Chad, Emily, Parker and Blake Burnham

I'm Back again...

2011-09-30T14:35:00.003-04:00

Hi all...

So, Now that I am a few hundred posts behind, the guilt is starting to set in that I have not documented any of our family's life for about a year. That will make me sad one day. At any rate, I am jumping back into blogging full force, and committing myself to having some really awesome blog posts so that I can remember the fun/chaotic/crazy times we are having with our boys.

That being said, I hate to do this, but I think it's time that we go PRIVATE. I really don't even know how to do that yet, but I am sure I will figure it out. leave me a message, email me or facebook me with your email address if you want an invite. All are welcome :)

-Emily

Update on the Boys

2011-01-06T10:06:00.010-05:00

Parker will turn 3 in a couple of weeks (January 16th). Some days I can't believe he is that old, and somedays I feel like he should be at least 5 because he thinks he is. He is our little analytical guy. He thinks about things SO much and has the best memory in the world. He randomly brings up old memories of things we did over 6 months ago. Usually, I can hardly remember the event he is talking about.

He recites the alphabet about 20 times a day. He loves to do anything that has to do with letters or reading and has started to read a few simple words on his own. I wish I could take all the credit for that, but I have to admit that starfall.com and sesamestreet.org 's learning games were definitely the catalyst for his learning. He sneaks away multiple times a day, starts up the computer, types in the website, and starts playing his games "all by my self" -- a common phrase around our house.

Parker has a very strong-willed personality. He is organized and calculated and gets upset when things don't turn out how he has pictured them in his head. He is my resident back-seat-driver and gives me driving directions from his carseat in the back. He is always telling me where to turn, when to stop, go, speed up, slow down or turn around. It is also a requirement that we stop long enough at every stop sign for him to spell out the word "S-T-O-P... that spells stop."

Parker also has a fun, crazy side to him. He loves to play, and wrestle, especially with Chad, who he is OBSESSED with. He loves to play outside, do bum wars on the trampoline, sing songs, play with any type of ball, and shoots a basketball with PERFECT form... as long as he is shooting from his "sweet spot" He gives the best hugs without being prompted from us. And although we complain about it, Chad and I both secretly love it that he climbs into bed with us in the middle of the night.

18 month old Blake is rough and tough. He doesn't know his own strength and usually wins the wrestling matches that HE STARTS with Parker. He is so dramatic on all ends of the spectrum. He can be the happiest, saddest, funniest, or maddest kid I have ever seen. Even when he is happy though, he tries to pretend like he is grumpy and complains in jibberish with a scowl on his face if you look at him. He is a crack up and has more personality in that little body than he knows what to do with. He adores Parker and wants to copy him all the time. He is starting to talk a lot more now, loves to dance, run, kick soccer balls, and give long, soft kisses (watch out girls!)

He loves to have his back tickled as he is falling asleep. And usually will say "Please, please" if you try to stop. Gets me everytime.

Blake is our big eater and will out-eat Parker at any given meal. Now that they are only about 3 pounds apart, Park needs to start watching his back with this guy around.

Pretty much... I love my two little guys, and watching them grow and develop into real little people. They sure are a handful most of the time, but I don't think I would have them any other way.

New Year, New Goals.

2011-01-04T00:18:00.002-05:00

So, yes... I realize I have not blogged since the summer. I don't know why I think I am so busy, but somehow my days are completely filled up with these two little boys, church duties, friends, house chores, dinner, etc. etc. By the time I can actually sit down at the computer to do a new post, I am exhausted and need to get in bed so that I can actually wake up for my morning run with my girlfriends. (which I rarely make it too--- hopefully that will also change this year)

At any rate, 2 of my resolutions for the new year are to catch up on this blog and to catch up on my sleep. Operation blog-catch-up seems very daunting. I decided the best way to do this is to just start with what is happening now, and fill in the missing months when I can. (thank goodness you can post-date your blog posts on here). So, there. The plan is in place for the world to see. That way someone can hold me to it :) So, stay tuned for a more new blogging... and good night.

A week in Utah

2010-07-28T02:17:00.001-04:00

We went back out to Utah for the week of July 24th. It was a fun packed week that started with a family reunion in Park City with my mom's side of the family. We swam, rode the alpine slide, and started the festivities for my cousin Adam who got married that weekend. The wedding was beautiful, and it was great to be there with so much family.

We stayed in Utah for a few more days to celebrate the 24th (pioneer day). Highlights included: 2 different parades, Bountiful days carnival, A great 10 K run for me, spending time with extended family, 7 peaks water park, Blake's first steps at Steph and Mike's house, fireworks, awesome food, and spending the night up in Midway with our some of our best Maryland buddies, the Skinners. We love that we can drive to Utah and in just a few short hours be surrounded by so many people that we love!

The Dastrups come to visit

2010-07-18T02:02:00.001-04:00

Some of our best friends from Maryland, Joe and Lindsey came to visit us. Oh, how we've been missing our friends! It was so great to see them again and meet their new addition, little Max. He is adorable and fit right in with Parker and Blake. And now that they are moving to Denver, I think these boys are going to get to see a lot more of each other. Thanks for visiting us guys. We love you!

Camping

2010-07-11T01:27:00.000-04:00

We decided to try our luck taking the boys camping for one night... the trial run. After buying all the gear we needed, we went to the lake about 15 minutes from our house and set up our camp spot. We had a blast and the boys were so excited. Camping activities included swimming in the lake, playing soccer and badmitten, roasting hotdogs over the fire, Smores, and all of us snuggling in the tent.

Parker had a really hard time falling asleep because he was SO excited to be sleeping in the tent. He couldn't stop reminding us that we went camping, and giving us kisses. It was cute. Once he finally closed his eyes, Chad and I even snuck in a few card games under the stars.

Surprisingly, the camping trial run was a success. Although I have never been big on camping, we had a lot of fun, and bought all of the gear, so, I guess this means we will be camping a lot more in the future....

4th of July weekend in Utah

2010-07-08T00:50:00.002-04:00

On Friday, the 2nd, our sweet little Blake turned one year old. We celebrated by driving to Utah and meeting up with family for the Real Salt Lake game. We had the best time and saw some amazing goals. Parker and Blake loved every minute of the game. The game concluded with a great firework display, that we all got to sit on the soccer field to watch. It was a great night and such a fun way to celebrate Blake's first year.

July 3rd was my mom's birthday, so we started the day with all you can eat french toast at kneaders. It did not disappoint. That day we soaked up the sun at 7 peaks water park, which was an absolute blast. I may have the world's most daring children. They wanted to go on every slide at the park, so, we went on everything they allowed us to take them on. I definitely got some strange looks since I was taking a baby down adult slides, but he squeals with laughter the entire way down... so, do you blame me???

We ended the night watching the fireworks display at Thanksgiving Point under the American Flag listening to "God Bless America". Doesn't get much more patriotic than that.

On Sunday, the 4th, we had a big family BBQ up at my Uncle Matt's house in Alpine. Great food, and great company. We finally gave Blake a birthday cake, and knowing the eater he is, we were sure he would devour the thing. He did, and loved doing it.

Then we stayed up way too late and lit off about a thousand fireworks outside Matt's house. Good thing my little guys love fireworks, because the weekend was filled with them!

Since Chad had Monday off, we stayed one more day and met Candace for breakfast and hit up 7 peaks one more time. We can't get enough of that place :) And then we were Colorado bound.

Oh, Utah... we love you.

10 year reunion

2010-06-30T02:35:00.000-04:00

My highschool reunion was on June 19th, and turned out to be such a fun night. I loved getting together with the girls and reminiscing about the old, crazy days. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It is weird that 10 years have passed since graduation, but I love that I can get back together with my old buddies and feel like no time has passed at all. I love you guys! ... and thank you Chad for being such a good sport and hanging in there for the whole night. I know you were entertained by the great stories!

