A New One On The Way!

So we're going to have another baby. I'm due November 2nd (which makes me about 13 weeks right now). And we're really excited. Parker has no clue, but will love being a BIG BROTHER! Here he is reading his scriptures and getting ready! :)

Parker

Spring Boarding at Brighton

Easter

We had fun this Easter- Parker had his first Easter Egg hunt with Grandma and Grandpa A, Haylee and the White cousins. This picture is of the dog he was obsessed with- much more than the egg hunt. He loves dogs!

Parker ate way too much candy. Here he is digging into potatoe chips after eating chocolate. Guess that's what holiday's are for. :)

Easter morning we all got up as a family. Had breakfast and dealt with his morning tantrum. Then opened Easter baskets. Spencer and Parker got matching green ties. Mom, Dad and Haylee came up for church. Afterward we came here and had a little Passover feast with fish (salmon) and unleavened bread (pita’s) grape juice, olives and a few other things that weren’t so Passoverish (like asparagus). It was fun. We watched the Lamb of God while Parker was down for his nap and then all fell asleep ourselves. When Parker woke up we went to the SLC cemetery to see where President Hinkley and some of our past church president's are buried. It was a beautiful day and nice to be outside.

I enjoyed Easter this year. Watching the Lamb of God I was so touched, so reminded of the amazing and hard to comprehend atonement that Jesus Christ did for us. I used to watch that on my mission all the time, and cry almost every time and once again I cried and cried. I have been reading the New Testament, well actually Jesus the Christ and along with it the NT and I have really concentrated on learning about the Savior. I feel I have been reminded of who he was and learned more about what He did for me. And this Easter I had that in my heart, and that’s what made it beautiful.

Linkin Park

So people have told me lately I need to blog more. So here I am... I guess part of the problem is we don't have a camera right now so I don't feel like I have anything to post- plus I start reading people's blogs and all my time goes out the window- and nap time is precious!! Anyway- an update for us: Spencer just got an internship with GE Medical for the summer. It will be a great opportunity for us. He has three classes left and we'll be done in December and then who knows! We went shopping for "work clothes" for him yesterday (probably the second time ever we've been shopping together, Spencer's not a fan and since Parker's a handful these day - pulling all the ties off the neatly organized racks, I'm not so much either) but we got him some good looking clothes and he looks GQ and HOT. :)

Parker loves his daddy and wants to do everything like him (which is why he pulled up this chair next to daddy working at the computer- though this is an old picture). I hate I don’t have recent picture of him because he’s such a big boy. He’s talking tons and constantly communicating something either signing “sleep or eat” or saying car, truck, bus, or anything with a motor. Definitely a boy. and here are some old pictures of him getting ready for bed and playing with Uncle Perry's dogs.

I’m busy keeping up with Parker (hence the picture of me cleaning up spilled sugar in my running clothes) and doing all that stuff. My big news is that I’m going to Paris at the end of April. Spencer’s mom is taking all the girls (6 sisters and me and another sister in law) for 10 days. It will be weird to be without Parker and Spencer but we’ll survive, its Paris after all.
The funny story for the week is on Angie’s blog- about her experience with someone at the hospital with a “postule” she told me and I laughed for hours. Seriously. Read it.

And the fun thing for the week: was the Linkin Park concert last Saturday night. My dad has been wanting to go to a concert with mosh pits and crowd surfing for a long time now and he mentioned it again in front of Bryant and KC recently and they said they were going to Linkin Park and he said “alright! Let’s go!?” I didn’t think I really liked Linkin Park that much- I mean they are alright but I’m not huge on the screamer bands. But dad was paying (and the tickets were PRICEY!) so we didn’t refuse. But it seriously was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to in my whole life. Maybe it was just the hilariousness of my dad being there- the fact that the parking guy said “are you guys going to Linkin Park?” and we said “yes” wondering why they were asking if we were paying and then it occurred to me that we were driving a MINI van and the guy driving was this 50+ guy. I was totally laughing. And then the fact that in the first 10 minutes some of the kids in my dad’s BYU ward went up to him and said “BISHOP!?!” I had heard them say “is that really him?!” and peer around the corner. How funny. Maybe it was because I kept laughing at my dad who would kind of squeal/laugh when the mosh pits started going and he had to push people back in (or pull them up when they were down) or being with KC and Sadie jumping up and down, or laughing at the stupid girl with beers in both hands in the middle of the mosh pit that everyone was yelling at to get out of the mosh pit so she didn’t spill beer all over them- but she was too drunk to know she was making an absolute fool out of herself, or if it was being with Spencer and knowing Parker was totally taken care of at home with Haylee or if it was just Linkin Park- I don’t know but I loved it. I was actually super impressed with Linkin Park- tons of energy and put on a great show and I seriously LOVED their music. I guess I didn’t realize that I liked it that much but from the very FIRST song I was jumping up and down and just having an awesome time. It was just FUN to be there. And my dad is so awesome. I love family. I love what they teach us through the trials, how we can laugh at each other’s quirks, get bugged with each other and then go to a Linkin Park concert all together and just love it. A Time to remember.

