My Little Boy...not so little anymore.

Rafe is growing up so fast. He loves to read, read, read, and climbs, climbs, climbs. He is a very active little dude, persistent, and mischievous. His Grama and Grandpa say he's a "Jed". His uncle Jed was just as active and always getting into things he wasn't suppose to and was very persistent. They are two in the same from what I've heard. But we love him very much. He had his first REAL hair cut. Yep....I finally brought myself to doing it. I never really wanted to cut his hair because I didn't want my baby to grow up and look grown up. But I had to face it....he is growing up so BIG!! I have trimmed him up a few times but this time I really cut his hair. Half way through it I was regretting it. I looked at him and didn't like it but then again, at that point he had a mullet because only half way finished. He's not my Baby any more, he's my little Boy. It makes Mama sad.

Ryan's White Coat Ceremony

Last Thrusday the 31st of July, Ryan had his White Coat Ceremony where he received his white Dr.'s coat. It was an awesome experience for him and for us to celebrate that with him. We are so proud of him. He is now Student Dr. M. Ryan Parks, 2nd Lt. United States Air Force. WOW, what a title!! Very honorable if you ask me. It was great to be able to be there to watch such a neat event take place. Ryan with Matt Malivuk with whom he went to COT. And Rafe is so proud of his Dada!!

Memory Keepers:

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Trip to Utah!!

In July we surprised my family and took a road trip back to Utah for Pioneer Day. We completely took everyone off guard and surprised them. Their expressions where priceless and we had a great time. It's weird to say that we took a vacation to Utah since it's the place I was born and raised but that's exactly what we did. We went on a very fun drive with Grama La to Brigham and ate lunch at Maddox then went on our drive to Bear Lake where we got their famous fresh raspberry shakes. We took some time to play in the Lake with Rafe. He had a great time splashing in the water. We went to Snow Basin and played disc golf with the family and some ward friends. It was so much fun!! We saw a lot of friends from work and just had a nice time. Ryan, Rafe, Aunt Amanda, cousin Evin, and I went to Hogle Zoo and we had a great time together. We saw the albino alligator that they call "The Ghost of the Bayou" On the 24th of July was Pioneer Day and we went down to a local celebration. Ryan, Jordan, my Dad, and I entered into a volleyball tournament where we took 2nd place. It was long, hot, and so much fun!!! They had a candy drop for all of the little kids and dropped the candy from a hot air balloon. I went horseback riding on Rohan for just a short time but loved it. Rafe's favorite things where riding on the tractor and on the motorcycle with Grandpa. So needless to say we did a lot but wished we had more time to do more. We miss Utah very much and our family and friends there.

Our Alaska Trip

In July we went to see Ryan's family in Alaska. We had a great time and enjoyed being with each other. We went to the cabin, went fourwheeling and on a boat ride, we went to the Zoo, we hiked Thunderbird Falls, went to the Anchorage Temple, and Rafe had his own personal hot tub, Grama's kitchen sink. Rafe really loved being with his cousins and getting to know them as well as a lot of his Parks family. Rafe was able to meet his Great Grandpa Parks and we enjoyed being with him. We have a four generation picture; Great Grandpa Parks, Grandpa Winkey, Dad, and Rafe. There were plenty of people there to play with Rafe and he loved being with his aunts, uncles and Grama and Grandpa Winkey Parks.