Glenwood

2010-06-12T23:58:00.000-04:00

Glenwood Springs is about a little more than an hour drive from us, and just may be our favorite spot to have a weekend away. We did a day trip to Glenwood to let Parker ride on the "sky train" -- one of his most frequent requests, and watch the 4D movie up at the adventure park. Even though it was rainy, Glenwood's beauty did not disappoint. We had a fun time together as a family and a delicious dinner at Chile's before heading home. You can't beat that!

Twins?

2010-06-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

Our boys are 17 months apart, and now that Blake is almost 1 and Parker is not quite 2 1/2, people ask me daily if they are twins. I laugh a little, because to me, there is no mistaking that they are NOT the same age, but then I look at these pictures and I can kind of see how at a glance, someone may think that.

"THAT fun place" (not to be confused with: A fun place, THE fun place, or ANOTHER fun place- all totally different)

2010-06-10T11:12:00.000-04:00

About a month ago the carnival came to Grand Junction and stayed for 2 weeks. I think we were the most frequent visitors. Parker was in absolute heaven and asked to go back every minute of every day. We ended up going 4 or 5 times, I think. It was a sad day for Parker when "that fun place" packed up and left. He still reminds me daily that it is closed. Hopefully he isn't scarred for life.

I love being a Mommy

2010-05-14T11:33:00.003-04:00

Cause it means I get to play with these two all day. They just might be the cutest little guys I have ever seen.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day last week! Thank you mom for teaching me how to do it. I hope I can become even half of the Mom that you are! I love you.

Utah

2010-05-03T16:49:00.006-04:00

Last weekend we drove to Utah to hang out with my family. My parents were in town for Jeff, Steph, and Mike's graduations from BYU. Congrats to all of my cool, smart siblings who graduated. Woo hoo!!!

While we were there, we spent Saturday at Thanksgiving Point's Tulip festival. It was perfect weather and so beautiful.

We seriously sat on the hill by the waterfalls for hours and let parker roll down the hill and run back up about a million times.

We also celebrated Jeff's birthday and ate at some of our favorite Utah food joints. It was a fun, quick trip, and made us excited to get back there again soon.

Good friends, good times...

2010-04-30T18:17:00.005-04:00

While we were in California, we got to hang out with some of our very best friends, the Skinners, who were there on a family vacation. Oh, how we love the Skinners, and miss them to pieces!!!!

It felt like we had never been apart as the guys talked, the kids played, and Hannah and I reminisced as we tried to capture the whole event on film. By the way Hannah, I need a picture of us together. I didn't get one!

And after much anticipation, Blake and Halle finally got to meet. I think it was love at first sight.

Blake is clapping for himself for giving/getting such a great kiss. haha

Lets get together again soon!

Welcome Home Elder Burnham

2010-04-30T17:53:00.006-04:00

He's back and better than ever!

A couple of weeks ago we flew out to California to welcome Chad's little brother Josh home from his 2 year mission to Florida. It was so fun to have the whole family back together again! We are all so proud of him and love him so much!

It was an event- filled weekend starting with a neat family night that night, where we had good food and shared many tears and special stories with eachother. We went bowling, played at parks, took family pictures, had lot of people over to the Burnham's to see Josh, but most of all, just got to be together again.

There were so many people at the house on Sunday, that Parker decided to escape (with a piece of chocolate cake) to his own little play house in the back yard. He thought he was being sneaky, but didn't realize the evidence was smeared all over his face.

Welcome back Josh! We sure missed you!

Easter

2010-04-30T16:37:00.007-04:00

Easter weekend was so wonderful and relaxing. I love it when General conference falls on Easter. It helps me to remember what Easter is all about. I am so grateful for my Savior and His atonement at this time of year.

Easter was great. We stayed in Colorado and celebrated with our own little family. The boys were super excited to find their Easter baskets, filled with goodies to use in their new sandbox.

The boys played while Chad and I watched conference. It was wonderful. We finished off the day with a yummy easter dinner, baths, and more playing with the kids. I love these little guys.

Photo booth

2010-04-30T14:57:00.003-04:00

My heart just melted...

2010-04-12T18:08:00.002-04:00

"Parker, who's your best friend?"

"Gakey (Blakey) best friend"

Park and Blake

2010-04-02T11:08:00.004-04:00

I think one of the greatest joys of motherhood is seeing your children love each other. I love that every day these two become better and better friends. I think this 17-month spacing is starting to pay off!

Birthday weekend

2010-04-02T02:16:00.004-04:00

So, this post is almost a month late, but I had to document turning the big 28. My mom flew out to Grand Junction for the weekend to visit us and be here on my birthday. It was such a fun weekend spending time with her, and my boys. She even let Chad and I go on a marathon date on while she watched the little guys. Parker and Blake were in love with her and acted like she was some sort of movie star. Mom, we LOVED having you here, and it was so sad to see you go. Best birthday present ever!

The trail of an OCD 2-year-old...

2010-04-02T01:57:00.003-04:00

Parker was here...

and here...

and here.

Love him!

Bowling builds character

2010-02-19T00:41:00.004-05:00

Patience

Success

Disappointment

Independence

One day Blake will give Parker a little competition

Cabin Fever

2010-02-11T00:44:00.012-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to take advantage of this Colorado snow, and rent a cabin for the weekend. We drove an hour and a half away to a cute little ski town between Vail and Aspen, called Glenwood Springs, and stayed here for two nights

Lots of snow and blue skies made perfect weather conditions for our fun filled weekend away. We shopped the town,

rode the "sky train" - as Parker called it, up to the Look Out Grill for lunch... and couldn't get enough of the great views.

We took the kids sledding,

and that night, decided to brave the cold with the locals and swim in the natural hot springs pool.

Being the really good parents that we are, we thought swimming outside at night in the snow sounded really fun for our two boys. We saw lots of other kids, and babies doing it, so why not, right? Well, I guess we can't consider ourselves locals, cause our boys HATED it. Parker didn't speak the entire time, and just clung to Chad. And when Blake's lips started turning blue, we decided to call it quits. Maybe we'll try it again in the summertime.
We defrosted our children and they were back to themselves in about 20 minutes. So, we grabbed some take-out, took nice, hot showers, put on warm pj's, watched some basketball games on TV, and played with the kids at the cabin with a toasty fire burning.... much better.

It was a really fun weekend with my boys. Needless to say, we were sad to leave our little cabin and head back to real life. Can't wait to go back!

TWO!

2010-02-01T15:20:00.008-05:00

Parker woke up on Saturday morning, January 16th and found out it was not just a normal Saturday... it was his birthday. Being overcome with excitement he said, "Car-ker Happy. I dive car. I bite cake. Phewwww. HAPPY!" Translation: "It's Parker's Happy birthday! I want to go to Chuck E Cheese to drive the little car, eat cake and blow out my candles because it's my Happy Birthday."

So, that is just what we did.

We wore ourselves out at Chuck E Cheese for lunch

Opened presents all day long

Blew out the candles on a cookie monster cake

And finished the day off by going mini bowling.

Parker now proudly tells everyone that he is "TWO" We love you so much Parker. Happy Birthday Bud!

I'm a little obsessed...

2010-01-26T15:24:00.002-05:00

With this cute guy

who turned 6 months old on January 2nd, and is wearing 12-18 month clothes. Our big boy Blakey melts my heart and laughs at just about anyone and anything. The months are flying by too fast... I can't get enough kisses on those cheeks.

Colorado

2010-01-24T16:52:00.007-05:00

A post to clear up some confusion... Yes, as much as we really did love St. George, at the end of December we packed up and moved to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Chad was working as a retail pharmacist in St. George, but was still itching to get back into the clinical side of pharmacy and get more use out of his MBA. He applied for a sweet job in Colorado, and actually getting it was kind of a long shot... we thought. After a few interviews and flights out to Grand Junction, Chad is now working as a clinical pharmacist for a big insurance company and healthcare provider here, doing what he always wanted to do with his MBA and PharmD degrees, doing drug research and making formulary decisions. He is in love with his job, and we are so happy to be living here.

We live in a really small town outside of Grand Junction. It is snowy, but beautiful, and everyone has been really welcoming. We are excited to live in this area and we are looking forward to all of the fun out-doorsy adventures that we now have to be a part of. Looks like it's time to dust off the skis and snowboard, buy a mountain bike, and learn how to camp. Are we ready for this?

