50 special moments in 2009

1. Running my first 5K and almost dying in the process
2. Parker being pretty much the chubbiest baby I've ever seen
3. Parker learning to crawl
4. Successfully implementing cloth diapers
5. Lots and lots of running
   
6. Still not having all our doors properly installed in our home (we've lived here 3 years)
   
7. Going to the zoo with Parker. He didn't care too much, but I had fun.
   
8. Matt losing 36 lbs in 13 weeks and winning the title of biggest loser
   
9. "Vacationing" at the Grand Canyon and by vacationing I mean "boot camp"
10. Sharing a pork salad at cafe rio. . . a lot (did you know they give you a free "kid's quesadilla?)
    
11. Still being just as in love as the day we got married (actually, more in love)
    
12. Taking Parker up in the mountain often, and exposing him to climbing early
13. Did I mention I ran a lot?
    
14. Taking Parker swimming for the first time. He didn't like it at first.
    
15. Running my first half marathon in 2:05 at Bear Lake and NOT almost dying from it. Best Race Ever.
    
16. Matt redpointing his first 5.12
17. Going to the Temple almost but not quite once a month (maybe more like every 2 months)
    
18. Even more rock climbing
19. Piano students stealing Matt's ipod...and my favorite piano book. grrrr
    
20. Hanging with Matt's family in St. George
21. Redpointing a 5.9
    
22. Parker pointing at everything. Literally everything.
23. Doing a little photography on the side
    
24. Matt's promotion to Senior Accountant even though he doesn't have his degree yet (coming this May!)
    
25. Singing a song I wrote to the Young Women while playing the guitar. Scary.
    
26. Climbing with my best friend to the top of the Grand Teton and almost dying in the process
    
27. Reaching the car after we finished the Grand Teton
28. Attempting to "go organic"... ok, it's a small attempt, but I'm still working on it
    
29. Accepting a new job to teach the science fair class at AMES
30. Wishing I hadn't accepted a new job to teach the science fair class at AMES (even though I like it... most of the time)
31. Getting the biggest kisses from my little boy
    
32. Crossing the finish line at the top of Utah Marathon and almost dying in the process
33. Parker learning to walk (0r wobble. However you want to look at it.)
    
34. Parker turning 1 and having his first birthday party with family and friends (what a popular little guy)
35. Sewing my Halloween costume and having the cutest Toy Story family ever
    
36. Being called as the Young Women President just when I thought my life was busy enough
37. Matt being called, the very next week, to be the Executive Secretary even though his life is busier than mine
    
38. Parker swallowing my wedding ring
    
39. The very next week, Parker swells up like a balloon because of a peanut allergy
40. Matt learning and implementing the concept of "barefoot running"
41. Dancing in the kitchen with the cutest kid I know
    
42. Giving up on cooking dinner for practically the whole month of december
    
43. Parker learning to talk "ba ba ba ba..."
44. Matt achieving "Employee of the Year" for the accounting department
    
45. Parker's fear of action figures
    
46. Having the opportunity to participate in the "Sub for Santa" for our ward and feeling the gratitude of others
    
47. Matt's first bouldering competition and taking 5th in his division
    
48. Giving Parker tons of gifts for Christmas and him loving the cheap "hit the ball with a hammer" one I got from walmart for, like, 10 bucks
    
49. Watching Movies in "The New Room"
50. Continuing to live "happily ever after" one day at a time
    

Must Read

Please read this article about Stephanie Nielson who survived a plane crash. She is so inspirational. I first learned about her by reading her blog.

She inspires me to focus on my most important role in this life, which is motherhood. I have a tendency to try to be everything to everybody. I also hate mediocrity, so I try to be the best at everything, which I've learned from experience, is impossible. The more things I try to do, the more mediocre I become at all of them. "Jack of all trades, but master of none."

When I read her blog, I don't care about anything else except for my role as a mother and a wife. When everything is said and done, it doesn't matter how many cool things I have done. When I leave this life, all I will have with my on the other side is my family. So I better do good job of taking care of my family. I love my son and husband so much. They are everything to me.

Sometimes my brain doesn't work

This is for you, Tamara...

So I was pretty stressed out last Sunday. It was "Young Women in Excellence" and I just happen to be the Young Women's President. Fortunately I have great councilors, advisors, and a great secretary. But, nonetheless, I get super stressed about things like this. In fact, all I could dream about the night before the event was about how everything would go wrong. I was tossing and turning, probably muttering things like "Oh, no. We forgot 'Integrity.'"

