Caleb loves to sing.

Well, the kids do funny things all the time, but I usually forget to record them until its not a good time or I forget. So, I thought I would write this right now before I miss the chance.

Caleb loves to sing, he sings along with almost any song he can. On the way home for a family skating trip, we were listening to Hooty and the Blowfish song "Hold My Hand" (I think that's the name). Caleb started singing along except he modifies the chorus to "Hold My Hair" over and over.

Love You

HAPPY HOLIDAY

I can't belive that Christmas is almost here, about seven days-WOW!..I guess I better go get something for Mom.. The weather has been very cold for us who live in Washington County.. I know it isn't even close to Salt/Davis Co. or Colo..But it's still colder than I like.. but it is starting to warm up during the day and that is just fine with me and Mom.. I look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas time .or at least those who are coming this year.. Mom drove up to northern Ut. this past week end and took our truck up so she could take a thing we got for Christi and Chris.. She had clear roads for the trip on Friday.. but sunday when see and Jan went to attend the christmas program for the Spoken Word she spun out and took out a mail box and was very blessed to have missed a couple other thing that could have damaged the truck.. Bless Chet's heart he come to her rescue and help dig her out and took the truck back to their place while Jan and mom went on to Salt to the program.. They got there and back with some effort.. the storm was bad enough that Mom stayed until Monday before she started for home ... Just as she got off the freeway the truck started to give her problems with the transmission slipping etc..She called and told me about so I called the toyota shop and took it in tues morning the put it on the computer and found there is a chipped senser or sosmething like that.. so they made some adjustments for now and ccontacted the CO toyota tech to see how they want them to proceed.. I should find something out in the next couple of days[i hope].. Well it is late and I have to be up early so I can get to my 8am dentist appointment to have a new crown put on one of my back tooth.. I can hardly wait.. I love each of you all very much, may you all have the very special blessing from the Lord and the peace he offer us all... Love DAD

Monsoon

we got a taste of winter in AZ last night. We had a nasty wind storm roar in sometime around 9 or 10 last night and blew all morning. The power went out all night, and the rain was coming in sideways. It was as bad as the video feeds I've seen of tropical storms or Hurricanes. It was amazing! Trees were torn down all over, and stuff blown everywhere; with the power out we were afraid we were going to have to throw out a bunch of food from the fridge, but it still seemed to be cold when whe got up, so thank heaven for small blessings. Life on the base is interesting. I had my first experience with the national anthem today. Each day at 5 pm they play the national anthem after reveille, and all active duty personnel in uniform have to stop (if driving our outside) and stand at attention, and ALL traffic, military or otherwise has to stop as well. It was an amazing thing to stand there with my hand on my heart and feel as if the whole world had come to a stand still. Seems like we'd all appreciate this country more if we all did that during our day.
Love from AZ

Missing the fam!

SO this Thanksgiving we held at our house with all of Chet's family (those that could be here). I got to thinking, I really like spending time with my family! I don't mind Chet's family but there is certainly not nearly as much respect for other peoples things, time and space. Wow! I hope all of your thanksgivings went well and you all felt fat and sassy when it was over! I love you all!

Try Again

I had a new post all done and ready to post it when the system went down and I lost the whole thing... It was late so I did not re do another.. As most of you already know Dave and his family will be having Thanksgiving dinner with us and Stephen and his family.. I think the only thing better than that would be to have all the rest of you here with us... but I know that won't happen.. I hope everyone has a wonderful time in what ever you do and may we be greatful for all our blessing.... please remember the Lord, never give us more than we can handlle; all though some times it sure seems like it.. I was teasing Mom about taking Dave and his family out to the glitter hole while she was at work.. I know how much she likes to go out there with everyone.. She at first said that sound fun and then nothing else.. About 25 mins later she ask what the weather in the morning was going to be i told her I thought it was going to be warm, then she ask me if I couldn't take the kids for rides in the morning on the atv and wait until she got home from work before we took them out to the glitter hole.. So if we go to the glitter pit it will happen in the afternoon.. and that is just fine.. I love you all very much! you are in our prayers always.. may you all receive the special blessing you are seeking from the Lord, Love Dad

Plans certainly change

Well, in case you haven't heard, we will be coming out to Utah for Thanksgiving. We hadn't planned to, but Jennah's Grandma passed away last week and the funeral is Tuesday. Jennah's Dad was pretty insistent on having as many people there for the funeral as possible so Jennah and the kids are driving out tomorrow morning. Between school and work, I'm not going to make the funeral but rather than having Jennah rush back Wednesday so we could spend Thanksgiving together I'm going to fly out Wednesday evening and we will go down to St. George Thursday morning. Its just the way things work out sometimes. It'll be nice to see as many of you as possible. I wish I was going to have time in northern Utah to see you all, but my plane doesn't get in until after 8:00 so that would make any visit a bit late, especially with a drive the following morning.

Christi, I have thought about the whole idea of congratulations for callings, especially after everyone congratulated me at church today when I was sustained, and I've decided that for me it seems almost out of place. Congratulations almost implies that a person has accomplished something. I guess a person could argue that's true if someone is getting a calling. However, I think that now its time to accomplish something. Heaven knows I didn't accomplish anything that makes me feel ready to lead the young men. But, off we go and with Heaven's help all will go well. So, in short, congratulations aren't necessary but I could use all the prayers you can spare.

Caleb is really starting to show tremendous progress with speaking and comprehending what's going on around him. Its fun because its seems to be happening so suddenly. Oh, you know how I used to make all kinds of sound affects when I played games and with legos and such. Well, Caleb has taken up the torch and I think he has triple the number of sound affects is his repertoire than I ever imagined. I goes along well with his love of rockets, airplanes, and cars.

Signing of for now. Love you all.

Dave

Back on!

Sorry for the delay in posting. We have had our computer in storage and therefore didn't remember to get on and check things out. We are settled in to our small appartment as much as we can, considering its only for 3 months. Katie is going to her new school and for some reason has a block on remembering to follow her teacher out to the front to be picked up from school. She got lost once, and then if the sub teacher hand not have seen her go the wrong way, would have gotten lost a second time the next day. Needless to say, Jenn was pretty concerned.
Life working in the base has good and bad parts, as I'm sure Dave could attest. It is really cool helping out the brave men and women that serve our country. I think we are all looking forward to the day after boards. Life for us is somewhat of a quandary right now with things being so impermanent, and I think that we are all being effected by it somewhat. I just hope that the country is still in one piece by the time we graduate so I can find a job.
Anywho today we drove over to see the Mesa temple, and yesterday, we went hiking in White Tank reserve. Hope everyone is doing well. We look forward to being home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

loose ends

So I think most of you know the Martin Christmas Exchange List for this year, but here it is all in one place in case you have forgotten:
Christi -- David Jana -- Mindy David -- Stephen Mindy -- Christi Stephen -- Jana.

Hope you all are enjoying the onset of winter.
David, I would congratulate you on your calling, but only if you want me to. When I was called as provident living leader, I kept having people congratulate me, and I couldn't figure out why. then I realized they were all congratulating me because they were glad it wasn't them. . . But really, gratitude respect and love will take you a long way, and you already have a great handle on those traits. I also think that the youth who have things they are responsible for and expected to do to navigate their own spiritual journey will have more tools for life than the kids who just show up and have everything planned and done for them.

Still no employment news -- EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!
Love you all :).

HAPPY BE-LATED BIRTHDAY CHET!!!

Just wanted to say.....

I just wanted to drop a line and say that I love you all very much and am grateful for having such a good family! Glad that you are more than my family, you are my friends! Hope this Thanksgiving season finds you all well and you all know that I count you among my greatest blessings!
Dad and Mom, you also need to know how glad I am to have you as my parents! I am a better person, Mom and wife for having watched you and the example you are and have been. Thank you for the life lessons. I am truly blessed!

Hello All

Well, we've got some snow here today. They actually cancelled our church because of it. I don't know if its that bad, but the roads are a bit icy I guess. I was going to be sustained (hopefully) as the new Young Men's President today. Maybe they'll change their minds between now and next Sunday. It'll be a new challenge for us.

Everyone is well here. Jennah conducted the Primary Program last week in church. It was great. During several parts of the program, Eryn stood up next to Jennah on the bench and started to conduct the songs along with her. She was actually on the beat most of the time.

Love you all. We'll share more later.