Blake seems to think he is :)

Christmas

2010-01-07T15:33:00.010-05:00

We were able to spend Christmas at my parents house in Henderson before our move to Colorado. I drove the little boys down there on the 16th while Chad loaded up a moving truck and started driving it to our new home. I took care of the kids in Vegas and Chad got our stuff moved into the new place. We kept arguing about who had the more difficult job. I did. For sure. A few days later he flew out to Vegas and we celebrated Christmas with my family. Christmas eve was fun, as always. Out to dinner, new Christmas pjs, and Dad reading from Luke 2. We missed Tia, but we knew she was opening up her Christmas pajamas in the MTC, and having a great Christmas there. Blake enjoyed his FIRST Christmas, peacefully snoozing under the tree while Santa set up the presents for him and Parker.

Parker on the other hand, wasn't quite so peaceful. He figured out how to climb out of the pack and play, and was up crying all night with Chad. I think the terrible twos have begun, mixed with a cold. Even with the bad night, Santa still decided to leave a few things for Parker. Highlights were his train set,

and "Dorothy" the fish that looks just like Elmo's fish. (Actually there are 2 fish in the bowl. Santa took precautions in case Dorothy didn't last until Christmas morning).

The Zwick family traditional pull-apart breakfast was a hit, of course, and other than a few more melt downs from the toddler who didn't sleep on Christmas Eve... It was a really fun day. Merry Christmas!

My favorite Christmas Present

2010-01-07T15:26:00.003-05:00

All I wanted for Christmas was a night out with Chad-- and a full night sleep without the kids. So, my parents watched the boys for a night while we were in Vegas. Chad and I felt so free as we drove away! We stayed at the Green Valley Resort, shopped at the district, ate at the Cheesecake factory, went to a movie, slept in, and enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet. I wish we could say that we missed the kids that night, but we were having to much fun to really worry about them. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking care of the little guys. Best present ever!

Day of Thanks

2010-01-07T14:54:00.003-05:00

Ok... time to catch up! Thanksgiving day was great. We woke up really early, threw the kids in the car, and drove from St. George down to Vegas to spend the day with my family. The festivities started with the annual Zwick family tennis tournament, which was a blast. Being the only Zwick child who didn't play tennis in highschool, you can imagine how far I got in the bracket. OUT round one. Maybe one of my boys will win it for me one year! Appetizers were a hit, and the Thanksgiving dinner was perfect. Topped it all off with a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.... and now, time to start a diet. Everyone had a lot to be thankful for, and it was great having us all together for Tia's last holiday before the mission. Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting a great Thanksgiving!

M.I.A.

2009-12-30T16:31:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Big move to Colorado, Toddler beds and solid foods..... so much to catch up on, but no time to blog. I promise I'll be back soon. As for now, I should attend to the toddler who is having a major melt down in his room. Happy New Year everyone!

A WICKED HALLOWEEN

2009-11-03T10:14:00.011-05:00

I really don't usually like to reuse costumes, and had so many cute ideas for this year, but Chad and I decided to pull out the scarecrow and witch again (its been a few years) because we knew our kids would make the cutest tin man and lion that anyone had ever seen.

Since we were out in Vegas, we got to celebrate Halloween with a lot of the Zwick family. We went to the "district" -- some outdoor shops near my parents house, and really enjoyed the spooky festivites that were there... not to mention lots of really great costumes to look at :)

After the district, we decided to fill up our tin man's bucket just a little bit more, so we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. It took a few houses for Parker to realize he wasn't supposed to walk into each house when they opened the door. But, he loved saying "ti ta tee (trick or treat)" and "Kank Coo (thank you)". It was so cute. Once the kids started looking like this...

We loaded them up and drove back to St. George. They slept, and Chad and I ate the halloween candy the whole way back. Yum. Happy Halloween everyone!

I love to see the temple

2009-11-03T09:59:00.003-05:00

We got to go through the Las Vegas temple with my little sister Tia on Saturday morning. It was her first time, as she is preparing to leave for her mission. It was so neat to be able to share that special day with her, and be with her for such an important event. We love you Tia!

Parker's Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-03T09:47:00.007-05:00

SCOOP

TASTE

SMELL/KISS

SHOW DADDY WHAT FACE IT SHOULD HAVE

AND..... WHA LAA.

The pumpkin patch

2009-10-29T16:37:00.012-04:00

I love the month of October for so many reasons, but one big one would have to be the trip to the pumpkin patch.

I don't know why I get so excited for this every year. A couple of weekends ago, we went to a farm out here that did not disappoint! We got to play in the corn,

rope swing in the hay stacks,

ride the "cow train",

feed the baby goats,

and chase a chicken until it got away (so sad)

Then we rode out on the tractor to hand pick our pumpkins in the beautiful pumpkin patch

Parker was loving the farm, and especially loved seeing all the trucks and tractors ("I drive")

and dancing like a cowboy to the barn music.

Blake was content just hanging out with Mom

What a fun night!

Dear Parker:

2009-10-17T01:54:00.004-04:00

I know you never asked for a little brother, so thanks for being so nice to me. I can't stop staring at you whenever you are in the room. I watch you wherever you go because I want to be just like you. No one can make me smile bigger than you can.
Especially lately, now that you are giving me attention and big hugs! Thanks for always helping Mom change my diapers, for getting me my binkie when I cry, and for always offering me your pretzels. Thanks for letting me wear your pajamas when mine were all dirty ( I know that's embarrassing that they fit me too)
and for letting me in on your bath time ( I know that shocked you a little bit the first time I was in there with you)

You are the best big brother in the whole world, and I hope to grow up to be just like you! I love you!

Love, your baby brother Blake (Gake)

Sin City... round 2

2009-10-17T01:15:00.009-04:00

We had so much fun a few weeks ago, that we decided to go back to Vegas. We spent Friday and Saturday night with Chad's family out at Lake Mead.
It was so much fun to be together, watch General Conference, and let the little cousins play. Parker wanted to take Kenna on a jeep ride and somehow she was all for it. Scary thought :)

After that, we drove the rest of the way to Vegas and stayed on the strip Sunday and Monday night. We walked around the shops at Caesars and found the world's greatest toy store, FAO Schwartz. Parker had a blast playing with all of the stuffed animals, dancing in the room of mirrors

trying on silly hats,

and introducing Blake to a couple of the greatest characters in the world, Elmo, and BB (aka Big Bird)

Other highlights from the trip included lots of pool time,

the fountains at the Bellagio,

walks on the strip with yummy frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity and meeting up with my family for a great dinner on Monday night. Thanks for the good time Vegas... I'm sure we will be back soon :)

Viva Las Vegas

2009-09-22T18:17:00.015-04:00

A boring Saturday night that consisted of getting a shake at Jack in the Box drive through, gave us the urge to head out of town on a mini impromptu vacation. With Vegas being less than 2 hours away, we checked priceline to see if we could splurge and find a fun 5 star hotel to stay in. Splurge we did, and the next thing I knew, Chad had booked the Wynn for the weekend and we were off

We definitely felt a little out of our league, wheeling our double stroller into that place,

but come on, what little boy wouldn't love to jump on a five star bed, or soak their swim diaper in a five star pool once in their lifetime? Ha ha. The Wynn did not disappoint. We got right down to business checking out the goods of the room

Then we hit the strip for the Vegas night life the pirate show at Treasure Island

And the wynn shops and waterfalls

The next day was mostly spent here

Doing a little of this

Going to the Lion habitat at the MGM

And meeting up with my family for dinner, and my dad's favorite, a walk on the strip! The boys were exhausted so when they quickly fell asleep, Chad and I played cards and ate peanut butter m&m's overlooking the strip from our room.

It was a great weekend. But now, our 5 star days are done and its back to sesame street and Mr. Mitt... Parker's favorite past time :)

Pretty boys

2009-09-20T15:49:00.003-04:00

Little Blake just keeps getting cuter and cuter every day. He has the prettiest little features... in fact, both of my boys would make really beautiful girls. Lets just hope that if we ever have a girl, she doesn't look like she could be a boy!

