Tahoe

Ryan and I for the first time EVER left Avery overnight with Grandma Lemon and we headed out to Tahoe. We loved the freedom of it just being the two of us and getting to do whatever we wanted without having to worry about Avery's eating/ napping schedule. However, we certainly were missing our little Avery and couldn't wait to get back to her the next evening. We had a great time in Tahoe. We ate dinner at this really nice restaurant (Riva Grill) with a view of the lake that made the whole experience 20 times better. The food presentation and taste was amazing too. 

Who would have thought that practically all of South Lake Tahoe shuts down before 8pm unless you're in a casino gambling. So, what did we do.. we went to the grocery store.. bought junk food, and went to our hotel and watched the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Spurs game. Believe it or not it was actually my idea:). We had a ton of fun getting into & watching the game. The following day we went and found Fallen Leaf Lake and some water falls that poor into the lake just neighboring Lake Tahoe. All in all, it was a great little vacation. 

 Our Bread Sticks (The dip was delicious)

 Ryan's Dish

 Extremely Yummy Creamy Fatty Pasta. Loved it!!!

 Tahoe Sunsets are Beautiful

 Fallen Leaf Lake Falls

Roommate Reunion.. Reliving the Glory Days of BYU

In April I got to have a roommate reunion with my college roommates from BYU. The four of us girls from freshmen year crashed at my mother-in-laws house (bless her heart for taking us) and we had a great time. we later met up with roommates from our softmore year (Kate & Alyssa). The whole trip was so much fun. Adrianne, Jess, & I went to the Salt Lake Temple and did a session one day. We went to BYU and stomped on our old stomping grounds. We enjoyed dinner at Alyssa & Jason's apartment with their adorable little boys. And of course we played SCUM (our favorite card game) when we had all 6 of us together. And of course we did some shopping! We all had a great time together.

With the extra time we had in Utah Avery & I went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point with Karyann and later with Ashlyn. Avery loved feeding the fish in the pond, feeling the warmth of the stone pavement, and loved the waterfalls. In fact, she kept asking me for help to get into the water at the waterfalls. We had fun in Utah, but we sure missed Daddy. Here's some pics from the trip. LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!!!

 Me, Jess, Audrey, & Adrianne

Making a Y in front of Y Mountain

 This was the theater room that our freshmen ward had Sacrament meeting in

 Hanging out at Alyssa's 

 All of us at together for the 1st time in 5 years!

Alyssa, Kate, Jess, Me, Audrey, & Adrianne across the laps

 Avery checking out Thanksgiving Point with Aunt Ashlyn

 She kept laying on the pavement...not really sure why

Avery & Mommy

Avery & Cousins at the Zoo

 Cassi, Joseph, Treven, Taylee, & Avery 

 Avery & Mommy

Avery & Treven in front of the Flamingo exhibit

Back in April I took Avery to the Zoo. We went with her cousins and she had a great time. She loved the giraffes and the flamingos the best. She loved racing around the park and I sure had a hard time keeping up with her. Sometimes I wish I had a leash for her like one of the crazy moms..... but maybe their really not that crazy after all... just practical. Anyways here's some fun pics.

Ryan is Published!!!!

Ryan did this amazing project at his work for Siemens (they make light rail train cars). Anyways, Ryan is in charge of testing the vehicles and the equipment to ensure safety when the cars go into service. He also lately has become in charge of solving problems that occur in vehicles currently in service and you can read what he did to solve a reoccurring problem with the train cars in Denver, CO. National Instruments, a major engineering company in the US has published his work on this project using their equipment. Check it out. I can't hardly figure out what in the world he did, but it sure makes me think of my husband as quite the genius.  http://sine.ni.com/cs/app/doc/p/id/cs-14528

My Valentines Dinner... I'm Spoiled....

Ryan was so cute this past Valentines Day. He got off of work early, went to his buddy Jason's house and together they made their wives a nice dinner. He later came home and had it all set up for me. It was delicious and I love that he made it for me! As I'm sure anyone who knows me would guess the chocolate strawberries were my favorite from the evening. Gotta love my hubby:)

Catching up just a little...

My Brother Nick & his wife Jessaca were married on Feb. 18th (my Birthday) of this year in the Salt Lake City Temple. So, plane tickets being what they were at the time lead Ryan and I to take a leap of faith and make the long 12 hour drive to Utah with our little one. The trip out there could not have gone more smoothly. Avery was an angel and what really saved us was the car TV we had set up for her just for the trip. Thank goodness for today's technology. And of course, since Ryan's family lives in Utah as well, we ended up making a 2 week trip out of the whole thing. We had sooo much fun. The wedding was beautiful, I had a great birthday with my family & my in-laws, my Best Friends Brittney & Oakley from high school took me out for a birthday lunch to Cafe Rio (love Cafe Rio), Ryan got to go Snow Shoeing with his sister, and I went with Ryan's Mom, Avery had lots of fun with Grandma and learned to eat lots of new solid foods, we watched Landon (ryan's little brother) play in one of his Basketball games, i had tons of fun hanging out with Karyann doing baby crafts & watching movies, and we caught up with some old college buddies, Nate, Erin, & Jessica. Loads of fun. Here are some fun pics my aunt KC took from the wedding and more from the trip to come later.

Here's Me with my Niece Kamay. Everyone has always said she looks like me, and after seeing this picture I would certainly agree.

Family Shot in front of SLC Temple

Our Beautiful Avery.

Ringing in the New Year with the KINGS GAME!

First off, Christmas this last year was a memorable one to be sure. It was the first time in 4 years since the whole Parkinson family was together. It was soo fun to see everyone. However, 10 out of the 12 people in Ryan's family got the flu while we were there. We thought we missed the bug when 4 days passed with no one sick, and then Avery went down with the flu at 12:20 am on Christmas Morning. Poor Avery had a rough one.. she threw up at least 15 times and was up most of the night, but luckily High School Musical was there to help her and us pass the time. She loved her toys from Santa, but then got a pretty bad fever latter that day (Which was the PITS because we didn't have any fever medicine and EVERYTHING in Utah was closed as it was Christmas day and Sunday. Eventually we got a hold of some). Ryan was sick with the flu the next day and then I had a milder taste of it the day after he did. It was CRAZY! We still managed to enjoy our time relaxing and hanging out with the family. I also got to see my friends from high school, Brittney & Oakley, with their little baby girls too. So, it was eventful in its own way, but we still really enjoyed being with the family.

JIMMER TIME! So, Ryan and I have recently gotten excited about the Kings basketball team ever since they signed our favorite BYU basketball player Jimmer Fredette. Apparently the King's gear sales have been up by 500% from last year, and 75% of which was all Jimmer stuff.  Ryan had never been to a professional NBA game, and we were spoiled with a great game to watch. The Kings were down by 22 or so at the half and somehow slowly chipped away at the Bucks lead coming back with a win in the final seconds of the game. It was SOOOOO fun! We're excited to watch and see how Jimmer progresses in his NBA career.

Us enjoying the game

 JIMMER #7

 The Final Score

 Our New Jimmer Shirts

 What good is a post without a picture of Avery???