Pumpkin Carving 2012

So I was going through my pictures on my phone this morning, and there is tons I need to get off and blog about! I have a bit of down time right now, so I decided to post about our pumpkin carving this year. Just in time for Christmas, right?

I saw a pumpkin carved like a Minion on Pinterest, and we knew that's what we had to do!

Carving the pumpkin! The rind was so thick I had to scrape for a while...

 Cutting out the template

  Carving

 All lit up!

Happy Halloween from the Parkers!

(Pretend this was posted like 2 months ago.)

Christmas Cookies 2012

It's no secret that I love baking. Especially cookies. It's also no secret that I love the kids in our primary. So what do I get when I combine the two? Mayhem disguised as A LOT of fun!

Yesterday we had a family in our ward send their kids over to help me decorate the sugar cookies I made on Sunday. And they went to town... Sprinkles everywhere, frosting dripping off each cookie, and lots of giggles in between. It was so fun and they didn't want to go home!

 Eve didn't want to be in the picture. 

Neither did Dexter. He is hiding on the ground behind Truman (on the right).

Graham and Laura are the two in the middle.

 It's hard work getting a picture of Dexter!

(Sorry Sean)

 Truman now wants Sean to teach him how to play the guitar :)

The finished product. My apologies to anyone who gets these cookies.

 Well, it will mainly be my primary kids. So they probably won't care...

And then when it was time to go:

Me: "Ok kids time to go home for dinner!"

Everyone: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Love it!

-Hayley

Friday Funnies 12/14

 For reals!!!! Harry Potter should have been like this.

 Blaze would totally plot something like this...

 For all my friends with kids who do the Elf guy :) This made me laugh

 So not my husband, but I know a lot of people (through my work facebook) who this totally applies to. And they are the ones that shared this haha.

 For my siblings and our incredibly Wee Sing Silly Songs childhood :)

Rawr!

 

This was too funny. Poor Santa having to watch out for crack brownies...

I thought about waiting in light of what happened this morning in CT, but I figured we all need a good laugh, even in our saddest moments. My thoughts and prayers are with those families affected this morning, and I hope they can find some comfort through Christ and His Atonement.

-Hayley

Thankful Thursday 12/20

*Thankful for my accrued vacation time, I now get to work a half day tomorrow and have next Friday off! Starting my Christmas vacation 1 day earlier now!

*Thankful for Sean and how hard he works at school. He seriously rocked it this semester.

*Thankful for Blaze and how sweet he can sometimes be.

*Thankful for my primary class. They are so weird and so fun and I'm really going to miss them. I only have a couple more Sunday's left with them.

*Thankful for the friends we have made in our ward and that their kids love us. On Sunday, an 11 year old that we went to Lagoon with came up to me and said, "We want you and Brother Parker to take us to Trafalga!" Haha so I think we will this weekend!

*Thankful for Sean and his priesthood. It's amazing just to have it in the home, and I think I take it for granted sometimes.

What are you thankful for today?

Friday Funnies

This is the other new thing I want to try to remember to do weekly. Every week you see those ridiculous e-cards and funny animal pictures. These are the ones that made me laugh out loud, literally. I can't tell you how many giggles I've stifled because of some of these... Enjoy!

This is so me. Poor Sean.

 This is so Blaze. Poor Sean...

  Never looking at carrots the same way again...

I would never send this to someone. But it's hilarious. Especially when you sing it out loud.

 Yes! (My name is Hayley and I'm a nerd.)

(Rachel, this reminds me of you. Obv.)

 I almost peed my pants. Again. After the 5th time looking at this. It's bigger because it is that much funnier.

P.S. Why Friday? Because let's be honest. As great as Friday is, when my alarm goes off Friday morning I am dreading the next 9 hours. And then I'm usually to tired to go out and do anything after work. So laugher = best medicine right? Let's hope so.

Hayley

Thankful Thursday

I've got a couple new things I want to try and start doing weekly on my blog. Thankful Thursday is one of them. All through November I was thinking of things to be thankful for, and a lot of them were huge things. I feel it is also important to look for the little things as well, since they are usually what brightens my day. Or something like that. Anyway, I hope to make this a weekly tradition.