The Rodeo

2009-09-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

Its boots and chaps,
Its cowboy hats,
Its spurs and latigo.
Its the ropes and the reins,
And the joy and the pain,
And they call the thing rodeo --Garth Brooks

Sister Zwick

2009-09-18T11:17:00.004-04:00

My little sister Tia opened her mission call at our house last week. It was so much fun to hang out with her the couple of hours before, in anticipation. The rest of my family drove up from Vegas for the big moment. She is going to the UTICA, NEW YORK mission, and goes into the Missionary Training Center on December 16th. We are so excited for you Tia. We are going to miss you like CRAZY while you are gone. Seriously, I don't know what I am going to do without you! But we know you will be the very best and cutest little missionary out there, and we promise to send lots of letters and packages and update your blog every week :) We love you Sister Zwick!

Faces of Blake

2009-09-16T15:11:00.008-04:00

Our cute little guy is so smiley these days. It has been so much fun to see his cute little personality come out. I love his full blown smile like this one. It just makes me laugh...

But I think his flirty smirk, that shows off his dimple in his left cheek, just might be my favorite...

And in case you are wondering, Blake is a tank. At 2 months, he is in the 86th percentile for weight, 78th for height, and he is wearing the same outfits that Parker wore when he was 6 months old.

Happy Birthday Chad!

2009-09-11T16:08:00.003-04:00

The day after Blake's blessing was Chad's birthday. Since his b-day fell on Labor day, we still had a bunch of family in town, so that was fun. Chad celebrated by golfing with the guys for most of the morning and had a blast. That night Tia babysat the boys so we could have a night out. We hopped on the scooter and drove up to the scenic Tuachan outdoor theater and saw Footloose. It was awesome, and what made it even better was Thayne from So You Think You Can Dance was the lead in the show! It was a great night. Happy Birthday Honey! I love you!

Blake's Blessing Day

2009-09-11T00:22:00.006-04:00

This past Sunday was really special. We blessed Blake in church on Sunday. Chad gave him a beautiful blessing. It was so neat to have so much family here to support us. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to be here for such a wonderful day. After church, we came back to our house, had a nice little lunch, and then just hung out and enjoyed each others company. Everything turned out just as I pictured it. Blake looked like a little angel and was all smiles the whole day. I am so grateful for his little spirit in our family. He is such a blessing and brings us so much happiness.

CaLiFoRnIa

2009-09-11T00:01:00.006-04:00

We had a great 4 days out in California for our first official family vacation with 2 kiddos. It was such a blast. Everything just worked out so well. It made us excited to do more trips like this in the future. We hit the beach a few times, shopped the cute little beach shops at Laguna, hung out at Down Town Disney with Shawna, Andy, and the kids, swam, etc. etc. We didn't want the trip to end. The kids were angels, and Parker still talks about the beach daily. We can't wait to go back!

Washington County Fair

2009-09-10T23:48:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, the day started out like this:

Chad was working overtime for another Pharmacist that was on vacation, so I decided to brave the Washington County fair parade by myself with the boys. It was a complete success. Parker loved the parade, and the candy that came along with it. He was perma-grin all morning

After Chad got off work, we went to the fair and met Nana and Boppa there. Parker loved seeing all the animals. He almost crushed this baby chick to death:

So we decided that feeding the baby sheep and goat was an activity that was better suited for Park

All of this excitement was topped off with a little of this:

And now I think Parker wants to be a farmer when he grows up. Thanks for the good time Washington County Fair! See you next year.

Parker's smile

2009-08-27T16:37:00.006-04:00

Cute little Park's huge grin has been one of his trademarks since the day he first learned how to smile. He is such a cheeser and love to show off his pearly whites. Well, his smile which looked like this yesterday:

Looks more like this today:

He was running full speed in the kitchen, tripped, and faceplanted on the stone tile. He bit through part of his lip and significantly chipped his front two teeth. I feel so bad for him, and I am so upset about it. Poor little guy, keeps sticking his finger in his mouth, to feel the weirdness, but doesn't understand that he looks any different, so he keeps smiling away. Wow. I am so glad that his baby teeth were the only major casualty of the fall, but man, am I the worst mom for being so effected by it??? Those little teeth really need to be fixed before the other nursery kids make fun of him.

Blake- six weeks old

2009-08-17T16:50:00.003-04:00

This little guy is growing up way too fast! Isn't he just the cutest little thing?

Seven years!

2009-08-17T16:47:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you so much. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to you. Thanks for everything you do for me and the boys! You are the best. Love, Em

Tia comes to visit

2009-08-13T15:01:00.004-04:00

Last week my little sister, Tia came to hang out with us for a few days. It was so fun having her! I think Parker is in love, and still can't stop saying her name. She played with Parker at this fun jumping place out here and Park had a blast. Here are some pictures of her with the boys. We are really going to miss you when you go on your mission Tia!

Wildlife museum

2009-08-13T14:53:00.004-04:00

Since it's been so hot here, we decided to take the boys to do something fun and indoor. We went to the wildlife museum and Parker loved it so much that we bought an annual pass. Blake just slept in the baby bjorn. Maybe by next year he'll like it too.

More pictures of the boys...

2009-08-07T15:24:00.008-04:00

I got the disc of all of the images from the photographer, and there are some really cute ones. These little guys are so much fun! Here are a few more of my favorite shots. They all blow up bigger if you click on them too.

Blakey

2009-07-31T16:12:00.002-04:00

We had Blake's pictures taken last Saturday. It was so much fun! I wish that Parker would have been more cooperative for the pics, but he woke up with a fever and was totally miserable all day. Oh well, I am just glad we were able to catch Blake in all his newborn cuteness. The photographer put this one picture up on her blog today from the photo shoot and it is adorable! I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Blake's first week

2009-07-13T01:37:00.005-04:00

Blake is such a little angel! He is the most content little guy and just quietly looks around or sleeps until he needs to be fed again, so I still get lots of one on one Parker time. Blake is a great sleeper at night, so you would think we'd be getting lots of sleep too.... but, Parker has started to get up every night with night/sleep terrors, and NOTHING will calm him down. Has anyone else ever had to deal with these with their kids??? Let me know what to do. I am getting really sleep deprived:) Besides the sleeping issues, we are doing great and Chad and I are absolutely loving life with our two little boys. I can't believe that little Blake is already over a week old! He is growing up way too fast.

First Bath

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T16:39:00.004-04:00

Blake and I came home from the hospital on the 3rd, my mom's birthday, and got to spend the whole holiday weekend at home, with a lot of my family who came in town to help us out. We had a fun 4th of July playing with the baby. That night we lit fireworks in on the street in front of our house. Parker couldn't get enough of them, and kept asking for more. Hope everyone had a fun holiday weekend!

Blake

Park and Blake

Parker thinks he is hot stuff with his new set of wheels

Watching the fireworks

Brotherly love

2009-07-05T16:22:00.003-04:00

Parker has had such a fun time playing with family that has been in town. During the birth, he got to stay home with my little brother Matt and he had the time of his life with him. That night, Park came to the hospital to meet his new baby brother. He was interested for about 5 seconds, and then spent the rest of his time drinking from my water jug, which apparently is much more exciting. We love our little boys and can't wait for them to become best little friends.

Blake Matthew Burnham

2009-07-05T15:53:00.006-04:00

Little Blake was born on July 2nd at 2:02pm. He surprised us by being a whopping 8 lbs, 8 oz. The birth was so pleasant, and easy. My epidural was perfect, I had great support with Chad, my mom and Tia in the room, everything went really quick and smoothly and Blake made his entrance with only one push. I think I got pretty lucky. The whole experience was so special and spiritual. I love that I get to be a mom and bring these tiny spirits into the world. To top it all off, Blake is the cutest little guy with black, wavy hair and perfect little features. He resembles Parker, but definitely has his own look. Here are some pictures from the birth:

Waiting for baby

First moments with mommy

Blake

With Mom and Dad

First hair wash

Our cute little guy

Anytime now...

