Happy 40th Anniversary!

My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary yesterday with a little help from us! In case you haven't already learned this about us, nothing is sacred...every life experience deserves a little "mocking" and if a moment is embarrassing, well...that's good news for us because we'll bring it up time and time again...laughing harder with each exaggerated story. I'll explain more later...

First of all, Curtis and Shandy had the great idea to decorate my parents car as if they were newlyweds. But instead of putting stuff on the windows like 'just married' or 'congratulations' we made it more age-appropriate and added some "Carl-isms". Check it out:




So, back to that embarrassing story...
Last summer my Grandpa passed away so most of my siblings and cousins were all together in a tiny town in Washington. We were all at dinner at this little calzone place (oh, those were some good calzones!) and for some reason, the topic of conversation turned to "how were you propsed to?". We were all telling our various stories, which were mostly sweet and tender. Nalani and I noticed my mom and dad sort of giggling, kind of nervous-like. Finally, Nalani said "Aunt Pat, how did Uncle Carl propose to you?" The nervous-like laughter turned to a red-faced cackle. Now, you HAVE to understand that my mom is pretty proper and reserved when it comes to stuff like this...So my dad says "well, Pat was playing her roommate's grand piano and well, we started kissing...and SOMEHOW ended up underneath the piano....one thing led to another...and I asked her to marry me." Basically, I think the calzone shop was ready to KICK US OUT because there were about 15 people laughing as loud as we could and as cackley as we could. I've never seen my mom's face that red! So, back to yesterday...

I couldn't pass by the opportunity to somehow bring up the grand piano story into the 40th anniversary celebration, now could I? There is an awesome store in Gardner Village called "The Christmas Shoppe". I found a really pretty grand piano Christmas ornament that matches the color scheme of my parent's tree so I bought it and wrapped it up. I LOVE my parent's reaction upon seeing it:


We had a yummy breakfast-for-dinner meal (my favorite) and then sent my parents away to a hotel in Park City. Of course they had to make their way to their car via a confetti throwing double line of people. We even sent them with a mini wedding cake for two and some sparkling apple cider and goblets.


What a good looking couple!


Remember who you are and what you stand for....


I hope my parents enjoyed the day, I think it was pretty fun and the food was grubbin!

I have to give a big "THANKS" to Shandy! I'm the only girl in my family with 3 brothers so a lot of this party planning falls on my shoulders. I'm so thankful for Shandy because she is a creative and 'get it done' kind of girl and I love it! Course, we do love to laugh and make things funny...perhaps at the expense of others....

I know, how about for the 50th celebration we leave it to Kim and Susan??!! They will make sure to add the "classy factor" into the party. What do you think Kim and Susan? Start planning now for June 29, 2018! :)

BBQ Summer Fun

When I was still prego with Cameron, Sam mentioned, in passing, that it would be fun to have a little get together with our friends, the Patterson's and Harris'. I agreed, and the next thing I knew, I was in charge of a party. Well, then Cameron came....and then 3 months passed....and I finally got my act together!

Thanks to Fern for watching the boys and thanks to Mike and Sherri Harris for letting us use their house. Here's the happy couple!


We had great food and great company. My only regret was that people couldn't stay longer. I think the Harris' finally kicked Sam and I out at 10:30pm and I could have stayed longer because I was really getting into Rock Band!

Some fun pics from the night:











Hey, check out this happy couple! This is Mike and Sherri at their senior prom.


We all need to get together again real soon because I'm determined to master the drums on Rock Band!!!

I Got Nuthin'

I got nuthin' to blog about, but it's been 4 days since I updated so I better get creative here....

I've been thinking a lot lately about the looks of my kids. Apparently my kids look a lot like Sam. Honestly, I'm too close to the situation to really see it. I just think Carson looks like Carson, Parker looks like Parker, and Cameron looks like Cameron. Upon meeting Cameron when he was 2 weeks old, my pediatrician shook his head, blew out a low whistle, and exclaimed "well, you brought the right baby home from the hospital, he looks just like his brothers!" I always laugh and say "yep" but inside I'm like "really? why can't I see it??" Even a complete stranger I met at swim lessons last week made the effort to come tell me that my baby looks JUST LIKE HIS DAD (Sam comes to the last 20 minutes of the kids' lessons). I know you all probably think I'm crazy, but I'm being serious here, it's hard for me to notice the similar features.

I was looking for a picture of Sam so I could put him side by side with Cameron and analyze it. I found this gem and had to share (Sam, don't be hatin'):
Sam clearly took this picture while he was driving, he normally doesn't shove his chin towards the back of his head! This picture was taken in April and we were heading to the Rexburg temple for my cousin's wedding. I love this picture because, #1..I didn't know he took this picture! #2..I'm hoping I'm the one who said something so funny that my mom is laughing her guts out! #3..Darren knows Sam took a picture and he is calmly staring at the camera, why didn't he pull a face? I would have! #4..My dad is in the passenger seat...what is he doing with his arm at that angle? I wonder if he's pickin' his nose??


