And the winner is....

So everyone who guessed New York (I think only Aunt Gyla), gets the prize.  Haylie got her mission call to the Rochester New York Mission.  She reports to the MTC on August 6th.  After two farewells, one in Utah and one in Chicago, I think she is excited and ready to get going.  We are going to miss her, but are so proud and excited for her---every time Caitlyn says her prayers she prays that Haylie can go on her mission.  Check out the link to her blog for any fun updates, pictures and new addresses.  

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission!

My cute sister just turned in her mission papers, so now she is just playing the waiting game.  My guess is Denmark, although she is hoping for stateside.  

Binki?

After many attempts and absolutely every kind of binki made, Parker has refused the binki, (I am not quite sure if I should be glad about that or not).  But give him a sock or the corner of a blanket and he is in heaven.  I think we all know where he gets it from, right Grandpa Jeppsen? 

Mother's Day

At Brandon and Caitlyn's preschool they honored the moms with a special day at preschool.  I got to go and spend the day with each of them.  On Caitlyn's day we made necklaces, planted flowers, and ate abc pretzels.  On Brandon's day we made bracelets, planted pumpkin seeds (which are just beginning to sprout), he gave me a hand massage with smelly lotion, and the famous abc pretzels.  Here are some pictures of Cait's mom's day, but silly me I forgot the camera on Brandon's day, sorry bud!

Tubby Time

Parker's first time sitting up in the tub.  He loved it.  

Go D'Backs!

Brandon started T-ball in April.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to make his first game, but Matt came through and took some great pictures.  At first the players were just hitting from a T, but by the end they were hitting off a coach pitch.  Brandon said his favorite position to play is pitcher, and just today he made a great play to first base and got the runner out.  Although I have to say that I think we might be in trouble in the future because after I had been to 2 or 3 games, Brandon and I were talking one day and he said, "You know mom, you really can't talk to me during the game, I need to pay attention to the ball."  I am thinking when I tried to talk to him, but I didn't, I was just "cheering" for him when he got a hit and stuff, so I said, "Do you mean when I was cheering for you?" and he said, "yeah, you have to be quiet."  So I took that as he was embarrassed that I was being so "loud" so I have been trying to keep it to a minimum. 

 

Just Hangin' Out

Caitlyn and Parker just hangin out on the couch (yes, I am sure some sort of cartoon is playing).  She always wants to be a big helper and hold Parker, but considering he is almost as big as she is, the arm around the shoulders works great.  :)

Lil' Cowboy

Here are a couple of Parker's 6 month pictures. He was so funny the day we got them taken. All he wanted to do was eat the boots and when I tried to take them away he was so sad, screaming crying, throwing a little temper tantrum. Then as soon as he got them back, no tears. Isn't it funny how they can turn the tears on and off so quick? As you can tell, by the end of our session he was so done.

Yummy

Here are a couple of pictures of all the sugery treats the Easter bunny brought.
Kites and Webkinz accesories were a big hit.

The Easter bunny brought Parker a basketfull of Dum-Dum suckers. We just had to capture his first taste of pure sugar....we think he liked it.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

Around Easter Parker just barely started to roll from his back to his tummy. We tried to catch it the best we could, but as usual by the time we got the camera out he was tired, so this is the best we got.

Happy Birthday, Matt!

It was Matt's birthday in April. We got to celebrate with his sister Jen, who was visiting from Utah. We went to dinner and then tried to go bowling, but unfortunately every bowling alley around us has women leagues in the evenings. So, we settled for cosmic (glow-in-the-dark) mini golf in the mall. I think his favorite present was/is the indoor R/C helicopter, but he really likes to play Guitar Hero too. Hopefully he had a great birthday and knows how much we appreciate him, Love ya babe!

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We finally got to take Parker out for the first time since he got sick in December. Everyone was so excited to see him and couldn't believe how big he had grown. We have been truly blessed and are grateful for our Savior and the sacrifice he has made for each of us.

Easter Fun

We got to dye Easter eggs at Grandma's with Amy, and Tara and Rob and their family. Notice what (most of )the men were doing during the festivities....typical. :) Then then we got to have an Easter egg hunt in the basement because it what snowing outside that day in Chicago. Carter found the "golden" egg with $20 bucks, but Caitlyn turned on the tears and Grandpa hit her with a twenty too. He is such a softie.

Spring Break

In March, my sister Tara and her family came over and along with my Mom and sister Amy, we drove up to the Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at a really fun resort called the Wilderness resort. It was so much fun. It has 5 indoor waterparks and a huge dry play area. You can get to them all without every having to go outside. Which makes it a perfect getaway for the winter. We had so much fun and it is my kid's new favorite vacation spot, plus it is always fun to get to spend time with our family.

All Aboard!

One of Caitlyn's fieldtrips for preschool was to take a train ride. Caitlyn was excited to go, although while we were on the train, she kept asking when we were going to get to her fieldtrip. I had to explain that the train ride was the fieldtrip---she wasn't impressed, but nothing a little icecream couldn't fix.