Seven

This little girl just wont quit growing up!  I am late to post her birthday, but I didn't forget!  I think I'm in denial about how big she is getting!  She is just so stinking cute, I can't handle her growing up so fast!  This year she did a fun combined party with our neighbor Kate.  They had a ton of friends come and decorate cupcakes, hit a pinata, play bingo, do butterfly tattoos and balloons, and just run around crazy in the church gym.  I was exhausted after it was all over!  Thank goodness for my friend Heidi helping.  The two of us were able to take on 20 seven year old girls!  Wow, it wasn't easy!

On top of that all, she got a party with my Dad and her cousin Riley who also turned 7.  Spoiled little thing.  Oh and don't forget the sleep over she had with Nana!  She got to shop, go to dinner, stay up late and then wake up and eat 6 cinnamon rolls for breakfast!  Lucky little thing!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little girl of all time!  Each year I get more and more sad that my little girl is growing up and turning into a perfect little lady!

Korie McCall Sandoval

January 14, 2015 my little sister BreeAnn and her husband Alex had this little doll! She was 6 pounds 1 ounce and 20.5 inches long!  She is the smallest, most perfect little girl I have seen in a long time!  Plus I think her name is AWESOME!!!!!!  I guess Bree and Alex must have known someone that they loved a lot to get a name like Korie McCall!!!!!  This quite possibly made my entire year... although it is only January so we have a long time to see if it holds true!!

This is Bree less than an hour after Korie came!  I can't believe how good she looks!  Go Bree!  Give birth and still look pretty! 

Proud parents!  This dad is going to spoil this girl rotten!  I'm still waiting for the nice guy act to wear off with Alex... it's taking forever! 

I have to say, that Korie showed me some of her name sake during this photo shoot!  I took off her diaper to do some shots of her entire body and she ended the shoot right away by spraying the entire length of my leg with newborn poop!  I was shocked and oddly proud--that's what a McCall would do!

I can't believe how alert and chill this little one always is!

Christmas update

As I sit here writing I am just thinking how fast time passes!   I just can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea that it is almost February of 2015!  How does time get away from me like that?

Christmas was, once again, really great!  The kids are so much fun the older they get!  I love that they really enjoy all of the Christmas traditions!  They are able to more fully enjoy the true meaning of Christmas too--meaning Christ's birth.

This Christmas we were able to spend a lot of time with our two families!  Jordan, Jared's brother who lives in Japan, came home for the month and we spent a lot of time with him.  The kids miss him when he is gone.  We also got to spend a lot of time with my family.  It was good to get all of us together again and just enjoy each other!

Christmas morning was a blast!  I think I even heard Ryan say that she heard Santa Claus come down the chimney!  We had the kids sleep in the basement family room so that Jared and I could set some things up in each of their rooms.  Jared and I worked through the night practically to get our gifts for them ready... it was worth losing the sleep though!!  We put a swinging chair in Ryan's room, and a climbing wall in McCallum's room!  It was a big hit!!

The kids also got a lot of great things from Santa, grandparents, and cousins.  It was a great time!  At one point in the morning, Mac opened a box of power tools.  Ryan took one look at the tools and said, "great, I can't wait till he cuts me to pieces!"   I was giggling, however, once the batteries were in the saw... the first thing Mac did was walk up to Ryan and pretend to saw her arm off!  I was laughing so hard when Ryan looked up at me and rolled her eyes and just said, "Told ya."

Ryan and Mac both got a dress up costume, Mac a knight, Ryan Frozen.  Mac got a remote control car, the tools, some drums from Grammie and Papa, some cowboy boots and a skateboard from Nana and Papa, and a bunch of other things.  Ryan got some books, a little bird that chirps, an art set, a Karaoke Machine from Grammie and Papa, a baby doll with clothes and other odds and ends from Nana and Papa, and lots of other fun things too.  It was a big hit!