2009-06-28T16:15:00.002-04:00

Hopefully this is my last belly picture. I am 39 weeks and SOOO ready to see this kid. The doctor didn't think I would make it through the weekend still prego, but here I am, Sunday afternoon, and still as big as ever. I think you have been in there long enough, little guy, come on out already!!!

Licenses

2009-06-28T16:03:00.003-04:00

I'ts been an eventful licensing week at our house. We are official Utahns now! We finally got our Utah drivers licenses and license plates for our car and Chad's new purchase that he has wanted for a long time now, the Stella scooter. He loves it, and Parker loves it just as much. Park gives "scoot" a kiss on the headlight every time he sees it in the garage! And, "Beep Beep" has become one of his favorite phrases, thanks to scoot.

In addition to those licenses, Chad found out this week that he passed all of his Pharmacy board exams! Yeah! He is now a licensed Utah pharmacist! We were so happy to get this news. And I am so proud of Chad and all of his hard work!

Early addict

2009-06-19T14:38:00.005-04:00

Diet coke flows like water in our house. We just can't get enough, and now we seem to be rubbing off on the little one. The few drops he gets out of this empty can are going to have to satisfy his need for a now. Maybe in a couple more years bud.

Nesting and more...

2009-06-19T14:24:00.005-04:00

Well, I am full term, and SO ready for this baby to be born! I will be 38 weeks soon and we are all getting very anxious to meet this little guy. Parker and I have turned into clean freaks. It's all we do these days. I guess the nesting is setting in for all of us. I don't think Park understands what all of his hard work is preparing for. Poor kid!

We are still absolutely loving our life in St. George. We have been able to catch some awesome sunsets from our front yard. Summer nights here are just perfect. Chad has been studying like crazy for his pharmacy boards so that we can get all of that out of the way before the baby is born. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all of the timing works out. Other than that, we continue to have lots of visitors stopping through. We love it. Keep coming! The other night our great friends from Maryland, the Skinners spent the night. It was so much fun to stay up late and catch up with them and let the kids play together. We miss you guys already!!!

DR. CHAD ANTHONY BURNHAM

2009-05-20T15:24:00.004-04:00

Even though Chad finished all of his school requirements early, and we have been out of Maryland for a little while now, last Friday was his actual "graduation", which we didn't even fly back to Maryland for... party poopers, I know. But as of last Friday Chad now officially has his Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Business degrees, and can be called "Doctor Burnham". I am so proud of Chad. He is one of the smartest people I know, and has worked so hard the past few years. Through all of the long hours of school work, he still found time to be the best husband and dad for me and Park. On Friday Parker and I took a cake to the Pharmacy, where Chad was working, and then decorated the house with balloons, a banner and music for Chad to come home to. We topped the night off with Chili's take out... yum! I love you Chad! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steph + Mike

2009-05-19T00:32:00.003-04:00

My little sister, Stephanie got married on May 8th in the Salt Lake temple. It was an amazing ceremony, beautiful day, great luncheon at the Lion House and of course, fabulous reception at the golf club house at Thanksgiving point. We are so happy to officially have Mike be a part of our family now. He and Steph looked so happy. What a fun day... Here are a few pictures from the photographer, but I have a TON more to post from the wedding weekend, so stay posted.

Mr. Clean

2009-05-04T23:32:00.003-04:00

Parker is the squeakiest clean kid around. He is in love with taking baths and showers. He usually takes a shower in the morning AND a bath at night. After about 30 minutes of bath time, he'll wave bye bye to the water as he watches every last bit of it go down the drain. I'm in love with this kid. I hope he doesn't turn into a raisin one of these days from being submerged for so long.

Maid Service

2009-05-01T02:19:00.005-04:00

Who needs to clean when this guy is around? The broom has become his favorite toy, just ahead of the vacuum

Parker's rules to sweeping:
1. You are most efficient at bedtime, dressed in pajamas
2. Never let go of the dust pan, even if you never use it
3. Singing "clean up, clean up" makes you clean faster
4. One spot may need all the cleaning.... no need to move around the house

"Let's Go Fly a Kite..."

2009-04-18T23:13:00.008-04:00

Today was the St George Kite Festival. No better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in mid-April. We had a lot of fun. Parker wore himself out running around the golf course checking out all the kites and millions of kids.

Chad and Park with their Superhero kite

Parker LOVED this train ride. Chad doesn't seem quite as thrilled.

Lots of Kites to look at

Superhero kite is up!

Sky full of kites!

Easter 2009

2009-04-17T01:24:00.002-04:00

Hope Everyone had a very happy Easter. I am feeling a lot better now... and I really love Peeps.

Love, Parker

St. George week 1

2009-04-12T03:56:00.008-04:00

We moved here to St. George last weekend. We absolutely love this little town and feel so at home here. My parents kept Parker for the weekend and Chad's parents helped us get settled in, in our new house. Thanks to both of our parents for all of the help! We were able to get completely moved in, and even decorated for the most part all in those 2 days. We love you so much and couldn't do it without you! I forgot how much you can get done when you don't have to chase a toddler around! We were so happy to see Parker again, and show him the new place. He loves it and was thrilled to see his room and all of his toys again. We love being so close to family and have already had SO many visitors. We love having visitors, so keep coming! Now that we have been here a week, here are some highlights... and one major lowlight of our first week in St. George....

1. Beautiful weather and awesome Utah scenery! We can't get enough of our view from our house!

2. The St. George art festival last Saturday, and so many parks and fun places for Parker to run around

3. Great Food! Fry sauce thrown in the bag, Pizza factory breadsticks, countless trips to Cafe Rio, In n Out Burger, Jack in the Box, and this adorable little cafe on main street that has the best cupcakes in the world!

I could go on and on with all of the good things we have experienced in just this short week. Our fun came to a screeching halt on Saturday when we experienced the worst, scariest parent moment we have had so far. Parker was starting to feel a little warm while we were out, so on our way home to take his temp and give him some tylenol, he had a full blown seizure that lasted for 4 minutes. Watching that was the longest 4 minutes of my life. We were taken in an ambulance to the emergency room, where we got his fever under control and did some tests. Turns out it was just a febrile seizure, from a temperature that shot up really quickly, and we got to go home a few hours later. He is doing fine now, and even though he is pretty sick, he is starting to act more like himself. We are so grateful that everything turned out okay. We love this little guy so much. It hurts to see him have to go through hard things like this. Here is a picture of him right after we got home from the hospital. Our little Mr. Personality can't pass up a moment to pose for the camera!

So, it's been an eventful week. Chad has now started his job, and loves it, and Parker and I are recovering at home, eating lots of popsicles with tylenol and motrin on board round the clock :) Hopefully in a couple more days we can get back outside to enjoy this wonderful St. George weather!

We are still alive!!!

2009-03-28T16:03:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! We have been so busy! I just updated the blog with like 8 new posts, so if anyone out there still checks out our blog... enjoy!

All grown up

2009-03-28T15:52:00.004-04:00

Parker is getting so big and seems to be really growing up quick. He just turned 14 months and is finally running all over the place. Our little perfectionist had to wait until he had the walking thing completely figured out in his head before he would show us his skills. One night, at Lake Mead, he just stood up and started walking around the deck. He is so proud that he can walk and thinks that he is such a big boy. Everyday he is learning new words. I love watching him learn and figure out new things. His favorite activity lately is pretending to drive the car. All day he asks if he can go out and do it "I dive?" He continues to be so animated all the time and such a joy to be around! We love you Park!

Parker's new cousin, Katey

2009-03-28T15:33:00.004-04:00

I love being near family! My sister, Andrea had her baby on March 24th. She is so cute and we are all in love with her. They named her Katelyn Jane Fredric. Welcome to the world little Katey!!!

The Decision was made!