So one of the things I was in charge of making was tags for each of the values. I tried to make them really cute by gluing the name of the value onto a pretty rectangle of glittery, rainbow scrapbook paper and then gluing that onto a white piece of cardstock folded in half. My husband was laughing at me while I was meticulously cutting and gluing. I'm sure he was thinking something like, "If men were in charge of this, they would just scribble the words on a piece of lined paper, rip it out the notebook and fold it in half so it would sort of stand up."

At the time, I didn't think much of it, but some reason, the paper didn't stick very well.

I went to the church early and started setting up with my whole young women posse and I put the tags out. My secretary, Tamara, mentioned that we needed glue because some of the names were falling off. I get all proud of myself, for being prepared, and pulled out the gluestick. Tamara takes one look at it and starts laughing. "That's chapstick!"

Yes, I tried to glue paper together using chapstick. It worked surprisingly better than you think it would.

Besides the whole using lip moisturizer as an adhesive, the event went really well. Even though I get stressed out because of my responsibilities as the Young Women's President, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. I was so proud of all of the young women.

Jung-Myers-Briggs Personality Type

I love a good personality test. Who doesn't? I think all of us like to be validated.

I recently took the Jung-Myers-Briggs Test. There are 16 possible personality types based on 4 factors:

• Introverted or Extroverted (I or E)
• Sensing or iNtuitive (S or N)
• Feeling or Thinking (F or T)
• Judging or Perception (J or P)

I'm curious as to what all of you are! Please take the test and let me know:

Personality test based on Jung - Myers-Briggs typology

I'm an INTJ or "mastermind." That's right. A mastermind. So what do I want to do tonight, you ask? The same thing I do every night, Pinky -- Try to take over the world!

I was very surprised to read the description and to see how closely it resembles me. Kinda creepy. If any of you want a glimpse into my psyche, read on:

"INTJs are analytical. Like INTPs, they are most comfortable working alone and tend to be less sociable than other types. Nevertheless, INTJs are prepared to lead if no one else seems up to the task, or if they see a major weakness in the current leadership. They tend to be pragmatic, logical, and creative. They have a low tolerance for spin or rampant emotionalism. They are not generally susceptible to catchphrases and do not recognize authority based on tradition, rank, or title.

Hallmarks of the INTJ include independence of thought and a desire for efficiency. They work best when given autonomy and creative freedom. They harbor an innate desire to express themselves by conceptualizing their own intellectual designs. They have a talent for analyzing and formulating complex theories. INTJs are generally well-suited for occupations within academia, research, management, engineering, and law. They are often acutely aware of their own knowledge and abilities—as well as their limitations and what they don't know (a quality that tends to distinguish them from INTPs). INTJs thus develop a strong confidence in their ability and talents, making them natural leaders.

In forming relationships INTJs tend to seek out others with similar character traits and ideologies. Agreement on theoretical concepts is an important aspect of their relationships. By nature INTJs can be demanding in their expectations, and they approach relationships in a rational manner. As a result INTJs may not always respond to a spontaneous infatuation but wait for a mate who better fits their set criteria. They tend to be stable, reliable, and dedicated. Harmony in relationships and home life tends to be extremely important to them. They generally withhold strong emotion and do not like to waste time with what they consider irrational social rituals. This may cause non-INTJs to perceive them as distant and reserved. Nevertheless, INTJs are usually very loyal partners who are prepared to commit substantial energy and time into a relationship to make it work."

(wikipedia, entry "INTJ")

One thing about myself that has always bothered me is that I am "distant and reserved" as wikipedia states. Maybe I should just accept that this is me instead of always, painfully and unsuccessfully, trying to change it.

Some notable INTJs are Warren Buffet, Jane Austen, Caesar, Thomas Jefferson, Steven Hawking, C. S. Lewis, Plato and Issac Newton. Oh, and Arnold Schwartzenegger which I'm sure you can see the similarities :)

Matt, on the other hand is an ENTJ. We pretty much the same except Matt is extroverted and I'm introverted. His profile is so "right on" that it is scary. It mentions being good at business, which he is, having energy, which he definitely does, and a desire to create efficient systems, which is half of what Matt talks about.

So I really am interested: What are you? Do you find it accurate? Take the test!