 I got Jared this Axel bar.  It's a weighted bar but it has a really fat grip so it is used a little bit different than a normal lifting bar.  You cradle it in your arms for lifts often times... anyway he loved it!  We also got a climbing rope and some 45 pound bumper plates from the Zollinger's to add to our little garage gym!  It's awesome!  Plus, Jared gave me a speaker to play music on in the gym as well as a sweet set of running clothes for the cold weather!  Now I am set for working out in my garage gym all year round and I can still run the dog in style!  Thanks Honey!  (There are no pictures of me because I am always behind the camera!)

 Yikes, the only pictures of me are some of the most terrible things I've ever seen!  But look at those happy kids!  So much fun and so much to be thankful for!

 All the cousins on the Zollinger side going crazy over the gifts that Grammie and Papa gave them.

Mac in his cool new boots!  Every boy needs some of these!! Thanks Nana and Papa 

 
Ryan loved this little baby!  She is such a natural little mommy!  Every day before school she makes sure I am told to watch her while she is gone!

Jared and I got some tools from the Park's and a shop vac!  That's going to really come in handy!

Even the dog was happy!

Merry Christmas

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas this year!  If you didn't get our Christmas card this year just consider this your Christmas card.  Merry Christmas!

Fall Break

Fall break was a lot of fun for our family.  Jared and I decided to get the kids out of the house for a special little trip.  It wasn't much, but we really had a lot of fun.  We went up to stay in Park City at a hotel with the kids.  We were able to go miniature golfing, swim in the pool, play some arcade games, and do the Alpine slide.  It really ended up being a lot of fun!  I think the kids really enjoyed the get away!  I know Jared and I both did!

Some recent fun things to note: Mac has a new thing he does to me all day long.  He says to me "Mom, do you know who loves you?" Then he points both thumbs at himself and smiles.  Next, he says, "Mom, do you know who loves you even more?" He then does two thumbs up toward the sky..."Jesus."  It's the sweetest thing.  He has managed to apply it in other situations too.  For example, we were at the grocery store and he said in a voice that all could hear, "Mom, do you know who just farted?"  Then pointing both thumbs to his chest he said: "This guy!"  I was trying not to be a bad mom and laugh hysterically so I just shook my head and push my cart quickly away from the other shoppers while telling him to excuse himself.

As for the girl, well she is doing so awesome in school!  She is really taking to Chinese!  I can't believe how much she is soaking up!  She is getting 100% on her spelling tests and reading really well!  I am just so proud of this little one!  She is really growing up to be a really beautiful, smart, and kind little girl!  I couldn't have asked for anything better in a little girl!!

June

June L. Park
1930 ~ 2014
Salt Lake City, UT-June L. Park, our beloved wife, mother and grandmother passed away peacefully September 29, 2014 surrounded by her children and loving husband due to complications from Frontotemporal Degeneration Dementia (FTD). She was born January 22, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri to Lee S. Heberer and Julia Waddell. She married Gerald McCallum Park, May 17, 1950, later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple.
June was an avid writer and left behind priceless poems, stories and journals for her posterity. She was a champion Scrabble player and loved solving crossword puzzles, word searches and jigsaw puzzles. Her infectious laugh and wit were a joy to all. June loved the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in many callings including Relief Society President where she loved those she served.
Survived by her husband and three of her four children, Kelly Park, Julia (Kory) Conrad, Kirby (Lynn) Park; 10 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Preceded in death by her son O'Brien.
A viewing will be held Friday, October 3, from 6-8 p.m. at the Top of the World Chapel, 8100 Top of the World Drive. Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 4, 2014, 12:30 p.m. at the same location, with a viewing prior from 11:00-12:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) www.theaftd.org - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=june-l-park&pid=172650745#sthash.nNqDrUXl.dpuf

Birthday Boy

It happened again, Mac got a year older!  He is now 4 years old!   I can't believe this kid used to be a little baby... how the time gets away from me!  Now he is a big boy who is all fun and very little drama!  Here are some of the things I love about my boy...