Things I am thankful for from the past week:

*The days that Sean gets home before me and I get a text that says "Honey what do I need to do to start dinner?" Best. Texts. Ever.

*Dinner at my Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry's house last night. It still hasn't sunk in that they now live in Utah, but I sure am excited to see them more!

*My Christmas shopping is done! Well, I have an idea for one or two more things, we'll see if they get done. Just need to wrap them all now!

*Our little 2-foot-tall Christmas tree. It may be little, but is perfect for Sean and me. One strand of lights went all the way around, and 2 packages of bulbs fit perfectly on that little guy. And, success, Blaze hasn't tried to eat it!

*Sean and all the work he puts into school. Ever since I've known him, he's done really well in school, and I couldn't be more proud :)

What little things are you thankful for this week?

Birthday Party Fun

I love my primary class! I don't think that is any secret. Today, Sean and I got invited to a birthday party for one of the girls in my class. This little almost 10-year-old loves snakes more than anything, so they had a wildlife specialist come out and show off a bunch of different animals. We got to pet a couple different boa constrictors, a fox, a ferret, a skunk, and a couple others. It was really funny, and the lady was really entertaining!

 The skunk. Seriously weird to pet a skunk...

 The birthday girl with her favorite animal wrapped around her waste. She was in heaven!

Gorgeous fox. The lady was explaining the difference between imprinting with wild animals, and domesticated. (Imprinting? I almost laughed out loud. Stephanie Meyer took the concept a LOT too far in the Twilight series...)

It was really fun! The kids all loved it, and they all got to hold the ferret, instead of just petting it. So much fun to see these animals not behind a fence or glass, like at the zoo. And to pet them? How many people can say they've pet a fox or a skunk! Well we sure can now!

PS. I maxed out my Picasa storage, so I will be posting as Sean for now. Until that runs out and I have to create a new email just for blogging purposes. Anyway, keep checking back for posts about my brother's birthday and other things!

Gratitude Days 20-22

The worst part about days off is I forget about everything and do nothing. That also might be the best part. But to finish up...

Day 20: I'm grateful for the men and women that serve our country in the military, and the sacrifices they and their families make for our freedom. I love that I get to work with military spouses every day to help them start school, especially since it is free for them.

Day 21: I'm thankful for health insurance, and that Sean and I are able to go the doctor when we need to, even just for physicals, and know that whatever happens we can get the care we need. Luckily we are both pretty healthy though.

Day 22: Happy Thanksgiving! I'm extremely grateful for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for me, and for each one of us, in the Garden of Gethsemane, so that we can be forgiven and receive comfort, and one day return to live with our Heavenly Father.

And one more since I'm here: I'm grateful for Christmas music and the joy that is in the air during this Christmas season! May we remember the real reason for the season, our Lord and Savior. Happy holidays everyone!

Gratitude Days 18-19

Day 18: I'm soooooo grateful Sean proposed to me a year ago today (well yesterday technically). Although I had a love-hate relationship with planning the wedding, the day we got engaged was very special and I loved the feeling of knowing that it was official and I could tell people haha.

Day 19: Today I am grateful for a short work week, and the anticipation of getting to spend lots of qualify time with both families this week. Not to mention all the yummy food I know I will be consuming and am already drooling over... bring on the turkey coma!

Gratitude Day 17

Today Sean and I have been married for 9 months! I am SOOOO grateful for our eternal marriage, and that we are together for eternity! I love the fact that I know, without a doubt, that I can be with him forever, no matter what happens in this life. We have been sealed together and I love it :)

Gratitude Day 16

Today I am grateful for Classical music. That makes me sound like such an old person, but seriously, it is my fave. It is so relaxing and calming and I can fall asleep to it. And Sean loves it too, which is great :) whether it is from 400 years ago, or a new soundtrack that came out, it is my favorite thing to listen to, especially when I'm stressed. I'm so glad my parents would play classical music when we were little. Jenny and I had some awesome times dancing around the living room...

