The Parker 5

MMT Opportunity

2011-04-04T14:04:00.003-06:00

CHECK THIS OUT!

If you like what you see in this video, let me know and I'd be happy to get you some more information!

A New Excuse

2011-02-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Conversation I had with Mason last night:
Me: Mason, you need to go practice piano.
Mason: Why?
Me: Cause I said so.
Mason: But I've been using my fingers all day long. I'm tired.

That's a new one.

The Mason

2011-02-16T16:52:00.002-07:00

Mason and Brooke were going to go outside and this is what Mason did while he was waiting for Brooke to finish her homework. You can tell in the video when he caught on that he was being recorded.....hehe. Make sure you have your sound on.

Brookies First Piano Recital

2010-11-16T09:17:00.003-07:00

Brooke has been taking piano lessons from Marie Christensen for a little while and she had her first recital on Sunday night. She was so nervous, but did amazing. She didn't even pause on her pieces and performed them perfectly! We were proud of her and she was proud of herself. Her next performance is for festival on Saturday. So excited with her progress.

The Middle Wife by Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

2010-11-11T11:40:00.002-07:00

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best "birth" story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She hold up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, OH!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on her car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water glowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push' and 'breathe, breathe' They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother... He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Mason

2010-11-11T11:39:00.003-07:00

Mason was having a rough night and didn't want to go to bed. He kept saying that he couldn't go to sleep. BUT, as soon as he relaxed for 2 seconds he was a gonner. Pencil and notebook in hand. What a sweet boy.

Halloween!

2010-11-11T11:31:00.002-07:00

This is Mason, Will, and Brooke. It started out as a good night and then it started to RAIN!! ICK. But they got a lot of candy. That's the important thing, right? Oh, and Theone is to OLD to trick or treat. That's why he's not in the pics.

I love me some Mason

2010-10-25T22:23:00.002-06:00

I was going through some pics on my computer and came across this one of Mason playing ball this summer. I thought his facial expression was priceless and had to share. Click on the photo to fully appreciate this kid.

Bear Watching

2010-10-20T15:27:00.003-06:00

We were sitting home relaxing on Sunday afternoon when Mom called and told us to come watch a bear that was up in the field. The neighbors had put one of their dead calves (they own a dairy) up in the middle of the field. A bear found it and came to eat. It was really interesting to watch. Mason was scared at first, but we had a little chat and he was fine. We watched for about 45 min, then it got cold.

Can you see the bear? It's the little black spot between the green trees. I wish I had a super close up lens. But this is the best you are going to get.

P.S. No, Dad wasn't shooting it. He was just looking through the scope.

My new blog banner and background created by me!

2010-10-14T13:47:00.008-06:00

Catch-up with photos!! Warning... LONG POST.

2010-10-12T21:56:00.008-06:00

WoW!! I got a little behind with posts during our super busy summer, so I am going to catch you all up with a few photos.

We got to go see Glen Beck.
We went fishing with Tony.
Theone went on a pack trip with Grandpa Hansen into Yellowstone fishing.
More pack trip....
Soda Springs tourmanent! We did so good!

For Theones birthday, Grandma and Grandpa redid this chest for Theone to lock his stuff into so Mason caouldn't get into it. Great idea!
Who has the biggest mouth? O.k., who has the smallest?
Out Selway camping trip. Me and Theone.
Theone napping.
Mason napping. This was his daily napping position. Yes, camping is so exhausting.
Yes, Theone shot a squirrel. And, yes Grandma cooked it and she, Theone, and Melanie tried it. It DOES NOT taste like chicken.
It hailed! HUGE!
Brooke was a little water bug. First one in and last one out.
For Masons Birthday, Grandpa made him a calf to rope. We love it. He also got a BB gun and a punching bag.
We hiked up to Table Rock. Up the FACE!! HARD, HARD, HARD. I was the only one not to make it to the top. I was almost there but just couldn't do the last little stretch. Mason, Brooke and Will made it. We went with our friends the Simmons.
Proof that they made it. Tough little guys.
Candice came to visit and we went to Yellowstone. It was awesome.
The girls. Melanie, ChrisAnn, Candice, Shelly, and ME.
Candices cute little family. Hadley, Candice, James, and Landon.
Us at.....
yes, Willie Nelson concert.
Brooke got bucked off of a horse and broke her arm. She was a super good sport about it though. Do you like her beautiful PINK cast?
Just thought this was funny. Had to throw it in there.
The first day of school
Another funny.

So there you have it. Our summer in a nutshell of photos. Now.....to keep up.

I'm Full of Imagination

2010-06-14T11:16:00.001-06:00

So, Mason is BORED today and that's all I have heard from him! I told him I don't want to hear it about being bored, go ride your bike! Go jump on the trampoline! Go do something! Then Brooke pipes up saying, "I'm FULL OF Imagination, I'm Full of Imagination! I'm going to go IMAGINATE in my Room!!" Then she skipped off to her room.

So great! What a girl!

Brookies 5th Grade Graduation

2010-06-04T10:31:00.005-06:00

Brooke got this President's Education Awards Certificate for having straight A's and no missing assignments, and achieving excellence in education. She was so surprised to receive this certificate. Not very many kids get it, we are very proud.

Brooke and her AWESOME teacher Mrs. Donnelly
Brooke receiving her graduation certificate.

Masons Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-04T10:17:00.003-06:00

Mason and his friend Weston.
YAY!! My Certificate.
Mason and his teacher Mrs. C. She was a great teacher!!

He was so excited about the song. So cute!

