Party Rockers

My new nephew, James. :-)

My family means everything to me. I can go only so long without dying to see them. Dying.

My whole family lives within 15 minutes of each other and of course I'm the strange child who left home 6 days after high school graduation and never really went back. Ok, there was that one time when I had a baby and lived with my parents for 2 and a half years.... but, besides that!

I. LOVE. MY. FAMILY.

My nephew was having a birthday party and the invitation said, "Please please please come!" If that's not convincing I don't know what is!!! And, my beautiful sister was blessing her new born baby boy and there was no way in heaven I was going to miss her special day.

Tanner and I both worked half a day on Friday and Parker was able to go to school and gymnastics before we hit the road. We drove all the way straight through stopping only once for gas in Vegas and arrived home in Laguna at 10:30pm. Don't worry, we didn't speed. It was just a great day for driving.

The house was sooooooo beautiful, as always. My Mom is amazing and has a real talent for making her house a home. She is a great hostess! I guess that's what you get when you're father is a hotel manager! My Mom and Dad made sure we were comfortable and, let's be honest, we were spoiled while we were there.

We went out to breakfast at Lulu's the next morning and enjoyed delicious crepes! I was thrilled to be outside in the warm sunshine!

Parker showing Nanny his scar.

We let Parker play with the camera to keep him entertained....

After breakfast we headed down to San Clemente to enjoy an hour or so basking in the sunshine before the birthday party.

We made drip castles and found rocks and played catch and got asked if we had any sun block because we "Looked pretty white". Thanks surfer guy for pointing out the obvious! lol

Before we left we took a little stroll along the pier and watched the train go by. This used to be Parker's favorite beach. He loved the train. I remember him saying for days in his little 2 year old voice, "There's no parking!" because one time we went there and had to search and search for a spot!

So, did I mention that my siblings didn't know I was coming? They kept calling and texting me asking if we were coming down and I told them it just wasn't going to happen. Hee hee I'm so sneaky. The looks on their faces were priceless!!!! Yes, a few tears were shed. We probably scared all the people at the park with all our screaming! :-)

Sisters xoxoxo

And Mamma

Tanner and Matt- they are bonded for sure!

Cake time!

We had to sing "Happy Birthday" twice because Kari forgot to light the candle. ha ha

Ummmmm, my neice is pretty much the most amazingly gorgeous tiny human on the planet. Sorry, but she is.

Bromance

Tanner and I were loving all the baby time! We were the top 2 baby whisperers that weekend.

Love my sista and her brave husband and that sweet baby James!

Parker hates pinatas....

NOT!!!

After the party we went swimming at my brothers house and were too busy splashing to take pictures. Parker and Tanner crashed before the clock struck 8 that night. Meanwhile my parents hosted a huge dinner party and I gladly partook of the goods!

Sunday morning I woke up to find this...

They have such a special bond. Parker really does love his Nanny soooooo much!

The whole family was at church for James' blessing. We took the entire back side of the chapel! My Dad gave the most beautiful blessing and we were all deeply touched. 4 out of the 5 kids bore their testimonies which was a tremendous experience for all of us. We really felt the spirit that day. We all couldn't help thinking how grateful we were to have our Dad still with us- last November was such a scary time for our family. But, we are all healthy and strong and we are a growing family!

I love my Dad!

My sister and her boys

Parker was all smiles the entire weekend. He loves his cousins!!!

Well, ok, maybe not the entire time.

Bebo giving the kids Jr. Mints for standing so nicely for family pictures. :-)

Sisters!

My 2 absolute favorite people of all time. Love them more than words can express.

And, my cute little family!

After church we all headed to my parents house for dinner and play time. The kids could not have been sweeter playing together. It was so hard to leave but we had to pack up and drive to St. George. We stayed with our awesome friends who we didn't even really get to see. We got in at 1am and had to head out at 8am so that we could be to work. I had patients at noon I had to see! :-)

Family.

I'm so grateful for an eternal family. I'm so blessed to be sealed to them forever. It's hard to be far away and not see them all the time but I know we will all live on a cul de sac in heaven and have forever to be together!

President's Day Weekend

We had a pretty eventful Presidents Day Weekend this year. Saturday we had tickets to the IMAX at the Planetarium so we headed up to Salt Lake for the day.

We had some time to kill before the movie started so after we discovered all there was to do at the Planetarium we walked around the Gateway for a while. Well, little did we know that it was the 10 year anniversary from the 2002 Winter Olympics which were held in Salt Lake. They had a big fair going on and we were so happy to have happened upon it!

The U.S. trampoline team was there showing off their tricks which was totally cool! We even won a free Tshirt!

We need to introduce Parker to Cool Runnings....

YAY!!! Free Tshirt! It was so awesome seeing all these Olympic Gold athletes walking around with their medals!

The movie at the Planetarium was super good! Here we are waiting in line.

It was in 3D

On Monday we went to Midway with Angeluis and Mikailo for some sledding and swimming!

Kailo was so cute all bundled up. He was so confused when he woke surrounded by all this white stuff! He's definitely a California boy!

Parker had a blast sledding and throwing snow at Tanner! It was a beautiful day!

Kailo didn't want to touch the snow....

After sledding we went swimming. It felt soooo good.

But, apparently swimming is more dangerous than speeding down an icy mountain. Parker jumped from the steps to the side of the pool and hit his chin. I saw him do it and immediately grabbed him out and shoved a towel up under his chin. He never even saw a drop of blood. I told Tanner the second it happened, "Go get dressed. We have to get this kid some stitches."

He was so brave. He hardly cried at all and even held the towel himself while we were in the car driving.

I was bummed it was a holiday and none of my boys were working but we got the best care from Dr. Stewart at the Provo Instacare. It's such a bonus working with compassionate doctors. Makes these situations so much easier.

He did NOT like the needle to numb the cut with but he was brave and now loves to tell everyone about it!

5 stitches later....

Angeluis made us dinner that night which was so sweet! They truly are the greatest friends! We totally had to bail on them and leave when Parker had his little accident so it was fun that we could finish up the day together. We headed back once again to The Chocolate for dessert because, let's be honest, I needed it!

Parker was wiped out by the end of the day and so ready for bed. It sure was a day that made history in the Peterson family!

A week later Parker was fussing with his stitches and managed to take them all out himself! Who does that??? I tell you, my kid's going to be a doctor one day!!! :-)