Dave

Winter Time Is Here

Hi!everyone I guess it is time I did a post... This past week I had the flue but I am happy to report that I am almost all over it.. Mom is fighting a cold, but won't slow down long enough to really take care of her..I had a Dr's appointment this past Friday, my blood was 11.4 down from 11.8.. Part of the reason is becaause I got sick and it had that effect on me.. hopefully next appointment it will be back up and will keep going up to where it should be.. Today uncle Paul stopped by to visit us for a short time and take a tour of our home.. He was here on a business trip to meet an attorney about an Ins. case they are working on..I had a good visit with Dave today.. he had spent overnight on a scout trip.. He reported that it was pretty cold and it did snow on them a little bit, but they still had a very good time.. He also shared that he was just called to be the president of the Youngmen in his ward.. he said he isn't to sure about that calling.. I think like all things he will do very well after he learns a little about the calling..I have enjoyed the daily blogs that Jan, has been making over the past week.. Thanks Jan.. Stephen and his family are now in AZ. Glendale.. they left St George Fri. aaprox 8am and arrived there aprox 7pm. They where all tired but glad to be unloaded and in their new appartment..Love you all very much DAD

It has been a while

It has been a while since I made a post. (I didn't actually look at the date) SO I thought I would drop in a give a short update of whats going on here.
There really isn't much that has changed in the last little bit. We got Megan enrolled and transferred to her new school which in it's self has been a bit of a success for her. She also has been put on some new medication for depression which seems to be helping her. She told me yesterday she is starting to feel better. I asked her what made her say that and she said that she just sometimes smiles for no reason and she hasn't felt like doing that for a long time. She is working again too so that helps for sure!
Ford has finally got his drivers license and is still on the swim team. It is nice not to have to be taxi service for him everyday twice. I do miss the time in the car we had to talk about the events of his day though. For a while there we thought he was going to have to not be on the swim team, due to grades and citizenship, but he decided it really meant a lot to him so he kicked it in gear and got his grades up and his citizenship taken care of. So he is still on the team. His next meet is next Tuesday in Layton. I am excited to see him compete again, I will let you know how it goes.
As for Chet and I the same still applies we are working our lives away, but glad to be and to have something to do everyday. At least I am, Chet I am sure would love to be retired and not to have to get up and go to work everyday.
I love you all and hope to hear from you all soon. Oh, and I am trying to write everyday on my personal blog for blogger month this month. Try being the key word. So far I have gotten a post for everyday even if some of the posts have been made on the next day in the morning, because I forgot. If you would like to go read it and don't have the web address it is parkerspanic.blogspot.com Either that or just click on my name of to the side of here and I think you can get to it from there. Love you all g'night

Just me!

Hi all! I'm actually on the main computer so I can read and add a post. Usually it's unavailable to me so this is a treat!

I'm busy running all over, as if a chicken without a head, but I keep on clucking so I guess I must be OK! It's a long drive to Page, and don't even have the benefit of seeing family, but I'll be making the trip about every other week for awhile, so I found a benefit in a shop there that has some good things for my new venture! I keep learning new things and finding good connections, so it's ALL GOOD!

People seem to like the things I'm making so I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row, so I can seriously pursue this thing! Planning a trip to Quartzsite, AZ in January, as a buying trip, and hoarding pennies and selling old stuff so I have a bit of a budget to spend. It's awhile down the road so I have some time. Met a really fun new friend who will probably go with me, and may be able to stay with Bro. Weaver's brother which will make it affordable to go! I'm way excited!!!

Well, I've gone on and on. I told Chrisser that was a great way to get rid of a job he didn't like! I'm excited for his new adventure! I'm also excited for Megan and Ford and Steve & Jen and theirs as well! Isn't life grand?!!! I love you all so much and can't wait to see you next! Have a great time with all your fun growing experiences! Mom

Surprise!

Hey Look! I really can find time to post. Hope everyone had a suitably spooky Halloween. Our family got its' own little scare that still hasn't gone away. Chris got laid off from his job. We could use any extra prayers you can spare. We are calling this a backward blessing, and we will be ok! Love you all! :)

GUESS WHO!!

It's just me and Jan that seem to be the only ones to post any thing on this family blog.. I just want you all too know that I miss hearing from everyone.. Even Mom, isn't posting I guess she is to busy with her newest project energy stonesnecklesses etc.. But I still have noot given up hope that she will take a few mins. to post something.. I didn't have to go see the Dr. this Fri. and It felt like I forgot to do some thing important.. I have been going every week for so long that I missed see everyone at the Dr's office.. But at the same time it is nice to be at a point that I don't need to go every week.. Mom just arrived home from a very long day at Page AZ. She was there helping to folks at the new ZionWay office to get their files and paper work arranged to met standard.. we are doing well and greatful for all of you ... we miss you and hope all is well for each of you.. Love you Dad

I am at work and so I only have just a quick minute. The last couple of weeks has been just crazy! I sprained my ankle at Church over a week ago and that is taking its darn sweet time in healing. Ford was ordained a priest on Sunday by Chet! Sweet moment for us! Megan is getting ready to change schools in hopes that she might be able to graduate on time, also she got a job just in time to get sick! Hopefully she will be better before Monday when she is suppose to start at the new school and her job. Ford had his first swim meet yesterday, that was really fun to watch. I look forward to watching him swim and improve. I came back to work toady only to decide that it was too soon. I will try again to come back to work on Monday. Whew! What a couple of weeks. Will try to fill in details when I am not at work if anyone has any questions. Till then Love ya tons! Jana

HELLO!

HI! I sure miss hearing from everyone.. I have a Dr's appointment on Friday, I feel like everything will be good because I have enjoyed more energy,and I got a few more things done that needed to be completed.. It's hard to believe that Steve and his family have about 20-22 day left here in St George... Then they are off to AZ. where they just visited this past weekend to look for an appartment to live in while Steve comleted his 90 day placement.. They did find something very close to the Air Force Base, that will allow Steve to ride his bike to his new assignment... This has taken a lot of pressure from Steve and Jen to have this already done..Happy Birthday to everyone this month.. Paige, Ford, (16) the Twins and Ms. Christi.. I really hope that all birthdays have been great!!..I hope everyone is well and happy I miss you all and pray for all of your well being and peace in this very troubled world.. If any of you can arrange a little extra time for the blog, that would really be neat to hear from you all... Love DAD

GOOD REPORT

I hope everyone is doing very well , and that everyone is feeling well and young..Today I had my appointment with the Dr. my blood was up to 11.5, last week it was 11.3.. As long as it keeps going up I think I will avoid having to go into the hospital for 9 days to repeat the same proceedure they did when they first started to treat me for this condition... I am now going to see the Dr. every two weeks instead of every week.. I will take this kind of news every time.. it gives me alot of hope.. Uncle Max and aunt Pat, stayed with us from Fri to wed. they come down to st George to watch Clark, Curtis and David run the big race.. while they were with us they become attached to Lilly, Uncle Max come to the kitchen one morning and Lilly greeted him He said to Lilly "just you wait until grandpa get ready and he will take you for your walk".. He took her for three or four walks that day.. The next morning aunt Pat came out to the kitchen before uncle Max, came out and Lilly greeted her , and she said you just wait until uncle Max comes out and he will take you for a nice walk.. and he did... Needless to say Lilly was very sad to she them go home wed. afternoon.. But uncle Max said tell Frank to bring you up next week so we can visit you.. I didn't take her up there this weekend even though Mom went to Northen Utah for aunt Audary's funeral on Sat...She was one of grandpa Botts brothers wife and the last one living of that whole group.. Mom plans to pick up aunt Pat to ride with her to brigham city then I guess Mom plans to return home Sat afternoon as she has a church assignment... Our wheather is starting to feel a little like fall, we are able to leave our door open and let in the fresh air it has gotten down to 60 degrees by 4 in the morning but during to day it warms up to the high 70's that's just right.. I am sorry, I got just alittle carried away with this blogg.. I love you all and want to thank you for remembering me in your prayers and thoughts.. I feel it and I am very greatfull for it... dad

Thanks

I just wanted to thank you guys for taking such good care of my family while they were out and being such great hosts. I wish I could've come, but I hope we can do our family get together idea that I scuttled last summer this coming summer. I think that would be great.

I survived. My neighbors felt so bad for me that they actually brought me dinner a couple of times. That was very considerate. Of course, they don't understand how content I can be with peanut butter and honey/jam sandwiches.

I love you all and look forward to seeing you as soon as I can.

Dave

Such a good time!

First of all I need to say I am sorry for the mis-communication with Stephen and his family. I should have known when he asked if he could stay at my house on Saturday night that he didn't know we were getting together in Friday night. I am SO sorry! It would have been even more fun if you and your Family had been there to share time with us.

