Parkside View

All Aboard! (Pinewood Derby 2012)

2012-02-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

As soon as the last cars crossed the finish line at the 2011 Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Brevin was already excited to make plans for his next year's car. The Wii remote was quite a hit, and we knew it would be a hard act to follow. Brevin was determined that night, though, that his next car would be of the sleek, aerodynamic variety. He was set on building a fast car that would win. I figured he'd have a full year to change his mind. And he did.

When we began discussing design plans, Jason and I encouraged Brevin to go for creative aesthetics over speed. It's easier to control the variables of the outcome. Plus I figured the reigning champ, Carson, and his dad would likely produce another winner. (I heard his father elaborate on all the techniques he applied to his winning car. It was a very methodical approach, and he had it down to a science.) They would be hard to beat.

Brevin seemed to agree and began to give suggestions that related to his current obsession, Harry Potter. He imagined his car as a broomstick or lightening bolt. I threw out the idea of the Hogwarts Express, and it was the idea that stuck. At first, Jason was skeptical about the idea. He thought it would be too difficult. Once I showed him a picture of the Lego version of the train, he realized that it was actually a very simple train design and quite doable.

After a trip to Hobby Lobby for detail pieces, it was time to begin construction on the train. The garage was converted into a wood shop where cutting, sanding, drilling, and painting took place. As it turned out, the the most difficult task was getting the train to make weight. The cylinder of the engine and back compartment had to be completely hollowed out with the drill. It was a little tricky, but it worked.

The entire family worked on the project over the course of a month, and by the end, Brevin had a derby car worthy of display...but could it race? Well, we would see.

On the night of the Pinewood Derby, Brevin was really excited to show off his creation. He had also been adequately prepared beforehand to be a gracious loser. Jason and I made him aware that his was not built for speed. It was built for looks. It looked pretty slick. We just hoped that it would make it across the finish line and not derail.

His car actually did better than expected. It placed second in one heat and third in most others. That was a pleasant surprise. Another surprise was when Karson's car just barely edged out Carson's car for the overall win.

Grandpa Park used to work on repairing railroad trains. We're relieved

he didn't have to "come out of retirement" to fix Brevin's tonight.

It turned out to be a wonerfully fun family evening. On the way home, Brevin and Spencer both talked about how they wanted their next year's car to be be of the sleek, aerodynamic variety. They are both set on building a fast car that will win. I guess they have a full year to change their mind.

This post authored by Amber

And Just Like That...

2012-02-09T17:28:00.001-07:00

...Ella's walking. I know. Crazy, huh?

This post authored by Amber

Ella's Winter One-derland Birthday

2012-02-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

So, I came across an idea that I thought was so clever and unique for Ella's first birthday party--A Winter One-derland Party. I also thought it would be fun to do a hot chocolate bar for refreshments (another idea that I gleaned from the internet). As I was making preparations for the decorations and invitations, I searched for some graphics and ended up with a list of about a billion web pages with the same party theme. Turns out, the idea was not so original after all, but extremely "trendy."

Oh well. I embraced that fact and decided that if I was going to be doing a trendy party, then it would be the trendiest party ever, complete with bunting and Martha Stewart pom poms adorning the dessert (display) table. And then, I was going to photograph it and blog about it, thus adding my party details to the plethora of ideas already out there on the world wide web. I found my information the old-fashioned way, though. You know, Google (instead of Pinterest) so I might not be as trendy as I am purporting to be.

Anyway, here's how we celebrated Ella's special day:

I finally managed to pull some invitations together

and get them delivered around two days before the event.

We like to put a birthday banner on the outside of the house. This one was up

for three days (from the day of her actual birthday to the night of the party).

Guests were served vanilla and chocolate coconut cupcakes,

while Ella had her own polar bear smash cake.

This is just a sampling of some of the toppings that were available to put on

or in the hot chocolate. I may never be able to have plain hot chocolate again!

Ella wore a birthday tutu that I made using the instructions from

an online tutorial. It was seriously so fun and easy to make. Don't be

surprised if you start to see her dressed in nothing but tutus.

After presents and a slide show video, we all came up to

sing Happy Birthday to Ella, watch her demolish her cake, and help

ourselves to the hot chocolate and dessert. (I love how Garrett

is poised to blow out the candles. The kid is seriously obsessed

when it comes to blowing out candles.)

This was the only damage done to the cake. YAWN. It's no wonder she's so skinny,

what with her reservation demonstrated for baked and frosted goods!

While the party was on Sunday, Ella's actual birthday was the Friday before. (We like to spread these things out, you know.) Here are pictures from that day's activities:

Everyone gets a special breakfast of their request for their birthday.

Ella couldn't exactly tell us what she wanted, so the boys got to choose--waffles.

As for the traditional birthday dinner at a restaurant, Mom and Dad

chose Red Lobster because they were running an incredible promotion.

Ella seemed to be having a great time eating

Garrett's macaroni and cheese and french fries. I'm relieved

that the server only spilled a glass of water on Garrett. That would

have been a bummer to be all wet during your birthday dinner.

Ella drank most of Garrett's complimentary shake, however.

Happy first birthday, Ella dear!

This post authored by Amber

...Eleven...Twelve...

2012-02-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Eleven Months Twelve Months

So much development takes place during a child's first year, it makes your head spin. Time passes, and in its wake are the things that defined a stage of development now overcome by the next. Old tricks that once brought delight for observing parents have been left behind for new skills that bring just as much satisfaction to watch unfold.

I have loved watching Ella grow this past year. Just as it is hard for me to remember what our family was like before we had her, it is hard for me to think of her as anything other than what she is at present. That's why I remind myself of what she was doing during each month so I can revisit and reminisce. So, yeah, these posts are really for me...and Ella.

And you can call me a "mommy blogger," because that's what I am.

Ella at Eleven Months

Now that Ella has mastered crawling, she is lightening quick. Open a door, and she will be there to slip through it as if she were a cat that had been locked out on a cold night. She especially loves the bathroom door. Yes, she has unrolled the toilet paper a number of times. She also likes to get into my drawer of make-up. Many a drawer and door has been closed in her face, and she does not like that one bit. What I do not like is how she insists on climbing up the ladder to the top of the boys' bunk bed. Good thing she has impecable balance. Ella is confident and asserts herself into activities that others are doing. She's not afraid to reach over and grab a toy from someone if it piques her interest. (Won't that quality be fantastic for when she goes to nursery?)

Ella at Twelve Months

A doctor appointment confirmed what outside observers have commented all along. Ella is tiny. Well, really she's just lightweight. She's actually tall for her age group, but she only weighs 17 pounds, 5 ounces. It makes her easier to carry, though, so I'm not complaining. Her top two teeth broke through at Christmas. I thought that was fitting (All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth). Those will come in handy now that we've been given the go-ahead to switch all baby food for table food. Ella loves the new change and independence that comes from feeding herself. She also loves to smear food all over her face and in her hair. She has grown to like drinking milk from a sippy cup, but I haven't given up nursing entirely, yet. Ella's hair is now long enough that I have to blow dry it after baths and we are contemplating trimming the bangs. She is developing socially, too. She'd much rather stand on the church bench backwards and look at faces rather than the back of heads. It is easier to interact and blow raspberries at people from that vantage point. She loves the opening credits for the TV show Bubble Guppies and when she hears it, she stops what she's doing to go and bounce to the beat at the foot of the television. Very near her birthday, Ella took her first steps. I guess that's just it. Keep moving forward!

Here are a few more pictures I took of Ella in her birthday tutu:

I took her pacifier out of her mouth to get her to look at me (hence the excessive drool).

She did not like that very much.

Okay, I think she's had it!

This post authored by Amber

Finally!

2012-02-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

We love a good, dumping snowstorm. There's so much to do when a significant amount of snow accumulates in a short period. We excuse ourselves from boring Saturday chores to build snowmen, snowball fight, and sled instead. I have a reasonable excuse to have a messy front room, what with the littering of wet boots, puffy coats, gloves, and stocking caps.

This winter we've had merely flurries and rain, and the mountains above our house have been looking grey and naked (and no one wants to be out in the cold naked!), so you can imagine our bliss when the two days of slushy rain finally decided to turn into fluffy powder.

Time to break out the snowman kit we got for Christmas!

Brevin and Spencer were lured into the house with offers of hot chocolate while Garrett remained outside. They watched with Ella from the front window as Jason and Garrett had a final snowball battle.

It just does not seem like winter is complete without experiencing a day like this.

This post authored by Amber

Thirty-three Just Rode Off Into the Sunset

2012-02-09T12:25:00.003-07:00

I had another birthday. "That's the thing about birthdays--they're kind of an annual thing."

So I guess this means I am one year wiser, too, right? Well, I'm not wise enough to know that when you go out to eat at Texas Roadhouse and they make you sit on a birthday saddle while the waitress shouts to the restaurant to give a "Yee-haw" for the birthday girl, it is not advisable to grasp the saddle horn and swing your arm wildly as if you were trying to lasso an animal. You will end up looking stupid. Lesson learned (thanks to this picture):

But I did "lasso" a most delicious entree of top sirloin steak and shrimp for the evening, and that was not too shabby.

Over the years, I've also learned that we save everyone a lot of stress by purchasing the birthday cake. This year I instructed Jason to swing by The Sweet Tooth Fairy bakery on his way home from work and pick up some cake bites that I've been meaning to try. He did as instructed, but when I found out how expensive the darn things were, I figured we'd have been able to get a full size sheet cake at a grocery store for that price, and I could have been eating birthday cake for breakfast for an entire week following. Lesson learned.

Who says, "You can't teach and old dog new tricks?"

This post authored by Amber

If I Told You.....

2012-02-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

.....that I had made a resolution to make timely posts to update my blog, you'd know I was lying or a complete failure when it comes to resolutions. Oh, well. Happy New Year's!

Here's what we did:

We recieved a New Year's Eve kit for a Christmas gift. It included party horns, glow sticks, and rad glasses. We tried to wear the glasses while we ate pizza dinner courtesy of Domino's.

And can you believe we all stayed up until midnight? Well, everyone but Ella. (I'm sure it was obvious the next day for Garrett's new Primary teachers. Sorry!)

Here's the whole gang waiting to watch the ball drop through our snazzy glasses:

YIKES! That picture turned out terrible! Clearly I have not mastered the hand held portrait technique. Let's try another:

Umm....that's not much better (and holy cow I have a big head!). Here, Jason. You try it:

Okay, I guess it works better if you have long arms and if you place the person with the biggest head farthest away from the camera.

Well, the ball dropped. We ran outside and blew our party horns, and I shook my head and wondered how 2011 passed so quickly.

This post authored by Amber

A Day at the Park

2012-02-07T12:42:00.001-07:00

While we were in St. George for Christmas celebrations, we found the weather to be nice enough to visit the park with cousins. We went to Cottonwood Cove Park, and I have to say that it has the coolest playground I've seen in some time.