Gratitude Day 15

Today I am thankful that I have a gym membership. It is too dang cold to do anything outside anymore (sad day). I am usually able to make it 3-4 times a week, which I count as a success since it takes forever to get there. (Hey, I'm used to walking across the street to Gold's, those were the days.)

I'm also thankful that my membership at 24 Hour is up in February. It is too dang far from where we live. Especially when I pass 3 other gyms on the way. Hello Gold's! I'll be back in February! And you are only a 1.5 minute drive away? Even better!

Gratitude Day 14

Today I am super thankful for Sean. He does so much for me and he is my best friend. He is really smart and brave (a.k.a. he kills all the spiders for me). He makes me want to be a better person. We have so much fun together and there is no one else in the world I would rather experience life with. In our short (almost) nine months of marriage, we have had so many adventures, and I know there are many more to come! I'm so excited that we get to be together for eternity! Love you Sean!

Gratitude Days 11-13

Busy weekend! Here we go playing catch-up again:

Day 11: I'm grateful for Primary. No matter what ward I'm in/visiting, primary kids are so fun! I went to Sam and Ben's ward on Sunday and it was their primary program. "My favorite prophet is President Monson because he told a funny joke." "My favorite prophet is President Eyring because he cries a lot." Those were two quotes from Sunday that I loved!

Day 12: I'm grateful for paid time off and vacation days. And I'm grateful that work let me take yesterday off so I could play with these two handsome boys!

 Joel and me

 Henry and me

right before I left

Day 13: I'm grateful for my awesome landlords and that we don't have to pay for utilities! We keep our house pretty toasty and right now all I want is to sit in front of the heater and sleep. Seriously though, they really are the greatest landlords I have ever had, and I've had a lot of landlords. I don't know if anyone else in the world is that good of friends with their landlords, but we are! We share desserts, we play with their kids, they invite us to Lagoon, AND they don't care that Blaze is a monster dog and runs around their backyard like an escaped prisoner. Thanks Mike and Becky!

Gratitude Day 10

Today I am grateful for snow.

Say what?? Did I really just say that?

But I am! This morning we woke up and it was slightly cloudy, with 9 inches of fresh snow on the ground. We bundled up to let Blaze out and acted like 5 year olds running around in it.

PS. Blaze is hilarious in that much snow. 

Reason 1: he has to pick up his feet A LOT to get around it. And he always does laps when there is that dramatic a difference outside. Hilarious. 

Reason 2: Blaze KNOWS there is a ball buried somewhere under the snow, and he has NO idea how to find it. Me either, buddy. Me either. 

Reason 3: Sean ran around the backyard while Blaze followed so Blaze could burn some energy. So sweet watching those two together :)

this was last night after I got home from work

I am also grateful that at this moment I am sitting in the airport waiting to board a plan to San Fran. I get to escape the snow for a couple days. Perfect timing!

Gratitude Day 9

Today I am grateful for Sean and how hard he works in school. He does so much, and works two jobs on top of his immense pile of school work. It is seriously a good thing we weren't in school at the same time though, 'cause he is kicking my butt grade-wise in the classes we took together. Anatomy? A+. Everything else? A's all over the board. Smarty pants..

But seriously. Sean, you are amazing and I am so proud of all the hard work you put into school! Love you honey!

Gratitude Day 8

Today I'm thankful for modern transportation. You know, planes, trains, cars, space shuttles, etc.

Why? Because on Saturday I'm flying to CA to see:

Sammy! And these cuties!

I'm also grateful that my work made me sign up with Delta as a sky-miles member years ago, because I get sweet deals every week on flights and that is why I'm able to go this weekend. Yay!

Gratitude Day 7

It was kinda hard for me to think of what I was grateful for today, because I was honestly pretty bummed Romney didn't win. Four more years America...

Anyway, as I sit here stifling yawns, I'm grateful for sleep. Apparently I'm not in any sleep debt right now, because ever since Sunday, I've woken up before the alarm feeling just fine. Not tired at all. (Although that sets in later in the day after lunch when I'm tanning being sunned on at my work desk through the window. Who actually gets enough sleep? Apparently this girl...

So maybe I should say thank you to Sean for letting me go to be at 9 when I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Thanks Sean!