Friday I think was a big success! Thanks to Christi and Chris for inviting us all to invade you house and share our time there. There was a lot of good food and company. The kids ran around like crazy and had so much fun with their long lost cousins!

Saturday afternoon Jennah and the kids arrived at the Parker house. We really didn't have too much of a plan so we just hung out and visited and played outside and had dinner. After which they watched a movie before everyone finally retired to bed.

Sunday we slept in (8am) and relaxed for most of the morning. Jennah and I picked tomatoes for her to take home with her, and then we got ready to leave for Snow Basin. Chet had made an appointment with a former school friend to take her family pictures there, so we asked Jenn and the kids to go up with us. The scenery was beautiful! The leaves have started to change and the weather was perfect! The perfect day and place to take some pictures. We ended the day by having Mac & Cheese and Ice Cream for dinner. All in all a very busy, good day! All in all we had such a good time!

ALL IS RIGHT!!

HI! everyone, I do enjoy visiting and hearing from each of you.. It was special that Jan, would take time from her busy schedule to come down and cheer her Dad up, I would like to report that it did help alot.. I had to go to the iv center and get two units of blood on monday.. It took almost 5 hours to get it all taken care of.. But later in the week I felt a little more energy and could at least walk out to my truck with out feeling lke I had just completed a 5 mile race.. I have a Dr's appointment this friday and I pray that my blood level is up and holding and moving up.. If not the DR want to put me in the hospital for about 10 days and repeat the same thing I had when I first got sick.. and tht isn't a very good thought for me.. Mom drove up to Northern Utah this afternoon she got away about 1:30 pm she planned to stop and visit Jennah and the kids for awhile ,then she plans to go spend the night with Mindy.. While Mindy is working on friday she plans to visit the Jordon River Temple and the Family History Center... Friday pm. she will be at the family get togather at Christi's place.. Steve was thinking of coming up but didn't think there would be a place for his family to stay and he did not want to create a problem.. so I think he and his family are planning to drive to AZ. and see what they can find to rent when they move down there in Nov... he reminded me that time is going by very fast; and he is right.. I love all of you very much and you are in my thoughts and prayers always.. Love Dad

Good visit

I just wanted to do a quick up date.
I got to go to St George this week end and visit with Dad & Mom. We even got to visit with Steve & Jenni and their cute kiddos!
Dad is putting on a brave face, but is fighting a case of depression :( Makes me sad and I wish I knew what to do to help him feel better. I am hoping they will be able to get his blood levels back up soon and that will help. Keep them in your prayers I know they will appreciate it!
Dad made french toast for us this morning before we hit the road to come home. Steve & Jenni were there too and they enjoyed breakfast with us. When Dad held up a piece of bread and asked Kati if this piece would be big enough for her, she at first said yes, but then quickly added " Um, no! That piece can be my brothers!" I guess she didn't think the piece Grampa held up for her was as big as it needed to be. I also took Mom & Dad some plum jelly I made the day we left to come down. I have never made jelly before so I was not sure how it was going to taste. Kati informed me that it was Delicious! :) Made my day! It was in actuality pretty good if I do say so myself. Not bad for the first time.
Anyway, Megan and Ford are starting swim team tomorrow for the first time ever. They are pretty excited about it and I am hoping it will be really good for their self esteem. Here's hoping! I need to go now though and make sure they are getting in bed. This early morning seminary has been good for them but it is hard to get up in the AM. Hope you all are well! Especially you Daddy! Let me know if there is anything you might need! Love ya'll Jana ;)

Fall sports begin for us tomorrow and 5/6 kids are playing. Jennah also wanted to coach, so she's coaching Brielle's soccer team. Its going to make the next several weekends a busy, except when Jennah is in Utah. Tomorrow we have a game at 9:00 for Kylee and Caleb (Soccer), 10:00 for Paige (Soccer) and 12:00 for Jesse (Flag Football) and Brielle (Soccer). At least all the soccer games are at the same park. I'm sure we'll enjoy it all, but its also going to be a bit hectic.

Can I just tell you its been a bit tough to get back into student mode again. So far, everything has been a bit basic, but I look forward to getting as good at using CAD as I can. Who know where this may take me, but I'm hoping for good things.

Love you all. More later.

What"s happened To Our Blog ??

Hi! Everyone I hope all is well and that you all are enjoying life with all of it's ups and downs.. This has been one of those down times for me because of low blood.. But at the same time it has been very humbling and I have felt a closeness with my Heavenly Father.. When I find my self getting really down I remember the scripture, and his promice that he will never give us more than we can handle.. and that he would be there to give his personal support to each of us and I know that he keeps his promise and have felt him to be very close by.. Our little dog really likes Stephen... She also his kids sometime .. until Ryan holds her mouth shut or kick her because she won't chase the toy when he wants her to... We just had her groomed and my what a differance it made for her and us.. When she has her hair cut she changes color, she is a much lighter shade of gray... I guess Mom is scheduled to attend a conference in Salt Lake this week end and will be traveling up later on THR. and plans to stay at the Rupple's home hopefully they will have a chance to have a great visit.. BYU won their first big game and looked very strong to start the season I hope that it carries through the entire season for them.. I know I am much easier to live with when they win.. I love all of you very much!! It really would mean a lot to me if others would join Jan, and I on our blog, I really do miss hearing form your part of the world.. Take time too enjoy what is going on around you.. It may surprise you how special it can be... DAD

Visiting

Our family was a bad example today and we didn't go to church. I had been up late working on spaghetti sauce and was having stabbing pains in my back and Chet had been out late doing tractor work (blah blah blah) excuses, excuses! Anyway, we didn't go! Instead we ended up out in Salt Lake, and due to the fact that I am in the middle of canning I won't be able to make it to the girlie's Art show, we decided to stop in and visit Christi and Chris.
Chet and Ford still hadn't been to their new house so it was fun to get the tour of their place now that they have been hard at work for the last nine months.
It is amazing how much of a difference paint and a little TLC can make in a short time. The house looked fantastic! Especially the girls bedrooms! SO cute.
We also got to look at some of the art the girls did over the summer, and I have to say they did a great job!

It was good to visit with them and see what they have been keeping busy with. I wish we could visit with all of you! I miss you all tons. Take care and I hope to hear from you all soon.

I HIOPE EVERYONE IS WELL

MOM, arrived home about 12 midnight.. She felt a strong need to attend Cara Jo wedding shower given by aunt Beth and aunt Pat.. Mom was right ! they all were delighted she was there and very happy she would make the special effort for Cara.. Mom got to visit with Jan and her family for a short time or until she fell a sleep.. she stopped by Mindy's place and spent some time with her and was able to see her new appartment and the way she has it arranged.. Mom, found another gem store in Ogden out on 3rd st. she now has more stones.... Jan, gave us some of her veggies out of her garden.. Jan, I am very impressed it is all great.. she also stopped by a fruit stand and got some new potatoes, corn, and some fresh green beans.. I would not be a bit surprised if that isn't what we have for sunday dinner.. While Mom was driving up North she went through a section where they are doing a controled burn.. she said it was so bad that she had a hard time breathing until she got away from the burn.. Tonight the burn got out of control and they had to close dowm the road to salina etc.. the hill sides where ablaze and bright red the fire was so hot.. she come south past beaver before it become easier for her to breath again..It was good to have her home safely.. Lilly thought so too, in fact she looked for her the whole time she was gone.. and was so happy to see her when she arrived home tonight.. I love you all very much and wish I could spent more time with you all.. but I also know that everyone is very busy with school getting ready to start next week.. May we all take time to enjoy and smell the roses.. love you all very much.. OH! Stephen got moved and now the dream room is much fuller than ever before.. but it is nice to see them more often..

SUPERWOMAN!

My wife is superwoman! She has single-handedly packed most of our possessions and has things ready for our move on Saturday. Jenni's parents are planning on coming up to help get us back to St. George. It seems very surreal to be leaving after 3 years of being here in OR. We have that feeling of being in limbo: our house here is empty and we don't really have a place to call home where we're going, since we are only going to be there for 3 months. I guess we will discover what the life of a vagabond is like over the next 9 months.
We had a really good time this last weekend at the coast with Jenni's sister and her family. The water was so warm, I was up to my chest in it, fully clothed! I felt like Dad when he dove in after David at the swimming pool on our St. George vacation. Life is moving apace, and there's still lots to be ready, so we'll see you all on the other side of this move.