I loved merry go rounds as a child, but because they are deemed as "unsafe", you just don't see them anymore. Well, this park has enough spinning, twirling, and nausea inducing equipment to keep children and adults occupied for hours on end. It also has rock walls, rope bridges, and slides. It's fantastic!

Everything looked like it came from Bill Nye's backyard (you know, the "Science Guy"), and I don't think you can find those type of playground accessories anywhere.

But Ella just wanted to eat the wood chips...and you can find those at just about any park, I guess.

And the boys get just as much excitement from jumping between hotel beds.

This post authored by Amber

How It All "Went Down" - Christmas 2011

2012-01-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is the final post where I will elaborate on our family Christmas traditions and how they were carried out for the year 2011. I know...I'm posting this at about the same time everyone is giving up on their New Year's resolutions (I obviously didn't make a resolution to keep current on my blog--or did I?). Well, as the saying goes, better late than never. I'll let the readers be the judge of that!

Tradition: Grandma's Christmas Drawers

The children are each assigned three drawers from Grandma Park's advent box, and as they visit throughout the month of December, they are aloud to open one of their drawers. This year, the boxes contained clues which led giddily excited youth through Grandma and Grandpa's house on a treasure hunt for their little gifts.

Tradition: Chocolate Advent Calendars

The month of December is traditionally kicked-off with a delivery of advent calendars for each child from Grandma and Grandpa Park. One year, Spencer got into his and Brevin's and prematurely ate some of the chocolate pieces. Remembering that my own mother had melted chocolate and filled empty molds when I had done the same thing as a child, I remedied the situation in a like manner. I think you will understand why I did not try that again this year. Yes, we have quite the chocoholic on our hands (and he has a tendency to be a bit destructive, too).

Tradition: Christmas Carol Singing

Brevin and Spencer love to sing Christmas songs and they have strong singing voices. When a young woman in our neighborhood put together a Christmas choir to sing for a community assisted living center, we gladly involved the boys. It was such a treat to watch them perform. They even took personal initiative to go around the room after the program and wish each elderly person a merry Christmas.

Tradition: Park Family Christmas Program

As Christmas approaches, we set aside a night to get together with extended family for a meal, a talent program, white elephant gift exchanges, and Grandpa Park's chocolate mouse hunt.

We like to let Brevin and Spencer represent our family for the talent portion. This year they sang Frosty the Snowman, a song they had learned for their choir concert. Jason also showed a DVD with the portrayal of the nativity entitled AGift to the World.

Oh, and I did lousy this year when it came to finding the chocolate mice.

Tradition: Christmas Eve Dinner

Each year I try my hand at preparing a fancy feast and we bring out the tablecloth, china, and real silverware in celebration of the birth of the Savior. We follow it up with a birthday cake for Jesus. This is one of my favorite traditions.

Tradition: Christmas Eve Pajamas

The children get to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it is always new pajamas. They put them on, and then it is off to bed.

Tradition: Christmas Day

The children woke around 7:30 a.m. and waited patiently for Mom and Dad to get cameras set up before being called into the room to see what had been delivered by Santa. Everyone loved their gifts, but seemed to like Mom and Dad's Kindle Fire the best.

After a little time with new toys, we ate breakfast and readied ourselves for 9:00 a.m. church. It was so perfect to have sacrament services on Christmas day. I am also glad it was early in the morning. That helped set the tone for the rest of the day, and it was lovely!

After church, we took some family pictures then opened the gifts from under the tree. We felt a great sense of gratitude for an abundance of blessings and for time spent with family on that special day.

(Oh, and I totally rock at Just Dance 3!)

Tradition: Funk, Page, and Gilliland Family Christmas Gathering

Our uniquely blended families gathered in St. George for a couple of days of celebration. Activities involved the traditional Grab Bag, gift exchanges, and family dodgeball games. There was plenty of good eating, too.

I am pleased to report that no one was seriously injured while playing dodgeball, although Cheryl did take a pretty hard hit to the face. That is the risk we all assume when we step onto the court with a bunch of competitive maniacs. Man, it's fun!

Well, Christmas, you've been downright good to us. Until next year, my friend!

This post authored by Amber

To Our Family and Friends: Merry Christmas!

2011-12-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

John Grisham wrote a cute, little Holiday book entitled Skipping Christmas. It has since been adapted for the movies in the holiday film Christmas with the Kranks and chronicles the year where a husband and wife abstain from all holiday customs and use the money saved to purchase a cruise vacation package instead. They inform their friends by telling them they will be, "skipping Christmas this year."

Well, we are not skipping Christmas for a cruise to the Bahamas (in my dreams!), but we are changing things up a little this year. Rather than printing the Park Periodical, our traditional miniature Christmas newspaper, we hope to reach a wider audience by utilizing our blog to spread the holiday cheer and update friends and family on the past year's experiences. Items listed that are highlighted are linked to past posts that give more details about the event and have more photos. You may click on them if you want to know more about them.We hope you will enjoy this post and being able to access links to full stories of the events mentioned herein. So without further ado, we present:

The Park Family Christmas Newsletter 2011

Ella's Blessing, March 2011 Mother's Day 2011

Nebo Loop October 2011 Christmas 2011

Our Family Highlights

Jason

celebrated 15 years of working at NuSkin this year and is currently a supply chain manager
released in May as assistant scout master (a church calling he held for over three years); now serves as Bear den leader (Brevin is ecstatic about the new call)
served as a coach and assistant coach for Brevin and Spencer's t-ball, coach pitch, and basketball teams with the city recreation leagues
traveled to Singapore in October doing work for NuSkin
began his fourth year as referee for high school and recreational basketball

Amber

got a little too anxious (twice) to give birth to her fourth child
back into regular Zumba workouts, but not quite back into pre-baby shape (guess the holidays won't help much with that either)
got a DSLR camera and still hasn't figured out how to use it, but having lots of fun trying
still involved with a home based cupcake business
served as commissioner for the elementary school PTA fundraiser that did remarkably well
was released from church calling as the second counselor in the Primary presidency in February to be called as the first counselor to the new Primary president

Brevin

competed in his first ever pinewood derby with an awesome Wii remote car
had an accident at a cub scout activity that required immediate medical attention and twelve stitches
had a basketball themed birthday party with friends when he turned 9
started the third grade with Mrs. Larsen as his teacher; is learning cursive, multiplication, and division
has really taken a liking to Harry Potter and is constantly reading all the books, watching all the movies, and dressing up as Harry Potter from time to time
in Cub Scouts he earned his Religious Square Knot award and Bear Rank Advancement
participates once a week in school chess club

Spencer

graduated from kindergarten
got his first stitches (eleven) after an accident at Seven Peaks water park
had a Wii themed birthday party with friends when he turned 7
started the first grade with Mrs. Chatterley as his teacher
is a very proficient reader and has impeccable handwriting
had to have his first cavity filled this October
participates once a week in school chess club, too

Brevin and Spencer's Sport Activities

both boys participated in baseball (t-ball and coach pitch)
Spencer played soccer
Brevin played flag football
Spencer played basketball
Brevin is currently starting his basketball season

Garrett

entered (and thankfully grew out of) a liquid dumping phase; dumped everything he could get his hands on such as gasoline, bubbles, car wash soap, milk, water bottles, etc.
had to have his first cavity filled in February
had a Toy Story themed birthday party to celebrate turning 3
has become a bit of a "flight risk" and has been lost in places like Wal-Mart and Seven Peaks; left the house unnoticed and rode his tricycle six blocks away from home and through a four-way stop intersection, only to be returned by a kind woman and a police officer
has the most impressive vocabulary and is so fun to listen to when he speaks
shows absolutely no interest in toilet training and, therefore, remains in diapers
when Ella wakes up from naps crying, he likes to dump a bunch of toys and blankets in the crib and get in with her to play and cheer her up
is confident, fearless, and downright entertaining

Ella

had her first set of professional photographs taken while in the hospital
was blessed on March 6, 2011
is such a joy to watch grow and develop:

now and then she will have several nights in a row where she will sleep through the night, but then slips into the usual waking pattern of 11:30 p.m., 2:30 a.m., and 7:30 a.m. thus forcing mom to "eat her words" (see at two months)
has forced her parents to go to places they've never gone before ("We haven't been down this aisle before. It's PINK!")

Thank you for taking time to review the past months with us. We have been blessed to experience a year full of events, changes, and growth. Most of all, we have been fortunate to have family and friends influence our family through interactions over the years. June Masters Bacher is quoted thusly:

"Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever."

Until the music plays again, our love goes with you as yours remains with us. Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Parks

Illumination

2011-12-13T09:51:00.002-07:00

This past Saturday, the weather was forecasted to be considerably mild, and so we decided that it was the day to make a trip to Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square.

We decided to go a bit earlier than usual in attempts to beat the crowds and not feel so rushed to get home to accommodate reasonable bedtimes, so we found ourselves on location even before the lights came on. It worked out very well this way. I think some of the better pictures we took were during the twilight hours before it became completely dark and the masses converged on Temple Square. By that time, we had seen everything we wanted and were ready to grab a bite to eat at the Lion House.

We love this family Christmas tradition, and even more when it goes off so flawlessly. It was such a lovely evening. (And I think there were more lights this year than last. Is that even possible?)

This post authored by Amber

Ta Da! Our Tannenbaum

2011-12-09T15:31:00.001-07:00

Normally this bad boy goes up the weekend following Thanksgiving, but for some reason this year it did not make it out of the garage until the calendar had already been turned over to December.

When I brought up all of the ornaments from downstairs, Jason kept asking, "You're not going to put all those on, are you?" Well, the thing is like twenty feet tall (9 ft. actually), and since we've got 'em we might as well use 'em. Besides, the more ornaments on the tree, the more Ella and Garrett can try to knock off over the course of the season. Maybe it wasn't so bad that the tree didn't make an earlier debut. As it is, I have hung each ornament at least twenty times and my front room is dusted with assorted red and gold glitters. Boy, am I glad we swapped out the glass ornaments for the shatterproof!

And now, please enjoy these lovely hold absolutely still and pose as if you're decorating the tree so mom can play with the shutter speed on her camera pictures.

Weren't those photographs nice? They evoke a feeling of peaceful, hushed reverence for the Christmas season, all warm, soft, and cozy.

Now, please enjoy the actual in the moment, teetering from precarious heights, fighting over the step ladder, and if we survive the process of decorating the tree without major incident it'll be a miracle pictures.

These photos evoke kind of a different feeling, but it's Christmas all the same, and it's fabulous! This really is the most wonderful time of the year!

This post authored by Amber

Chips and Salsa - A Christmas Tradition

2011-12-09T11:22:00.001-07:00

For years now, we have been treated to lunch on a Saturday in December by Jason's parents. They take the whole clan out to Los Hermanos in Lindon. Tradition has that we gather in the large garden room with the Christmas tree for our feast. There have been only a few times when we've strayed from those particulars, like when we've met at the Los Hermanos in Provo or got bumped from the garden room into a smaller room in the attic by a group of 100 people (and in spite of the reservations made two weeks previous). The tree wasn't there this year either. The folks at the restaurant must be on the same Christmas decorating schedule that I am, but there was chips and salsa, fried ice-cream at the end of the meal, and good company to make it all right. I so enjoy this holiday tradition!