Brooke's 5th grade talent show

2010-06-01T22:20:00.002-06:00

Brooke's class had a talent show and she chose to do a dance with 2 friends, and sing a solo! She sang "Smile" by Uncle Kracker. She kept telling me she was so nervous, and I kept reassuring her. I can't believe she wanted to do it! I would have never, ever, done that in front of peers and parents. I was too stinkin' shy. What a brave girl. She did good. GO BROOKE!!

When everyone was done with their talent, the whole 5th grade got to perform a song that they learned in Yellowstone. It was pretty cute.

Mushroom Hunting, bike riding, and DRIVING

2010-06-01T22:09:00.003-06:00

We had heard that the morels were out, so we decided to go hunt some up. No luck, but we did have a ton of fun. The 2 boys put their bikes in the back of Grandmas truck, and every time we got out to look for mushrooms, they would ride their bikes. We looked at the old "ranger station", then we went up Darby canyon. When we got to the top of the canyon, the boys got out their bikes and rode ALL THE WAY DOWN! They made it just short of 2000 south. That's a pretty long ways for them to go! We should have clocked it, but thought of it to late.

The boys each got to "drive" Grandmas truck. Mason just sat on her lap and steered, and Theone actually got to DRIVE!! He did really good!

Memorial Weekend

2010-06-01T22:02:00.003-06:00

This Memorial weekend we did dutch oven chicken and potatoes. MMMMmmmm. It was kind of windy and cold (shocker, eh). Mason and Will were great helpers with the dutch ovens. The boys would ask grandpa to put charcoal lighter on the coals, and when he did there would be a big WHOOSH, and the boys loved it. More grandpa. MORE!! So he would do it again. I think he used up the whole bottle entertaining those kids.

Dinner turned out YUMMY!! And yes, we did have cobbler for dessert. But our tummys were stuffed after so we had to just veg. and hang out and wait till we had room for dessert. ChrisAnn is quite the entertainer. I wish I could be flung the way she flings Mason. Oh, to be a kid!

Buried

2010-05-28T09:57:00.001-06:00

I went in the other night to turn off Brooke's lamp and found her buried in all of her stuffed animals. If you look really close, you can see just a little bit on her forehead and one eyebrow.

Monkeys

2010-05-28T09:54:00.002-06:00

I just can't get them to stay out of the tree in front of our house. They love to climb it.

Brookies Birthday

2010-05-28T09:48:00.003-06:00

I have been slacking again at posting on my blog. So I have yet again, to catch up. Brooke's birthday was on May 5th. She requested a flip flop cake so I searched on the internet for ideas, and came up with one. She loved it. As usual, she ends up with the mother load on her birthday. Lucky her.

Lovely noises......

2010-03-15T19:58:00.002-06:00

I was sitting on the couch doing some stuff on the computer and my favorite noise started getting louder and louder. I look over and Theone is smacking the top of Tonys bald head with the palm of his hands. That started a big one. Then Mason started in and it was a a fun fest. I was lucky enough to get some video of them having so much fun. I love it when Tony plays with the kids like this......

Brooke goes to Yellowstone

2010-03-15T19:52:00.007-06:00

Brooke got to go to West Yellowstone for a week of school. She left early on Monday and got back on Friday evening. She was really nervous about getting homesick, so she got Shingles on the 2nd day there. But she did really good. She said that she only got a little homesick on the first night and then she was good. Tony let her take his camera to take some pics. She took some really good ones, and learned ALOT!! What a great experience for her that she will never forget.

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Ice Fishing

2010-03-15T19:52:00.001-06:00

Tony took the boys ice fishing a little over a week ago and they had a great time. They fished ALL day and they didn't catch much, but they did bring home a few. Guess who got the big one? Yep! Theone. He always beats his dad. Mason didn't catch any, but he got to reel one in, which made him pretty happy.

Mason reads!!

2010-03-05T08:42:00.004-07:00

Mason is finally getting the reading thing. He actually read to me the other day!! SO EXCITING!! To finally see it click. I hope he is a reader, cause I love to read.

2 nights ago, Mason came to me before bed and asked me to write our last name in his notebook so he could practice it. They have been working on last names at school for a while. So after he was in bed a few minutes, he came out and showed me that he had written our last name about 15 times. He could also remember how to spell it out loud. YAY!! Seeing him interested in learning and wanting to do it is a real treat for me. We have struggled with this. I praised him and he went back to bed. A few minutes later, he brought me out a picture that he drew of him and me. He's the one with the spiky hair. Awww. So cute. I love Mason. The next morning, Mason got up and told me he still remembers how to spell his last name and spelled it for me. He's got it by golly!!!!

McCall Judo Tournament

2010-03-05T08:32:00.002-07:00

Mason, my Mom and I went to McCall for a Judo Tournament. It was a nice drive and a great weekend getaway. Mason Tried hard to win a match, but he didn't quite get it. He did get a participation medal which made him so happy. That, and swimming at the hotel.

Here is the Match that Mason got paired up with against Will. Could it be worse? Cousin against cousin? We cheered for them both.

We ran into one of my great high school friends, Nikki.....She brought her 2 cute cute little boys (Reed and Will) to the hotel to swim with Mason and that cute little Will taught Mason how to swim. Then they invited us for dinner and we had a great visit with their cute family. It was great to see Nikki and Ned again. When we left it was like leaving family. I hope we can visit again soon.

A Letter Home

2010-02-10T13:01:00.002-07:00

I was browsing blogs today and found this great letter on my friend Nikkis blog. I had to swipe it to share.

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and
Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old
man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before
all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed
till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep
late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast
is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No
hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to
split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm
water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like
fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of
weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant,
pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer
you can always sit by the two city boys that live on
coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you
until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder
these city boys can't walk much..