Last week was such a reflection of President Hinckley's life for me, I wanted to say a few things. There were probably 10 pages devoted to him in both the SL trib and the herald. I read both. I listened to news stories, tried to see the viewing (by the time we got there on Friday it was as 3-4 hour wait outside and we knew that just wouldn’t go with Parker so we went home) and I watched the funeral on Saturday. I was thankful to live in Salt Lake at this time because I really felt a sense of community with his passing and not just with LDS members. He touched so many lives because of his attitude of friendship and inclusion- because he reached out to those of other faiths and sought the media and sought to help the world understand us. The whole community mourned his death, and yet they celebrated it and that was the most touching thing. In fact it makes me teary now. There was nothing to mourn about his passing, yes, we will miss him tremendously, his wit and his wisdom, but his passing was this joyous occasion, a time of great gratitude for a man who gave so much to help so many. He truly touched my life. The funeral was so incredibly beautiful. I can’t even explain the emotion I felt as I listened to the speakers talk about different stories of remembrance- funny, touching, uplifting, optimistic. And then at the end the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang and they showed some film of his life and I just started to absolutely bawl. To see the Prophet whom I have grown to love, his quirky smile and kind way, the way that he reached out to children, dedicating temples, speaking to people all over the world, walking hand in hand with his wife- to see those images was so emotional to me. How I love him!! I bawled like I do not remember bawling. And yet not in sorrow, but in great great gratitude for our prophet, to have lived at a time when I was able to hear the words and be influenced by such an amazing man. The gratitude overwhelmed me and came out in great gushes of tears. Parker was napping and Spencer was at school. It was a very tender and sacred moment for me. As Spencer and I were driving downtown on Saturday there was a huge billboard that had a big picture of him and the dates of his life and then on a marquee of a small local business were the words “Thank you President Hinckley” It made me cry. Because that is how I feel completely, how so many of us feel – Thank you President Hinckley.

Christmas in Mexico

Well this post is a long time in coming, sorry. The Atkinson family took us to Mexico for Christmas. It was awesome. Everyone came but Greg who is on his mission: mom and dad; Spencer, Parker and I; Angie and Ajay; Bry and Mindy; KC, Haylee. It was a different Christmas than normal-no snow, minimal presents- it was great. We had experiences that we will remember forever-like that HUGE spider that Haylee, mom, Angie and I tripped over each other screaming and trying to get away from it—it really was chasing us! Playing games at night with the family- Scategories that we made up categories for like old flings and things Spencer thinks of, places Erin has been, things that make Haylee happy, etc. Rumicube and an occasional game of Phase 10. I loved our discussions at night. Just being with Ajay and Angie, running with Angie in the mornings through the town and listening to her say “Buenos Dias” so sweetly to everyone and with such clarity. I loved seeing the LDS chapel and having it be so familiar. Talking with the Mexican saints and feeling automatically connected despite the fact that I didn’t even understand what they were saying. Trying to learn Spanish, trying to understand what people were saying and kind of talking spaniglish to each other. Making a goal AGAIN to learn it. Eating Mexican food, and paying for bottled water. Spencer’s obsession with the tacoria’s and horchata. Eating at the Café in Merida, the tacqueria in Progresso, the hotel restaurant. Loving the beans and the chicken fajitas. Learning about the ruins and having the Book of Mormon take on a new meaning- understanding better who the people really were and what that book is about. Walks on the beach with Parker, picking up shells and playing in the sand. Christmas morning, refreshingly very few presents, talking about our thoughts on Christmas out on the back porch with the waves in the background and being touched by so much of what people said. Dad’s testimony. Angie’s tears. Ajay’s experience. Kc’s expression of gratitude. Haylee’s school service that really was so beautiful. Spencer’s thoughts on parenting. My mom’s sweetness and Bryant and Mindy just being there. My favorite part and a Christmas I will remember forever.