Ella had a chip stuck to her chin and she was sticking her

tongue in and out of her mouth to try and knock it loose.

This post authored by Amber

Freezing for Football

2011-12-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

Jason managed to get really fantastic tickets to BYU's final home game of the 2011 season. They were on the sixth row and came courtesy of NuSkin. I guess the original owners didn't think it was worth it to go to a late evening game with forecasts of temperatures in the thirties, but that didn't keep Jason and the boys away (it did, however, keep Garrett, Ella, and me hunkered down in our cozy,warm home).

Greg, Rachel, and Collin came along, too, and from what I understand, it was a really great experience. I guess getting to see your face on the jumbo screen and snapping a photo with Cosmo will make just about anything worth it!

This post authored by Amber

The General State of Things

2011-12-02T10:33:00.001-07:00

If you were to stop by my house at any given time, this is probably what you could expect in the way of home décor. You won't see our Christmas tree--not just yet. (I'm a little behind my usual holiday decorating schedule this year.) You will walk into a "mine field" of stuffed toys, Duplo Lego blocks, trains, rattles, and the like. It will appear as though a toy bomb went off. I'm a constant "mine sweeper" and the toys go in and out of their designated bins about three or four times a day. It's a losing battle, I know, and that's why I warn you: this is what you should expect should you drop in at my home unannounced.

It's not just Ella who is to blame. The boys are often the biggest culprits.

They are also a lot harder on the toys than she is.

"Wait a minute! What's this?"

"Mom's toys are cooler than mine."

You've got that right, little miss!

This post authored by Amber

Dear Santa...

2011-11-27T22:01:00.001-07:00

We are Grateful

2011-11-27T21:43:00.001-07:00

I'm glad there is a holiday that turns our minds to reflect upon what we are thankful for. More often than not, I am reminded of the things that matter most--my family.

(Eating delicious foods in great abundance ain't that bad, either!)

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

This post authored by Amber

Ten Months May Sound Like A Long Time, But It's Really Just Equivalent to a Blink of an Eye

2011-11-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

I know it seems like it was only yesterday when I last posted about Ella's development ('cause it kinda was), but to me it seems like just yesterday I was feeling like nine months of pregnancy was an eternity. So how did ten months fly by in super sonic speed when the nine months prior to that lagged? I guess there's the old adage that "time flies while you're having fun" and that really makes sense when I consider how fun it is to have Ella around.

Ella at Ten Months

Ella claps her hands when anyone says the word "yea." Her babbling noises are starting to sound more like actual words. She can climb up our flight of thirteen stairs, but she cries once she reaches the middle and realizes she's committed to finishing the task. She is never stationary, so life is exciting (and sometimes exhausting) as we try to keep up with her constant travels. Her balance is improving, so I think we'll see some walking soon. She does not appear to like dogs and will blink her eyes furiously as they approach her, just before she breaks out in tears. When she throws a fit it includes throwing her body backward and laying flat on her back as she screams, but try to lay her on her back to change her, and she wants nothing to do with it! She dances to music and sings by making sustained squealing sounds. Her hair is getting a little long for the mohawk curl, but as it grows longer it is developing some natural curls behind the ears and along her nape. Ella loves to be in the bathtub and she'll try to swallow water and spit it out like Garrett. She makes the funniest faces (the kissy face and pursed lips face are my favorite) and is entertaining to watch. And, well, I can't help but say it (because I'm her mother), but I think she is quite lovely!

Ella's not one to sit for long. This girl is rearing to go!

This post authored by Amber

Thanks-Singing

2011-11-21T16:11:00.001-07:00

Each year, The boys' elementary school has grade-level performances in conjunction with the holidays. The First graders have the opportunity to learn songs and poems about Thanksgiving. The night of the performance was also the same night as Spencer's last basketball game, so we were in a rush to get him from one event to the next, hoping we could get a decent seat for the school program. Following the performance, Spencer chose to eat at Two Jack's Pizza in celebration of both his basketball season and his Thanksgiving program.

We were lucky that Grandma and Grandpa Park were also able to attend. I completely forgot to inform them of the event until the last possible moment. We sat together with them and watched as the first graders did their presentation. Spencer does a great turkey wiggle. You should ask him to do it for you sometime. Of course, it is also wonderful to watch him sing. He does that really well, too.

The next series of pictures make me laugh. How is that some children look as though they are about to fall asleep while others appear to have consumed an entire can of Red Bull before the performance? And there is Spencer smack-dab in the middle of the mayhem making faces.

This post authored by Amber

Teach Me How to Spencer

2011-11-21T14:16:00.001-07:00

The Springville recreation department decided this year to organize a Jr. Jazz league to introduce first and second graders to the game of basketball. In the past, participation was offered only beginning in third grade, but it became apparent that the youth really struggled with dribbling the ball. The most common calls made against players were for traveling and double dribbling. The organizers hoped to remedy this through establishing an early instructional league.

Spencer was totally on board. He claims basketball as his sport of choice. Jason was also on board as an assistant coach. All the children on Spencer's team were from his own elementary school.

For a little over a month, teams met for an hour on two nights during the week. The first thirty minutes were exclusively for skills practice and drills (each team using their own half of the court), and the final half hour the teams played each other in a game with the coaches acting as referees. It was great exposure for the participants, and yes! There was an obscene amount of mishandling of the ball.

Even with all of the sloppy play, Spencer emerged as a stellar player, and I'm not just saying that as an overly proud mother. The kid is legitimately good, and I have the video and photos to prove it!

Never mind that he's stepping out of bounds (the refs didn't call it either).

I just think this is a great shot that illustrates Spencer's natural ball-handling

skills. I also love looking at what the other kids are doing in the picture.

This shows Spencer's shooting form. No surprise here. This one went in.

During his last game, Spencer had to take a needed water break. The kid was

totally "on fire" that game, and he had scored five baskets before anyone else

put the ball through the hoop. What a way to end the season!

"Put me in, coach!"

He shoots... ...He scores!

This post authored by Amber

Spotlighting

2011-11-21T01:43:00.001-07:00

What more could I possibly have added to an already jam-packed, busy month? How about having a student spotlight poster due for each child in grade school? Yea!

Actually, once I designed one poster, constructing the other was pretty cinchy. I just followed the same format and switched out all the pictures. I go all-out on these things because I've learned from past experience. The boys like to hang the posters in their rooms, so I have to be okay with looking at them on the wall every single day for at least a year. Besides, it's more fun making posters that highlight your child's best qualities for display in the classroom and bedroom than it is to do the dishes or laundry.

This post authored by Amber

Halloween Dining 2011

2011-11-21T01:11:00.001-07:00

Holidays are all about the food, right? Well, at least that's how I roll. Halloween is no exception. This year we tried a couple of new, simple things that were worthy of a photograph or two. Of course, candelabras and headstones provided just the right ambiance for our festive meals.

Breakfast was initially going to be cold cereal, but I decided to drag myself out of bed to at least throw some pancakes on the griddle. A little touch of food coloring and you would have thought I had planned a cool breakfast all along. At least my kids thought that was the case. Boy, I had them fooled!

I found a dinner alternative to rotate with the traditional dinner in a pumpkin until my boys develop a more fond taste for cooked, gourd-like squash. It's called a Yummy Mummy and I thought Spencer might appreciate it this year. I found the idea and recipe on this blog. The name is an accurate description. It was yummy...and simple. Just what I needed for a busy day like Halloween.

Boo appétit!

This post authored by Amber

A Costume Assortment

2011-11-21T00:35:00.001-07:00

Halloween was simplified this year as everyone went their separate ways with costume design concepts. There was no elaborate group theme, and this new approach allowed artistic liberty for all, including myself.

Ella got to be CinderELLA,

Garrett got to be Indiana Jones (a "recycled" costume--bonus!),

Spencer got to be a mummy,

Brevin got to be Harry Potter (he's a bit obsessed right now),

Jason got to be a Utah Ute fan ('cause who doesn't fantasize about being that! Sorry. No individual photo. I know you are all disappointed that you don't get a glimpse of the mullet wig in a larger view.),

and I got to be Elphaba from the musical Wicked (I'm a bit obsessed right now. Did I mention I have tickets for SLC in 2012 already?)

Brevin and Spencer were excited to wear their costumes to school. Meanwhile, Garrett, Ella, and I went into Jason's work to trick-or-treat. There were still NuSkin distributors from all over the world touring the building in conjunction with the convention that was held the week before. Apparently, Asians are obsessed with large-eyed, beautiful babies and middle-aged German men are obsessed with Elphaba, as they all wanted to pose for pictures with us. It was pretty funny.

Do you know what else is funny? Imagining doors being opened to hand out candy to this group:

This post authored by Amber

Train Up a Child

2011-11-20T23:55:00.001-07:00

You may know that Jason is an artistic master when using a carving knife and a canvas of pumpkin flesh. Here are some past examples of what I am referring to. (I must be really good at cleaning out the pumpkin guts, because that job has fallen exclusively to me for the past few years.)

This year, we decided that it was the boys' turn to select their pattern of fancy, wield their own carving tools, and create their own masterpieces. I must say, Jason and I were pleasantly surprised at how well each of them did. Pretty soon, they'll be taking over Jason's job. (Now, if only I could be as affective at training them to take over mine!)

Brevin's Work

Of course, there were a few pointers from Dad.

Although not entirely shown in this photo, Brevin's

tongue was working as furiously as he was.

The final result was quite impressive, I have to say.

Spencer's Work

He looks thrilled to be doing this on his own.

I loved Spencer's reaction when he cut through his

first big section. He seemed so surprised that his efforts

caused a large chunk of pumpkin to fall out.

Not too shabby, Spencer!

Garrett's Work

No pattern necessary for this free-hand artist.

Like Brevin, Garret's tongue was in constant motion

as he mutilated--uh, I mean--carved his pumpkin.

Hmm...was it such a good idea to put a knife into

the hands of a three year-old who looks as crazed as this?

Ella's Work

Not to be left out, Ella used her teeth to

make her marks on this little pumpkin.

This post authored by Amber

Flag Football Firsts

2011-11-20T23:22:00.001-07:00

When given the option to continue playing soccer or to give flag football a shot, Brevin decided it was time to try something new. After tryouts in late summer, he was selected to be a part of the Green Bay Packers--the 3rd and 4th-grade recreational flag football team, that is.

We enjoyed cheering Brevin on through a winning season. His team didn't lose a single game and tied only with the Chiefs, the defending league champions. During playoffs, the Packers did just as well and made it through a single-elimination tournament to the "Super Bowl" where they met the team that defied them of an outright victory.

In the end, it was the Chiefs who came out on top as champions, but win or lose, I could not have been more happy with how the season went. Brevin was giddy with excitement as he played each game and he insisted that he was having so much fun. He was also improving in his skill and execution, and at the season's end he demonstrated confidence and was quite a good little player.

