anything.

Parker and Mackenzee had their Holiday show in December. Here are a few pictures from it. As a side note Parker quit gymnastics and informed me last week he wants to start again on Monday. We will see how it goes. He does not like change and the teacher was gone for a few weeks so he stopped going out there even though he loved doing it.

Mackenzee and her old teacher (she has since moved up):

Posing on the big beam:

"Sledding" down the hill:
Parker and his bestest Dude or Buddy (depending on when you ask him) Marco


Going down the hill

Swinging on the rings with his teacher:
Jumping on the Trampoline:

Climbing out of the pit:
Here is Frosty. He come out at the end of each show and the kids can get their pictures with him. Mackenzee waited in line until it was her turn and then freaked out. Parker would not even wait in line. I asked him to take a picture with his teacher and he thought it was going to have to be with Frosty and would not do it. Oh well in their defense he is kind of crazy looking.

Where to start...

If you have not checked back recently I am posting again (got our new computer) so be sure to scroll down so you dont miss anything.

I guess I will start with Christmas break since that is where I left off. My sister and brother both got up early and for once my kids slept in. I swear when you want them to sleep in they NEVER do. After chatting for a while (and watching a Christmas movie on ABC family.com) with my sister and brother my kids finally got up. The rule is no presents until you are in you Christmas PJs. We had to force Parker into his but he did it (now he wears them every night for the past 4 months and I have to get them washed and dried before the night so he can wear them again).

Here is a picture of the tree before everyone came down:
Daren, Eliza and Courtney's Santa gifts:

Parker and Mackenzee's Santa gifts:

Mac and Aimee's Santa gifts:
Mackenzee's gift from Santa was a HUGE surprise. She had wanted an American Girl Doll since we went to NYC in August and went to the American Girl Restaurant. She wanted it to look like her. Let's just say it was a little bit of Christmas magic. She was so excited. She had asked Santa to bring it to her at our church Christmas party and Santa had said he was working on it. Mackenzee told us Christmas morning she knew he would bring it.

Here is Parkers opening one of gifts, swords:
Eliza opening her baby doll (that she sleeps with every night):

Mackenzee opening her Fancy Nancy stuff:


Daren thought he would be funny and wrap Courtney's gift in several layers, add heavy books and weights to her gift. Here she is
There were several more layers I didn't include. And after al of that it was a DVD!


After the opening of gifts we took the picture with all of our stuff.

Eliza:

Parker:

Mackenzee:

Daren:

Courtney:
It was so nice to have family here. I think that is one of the best gifts I could have had. Another amazing gift we got as a family is the family history of my great grandpa (my mom's mom's father). It was really fun to go through and read about his history. Thanks Aunt Jane for doing this!

The rest of the day we kind of bummed around, watched movies and played games. After the kids went to bed we played CLUE with Court and Daren. It was so much fun and we stayed up so late the next few nights playing. It was a great day!

And I am back...

It has been a long 4 months without a computer. Our new one arrived today and we (Mac and I) are so excited. No more borrowing Mac's laptop, yeah!

This will be short but I will post more this next week.

We are all doing great. I will now be able to send out Christmas cards (computer crashed before I could print out the labels and get letter done) only 4.5 months late, sorry. So much for finishing them early!

Here are a few pictures of the last little bit (I know the families are asking to see what my kids look like now):

Parker at the zoo waiting for the train

Eliza with her hair done in the bath


Us in San Fransisco

Mackenzee at this great place we went to for Spring Break


Can you guess Parker's favorite color? At the train museum.

Easter Sunday cheesing it up