Hasta la vista, baby!

Action figure Phobia

I have no idea why, but Parker has developed this fear of action figures. I mean, he is seriously freaked out when he sees those things. We have this little GI Joe we found doing some geocaching some time ago. It was just sitting on my desk minding its own business. Parker spots it and starts pointing (as he always does) at it. Matt thought, "Oh, he wants to play with it." But Parker was thinking, "What in the crap is that freaky thing!!" Matt, being the good father he is, went and got it for Parker and Parker flipped out. He started shaking in fear. Literally shaking!

It doesn't stop there. Parker also had a melt down at Old Navy. The culprit: Scary friendly-looking mannequins. His Aunt Rachel was introducing him to these giant-sized action figures and he started crying! When ever he sees an action figure, he will look away from it and hold me as tightly as possible.

I know I must be a bad mom, but I find this hilarious.

Well, some time has past and Parker has made amends with the GI Joe. They're friends now. Next stop: Old Navy.

In honor of New Moon

I think the whole "Twilight" phenomenon is a little funny. Why are all these adult women obsessed with a make-believe, overly-dramatic relationship between some clumsy, needy girl and a vampire? That being said, I couldn't put the books down and read all of them within a month...but I'm not obsessed. I just need to clarify that.

Nothing like a good SNL parody.



Even though I'm not really one to stand in a line for an hour waiting to watch the movie, I am looking forward to seeing "New Moon." (I hear it is a lot better than Twilight which I wasn't completely impressed with.) I have had lots of friends who have seen it already and have told me about the inevitable girly screaming that happens whenever Jacob takes his shirt off. I completely understand. I mean, look at him... But I thought it was funny when my sister-in-law brought up the idea of adult men whistling at a 17 year old girl coming onto the screen in a bikini. A little disturbing......But what's wrong with a complete double standard anyway?

Here's a hot picture of Jacob, in case you don't know what I'm talking about.
I feel kinda naughty for even posting a picture of a guy without a shirt. That's why I made it small. Somehow, it is less naughty this way.

Treasure Hunt

I know some of you have been dying to hear this story since I gave a little teaser of it in my Halloween post. Lets see...where to start....

Parker and I were hanging out on my bed because he was as little sick and I was a little tired, so I broke my rule (as I occasionally do) and we were watching cartoons. (My favorite, by the way, is Super Why. It is repetitive and predictable, but the characters are so darn cute.)

Parker always wants to get into things that he shouldn't and at this point he was going for the lamp on my nightstand. He has the weird fascination with lights. Whenever one turns on, he freaks out and points as hard as he can. When he starts to cry, sometimes I carry him over to a light switch and let him turn on the lights. He is happy in no time. No joke. Ok, Back to the story: He crawls over to my messy, messy nightstand and he successfully attempts to get into everything. I literally pull him back to the center of the bed and I notice he grabbed the lid from my deodorant (I have everything but the kitchen sink on my nightstand). "Meh," I think and I let him play with it.

When Parker is really tired or sick he sort of just collapses into a lump of chubby goodness. He was in his collapsing mode so I layed him down in the center of the bed. The next thing I know, he was choking. It was possibly the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I didn't know what he was choking on, but he would go a little without breathing while he was gagging and it would then be interrupted by short bouts of crying hysterics. I was glad when he cried because I at least knew he could breath. Some more gagging, then some more crying, a bit of praying on my part and then a few gulps to finish it off.

I realized he had swallowed something, but I had no idea what...sure my nightstand was covered with catalogs, hair accessories, pens, pencils, markers, pretty much any type of writing utensil, deodorant, candles, etc. etc. but surely there was nothing chokable there. Then I looked around and I thought, "uh, oh." I looked at my finger, looked back at the nightstand and realized that my wedding ring was not where I last put it. Crap. That can't be good. I searched and searched, but to no avail. "It must be in Parker's stomach."

I called the doctor's office and told them the situation. After a little chuckle, the nurse asked,"Are you serious?" Yes, unfortunately I was. They fit me in as soon as possible and we got an X-ray that confirmed my suspicion. After the doctor looked at the X-ray, he asked me, "Does your ring have several diamonds along the band?" You could see the ring perfectly, sitting in his little stomach just below his tiny ribs. "Just check the poop." That's the only advice his doctor gave me.