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says
are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so,
it's not my place to tell him different. A
'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at
home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride
back in trucks.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a
lot. The Captain is like the school board.
Majors and colonels just ride around and frown.
They don't bother you none.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I
keep getting medals for shooting. I don't
know why.. The bulls-eye is near as big as a
chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at
you like the Higgett boys at home.. All you got
to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it.
You don't even load your own cartridges They come in
boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat
training. You get to wrestle with them city
boys. I have to be real careful though, they
break real easy. It ain't like fighting with
that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they
got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in
Silver Lake ... I only beat him once.. He
joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and
130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds
dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before
other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding
in.

Your loving daughter,
Alice

Getting G&G Hansens Tree

2010-01-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

Christmas

2010-01-22T09:50:00.001-07:00

Theones first hunting trip to Selway

2010-01-22T09:45:00.004-07:00

Theone got to go on his first hunting trip with his Dad and Grandpa Hansen. They didn't get anything but he sure had a lot of fun!!

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Catching up.........November

2010-01-22T09:35:00.006-07:00

So, I think I've taken a long enough break from blogging and want to get back to it, so I'm just going to post some photos from recent events to catch up.

This is in November, splitting and stacking wood for Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. It's always a great time! Take note of how BIG that log is we get to split!! The boys are all such GOOD helpers.

Halloween

2009-11-19T13:55:00.004-07:00

Just for you CANDICE!! Theone wore a scary mask, Brooke was a Gothic Bride, and Mason was Optimus "Crime".

Garbage Pest

2009-10-02T19:03:00.002-06:00

We have our garbage cans by the back porch and in the last couple of weeks, it has been strewn ALL OVER about 4 times. The kids are so sick of picking up garbage. The last time it was scattered, I wondered how the cats, or wolves, or raccoons could drag the garbage that far. Our neighbor up the hill said that there was a bag of garbage drug and scattered half way up his driveway. That is pretty far for some animal to drag the garbage. What the.......! Well.......when it snowed, we had proof of what our pest was.

A BEAR!!!

I had to put this in the Record Book!!

2009-10-02T18:55:00.006-06:00

8 " of SNOW on Sept 30, 2009!!

This is the morning of the 30th. It snowed all day.

This is the next morning! Still snowing.

Brookies Dentist Smile

2009-10-02T18:48:00.004-06:00

This is just so funny!! She had a dentist appointment and couldn't smile on her left side. I kept telling her to smile and she would try so hard. She is such a good sport!!

Accident Prone Theone

2009-10-02T18:28:00.003-06:00

So Theone was in the ER 3 times in 3 weeks!

"First"
He had really really bad stomach pains. Not appendix, just a stomach thing. Whew. Still, not fun.

"Second"
The next week he was at a football game with a friend. I get a call saying come get me I need stitches. Well......he tripped on the edge of the pavement and his chin caught the brunt of the fall. The exact same thing happened to me in 4th grade. And his Dad has a scar on his chin also, so it's a rite of passage I guess. Back to the E.R., they tried to pull it together to glue it, but there was a nice piece of fatty tissue that would not stick back in. So they put a stitch in that part and glued the rest. They said in "5" days we can take the stitch out. O.K.

"5 Days Later"
I took out Theones stitch. Well, actually I cut Theones stitch. He pulled it out. Then that same night he was heading in to take a shower and the glued part of his chin caught on his shirt and ripped the glue off of his chin. He went in to look at his chin in the mirror and lifted his chin....and.........yep, it opened back up. So.............

"Third"
Back to the E.R. to get it closed again. Too late for stitches and can't glue it back up. Last resort....... butterflies! This time it worked.

Enough of the E.R. for us for a good long while.

1st Tooth!!

2009-10-02T18:19:00.001-06:00

On Sept 9th Mason pulled his first tooth all by himself! The day before, he was wiggling it and really wanted it to be ready to pull out, (which it wasn't quite), and so he bit on a jump rope and pulled. It bled, it was looser, and a few minutes later......Mason says "I sure wish I didn't do that". I guess it hurt a little. But the next morning - - - he pulled it.... all by himself! He still says "I cant believe that I pulled my own tooth!"

Mason the Wonder Kid

2009-08-29T10:14:00.003-06:00

So the day before school started, Shayne (our very nice landlord) fixed our lawnmower for us. It had been on the fritz for about a month. Well, Mason decided he wanted to go mow the lawn. So I was like.....okay Mason.....you go right ahead.....thinking he will be back in the house and telling me that he couldn't do it, or couldn't start the lawnmower, or its too hard. A few minutes after he went out I hear the lawn mower start up. What the heck!! He mowed the whole front of the lawn, without any help. He can start it, and he can push it. Talk about being a little worker ant. The handle is taller than him, but that didn't stop him. He did a really, really good job. Little barely 6 year old Mason can mow the lawn. What a kid!!

First days of school

2009-08-29T09:55:00.005-06:00

Brookes second day and Masons first day.

Ready for school.

What a cute big kid.

Brookes first day. Isn't her new hair cut super cute!!

Stylin'

Golfing

2009-08-29T09:43:00.003-06:00

The boys went golfing for their birthday.

Masons Birthday

2009-08-29T09:19:00.004-06:00

Masons birthday was on the 6th, so better late than never.....right!!

Skateboarding cake

a "real" skateboard.

Twizzlers and headphones from Aunt ChrisAnn.

His own basketball from Grandma & Grandpa Hansen

Carpet Sliders from the Pews.

Pads

Play-Dough

Selway

2009-08-12T18:18:00.004-06:00

The kids and I got to go camping up at the Selway with Shelly, Will, Grandma, and Grandpa. Daddy stayed home to work. Grandpa Hansen (Dad) took us up on Friday, and helped us set up camp. Cut firewood, put up their sleeping tent, and the food tent, and all of the "guy stuff" that the women would have a hard time doing by ourselves. Then he got to play with us on Saturday and went home Sunday to work for the week. Then on Thursday, he came up again and finished out the trip with us. ChrisAnn even came up this year and stayed till Tuesday. It was great!

