Dad's Delivery

Once upon a time we lived near a place called Dad's Deli. Instead of Dad's Deli, we have Dad's Delivery. Since The Missionaries started cleaning out their house, they have delivered items to all of the children except Anna and the only thing that's keeping them from Anna is the 1 1/2 hour drive. You come home to see your childhood on your front porch and you're forced to go through it (and throw away at least half of it).  

Nice touch, Dad. 

Car Advice

After years (Okay, 1 year & 1 month) of Anna trying to persuade The Powers That Be that she needed (neeeeeeded) a car with her at college, Anna & Little Blue drove off into the sunset on Sunday afternoon. Before she left, we prayed for Mom. Why Mom? Well, as most mothers can tell you, the picture below is somewhat terrifying. Anna, remember these 7 key points and you should be fine (Keyword there is should. We can't guarantee anything)

1. Wear your seatbelt. Even if you're just driving around the parking lot for fun. 96% of accidents happen within a mile of your house 2. Remember that 76% of statistics are made up. (Like the one in advice #1) 3. Keep an eye on mileage and change your oil (like Dad taught you) accordingly. 4. If things go wrong, call your father so that he feels like a macho man and much needed by his daughter. 5. However, once you get married, call your husband so that he can feel like a macho man and much needed by his wife. 6. If you skip #5 and call your father before your husband, pretend that your husband was really the first call you made (Don't lie, just leave out the whole "Well, that's not what my Dad said..." part). 7. Don't throw banana peels in the middle of the road while driving (Remember that one time in high school when you got pulled over by a cop for doing that?) If you're going to throw it while driving, have your passenger aim it at mailboxes for target practice (like your older siblings did on their way to school.)

And another piece of free advice...don't forget to rock your style. Especially if it's tube socks and Birkenstocks. We hope you & blue have a wonderful adventure together. 

Double Time

On Sunday we celebrated Kent's birthday. We don't have the pictures to prove it, but the whole group was together. Mom made a delish apple cake. Ma, stick a fork in us....we're done! 

For many birthdays, Dad has complained that our "Happy Birthday" tempo has slacked off into a depressing state. In honor of Kenny G. Drummer Boy Suits, we went double time and we think it's gonna stick! We were even able to go through "Happy Birthday" twice before Ben made it to the table. Our fast tempo got Ben high-stepping on his way out. Click here to see our goal. Don't watch the whole video, but at least watch for 1:40 to see it in it's full glory. Ben is the next Kenny Martin. It'll make you want to grab a trombone or pom pom and strut your stuff! 

PRESENTS!!!!

Kent's house will now have curb side appeal, thanks to Chuck and Shelly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENT! 

Font Size

Blogger has changed some things...

Which font size do you like?
Which font size do you like?
Which font size do you like?
Which font size do you like?
Which font size do you like?

It's up for debate.

BFF

The only "people" that get the horrific experience front row seats during the Missionaries' Home Makeover Work are these guys. They're an unusual BFF pair. One tiny fish paired with.... 

one ginormous sucker fish. They've outlived all of our expectations. They've been in the Parker House since Wes&Sara started dating. 

Did you know that "ginormous" is actually in the dictionary? 

gi·nor·mous

 adj \jī-ˈnȯr-məs\

Definition of GINORMOUS

: extremely large : humongous

Origin of GINORMOUS

gigantic + enormous

First Known Use: circa 1948

*thanks http://www.merriam-webster.com

Flashback Friday

This guy turns 23 today

Graphic Images

This is the current state of the future-missionaries' house. This is the only photo that could be posted on the blog because all other photos would be too alarming and graphic. We do ask you to pray. Pray about anything that seems somewhat beneficial and we're sure it will apply in someway or another. After you pray, come over and volunteer any manual labor or emotional support that you can.  After you volunteer with manual and emotional support, offer to buy the future-missionaries' house. Tell them that you need to move in less than 2 weeks to speed up the process. After you move in, invite us over so that we can enjoy the pool one more time. Thanks in advance for your help.

A note

Dear Anna, 

Sorry for messing up your major on the previous blog post. Of course it's English/Political Science not English/History...we knew that all along. On another note, do you think throwing open some textbooks and texting your Mother with a line that says "Dear Mom, proof" leads us to believe that it's the real deal? Ma was born in September, but not last September.  

Thanks for the laugh,

Vida Loca De Los Parkers

PS: Can you believe Mom can actually text? 

Homestead

Our english major/history minor daughter/sister came home over the weekend. It was nice to have you around, Anna!

Middle Schoolers

We're guessing a couple of middle school boys named these mountains...

What a View

Shelly Parker Nature Photography

Flashback Friday

We're flashing back not too far today.

This was in May and amidst the hubbub of parents flying to Africa (yah, yah, big deal) Grandma Gertie's 80th surprise birthday party was overlooked and got no love on the blog (that we can find at least). Here is Ma's side of the family. Everyone made it except Wes and Sara. So close! We ♥ Gertrude!! (and just figured out how to do the ♥ symbol. This could be a bad thing... ♥)

Birthday Boy

A big happy birthday to our Philly friend and accomplished swimmer, Ali, who turns 14 today!

