HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE JEFF!

Yesterday, April 23, was my little brother Jeff's 23rd birthday! Jeff is such a funny guy and is constantly making us all laugh. What did we do without him when he was in Portugal for 2 years!? He is the sibling just under me in the family, and we had so much fun growing up together. He was always on board with any stupid game or activity that I planned for us to do. Thanks Jeff, for always playing dress-ups and barbies with me, and for letting me play legos and trucks with you. You are such a great brother, uncle and friend, and the best example for our family. Good luck with finals and have a great time in Brazil the next couple of weeks. We love you and miss you!
-oh, and your present will be in Utah when you get back from Brazil... sorry its late

Cherry Blossoms

So, I know this post is a little old, but the pictures are great, so I have to post them. A couple of weeks ago was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. The trees are so beautiful for about a week, and thousands of people go to see them. Chad had a Pharmacy conference thing for a couple of hours in Alexandria (the cutest little town in Virginia, just outside of D.C.) So, Parker and I walked around the place, grabbed some lunch, and then we all went to D.C. to check out the blossoms. Parker loves to be either outside, or in a place with lots of people to look at, so it was the perfect outing for him!

My Husband, the next Kobayashi

One little known fact about my husband, is that he can dominate eating competitions... yes, kind of disgusting, kind of cool. A couple of weeks ago, he was in the annual wing eating competition out here. Two years ago, his team won, last year they came in 2nd place, and this year they came in second again, but Chad seriously carries the team. He ate 57 wings in 30 minutes, but what is even more impressive is that his first 30 wings were done in 5 minutes! Parker and I were so proud cheering him on. It was quite the event.


Parker... Future wing eater


Chad, choking them down


Chad and his team, "The Dream Team"


Dad ate how many?!?!?

Our little squeaker learned to laugh...

Check out this video, it seriously is his first real laugh, don't ask me how we got it on film!

Parker's Blessing Day

Parker was blessed on Easter night at my parents house. It was so special and personal to do it there, with so many family members to join us. We felt so much love for little Parker. Thanks to everyone who made it out for the blessing. It meant a lot to have you all there. Chad gave Parker a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband to do this for such a wonderful son. Wow. I love my boys. After the blessing, we had a great dinner and socialized with the fam. Here are a couple of pictures of Parker with his grandparents on his blessing day.

Spring Break Part 2: Utah

After a few days in California, we flew to Utah, where Parker met his cousins on the Zwick side, Grandpa, and the rest of his aunts and uncles (except Todd-- we missed you!) We were able to spend Easter there, and have Parker's blessing on Easter Sunday surrounded by so much family (this event deserves its own post coming soon). We ate at all our favorite restaurants, and even took Parker for his first visit to BYU campus! Chad flew home early for school, but Parker and I got to live it up in Utah for a few more days. It was so much fun to be there with everyone. Sorry to everyone we couldn't see while we were there. Time got a little tight. Flying home alone with Parker turned out to be quite an ordeal. We flew the day that American and Delta cancelled hundreds of flights, including ours. So, to make a long story short, we finally got to Baltimore at 1am with a sprained finger and Parker down to his last undershirt after 2 blowouts... all in all, Salt Lake to Baltimore took about 18 hours of traveling and 4 airports. Parker and I were SOOOO excited to see Chad! After the longest day ever, I came home to a spotless house, beautiful flowers and August Rush. I love you honey!


all the cousins with Grandma and Papa


the Easter Bunny came for Parker


First time in the cougar eat... he's taking this to the dorms one day


some aunts and uncles


home sweet home

Spring Break Part 1: California

On Parker's 2 month birthday (March 16) he took his first flight to California. He was a little angel on the flights and slept the entire time. While in California, Parker got to meet new friends, his Burnham cousins, aunts and uncles and Boppa for the first time. We spent a few days there and had a blast finding leprechaun footprints, eating at pinkberry, and snapping photos of all the cousins together. Thank you Shawna and Andy for being great hosts!



Parker and Kenna just 4 months apart


Cousins, Ryan, Kenna, Parker and Julie


Meeting Boppa


Second cousin, Carly


Parker's first girlfriend, Kami

Wheels on the bus

Nothing gets Parker to smile quicker than an early morning rendition of "wheels on the bus". Favorite verses include the "beep beep beep" of the horn, the "swish swish swish" of the wipers and the "move on back" of the driver, complete with hand motions. Park stays in full grin the whole time.

Park is home!

Parker's surgery went really well on Tuesday. We arrived at Johns Hopkins and were greeted by all familiar faces of my great friends who I work with, which made everything a lot easier on us. Chad and I were able to carry Parker into the operating room and stay there with him until he fell asleep. It was so hard to lay his little body down on the big operating room table and have to walk away. Even though we new he was in good hands, we were both a little emotional. The surgery went great, and he was back in our arms within the hour. We had to stay overnight that night just because he is still so young and had a lot of anesthesia, so I slept (well, not much sleep) there with him. We were able to leave the hospital and come home pretty early yesterday. Parker is doing great, and we are so grateful for his speedy recovery. Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers for him and us. Here are some pics from the hospital:


Last minute snuggles before surgery



All done in the recovery room


Is it over?


Good sleep in my hospital bed

Picture Request

Apparently people just want to see the baby, and the last post had no picture of our little Park. So, per request, here are a couple. Parker decided to give a half grin to the blog. pretty cute!