Say What?

We had snow in Vegas. You would have thought the world was going to end. I don't think most of the people here even know what the defrost button does, judging by the way people were driving.
This is the view from our deck. I love living on the edge of everything. This is about as far away from the strip you can get in Vegas and still be in Vegas.

My Two Tooth Tale

Megan's two teeth are both finally here. The one on the right took its sweet time, but she was a champ about it. Its crazy that this girl is seven months old. Boy the time flies. She is the best little girl ever. She is starting to snuggle with me a little bit. I love it. One of the funniest things about her is that becuase she has started to sleep on her tummy she is constantly waking up with some serious "Ralph- the night hair dresser" do's. The pictures don't do it justice, but I thought I'd try.

Cream of Chicken

Here is one of the top ten ways you know that you are not playing with your child enough- Mark has made friends with a soup can. No joke. While I was preparing dinner today he was off chattering away about something. When I looked over I found that he was really telling stories to the soup can and helping it "take a rest." Boy do we need more friends!

Thanksgiving

We had an awesome trip to Utah. On Saturday Mark was able to see the lights with Grandpa and Uncle Tyler. Here are a couple of my favorite shots.

I just couldn't resist putting up one of the pictures that we took for our chirstmas cards. Most of you will see this again on the card, but here is a preview. Don't know why its sideways and I can't seem to fix it so just tilt your head.

So we put up the Christmas tree, so that it would be all ready when we got back from our Thanksgiving trip. I still can't quite get over the lack of coldness that accompanies the holiday in Vegas. The same day we were putting up our tree our neighbor was out doing yard work. That fact is not that shocking, but when you consider that he was doing his yard work in his bathing suit it will give you a better idea of just how warm it is down here. By the way since when are board shorts and only board shorts an acceptable form of lounge wear?
Anyway, here is our tree. Mark kept saying that we were "making Christmas". He helped put up the "balls" and snowflakes and the big star on top. He did a pretty good job.

He's thouching me!

Ha-all I can say is that I didn't think it would start this young, but I guess I am not surprised.

We have been way out of the loop due to an amazing amount of sickness. The germs just love our house. Actually they probably just love my two year old who happens to live at this house. That kid takes dirty to a whole new level. Just this morning at the library while we are checking out our books he turns to me and says, "Here Mom." The beautiful present he was giving me? A booger, so its no wonder germs get passed around here. Mark started three weeks ago with an eye infection and we are hopefully ending it this week once his strep throat is gone. Here is a picture of his cute little goopey face.


Nothing helps a sick boy like great pajama's. These pj's are a shout out to Papa and Mimi. He probably wore these every third day while being sick. Don't underestimate the power of a comfy outfit when your sick.

It hasn't been all sickness and gunk these last few weeks. Mike and Mark and Mommy installed some awesome shelves in the garage (Megan just hung out in the wheel barrow- it make for a great play pen). So awesome are these shelves that we are wondering why we didn't build them right when we moved in. Mark tells me all the time that he is such a good helper and its true. Here he is with Dad.

I voted this morning. As I was getting ready, Mark asked where we were going. I told him that mommy was going to go vote to choose who would be the next president. He got kind of excited and said, "Oh, for President Monson." (Pres Monson is our prophet and president of our church.) I told him I wished it was that simple. An hour later and after a couple of laps around the elementary school gym he didn't think voting was that cool anymore.

We had a great Halloween this year. We started about two weeks ago and Mark carved the jack-o-lantern you see below (with just a little help from Dad).

For our ward party the week before Halloween we all got dressed up. It all started with Mark wanting to be a cow. So Dad was Old MacDonald, Megan was a horse and Mom was "EIEIO" Dont you love the hat and our little horsey?

Here is Mark as a cow (look at the cheese in that smile- appropriate don't ya think?)

Here is a better picture of our cute little horse.

We were in Utah on the actual day of Halloween. Mark got to trick-or-treat around my old neighborhood. I had planned for it to be really cold, but it was actually around 75 when we went. Megan was beyond toasty in her little outfit. Mark had a blast as did all the uncles that accompanied him because they got just as much candy as Mark did.

Here is Mark with his second jack-o-lantern (he did this one with uncle Bryson) and his painted pumpkin- again the cheesy smile.

Many Moods of the Munchkin Megan

A Day in the Life

Mark just has the funniest photo ops. So I thought I would share.

Sunday naps

They giggle together- a lot. It love it.

At the park with friends. Sprinklers are great.

This is one of Mark's favorite friends- Lydia.

Mark in shades.

We are still waiting for the magical moment when he actually leaves something behind in the toilet. Until then it makes for a nice reading chair.

Itchy Itchy Itchy

So those of you that know me well will look at the following picture and say, "So Emily has a red face, what else is new?"

But this was no ordinary red face. Everything that is pink was violently itchy- like a peel off you skin for relief kind of itchy- and its not just on my face, my arms and torso are involved too.

A few days later I endured a five hour urgent care experience (we are not going back to that doctor) and was told that they had no idea what was happening. Because I am breastfeeding there was nothing they could give me, so they sent me home with the advice to avoid hot showers and use cortisone. Worth five hours and hundred or so dollars they'll make off the visit? I think not.