Even if Brevin's team had lost every single game, I would have still wanted him to be a part of this group that was led by the classiest coaches I have ever observed. I was so impressed with their ability to teach the boys and their demeanor at practices and games. They were phenomenal, and I considered them the "cherry on top" of a really great flag football season!

Brevin (#26) makes a play for the opponents flags.

He was a part of the starting offense and liked playing tight end.

Coach Warner Murphy gave the boys a great pep talk at half time.

While some boys were bemoaning their loss at the Super Bowl, Brevin

kept cracking jokes about how the t-shirts they had been awarded were

nightgown length. I think that helped ease the disappointment of the loss.

At the very least, it had some of the parents laughing.

Oh, and doesn't Ella make a cute cheerleader?

This post authored by Amber

We Interrupt The Halloween Posts to Bring You This Message:

2011-11-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ella at Eight Months

Almost as soon as Ella mastered sitting up, she decided she would not remain stationary. She kicked off the first week of her eighth month by "army crawling" and I am not that happy about it. One of my favorite baby stages is when they learn to sit, but before they crawl. Ella's desire to be on the move reduced that precious time to one week! Blah!

I guess the trade-off has been that her new found independence has her relying a lot less on Mama to hold and comfort her, so she is now more open to being social with others. And she is social. She freely gives smiles and chatters away at anyone who will pay her any attention. She loves the antics of her older brothers, and they can get her to laugh so hard that she will end up with the hiccups. She waves goodbye. She loves to reach out and grab at faces and push her fingers into noses and mouths.

And speaking of mouths, that's where everything goes...into Ella's mouth. She is particularly fond of paper products, grass, and leaves.

But don't think that it is all smiles and pleasantries with this child. She has come to rely, a little too much for my liking, upon the power of her voice. Shrill, screams at unnaturally high decibel levels are often used to call everyone to attention or to demonstrate in protest. At times, it can be a little unnerving. Even so, who wouldn't love a face like that!

Ella at Nine Months

Well, "army crawling" quickly developed to upright crawling in a matter of two weeks, so by the time Ella turned nine months, she had already moved on to her next physical conquest, pulling up to standing position.

There's lot of ups and downs and lots of bumps and bruises with this stage, but with all the frustration, there is pure elation for Ella at discovering the world in new ways from new perspectives. She loves to explore and pull things off tables and dressers. She likes to get into garbage cans and spill their contents on the floor. She is fascinated with the task of unloading the dishwasher (and the inside of the dishwasher in general). She seems to always be underfoot, waiting for an opening in a cupboard or bathroom door, and she's pretty quick to sneak through those openings.

Maybe all of this moving around has contributed to her continued slight weight gain. At her nine month appointment she wasn't even on the growth charts for weight (15 lbs. 4 oz.). The doctor tried to make me feel better by saying, "I think she's probably in the 3rd percentile, so I'll put that in on my notes."

Don't worry. She's not starving. She's up to three solid meals a day with two solid snacks between, and she still nurses throughout the day and night. She's just skinny...and tall (75 percentile). What more could a girl ask for, right?

More is being discovered of Ella's personality. She is a talker, an occasional screamer, and she loves to mimic people coughing, doing lip trills, and sticking their tongues in and out. She laughs when someone sneezes. When I pick her up to hold her, she pats me with her free hand. Those are just a few of her Ella-isms.

For the most part, Ella is a happy-go-lucky kind of girl. She is pretty chill with being surrounded by brothers who can, at times, be a little too rough, too loud, or too obnoxious. She even smiles when she pukes (bottom right photo). I've said it before and I'll say it again. She's a keeper!

This post authored by Amber

Because We Didn't Already Have a Million Other Things to Do This Time of Year...

2011-11-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

At the very last minute (and I mean like a day or two before!), Jason suggested that we throw a little Halloween shin-dig for Brevin and Spencer and a few of their friends during the Fall Break. We weren't going anywhere, so it gave our boys something to look forward to.
As it turned out, I had nearly everything necessary to pull off a little party and it really wasn't hard to plan for a small group of children. We only headed to the store for a piñata and candy. Jason grabbed two dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kremes and we were set!

The party was so much fun, and we've decided to make it an annual thing--or at least we'll plan on it when we don't do anything else for Fall Break.

Everyone got to make a personalized personal pizza.

We played Ghost Bingo until everyone won a prize.

The cotton ball game was highly entertaining to watch.

It's just not Halloween without Pass the Rat.

Everyone lined up to get a shot at the piñata.

This was the moment the piñata met its demise. It was broken from

the rope and came crashing to the ground. The impact severely

compromised the structural stability of the poor piñata, so once

Jason got it back on the rope, the next hit sent candy splattering everywhere.

This post authored by Amber

Mount Nebo Loop

2011-10-27T14:13:00.000-06:00

SHAME ON US! We have lived so close to the access of Payson canyon for nearly thirteen years and we've never made the drive through the Nebo Loop before now. Honestly, I am sad to think of what we've been missing all this time.

Usually our family heads north to Provo canyon in the fall to take pictures in a lovely little spot just beyond the Sundance ski resort. This year, Jason was gone to Singapore during the time that I thought was peak for the most vibrant fall colors. We kept putting off the annual drive through the canyon because of busy schedules or uncooperative weather. Finally, on a balmy and quiet Sunday afternoon in mid-October, we thought we'd take a look at what the southern location had to offer. I also wanted a chance to try out a family-friendly hike that I've heard about called The Grotto.

I was not sure what to expect of the fall foliage. I really had thought the colors would have died down by this time, but was I ever wrong! The canyon was ablaze with eye-popping reds and oranges in stark contrast to the bold evergreens. We were most captivated, however, by the florescent yellow of the quaking aspens of the higher elevations.

Oh, and the hike! The hike was so fabulous. The boys loved running across the log bridges, and I enjoyed the ease of the well-groomed trails ( I was carrying Ella in the sling, after all). The destination being a cove-like area with a splattering waterfall was like the "icing on the cake" of a very enjoyable outdoor experience.

The drive was scenic, the traffic was sparse, the road was wider, and there was easy access to pull-offs to scenic overlooks for photo taking. I think we found a new area for enjoying the fall colors that Utah has to offer, but I won't wait until next season to get back up that way. I would love to see The Grotto in the spring and summer.

What a memorable Sunday drive (and perhaps a wee bit of an exhausting one)!

This post authored by Amber

The First of Many 2011 Halloween Related Posts

2011-10-27T12:00:00.002-06:00

We have a tradition of going to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch here in town to traipse through vine-covered dirt mounds in search of the perfect pumpkins to adorn our front porch. I have found that the children settle on a pumpkin almost immediately because they would much rather roll around in the pit of corn kernels or climb on the bales of hay near the parking area. Oh well. I'm too busy trying to get the ideal photograph of each moment that I could care less about the pumpkins, too.

Here is the pumpkin that everyone collectively picked out for Ella. I think she likes it.

I love Garrett's grin in this picture. It is one of his more natural facial expressions I've been able to

capture in a while. (He's going through that fake-smile-for-the-camera phase right now.)

This is the pumpkin Spencer originally picked but you won't see it on our porch. It was accidentally

swapped out for a different one late one evening after we caught some pumpkin snatchers and had

the police make them return all their "loot." ( I'll have to tell that story another day.)

What can I say? Just a good-looking kid holding a good-looking pumpkin.

This year has been Ella's first experience with the fall season and all of its traditional amenities. It seems as though she has taken quite a liking to all of the activities we are doing. The colors, smells, sights, and feel of the time of year are just as exhilarating to her as they are to the rest of us. Oh, and she enjoys the taste of fall, too, but in a different way than most do. While pumpkin pie and apple cider will please my palette, Ella is content with straw and dusty kernels of corn.

Just adding a little fiber to her diet.

Mom and Dad weren't quick enough to anticipate the handfuls of corn that would go straight into

Ella's awaiting mouth once she was set down. (You can see some in her mouth in this picture.)

She didn't seem to like it when we emptied her fists and face of corn kernels.

Nope, she did not like that one bit!

This post authored by Amber

The Eagles' Flight (AKA: The Reason for The Recent Blog Backlog)

2011-10-22T23:31:00.000-06:00

Some years ago I said "yes" when a friend and PTA president-elect invited me to be a fundraiser commissioner for Art City Elementary School. Since that time I have been in charge of two theme basket auction fundraisers which were way too much work and required an uncomfortable amount of soliciting of companies for donations. Sure they were successful to the tune of $3,000 + each, but I was not hesitant to jump on board when the current PTA president suggested something new. We would do a walk-a-thon instead.

I liked the idea of getting the students more involved in the fundraising efforts, and I felt we had hit a plateau with the theme baskets. I just didn't know how much fun this walk-a-thon would turn out, nor how successful it would be. Of course, none of that would have been possible without the efforts of an AMAZING committee and the tremendous support of the PTA board.

After I hyped-up the students in a pre-event assembly and enticed them with all the fabulous prizes for collecting the most money or running the most laps, they were off with their collection envelopes and "hitting the streets" in droves. Brevin was particularly inspired by the promise of watching the principal sumo wrestle with the highest collecting class' teacher if the school goal of $3,500 was met. The students smashed that goal on the first day of donation collection, bringing in over $10,000. We had this large donation collection poster with a thermometer that extended well beyond the top of the poster board. In the end, our totals neared $14,600. Yeah, I'd say that was a success.

Well, despite the amount of money the fundraiser brought in, the real delight was organizing and watching the actual walk-a-thon. The children ran their hearts out during each of the two one-hour event periods. I could not believe the pace they were setting and maintaining. There was such an energy on that field as the students ran around one of three courses, and it was exhilarating to witness. Eight laps was equal to one mile. In total, the students ran enough combined laps to complete 1,628 miles! That's enough miles to run 62 marathons. That's enough miles to run from our town to Mexico City, Mexico (as the crow flies), or from here to Disneyland and back, and then more than halfway to Disneyland again. I'll tell you what; The Eagles' Flight Walk-a-thon was awesome!

I was very proud of Brevin and Spencer who both ran 27 laps each. They also collected over $100 each, thus earning them an opportunity to select a prize from the $100 Club table during the awards assembly. They both chose a ride in a limousine to get an ice-cream treat. After shuttling all the children back and forth to the school, there was some extra time on our limo time contract, so I was able to squeeze in a ride for myself, Ella, and Garrett to get an ice-cream treat, too. (Garrett totally deserved it. He suffered through many a PTA meeting and hours of money collecting and counting. I have also learned that a Magic Eraser will remove red permanent marker off nearly every surface in the school's faculty lounge.)

In the end, I clocked a total of 135 volunteer hours to get this project "off the ground." I was pleased to see that my efforts were equivalent to a $108 per hour amount. When I told Jason that, he said I should go get a job. I had to remind him that there a very few respectable jobs that I could take that would pay $108 per hour. I think I'll stick to volunteer fundraising....at least for one more year....maybe...

