Carey and Lilly try to reach the cat.

Carey loves to play with her best friend, Lilly. Here they are in Carey's room, plotting the best way to get to our cat, Camille, who is safely out of reach in the crib.

Jared's Big Fish

How does he do it? Every time Jared goes fishing, he either catches the biggest fish, the most fish, or both. This time it was the biggest. Friday, July 1oth, he caught a huge fish on Island Park Reservoir during the Parkinson family reunion. He went out on Grandpa Parkinson's boat with Uncle Robert and cousin Ryan, and cousin Norm and his brother, Nick. He decided to adjust his line a bit, but when he turned the handle of the reel he was surprised to feel a fish tugging on it. A few minutes later, and after nearly losing it under the boat several times, out of the water came a 4 pound 22 inch rainbow trout. Robert and Ryan each caught one, Nick caught two, and Norm got skunked. Grandpa Parkinson showed him how to gut the fish, and then Jared and Nick wrapped them in wet newspapers and tinfoil, along with the fish that Riley had caught the same day, but from the shore. Grandpa Fred cooked them up on hot coals, and then we passed it around. Oh, that was a good fish. So yummy!

Grandpa Gary

Corey's Dad passed away Friday morning, June 26, 2009. This is a slideshow I put together to show at his viewings. It has been a very hard week. There is so much to do when a family member dies, so besides the emotional strain I am also very, very tired. On top of that, half of our house flooded and is unusable until Servicemaster and our landlord get finished. Tonight is the viewing, tomorrow the funeral, Friday we help Hayley (Corey's sister) move, and Saturday we'll go to the fireworks at the Grantsville City Park without Grandpa Gary for the first time. Oh, I can't wait for Monday . . . a vacation in Island Park is just what I need. See you soon, Parkinson family!

Chillin' with Dad

Today after church, and after dinner was cleaned up (grilled tuna and cheese sammiches), Corey and Connor took a few minutes to put their feet up and enjoy a Coke together. Life needs more moments like this.

Steven's Baptism

Steven was baptized on Saturday, March 28th. It was a really special meeting with just our family and friends. His grandma's gave the talks, his best buddy, Jeff, played a song on the piano, and we had his favorite food afterwards: LASAGNA!

Jared, age 12.5

Jared doesn't particularly like having his picture taken, as you can see from this shot. He is sitting in our "scripture room" where we do family night, read, do homework, and have family scriptures and prayers. He's about to do his math homework. Jared will be 13 in July. He goes to 7th grade, he's a deacon, loves ym/yw activities, is getting to be a pro at scout campouts, and we have to be careful not to let him spend too much time on YouTube or World of Warcraft. He is now officially taller than his Mom, can whip her in an arm wrestle (even if she cheats), and wears bigger shoes than his Dad.

This is my first blog ever!

Why didn't I do this sooner? My friend, Kirsten, asked me to show her how to blog. I decided I'd better figure it out before I helped her. Thanks to my cousin, Sherri, for helping me get started. I love your blogspot, by the way!

Anyway, about the picture. After dinner each night Corey baths the kids and puts them in their jammies. The older kids clear the table and clean up the floor, and I do the dishes. Usually Carey is yelling "Ow! Da! Ow!" Translation: "Out, Dad, out!" (Please get me out of my hi-chair and give me a bath.) But this night she was just too tired.