We get to play in the river every day, and that is a TON of fun!! If it wasn't for the river....and being able to take a bath in it every day, I don't think I could do a 10 day camping trip. But having the water so close makes it so much fun, and I don't get feeling too grimy. So....here is the bathing process........:Jump into the water off of the "big rock", hop out of the water and shampoo hair and lather up body, jump back into the water off of the rock to rinse off, get used to the cold water and PLAY till you get too cold. Then get out and dry off till you get hot again and then.....JUMP again. Mom brought up a thermometer this year so we could see the temp at the camp site and in the water. It got up to the low-mid ninetys on the hottest day there, and the water was a balmy 62 degrees. So much FUN!!

We take lots of books to read and games to play. I finished 3 books and Brooke finished 2 books. We also played lots of Dominoes and card games like Phase 10 and Phase 7. Theone got hooked on Sudoku while we were there. Which is great because he is not a reader.

When Dad comes back up we usually take a long drive to some beautiful or historic place. This year we went to Hells Half Acre, which is a fire lookout for that area. You can see MILES in each direction from the top of the lookout. (See photos) IT takes about 2 hours to get there on a tiny one lane gravel and dirt road on steep mountains and cliffs on one side of the truck. The kids were in the back of the truck and Will got so scared of the cliffs, that he laid down for the rest of the trip. Like Mother, like Son......Shelly was hiding in the back seat of the truck too! It was worth it though, the view is awesome!!

Also, when Dad comes back up, he brings some guns for us to go shoot. He brought up a .22 and a .223. I was the queen of the shooting along with my Mom who is a pretty dang good shot. (See photos)

The kids and I can't wait till next year!

Sand Dunes

2009-07-11T15:20:00.004-06:00

While Melanie and Rob were visiting from Texas, we went to the Sand Dunes in St. Anthony. It was really windy and C-O-L-D. It was only 69 degrees. Way to cold to play in the water. So we stayed for a few hours, and decided to leave. You can only take so much gritty sand between the teeth. It was still fun, but would have been even better with no wind. Mason and Theone found some little frogs/toads that still had a little tail.....(I don't know what those are called). Brooke and Mason made a little pond for the frog to swim in.

Theone floating

Mason holding his frog/toad thing

Mason and Brooke with the little frog.

Tonys 4th of July Birthday Party

2009-07-11T15:15:00.003-06:00

Same story with Tonys birthday, his is on the 16th, but we do it on the 4th like Theones. He got $10 from Mel, ChrisAnn made him search her purse for his gift which was a gift certificate for Sportsmans Warehouse (what more could a guy want?), and the .22 target thingy with Theone. I got him something for our anniversary/fathers Day/birthday.......tickets to a Dodgers Baseball Game. He has never been to a pro baseball game, so he gets to take Theone to Denver in August to see his favorite team play. They are both SUPER excited for that.

Theones 4th of July Birthday Party

2009-07-11T15:07:00.004-06:00

Theones birthday isn't till the 11th, but we have so many birthdays in the end of June and Beginning of July that we do them all on the 4th and have one big party. We do his cake on his real birthday. He got a "real" skateboard (from Mom and Dad), a slingshot (from Mel), a basketball (from Rob, Mel's boyfriend), and a .22 target thingy (that's for Dads birthday too, its a 2 player thing) (from Grandma). We sure love our boy!!

Fishing with Dad!

2009-07-11T15:01:00.002-06:00

Theone and Tony went night fishing 2 weeks ago, and Theone beat his dad once AGAIN!! He caught some nice fish. They got home at 1:00 a.m. and Theone came and got me out of bed to take pictures. He was so excited to show me his catch.

Mason can.......

2009-06-15T12:02:00.004-06:00

BLOW A BUBBLE!!! He has been trying forever. I showed him how to do it a loooong time ago, and yesterday before church, he finally got the hang of it. He is so proud of himself when he gets a big one. How fun is that? What a cute boy.

Nest and Eggs

2009-06-09T17:13:00.003-06:00

The kids were down playing in the field behind the house, and they came back up to the house wanting the camera so they could take a picture of a nest on the ground with some eggs in it. I made sure that they didn't touch them and gave Theone the camera. I thought when they told me about it that it was a nest that fell out of a tree, but looking at the pics, I think that the bird made the nest on the ground. I have no idea what kind of bird eggs these are, but I think they are cool looking. If you know what they are, leave a comment and fill me in. Thanks all!!
Just thought I would throw in a silly pic of Brooke. She is always such a happy girl, and I love that about her.

Taylor Swift

2009-05-29T08:27:00.006-06:00

This week was Brooke's concert. We went down on Tuesday morning, and did a little shopping. We got some really good deals on some summer clothes for her. Then we went and checked into our hotel, and then walked down to the Gateway Mall to kill some time. The concert started at 7 and we got there really early so we went to play at the vendors booths, buy some snacks, and sit and watch people for a bit. There were so many little girls. And a few teenage boys that were so much fun to watch.

The opening act was supposed to be Katy Perry, but she was too ill to sing......BUMMER. So, we got to see Gloriana instead. Ehhhh. Not so good, IMO. I would rather have seen Katy, but oh well, we went to see Taylor right??