This post was authored by Amber

Summer Party (Albeit in September)

2011-10-22T22:19:00.002-06:00

NuSkin treats its employees and their families to a summer party each year. Although they've experimented with a few different locations now and again, they seem to always figure out that it's best to go with what works--Lagoon. It is so nice because the company rents out the entire park so there are limited amounts of visitors and you can practically get onto any ride without waiting in line. The boys could ride on roller coasters to their hearts delight, while Ella enjoyed the view from her baby sling. It was a perfect night (save for the horrible traffic on the way home).

I thought it funny when the boys each hopped into a car

that matched the shirts they were wearing.

Before the ride, Garrett was thrilled to go on a ride that everyone else loves.

He didn't appear to enjoy this ride, however.

This post authored by Amber

Spencer's Soccer Season

2011-10-22T21:55:00.001-06:00

Spencer played his second year of U-8 soccer this fall, and he was so entertaining to watch. He scored a goal during his very first game and he constantly pressured the goal keepers when he played in the forward position throughout the entire season. Most impressive, though, was witnessing the development of his game over the course of the month. He improved in coordination and anticipating the direction of play, and he got good at cutting people off to steal the ball. He played well in all positions, and was never afraid to volunteer to be goal keeper (although that always made me nervous). I have to add, the kid has a great drop kick. Yep, he's a natural!

To fully enjoy this next picture, one must enlarge it to get a good look at the different facial expressions of each boy. What's with the tongues?

And just like every other sport season, this one seemed to pass in a blink of an eye, too. We could not have asked for better weather, though. Besides the downpour of rain for the very first game, we attended all other games in short sleeves and shorts. It was lovely!

Thank you, Spencer, for showing us such a good time!

This post authored by Amber

Sittin' Pretty

2011-10-02T23:54:00.000-06:00

Ella sits now, and I photograph...and photograph...and photograph...

...and photograph...

This post authored by Amber

Be On Your Way Now, Boys!

2011-10-02T23:48:00.000-06:00

I blinked my eyes and the summer of 2011 was gone. It just quickly vanished! Perhaps for me, though, it was gone not a moment too soon.

We have a yearly tradition of having a special "Back-to-School Feast" where I put a little extra time into making a nice meal to serve on nice dishes and we drink from fancy cups and have a wonderful, thoughtful conversation about our selected theme for the coming year, and all is perfect and ready to glowingly display on my blog with accompanying professional-quality photographs taken by yours truly. This year didn't quite go as I would have liked. The boys were in a stinker-ish mood, and once we sat down to the table, I only got around to discussing the theme ("Small and Simple Things" Alma 37:6) after Jason and I had dished out a heavy punishment of loss of media privileges for two weeks. The privileges were lost one week at a time, if that says anything about how our day was going!

Luckily for Brevin and Spencer, this all occured the Sunday before school started, so they'd have something to do to occupy their time and fill the entertainment void that was just created in consequence of their behavior.

The day Brevin and Spencer went back to school, they were pleasant and eager to settle into a new school year with teachers they were greatly anticipating on having. I was greatly anticipating a return to schedule and routine, the structure that was missing from our lazy summer days. I even imagined I might get more of something done during the day, but then I blinked my eyes and the first day of school was gone, too!

Spencer's teacher this year is Mrs. Chatterley. He was excited

because that is who Brevin had in first grade.

Brevin's teacher this year is Mrs. Larsen. He was excited

because she has a pet snake. Go figure!

I'm just glad the boys still let Jason and I follow them into class on their first day to take pictures and wish them well.

This post authored by Amber

Rise Up

2011-10-02T23:03:00.001-06:00

Nothing says "fall is here" quite like the start of a new football season (except, of course, the start of school, but I'll get to that in a moment). For the past few years, we've commemorated our soon-to-be weekend commitment of hours to observing how the local institution's team (BYU) will perform by going to meet and greet the players, get a few autographs, and snap a few pictures. This year was no exception, and so here are the goods:

Brevin holds still for quarterback Jake Heaps to sign his jersey.

Spencer gets an autograph from wide receiver Ross Apo.

(I know you are all totally impressed that I knew who these people were as well as their

respective positions, but don't be. I totally had to look up the team roster online.

Jason wasn't here to ask.)

I guess to the boys an intimidating football face is one with your eyes shut tight.

Garrett, Ella, and I stayed home from the event this year, but we still "get up" for some of the games some of the time. We'll even slap on our BYU paraphernalia each Friday to show our support for the team. After all, it is football season, you know.

Now, Isn't that just the cutest receiver you've ever seen!

This post authored by Amber

Full House

2011-09-01T22:25:00.002-06:00

We got to entertain the most adorable house guests for a two-day, one-night stay. The boys were thrilled to have Sophie and Addie over, and I kept all the little ones entertained with making cookies, playing games, jumping on the trampoline, etc. They even came with us to Pack Meeting and got a special ride in Brother Barson's old-fashioned car.

I learned that it takes much longer to wash a girl's hair (well, just look at their amazing hair!) and if you don't get all the conditioner out, it looks a little greasy once dried. And, unfortunately, I also learned just how many chocolate Rolo cookies I could eat in one sitting. Let's just say it was an obscene amount!

Sophie and Addie, you will have to come back and play again soon. And this time Aunt Amber will try not to eat all the cookies, okay?!

This post authored by Amber

Another Trip to Washington Lake

2011-08-31T18:14:00.000-06:00

As we had done last year, we decided to plan a family camping trip to the Uintas as a final opportunity to enjoy as much of the summer vacation as possible. And just as we had done last year, we went to Washington Lake. But unlike last year, there was more water than we had ever seen in the lake and the shores the boys had fished from were completely submerged. We were also able to spend time with Greg and Tilly's family and Grandpa Park this year.

Everything was lush, the air was cool and pleasant, and the fishing was fantastic. (Although I will say the mosquitoes and horseflies were a little out of control.) This place will always hold special memories for me, and I will always look forward to adding to them.

We have a picture of Brevin and Spencer standing on this same tree stump some five

years ago when we were at this campsite. This year Grandpa Park stayed in that spot.

I'm always a bit nervous to see how a new baby will take to camping,

but Ella looks pretty content, don't ya think? She did fantastic!

Having his own fishing pole made all the difference for Spencer.

He can cast like a real pro. He also brought in five fish just using a fly.

Brevin was on a fishing hot streak, too. He caught eight during the trip.

Garrett loved throwing rocks into the water, climbing, exploring, riding

his tricycle around camp, and hanging out with his cousin, Coulter.

This turned out to be the most difficult photograph to take due to the number

of children involved. Not to mention all the hats making it hard to see faces and

the fact that half are sitting in the shade while half are not. I must have taken

close to twenty pictures before I got one to turn out...sort of.

What can I say? I love this picture taken at Upper Provo Falls.

This one just might make the family calendar next year.

This post authored by Amber

Primarily Pioneers

2011-08-31T12:24:00.001-06:00

Our Primary organized a Pioneer Day activity with stick pulling, tug-of-warring, butter making, horse and buggy riding, and rope bridge crossing. It concluded with a Pioneer Day children's parade, and was a great success and a lot of fun for the participants. Brevin and I dressed up for the occasion. (Spencer had an asthma attack and opted to stay home.) I managed to get some pictures that I thought were worthy of sharing.

Most children left the activity feeling grateful that they didn't have to work (or play) as hard as the pioneers did. Even so, Brevin makes a cute little pioneer, doesn't he?

This post authored by Amber

Catching Dragonflies

2011-08-31T12:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks to their older cousin, Rachel, Brevin and Spencer have a bit of an interest in entomology. On summer evenings, they arm themselves with nets in attempts to swipe at the elusive dragonflies that buzz our home. On this occasion, Grandpa Park even tried his hand at collecting, but Brevin was the only one who nabbed three out of the air.

Brevin and Spencer swiped simultaneously and got some pretty good air (just no dragonflies).

Jason goes for the ones well out of reach. They end up well out of his net, too.

Brevin managed to hit this dragonfly with the edge of the net, stunning it.

That allowed us to get pictures of the dragonfly being held.

This post authored by Amber

Well, It's About Dang Time!

2011-08-31T11:34:00.001-06:00

Two months have passed without any mention of Ella's development. (Isn't it bad enough that she will never have a scrapbook or detailed chart of when certain teeth came in and when they fell out?) I guess I feel too safe in saying, "Oh, I can blog about it tomorrow." Suddenly, I realize just how many "tomorrows" have stacked up and magically turned into "yesterdays" with the task left undone. I feel a bit in a daze as I turn another calender page over and wonder Where the heck did that month go? Well, before my memory of the details fails me completely, here is what can be said for the passage of time:

Ella at Six Months

We learned at her doctor appointment that Ella still falls into the 10th percentile for weight and 5th for head circumference. All this despite moving up to two solid meals per day. She's holding her place at 65th percentile for height, however.

Small, though she may be, she shows a consistent growth pattern and she demonstrates all of the usual developmental activity for a child her age, so no one seems too alarmed by her petite physic. She is very attentive to her surroundings and responsive to people. She loves looking at faces and smiling back at people. She laughs a lot now, too. She hates having her legs and head touch the ground when placed on her back, and has gotten very good at holding an insane, ab-crunching position for a long period of time. She recognizes her name, she rolls over in both directions, and she makes a lot of babbling noises. Jason is thrilled that her first, very distinctive sound combination is "da-da" (or more accurately "da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da..."), but I can still claim the number-one spot in her heart, because she is definitely a "mama's girl."

Ella at Seven Months

While I don't have weights and measurements to prove it, Ella seems to continue her trend of being on the smaller size. She is up to three meals a day, and it is much easier to feed her now that she no longer thrusts her tongue. Her hair is long enough to put a curler in it, so she is often sporting a "wave" atop her head garnished with a flower. Her first tooth erupted on August 20th (bottom right), and all she had to show for the teething process was a week-long runny nose and a little bit of diarrhea (is that even a teething symptom?). She likes to donkey-kick when she wakes up in her crib and uses that as a means to turn on her music box. She has added a "bwah" to her vocabulary, and it is so fun to hear her chattering.

As you can see from the pictures, it is much harder to get a still photograph of Ella with her doll. She kicks and plays and reaches to pull everything toward her. She is now sitting independently, so we will move to the miniature rocking chair for the next monthly photos.

Until next time, Ella-girl! (Hopefully it won't be in two more months....but it likely will be.)

This post authored by Amber

Brevin, Birthday, & Basketball

2011-08-24T22:30:00.001-06:00

The final birthday during the calendar year for our family falls to Brevin. He patiently waited (and anticipated) through all other celebrations, talking about his expectations for his own special day. I hope we did not disappoint him. Of course, nearly everything was at his own request, so I think we did okay.

Brevin's Friend Party

These were the tickets given as invitations to the event. Thanks to the magic of Photoshop,

Brevin can posterize people just as well as Jimmer Fredette can.

Jason was kind enough to don his referee duds and make the calls for the three-on-three basketball game.

Though Brevin often hails me as being "such a creative mom" I will say right now, I am not. I am a hard-working mom who feeds off of other creative people who are kind enough to post their brilliant ideas on the worldwide web. Take this awesome cake idea, for example. (Man, I love Google!)

