Summer 2007

I am finally feeling like fall is here, or is mostly here, so I decided to catch up on our summer.
Josh graduated from the University of Vermont on May 20, 2007. We are all so proud of Josh for working so hard.

We packed up our stuff and moved from our home in Essex Junction, Vermont and set out for Las Vegas on May 22, 2002. It was a bitter/sweet move. Vermont had really started to feel like home and we loved living at the "Fort" with so many great friends and neighbors.

Josh's Mom, Colleen, and the kids and I flew to Salt Lake while Josh and his dad drove the Landcruiser across the country. We prayed that the Landcruiser would make it, and somehow it did.

On May 27th Finn turned 5 years old and really wanted to have a Birthday party with his cousins. Miles turned 1 on the 31st, so we had a joint birthday party this year with all of our family.

We all drove from Salt Lake to Las Vegas on May 31st. Happy Birthday Miles! Poor Miles spent his first birthday in the car. We were all so glad to finally arrive at our new home. We were so lucky to have help from our new ward members, Paul and Colleen, and my parents and my sister Tami. With all of the help the move was not too bad.

We spent most of June adjusting to Las Vegas. We went on walks, bike rides, swam a lot, and made a few new friends. I also turned 31 this year. Josh stared orientation at the hospital and we got to meet the other residents and some of the other doctors who work in the Emergency Department. There is only one other resident who is married, he has 1 child. We are kind of the odd balls.

On the 4th of July, Josh ran the Summerlin 5k. Finn and I ran the 1 mile fun run. Atticus and Miles rode along in the stroller. After the race we found a seat in the shade for the Summerlin 4th of July parade. It was pretty hot, but the kids had fun and got candy from every float that passed. Later that day, on the way to the store, our Landcruiser died on the freeway, to make a long story short, the Landcruiser gave all it had to get us across the country, and we could not afford to have it give any more. We ended up selling our car a few weeks later. It was kind of a bummer, I wanted to drive that car forever. We were able to buy a Toyota Sequoia. Ihave to say though, it is nice to finally have a reliable car.

On July 21, 2007 Josh's younger sister, Leslie, unexpectedly passed away. This was and still is an extremely hard thing for all of the Parker family. We all have learned and have grown closer because of this experience. We will always miss Leslie and the role that she played in the Parker family. We love you Les.

In August, Josh started his first official month as an M.D. He spent last month in the OB/GYN department. After his first day Josh commented that he knew there was a reason he didn't go into OB/GYN. He did deliver a few babies and hopefully picked up a little spanish.

August 27, 2007-Finn started Kindergarten! Finn was so excited to start school. When I picked him up I asked him how his first day was he said, "It is kind of boring, we sit there all day, we don't go outside, and we don't get a snack." Fortunately, he is liking kindergarten more and more and he seems to be learning quite a bit.

September 10, 2007-Atticus started preschool. Atticus is going to a little school with 4 of his friends from Nursery. The 4 other moms and myself each take turns having the preschool at our home. So far this has been a great experience and Atticus really seems to enjoy going.

Finn also started Soccer this month. He is a pretty good little player. His second game he scored 2 goals, but is hoping to do a hat trick (Josh must have told him that means 3 goals).His coach is this nice little german guy named Henrich. It is really fun to watch these 5-year-olds play.

Miles is a good little guy. He gets roughed up quite a bit from his 2 older brothers, but seems to take it in stride. He loves to be outside and all 3 of the boys love swimming and going to the

park to play. Miles loves to bring us books to read and is such a climber. He seems pretty content just trying to keep up with his brothers.

As for myself, I am pretty busy just taking care of these 3 little boys. They are so great and seem to always make me smile. Between them, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning the house, I don't do much else. By the time they are all tucked in for the night, I mostly just want to sit and watch something on tv or curl up with a good book. I am not giving up on Grey's just yet, I am hoping this will be a good season. I do miss my Vermont Book club/ Grey's anatomy club!

As I turned my calendar to October this morning, the picture was of cute fall leaves and it said something to the effect that "Fall is the season of Gathering and Gratitiude". I was reminded that I too have so much to be grateful for.