We began noticing that it only flared up when I a) hugged Mike or b) got in bed at night. My first thought was that I was allergic to my husband! Not a fun idea. But we now think that I was allergic to something that was on Mike that also got on his pillow and the sheets. After sleeping in the bed downstairs and doing loads and loads of laundry in very hot water the hives have died down to a small itchy patch every couple of days for a half hour or so.

What an experience!

Megan with a side of Rice

So Megan has entered the realm of eating from a spoon. She is really excited about the whole process but not a big fan of the actual food. See for yourself. (I love baby faces- there are few things that make me laugh as hard.)

Vermont, Maine and Back Again

So we just spent eight days on the road with our two kids. It was an adventure. Here is how it went down:

Day One: Wednesday. We left at 5:00 to go to the airport. It was a close call, but we all made it on the plane. Five and a half hours later we were at JFK. We took a little plane from there to Burlington arriving at 6:00-ish. Following a fabulous steak dinner at 99 we went and crashed at Papa and Mimi's house (that is great grandma and grandpa Parrish).

Day Two: The boys golfed, of course, family visited and Mimi made chicken pie for dinner. How many Parrish boys does it take to pick a bucket of corn?

This is Papa and Mimi's house (from the side). All that grass and trees and no sprinklers!

Grandpa picked some flowers for Mark to charm Grandma with. Who can resist such a cutie?

Day Three: We headed off the Maine around 1:00. We probably saw more rain during that drive than we get all year. We made it just in time for dinner. Mike got to have his favorite- lobster. Mark couldn't eat something that looked so much like a bug. Here is Megan so glad to finally be out of her car seat and just chilling on the bed.

Day Four: The boys golfed and the girls and kids went to breakfast. The big wedding celebration for Randi (Mike's sister) and her husband, Mike, was that afternoon. We had so much fun playing baseball and eating and visiting. That evening we hung out at Mike and Randi's apartment and played some Wii. Mark was a little confused with his first gaming experience, but I am sure he will pick it up soon.

Day Five: We headed back to Vermont with Papa and Mimi. Mike got to have lobster for a second time.

Day Six: We took it easy Monday morning. The boys put together Papa's new TV. They now enjoy their entertainment in 42" HD. I got to go out to lunch with Carol Lee and one of her friends- Lucia. We had a great time. That afternoon we all went with Mark for his first fishing expedition. He loved playing with the pole, but the second he snagged a fished he ran to Mom and Dad had to reel it in. Mark was not about to touch the thing or even get near it for a picture. A lot of the family came over for dinner that night. We got to cook s'mores and catch up with a few people.

Day Seven: The boys golfed- again. Are you sensing a trend? We had more R and R time, which was great. Mark got to pick apples that afternoon.

Day Eight: We headed to the airport around 10:30 after stopping to see Mike's uncle and aunt. We rode a prop plane- which was kind of loud and bumpy- to Philadelphia. We had a three hour layover there and finally left there at 6:00p.m. Of all the flights and driving I think the kids were actually the best behaved on the last flight. Mark loved watching his little DVD player and Megan slept for most of the time. We got home and crawled straight into bed. I am sure that we left Papa and Mimi in a coma too.

I am so glad we got to go and show Mark around Vermont. I knew that he would love Papa and Mimi's house. He had a ton of fun playing baseball, tooling around in the playhouse and just roaming around their yard. It was great to see family and have such a fun visit.

Water Woe

So the main water line from the street to our home decided to break a little while ago. Thankfully it was just a small leak, so we had time to figure out what to do. Last Friday Grandpa Parrish and Dennis came out to save the day. They brought a back hoe with them- much to Mark's great enjoyment, and they began to replace the pipe. The whole project took until Sunday to finish- major kudos to Grandpa Parrish for totally saving the day and fixing the whole thing while we were away visiting in Utah- there are not enough thank yous in the world that would do it justice.

On Saturday we re-poured the bit of sidewalk that had to be taken out. Again, Mark was not about to miss a minute of the action.

Mike got into it too. Dirty is not his favorite state of being, but I think he pulls it off quite well. I think he took about four showers that day.

Not to be left out- Megan supervised and was actually quite content the whole time. I love her pretty blue eyes and pink cheeks.

Checkin In

We've been a bit busy lately so I am way behind in blogging (not to mention the housework).
Mike was able to find a job!! He started last week and is doing a lot of the learning stuff you do at the beginning of a job. Today he was working his way through the six volume contract (each volume being 600+ pages- yikes) of the new airport terminal. He works for Southwest Steel- a division of SME steel- as a Cost Engineer/ Contract Administrator.
Mark, Megan and I are settling back into having him gone all day again. Today we found an awesome chef hat at Target that I just couldn't resist. Mark was so excited to be like Remy (from the Disney movie Ratatouille (sp?)). We made cookies to christen the outfit. Megan is sick, but she is the nicest sick kid I have ever been around, besides the lack of sleep at night. She is still the same smiley person all day even though she is all stuffed up.