These are all of the players who took part in the game (well, except Garrett) and followed it up with a hot dog lunch, courtesy of the referee. I am sure parents were thrilled to receive their sweaty, stinky boys back home after the party. These kids went all out and played a hard-core basketball game.

Brevin's Family Birthday Party

As cool as the three-dimensional cake was, I was not about to make it a second time, so for

cake and ice-cream with extended family, we resorted to a plain basketball cake.

After presents were opened, the year-in-review video viewed, and the family crowds had gone home,

we had a special fireworks show in honor of Brevin's birthday and Utah's Pioneer Day.

Brevin's Ninth Birthday

On the actual morning of his special day, Brevin wanted orange, basketball pancakes.

(I think, by this time, I had exhausted my supply of orange food color.)

The day was wrapped-up with dinner at the restaurant of Brevin's choice, Red Lobster. It seems like only yesterday he was choosing McDonald's or Chuck E. Cheese's. I guess having your kids grow up isn't all bad!

Besides enjoying the sport of basketball (which is glaringly apparent from this post), Brevin has an impressive resume of talents and abilities. (How else would you expect me to feel about my own child, right?) But the thing I love most about Brevin is his passion and commitment to whatever he is involved in. He isn't the best at everything he does, and I don't need him to be. He does give everything his all, nothing half-hearted. That is what makes him so extraordinary, and that's what makes me most proud to be his mother. I love you, my Brevy-boy!

This post authored by Amber

The Gathering Place

2011-07-13T15:13:00.001-06:00

My family met for a reunion at Red Cedar Lodge near Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah last weekend. It was a different location from previous years, but we found the accommodations to be quite appealing.

Probably the most exciting difference was the access to a nearby pond. That was the source of a majority of our family recreation. It provided opportunities for Jason to fish in the mornings and evenings (as pictured above), there were plenty of paddle boats and canoes, and a zipline ran across the middle of the pond. For those brave enough to immerse themselves in the water, it was a shockingly cool experience. (When exiting the zipline, however, I highly recommend the biting cold of the water over biffing it on the hard, muddy banks. I'm just saying!)

Brevin Spencer

Amber Jason

The lodge was nestled in a beautiful wooded area, but there was also a large grassy field that was perfect for the plastic car coaster, badminton tournaments, treasure hunts, and water balloon fights.

Of course, the best part of this type of family reunion was all the visiting, game playing, getting to stay up late, and then having a sleepover in the cabin, complete with sleeping bags and cousins.

What a memorable get together!

This post authored by Amber

How We Celebrated Freedom

2011-07-05T23:48:00.001-06:00

We are blessed not only to live in a country where freedoms abound, but where the land itself is something remarkable to behold.With sights such as these, it's no wonder people traveled in search of a promised land, and then gave their all to preserve and protect it. And for our family, we fully enjoyed it.

We celebrated the fourth of July by stirring from our beds before the sun rose and traveled to the mountain majesties for a day of fishing at Co-op Creek. And when the fishing didn't prove successful (for us, at least), the boys turned to rock throwing and bug collecting, and I sat comfortably in my chair listening to the sound of the creek gushing into the lake and feeling the sun on my face and arms. It was a good, peaceful feeling, and it made me feel grateful to live in this blessed and beautiful land.

This post authored by Amber

A New View

2011-07-05T23:28:00.000-06:00

Equipped with glowsticks, insect repellent, candy, and camp chairs, we set off to find a spot to view the fireworks from outside the Stadium of Fire. I think we found a new favorite location--the Provo High School football field. Parking was close and easily accessible, space was abundant, and the crowds were more family friendly than those at our old location at Fox Field. Plus, the view was better. I'd say it was an all-around cha-ching!

This post authored by Amber

May The Fourth Be With You

2011-07-05T23:19:00.001-06:00

Okay so it was actually the 1st of July when we pulled sleepy children (and Mommy) from their beds to get a glimpse of the hot air balloons that were a part of this year's Freedom Festival in Provo, but these same balloons did launch on the 4th as well. Getting up early allowed us to fraternize with the likes of storm troopers, death star pilots, snow troopers, and Darth Vader, himself. All that, and it wasn't even 7:00 a.m. yet!

Oh, and there were a bunch of other really cool hot air balloons there, too.

This post authored by Amber

Happ-Wii Birthday, Spencer

2011-07-05T23:02:00.002-06:00

Spencer is charming and he has this incredible ability to pick things up quickly. Whether it is a new sport, a video game, a math concept, or a reading skill, he makes learning new things look effortless. He does them with control and impressive agility. He is also very well-rounded with many interests and talents ranging from sports to academics. He has a quirky sense of humor and likes a good joke and to pull a good prank (but he doesn't like to be on the receiving end of a prank). He makes funny faces, silly noises, and has a language of gibberish that he sometimes speaks in. He also has an uncanny ability to memorize lyrics to songs and lines of movies. He's very entertaining with all the attention-getting qualities of a second-born child, and we can't imagine our family without him. You know, spending seven years with a person can really make you attached!

Spencer's Friend Birthday Party

Spencer loves to play Wii. I think it is because he is quite good at it. He happily selected to have his birthday party with friends be a Wii party. There were plenty of ideas online for this type of party. I found this great printable for a Wii remote control box. We decided to make it the envelope in which the invitations were placed. I used this website to create Mii characters to download on the computer that matched the features of the Mii characters already programed into the Wii console for each person invited to the party. Those characters were used for invitations, party favor bags, and a template for the cake. The only decorations I made effort to make were giant buttons to place on our front door to make it look like a Wii remote. These are boys, after all.

As for the cake....well, if you think I'd be crazy to try and make Mii characters for all the boys attending the party out of marshmallow fondant to put on the cake, you'd be right. And where were you to talk me out of this crazy cake concept? You were probably in bed while I started this late in the evening and worked on it until the wee hours of the morning! Never again! But then again, Spencer will never be seven again, so I'm okay with my mistake. Plus, the boys had so much fun eating their own faces, it made all the hard work worth it.

Now before you go thinking I am a super-terrific mom or something, I must let you know that, aside from the cake, this was the laziest birthday party ever from a parent's standpoint. The kids came in, we opened presents, they played Wii, we ate cake, they played more Wii, they got bored, they jumped on the trampoline, we gave them some sandwiches, chips, and a Capri Sun, and they went home. It was super simple. These are boys, after all.

Spencer's "Family Fiesta"

Spencer kind-of has a fascination with the Spanish language. He will sometimes watch entire movies in Spanish if they have a language option, and he gets excited to tell me if he hears someone speaking in Spanish when we are out in public. He also likes to count in Spanish, but I don't think he knows many words yet. Because of this, I thought it would be fun to serve fried ice-cream and tres de leche cake for his extended family party. We also gave him our gifts on that night even though it was two days before his birthday. We couldn't wait to give him his new bike any longer. His knees were hitting the handlebars on the old one.

Spencer's Birthday Dinner & Breakfast

The Monday before his birthday, Spencer got to choose where we would go out to eat as a family. We were planning to go to Lehi Trafalga as well, but his stitches got infected and we had an emergency appointment to have them removed. Because they were taken out early, he was instructed that he could not bend his knee at all and that laser tag and rock wall climbing were simply out of the question. We had a family Wii night instead, and he was satisfied.

On the actual day of his birthday I made Spencer's breakfast of choice--German pancakes. This was a treat for all the family who have become quite accustomed to having cold cereal for breakfast.

Spencer's Last T-Ball Game & Birthday Celebration

Because Spencer had his final t-ball game on his birthday, we did all of the celebrating on the days leading up to his actual birth date. The final celebratory act came at the end of the game where I had purposely signed up to bring treats to his team. We had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate milk. The boys sang Happy Birthday and brought all the partying to a suitable conclusion.

Happy Seventh Birthday, Spencer!

This post authored by Amber

"He Can Do Anything. He'll Fix Your Bike or Fly Your Kite"

2011-07-05T19:38:00.002-06:00

He'll give you a buzz cut if you request it or spike your hair up with gel before church. He'll make sure to get up early enough to get a majority of you ready fifteen minutes early, leaving plenty of time for picture taking before going to sacrament meeting at 9:00 a.m. He'll be okay with warming up a sweet roll for breakfast that was made the night before because at least it isn't cold cereal on his special day. He'll change his tie when he realizes you gave him a new purple one. He'll let you play his new Wii game after church ('cause who was that gift really for anyway?) and he'll also allow everyone else to eat more Granny B.cookies than him ('cause who was that gift really for anyway?).

He'll watch you with excitement as you sing with the rest of the Primary, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!" He might even smile in agreement as you follow up by singing, "My Dad's the nicest guy of any guy in town!" Well, maybe he won't, but he should, 'cause he is pretty nice. And this is just Father's Day we're talking about! Not to mention all the things he does on every other day of the week. Yep, kiddos. You can tell everyone how great you think your Dad is. They'll likely agree. I know I do!

Happy Father's Day, Jason!

This post was authored by Amber

Doing Our Best To Wipe Out Our Cafeteria Funds for 2011

2011-07-05T17:50:00.002-06:00

Not to be outdone by Brevin, Spencer had a leg injury of his own to put on the record for what may go down as the most medically expensive year for our family to date (and just in time for "Obama Care"). Fortunately, his injury occurred in the early hours of the day, and so I could take him to our pediatrician's office rather than Instacare or an emergency room.

So here's all the sordid details with gruesome pictures to accompany:

While at Seven Peaks Waterpark, Spencer tripped on some cement stairs that were leading from a lower pool to an upper one. He hit his knee hard, causing the wet skin to split open. I saw him clutching his leg in pain from across the pool, and I called out to him to come over to me. Brevin was right next to him exclaiming, "It's bad! He's going to need stitches." Once I got a look at it, I agreed with Brevin's early diagnosis. It didn't take a doctor to see he was going to need stitches.

I had Ella in the sling and so it was a bit precarious lifting Spencer in a cradle hold to carry him to the first aid station. In my rush, I yelled over my shoulder to Brevin to get Garrett and bring him along behind us. Once I handed Spencer over to the EMTs, I turned to see Brevin...without Garrett!

Now the emergency had evolved into a catastrophe. Garrett is not easy to find in a public location because he gives no indication that he is lost. I cannot listen for his distraught cries, and a passerby wouldn't pay any attention to child happily about his own business. After canvasing the over-crowded facility a number of times, we resorted to sending out an emergency call to all the lifeguards on duty with Garrett's description. Thirty minutes or more of searching produced my darling, albeit daring, three year-old child, and we could continue to attend to Spencer. (And I could more easily pretend to be calm for Spencer's sake.)

Well, Spencer got his knee all stitched up with a grand total of eleven sutchers. I must say, the kid is tough and he handled everything very well. The doctor even mentioned how impressed she was with his ability to endure the pain of the ordeal. Now, the real challenge is keeping Spencer's activity limited so the wound on his knee can heal (and to try to keep Garrett from running off on his own in crowded places)!