Thanks For The Thoughts

Dear Family, Thanks for the calls and texts wishing Mom and i happy anniversary. It has been 43 years.. We keep going we may just make 50 yet.. Mom and I had a good day togather she took the whole day off I had a treatment on my neck early in the morning that allowed me to make the drive up Zion park for a visit.. MOM got to visit a couple of rock shops while Lilly and I waited for her in the truck.. she found some neat new stones.. While we drove home we located a produce stand that was selling corn,tomatoes, and all kinds of mellons.. we decided to get some corn and tomatoes,watermellon.. go home and have our special dinner there.. I can't tell you all how good it all tasted.. The following afternoon I had my fellow up appointment with DR. Watson he did the surgery.. I have a little infection in one spots on my belly.. I was told to go home and hot pack those spots.. so far it seems to be helping to reduce the hard core in my belly.. I started taking my meds for my blood on thr. I hope it dosen't cause more infection there.. time will tell right??.. Our weather has been some what cooler the normal.. infact when Mom walked the dog last night she had to wear a sweater.. I thank everyone that has posted, I really enjoy reading about what is going on with everyone.. You are all in our prayers and thoughts.. May you all have peace and joy we love you

For Mom and Dad

Happy Anniversary!!!

Love Dave

August Already

August second already. Remarkable!

Live is good here. Everyone is getting revved up for another round of schooling, including me. I will be starting school in a couple of weeks to get my Professional CAD certification. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it afterward, but that's the course I'm headed on right now.

For those of you who look at Facebook, you have already read about the passing of our dearly beloved, oil burning Honda. Yes, regrettably, it finally gave up the proverbial ghost. So, I just had to go out and get a small pickup. That was tough, but I put aside all reservations and found myself a little Mazda pickup. I'll drop some pictures on here tomorrow. Wouldn't that be a shock to see two postings from me in two days. That's for you Dad.

Well, for now I'll end. More later, especially about the kids since they provide much more fun and entertaining subject material.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Chris - meant to call, we were camping. What does that have to do with not calling? Nothing. But its the best excuse I've got.

Love you all

Dave

Quick trip....

Hello everyone, We just got home today from a quick trip to St George. Seems like that is the only kind we seem to be able to work out these days.

This weekend was a perfect time to make a quick trip though. The temp wasn't as hot as we all know it can get, and we were also privileged to some thunderstorms while we were there. It doesn't rain much during the summer months so it was a treat! (an it smelled SO good!)

Dad seems to be recovering pretty good, I think he is more uncomfortable than he ever lets on, but he tries to make the best of things. His pooch loves him so much, she has a hard time staying away from the sore areas, but it is cute to see how they interact with each other. She really is a cute dog.

While we were there Dad & Mom took us out to the "Glitter Pit" where Ford and Chet, and Mom for that matter where in their height of heaven looking for the 'big' stones. It was a neat place and a fun ride. I am sure we will have to venture out there on future a visit.

Megan wasn't with us, she had a job interview, which prevented her from going, so our trip felt like it was missing something the whole time. Only it wasn't something, it was someone. Both of my kids play such an important part in my life and I really miss them when they are not around! They are growing up so fast and I have to admit, I am not looking forward to the day they "fly the coop" so to speak. Not to say that I want them to stay home forever either though. I am just painfully aware, when they are not with us on a trip like this, how much I truly enjoy having them around and how much I will miss that when it changes! Ford is such a great guy! He helps me out so much whenever I ask. He might grumble a little but he always steps up to the task. He has such a big heart and has such an amazing testimony! I know he will make a great missionary. Not too long from now either. Megan is going to be a senior this year and Ford will be a sophomore! I only have three more years of basic education to get them through. It almost doesn't seem possible, but I sent the paper work in just this last Monday so I know that it is for real!

Anyway, I always get rambling on way more than I ever intend to, but I love you all and I miss you tons! Christi and Mindy, I have veggies if you feel so inclined to come and get some! Onions, beans, zucchini, yellow squash and the pumpkins are doing fabulous! So if you have a minute, even if you can't hang out all day, feel free to come out and share in our "spoils" (blessings) . I would love to see you.

I have included a couple of pictures of our trip to the glitter pit. I would love to hear for you all. Hope things are good however busy they might be for you.

THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS

I returned home from the hospital about 2pm the Dr. I wsa waiting to see was doing surgery and could not get away to visit with meand mom so he had his PA come in and arrange things so I could get the belly drain out and get the orders I needed to take home to try and make me all {better} MOM has been agreat support through out the whole problem.. In fact It was her efforts that got me to get to the hospital and have it checked and found out I had a hot apendixs sp..While in the ER room getting examined the nurse accsessed my port, where I have blood drawn from, and meds injected.. I think she set me up for extra pain she had to tape it dowm in the hariest part of my chest so this morning when I was checking out I lost alot of hair from that spot.. I see adds where ladies do that to them selves.. they must be nuts that really hurts!!.. The dog was really happy to see both mom and I at home at the sametime.. she was so over joyed that she jump into my belly oops..I Love you all so very much, and felt all the prayers offerd in my behalf.. they really realy help get done what needed to be done for me.. Love you all and so very much enjoy reading all your posts {DAVE} it has been a while.. I love you all and wish you all well!!

The simplest answer is usually the right one

... and the most often overlooked! I had a rather fun experience in clinic today where I couldn't get a kid to see clearly out of one eye behind the lens machine, even though I knew he could see without it. Funny thing, you'ld have thought I would have pulled the machine away to see if there was something wrong with it, and I did everything to it, except put my head in it and look through it, but I didn't, so I spent a ton of time trying everything I could think of to get this kid to see, and finally through my hands into the air and asked the attending for help, first thing she did was check the machine, and sure enough, even though I had just used it on a previous patient, it was messed up somehow. So moral of the story, don't go looking for complex answers until you've ruled out the simple ones. And yes I made a complete clown of myself re-learning this!

Nothing new

Sorry I haven't posted for a bit but there really isn't anything new going on here. The kids are still looking for jobs but neither of them have had any luck.
I am going with Chet as often as possible and loving every chance I have to be with him. I also have to say how nice it is that, Megan and Ford are old enough to be able for me to do that.
When I am not with Chet I am working out in the garden, which is doing very well, we got peas, beans and zucchini from it so far. Everything else looks great and I am hoping to keep the squash bugs at bay so I will have both Pumpkins and an array of squashes. I am loving it!
Chet is still crazy busy with tractor stuff and I help him out with that when ever there is need for me. Today it took all of us to do a couple of jobs in Layton. I will be feeling every part of my body in the morning. That is if I can even move.
Anyway, I have just been constantly on the move since school let out and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. I am hoping to get down to see Mom and Dad but not sure when that will take place either. Just playing life day by day.
Love you all, Jana

finally!

it's me! i cannot believe how quickly summer is flying by. it seems like school got out just yesterday and we are already contemplating (or dreading) school shopping. we had a great visit with dad and mom the weekend of father's day. the girlies keep begging to go back. we have gotten messy doing art, seen frogs eating crickets end even made homemade strawberry jam. in the midst of all this life stuff, somehow i have managed to miss birthdays (SO SORRY!!) and acquire a terrifying mountain of laundry. i'm sure that you'll be relieved to know that gilli still wears her zucchini and madi has her times tables memorized. we are soaking up summer! i hope your summer is going joyfully and messily enough to suit you all. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! :)

Trip/Dog

MOM, and I had a great trip over to Colo.. to visit Dave and Jennah and the children.. We got some belated birthday gifts for Jesse and Jennah.. The boys had a chance to go on one last fishing trip before I retired from that also.. It was just too hard for me to climb up some of the steep river banks.. While I am sad and disapointed I have to remember thing are just what they are ,and I can't do much to change it, but try and use good judgement.. I am so sorry to the ones I told I would take them fishing.. I will try and make it up to you some way.. I was very happy to remember the knot the grandpa Martin, showed me how to tie so many years ago when I first started learning how to fish.. anyone who may want me to teach them how I am most willing..I took our little dog to the groomer to day for the works.. as I gave the leash to the groomer Lilly, turned too me and begged me not to leave her there.. when we picked her up after she was finished she wanted to get out there posthast..I want all of you to know how very much you are all loved by mom and I... and how much we enjoy visiting with each of you.. The offer is always open for you to come to st George for a visit and some fun.. please take care!! and if you can.. take some time amd share on the blog..