Taylor was sooooo good. She is quite a performer, and is very entertaining. If you ever have a chance to go see her, you should definitely go. It was well worth the trip, and Brooke LOVED seeing her in person. Our seats were 11 rows off of the floor in the back section, so our seats were pretty good, my only complaint is that there were cords hanging right in our way..... She came and sang 11 rows away, and Brooke tried to get right up there to see her closer, but people were crazy. She did get pretty close though. There were a couple of boys wearing t-shirts that said, "Team Swift", playing off of the Twilight shirts. I thought they were great.

A photo from our seats....you can see we were there WAY early

Cute Brooke cant wait for it to start.

Us...

Love Story......great performance!

Picture to BurnThis is where she is 11 rows away. It was AWESOME!!

A couple of little video clips from my camera....

T-Ball

2009-05-11T13:53:00.004-06:00

Mason started T-Ball last Friday, and it was so funny to watch them learn how to play. Masons first batting experience was great. He went up to bat, waited to make sure it was o.k. for him to swing, and then he hit a good one. Then.......he leaned on his bat and watched where his ball went out in the field. Oh, ya.....then he ran. It was great. I loved it.

AWESOME Video

2009-05-06T15:45:00.002-06:00

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt
Brooke and I saw this on FB and had to share. It's awesome!!!

Brooke is the big 10!!

2009-05-04T12:30:00.004-06:00

Making her wish

Gift from Shelly and Bill

From Mom and Dad. (She knows what this is and ChrisAnn thought it would be funny to do Heavy Heavy Hang Over.)

Tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. She loves Taylor Swift, she probably knows the words to every song on her Fearless cd.
From ChrisAnn.
From Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. So with the money she got from ChrisAnn and G&G Hansen, she can buy something from the concert.

Judo Tournament

2009-05-03T20:32:00.003-06:00

Mason and Will had their first Judo tournament in Ogden this weekend. We stayed at the Days Inn and they were marketing the largest pool in Utah. So, needless to say the kids had a great time in the pool on Friday night. After the pool, Theone had a great time messing around on the hide-a-bed.

At the tournament the boys fought their hardest and did really well for their first one. Mason had 3 matches and almost won one of them. (That match is posted here.) Both of the boys got medals from the coach and they were on top of the world. They had a great time and it was an awesome team experience for the kids as well as us moms.

After the tournament, we went to the coolest aquarium around these parts......It's called the Living Water Aquarium and it's in Sandy, Ut. We almost didn't go, but I am glad we did. We got to see lots of awesome things, and the kids had a great time.

Deer and cranes

2009-05-01T09:41:00.003-06:00

At bedtime last night Brooke came and informed me that there were 4 deer and 2 sandhill cranes in our back yard. AWESOME!!!

Masonism

2009-04-30T18:21:00.003-06:00

We were going to town today and pulled into the Broulims parking lot and Mason said,

"Wow, mom, that is a NICE vehicle."

"what vehicle?"

"that black one"

"oh ya? What makes it nice?"

"its clean."

Simple as that. See, the color of our van is white, but living in the country, we call it "country white" because there is always dirt on it. You just can't help that around here.

ABC's

2009-04-30T08:23:00.003-06:00

We had Kindergarten registration last week, and they gave us a paper with all of the upper case letters, lower case letters, and numbers on it. Each letter has arrows on it to show the kids which direction to draw the letters from. Always starting on top. So Mason sat down today and drew each letter in the alphabet. This is the first time he has sat long enough to do the whole alphabet. He did the letters really good, and was really proud of how they turned out. So was I. He can't wait to go to school.

Conservation Poster

2009-04-23T12:24:00.002-06:00

Theones conservation poster was chosen as one of the best of the best. There were 270 posters turned in. Theone got Honorable Mention in his class. He tried so hard on this poster because he really wanted to win a prize. I helped him find the information for it and the rest was all him. He did a GREAT job. Click on photo to enlarge.

How many Cranes do you see?

2009-04-23T11:56:00.003-06:00

Mason and I were sitting in the Living Room hanging out, and I thought I saw a deer in the field out of the corner of my eye. I took a closer look and discovered a Sandhill Crane!! I have seen them from afar before, so it was cool to see one kind of close. How many do you see, is the question? Click on the photo for a larger version....

Determined Mason

2009-04-21T08:28:00.007-06:00

We were outside yesterday enjoying the sun. I was laying on the blanket and Mason was riding his bike. All of the sudden, I hear this.......thump...........thump...........thump.......
so I look up and the first video is what I see. The second one, is Mason enjoying the payoff of all of that hard work. What a kid. I think I would have given up long before he made it halfway.

Wedding pics

2009-04-20T13:09:00.004-06:00

So, Tony wanted me to send him some of our wedding pictures. I asked him why and he said that he wanted proof that he used to be skinny. I thought it would be fun to post some here also. We were married in 1995 and our anniversary is in a couple of weeks.

My side:
His side:
The whole group:

These are kind of dark......

I think we have all experienced this one....the never ending prayer.

2009-04-17T16:15:00.003-06:00

Rock Springs

2009-04-13T08:58:00.001-06:00

We got to go to Rock Springs last weekend to see Tony. While we were waiting for him to get off of work on Saturday, we went to the College to see the dinosaur display. It was really cool to see how big the fossils and skeletons were. Brooke loved it the most, and really enjoyed reading all of the information about each display we saw.

Our Salt Lake City Trip

2009-04-05T09:49:00.003-06:00

We got to meet Tony is Salt Lake last weekend, where he and Theone got to go the the Jazz game with Robb and Tyler Taylor. On Friday, we went to Hogle Zoo. It was a great time, although all of the big animals were inside because of the cold. We saw lots of snakes, spiders, and monkeys. Then on Saturday, Tony was able to come and we went to the Hill Air Force Base Museum. That is a great place to take your kids. We loved it.

Then we went to Build a Bear for Brooke. She has so much fun!!