This post authored by Amber

Parading Around Town

2011-07-05T16:32:00.000-06:00

We love the festivities of Art City Days. Some years we participate in many of the events offered. Other years...not so much, but we nearly always have the children's parade and Grand parade on our agenda of things to do each year.

For the children's parade, the boys like to wear costumes. I dressed up this year as a monkey and pushed Ella, my baby banana, in the stroller. Garrett was obliging and donned the clown costume, thus continuing tradition. Each of my boys has done that now. Brevin and Spencer chose to go the Marvel Comic character route. They looked pretty cool with their masks. After the parade, Grandma and Grandpa Park took us all to lunch at Burgers Supreme. That was fabulous!

For the Grand parade, Jason happened to find a great spot for spectating. We had a front row seat for catching candy and for Garrett to charm all of the beauty queens by running up to wave to them. I was glad that the weather was quite pleasant for sitting at a parade, and Ella enjoyed a nap from the comfort of her baby sling.

Well, until next year!

This post authored by Amber

Play Ball!

2011-07-05T16:08:00.002-06:00

To fully enjoy this photo, click to enlarge to see the look on Brevin's face. Priceless!

Summer got off to a running start....literally. We ran from here to there to get boys (and Jason who was a coach for the T-ball team and an assistant coach for the coach-pitch team) to ball games that were nearly every day of the week. Miraculously, there was only one game that was played simultaneously during the whole season.

Though it sounds crazy to try and have two boys involved in a sport at once, it was really fun to watch games as a family and support each other. It was also amazing to witness the improvement in the boys' skills from the beginning to end of the season. And, holy cow! Now June is over!

This post was authored by Amber

We Have a New Hob-BEE

2011-07-05T15:51:00.002-06:00

It's official! We are beekeepers. We've been meaning to be for quite some time. We've even had the boxes waiting in our garage for a number of years. So when Jason's brother let him know he discovered a swarm to be captured (while I was gone to St. George), it was a pretty simple process to collect the bees and bring them to the spot we had reserved for them in our backyard.

Upon our first hive inspection, we determined that we have Golden Italians, and they are a very gentle variety. With our new bees, we hope to reap the benefits of increased garden production and maybe even harvest some honey. At the very least, we have really enjoyed observing the bees. They are fascinating!

This post authored by Amber

Just A Little Road Trip

2011-07-05T15:24:00.000-06:00

A quick weekend "jaunt" to St. George allowed the children and I to have a chance to visit with extended family and to cheer on competitors who ran in the triathlon in Brad's memory. Although the visit was brief, it was fabulous!

Ella got to meet Grandma & Grandpa Funk for the very first time (and they got to see just how cute she is in person).

At the event, the children kept themselves entertained by blowing bubbles and telling silly jokes. They loved it!

At the end of the day, I put Ella and Garrett down in my bed and went into another room to visit with my brother. When I came back into the room, they looked like this:

Isn't that the sweetest thing!

This post authored by Amber

Four Months. Five Months. What's the Difference?

2011-07-05T14:38:00.001-06:00

Can you see it? These pictures were taken one month apart from each other (Ella is four months-old on the left and five on the right). According to her doctor check-up at four months, she was slacking when it came to weight gain and head growth. Height was a different story. What can I say? She is tall and skinny with a little head (that sounds like Daddy's genetic pattern). And while I don't have official measurements to confirm her five month's growth, these pictures seem to indicate a similar trend. Even with the addition of solid foods to her diet, Ella is a lightweight. That's okay, though. At least she's happy (and still fits into her baby sling).

Ella at Four Months: She recognizes faces and responds, especially to Mom. She has started to reach for and grab at things. She is beginning to babble lots more in efforts to communicate. She can roll from her stomach to her back and she can sit pretty well with the support of her Bumbo chair.

Ella at Five Months: She has been introduced to solid foods and seems to like them. She will scream between spoonfuls if you do not shovel the food in quick enough for her liking. She can roll from her back to her front as well, now. She effectively reaches for objects and brings them to her mouth (I love it when babies learn to do that with their pacifier!), and she loves to talk, talk, talk. She seems to have a pretty easy-going disposition and is a trooper when it comes to being "man-handled" by her brothers (who are all pretty smitten with her). She appears to know and respond to her name. She will interact well with anyone, but she has begun to show a definite preference to Mommy when it comes to being put to sleep.

This post authored by Amber

Well, It's on to First Grade

2011-06-03T19:43:00.000-06:00

That's right. Spencer completed Kindergarten, and it was made official with a program of songs for parents and a presentation of diplomas. Spencer sang all the songs at full lung capacity. What can I say? The kid really likes to sing...loudly. I loved the pictures we got of him doing all the different choreography.

We have sure loved his teacher, Mrs. Miner. It's hard not to love someone who loves your child, and she did just that.

Man, that year went by fast!

This post authored by Amber

Boy Turnin' Three

2011-05-25T11:34:00.000-06:00

Isn't that just about the sweetest, most innocent little face you've ever seen? Don't be deceived by those adorable baby blues, though. This kid is a typical three year-old. (Well, he's a typical three year-old Park boy, that is.) He likes to dump things out, throw things, and be destructive. He enjoys climbing, wrestling, and sword play. He is confident, assertive, and sometimes a bit bossy, but he is also thoughtful, inquisitive, and affectionate. What can I say? The Parks are passionate people. And this little guy...well, he makes me laugh every day (and makes me clean up a billion messes every day, too.) Our lives would be pretty boring if we didn't have Garrett around. Surely, he is something worth celebrating.

Garrett's 3rd Birthday Party:

I've been wanting to use this design concept for a birthday party invitation for a while now, and it just so happened that Garrett actually likes Toy Story. The timing was perfect, and the party wasn't too bad, either.

We celebrated with extended family when everyone was already together for Mother's Day. Garrett opened presents (he was excited about his "lick-o-lish"), we sang Happy Birthday about five times because Grandpa kept lighting the candles, we ate green alien cupcakes (the idea came from here), we drank green slush, and we watched Garrett's year-in-review video.

Garrett's Birthday on May 12th:

The birthday hoopla is simply to suit my fancy. All Garrett really cares about is blowing out candles. That being the case, I made sure to incorporate candle blowing throughout the entire day in each of his meal items of choice (french toast for breakfast and chicken nuggets for lunch). Note to self: candles stuck in hot foods tend to melt, tip over, and leave a residue of wax within the food items.

Garrett decided he wanted his birthday dinner to be pizza. The older boys tried to convince him to go to Pizza Pie Cafe, but Jason and I were more "persuasive" and he chose to visit the local establishment of Two Jack's Pizza.

I made a small cake for our family to enjoy (and to give Garrett one final chance to blow out some more candles). It turned out to be a compilation of ideas that I found on the internet. I'm glad I took a picture the moment it was finished, because as I went to feed Ella, Garrett decided to eat the number 3, push Buzz Lightyear halfway into the cake, take a bite out of the headboard, and use Woody to smash footprints into the base of the bed. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I was able to salvage some frosting from the garbage to fix all of the cake's blemishes. Awesome.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Garrett!

This post authored by Amber

Pedestals

2011-05-25T09:43:00.000-06:00

Mother's Day 2011

Our bishop was driving by our house as Jason was taking pictures of the children and me. He was kind enough to stop and offer to take one of the entire family.What a great Mother's Day gift!

I recall a sacrament meeting talk given some years ago on Mother's Day when the speaker said, "Every year on this day, we put mothers on such a high pedestal, that all the women go home feeling guilty." Well, since then, I've let go of all unreal expectations I've had for myself and for my children...well, at least my Mother's Day expectations.

Why should this Sunday be any different, simply because we're supposed to honor mothers? I know I will still have my "battles of the bench" in trying to keep three rowdy boys reverent. I will likely struggle to console a child who is in a great gulf of woe and misery because his brother is now sitting in his spot. I apologize if the plastic dinosaur, thrown in a fit of tantrum, hit you in the back of the head. I'll have the intuition to hand the babe off to daddy just before she spits everything up that I just managed to feed her, and I'll try not to laugh too loudly at the sight of him dripping wet in his suit. (I'll even do the laundry...eventually.) I should definitely still expect to be called upon to remove my son from nursery for using the chairs as a weapon. I will delve into my arsenal of dirty looks to flash across the Primary room at the son who is giggling with his neighbor when he's supposed to be singing Praise to the Man. I will do all this, and more, and it won't seem so bad. I'll just "chalk it up" to another three-hour block survived, and there's no guilt in that. In fact, I think I'll just take my place on that pedestal, thank you very much!

This post authored by Amber

The Month that Was April

2011-05-13T16:17:00.004-06:00

While it sits among the list of shorter months, we were still able to stuff April with enough celebrating, tradition keeping, and vacationing to make the past thirty days seem to burst at the seams with excitement. And while I did not spread out the blog posts into manageable, consistent musings, I decided it would be a bit much to try and write a post for each event retrospectively, so I've resorted to a picture summary of all that took place with brief descriptions (because Heaven forbid if no one in cyberspace knew of all that we do in the Park household!).

And now, for your viewing pleasure, THE MONTH THAT WAS APRIL:

We thought the last of major storms were over and felt it safe to set the trampoline up. It was a bit premature because a huge snowstorm dumped on General Conference weekend (and there were several smaller snowstorms to follow). Gotta love Spring in Utah.

Parents were invited to a RAD Kids demonstration to show what the students had learned during the past year in the program. I'm so glad that Brevin was able to participate in the personal empowerment program. And nobody better be messing with my kid!

We made a near week-long trip to St. George for Spring Break. We had a wonderful time with the Olson family who invited us to join them in their parent's home. We did a lot of hiking, visiting with family, and soaking in the practically perfect weather. It was fabulous!

Jason was gracious enough to share his birthday candle blowing with Garrett. He also shared his special day with a Cub Scout Pack Meeting that was unexpectedly given to my charge on the Friday we returned from our trip. Because the Pack Meeting was on Tuesday, we celebrated Jason's birthday the day before with dinner at Joe Banditos and angel food cake. Thanks for being such an angel, Jason, and working with me on that one!

Ella at Three Months:

This girl is "all girl" and not because we constantly dress her in pink and frills (because she doesn't have much of a choice in that). It is because she likes to talk. She also loves to be talked to. And don't think about leaving her in a room all alone, because she knows when she's alone and she will protest with emotionally charged cries. I'm telling you, it is a different cry than anything my boys ever did, and good gravy! It's pathetic! Thank goodness she is a relatively content child. Ella's smiles make up for her cries anytime, and she is also doing that a lot more now as well, so phew!

NuSkin holds an Easter-egg hunt for children of employees every year. Brevin is no longer eligible to participate so we had him assist Garrett in collecting eggs while Jason and I ran between two areas of the field with cameras, trying to get equal shots of Garrett and Spencer. And yes, they "cleaned house" (too bad not literally).

Everyone had a fun time coloring the 3 dozen Easter-eggs that I hard-boiled......well, maybe not everyone. (Actually, Garrett had a blast, too. Every so often he would make this face, though, as he waited for his eggs to color. It was hilarious.)