The next day we put Parker's lovely poops in a Ziploc bag. I gave it one squish and found my beautiful ring covered in feces. Matt, for some reason, volunteered to get it out of the bag-o-fun. He really is the best husband. I scrubbed it a little, ok, a lot, and now good as new. Actually just the week before I was commenting about how I needed to clean my ring. I procrastinated. Well, I definitely had a reason to clean it now.

I apologize to anyone who received the picture text from Matt of the Poop Bag with the ring. No one should have to see that.

PS The picture is not Parker's X-ray. It is of an adult. I'm going to try and get a copy of the actual X-ray.

Healthy and Happy

What more can you ask for than health and happiness?

I love listening/reading about how Utah compares in various categories. One of the more recent studies concluded that Utah is the happiest state. They interviewed 355,000 people to make this conclusion and it was based on a variety of factors life satisfaction, work quality, healthy behavior, physical health, emotional health, and basic access to necessities like food and shelter. Some contribute this Utah's low unemployment rate which is 4.6% compared to the national rate of 7.6%.

In addition to being the happiest state, Utah is also considered the 2nd healthiest state by another recent study. I know that I've heard the whole "fat mormon" stereotype, but it simply isn't true. In fact, Utah ranks 8th lowest in obesity rates and lowest in childhood obesity rates. Another important contributing factor, believe it or not, is our location by the mountains. It follows the trend that mountain states are more health than states without mountains (in general).

I can't really say that Utah is both healthy and happy because of the large percentage of LDS people living here, but I believe it is a contributing factor. The fact that the LDS church discourages smoking and drinking and encourages its members to have a healthy body makes a huge difference in the lives of many people, leaving them to live healthier, happier lives. "By their fruits, ye shall know them."

Read here for my past post on the past US census (which also, undoubtedly, contributes to the happiness of the people in this state.)

My secret to happiness...

...Is my family. I love my husband and my son. My mom and dad, brothers and sister rock too. I'm also grateful my in-laws aren't too crazy. They have been so accepting of me and loving. I love my family!!

I am the luckiest.

Masochistic Ambition

One day I decided that I could run a marathon, 26.2 miles. "People do it all the time. Why can't I?" Training for a marathon was pretty much the way I guaranteed that I would lose the baby weight I put on with Parker. At first, about 2 months after I had Parker, I couldn't even run a mile. What was 25.2 more miles? Yeah, it was that bad.

I planned on doing the Top of Utah marathon in Logan, UT. I went to college in Logan and it is sort of my second home. I loved the idea of running through the canyons, watching the colorful leaves fall from trees, the autumn breeze in my face, smiling intensely as I crossed the finish line. Of course, in all my imagining I forgot to add in the pain I would feel in my toes, my legs, my butt, well, just about everywhere.

So I trained and I felt pretty good about it. I ran the Bear Lake half marathon (13.1 miles) in 2 hrs. and 5 min. and felt great afterward. I thought, hey I can run a marathon at the same pace, maybe a little faster, and get in around 4 hours. Ha ha. I didn't realize that running a full marathon is completely different than running a half.

I actually slacked on my training. I got sick. I took a couple of weeks off from climbing the grand teton. Things came up and I didn't make it my priority. Oops. Who'd have thought I'd regret that?

So September 2009 came and I ran the Top of Utah with my mom and younger brother. I really enjoyed the first half of it. I was running it at my half marathon pace, but the second half...I didn't like so much. I started thinking that forcing people to run farther and farther would be a really effective method of torture.

Daddy was taking care of Parker. Hence the lack of shoes and sitting in the dirt.

Parker and Matt at Mile 15. It was so good to see them.

But I finished.

Going strong at the finish line. Or at least trying to.

I came in at 4 hours and 47 minutes. Not such a great time. It is about an 11 min/mile pace. Remember my goal was a 9 min/mile pace. But I finished.

Mom, Me, & Cameron. We look good for just torturing ourselves.

It is so hard for me to be proud of myself because I really did not make my goal..even close to it. I guess I'll have to do another one. Maybe it will help me get into shape after baby #2.

Happy Birthday Baby

My little baby is growing up. Parker turned one year old on October 3, 2009. Yes, I know it is cliche, but they grow up so fast.

Parker was spoiled with two birthday parties on his big day with a jungle theme. I took my hand at cake decorating and made this alligator cupcake cake. Fearsome, I know.