Anyway, we go back for Cameron's 4 month doctor appointment in a few weeks and I'm pretty sure he's going to need a helmet. I've tried my hardest to keep him off his right side, but I don't think it has helped. I took this picture the other night. You can tell that his forehead bulges out on the right side. You can see his left eye and cheek, but not the right side. Also, check out the placement of Sam's index fingers. His fingers are touching the top of each ear so you can tell the right ear is more towards the front of his face than the left. Even though a helmet will be a pain, I'm hoping he just needs a helmet and not bone-structure-surgery when he's older. That was the other possibility...that he was just born this way and surgery will fix it later in life.


No matter what happens, I think he is perfect the way he is! He is such an amazing little guy! He rarely cries and I love his smile and his laugh. He is such a joy and he really adds that 'little something extra special' to our family!


This picture is from today. He was simultaneously sucking on his fingers and his pacifier.


Cutie!


Well, I can't think of anything else to say...shocker. Not to worry though, I'll have lots to blog about after this weekend. Here's a few hints: BBQ with some good friends and 40th Anniversary Celebration for my parents. OH yeah, I know you are excited, but try to get some sleep....

Sam's A Happy Boy

So I wasn't present at this event, but there are fun pictures so I figured I'd slap 'em on the ol' blog!

Sam took Carson and Parker along while he went wakeboarding on Saturday with Aaron and Melissa. They left West Valley at 8:30am and got home at 7:30pm. I think Parker would have gladly stayed longer...Carson was ready to come home at 3:00pm. Course, rubbing sunblock into your eyes has a tendency to make the party stop in a hurry...


I love this picture of Mel just waiting for the boat to hoist her on top of the water.


Here she is diving into the water. Way to capture the moment Sam!




Hey Mel, when you are taking sweet action shots of my hubby, get your dang toe out of the picture! Sheesh, at least you could have put on a fresh coat of polish, don't you think?? ha ha!


Who thinks Parker's life jacket is OLD SCHOOL? Yeah, can I get an "amen" to that??!
I think this jacket belonged to Aaron when Aaron was 3....


Aaron's not 3 anymore....I think he's 23....see, here he is!


Now, I'm not a doctor, (shocker) but I'm pretty sure it's NOT normal for a person's hands to do this after they are wakeboarding....If anybody reading this IS a doctor, please tell me why Mel's fingers do this...and will there be long-term consequences??


If this picture were centered, it wouldn't be as cool. I seriously LOVE this photo. Way to go Sam!


Parker loved the tube. I think this was his first experience with the tube.


Good thing Parker was safely in the boat by this point...


Framer for sure!


Learning to trust the life jacket, tough lesson.




He's thinking "Whew, I am still alive!"


Carson didn't want to get in the water and that's just fine. To each his own!


"But MOM...I'm NOT tired!"


Don't "MOM" me! Get your booty to bed!

Happy 4th Birthday Parker!

Today Parker turned 4. I can't believe it. I have mixed emotions because it's exciting to see how he is changing as he gets older, but I'm really going to miss my little 3-year old Parker. 3 year old boys are a barrel of laughs!

Here is Parker yesterday when he was 3


And here is Parker today as a 4-year old. Can you see a difference?


I'm laughing at myself because yesterday I thought I'd be funny and take a picture and then another today and Parker would look exactly the same...but Parker had lots of accidents yesterday so his face has a nice scab today.

First he was in the play land area of IKEA and some little firecracker of a girl threw a ball and hit Parker square in the eye. He cried.
Then we went to my parents house. They are ripping out their old deck and installing a new one. All that is left right now are the joists. Parker was trying to balance on the joists, he fell and hit his cheekbone on one of them...hence the scab today. He cried.
Last night I was carring a laundry basket full of clothes down the hall. Parker came ripping around the corner and ran SMACK into the corner of the basket, on the same cheekbone. He cried.

Sigh....I'm gonna miss my three year old Parker!

I think he had a great day today. He wore a birthday badge all day and he kept asking me "Am I still 4??"

He loves the movie "Cars" so all the paper goods and birthday banner were of the "Cars" variety. Check out the bracelet on his wrist-more about that later.


We told him he could go anywhere he wanted for dinner. He chose McDonalds because they have a playland. Needless to say, Sam and I gagged down our dinner. See the bracelet?


My parents gave Parker a cute little train set that Parker loves! We had to force him to open his other presents because he just wanted to play with those trains. My mom also made Parker an awesome levi quilt with a Thomas the Train theme. Parker is soundly sleeping with it right now! There's that bracelet again...


This gift right here will eliminate the need for Parker to wear a bracelet! My boys love the show "Ben 10". Ben is the main character and he wears an "omnitrix" which changes him into different aliens so he can fight bad guys. Parker got his bracelet, or "omnitrix" at the dentist last month and he wears it all the time. Kind of embarrassing for a boy! So, this toy looks like the omnitrix from the TV show and Parker LOVES it. We fought him to take it off at bedtime and I think he won...I'm pretty sure he's wearing it right now as he sleeps.



We also got him a little table and chair set so I think he was pretty dang happy about this day. His poor face...that's not ketchup under his lip, it's a scab from him licking that area too much.


Here's his cake that he helped me "decorate". Clearly, I'm not a very excessive decorator!


Happy Birthday Parker! I love you more and more every day!!!