2009-03-20T15:15:00.000-04:00

We have been going back and forth with the decision of whether or not Chad should accept a job offer as a Pharmacist now, or do a one year residency. He had a couple of residency interviews and felt pretty confident that he would get this particular position at a hospital here in Vegas. The week that we had to decide if we were "in" or not, Chad got a great job offer in St. George, Utah.... a perfect location for us. We felt really good about it and knew that this was the right decision for our family. So, Chad withdrew his name from the residency match, and we took the position in St. George. We are so excited!!!! We keep driving up from Vegas and checking out places. St. George is gorgeous and we are thrilled to get to start our new life there. We found a cute little house to rent for a while and we move in the first week of April. We feel so lucky to be only 90 minutes from my family in Vegas and also so close to Chad's family's vacation spot at Lake Mead. We are expecting lots of visitors, so come and see us!

My little sis is getting married!

2009-03-15T15:03:00.000-04:00

My little sister Stephanie got engaged to Mike Adams on Valentines day! They are getting married on May 8th in the Salt Lake temple. We are so excited to have a new addition to the family! Congrats Steph and Mike. We are so happy for you guys! Here are a few of the engagement pictures. They turned out so cute!

My 27th Birthday

2009-03-06T14:48:00.004-05:00

Wow, I feel like I am getting old! I had the greatest birthday! I forgot how much fun it is to have family around to celebrate with! The day of my birthday, Tia flew into town and we went to lunch with the other siblings and my mom. Chad made me a fabulous cake and that night we did presents and cake over a yummy Cafe Rio dinner (my favorite). Chad and my parents surprised me with AWESOME Phantom of the Opera tickets. Chad and I rushed out the door, and my family watched Parker so we could go and enjoy the fun night together in Vegas. Phantom was so great! We loved every second of it! Our seats were perfect, and I was so grateful for my parents that they would watch Parker so Chad and I could have such a fun time! Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special!

Goodbye Baltimore

2009-02-28T14:32:00.005-05:00

It was so sad to say goodbye to all of our friends out in Maryland. We miss you all so much already, but we are so excited to be moving on! A couple of nights before we left, we went to Chili's (of course) with some of our buddies to say goodbye and to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. The next night, we really cracked down and got the pods loaded and the house cleaned. It was so nice to have so much help from great friends. Thanks for all of the fun times you guys! We love you!

Parker and I flew straight to Vegas to be with my family while Chad and his Dad drove all the way across the country to meet us. They did the whole drive in just 2 days!!! Troopers! Here are some photos of Chad loading the pods and locking up the house for the last time.

One crazy week

2009-02-22T01:17:00.004-05:00

We have had our house on the market for a few weeks, and last Monday, we signed the papers saying that we would accept the offer that came in. Yep, that's right. We got pretty lucky and sold our house in this upside down market, and it couldn't be better timing!

Two days later, we had our ultrasound and found out that we will be having another little BOY!!! We are absolutely thrilled and just know that he and Parker will have so much fun together being so close in age. Now we just need a name for the little guy...

Friday was Chad's last day of Pharmacy school!!! I am so proud of him and the dedication and hard work that he has put into his education. Since we have been married, Chad has finished his bachelor's degree, doctor of pharmacy degree and Masters of business. What a smarty pants. I love you and I am so proud of you!

That night we went out to a fabulous dinner and then had premium seats (5th row, dead center orchestra) to the Broadway showing of Grease, that was here in Baltimore. It was a great night and a perfect way to celebrate Chad being done, our new little boy, our sold house and Valentines day.

Chad has a job interview in Vegas on the 27th, so we decided to just pack up and move out before then. So, on Thursday, I flew out of Maryland for the last time, and as I type this, Chad is driving our car across the country. Somehow he is making the 2000 mile drive in just 2 days... CRAZY!

It was so sad to leave Maryland and all of our close friends who have been our "family" for the past few years. You will forever be our best friends as we have shared so much together. We will miss good old B'more and the wonderful memories and moments that took place there. Now, onto real life for us. Wish us luck!

Parker's First Birthday

2009-01-28T13:52:00.004-05:00

Parker turned 1 on January 16th. I can't believe he has grown up so fast! We had a "cars and trucks" themed birthday party for him and some of his/our close friends. It turned out great... complete with orange cones, traffic signs, and a road that went around the kitchen that featured 52 pictures; one from every week of Parker's life. He was such a man and downed his entire mini cake that I made him. He couldn't shovel it in fast enough. We are in love with our little boy and have had the best year getting to know this cute little guy. We love you Park! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

Parker's First Christmas

2009-01-19T16:28:00.006-05:00

We spent Christmas at my parent's new house in Henderson, Nevada, and then went to California to be with Chad's family for a couple weeks after Christmas. We were really lucky to have such a long break.

Christmas was so much fun this year with Parker. Here are a few pictures...

He wasn't a big fan of Santa. Maybe next year.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

Parker's favorite gift

Breaking the news

Our trip to Orlando

2009-01-19T16:09:00.002-05:00

Chad had a Pharmacy conference in Orlando the first week of December, so Parker and I tagged along and we all spent a few days there to kick of the holidays. We spent a night at Universal studios and hung out at the "City Walk" where we listened to great live bands and ate at the Bob Marley restaurant. The other days we shopped at the outlets, swam in the pool, and to top it all off, took Parker to Disney World. Disney World with Parker totally exceeded our expectations! The whole day was so magical! Park would look around and squeal with excitement, as if he couldn't believe a place like that existed. He loved every ride, including Pirates and Haunted Mansion, but his all time favorite was Small World. Parker was wide eyed and grinning the whole day. Chad and I didn't want the day to end. Definitely the happiest place on Earth!!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T19:16:00.005-05:00

2008 was a great year for our family. Chad and I became parents to sweet little Parker, have loved watching him grow up this year.

Highlights from 2008:

-January 16 - Parker Anthony Burnham was born
-March 4 - Parker has hernia surgery
-Easter - Parker's blessing in Utah
-April 9 - Elder Josh Burnham leaves on his mission to Florida
-June - Our first real family vacation to Atlantic City
-July - Florida with the Zwick family
-August - Zwick family moves from Alpine, UT to Henderson, NV
-September - Lake Mead with the Burnham family
-Thanksgiving - Deep Creek Lake cabin with friends
-December - Disney World with Chad and Parker
- Spending time in Nevada and California with family!

Can't wait for 2009.....

-Park's first birthday
-Chad finishing Pharmacy school and graduating as a PharmD, MBA
-Moving out west
-Spending more time with family
-Having our second child in July

Yes, you read that right, we are pregnant again, due July 12. We are so excited to add a new little bundle of joy to our family. Parker is going to the best big brother. They will be almost 18 months apart, and only one grade apart. Fun Fun! 2009 will be a busy one. Hope everyone is haveing a Happy New Year!!!

PS-
I still have lots of Christmas pictures to post, so stay tuned...

Thanksgiving

2008-12-11T12:33:00.013-05:00

I have been slacking with my posts lately and I have a lot to catch up on.... First, Thanksgiving. We had a great time with our friends out in Maryland. We rented a sweet cabin on Deep Creek Lake with the Skinners, Dastrups, Walkers and Millers.
It snowed the day we got there, which made the trip even better. The cabin was perfect, decorated for Christmas, complete with multiple flat screen TV's for football and parade watching, a hot tub room, and beautiful sunsets. We had a blast staying up laughing and playing games til about 3 am every night once all the kids were asleep. Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous, as everyone made their specialty dishes, and Jeremy made one of the best turkey's I've ever had. Since Parker can crawl now, he tried to experiment with the stairs, which resulted in him falling down this entire flight of wooden stairs on Thanksgiving night. Amazingly, he didn't have one scratch or bruise, and was perfectly content after about 2 minutes. He's a tough kid. It was so nice to be with such good friends on Thanksgiving since we are all so far away from our families. We all have a lot to be thankful for. I am so grateful for all of the blessings in my life. Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!!!

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-11-17T23:26:00.003-05:00

Yes, we went to the live tour because we love love love the show, and the live performance was even better. Twitch, Will, Kherrington, Katie, Gev, etc. etc. It was so fun to see all of our favorite dances from the season in person. Chad and I had nice floor seats with our friends, Joe and Lindsey. Me and Lindsey were screaming like little kids... we were SO excited. It was such a fun night and a great, great show. Can't wait to go again next year!

