Emily's Cast

Almost forgot! This last week Emily finally got her cast off. It was about time too because she wore a hole in the heel of her cast from walking around on the cement without her little cast sandal on. It was a long wait in the doctor's office but he got to us and zip! off came the cast. There was a lot of grass and some food stuffs in her cast. She's still getting used to not having it on but happy that it's off. To celebrate, that afternoon we filled our pool up and spent the afternoon playing in the water. Glad that's over!

30 Years of Illustration

Last night we had a special event at BYU. It was a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the illustration program at BYU. There was a dinner and a reception with artwork by the many alumni of the illustration program. Mary and I went to the dinner and it was great to see familiar faces as well as meet new ones. We got to pay homage to our faculty, Richard Hull, Robert Barrett, and Bethanne Anderson. It's amazing how many students have come and gone through the program. The reception was well done and it was nice to meet up with people we graduated with. The show is going on in the Harris Fine Arts Center and turned out to be really great. Both Mary and I have paintings in the show. We were just sad that the evening drew to a close so quickly and we had to say our goodbyes.

Art City Days (Part Deux)

Along with Art City Days was a children's art contest. Natalie did some wonderful watercolor flowers and entered. The reception was last Friday and we found out she won second place! She was so happy and was really excited to get a prize of new crayon, new paper, and m&ms. They also invited all the winners to ride in the parade the next morning. Needless to say Natalie was excited to be in the big parade. To make it even better, Grandma Parker showed up Saturday morning to watch the parade with us. Natalie was the perfect parade princess as she smiled and waved. When it was over and we asked her what her favorite part was she said it was when they gave her a donut and an otter pop. We are so proud of our little girl!

Art City Days

Last week we had Art City Days and there was lots o' fun to be had. We wen to the carnival and walked around the booths. The girls got to go on one ride since it cost an arm, a leg, and your kidney to ride any of the rides. It's actually cheaper to go to Lagoon, than it is to get an all day pass to the dinky rides at the carnival. Yeesh. But Natalie did use her birthday money to jump on the bungee/trampoline. She was awesome doing her back-flips and all. The 11 year-old boy on before her could barely do one back-flip. When Natalie got on she knew exactly what to do and was flipping all over the place.

We also got to do the children's parade. Natalie's preschool buddy came along and they had a blast riding in the parade with all the other kids. There was also a free bounce house and slide with free popcorn and cotton candy. the Springville Museum of Art also had a great festival set up with many booths where the kids could create different arts and crafts. The parade was pretty good too. A great week with lots of fun stuff to do.

Natalie breaking boards at the karate booth. Watch out boys.

Our six dollar merry-go-round ride.

Children's parade.

Six Years

It's been six years that we have been married, and life is still an adventure. We decided that to celebrate we would head up to Wyoming (I'll bet your thinking "Wyoming? why didn't I think of going there?!") The Grandparents were more than happy to watch the kidlings while we went off to enjoy some time alone. Friday afternoon we went to watch the romantic comedy "Iron Man 2", and then back home for some grilled steaks with the family. The next morning we headed out (despite the coolness and drizzle) to do some landscape painting. It was nice except for the rain in the paint (oil and water don't mix well). Then after painting we went for a hike in the rugged Wyoming terrain. It was nice to be alone together out in the open. It was time well spent and we're thankful grandma and grandpa could watch the girls.

That wonderful Wyoming wind!

Preschool Graduation

A few weeks ago Natalie participated in her Pre-School graduation and recieved her PD (preschool degree). For those who don't know, Mary has been doing a co-op preschool with three other ladies and their daughters for the past year. It's been great to be a part of this and Natalie has learned and enjoyed with her time in preschool. The ceremonies included renditions of "Five little Ducks", "I am a Child of God", the awarding of the certificates and a picnic on the quad. Congrats Natalie, you finally did it!

The great fall of Emily

Sooooo, on Natalie's birthday we visited the park near the library for a little play time. We had a good time swinging on the swings, playing on the slides, and running around. Until...

Emily decided to try her hand at flying.

The park has some platforms from which you can slide down the slides. There are various ways to get to the top of the platform, including stairs, monkey bars, climbing walls, etc. In the center of the highest platform is a hole. The hole can be reached through a tunnel of bars that go from the ground to the hole, and at the top the hole is protected with bars all the way around except for one spot where kids can get in and out of the hole. Emily had been going up the stairs, around the hole (carefully) and down the slide. Grandpa was watching her to make sure she didn't fall. She did this a few times all by herself. Well, the last time, she was climbing up and grandpa offered help. Of course being the independent two year old she is, she told him firmly, "Me do it." But as she got to the top, she was distracted by some other kids playing, didn't watch where she was walking and stepped in to the hole and dropped straight through to the bottom. It took her a second to realize what had happened and started to cry. We rushed over and checked her out and the only thing she was crying about was her foot. It didn't seem too bad, and we went home to put ice on her foot. After a while though it didn't seem like she was "shaking it off" so to speak. So we took her to the urgent care and they x-rayed her foot. The doctor didn't see anything, but wrapped her foot and sent her home. The next morning we got a call from the radiologist and said he found a small fracture in her foot. So, we had to get her in to an orthopedic doctor who put a cool pink cast on her ailing foot. She was a trooped through the whole ordeal, and the cast has not slowed her down. She gets the cast off this week, just in time for summer and swimming. *Whew* It could have been a lot worse.

Swinging with Grandpa before the drop.

A view from the top of the hole through which Emily fell. She's lucky she didn't hit any of the bars on the way down.

The hole is about eight feet off the ground.

Natalie's 5th

Recently we celebrated in style Natalie's 5th birthday. It was a great day with many adventures to say the least. We started out with a princess party (of course) and all of Natalie's preschool friends came over dressed in their finery. Mom made a cake that was a Cinderella Barbie cake which was awesome to say the least. Thanks to Grandma Pratt for the help out with the little girls too. After the girly party, one Grandma left and another came, as the Parker G-parents came to town along with Janetta and Zach. The festivities continued with more presents and more cake. Later it was off to the park and then to dinner at Chuck-o-Rama. Natalie kept saying how this was her favorite day EVER. We can't believe that our little girl is getting so big.

Natalie and her new scooter

Not one but TWO grandmas for her Birthday. Lucky Gal!

Tha famous Cinderella Cake. As delicious as it was beautiful.

A gaggle of princesses.