Clinic

Things are going well in our neck of the woods, though not much has changed from the last time we posted. I am rotating through the school's clinics for 7 more weeks or so, and have had a good experience so far. Its amazing actually putting things to practice, how much of what I have learned actually stuck. Its been very interesting seeing the different things I can pick up on, and can miss as well. The other day I had a patient that had diabetic swelling on the back of the eye that I didn't pick up on, so that was a little bit embarrassing, but it was the first time I had ever seen it (hopefully) so I have to cut myself a little slack. Jenni is still busy being super mom, taking the kids for long walks, doing homeschool stuff with them, as well as taking excellent care of them. Other than that, I am golfing here and there, and managed to get eagle number 2 the other week. So that was good for me.

Things Are Good

If you don't already know by now , Mom, got me a dog for fathers day.. Her name is Lilly, and is about 2 yrs. old.. salt and pepper in color.. Maddi and Gilly, really like her alot. while they visited with us that week end they walked her all over and competed to see who could get lilly, to sit on their laps the very most.. the dog really loved all the attention they gave her.. So Mom, has had to get up 15 mins early to take her for a walk before she goes in to work.. I at first didn't want much too do with her, and told mom we should find her a different home.. But that has changed she is very smart and loves to play chase the toy.. at least in the house.. We had trouble with her going big job in the house so we isolated her to just the living room so we could make sure she went out side.. We have since had a block wall put in across the edge of the drive way and will have a gate built and put in up in about 7 days.. Right now we have the gate opening blocked.. and can leave the basement door open a crack so she can come in or out.. This seem to have made a big difference for all of us.. The things we are using to block the opening blow down today and she got out and was standing on Joy's wall barking at her little black dog.. she came over and they are now friends.. I was a bit surprised though when lilly come in the front door because i thought i had her secured in the back yard.. at least she didn't take off..

In case you didn't know

http://parkerspanic.blogspot.com/ Just in case you didn't know and would like to check it out, this is my personal blog/journal of sorts. There are pictures and stuff on this blog that I don't put on our family blog. I don't want to take all the space and that sort of thing....... I'm sure you know what I mean. (maybe) Anyway for those who are interested we went to Shoshone Falls on Fathers Day and there are photos of our adventure. :) I love you all and like Dad would love to hear more from you if you find you have just a minute to share your life with me. I am really missing you all! Jana

Toady!

Today was a nice sun shinny day! It was so nice to go out and work in the garden for a little while.
I was thinking that everything would have washed away with all the rain that we have had. That or just plan died from getting too much water.
Things were actually doing really well. Especially the weeds! I spent almost an hour and a hlaf just weeding the potatoes! Thats all I got done because I went with Chet to do some tractor work. Boy are my shoulders sore.
Megan left for girls camp today. Our stake went up to the Heber Valley Camp. This will be Megan's last time at girls camp and I hope she has a really good time. She doesn't like going very much because she gets homesick really bad. But she has enough cell service that she can text me at night before she goes to bed so that helps a little.
Ford went to scout camp last week. It was only a three day camp but he had a lot of fun! He got to shoot guns and go Rappelling. He did a 70 foot rappel. He said I am rotten because I gave him my fear of heights. I told him that I didn't give it to him because I still had all of my own!
Chet is still working like crazy. If it is not at his air machine job, than it is with the tractor business. I don't like that he works so much but I am grateful for the work and for being able to pay the bills.
Anyway, I guess that is all for now. I will take pictures of the garden soon so you all can see how it is coming along. Love you and hope to hear from you all soon!

Hope everyone is great

I have talked with some of you on the telephone and the reports have all been good.. We even got Jennah, call on her birthday (SAT).. I still miss the entries on the blog.. I think that is my daily wellness therapy because it gives me something to look foreward to.. I can only clean the house just so much, and watch so many movies; although I have watch some very good movies the past few weeks.. I am really looking foreward to the start of the up coming football season at BYU.. not until Sept... I guess MOM, and I are planning to come up north and visit with mom's brothers and sisters and the kids get togather at Christi's place.. Don't know just how we can be in two places at once.. but we will some how! Give everyone our love, and have a great summer with lots of fun things to do..

From the far reaches of Colorado

Hi all

I'm not going to apologize for not posting more often because there's not much use to that, it doesn't change the past frequency of posting. Here's an update on our crew.

Jesse, Brielle, and Jennah just finished their spring soccer season. Jesse and Bree played on a 5 man team together and Jennah was their coach. We were initially disappointed that there weren't enough players for at least two full squads, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. In fact, I've decided, under certain circumstances, these types of games are funner because there's no time for anyone to stop and the action is constant. It was fun to see Jess and Bree improve so much, they were both very aggressive and played hard, smiling almost all the while.

Jesse earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light. He'll be moving out of the Cub Scouts and into Boy Scouts this month.

Paige has just finished swimming lessons. She's a little fish and we hope to help her keep it up. Her favorite book currently is Green Eggs and Ham. She's constantly wanting to read it to anyone who will listen. It's fun to see how much she enjoys learning.

Kylee is our resident dramatic story teller. I wish you could see her face as she tells the story. Her eyes grow large enough to swallow the universe and the earnestness in her expression is absolutely captivating, and very humurous. Its also very funny to hear her classify small and large things because she often refers to them as "babies" and "mommies" respectively.

Caleb is making great progress in his speech. Its very satisfying to see him get better and have others tell us how much he talks now. If he has an audience, he will go on and on and on and... In addition to his speech, he has added a veritable sound studio worth of sound affects to his repetoire of expression. This, in addition to his current enchantment with airplanes (everything somehow turns into an airplane, including himself), makes for a very dynamic conversation.

Eryn is growing so much. She is learning to express herself better all the time. She loves to play with all the kids, regardless of what they're doing. Yep is still her favorite word, and she has a tremendous independent streak. We're trying to help her learn to express the latter without emphasizing her point with a scream.

Jennah is enjoying the fact that she has a summer break as well as the kids. Now she is in full planning mode for the next round of home shooling. She has started taking bike rides with a neighbor in the mornings a couple of times a week. She is also making all of our soap and shampoo and laundry soap. It's pretty cool. She might even turn it into a business and involve the kids. She is Activity Days Leader and just got called to be the Primary Chorister (she will smack anyone who laughs at that - Ouch!!).

I am working away. I've recently changed positions and am now back out at Schriever AFB, sitting in almost the exact same seat I had as a Captain, doing almost the same work. I'm looking at more schooling this Fall, probably another graduate degree. I have been called to be Assistant Deacon's Quorum Advisor and Assistant Scout Master. Its the first calling outside of the Elder's Quorum Presidency I have had, with a brief stint in Sunday School and a few months in YMs, since Jennah and I got married. I'm looking forward to it.

We love you all and I'll get to work on that teleporter so we can see each other at will.

Love you
Dave

Visit with grandma

We had granny here for a bit and had a lot of fun showing her all over the place. I think we did a good job of wearing her out! Here's some of the pics from the things we did and saw

Everyone Well

Dear family, I have enjoyed each of your blogs.. The problem I see is they don't come often enough... I know everyone is very busy and I am just an ole retired person with maybe more time on my hands than I like.. But i can honestly say it's more than that.. it becomes a conformation that you are all okey and a time to show case your families.. all which is great stuff for grand parents..It's also an important but small way to stay togather.. I feel that more now since aunt Eelje, passed away.. I love you all and enjoy calling and talking with each of you and your families. I hope everyone is well and having the beginings of a great summer.. Don't forget it really would be alright to come visit us in St George..
Love DaD

So, I did it!