Fishy Night

2008-11-12T09:56:00.005-05:00

On Friday night we went down town to the new East side of Baltimore's inner harbor and ate fish tacos at little place called Taco Fiesta. They were really good, but I am still searching for fish tacos that can compare to Rubio's. Yum. It was a beautiful night, so from there we walked across the bridge and went to the National Aquarium at the inner harbor. Parker was amazed with all of the water, fish and especially the dolphin show. I was really impressed with the aquarium and can't believe that this was our first time there! We got to see some really cool sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, and alligators, and even walk through a rainforest. What a fun night!

He wouldn't take his eyes off the gigantic sting ray

Parker, trying to catch the fish through the glass

Dolphin show

Doesn't this look like one of those screen savers?

Trick or Treat

2008-11-03T00:04:00.003-05:00

This year we dressed up as Barney, Betty and Bamm-Bamm Rubble from the Flintstones. Our good friends the Austins were Fred, Wilma and Pebbles. The festivities started with ward party last weekend. We won "Best group costume" and had a great time passing out candy from our decorated Bedrock classroom, complete with the Flintstones music playing in the background. Chad tried to spray his hair yellow, but it turned out green, so on the real Halloween night, we skipped that step in the costuming. On Halloween we trick or treated with a huge group of friends. I had forgotten how much fun trick or treating is! Parker had a blast and loved sifting through each bowl of candy, very seriously, to find his perfect piece.... we realized he is pretty indecisive, just like his parents.

Flashback to Halloweens of the Past

2008-10-31T11:44:00.011-04:00

Chad and I both love Halloween. It is such a fun time of year, and I love coming up with a new costume idea, and then whipping out the sewing machine to see what I can do. Chad and I started dating around Halloween back in 2001. I know I have a picture of us at a party, me in my Ninja turtle costume and Chad scantily clad as a lady bug... but I can't seem to find it. Oh well, here are a few pictures of our costumes since being married. Sorry they're kind of small, but they all blow up if you click on them.

2002 - Devil and Angel

2004 - "1920's" ...(think Bagger Vance)

2005 - Elphaba and Scarecrow (from Wicked... not the Wizard of Oz .. hint hint:)

2006 - Wendy and Peter Pan (we conned our friends into being Tinkerbell, John, Michael, Captain Hook and Tigerlilly)

And yes, Chad wore tights... haha

2007 - HEFTY and GLAD trash bags... (a pun on the fact that I was about 7 months pregnant, hence my beauty in the picture)

Stay tuned for pictures of THIS YEAR's 2008 costumes, with Parker making his Halloween Debut... they just might be our best costumes yet!!!

Picking Pumpkins

2008-10-27T12:31:00.004-04:00

On Friday night we went with some friends to the pumpkin patch. Wow, we got so many great pictures of the kids with all of the pumpkins. They had a great time. I was a little surprised how much Parker loved it since he seemed to be a little scared of the big pumpkin the photographer had (see screaming picture in previous post)... but the cute little guy absolutely loved it. We picked out a really cute "fairytale" pumpkin. I LOVE those! And a little green and yellow one for Park. Afterwards, Chad and I got some Chinese take out, and put Parker to bed. It was a really fun night, and a successful first trip to the pumpkin patch for Parker!

Picture attempt

2008-10-18T13:31:00.016-04:00

We took Parker to get some 9 month/fall pictures taken. He had just eaten, had just gotten up from a really great nap, and LOVES having his picture taken, so we thought we were in for a treat. Park threw us a little curve ball and decided he didn't like the photographer (so not like him!), so between sobs, I we ended up getting a few red, teary eyed shots. Oh well. Better luck next time.

I did it....

2008-10-14T12:21:00.003-04:00

Well, actually Lindsey did it. My hair needed some help. After having Parker and feeling like my hair is 50% thinner, 50% less manageable, and with 50% less time to spend on it, I decided that making it 50% shorter just might be the winning solution. So, I broke down and joined the ranks of moms who cut their hair short after having a baby and never go back to the long stuff. I am a mom, I love it, and I love my new hair to show for it.... now I just need some of these

Four years ago today...

2008-10-02T15:11:00.007-04:00

Most of you that actually read this blog already know parts, if not most of this story, but since it's been 4 years, I think its about time to document it... for posterity's sake. Four years ago today, We had lived in Maryland for a little over a year and Chad was a couple months into his 2nd year of dental school. On this particular Saturday morning there was a fun, and "harmless" intramural flag football game. Chad played on a team with some other guys in his class, and this day they were playing the 1st year dental school team (i.e. very important game). During one of the plays, Chad was on defense and was rushing the quarterback from the corner. Another guy on his team was doing the same from the other side. The quarterback stepped forward just as Chad and the other defender were diving, full speed for the quarterback's flag. Their heads hit with full force, and after a loud "crack", both were on the ground. I ran over to find Chad, a little out of it, with what looked like it was going to be a pretty big black eye, a little cut above his eye, a concussion, and a broken tooth (which all the dental students were, of course the most worried about). Chad blacked out one more time after that, so we decided to drive both guys to the hospital which was just down the street. Upon examination, and xrays, the doctors started to seem a little more nervous since they could not get any pupil reaction or movement out of Chad's left eye. The xrays showed that Chad had fractured the whole orbit of his eye (bones all around the eyeball), with some fractures going further back into his scull. They decided to rush us to Shock Trauma, at the University of Maryland since things were a little more complicated than originally assumed. Some of Chad's friends came and gave him a blessing before we were transferred, and I had to make the horrendous phone calls to both of our parents. It was a rough night at shock trauma. Chad's cut was stitched up and then they started tests and more tests. They were concerned about a little brain hemorrhage, nerve function, fractures, etc. etc. We were in the trauma center for 5 days. I slept on a cot right next to Chad, and we had visitors and phone calls constantly, which was great. Chad's dad flew in during our last day at the hospital which was so so wonderful. All in all, they called Chad's condition "superior orbital fissure syndrome". When the bones broke in his face, something hit the nerve bundle and damaged most of the nerves near his eye. He could still see out of it, but due to nerve damage, he couldn't open his eye, or move it at all. The eye was fixed and dilated. Some how the bones were all enough in place though, that they couldn't warrant going in surgically to do anything else. So we went home with some hopes, but hearing from the doctors that it would never be back 100%, if it even improves at all. Nerves are funny, its just a waiting game. Chad was seeing a specialist at Johns Hopkins, and finishing up the semester of dental school, trying to see if that was going to be do-able. 2 months later, Chad randomly could open his eye, and about a month after that, we started to see a little movement from the eye. Little by little things were starting to come back, but the double vision was a huge problem for being a dentist. Chad was given the option to transfer over to Pharmacy school to get his PharmD. After looking into this option, we felt that this was going to be best for Chad, as he would have to struggle with his eye every day of being a dentist. So, the following fall, Chad started Pharmacy school, and our 4 years in Maryland turned to 6. Now, with only a few months left, the time has really gone by fast. If you look at Chad today, you can't tell that anything is wrong. He still has some double vision, but he drives, plays sports, reads, etc. just fine. Chad loves Pharmacy and wonders why he didn't look further into doing this as a profession years ago. This whole experience really made us realize that things aren't always in our hands or our control. Sometimes the Lord has funny ways of paving the road before you, but in the end it's all for our growth and progression. I learned so much from Chad through the long healing process... he was always so optimistic and positive. I love you and look up to you so much babe. And, by the way, flag football is more brutal than you would think :)

That picture was taken when we were home from the hospital, about a week after it all happened.

Happy 17th Birthday Ashley!!!

