We Are Blessed

I am just getting into digital scrapbooking a little, mostly for my blog, dumb I know, but I came across this lady's blog that posts free digital kits once in a while and they are really cute. I checked it to see if she had posted anything recently and she had a really long post, and I read it. I'm sitting here in tears thinking how trivial our everyday problems are that we complain about. We are all healthy, we have jobs, and our little boy is perfect. This lady's baby had brain surgery earlier in the year, now her friend's 7 month old baby was just diagnosed with cancer and it's in a couple different places throughout her body, and her oldest son has down syndrome. You can read the story here. It really made me stop and think how blessed I am. I don't know either of these people, but the girl that made the post about her friend is taking donations to put something together for this family. Feel free to make a donation. Even 1 dollar would help or make a post on your blog so others will see it.

Parker loves eating otterpops at his grandma's house. All he has to do is ask grandpa, and he'll give Parker as many as he wants. Even 5 right before dinner! He doesn't even care that it's cold out. Parker loves going to both grandparents' houses. He is so lucky to have them both so close.

Girls Get Together!

On Thursday I got together with some girls I went to Dixie with. It was a lot of fun to catch up on things and see what everyone has been up to. Reece was Elk hunting so I asked his mom and dad to watch Parker for me. They were watching him on Friday for me too while I was at school, so he just had a sleepover. Thanks so much so I could enjoy an evening out with no husband or kid. We're going to try to get together bi-monthly, but to avoid the holidays we will do it in January for anyone that wants to come. Thanks Jess for putting it together, and Kenz (Jordan really) for opening your home to us all night. I tried a new recipe and it was really good and easy so I'm going to post it here.

Chocolate Chex Caramel Crunch
8 cups Chocolate Chex Cereal
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips

Into large microwave bowl, measure cereal. Set aside. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper.
In 2 cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup uncovered on High 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on High 3 minutes stirring every minute. Spread on cookie sheet. Cool 10 minutes. Break into bite-size pieces.
In small microwave bowl, microwave vanilla baking chips uncovered on high about 1 minute 30 seconds or until chips can be stirred smooth. (Bowl will be hot). Drizzle over snack. Refrigerate until set. Store in tightly covered container.

Conference weekend (Better known as Marthon weekend for my family)

October 4, 2008 St. George Marathon. The St. George almost always falls on Conference weekend, and it has become a family tradition of ours to watch at the finish line. This was the 9th St. George Marathon my dad has run in. His time was 3:03. He did such a great job. His fastest time is 2:56 which he ran last year. This year he expected he would be slower because he didn't run any speed work, there was a south wind, and it rained the entire race. For those of you that don't know, a marathon is 26.2 miles long. The St. George marathon starts at Central on highway 18 and finishes at the Worthen park on 300 S. 500 E. St. George. We wake up each year around 4:30 am and leave around 5:30 so we can get through Central before 6:00 when they close the road. Then we go down to St.George and burn time until we go to the finish line around 8:30. This year we went shopping at Walmart. That is the best time to shop at Walmart because there are no lines. Around 8:30 we went to the finish line to wait for the finishers to start coming in. The race starts at 6:45, so the first place runners usually come in around 9:00. It rained on us the entire time. Good thing we went to walmart so we could get us all some ponchos. The first place runner came in at 2:22:22. He was 25 years old, and it was his first marathon ever. Amazing to me!!! Reece didn't come because he was Elk hunting with his dad, but we all had fun. It is so emotional to watch the runners come across the finish line trying to beat their personal bests. It is basically a race against their previous best times. We cheer for all the runners as they come in, some look like they could run another, and some look like they aren't going to make it 10 more feet to cross the finish line. They are the ones that always get me crying. My dad is 47 years old and has type 1 diabetes, and still finished in the top 3% of the racers. He is such an inspiration to me. I think if he would have been running 20 years ago he could have been one of the very first finishers if not the first. Running a marathon is one of my goals to do someday. I always get so pumped to run, but when it comes time to start training I'm too lazy. One day I will run the St.George marathon. I'm waiting for my dad to get old enough that he will run slow enough to run with me, but I don't think that day will ever come. He'll probably still be running sub 3 hour marathons at 75. Thanks dad for being such an inspiration to us all!!

Kenzie's Bridal Shower 9/27/08

Kenzie's Shower was September 27th. It was fun to have our family come down for it. My grandparents, aunt, and cousin all came down. After the shower we all went down to St. George and hit Krumpets Swiss Day's sale. We got some really cute fall deco. Then we went out to dinner and came home. Reece and Parker didn't go with us because they were muzzle loader hunting with grandpa Orrin. They didn't end up getting anything so that means we are still hunting during the rifle hunt. Reece is a dedicated hunter so that means we have to hunt from the middle of August until the end of October with all the deer hunts plus an Elk hunt. Reece loves it, but by the time October 21 comes I'm ready to have a husband home again. Although once the deer hunts and Elk hunt end then its just time to start Coyote hunting again, it never really ends. Anyways, the shower was fun, and Kenz had a lot of people come support her.

Parkers 2nd Birthday

Pakrer loved blowing out his candles. We had to light them three or four times so he could keep blowing them out. Addilee was helping too.

Isn't his Cake adorable. I wish I could take credit, but I can't. I made his cake last year, and it was really ugly so we bought this from Lin's. The cake was really good too. That is always a plus. These little trucks are some of his favorite toys.