The Easter Bunny came, and Ella won the prize for healthiest goodies. Her eggs were empty and she got rice cereal. It's nice when your kids don't care what they get, isn't it?

And finally, what would Easter be without all the Park grand kids posing together before being released to hunt for their eggs. Garrett was searching for orange, Spencer for sports-themed, and Brevin for Spiderman eggs. All eggs were located and so it was off inside for a scrumptious potluck meal before the rainstorm moved in. Gotta love Spring in Utah!

This post authored by Amber

Fooled Ya!

2011-04-07T11:13:00.000-06:00

We try to discourage silly pranks at our house on April Fool's Day (you know the ones like, "Mom, look over there! There's a car going by....April Fool's!). Of course the boys' version of trickery is pretty harmless, but it is obnoxious to listen to for the entirety of a day.

I don't ever want the day to slip by without a few edible pranks, however, so we had dessert for dinner and dinner for dessert. It's a tradition we started last year because I really wanted to try out some recipes from my brand new Hello, Cupcake! book. I wanted to mix things up a bit and do a different cupcake this year. I thought the Chinese take-out concept was hilarious. I added the element of a meatloaf cake that was "frosted" with mashed potatoes (that's a tradition of my sister's).

The kids knew something was a little off when they saw the food and cupcakes, but no one suspected that their drink was actually red jell-o. I think they were just so excited that we were having something other than water to drink. They worked so hard to suck liquid through their straws; I wished I had gotten it on video. Well, maybe they'll forget and I can catch it next year. Or maybe not. Either way, we sure had fun acting (and eating) like a bunch of fools!

Dessert for Dinner

Dinner for Dessert

This post authored by Amber

Viewer Discretion Advised

2011-03-31T14:18:00.003-06:00

Brevin, just before being wheeled back into the room for stitches

Last Wednesday, I sent Brevin out the door for his weekly Cub Scout activity, knowing he would have an exciting time because he got to go bowling at BYU. Boy, was it ever exciting, but not exactly for the reasons I had imagined!

I got a phone call from an obviously shaken leader who informed me that during the "behind the alley" tour, Brevin had somehow slipped and cut his shin. I asked if she felt that he might need stitches, and she informed me that she didn't know because she couldn't bring herself to look at the wound. Well, if it is bad enough that you can't look at it, then it likely will need stitches was my thought. I told her that I would call Jason and have him pick Brevin up on his way home from work since he was closest to the BYU campus. In the meantime, the other leader called to talk to me and said she had been applying pressure to the cut until the EMTs came, and that it was to the bone. Not being able to assess how bad the situation was myself, I asked if we would be fine to take him to the Instacare (it was after hours for our doctor's office at this point). The EMTs said that would be fine, so that's where I directed Jason to go.

Jason carried him out and drove him to the Springville Instacare, and I loaded the kids up in the van so I could meet them there to take him the camera. I didn't go back into the room with Brevin, so I didn't see just how bad the cut was, but from the pictures and the number of stitches required, I was able to surmise the seriousness of the laceration. (I did, however, see the blood drenched sock that Brevin wanted to keep at a memento.)

I guess more than anything, Brevin was nervous about the idea of having to get stitches. The doctor had to constantly reassure him that it was going to be just fine. He distracted Brevin with talk of basketball and Jimmer Fredette (the doctor happened to be one of Jimmer's team physician's), and he stitched Brevin up with "Cougar blue" thread. There were twelve stitches in all, four internal and eight external.

Well, we all survived the ordeal and returned home to a 7:00 p.m. dinner of chicken enchiladas that had to be reheated. A special treat of root beer floats seemed to be in order (although we actually used cream soda instead). I guess Brevin will now have to return to the bowling alley to complete his belt loop requirements. I just don't think he'll be taking the tour anytime soon.

This post authored by Amber

Not To Make Everyone Jealous, But....

2011-03-24T15:38:00.001-06:00

Ella sleeps through the night. Well, at least I call it sleeping through the night. She stays all cozy-cuddled in her crib for a solid six hours. (It used to be from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. but with Daylight Savings time it is now 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.) I'm sorry if this post takes on the tone of gloating, but this is a big deal to me coming on the heels of a not-so-sleep-through-the-night-infant in Garrett.

Does it seem a bit premature that she would sleep that long already? Perhaps. But she is two months old now, and that is actually the main reason for this post anyway. So without further ado, I give you Ella at Two Months:

This post authored by Amber

I'm Not Irish (But You Can Kiss Me Anyway)

2011-03-24T12:38:00.000-06:00

You know we love a reason to celebrate and do strange things with our food. Someday I may try the more authentic corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, but for now I guess we'll stick with the green clover-shaped pancakes and green syrup. Oh, and don't forget the fruit rainbow. That was something we added to our annual menu last year. And although the foods served may change over time, there is still an absolute constant. We'll most definitely be takin' photos of the wee ones!

This post authored by Amber

Bless This Child!

2011-03-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled to have so many family members join us for the special occasion of Ella's blessing. Some had to travel long distances and arrive for a 9:00 am sacrament meeting. That was no small feat. (Neither was fitting them all into our house for a brunch afterwards!)

These were the men who participated by standing in the circle.

(I daresay, this may not be the last time I capture a

photograph of Ella surrounded by a bunch of males.

Hopefully that day will not come too soon.)

Ella was forced to wake and eat earlier in the morning than she would normally have done before getting dressed. She seemed to be fussier than usual as a sign of protest, but was ever accommodating when it came time for the blessing. Jason took the pacifier to the front of the chapel and handed it off to his brother, Brad, as a precautionary measure. It was not needed. Ella cooperated by not making a peep during the prayer (which was lovely, by the way) and even kept her eyes wide open for the "Daddy is proudly showing off his baby to the audience" presentation. For many family and neighbors, it was their first chance to get a glimpse of Ella in person. I'm glad we took the time to get her all dressed up and looking pretty. First impressions are so important, you know!

As for the dress, I was delighted to be able to use the one that my mother had made for my niece eighteen years ago. I was living at home during the time she worked on sewing the dress and had even helped with some of the flower details. I recall her anxiety over the simplicity of the dress and thinking it was not fancy enough. Well, I think it is simply elegant and I completely appreciate its understated beauty.

What a lovely day, and what a lovely little lady!

This post authored by Amber

Cookie Cutters

2011-03-09T16:46:00.003-07:00

For those who may have doubted me when I said that all my babies have come out looking almost exactly the same, here are some pictures to support my claims. (Okay, let's get real! I know nobody questioned that fact in the first place.)

Brevin

Spencer

Garrett

Ella

(I think you will also understand why the first thing I said when I saw Ella was, "She looks just like Garrett.")

It seems that even my first photos with my children have been the same, too!

I know. Crazy, huh?

This post authored by Amber

Monster Jam

2011-02-26T14:03:00.001-07:00

For Valentine's Day, Jason got tickets to take Brevin and Spencer to Monster Jam in Salt Lake City. They got temporary tattoos to put all over their faces for the occasion. Armed with a Pit-Pass and earplugs, they left for an afternoon of testosterone driven entertainment. They loved it! They were able to get up close and personal to each of the trucks and even took some pictures with the drivers. The event began, and they got to watch hours of engines reving, wheels spinning, and metal crushing. One of the trucks even tipped over. Throw in some hot dogs and a soda, and it's a boys dream come true!

Garrett was forced to stay home with the girls, but he donned his monster truck t-shirt and temporary tattoos so he could feel a part of the excitement along with his brothers. Maybe Garrett will get to go next year, since Jason says he is totally stoked to go that event again.

This post was authored by Amber

Not To Be All "Mushy" But...

2011-02-26T13:36:00.004-07:00

.....Valentine's Day Was Great.

I was helped along by a website that offered this free printable for Valentine cards.

Add some Pop Rocks and some signatures and they're ready to go.

Each of the boys received a can full of candy and a Hot Wheels Monster truck. Brevin and

Spencer got tickets to go with Dad to Monster Jam, Dad got a pink necktie and a music

CD (Men of the MOTAB), and Mom and Dad got new couches

(to be picked out together at a later date).

We did our traditional meals of heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and heart-shaped

pizza with Martinellis for dinner (even though I didn't take a single picture of that).

More candy and chocolate was consumed than was necessary, and hot pink

Rice Krispy Treat hearts were given to school teachers and Primary leaders.

Jason came home from work and asked if I had thought to put Ella in her new
red dress to take pictures for Valentine's Day.
I had not, so I made sure to do that before the day was over.

All in all, it was a fabulous (albeit traditionally routine) Valentine's Day.

This post authored by Amber

Oh, Yeah. Ella is One Month Already.

2011-02-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

I know this is going to sound so cliché, but I cannot get over how quickly a month has passed (there's no denying it--I am your stereotypical "mommy blogger"). I know, in part, I am functioning in a slightly sleep-deprived daze, but really! One month? Where did that time go? Well, let me tell you.......

Ella At Two Weeks

Ella is very easy going. And she sleeps. A lot. This is one of the rare moments I caught her with her eyes open. She has started to smile at us, but it is so infrequent that I could never anticipate when to have the camera handy. We'll just start with open eyes at this point. She is on a very predictable three-hour interval schedule. She sleeps for three hours, she wakes only to eat, I manage to squeeze in a diaper change, and then she goes back to sleep.

At her two week check-up she weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measured 20 inches long. She looked healthy in every aspect, which is a relief considering the season of sickness that is currently upon us. So far so good for two weeks!

Ella At Three Weeks

There is not much more to say about Ella at three weeks, other than I can now feel a difference in her weight when I hold her. She has pretty much the same routine, and she maintains her easy-going disposition. Her cry has developed in volume, but she doesn't do that much anyway. She does grunt a lot, though. That seems to be her first method of indicating any sort of need.

I wanted to take a picture of Ella next to her Raggedy Ann doll that I made. The doll is sentimental, because I used a pattern that my mother had purchased years ago with the intent of making a doll for each grandchild. After she made the first two, she asked that we continue making the dolls once she passed away. I'm not a great seamstress, so this was a bit of a challenge for me, but I love how it turned out. Plus, the 15-inch doll makes a great reference point to demonstrate Ella's size.

I wanted to dress Ella in something red for the picture, but apparently clothing for little girls is only manufactured in hues of pink. Well...at least I haven't found anything red, but a dear neighbor friend gave us a gorgeous red dress a few days later and we had to take pictures just for the heck of it!

Ella At Four Weeks

Ella is awake for longer stretches, now, and her sleep is now organizing into longer, consolidated periods that may soon be distinguishable as being naps. She loves to be held as she sleeps, and there's no shortage of people to oblige. She will also sleep very soundly in her carseat for lengths at a time.

Now that Ella is more alert, we notice what large eyes she has (a common trait among our children). They appear to be turning blue, but we will see. No matter the color, they will be beautifully framed by her perfect eyebrows and lush eyelashes.

Well, that's enough bragging for now...until next month!

This post authored by Amber