2008-10-01T14:41:00.004-04:00

My little sister Ashley turned 17 a couple of days ago. Ashley is such a great person. She #6 of the 7 kids, but probably the most mature of any of us. Ashley is the most kind, and caring person you will ever meet. She loves to seek out people who are having a bad day and just sit and talk with them. She is the sibling we all say is the exact mix between my Mom and Dad. Ashley is so much fun and it was so great to be able to hang out with her so much a few weeks ago. Ashley never complains and has been so optimistic and understanding about the move to Henderson (not your typical High school Junior). Her great personality shines for everyone she meets, and she already has so many friends even though she is the "new girl in town". She has been winning all of her tennis matches on the high school varsity team, is the soloist in the school choir, and got asked to homecoming by the hottie of the school. We are so proud of you Ashley. Keep it up! Happy Birthday, we love you!!!

Trip Installment 3: Henderson

2008-10-01T13:50:00.010-04:00

The last part of the trip was going back to Henderson to try to help everyone get settled in. Henderson is great! I really loved being there. The city is WAY bigger than I imagined it. It is gorgeous, with every street beautifully landscaped with palm trees. There seems to be a new beautiful park, upscale shopping center or golf course on every other corner. Parker loved being able to spend time with his Zwick side cousins, Spencer and Ellie, and of course his Grandma, Papa, and aunts and uncles. One of my favorite places in Henderson was the "District" at night. It is a fancy outdoor mall that lights up at night, has an old fashion carousel, and live music and outdoor movies on Friday and Saturday nights. It was fun to go there at night to eat and walk around. By the time Parker and I flew home, everyone seemed to be in the swing of things, and fitting right in with all the Henderson natives.

Parker had a blast watching Ashley's tennis matches. Here is a picture of that, plus a few others of Andrea's kids and us at the district.

Chad's getting old...

2008-09-26T10:02:00.003-04:00

As mentioned in the last post, we celebrated Chad's birthday (September 7th) at Lake Mead. I was so glad that he was able to make it out for a couple of days so we could be together for the big day. I am so grateful for Chad. He is such a fun dad, wonderful husband and very best friend. Happy Birthday Honey!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Chad growing up. Isn't he just the cutest little boy???

Trip Installment 2: The Lake House

2008-09-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

Park and I met up with Chad's family and spent 4 days at Lake Mead. I think it may have been my favorite trip to the lake house yet. It was so fun to see Parker interact with his cousins and experience the lake and boating for the first time. The new boat, jet skis, skin baking sun, jeep rides, hammock naps, and perfect glass water were breath-taking... all of it. Chad flew in on Friday for his birthday weekend, and Matt and Ash spent the weekend at the lake with us as well. It was so good to see Chad after a week and a half. Parker and I really missed him! Chad spent his birthday eating his birthday cereal (a Burnham family tradition), waterskiing (one of my FAVORITE things to watch Chad do), and topping it all off with Cafe Rio before he had to fly back to Baltimore. It was so nice to be with our Burnham family in such a beautiful place that is so much fun, and has already created so many memories! Thanks Mom and Dad! We can't wait to do it again!!!

Trip installment 1: Movin' Out

2008-09-18T09:48:00.014-04:00

Parker and I flew to Vegas, just in time to drive up to Utah, labor day weekend for the final move out of the Alpine house... And labor we did. It was an exhausting weekend full of packing, cleaning, many tears, many laughs, reuniting and goodbyes. I was able to go through my storage boxes in the basement and condense them. Not much condensing actually happened due to my ultimate sentimental outlook on life. I have deflated balloons, labeled from specific birthday parties and first dates, ticket stubs, stacks of journals, and every note I ever received from 6th grade on-- those are classic) Old pictures and journals brought back floods of old memories. Good times. The Shelleys hosted a big goodbye party on Sunday night, where we got to mingle with the ward family. (picture of Jeff, Steph and Ash, 3 of my siblings) It was hard saying goodbye to the house and Alpine for the last time. Just driving through the city, I have a memory that goes with every street corner. Alpine was good to me, and the perfect place to grow up. It was fun to reminisce and let the memories sink in again. I had to stay strong and upbeat for Matt and Ash, who have now started school in Henderson as the 3 of us and Parker drove back to Nevada on Monday night. We had a good time and good talks the whole way there. I love my two youngest siblings. They are such great friends, and are so fun to be with. So... So long, farewell Alpine! Viva Las Vegas.

(I had to make the pics really small to fit them all in, but they all blow up if you click on them)

Eight is Great

2008-09-16T09:03:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this month. I just got back from my trip out to see family and help with the big move to Vegas, so I am WAAAAAAY behind on the blog and have lots to blog about, so don't worry... many more posts are on the way. But, first I need to give a shout out to my little Park who turned eight months old today. What?!?! He is such a little joy in our lives. He has the cutest personality EVER, and loves to smile and flirt with everyone. On the airplane, coming back to Maryland, he wanted to walk up and down the isle and smile at each individual person on the plane. He would get mad at me if I walked too fast and passed a row. What a character. His favorite thing to do lately is get his picture taken. If you hold up a camera and count to three, he does the cheesiest little smile, and then likes to look at the picture and smile at himself. He found a new love for boating this month, and absolutely loved watching Chad ski behind the boat. He says "Mamma" now, and I can't get enough of it. Our little social butterfly still is not wanting to crawl, but recently learned he can scoot backwards while on his tummy. Maybe crawling will come next month. Park loved playing with his aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents over the past couple of weeks. He misses you all!!!!!

Henderson or Bust?

2008-08-26T14:10:00.002-04:00

So, the rumors are true, and my family (what's left of the Zwick bunch) are moving from Alpine

to Henderson Nevada.

Kind of a crazy time for everyone after 15 years in the bubble that we all love to death. I am flying out to Nevada to be with them for the transition, and hang out at the Alpine house for a little reminiscing. I can't wait to see my great family, and to be with Chad's family at Lake Mead too. Stay tuned for some traveling posts.

Six year anniversary

2008-08-18T14:20:00.002-04:00

Yesterday (August 17th) was our six year anniversary! Saturday night the Skinners watched Park (thank you guys!) so that we could go out just the two of us. We had YUMMY steaks at Outback, and a nice time all to ourselves. This has been the best six years of my entire life. I am so grateful for Chad. He is the greatest husband in the world. I am so lucky to have him. He is a perfect dad to little Parker and always shows us and tells us how much he loves us. I love you honey, you are the best! Happy anniversary with many more memories to come!

Seven

2008-08-16T10:47:00.002-04:00

Parker turned seven months old today... wow. Where is the time going? He is getting to be such a handsome little guy, and is more and more fun every day. His only word is Dadda, and he thinks he is pretty cool saying it. We are still working on Mamma. I say it to him and he just says Dadda right back. haha. Happy seven months buddy!

Millions of peaches, peaches for me

2008-08-16T10:30:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday we went with the Skinners and Austins to pick peaches at Baugers. I can't believe it was our first time there! It was SOOOO much fun and Parker loved every second of it. We rode a tractor out to the picking orchard. Park was in absolute heaven, totally in love with the tractor. It was a beautiful day, the peaches were great, and now I should go make some jam or cobbler or something so that our hard picking work doesn't go to waste. I know everyone is probably sick of these picture slide shows... I am too, but I had too many pictures that I loved, I couldn't decide which ones to post, so here's another slide show. Sorry.

cHoCoLaTe MiLk

2008-08-08T13:49:00.007-04:00

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Last weekend, after the fair, the Skinners came over for a chocolate milk tasting competition.
Who knew they all tasted so different? Chad won, as he proved to be the best at distinguishing between organic, nesquik, two different store brands, and homemade (hershey's syrup in milk).

It was a lot of fun. Good idea Jeremy and Hannah! While on the subject, please end the constant debate in our house by answering the poll to the right...

The Howard County Fair

2008-08-03T15:49:00.002-04:00

So, typically I don't really like to got to the fair, but yesterday was a beautiful day with nothing to do, so I loaded up the hand sanitizer and we went. We actually had a really, really great time. Parker loved the baby animals, and watching all of the big rides go around and around. Chad and I each took him once down the big super slide. People were a little surprised we would take him down it, but the little dare devil wasn't even phased by it. I think I was more scared than he was. The fair food didn't look too great, so we shared an ice cream to hold us over and stopped at Pei Wei (PF chang's take out) on the way home. YUM!