The first party was in the park with his neighborhood friends. I had this great idea to have the kids go "fishing" for tub toys using magnets, but the toys were too heavy so it didn't work as perfectly as I had imagined. But the kids still had fun playing in the water and on the playground and Parker got some sweet gifts. Thanks friends!


Later that evening we had hamburgers with the family at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Parker was super spoiled by everyone's attention and took this opportunity to show off his new skill of walking. I love watching him waddle everywhere. Such a cutie!



He was a little frightened when the lights were turned off and everyone surrounded him singing in unison while an open flame sat in front of him. Fortunately, he forgot all about it once he started eating his cake.

Kelli reminded me to share his stats. Despite his chubby cheeks, Parker is a little guy. At 12 months he weighed 21 lbs. 13 oz (33%) and is 29 in (20%). But he has a big head compared to the rest of him at 47 cm (66%). He has slimmed up a lot since he was 2 months at the 95 %tile for both height and weight, but he is adorable either way.

Photography Blog

In keeping with my theme for the week "Updating the Blog," I have also (finally) updated my photography blog with some sweet pictures of the Salt Lake Temple. Let me know if you like them. If you don't like them, well, don't let me know. I prefer to hear only positive feedback :)

Here is just one of the many pics I've added.

Check it! www.photography-by-ashley.blogspot.com

Halloween

I love halloween. It's just fun. We had a family "Toy Story" theme this year. Matt was woody, I was Bo Peep, and Parker was Buzz Lightyear.

I don't sew very often, but this year I sewed my entire costume including the hat. It was so hard. Sewing is not as easy as it seems. Fortunately, my mother in law is like a genius at sewing so we altered a pattern from some size 16 '80's prom dress pattern.

What a cute family!

As a side note, Grandma Budd gave Parker a peanut butter sandwich on Halloween. Next thing I know, half his face has swollen up. You can kinda see the puffy eye in this picture. So, off to the doctor again to check for allergies. Poor kid. Earlier in the week he swallowed my wedding ring (story to come) and now this.

Our Grand Adventure

Sometimes it seems like when you have a baby, you give up a lot of things. The baby becomes the first priority when it comes to everything. All that I am is for my baby, but I know that it is best for both me and Parker if I live a healthy, happy life independent from my role as a mother. Even though I compromise many things (like sleep), I am determined not to compromise my identity and part of that is rock climbing.

Matt and I have decided that once a year, no matter what, we will go on an adventure...just the two of us. This year we finally did something we have always wanted to do: Climb the Grand Teton.

See the Grand Teton? It's the big one in the middle.

I thought I was in good shape. I had been training for a marathon (although not as diligently as I should have been), but this mountain kicked my butt! Next time I do it, I know I need to do some real training.

We started our adventure at 7:00 in the morning to backpack up to our campsite or "the caves" as the rangers called it. It was about 5 miles in and the hike wasn't too bad except my pack was about 35 lbs. and Matt's was probably around 50 lbs. Climbing gear is really heavy!

We're almost to our campsite. It is in the trees above the waterfall. That peak is the Middle Teton.

After we reached our campsite, I went exploring. This is looking down on the trail and our campsite (in the trees).

The next morning we woke up at 3:00 am. Yes, 3:00 am. After we eat and geared up, we started on the trail about an hour later at 4:00. We left our tent and sleeping bags and brought just the supplies we needed for the climb to the peak which included a rope, cams, food, and clothing. The reason you have to leave so early is that you want to avoid the thunderstorms that always come in the afternoon.

We started hiking in the dark with our headlamps and things are going pretty well until we reach a huge boulder field and lose our way. We scrambled around and eventually find our way by following the lights on the mountain from climbers up ahead.

Finally we reached the saddle at 6:00 am. It took us two hours to hike just two miles, but it was very steep and very dark. Reaching the saddle is pretty much equivalent to reaching the peak of Timpanogos...and the hard part hasn't even began.

I look tired because I am. This is the saddle at sunrise.

Still at the saddle, looking South at the Middle Teton

The tree line was back where we camped out and everything around us was just rock. Big boulders, little boulders, steep cliffs...but nothing like a trail or dirt. So we got lost a lot trying to find our way. There were many climbers along the way, but we mostly just tried to follow vague descriptions from the guide books.

We're getting quite a bit higher. This is the middle Teton.