1.  His voice.  I know I have been talking about this a lot, but I was so worried that he was going to lose his voice.  There is something very... scruffy, for lack of better words, that makes it unique to him!

2.  He is and always better be a Mama's boy!  This is a good thing!  I love that he is sweet with me.  Although it gets old when he wants me to hold him ALL the time, I still wouldn't ever change it!

3. Mac is ALL BOY!  I never knew a boy who was more boy than this kid!  He has more weaponry than any one person should ever have!  He shoves frogs in his pockets and brings snails into my  house!  I can't say I love that all the time, but I sure love that he keeps busy and doesn't mind getting dirty.

4.  Mac only exists in the NOW!  By this I mean, he only thinks in the now.  There is no thought for the future or how things might play out later.  He only worries about now.  He never holds grudges or worries about what will happen later.  This is a good thing... unless he is making bad choices then I really wish he would think a little bit more about how things will play out in the future!  That we can teach him we hope!

5.  Can you say DETERMINED?!?  This kid will never quit when he wants something.  I can't tell you how long this kid will work at me to get a treat!  I could tell him no a million times but that is not going to stop him from trying.  It's annoying some days, but I think if we can fuel it in the right ways, he will be unstoppable!  I admire a wont quit attitude!

6.  He is a smart kid.  I wont say that Jared and I are stupid, but we are not like this kid.  It's like he can learn without even putting in much effort at all.  I think that he is going to be very good with things like math... probably be a great student!  I guess I'll have to reflect back on this in a few years to see how things turn out.  This kid is very quick to learn and does very well at almost everything he sets his mind to.

7.  Mac is a natural athlete.  His arm is a rocket and his coordination is impressive. I don't know if he will ever get tall, but that's not going to stop him from being a very good athlete!  Plus, he has the energy levels needed to go like the energizer bunny!

8.  Oh those eyes!  Have you seen this boys lashes.  They are unique because they are different colors, but they go on for miles too.  It's like this boy was just built more beautiful than most!   He doesn't like to smile much for the camera, but this boy has a face that no one can resist!

9.  Mac is so great to volunteer.  Everyone in the primary has been telling me that he is always volunteering to say the prayer or thought if they need one on the fly.  He is also very willing to share his thoughts and try to answer all the questions they ask too.  I admire his willingness to speak up and help.  Probably has something to do with getting to talk into the microphone... I'll take it though.

10.  McCallum is one of the greatest blessings we have had.  He is everything a mother could ever dream her kid would be.  He is not perfect, but he is to us.  I love this boy more and more every day and I am just so grateful that he is ours!  If I could change anything about this boy I don't think I would!  He is just the most wonderful, loving kid!  We are so lucky to have him in our family!

We love you Mac!

As for his party... or should I say parties, we had a blast.  He got to go shopping with his Nana one day.  We went to Toys R Us and he got to pick out his own gift.  I couldn't believe how many isles we had to walk up and down.  He didn't ever stop or pick anything up really.  But when it came time to choose, he didn't surprise any of us!  He left with two swords and a bow with arrows and a quiver!  Shocking that he would want more weapons--NOT!

Then we had some fun cupcakes at school.  Ninja Turtle ones!  He made it very clear that I needed to make them look like ninja turtles.  We even watched a few tutorials online and he found the ones he liked best for me to try to replicate.  They turned out pretty cute!

Then he had a party with our family where he got a croquet set, a ninja turtle shell, a soccer ball,  a floor puzzle, and some more balls for him to hit outside with a bat.

Next, my family spoiled him and we had cookies and ice cream.  Punching gloves and a punching bag--what were Papa and Grammie thinking?!?  He is going crazy on this punching bag and I am just praying that I never see him do this same thing to a person.  lol he wont!

Finally, another dinner and desert where Nana S went wild and outfitted him with enough clothes to last forever!