I may be a few years late and I may not have done it with my brothers and sisters but I did it! What exactly is it that I might have done, that would be post worthy? Well let me just tell you. As you may or may not know one of my biggest fears is heights. (if you didn't know, you do now ) Anyway, just keep that in mind. I took a journey the week end of May 15th thru the 17th, because it was April's birthday. I told her I would come down so we could celebrate with her. So on Friday afternoon Megan and I loaded up the car and headed out. We got to Mom and Dad's house I guess about 10 pm there about. On the drive down we had been texting back and forth with April (she was at work, that's why I didn't just call her) trying to decide what is was that we might be going to do to celebrate. A Friend of ours from school and a Friend of her had also made the journey southward for the birthday party. They wanted to go to Vegas, but April wanted to go hiking in Zion's or someplace like that. She said she wanted to hike the narrows or Angel's Landing. I told her I would rather not do the narrows (water would be one of my other fears) but that it was her birthday and she should do what she wanted. Also I told her to keep in mind that I had Megan with me and if they chose to go to Vegas I would not be going with them ( our friend has no religious standing) so just to let me know what they decided they would do. Long story short (sort of) We ended up going to Angel's Landing. The funny thing is that all of us except Megan and Michelle (the friend Amy's friend) we were ALL afraid of heights. I think April chose this hike trying to show her self that she could conquer something. None of us (except Michelle) was in the best shape of our lives, so less than half way up we were huffing and puffing. At one point we passed this little girl, waling with a couple and the couple told us we were almost there. The little girl promptly announced "No, you're NOT! Not even close!" The couple told her not to tell us stuff like that and she said " WELL! Their NOT!" and kept going down the mountain. Haha, at that point I was wondering what we were really doing. It didn't look that bad for the map, so I was really thinking they had been exaggerating the whole fear of heights thing. HA was I ever wrong! It took us longer than most people to get to the top, but we had a goo time getting there! We would randomly break out in song and laughter. It really was a good time. We got to where you can start seeing out over the canyon and I thought we were there, and I actually breathed a sigh of relief, until someone told us we still had 500 feet to go or so. I have to be honest, I almost started to cry! When they showed me where we still had to go I really almost started freaking out! It took everything I had from my toes up to even be able to keep going. Oh ya, and Megan encouraging me to just keep going because we had come this far and we were so close to the top. I finally decided I would go on but that I had to go first and I wasn't looking back to see if they were keeping up with me or anything. I can tell you the only thing more scary than going up the last part was coming down! But! I did it! Thanks to Megan and my friends I got to see an amazing view and the wonders of God! Below are some of the pictures of the great adventure! I love you all and wish it had been you guys (and Megan) I had hiked it with! I am glad if it couldn't be you though I got to do it with April.

Angel's Landing Pictures

this first picture is Megan, April Michelle and Amy

ummmmmmm. . .

so, if post frequency is any indicator, life has become a bit crazy for the whole bunch of us. this is a long over-due update from our little corner of the world.

we are mournfully singing a funeral dirge for the blue pathfinder. who knew transmissions could actually combust??? we are a one car family for now, until we decide what to do. it's an interesting adjustment. i have realized how much i like being able to come and go on my own whims. probably good to be reminded of how to coordinate every once-in-a-while.

if i thought the inside of our house took a lot more time to keep up with, it is nothing compared to the yard. i think i understand why some people choose to live in apartments their whole life. but it is so wonderful for the girlies to have a place to run and draw on the sidewalk, so we mow the lawn, praise the joys of a "soon-to-be-working sprinkler system" and spend a lot of time outside.

we are looking forward to june 25 & 26, and wish it could be the whole clan getting together. maybe next year?
the girlies have two more weeks of school before summer break! i am excited for summer with my kiddos -- hopefully the sibling squabbles will be minimal and the fun factor memorable.

hope all your corners are happy and well!. love & hugs!!

Dear Family, I hope everyone is well and happy.. I guess Mom, had a great mothers day, I know she enjoyed talking to each of you who call to talk with her. We are staying busy and trying to stay out of trouble.. Hope to hear from everyone very soon..

Board Results

Board scores came in and I passed! I needed a 300 to pass and scored 524, so I was really stoked. Its good to have one less thing to worry about.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Sooooo Close!

Well Its the week before finals, and I don't know what I'm going to do to get myself in gear to study for them, but I guess I just have to. From our neck of the woods, things are going well. We just watched Akeela and the Bee, and I highly recommend it to any who have not yet seen it. I also managed to get in contact with one of the people that I helped teach in Spain. It was so good to get in contact with this guy after 10 years. Its amazing the joy that comes from speaking to someone to whom you helped introduce the gospel; it brings life to the scripture in D & C.
Other than that, things are going fine. Jenni and I had to talk in church over the last 2 weeks. I spoke last week and she this week because She was ill as was the wife of the scheduled speaker. She spoke this week and did a great job. Props to Megan for going with modesty. That is really cool.
I found out where I am going for my first internal rotation. I lost the lottery process for where I wanted to go, so I was going to have to travel to Vancouver once a week and Portland twice a week, but thanks to the kindness of a fellow classmate, I was able to switch out of that and now just have to go to Portland twice a week. It should be good,. Its amazing to think that its already time to start 4th year. My how the time has flown.
Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to ramble, so I'm done for now. Miss you all.

A quick update

Just a quick update to let you all know, things are going the same here with us and all is well. Megan recently went to her first Prom, and I think it went well. I was so proud of her and the other girls in our ward. You know how on Sunday after the dance, the girls wear their dresses to church to show them off. Well we had 5 or 6 girls in our ward that went, and ALL of them had on modest dresses! It was so nice to see how much effort had gone into making them look nice while modest at the same time. So, ya I survived her first real dance with a date! I hope the next one doesn't come too soon! ;)

Anyway, I am just working away and counting down the days till summer break is here. Not too long now, but at the same time it seems like forever. I think I look forward to it more than the kids do. (except maybe Ford) Chet too is still working a lot and now tractor season has started. Things have been good so far, but time will tell.

Ford and Megan are both still struggling with school and I am just hoping they will get enough credit to pass all of the classes. Sad that at this point that is what I am hoping for.

Ya know, I know that after school the problems they will face, and bring home for me to help them face, may only get bigger and harder. Still, I am looking forward to the day that I am not sick to my stomach over homework that may or may not be getting done and handed in. If you guys have an extra prayer, you could for sure direct it their way. Thanks.

Love you all and hope things are going well fro you all. Miss you all Love Jana & fam.

P.S. Thanks to Mom for making Megans dress modest!

Spring

Dear Family, I hope your weather has been as pleasant as ours.. Mom, and I are trying to go for as long as we can with out starting the AC.. We are using the fans opening the doors and windows.. by about 1 am, in our bed room it is about 70-68 degrees and most of the time it cools off to 65-67, and that isn't but sleeping weather. Mom, and I have been listening to the Charlie Bone books on cd's Mom is now as hooked as I am .. But the are really fun to listen to..In fact I just ask the library to hold books 6&7, It really dosen't take me to long to get them finished..
I hope everyone is doing well and all the sickness is gone by the wayside and all is well.. Love Dad

Aunt Eelje

Dear Family,
we just got back from aunt Eelje's funeral.. It was one of the best I have been to in a long time..They had three muscial selections.. How Great thou art, OMy Father, and Come Ye Disconsolate.. Then her Bishop made a few remarks after which aunt Faye, did a life schetch with some great memories that was fun and very special.. they ask uncle Paul, to speak... He did a wonderful job.. but he said this was the hardest one he has done yet... It was good to see all the people that we have'nt seen for a long time but is sad the only time we see most of them is at funerals or weddings.. I would like to thank Jan, Megan, Ford and Mindy for coming to the funeral services.. everyone said to tell all of you that couldn,t be there.. you are all missed!! Love Dad..

This summer

Dear Family

We sure hope you are doing well, or getting well quickly. I know Christi and Chris are on the getting well side of things.

I needed to let you all know that we will not be able to make the family get together this June. Circumstances are such that we wont' be able to make it this year. We do want to look ahead to next year and we will plan to come out and hopefully we can all get together. I feel badly because we really were planning on it.

Jennah may be coming out this Fall to get some fruit from her parents, if they have enough to spare. If that does happen, she does want to try to see as many people as possible while she's got the chance. So, we'll let you know as that gets closer.

Brielle is nine now, and sometimes thinks she's nineteen. No surprise there. She is going to have a party this Saturday, the last one for her.

We love you all.

Dave

Aunt Eelje

I just received a phone call from Aunt Faye, letting me know that aunt Eelje, passed away 4/15/09 at aprox. 1240 AM. I didn't know she was in the hospital..I know she has had trouble with her heart and lungs.. I guess her body just wore out with everything it has gone through.. I don't have any other information to share with you at this time.. I can tell you all that it's a different emotion when you lose a brother or sister; at least for me..

hi daddy!

so sorry i missed your birthday -- our little clan has basically hunkered down in bed for the last several days. being sick is really stinky. we are doing our best to speak as little as possible, to prevent coughing. we will be fine eventually. we'll let you know when that is.
hope your day was fabulous! love to everyone from the quarantined ones. hope you are all much better than we are!

just for clarification

I just wanted to clarify my golf tournament was only on Saturday. We didn't to very good but it was still fun. So I did not golf on Sunday.

