GO CARDS!!

In honor of the Cardinals participating in the Super Bowl this weekend I'd like to post this little picture...
This is Erik with Deuce Lutui. He's a Guard for the Cardinal's & he was in the Easter Pageant in 2007. He was so nice to take this picture. I asked if he would mind taking a picture with Erik & he said,"No - can I take MY picture with this guy? Check out this costume." I'd love to see the Cardinals win if it was just for his sake because he seems like such a nice guy! GO CARDS!!!

Bell Cruise Part 2

It's a known fact that I'm not always the brightest person on the planet! Upon looking at a friends post I realized I could add more pictures to a post if I make them smaller. Which means you're in for another round of pics from our trip. I'm going to do mostly group photos this time..... (Allyson - I hope you don't mind but I stole the large group photo from your blog. :) )

ACAPULCO...



FORMAL NIGHT & DANCING...



MANZANILLO...



DINNER, CANCER WALK, AIRPORT GOING HOME...



I also forgot to give a HUGE thank you to Mimi & Papa as well as Jackson & Allison for watching our rugrats while we were gone. We never could have done it without you! MMWAH!! Allison even took vacation days from work to watch our kids. WOW!! She's the best! Our girls had a lot of fun. Only a few melt downs from what I'm told. I think Kylie was a little sad it was already over. I feel her on that one. The week went by fast. I'm glad to be home, but sad as well. Not having to cook, clean & just play for a week! That's the life!

Bell Photo Cruise 2009

Every 2 years we get spoiled by Erik's work & get the priviledge of going on a cruise with the Bell Photo family. The first time we got to go was in 2007. This was our second time & we had a blast! It was fun to see all the wives again of the salesman & catch up on the past 2 years. Here's a few pictures & stories of our travels. Keep in mind - it was tough to narrow this down to the 5 pictures Blogger allows you. Especially when I ended up taking 388 pictures. YIKES!! (I know, I know - I could do a slide show & have a bunch more, but I HATE those things. If you want to see more look up my facebook account.)

We took off from San Diego & spent the first 2 days at sea. The second night was the first formal night...

After dinner that night we attended the show. (They have a different show every night after dinner that they claim are as good as anything you would see in Vegas. Right!) We laughed really hard & I'm not so sure it was suppose to be a comedy. It showcased the singers & dancers. The dancers made me giggle the whole time. Seriously, sickled feet & horrible technique at that level? It was sad.

Our first stop was Acapulco. We had quite the group - 52 in all - so, we waited to get off the boat to book anything. We found some vans to drive our crew around for the day. We went to this awesome resort to look around & walk out to their private beach - BEAUTIFUL!! Hit up some local little shops & then went to watch the cliff divers. They were scary to watch, but it was almost scarier to watch them climb the mountain to jump off of. They took the theatrics a little far before jumping doing their Hail Mary's & stuff. But, still cool.

The next day we stopped at Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. We took a water taxi to a beach across the docking area & just spent the day their. Erik did some snorkeling & I was happy to rent a raft & float in the ocean. The following picture is a view of our boat from the beach we played at.

Our last stop was Manzanillo. We were docked in an industrial area & not the prettiest. We waited around for awhile waiting to find out what the plan was. While waiting we watched the Inauguration in the lounge. Pretty cool to say I watched that piece of history on a boat in Mexico. Finally we found some vans to take us around. We went shopping first in the downtown area. We then were taken to an iguana preserve where Erik & I held a huge iguana. WEIRD!! Then, it was off to the beach! Erik did some body surfing here & he didn't come out of the water for a long time. He could live in the ocean if it was possible.

After the stops we spent another 2 days at sea before returning home to san Diego. Erik got sick the last couple of days which was not fun. But, I'm happy to say I didn't gain any weight. The captain at one point said the average weight gain on a cruise that long was 7 pounds. I actually ate better & worked out more. It's been harder for me being home to work out & eat good. The very last day at sea they had a cancer walk for Breast Cancer. It was fun to be involved with that!

Some more fun little tidbits are:

** Going dancing - you haven't seen anything until you've seen Eric Bateman get the asian crowd involved in dancing & even body slamming one of the little old guys. Hilarious!!

**Playing lots of cards & dice with the crew on those long days at sea.

**Meeting one of the cutest girls ever - Kylee.

**Watching Chad Waldron ham up the Black Jack tournament.

**Playing musical chairs at dinner every night & never knowing who you will end up sitting next to.

**Erik bought a wedding ring (his has been lost for years) in Ixtapa & then lost it in the ocean in Manzanillo - NICE!

**Seeing lots of dolphins & even whales. Erik & I even saw a sea turtle. We just happened to look out the right window at the right time.

**Seeing good old Nate with an earing in & suspenders. Quite the sight! :)

**Getting rained on when arriving back to San Diego & standing in it waiting for our ride to the airport. Does wonders for the hair!!

I'm sure I'm missing quite a bit. I didn't take notes this time on what we did everyday like I did last time. All in all, it was fun. We actually enjoyed the last one a little better - the stops were nicer & we did more "stuff". But, we can't complain. Cruising's the way to go. We're up for that anytime!

HOME

Today is Tuesday & I am at home instead of spending a day sitting at the dance studio. Again, it comes with mixed emotions. As for right now though - I'M LOVING IT!!! It's nice to be home. We even had FHE last night & I cooked dinner! I even plan on cooking again tonight! That's unheard of at my house. I'm usually always running. I even have plans (I guess the key word here would be "plans".) of getting the laundry all caught up today. Although I will miss the girls - I'm ok with this for now. I have been teaching for 16 years! Within that 16 years I've only had 1 year that I didn't teach. That's when we lived in St. George & I was pregnant with Kylie. Other than that, I've always been teaching. I welcome this change for now....