On Saturday night, the guys went to the game, and us girls and Mason went to a 3-D movie at the IMAX theater at the planetarium called Under the Sea.

I would have to say that I am on Team Edward ♥

2009-03-30T16:05:00.001-06:00

On Which Side Do You Stand?

Oregon Trail Project

2009-03-18T07:52:00.004-06:00

Brooke has an assignment to do create something relating to the Oregon Trail. Brooke chose to do a covered wagon. So, with the help of her Dad, her Grandpa Hansen and myself, we created this wagon. She of course needed help with the engineering of it, but she chose every detail. It is a great collaborative effort and she is so happy with how it turned out.

Hunter Education

2009-03-17T10:06:00.005-06:00

Theone worked really hard last week to complete the Hunter Education course so he can hunt with his Dad. It was every night last week from 6:30 until 9:00 at night. And with his homework club and dinner, he had basically no free time, which is something Theone values A LOT!! He had the test for Hunter Education on Friday night and was soooooo nervous and worried that he wouldn't pass it. Well, he came home so proud. He whipped out his wallet and showed me his certificate of completion. Then he showed me the targets that they got to shoot at with a pellet bb gun. He has showed that little card to everyone in the family and extended family. And here I am, showing it to you. If you click on the photos, they will enlarge and then you can see those targets better.

Cartoon

2009-03-15T21:05:00.001-06:00

One of my friends on Face Book posted this and I thought is was great enough to share.

Self Portrait of Mason

2009-03-09T08:27:00.003-06:00

This is the first anatomically correct picture that Mason has drawn, and it happens to be him! I think he did a really good job.

Powdered Sugar

2009-03-05T19:08:00.002-07:00

Another Masonism: We have a lot of these in the car in between "stuff to do".

So, we were in the truck on our way to Activity Day, and Mason says, "Mom, I been thinking about when I am a grown up. I been thinking that I could be a coach. I could coach baseball and basketball, so that Dad doesn't have to do it." I responded with...."that's a good idea Mason". Then he went on to say, "I could be the one that puts the powdered sugar on the baseball field. And when it gets gone, I can go out and put more powdered sugar on."

HOW CUTE IS THAT!!!!???? ♥ I love my MASON!! ♥

I swiped again....Thanks Nikki!!!

2009-02-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

I can't help myself!!! But....this is good....

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling
All of your problems for you. I do Not
need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.

P.S. And, remember..
If life happens to deliver a situation to you
that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to
resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD
(something for God to do) box. I will get to it in
MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but
in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not
hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus
on all the wonderful things that are present in
your life now.

Should you decide to send this to a friend;
Thank you. You may have touched their life
in ways you will never know!

Now, you have a nice day.

God

Yodeling

2009-02-25T10:41:00.002-07:00

So I was browsing my daily blog list and Melindas blog has this great video of a girl yodeling. You should really go visit her blog and read the whole post about being happy. Really, you should. But I swiped the video..............

Did it have a lid on it?

2009-02-25T08:51:00.005-07:00

I was running some errands the other day, and with the weather so warm, the roads are melting and on one corner is a huge pot hole. Well, I hit that hole and cussed it. Dang Hole!! Then Mason started talking about it and how it was all filled with water. I told him that it was called a "pot hole" and then he looked behind us quickly and said......"Did it have a lid on it?" HAAAAA, HAAAAA, HAAAAA. Silly, not that kind of pot. Kids say the darndest things. I love it. ♥♥♥♥♥

Humming......

2009-02-16T09:49:00.003-07:00

We came home from church yesterday and Brooke says, "Mom, I can hum and mouth the words at the same time." So I said, "lets see......" She proceeded to show me and I got the biggest kick out of it. It was great. Then I tried it myself and I couldn't do it!!!! You try it........

Here is a video of her new found talent.....make sure your volume is up.....

Sledding

2009-02-13T11:13:00.008-07:00

e went sledding on the field across from our house last Saturday, and let me tell you it was soooo much fun. Shelly, the kids and I planned on going and just walking up the hill....Tiring.....but worth the fun with the kids. So, we called Mom to invite her, and she said that if we wanted to wait till "noon", Dad would bring his snowmachine. UUUUuuummmm, that is a no brainer......YEAH!!! So we waited. And then we went and walked up the first time before he came with the snowmachine. Wooo eeee, that's a walk. I walked up twice and what a workout. Tony even came and went down on a big tube with me and then the kids. It was a really really fun day.

This is Theone going down the hill.

This is Brooke.

and Tony.

Judo

2009-02-13T09:21:00.002-07:00

Masons cousin Will has been doing Judo for about a year, and Shelly has told me a few times that she thought it would be a good thing for Mason. Well, we finally let Mason go and see what it was all about. We went the first time, and Mason absolutely loved it. He wore some sweats the first visit and he couldn't wait to get his uniform (the Gee). Mason love, love, loves it!!! I have noticed some positive changes in Mason since he started about a month ago.
-His confidence level has gone up
-He goes for positive attention instead of the other kind....
-He eats more...(which is great because he grazed before, and now he will eat great meals. Not sure how this relates to Judo but it is a positive thing I have noticed since he started.)
-He is getting fit. Judo is as much about being fit as it is about technique.
All around positive changes. Its a good thing...

Masons Sensei, Adolfo Gutierrez is great, he pays special attention to each kid, so they all feel welcome and cared about. Mason loves to sit by Sensei on the floor when he is talking to them about respect, appreciation, and other things. Judo is a great thing!!!! We love it.....

More snow pics and a black eye

2009-01-26T09:38:00.003-07:00

Theone went out to shovel the porch off and came in to get us all out to look at the snow curling off of the eaves. It was really cool looking so I couldn't resist taking pics.