APRIL 9TH!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hope it is joy-filled and memorable. you are wonderful and very very loved. your day is truly worth celebrating.
just don't get too close or we might accidentally cough on you. we're all sick here at our house. recovery from the yuckies always seems to come too slowly. spring is a big tease this year. maybe she is afraid of commitment? today has been gorgeously rainy and cold. hope it clears up by Sunday for our annual egg hunt. wish we could all be together for Easter hope your worlds are good! love you all!!! :)

Hi Dear Family,
I so enjoy reading about you and your families.. Mom and I are getting better each day. I hope by May, when Mom plans to visit Stephen and his family she will be over everything.. Our weather has been warm, cold or cool one day it will be just right for all of us.. Mom and I share birthdays this week; we don't feel any older in our minds but our bodies are moving alot slower..
I love you all very much and hope that everyone is do great and over any illness they may have suffered.. You get a chance to come and visit we would love to have the time with you..
Love Dad

Hello everyone

Well, isn't life moving foward inexorably. We are all well here. Children are growing so fast everyday. Eryn is the busiest two year old we've had. She's all about being busy about as much as possible. "Where is Eryn" is a common, though unwelcome question. Last Sunday, we got so engaged getting everyone ready for church (it starts at 9:00), that we lost focus of where she'd gotten off to. I found her in the kitchen with the sugar out and a bag of cereal. The Cereal bag had a couple of cups worth of sugar inside with the cereal. There was also a healthy pile of sugar that she had spilled while pouring scattered all around the kitchen floor. She looked at me with a bit of chagrin, pointed, and said "Look." Incidentally, that's what she usually says when she's managed a bit of something or other, "Look", as if to ask if we can't see how original and wonderful her latest escapade is. This is not to say she doesn't know when she's in trouble, or thinks she might be. None of the other kids have jumped nearly as high with the simple mention of their name when they're starting into mischeif. Her other favorite word is, "Yep." Eryn are you getting into trouble? Response: "Yep", and off she goes to execute her plan.

Caleb was especially adorable during one bit of conference today. He came up to me, grabbed my face in his hands, looked me in the eye, and said, "Dad, you're my friend" and followed that up with a kiss. There's not much to top that for me. He even continued on to Jesse and did the same thing. He repeated that a couple of times through the day, it was great.

That's it for now. More later. We love you all and miss you lots.

Dave

Attacked by what???!!!!

I just was attacked by a hummingbird! We were on a bike ride, and the thing ran into my visor! Jenni started screaming because it latched onto my shirt after it hit and was hanging on for dear life. It was so cool though, because I got to hold it in my hand and touch it (I had gloves on) and show the kids. It was beautiful! I put it up in a tree and went to go get a camera, and as soon as I got close to where it was it flew off, so at least it was alright. So, in the style of Aesop, the fable of this is: Always look out for hummingbirds when biking.

Wonderful slide show of the Savior

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/video/video.php?v=527194436251&ref=mf
This is on John Bytheway's facebook page; the link should take you right to it.

Optic Cup

This weekend is my first ever golf tourney! Its just a piddly little contest hosted by the sports vision club, but it should be fun. We're going out today to play a warmup nine holes and tomorrow will be 18. Should be tons of fun.

Hi! Everyone,
I sure miss hearing from you all,I just think you all have very interesting things to share about your families or kids.. I just miss watching you all grow a little older and wiser with each post you share.
Mom and I are working at getting better from being sick.. Last Friday I stopped by Mom's office so she could use my truck to move some things to a storeage unit and get my final evaluation to get off of home health.. While I was there several people stopped by to wish me well and tell me I "look like hell" I thought I was looking better than the middle of the week.. So I went home and took a nap for a little while..I love you all and ask you all to please share with your old dad..

Some hope.

Well, I really don't have much new going on here, but I have to share something that happened on Monday that gives me hope.
We (the kids & I) had Monday off, as it was the end of term and teachers had to do grades.
So, not wanting to miss an opportunity to spend time with Chet, I of course went to work with him. Leaving my two off spring to figure out for themselves,what they were going to do for the day. I had previously tried to encourage them both to make plans, but to no avail.
Anyway, Chet and I head out to Salt Lake, and I get a phone call from Megan asking if she and Ford can go see "Race to Witch Mountain". See, Megan's main perk in working at the theatre is, that she gets to go see movies for free and can get one other person in for free as well. So, that said, I am thinking that this is good, for as long as it can last with them being kind to each other. Things always start out nice and by the time the show is over, they are at each others throats.
So, the show time comes and goes and I don't hear anything from them. So I am wondering if they have finished each other off without alerting someone. So I text them just to see how things are going. I am informed that they are currently at Barnes and Noble looking at books before they go and see another movie together.
Well, now I am just plain shocked! They are going to the movies together again? And, no one is forcing them to spend time together? I didn't have to bribe or beg? Ok, is there some unknown agenda here that I am unaware of?
Later that afternoon I got a text from Megan with a big smiley that said " So, Ive spent the entire day with my brother :) " and that is an exact quote!
It made me smile so big!
Now, flash forward to today, and they are again at the movies together. Just the two of them. It leaves me with the hope, that like me and my siblings in the end, they will end up, not only liking each other, but they will be one of their favorite people!
I love you all and thanks for being some of my favorite people. Love Ya Jana

dear family,
i really miss your blog entries. i beleive this is a small way to have some contact with each others family to offer what every support we can. i know how busy each of you are but please don't lose track how important and fun each of you are to one another, and will be even more so as the years fly bye.. well i don't say much on these things because i 'm not comfortable with it but i sure love each of you lots. dad

End of term

Well, can you believe it? It is the end of third term already. I have just spent the last two weeks (roughly) running back and forth from the high school to the Jr high going to concerts for the end of term. They have been really good concerts, not surprising due to festival season, they always step up proformance for festival.
Anyway, that is the up date for what has been happening here at my house. I love you all and want to see you all soon!

Boards

Its almost time. Boards are Tuesday and Wednesday. 500 questions over 2 days in 4 3.5 hour sessions. Wow! Needless to say I am ready. I may not be as prepared as I would like, but I am ready for it to be over! Anyway, I was just wanting to share. Any prayers and thoughts sent our way are definitely appreciated. Hope you guys know we miss you and care about you. Have a wonderful test free week. Just remember when things get hectic this week: you could be taking boards! Should make things a bit easier to swallow.

Hi All,
Just a springtime response - spring does come. Witness our new little Nectarine tree. It's a mass of beautiful blossom! Every day another blossom appears. Yesterday it was over 70 degrees and an absolutely beautiful day. Dad and I couldn't stay home. We drove up to Enterprise - big mistake, still cold and snow there. It was good to get back home to beautiful Washington. We had the doors flung wide open to enjoy the most of the day. Take heart, therefore, as spring is definately coming. If you get tired of waiting, come visit our brave new little tree, which doesn't stand two feet tall yet!
Love, Mom

nothin'

so, long time no post. it seems that i've got absolutely nothin' to say. so, just dropped in to tell you that even though i've got nothin, you are all a bunch of somethin' pretty fantastic. hope your little corners of the world are basking in whatever tidbits of spring you can find. i think that waiting for spring to come after the greyness of winter is a true exercise of faith and hope. we know eventually it will come - - - it will come . . . - - - BUT WHEN?
love you all :)

Testing

This is Jan I am trying to help Mom & Dad get up and running. So we are trying a test run. Hope you all are doing fine Love you tons!

Beautiful temple

I took time away from boards to go to the temple this morning, and I had forgotten how beautiful the Portland temple is. There's no windows at all, but in some places the granite is so fine that it becomes translucent with the light. Anyway it was a good session and a good experience. Highly recommend taking time to do it especially when you don't feel like you have time. It always manages to work out either way, and you get to go to the temple, so you do the math.
Long day, brain dead and rambling; have a good night family

Valiant effort

Well, despite a valiant effort on my part I got sick anyway! I have been home now for two days. I will however be going to work tomorrow! This staying home, doing nothing is for the birds! Good to hear from my brothers! You will do well on your testing Steve, and Dave sometimes just going day to day is better than what may lie ahead. I will be better soon, especially since Megan is having a party on Saturday. For her birthday. Know that we are wishing you could all be here, even though we know that is not possible at this moment in time. Love you all, have a great week.

Good Family

It sure is fun to know I can go to family for all kinds of geekiness, humor, and general unloading/venting. You're all great!

Good luck on your boards Steve. I'm confident you'll do well, even if you aren't. I must say I've been tremendously impressed with your motivation and manner in which you've cultivated your study habits. I think you and Christi could probably put together quite a list of tips on being good students.

We don't have too much news to share on our home front. Sometimes it seems that life just moves forward with seemingly unremarkable regularity. Often times, it doesn't seem remarkable until hindsight kicks in.

Jennah and I are going to Breckenridge in a couple of weeks for our Anniversary. This will be the first time we've ever been away from the kids for more than a day. We are both looking forward to it, especially since the hotel will be free and skiing half price. Otherwise, we'd be trying to build a little ski hill in the backyard and have to call that good.

