Soren's 13th Birthday!

I only have a few pictures to post here, and they do not begin to tell of the joy that was experienced in the celebration of Soren's 13th Birthday!

Soren was able to start her birthday celebration the day before with a cousin day at Nana's complete with cake and games followed by a sleepover.  On the morning of her birthday, Pete picked her up along with her friend Kirsten and Reese and they headed for Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park!  I was able to join that afternoon and took over for the evening and following day.  It was an incredibly fun and exhausting trip.  The girls played until the hotel curfew (midnight) brought them back to the room for a short rest and then they were right back at it in the morning.

I cannot put into words how proud I am of Soren.  She is a sweet, kind, generous, loving young woman who is not afraid to be herself and knows how to work hard.  I am so blessed to have a daughter like her and cannot wait to see what the future holds for her.  Love you, Soren!  Happy Birthday!  

Christmas 2011

Because of blogger.com issues these are not in order, but I think I was able to get them at least into groups.  These are our various celebrations over the 2011 Christmas Season.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Pops and Nana came to visit for the day and we played games, worked on a puzzle, and went to a candle light service at church followed by dinner with Pastor Garry and other friends.  It was such a nice way to relax and enjoy family and focus on the true meaning of this season...Jesus!

Christmas at Pops and Nana's House

A week before Christmas the Parker clan gathered at Pops and Nana's house for our family celebration.  We started at the park for some family photos and then congregated at the casa for presents and food!!  It was a beautiful Texas winter day and we dined and played and ended up strewn about all over the house for a sleepover followed by a morning of home church.  Our family is truly blessed beyond measure!

double dutch with the cousins!

 granddad and alissa

 Reese and her new American Girl Doll

 Soren's lift ticket for her ski trip!

Christmas Day



For Christmas Day we were at home, just the four of us, for a sweet time of family, gifts, breakfast and then church.  I think after this year I have decided that I absolutely love for Christmas day to be on Sunday!  What better way to spend Jesus' birthday than worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers?!  After church we came home to our mess of wrapping paper and bows, made some soup and spent the day napping and playing.

Soren's main present this year is a ski trip with the Guerry's, so her presents were all related to that trip

 Reese asked to re-decorate her room in zebra stripes with pink accents for Christmas

Other Christmas Celebrations



We went to Grandma's house and made cake pops!

Grandma bought Reese a new bed spread for her room make-over

Christmas Party at school; book exchange

The LVC kids (Lakeview Circle) got together and made homemade Christmas cards and then went to a retirement home and passed them out to the residents.  The reception was amazing!  People loved the kids and the cards.

Always gotta throw in a pic of Pop's claws.  This is before I manicured them :)

A Christmas craft at Reese's school

One of the cards that was made to hand out at the retirement home

Christmas morning carnage!

 Ice at the Gaylord!

This year as a family outing we went to see "Ice" at the Gaylord.  The theme was Shrek and the presentation was very impressive!  I highly recommend putting this on your "to see" list.

 ice slide!

 other decorations around the hotel



Whiterock Marathon

I normally save all race blogging for my training blog, but this time it includes family members so I will post about it here, too.

On December 4th, which turned out to be very wet and quite cold, Soren, Pete, Zach, Mat and I completed the Whiterock Marathon in Dallas.  Pete, Soren and Mat did the relay, Zach ran the half and I ran the full.  It was a successful day by all and we were grateful for the opportunity even if the weather conditions were less than desirable.  Nice job everybody!

 My friend and running buddy, Nancy, waiting with me at the cold, wet, starting line!

Reese's 2nd Grade Science Fair Project

This year Reese chose to participate in the Science Fair at school.  Based on your grade, you are assigned a type of project to complete and 2nd grade was given models this year.  Reese did a model of the brain and explained how the 5 senses work using a sponge for the brain and pieces of a Mr. Potato Head toy for the body parts that are a part of each of the senses.  It turned out great and she learned how the brain processes the things we sense and sends messages that we understand as the 5 senses.  So cool!