Trying to find our way to the "wind tunnel"

The climbing was actually not very difficult. We climbed the Upper Exum which is 5.4 at hardest. Many people don't rope up most of the way and some free solo it the entire way. It is scary at some parts because of the extreme exposure: huge sheer cliffs that would lead to your death if you fell. It is also very steep. Imagine climbing stairs to the top of a mountain. It isn't technically difficult, but it uses a ton of muscle.

Some unknown climbers climbing the crux of the Upper Exum: Friction Pitch

I started getting really tired at this point. A self-portrait is a good excuse to rest.

We made it most the way and get lost again, but this time it is scary because we are practically out of food, a storm is coming in, and there is snow all around which meant slippery and dangerous climbing. We meander and reread the guide book for a while. I had a moment of panic and then decided that panicking never helped any one so I pulled myself together and we said a prayer. Instantly, we knew which direction to go and we reached the peak.

I'm waiting while Matt is supposedly figuring out where we are. This is looking West to Idaho.

There were two guys up there still (it was 3:00 pm at this point and we were pretty much the last people up there). The storm lasted less than 10 minutes and the guys helped show us the way down (the Owen-Spalding route) which was different than the way up (Upper Exum route).

We're there! Looking south towards the Middle Teton. You can't see it cause it's so small.

See that tiny peak below us, that's the Middle Teton.

My legs were shaking practically the whole way down from overexertion and lack of energy. I needed food and rest, but we weren't there yet. I needed to keep on going. Matt was fine, of course. He is in great shape and is strong. I had altitude sickness which really affected me near the peak which is about 14,000 ft.

One of the two rappels on the way down. This is my first "free rappel." Look ma, no feet.

We finally made it back to our campsite around 8:00 pm. That meant we had been hiking/climbing for 16 hours. I slept horribly that night in our little tent and woke up around 4:30 am, so we got another early start, but this time down the mountain. We painfully hiked the 5 miles out of the mountain to the campground. Overall the journey to the peak and back took us around 24 hours.

Now we're to the easy part. We have to hike straight down that to the saddle.

This is called "the eye of the needle." We were supposed to go through it on the way up, but we got lost and did it a completely different and more difficult way.

It was so flippin' hard and my body hurt so much, but it was worth it. The views were beautiful and the feeling of accomplishment was thrilling. We will definitely do it again.

Here we are at the saddle again looking North towards the Grand Teton. Still 7 more miles to our car.

St. George Adventures

Matt, Parker, and I went to St George from August 6-8 to have some awesome adventures. As many of you know, being in a car that long with a baby can be an adventure, so we drove in the evening when he would be sleeping. We are lucky enough to have Matt's sister, Sarah, and her husband, Eric living in St. George. They are kind enough to let us stay at their home and they planned an awesome weekend for us. Matt's whole family came down, so it was a ton of fun.

Friday, Matt, Jesse (Matt's brother), and I got ready early to go rock climbing at the Black Cliffs. It was pretty fun to climb on Basalt. I decided to be brave a lead a 5.9 and was surprised that I could redpoint it (climb without falling or resting). The hardest climb I could lead before I had Parker was a 5.9 and this was my first redpoint of that rating. I was super excited. At the beginning of the year I made a goal to lead a 5.10 (one grade harder than 5.9), but thought it would be impossible once the summer started. Now I'm working towards that goal and hopefully will be able to do it before it snows. Matt and Jesse climbed too. I just think my accomplishment was more interesting then anything they did;).

Matt leading a 5.10b

still leading the 10b

this is me redpointing the 5.9: Entropy

clipping in on Entropy (5.9)

the scary part: I'm starting to climb above the bolt

Friday afternoon Sarah and Eric took us on a beautiful, short little hike called Canaraville Falls. Canarville is just south of Cedar City. It took us up a small stream and into a slot canyon to some waterfalls. I was having fun taking pictures so I didn't notice Matt climbing up a rickety ladder with Parker on his back. I was mad. I was mostly worried about the climb down, but I know Matt has some mad climbing skills and would be able to safely transport
Parker down the ladder.


The next day Parker went boating for the first time. He didn't really care for it. He was content exploring the boat, but didn't even seem interested in the fact that we were surrounded by water. He did have some fun on the beach, crawling around in the sand. Matt and I went wakeboarding a little. I would like to try it some more some time.

It was such a fun weekend! Thank you Sarah and Eric for the good times!