Mason was playing with his friend from next door Aunna and they ran smack into each other!! He has a great black eye as a trophy.

More snow FINALLY!!!

2009-01-25T10:58:00.002-07:00

Theone decided to go out and make a fort in the back yard. He was out there for quite a while and I was pleasantly surprised to see what he came up with. He did a really good job.

If you look at the snow line on the fence, last year the kids could just walk right over that fence. That was a FUN snow year.

Christmas Morning

2009-01-01T10:31:00.002-07:00

On Christmas morning, the kids got up at 6:00. Not bad for excited kidos. We got up and played with the gifts from Santa, and then opened up the gifts under the tree. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hansens at about 10:00 to open gifts there and have a great breakfast. We had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Eve at our house

2009-01-01T09:55:00.002-07:00

We started a tradition a couple of years ago doing Christmas Eve presents. usually it's pajamas, but it could be something else, depending on the year. This year the kids got all decked out for bed.

After they open their Christmas Eve present, they all get to sleep in the same room (another tradition). They love it!

Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Hansens

2009-01-01T09:50:00.002-07:00

On Christmas Eve we go over to Grandma and Grandpa Hansens house to open exchange gifts. It's always fun and something that the kids can't wait to do.

Christmas Baking

2008-12-31T18:03:00.002-07:00

Wendy Taylor invited us over to do some Christmas baking with her 2 kids, Tyler and Robyn, and 2 other moms with their kids. It was a really good time. We ate lots, and got to make some new friends. Each Mom brought the stuff to make a goodie or two. It was great!

Framed

2008-12-10T10:29:00.003-07:00

I cross stitched this about 12 years ago and it costs so much to get these framed that it just sat in the closet. So, for our anniversary in May, Tony made these frames with the help of our friends, the Taylors. They are absolutely beautiful and when I saw this one I teased Tony that our house was going to tip over because the frame is soooooo big. It measures almost 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall. I love them.
I stitched this one when I was pregnant with Brooke. The frame for this one is beautiful also. Love them......

A Super Fun Early Christmas Gift!!!

2008-12-10T10:17:00.002-07:00

We got a couple of fun packages from UPS yesterday from Grandma Parker. I called to tell her we got them and she said to open them now. So after the kids heard that, they could hardly stand it! We had to wait for Tony to get home from work and Theone to get home from scouts and then.......can I say FUN!! Sylvia made our family the most beautiful new Christmas stockings, personalized for each one of us! Cross Stitched by hand with lots of love, I know. The kids were so excited to get their new stockings up on the wall, and Santa is going to have a lot of fun filling these extra large stockings. With the stockings we each got a wonderful letter from Grandma that touched the hearts of each one of us. Brooke and Theone, each said "I felt like crying when we read my letter." It was very touching.

Along with the stockings came 3 brand new santa hats, from Grandma Great Palmer. It's tradition to take photos of the 3 kids in their hats, so we did that, and the kids loved all of the fun things that Grandma Great stufed the hats with. The candy is eaten, the ornaments are on the tree, and the hats are going in the box for next years photo. What a fun way to start Christmas!

I am an Esme!! Who are you?

2008-12-07T17:59:00.000-07:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Down the Middle

2008-12-06T12:01:00.003-07:00

Tony went into an archery shop to have them refletch his arrows, and while trying them out he "Robin Hooded" an arrow right into the back of another arrow. That doesn't happen that often, so here is the proof! He is pretty excited about it.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T09:48:00.002-07:00

Thanksgiving Day was a fun family day, as always. The only thing missing was Candice. We missed her. We all contributed to the big day in our cooking assignments, and it was YUMMY!! I also took the opportunity to use this day as a photo op.

Me and Brooke

Me and Theone

My Beautiful Mom and Sister Melanie

Me and Tony

My Mom and 4 of the girls. Me, Shelly, Mom, ChrisAnn, Melanie

Mason, I had to bribe him with to get him to hold still long enough for a photo.

Flexible Brooke

2008-11-24T08:21:00.002-07:00

Brooke was fiddling around last night and got into this position and said, "Mom, take a picture and put it on the blog." So here it is. Flexible Brooke.

How do bees make honey?

2008-11-18T15:45:00.002-07:00

I was feeding Hailey (a little tiny girl I babysit) her bottle, and Mason asks:

"How do bees make honey?"

pause

"Do they stir it with that thing right here? (pointing to his bum).

another pause

"Oh I know what its called, a stinger! Do they stir the honey with their stinger?"

I guess I will be researching exactly how bees make honey so Mason will know how that works. Too funny.

Holding Still

2008-11-17T18:02:00.004-07:00

Well, first of all I should tell you that Mason has a really really hard time holding still. A while ago, I was sitting on our couch just taking it easy and Mason walked up beside me and said, "Mom, how do you hold still?" So I told him you just have to get comfy and relax. Then he said, "it's hard to hold still."

O.K. So I was driving to Victor today after dropping the kids at guitar lessons, and I had Mason in the front seat of the truck with me. (Tonys truck, I have to drive it temporarily). And he said, "Mom, cars hold still when they are parked.".................uuuuummmmm, yah. I laughed and then he said, "and trucks too, huh?". ..........."Yes, Mason". Now, how can you not love that?

Tagged!!

2008-11-12T10:35:00.002-07:00

I was tagged by Melinda, so here you go!

Eight things on my wishlist.

1. My Bosch mixer to be paid off, so I can finally get it out of Layaway.

2. The snow to finally stick so the MUD will go away.

3. This is hard. I can't think of any more. I am pretty content.

4. OK, world peace Ü

5. The starving kids, not to starve.

6. Homeless not to be homeless.

7. Parentless kids to have a good roll model and someone that loves them.....

8. One more.........hmmmmm........nope, that's it...

Eight TV show I watch.