(Dang Daylight Savings time, I don't like waking up at 5:30!)

Gratitude Day 6

This might be everyone's gratitude for today, but whatever. Today, I voted! And I am so thankful that I live in this country where we are able to vote and have a say in how our country is run. Whatever way each of us votes, we should all take part!

 

And in celebration of the party system:

Gratitude Days 3-5

I was such a slacker this weekend! Actually, I made a deal with myself not to get on any social media, and I succeeded. Except for the picture I posted on Instagram of my friend Morgan at her wedding reception. Aside from that, no email, no facebook, not twitter, nothing. I was pretty impressed that I actually did it...

Anyway here we go:

Day 3: I am grateful for the temple! Sean and I got to do an endowment session with his parents on Saturday, and we had family names from his dad's side of the family. It's been really fun doing family names; we started with the baptisms and have been working our way through everything else! It's fun making relationship connections just by looking at the names and dates on each card.

Day 4: I'm grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the opportunity to take the Sacrament every week. I love that I can feel close to my Savior and that feeling gets renewed every week at church. I love the weekly dose of the Spirit that comes, even in Primary! (And that is a whole other blog post.)

Day 5: I'm grateful for pinterest and new recipes :) Come on, there had to be a cheesy one in my catch-up. A few months ago I found a sweet and sour chicken recipe on Pinterest and made it. Now it is a regular in our dinner lineup, it is so good! I blogged the recipe a couple months ago. Or look at Pinterest...

Gratitude Day 2

Today I am very thankful for family. I have the best parents, the most awesome siblings, and now I have a wonderful husband and his crazy, wonderful family to spend time with. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world knowing how many people I have in my life that love me, and even better, I get to spend eternity with them!

 

 

Also, gotta through a shout-out to my extended family. I have THE greatest aunts, uncles, and cousins ever! People count down to Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. I count down to my family reunions. They are so much fun!

 

I love all my family, near and far, and am grateful for all they do for me :)

Gratitude Day 1

It's November! How did it sneak up on me so fast? Thanksgiving and Christmas and all those glorious days off I have scheduled are coming up quick, and I couldn't be more excited. Although I hate the snow and cold and that is the only downer about winter. Anyway, in light of Thanksgiving, I'm going to do the gratitude post-a-day again! Here we go!

Today I am grateful for Social Media. Seriously! Seems weird but I love that through Facebook, Instagram, blogging, etc. I can keep in touch with good friends and old roommates. Even though we may not talk often, it is still really fun to keep up on their lives.

What brought this on? Yesterday my old roommate Laura posted about Halloween and mentioned Wee Sing Halloween, which I have NEVER heard of anyone else knowing about Wee Sing! I finally found their website after seriously years of searching, all because of that blog post. Thanks Laura!

Here is the website if you want to check it out: http://www.weesing.com/booksAudio.cfm

My favorite is Wee Sing Silly Songs! Every once in a while I will start singing some random dumb song and Sean will get so confused and I just say, "remember that silly songs CD I told you about from my childhood?" and he smiles and nods like a good husband. Well now I can order it and my kids can enjoy the goodness!

Provo Canyon Fall 2012

I love the colors of fall, but it is bittersweet because it brings the impending doom of winter and snow and ice and all that yucky... Anyway, here are some pics I snapped last a couple weeks ago.

I switched my part to the other side of my head so I didn't go bald. I'm still adjusting. It's weird.

Ward Activity 9/22/12

Our ward had a fall activity where most everyone brought different kinds of soups. I made a taco soup recipe that I got from my old roommate, Elisse; it is the best soup ever. Now I want some...

Anyway, we had a lot of fun hanging out with our primary kids. Maybe too much fun...

Katie with leaves on her head

Eve with leaves on her head

Emma with leaves on her head

Don't worry. I had my fair share of leaves in my hair as well.

If I have a fan club (the three girls above), then Sean has one too. Talmage is climbing up Sean's arm, and Dexter is the one grabbing Sean's legs.

How many primary kids does it take to slow Brother Parker down?

After the donut eating contest

Sean helping little M eat her donut. I wish I had the video her mom took. Priceless.

My three girls. This was donut round number 4...