**P.S. - if you happen to know anyone who would like to buy some mirrors let me know. We are trying to sell the mirrors from the studio!! (I know - shameless! :) )

CHRISTMAS REVIEW

We have had quite the busy week. Here is what our week was like. For the most part. Let's start with the Friday before Christmas....

We attended the temple lights with some members of my family. It's always fun to go & look at this amazing display. They also have a display in the Visitor's Center of nativities from around the world that's pretty cool, too.























My niece Shelby was lucky enought to warrant a spot in the background of our family photo!


















After the temple lights some of our group came back to our house for some hot chocolate. Which of course would not be complete without a photo of all the guys & their Tinkerbell mugs. Silly boys!

Then my nieces Shelby & Lainie spent the night with us. The girls had a blast & we were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of a pirate, a couple of dancers & a princess at breakfast.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Mimi & Papa's for a wonderful Winter Wonderland party! What a blast & of course my camera was starting to break so I have no pictures. Hopefully one of the other girls will get one to me. (hint - hint)

On Monday we built gingerbread houses. I tried to be economical about it & bought graham crackers & some random candies. Not necessarily a good idea. The weren't very stable & only mine & Jadyn's houses actually stayed up. Oh well - it was still fun. Here are the finished products...

Erik's...

Kylie's...(she's helping hers stay up for the photo)

Jadyn's...

Mine...

Tuesday came a little non-Christmas surprise. Jadyn lost her first tooth. She woke up in the morning & claims it just fell out into her hand. It's still a mystery, but at least it's out!

That brings us to Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Erik's family & had a fun time eating, playing & watching The Office. Christmas morning we woke up & opened presents in our own home! This was only the 2nd time since we've been married that we've done that & it was nice. Kylie was a little excited to get Battleship & Jadyn was just excited! After presents we went to see "Bedtime Stories". Then, just lazied around the rest of the day. Erik & I have spent way too much time on Facebook playing Mob Wars this past week, but it's been a nice, relaxing break for us. I'm sad for school to start again next week!

CHRISTMAS CARD

For those of you that did not receive this via email for whatever reason - here you go...


Dear Family and Friends,


We are taking the easy way out this year & emailing our cards. Much better than last year when we did nothing! So, here's a little peek into what we've been up to...


ERIK - Erik still works for Bell Photographers & enjoys his job. He's working hard to pick up new schools for next season. He also has a new passion he's busy working on. It is "Mob Wars" on facebook. If anyone has a facebook account be sure to find Erik & join his mob. And if you don't have an account - consider opening one so you can join in the fun. He's also been moving our house around. He moved our office into our loft & separated the girls. Which turned into quite the project of reorganizing the whole house. He is also enjoying this season for another one of his loves - Basketball season! He is currently the Sunday School teacher for the 14+ year olds in our ward.


MELANIE - Melanie's been busy teaching away. Her studio is closing though & that comes with mixed emotions. Sad to see it go, but happy to be home more. She lost her older brother Michael this summer & that has been hard. Thank goodness for the gospel & the knowledge that she'll be able to see him again. She just received a calling as the 1st counselor in the Young Womens & is excited for this opportunity. She's even started to work a little more for Erik.


KYLIE - 9 years old - Kylie is our little social butterfly still. She just turned 9 this month & loves having her own room. She's growing up so fast it's just unbelievable! She is now in 3rd grade & was chosen as Student of the Month in September. She was chosen to play "The Dead Girl" in the Easter Pageant this year & loved every minute of it! She was elated to see a clip of her part on the news even. She did so well with her big part. The directors must have thought she did a good job as well because she has been cast in the same part for this coming year! Erik's just hoping he'll be able to carry her up the ramp this time without falling since she's so long. Keep your fingers crossed for us.


JADYN - 5 1/2 years old - Jadyn is still our little princess. She is a girly-girl through & through. She loves anything to do with make-up, hair & fashion. (Poor kid picked the wrong mom to have with those passions.) She started Kindergarten this year & is very proud that she gets a 100% on almost everything she does. She's our little genious & school is not tough for her at all. She loves that her school is a little harder than the normal public school because it's still too easy for her. We'll see how long that lasts. She also received the priviledge of being chosen as Student of the Month for November. She lost her first tooth yesterday & is happy to show everyone how her tongue can now stick out of her teeth.
We are so blessed in many ways. We love & appreciate all of you! We would not be who we are without any of you. We are so thankful for this season & for the Savior in our lives. We love this time of year to be reminded often of His birth & all that He has done for us. We hope all of you are happy & well. We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!


Love - The Parkinson's

SAD WEEK

This is a sad week for me for 2 reasons...

1. Monday was the 15th. Which means that it was the 6 month anniversary of my brother's passing. It was a hard day for me remembering that. We did have a family party that night that helped me. I'm not sure if anyone even knew, but it was a rough one. I miss him - I've missed the normal Michael for years, but that doesn't make it any easier.

2. The studio that EmmaLee & I have worked so hard on is closing this week. We are so small, which is what we wanted. Well, we didn't want to be this small, but we didn't want to be huge either. With the economy the way it is & everyone cutting out "extras" - dance is the first "extra" to go for most families. Needless to say, we are no longer able to stay afloat. I debated about writing about this on my blog, but it is a part of my history, so it was necessary. Plus, I'd rather have people read about it than ask me how things are going & have to tell them in person. We are sad. Yet, we're also happy to be home more with our families.

On a happier note. We are excited for the holidays at my house! I am still working on our Christmas Cards. Surprise, surprise! It won't be much - I just have to do it. And we're going the lame route this year & emailing them out to everyone. So, if we don't have you're email be sure to leave a comment with it so we can get one to you. Thanks & love to all!