1. Little House on the Prairie.

2. NCIS

3. Biggest Loser

4. CSI's

5. Dr. Phil, when it's interesting

6. Survivor

7. House

8. Bones

Eight things I did yesterday.

1. Woke up.

2. Got the kids off to school.

3. Visited with my wonderful Visiting Teachers that came.

4. Went to Jackson to take ChrisAnn some a Scentsy Basket and Warmer.

5. Went to lunch at McD's with Tony.

6. Babysat Hailey.

7. Took a nap.

8. Made Dinner

I’m tagging Nikki, Janae, Tasha, Judy. Have fun!

Halloween

2008-11-03T10:41:00.004-07:00

Theone chose to be Jason, Brooke chose to be a vampire, and Mason chose to be a Fireman. We did the Trunk or Treat the the 3 Driggs wards put on and then we went to Victor to Trick or Treat in Shellys neighborhood. It was a very pleasant evening. At one point Theone said "Mom, I', sweating!". It was warm, which was a nice change. Last year we FROZE to death and it's miserable when it's that cold. But this year was so warm we didn't even have to wear gloves or hats, and Brooke even shed her jacket part way through.

Mason can tie his own shoes!!

2008-11-03T10:34:00.002-07:00

Yay!! What an accomplishment for him. He is so picky about how his shoes are tied that he can't very often get them as tight as he likes them himself. So, I still have to help him when he wants them really, really tight but that's o.k. He'll get there. Sorry it's sideways, I don't know how to edit that part, and the lighting is not so great but you'll get the point.

What a beautiful sunset!!

2008-10-20T18:42:00.004-06:00

How lucky are we to be able to enjoy Gods beautiful handy work!! Need I say more?

What is a stranger?

2008-10-15T17:47:00.005-06:00

Today on the way home from Victor, Mason was telling me that they learned about strangers in pre-school on Monday. So I asked him, "What is a stranger?' and he replied pretty confidently
"A person with a gun! . . . . . . . . . . . . .no. . . . . . . . . . .wait. . . . . . . . . i don't knooowww." Needless to say, we had a more detailed stranger talk.

Knots and Hair

2008-10-14T07:46:00.005-06:00

We were having some family time last night and Theone decided to try and put his legs behind his head. He ended up in a knot that looked so funny. He had a great time entertaining us and seeing what kind of funny positions he could end up in.

Brooke got her hair cut last week and was worried that it would grow out before Candice could see it short. So here you go Candice.......Brookies new hair cut. She loves it and I think it makes her look more grown up.

Clouds

2008-10-08T07:41:00.004-06:00

The kids were out waiting for the bus, and Brooke came in the house and said, "Mom!! Come look at the clouds. It looks like someone ran over them!" So I went out to look, and sure enough, they got ran over! What a beautiful morning!!

Simon

2008-10-03T12:18:00.005-06:00

Mom has the cutest kitty named Simon. Shelly and I were on moms porch keeping Simon company and he was so much fun to play with. He fell asleep on Shelly, sprawled like a comfy little baby. Then we would move him, and he was like putty in our hands, he would stay where we moved him. He would just wake up for a second, and pass out again. It was soooo cute, but maybe you had to be there. Anyway, here are some photos of our (I mean Moms) super cute kitty.
How cute is that.....

Corn, corn, corn....

2008-10-03T12:07:00.002-06:00

I got 5 dozen and Shelly got 5 dozen, and Aunt Kay and Mom helped. So did the little boys for about half of it. Will and Mason were such good helpers. Is there anything better than visiting while husking ("peeling corn" according to Mason) the corn. We had a really good time. I can't wait to eat the product of our labors with dinner. MMMM.

Watch this.....it's touching

2008-09-30T17:47:00.003-06:00

Just click on the link and watch the slideshow. Make sure you have the volume up.

Reflections of Christ

Have a laugh!!

2008-09-29T11:23:00.001-06:00

I saw this on Melinda's blog and just had to post it on mine also. It's great!! Enjoy

The forever waited upon HORSE RIDE!!!

2008-09-12T09:16:00.002-06:00

My kids (mostly Mason) have been begging Grandpa to take them on a horse ride. Now that Mason has his cowboy hat, he couldn't put it off any longer. (Grandpa told Mason that he needed a cowboy hat so he could ride a horse.) So he nicely gathered 3 mules and a horse to take all of the kids, big and little, on a ride. YAY!! They were so excited. Grandpa brought the horses home to their house and unloaded and saddled them all up and let the kids get a little taste by ChrisAnn and Melanie leading them around the field by their house. That wasn't enough, so he decided to load them up again and go up into the canyon and take the big girls and the 2 big grandkids on a trail ride. FUN!! Theone rode with Shelly, and Brooke rode with Melanie, ChrisAnn got her own horse and Grandpa got one to himself also, just in case he had to do a rescue mission for one of the kids if a horse/mule got out of hand.... Mason was sad that he didn't get to go on the trail, but at the bottom of the trail is a little parking lot and we met them at the end of the trail and traded off kids. ChrisAnn, Melanie, Theone, and Brooke got off and Grandma got on with Mason, Will got on with Shelly and I got on one myself. SCARY for ME!!! I don't like horses, they are to big for me, but I did it!! Then we got to ride from the bottom of the trail to Grandma and Grandpas house a little over a mile away. The kids all loved it and I was glad to get to the house, so I could get off of the horse, who rudely stepped on my foot after I got off!! It was a fun afternoon for everyone. THANKS GRANDPA!!!! Thanks for making the effort in making memories with/for the kids.