Anniversary Trip

For their anniversary weekend, Chuckles and Shells went camping. This is the same thing they did 29 years ago for their honeymoon (Awwwww). Here is Chuck TentMan Parker. Our tents work in the woods...why not on the beach?The Lodge
Shelly at the top of Mount Mitchell. Could the sky get any more blue and beautiful? We vote no.
Dad at an overlook. Please disregard the socks and sandals combo. Instead, focus on the beautiful mountains.
Camping trips are planned only for a few good reasons... family bonding, time away and TO GET SLEEPING BAG PICTURES. You wait till it's good and dark and then WHAMO, you hit 'em with the flash right in their eye. We're glad to see that Mom is carrying on in this tradition.

Wacky Wednesday

Some of the family enjoyed Sunday lunch at a new house hot spot. Ma's lunch slapped her right into her Sunday lunch/snuggle time (which makes this picture semi-scarring).
The seminary student enjoyed some light reading & the seminary student's wife indulged in some emotional eating of cookies and milk.
Dad decided that he couldn't miss the Sunday coupon section!
Anna, the yellow walls look great!

Third Grade To-Do List

Real To Do List of (Hypothetical-Don't-Sue-Us) Third Grader.

*Hypothetical Teacher's comments in bold.

1. Wake Up

2. Get Dressed

3. Load Up

4. Go to Grammy's

5. Eat Breakfast

6. Go to Scholl (That's double on the o's, go easy on the l's)

7. Go to gym

8. Go to class. Say hi to **** (You can say hi to **** at recess)

9. Learn (Yes, yes yes!)

10. Switch classes

11. Write sentences and correct them.

12. Read (It looks like your updating your To-Do List)

13. Go to Seat

14. See if I got any wrong (You did)

15. Go to circle

16. Listen to Book

17. Go to Seat

18. Go to Related Arts

19. Come Back from Related Arts

20. Go to Seat

21. People eat snacks (You could bring one too...)

22. Pass out graded papers

23. Give Back to "Insert Name of Hypothetical-Don't-Sue-Us Teacher"

24. ****** gives out Writer's Notebooks

25. Write Story

26. Brainstorm a Setting

27. Brainstorm

28. Get To-Do-List taken away by hypothetical teacher

29. Stay in at recess to continue brainstorming...

Birthday Trivia

Was Shelly...

a) Caught mid-sneeze

b) Singing

c) Raving about chicken

d) Blowing out imaginary candles as a practice run

*answer at the end of blog post
We celebrated Mom's birthday on Tuesday evening. Anna & Kent missed out on the celebratory event and we missed them! But we did fit around the table a bit better this time...
She's still got it... go Ma!
She got a great present from Benji... an ipod dock. If you remember back to Christmas, Santa Shuck got her an ipod that has been collected dust for the past few months. Now it will get put to good use! Click here to relive our Christmas in HD because let's face it...it's the best time of the year. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMARAMA!!! WE LOVE YOU.
*Trivia answer: C. She was raving about the grilled chicken that she and Dad made on their anniversary camping trip. The exact quote was, "Oh it was SOOOO good!"

2 Questions

Questions to think about as we psychoanalyze each other for the first time on this blog. When it comes to brownie/cake/cookie batter...

Do you use the spatula to get the leftover goodness? Do you use your finger(s)? Do you use your tongue (We are a no-judge-blog when it comes to these issues). Do you share the goodness? Do you turn your back when sibling/spouse enters the kitchen? Or are you the few and far between that can skip the leftover goodness as you wait for the real goodness to finish baking? (If you are, we can't really connect with you.....Chuck....) Was that a judgmental statement?

Do you keep your Christmas penguin spatula in the utensil holder all year round? What does this mean to you?

A Story

Once upon a time (a longgg time ago) on September 6, 19** (like we said, a longgg time ago) two little girls were born. The only thing that separated these twins was the USA/Canada border (this is how the story goes, right?). They grew up, got married, had 4 children each, and landed in the same town together. They even think alike- they ran into each other at 5 AM (don't judge the picture, people) on the day after Thanksgiving. How 'bout a laugh for the background of this picture?

Rachel C. is a fabulous baker, Shelly P. is a wonderful chef... they could put together a decent restaurant. We want to give a shout out to Rachel C. She's been a faithful blog follower from the beginning. So, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the birthday twins.

29 is Fine

Happy 29th Wedding Anniversary to a couple that has weathered life together... and helped each other through tough times ("Shelly, take a look at my finger. No, get in the light. Find your glasses. Can you see anything? Are you sure? I feel something. Take another look!")
Happy Anniversary to a fashion forward couple (who sometimes clash)...
to a couple that makes a great team (cake and ice cream? just cake? just ice cream?)
You always have your poker face on
and you make great Scrabble opponents...
You've strolled through your marriage with love and laughter. We know that 4 of your best days of marriage happened to be August 18, 1984, January 23, 1987, August 26 1989 and December 5 1990. You're welcome.
Thanks for showing us a great example of marriage. You showed us that it's never too late to become world travelers together. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Flashback Friday

Let's flashback to the days when Wes and Ben rocked the bowl-cut. Really rocked it.