So I'm a bit behind...

Lily's kindergarten school picture

 So this is a major update.  I guess nothing exciting enough has happened that has merited us getting the pictures to the computer, which is a good thing.  Exciting isn't always good, so we will just try to catch up from here. 

 Kian is making great progress.  He is really stable in his sitting, and has started crawling.  He constantly amazes us at what he learns.

 Halloween 2011.  The ladybug and dragon are repeat costumes from last year-- gotta love that.  And the standard 1 year old bear costume.  Chris is a nerd.

 Entertaining themselves on the top bunk.  Kian loves it up there, especially when he can steal his big sister's sippy cup.

 This was snowman making day. 

 The push car is always a huge success.

 I left Kate in the tub and came back to find this on the wall.  She is definitely her father's daughter.

 With Grandma Parkinson at Thanksgiving.

 Showing off his stair-climbing skills.

 Lily's school Christmas sing-around.  Kindergarten sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

 

 On the stairs Christmas morning before opening presents.

 

The big one.  So far it's a big hit.

Kian's tricks

Kian learned a new trick, and before the end of football season, too.  It doesn't always happen when he's eating, that's just how we distracted him enough to do it for the camera.

This is what happened when we tried and tried to get him to do it the day before.  "Light."

First Word

"Light."

Fall (as in Autumn)

 I took the kids to Gardner Village one hot sunny day to see the witches they put up for Halloween.  It was a fun afternoon, and the girls didn't want to leave.

 We've been enjoying our little tomatoes this year.  We have yellow pear, orange sunsugar, and red grape.  Yum.

Here's Kian, at his new favorite spot to play/exercise. He's not climbing the stairs yet, but he really will spend a lot of time playing on his knees.

Kian on the move

Kian has been moving pretty quickly, lately.  Here he is, moving from our bedroom to the hall to get the night light.

School has begun

Lily is now a kindergartener. She loves it, of course. This was the day of parents' orientation, so not really her first day, but kind of.

This was the official first day.

Every day when I ask her what she did in school, she says, "Color and go to recess." Details do emerge, however, about actual learning that is taking place.

We participated in the Hydrocephalus Walk at Sugarhouse Park. It was 5K, and I think we all had a good time. We met some other families with kids with hydrocephalus, and it was good to realize we aren't the only ones.

The Highland High Cheerleaders were there helping.

This is our new bike trailer/stroller. They fit. They really do. No, really. For now.

And some backyard fun. Kian loves his backyard swing, if he can get anybody to push it for him.





I have no idea. I wasn't there.

Holy tomatoes, batman.


He just might be the cutest baby boy ever. Do they keep track of things like that?

Parkinson family campout

Chris's family had their annual reunion at Hawkins Reservoir. Its about 15 miles west of Downey, Idaho. We had a great time, and the girls want to go back.

The reservoir was across the street from the campground. It must not have been too cold, because they loved it.


Playing Disney Yahtzee with the cousins.



How Kian camps.

Building a pile of really big rocks.

This was our campsite. There were 7 or 8 campsites and we used up most of them. Those picnic shelters were the only shade, so we kept cool as well as we could.

Michelle and Ray helped us build and launch paper rockets. It was fun, and Kian's rocket flew the farthest!

We spent most of Saturday at Downata Hot Springs. It was such a hot day that the water felt great.


Kate went down this super tall water slide all by herself! There are two waterslides that take off from the same point. One goes straight down and the other curves. She went on the curvy one.




This was the meadow behind the horseshoe pit.

Who wouldn't love camping with a tiger-print double kid-size camp chair?