Love you all

Dave

Boards

well at least I can say that studying for boards isn't boring. It would be if I wasn't under such a time crunch, but knowing that I have to take them with only 14 days to study left makes it so much more terrifying. Anywho. Things are good, except Katie caught the stomach flu. She always starts out the same way. Wakes up in the middle of the night-->empties her stomach on floor or furniture (wood floor this time)-->has a fever around 103.5 and then just hangs out there for a few days before it breaks and she gets better. Its so miserable to see her sad little face. And at the same time, I worry about what will happen if Jenn or I catch it too. Fun stuff. We had a whirlwind trip home to see Jenni's sister get married, so we were in and out really fast. But we had a good visit with mom and dad, so it was nice. Hope you are all doing well. Just thought I'd drop a line while I was up late, but now its bedtime. Gnight.

are you ready for more geekiness?

the Greek word "apo" is the obvious tie between the two words. "apo" means away, apart, separate, without.
apostle comes from the Greek "apostolos" "apo" + "stellin" which means one who is sent out or away. (by the way, the word apostle is related to the words like postal. gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "going postal" huh?). although it is interesting that "stole" means robe in Greek -- makes me wonder if there is an ideological tie in to the robes or mantle of the priesthood. anyway that is my greek-fest kicking in, sorry, back to the point.
apostasy comes from "apo" + "stasis" meaning standing away or withdrawing. so while there are ties between the two words, the meanings are actually opposites. and apostle is sent out by someone, (not by the way, strictly limited to Christians), and an apostate deliberately stands apart or removes themselves from a group or belief system, (again not necessarily limited to Christianity). Both words existed and were used long before Christianity was even a blip on the radar, to some degree, although until Christianity became widespread, Jews were pretty much the only religion and culture that worshiped one God exclusively, so apostles were far more common than apostates in the ancient world.
i love Greek geekiness!
hope this helps.
meanwhile, back on the ranch. . . life is crazy busy and completely chaotic right now. i am so incredibly ready for spring! we have become entrenched in a seemingly unending cycle of winter sickness, each of us getting something icky and sharing it with the whole family. fun!
i have to tell you that valentines day was lots of fun! kindergarten parties are amazing! i think that all teenagers should have to host one -- it would be a great deterrent for unplanned pregnancy. i think i walked out of the room with crossed eyes and a distinct limp. how can somebody so little be so hard on toes?
still, their happy little faces and pre-sugar coma bliss are worth it.
hope your day has plenty of bliss and maybe even a little sugar :)

Another word question (for real)

Sorry about the empty post, I hit "enter" on accident.

Anyway, I have another word question for Christi. Today, our lesson in Priesthood was from the Joseph Smith manual on apostacy. The similarity between the words apostle and apostacy struck me. Is there a common root there? If so, what does it mean? I thought about how thin the line can be between the two sometimes, especially when I reflect on the early church struggles.

As for what's going on with us right now, I don't have too much of note. We are plugging away. Everyone is well. I am grateful for my job, though I always try to keep my head up for other options. I'm planning on taking some CAD classess at the local Community College since its a skill I've always been interested in learning, I have the GI Bill, and I can't settle on anything else right now.

Tax time brings mixed feelings. I did my taxes last night and it was good news for us. At the same time, can anyone tell me how it makes fiscal sense to give a tax return for money that wasn't paid in taxes in the first place? It baffles me a bit. I'm happy to pay my fair share, in fact, I'd rather pay my fair share than see the deficit continue to expand beyond belief.

Anyway

Love you all

Dave

Another word question

It's SNOWING!

Well, it's Valentines Day, and it's snowing! It has been snowing since before I went to bed last night. I had to take Ford out this morning, to collect food for the place in Salt Lake, and the roads were worse than I think they have been yet this winter! Ok, so maybe not the worst, but they were very slick! It just keeps falling! I started to shovel the driveway before I took Ford down to the church and by the time I got back it was like I needed to start all over.
I am however grateful for the moisture, but I wish it had just stayed up in the mountains where it belongs!
Happy Valentines Day to you all! I love you and miss you. Mom & Dad, I am really wishing I could have come down. Maybe in a couple of weeks.
We are heading out to take the kids to lunch, since Ford has a friend coming over and Megan has....... A DATE! Oh no, I am so not ready for this. It's ok though she has gone a lot longer than I ever did!
Have a wonderful day

Two in one day!

Whoa, this is some kind of record for me. I will be making two posts in one day! One here on the family blog and one on parker's panic.
So can you believe how stinking fast this year is flying by? I was thinking today, that we are almost though another term of school, then there is only one left! I can't even believe how fast time seems to be going.
It seems like years since last August, and all of us being together! I think everyone should just come home! I need a hug!
I know that isn't possible, but it would sure be nice. :)
Things here are just about the same, busy. Work is going for the most part good. They finished construction on my school so we are again working out of our own kitchen. It has been nice in some ways and not so much in others. I am however glad to have a job, and one that on most days I like.
The kids are still fighting to get through school. I of course an cracking the whip like always! Just kidding, well.... sort of.
Jennah, maybe I should send them to stay with you. Maybe you could catch them up on the things they are lagging in. The one thing the homeschoolers have an advantage in, is knowing one on one, the way the kids learn. IF one thing works for this kid great, but it might not work for this kid. If Ford could just listen, and test, he would have A's I'm sure of it. I know he needs to learn how to do homework, (well, I sort of know) but the amount they send home is ridiculous. For Megan it is getting even worse. I know it's bad to say, but I will be glad when they are both out of school, and homework is not an issue anymore.
Other than school they are doing really good. Megan is still working her two jobs and Ford is still looking for one.
Chet is working like crazy, also being grateful that he has a job. Also wishing that there wasn't so much stress that went along with it.
All in all we are doing great! Hope to hear from you soon! Jan

Alive and kicking

Well Ford, don't worry too much. Just study. I passed the written test my first time, but it took me three tries to pass the driving test. Silly stop lights, I don't know why we have them anyway. Oh, and why in the world do they have speed limits on a driving range during a test. I'd think the testers would want to get out of the cars of testees' (is that a word?) as soon as possible.

As to Steve's comment about a cat and kicking. Well, we might have a cat and I might be kicking soon. The kids have befriended a stray and are trying to adopt it. It disappeared today, bummer:-)! It'll probably be back because its found food here. What's more, I'm wondering if its not pregnant. It looks a bit chubby around the belly, but not fat chubby. Everybody around here, almost, thinks its great. At first I was a little interested in the prospect, but the more we've been around the cat, the less interested I am. Of cours, the more we're around it, the more interested the rest of the crew is. Why did I ever even consider it?

Dave

Okay.....

Ok, I guess it has been too long since I posted an entry. So I am just stopping by to tell you all I miss your guts! Oh, and the rest of you too.
I know that life is crazy busy, mine maybe not as much as those of you with little ones, but still, it would be nice to hear from you all once in a while at least.
Thank you to all of you for the birthday wishes. Christi, Steve & Mom & Dad thanks for the cards. It is always fun to get cards/letters in the mail. This years birthday was a particularly good one for me. I don't even know if I can explain properly, so I guess I won't. I did make a blog entry on my personal blog at parkerspanic@blogspot.com I think this is the correct address, if any of you have time to go check it out, you're welcome to.
The one thing I did on my birthday that didn't really work out well, is I took Ford to the DMV to take his drivers test. I say it didn't work out to well, because Ford did not pass his test. He does have another chance to try to pass, but he decided he wanted to come home and study before he retested. I think that was probably wise on his part, considering the fact that he is 15 and thinks he already knows pretty much everything, including all the things that might be in the drives manual. So in the beginning he felt like he really didn't need the "whole" manual. So he just skipped (as he put it) half the manual. (Mother is smirking)
I just had to laugh, when he said that he had skipped half the book. Needless to say I think we will be going back down this week sometime for him to re-take his test. Keep him in your thoughts if you can keep them goo thought. Maybe the power of good thoughts will help him out. I hope this time he will take a couple more minutes to study the book. If he doesn't however, and manages to fail again, it will not bode well for him, as he will have to pay me back for the test. I think that is a good deal, if he passes I pay for it, if he doesn't he has to pay for it. Life comes at you fast, you need to be ready.
I am smiling right now, hoping that he really will pass this time. I would like for him to be driving legally.
All things considered, our family is doing well. I hope to hear something from you all soon. Just a note so that I know you are all still alive and kicking.