Parker had a great second birthday. It makes me sad he is already 2. He's not my little baby anymore. We had a family BBQ at Orrin and Georgia's house with all of my family and Reece's family. We had a lot of fun. Parker got some great gifts! I love all of the funny faces he is always making. He has such a funny personality. We are constantly laughing at everything he does and says. He comes up with some pretty crazy stuff that has us rolling on the floor. Thanks everyone for the fun evening and for all the wonderful gifts.

Funny Parker

Today my mom babysat Parker for me while I was at school. After they ate lunch, she washed his face and Parker said 'There's Parker'. When I got home from school my mom told me, and I wanted to write it down because its the little things kids do all day long that we never write down, and then we forget them. So I thought I'd write it here since I'm not a very good journal writer. Its so much fun listening to the new things Parker comes up with everyday. He is such a talker and is alway making us laugh. I'm really enjoying this stage for him. Hopefully he'll stay sweet, and won't turn into a terrible 2 year old. He was such a good baby; I don't think I'm lucky enough to be spoiled twice.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a lot of fun over Labor Day weekend. We went up on Cedar Mtn with most of the Staheli family to Grant and Joan's cabin. If was a little on the cold and rainy side, but we still had a great time. Parker loved playing with Mady, Carson, and Jace. We just relaxed and enjoyed the time being away from home. We stayed in a tent the first two nights. On the third night we stayed in Orrin and Georgia's trailer because our tent was really wet, and we didn't want to be soaking wet in the morning. We came home early Monday morning and let everything dry out. Ben and Shannon didn't come up because they were moving into their new home. Parker missed playing with Addilee but he had fun with all of the other kids. The girls had fun making crafts all day on Saturday. Thanks for the great weekend. How do you like Parker's smile?? Its great isn't it?

School has started.

Well if you're wondering why there haven't been any updates lately, its because I feel guilty if I'm wasting time blogging when I have so much to do for my class. Reece already complains that I spend too much time on the computer. School started on Aug 14, and I spend a ton of time there. There is so much more planning than I ever thought teachers had to do. I'm hoping it gets better as the year goes on. I teach 3rd grade and I really like it. I only have 22 students, and they are all great. I am already looking forward to a long Labor Day weekend. We are heading up on Cedar Mountain with all of the Staheli's. We always have a great time, and I'm ready for the break. I'll post more after the weekend!

Fishing with Grandma and Grandpa July 17, 2008

A couple of weeks ago we went fishing to New Castle with grandma and grandpa Staheli. The fishing was really slow. I think we only caught this one fish. Parker had fun making fishy lips and swatting at the bugs. He loves to go fishing. He has already lost two kid fishing poles in the lake, so now he gets a broken adult pole, and he hasn't lost it yet.

Potty Training July 14, 2008

This must be Parker's idea of potty training. We have a toddler toilet, but we haven't started potty training because Parker isn't ready yet. He'll sit on it sometimes, but that is the extent of it. Today he came out of the bathroom with the potty on his head.

Park City 4th of July

For the 4th of July my family had plans to go to Lake Powell, but my dad sold the boat, so we went up to Park City instead. We all had a really great time and it was nice to get out of the heat of southern Utah. It was perfect weather all weekend. We spent the 4th in Park City and watched the Parade and fire works. They were beautiful. We rode the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster just before the fireworks. Parker loved it all. During the day we went shopping at the Tanger Outlet mall and had lunch at Loco Lizard. On the 5th we all went down to Provo and went to Seven Peaks. It was hot and crowded but Parker loved swimmin and goin down the slides. He even went down a couple big slides with his dad and I. After Seven Peaks we went up to Bountiful to visit my grandparents. It was great to see them. We had dinner with them and then went back up to Park City for the night. On Sunday we went and rode the zipline. Reece was too afraid, but he used the excuse that he needed to stay at the bottom with Parker and my mom's dog. Then grandpa bought some tickets for Parker to ride a few rides before we headed home. Kenz didn't come because Randon didn't get in on Thursday until late. On Friday night Randon proposed after watching fireworks up on the hill in St. George. He had Kenz fooled into believing her ring fell down the hill, and she was ready to go looking for it in the dark. Then he gave her the real ring. She is pretty excited. They are getting married on November 8, 2008.

The Cabin June 21, 2008

We went up to Chris and KayDee's cabin on Kolob Mountain. The boys did a lot of fishing and shooting while KayDee and I just relaxed and visited. It was nice and cool. Parker loved the big swing hanging from the trees because he could go really high!!

Fishing June 7, 2008

This is Parkers newest smile. He is quite the cheeser!

We went fishing out to New Castle. It was freezing cold, but we had a good time. This was the biggest fish we caught. Parker likes to 'fro em back'. It's a good thing I took a blanket for Parker of else I would have froze. I was hoping to get a sun tan and wore shorts, but it wansn't suntanning weather. It was more like March weather.

Camping Easter Weekend March 22, 2008

Reece, Parker, and I went camping for Easter weekend with the Staheli family. Parker loved every minute of it. The Easter Bunny gave him this bike. He had so much fun playing in the dirt with his cousin Addilee.

Rhino Ride

Reece, Parker, and I went for a Rhino ride out in the mountains in the snow. We had a lot of fun. The snow got so deep we couldn't go too far. We only got stuck a few times before turning around. Any time Parker gets in the rhino he conks out and sleeps the entire ride. He wasn't too sure about his new snow suit though!!