Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that 2009 is coming to a end. I really feel like it kind of snuck up on me. After Thanksgiving I guess everything seems to accelerate. This year has been very challenging as a mother for me. I think I am getting better at this thing but I can tell I am on the slow learning curve. Brock is such a good little boy. He makes all my challenging days worth it. Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year and like my friend Dwayne says " Grant me the senility to forget the people I never really liked anyways, The good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference. May we all be so fortunate!

What a difference a year makes

We took Brock to go see Santa at the Fashion Island Mall. Imagine to our surprise that he was the same Santa from last year. Brock didn't cry but he definitely tried to escape Santa's lap. He is now 17 months old and into everything. I was a little nostalgic about how fast this year has gone by. I dug out his first picture with Santa and boy how he has grown.

2009

2008

We spent Christmas Eve at family friends house for dinner. That would be about how festive our Christmas became because later that night Brock got the stomach flu and then passed it on to mommy over the next few days. We decided to stay home and not see family. I am sure they did not want to get sick like us. I also was looking forward to seeing my friend Janet over the holiday which just didn't work out with our illnesses. We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and spent it celebrating with family and loved ones.

Brock's First Haircut

It's official: The "curls" are gone. We had been debating as to when to cut Brock's hair. I was really hoping to wait a little longer. I guess I still wanted him to be my "little baby." He is only 17 months, but he has been growing so fast. The last we measured he was 38lbs and 36 inches tall. He squirmed in the chair and did not want to sit still, but she managed to get the job done. We kept him entertained by handing him lots of toys.
He was crying because he wanted to play with my keys.
Daddy ended up giving the keys back to him. You can tell I am more of the disciplinarian in the family.

Christmas Card 2009

I managed to get our family Christmas cards out a little early this year. I must give props to Dave and Michelle who's card I received the day after Thanksgiving (our 1st card of the season). Of course we took like 30 photos but this was the best Brock would do for us. Facebook has been fun reconnecting me with a lot of old friends. I apologize if you did not receive one. I either do not have your address or simply accidentally passed you over. Merry Christmas!

Our journey to see family and find DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER

We went to visit Scott's aunt and uncle, who are temporarily staying in Honolulu for medical treatment. We are happy to report that Auntie Tupu is now well enough to go back home with her husband "Brownie" to American Samoa in about 2 weeks. They have really missed being away from home as they have been here for almost a year now with her 3 hip surgeries. Tupu is Epi's older sister by 2 years. They were kind enough to allow us in for a quick visit and as Samoan culture would have it their daughter graciously fed us lunch as we sat and chatted. We also GPS'd our way to the Honolulu office of the (in)famous Dog the Bounty Hunter. It's my addiction, my guilty pleasure, to watch his television show each week on A&E. I didn't dare go inside, so I snapped a quick shot of the business.

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC)

We went to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center, best known by the acronym PCC. This was my favorite experience of our island visit. For more than 40 years, the PCC has been dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of Polynesia. For more detailed information, refer to the website http://www.polynesia.com/. I know that Scott was really looking forward to the food .... we attended the Ali'i Luau. The food was fabulous and my favorite was the Kalua Pork. It reminded me of our rehearsal dinner luau prior to our wedding. Of course, one of the villages we visited was Samoa. They had a great show complete with tree climbing for coconuts and starting a fire from rubbing sticks.

During our visit, Scott was designated by the PCC war council as Te'o Tafiti -- The "Samoan Warrior." It was Scott's proudest moment of the trip.


This was the host; he was full of jokes.


This is a small clip of the "fire dancing".... I was nervous for him.




Just a glimpse of the dancing from the night show called Ha: Breath of Life.

Our day trip to Lai'e to the LDS Temple

We took a quick tour of the Visitors Center of the Lai'e Temple. Our guides were two sister missionaries from Japan. The center was gorgeously decorated with many Christmas trees donated by the local wards. The temple is currently closed for major renovations and is expected to re-open the summer of 2010. It's always amazing to visit the House of our Lord.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Aloha! Scott & I are celebrating our anniversary in Hawaii this year at our timeshare condo located in the Hilton Hawaiian Village of Honolulu. It's been a fountain of pure joy these past few years with the love of my life, Scott. I have been so blessed to have such a good man by my side. I love my family and we have been so thankful for the 2008 arrival of our son, Brock. I love being a stay-at-home mommy, the hardest job I have ever done. Thank you for a fabulous vacation and the much needed rest.

Many blessings to be Thankful for

Every year it seems harder and harder to get everyone together for the holidays but we are grateful for all those who take the time to prepare for the festivities. This year we started a little early at Grandma Mimi's for dinner. A day early to be exact. Barbara prepared a delicious turkey in a roaster. I was so impressed. Will who is pictured in the yellow shirt is a cousin (in Samoan culture they are all cousins) who joined us. He has been living with Richard and Epi while he is working construction on the Ortega Highway. He originates from the Bakersfield area and he has been a welcome joy to the Parks household. Thanksgiving day I forgot my camera well actually Brock took it out of my purse and put it under the couch so I have no photos to share. We drove out to my brother Bill's house in Rancho Cucamonga and spent the day with my side of the family and my brothers extended family and lots of food and love to go around. With so many kids present they made a cute little Turkey from construction paper and the feathers were made out of the kids hand and foot prints. It turned out so cute. Scott and I are anxious to be leaving on vacation to our time share we have in Hawaii for 11 days. Grandma Epi will do the baby sitting of Brock and my mom will help out for a day or two. Poor Epi I know will be wiped out by the time of our return. Scott & I are celebrating our 3rd year anniversary on

December 1st. Brock playing with his cousin Trevor. It's hard to believe Trevor is going to be one years old in January. This year has really gone by so fast.

Brock playing with Daddy

Brock eating his first Thanksgiving food. Last year he was still on a milk only diet. I love this picture of Brock....

Happy Halloween...I'm a turtle

It seems like October came and went in a blink of an eye. My mom kicked off Halloween activities at her house for dinner one night. The kids decorated the mini pumpkins with Mr. Potato Head accessories she got from Walmart. The pumpkins came out so cute and it was a fun and non-messy activity.

I made this one for Brock.

Here are some of the cousins posing with their creative masterpieces.


On Halloween, we stopped by to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Parks and to see his 10 month old cousin, Trevor.

Trevor was the cutest little Mickey Mouse.

We then went to my mom's church, as they were having a Trunk-or-Treat in their parking lot. This year Brock dressed as a turtle. He is only crawling, so I thought he would make a cute turtle crawling with a shell on his back. I ordered a size to fit 2-4 year olds and I had to squeeze him into his costume. He is really tall and the shoulders were way too tight, but he managed to keep it on without too much complaining.

Daddy and the turtle
We then headed over to my mom's home after the party to hang out for a bit. Brock was being a little too quiet when I realized he got into the cupcakes on the kitchen table. This boy has a long reach. Look at that face -- he looks so guilty, but he really enjoyed that cupcake.


Sadie, my 4 month old niece, was there with her "BOO" shirt on. Oh, she is just the cutest baby! She has the best smile that makes me melt!!


Logan and Blake were, predictably, some type of Star Wars characters.

My Benihana Birthday Dinner

Scott & I went to Benihana for dinner to celebrate my birthday tonight. Grandma Epi is safely back from Samoa and babysat our sick little one so we could enjoy dinner without yelling and throwing food. I take that back, if you have been to Benihana you know they throw food too. The restaurant has a new birthday promotion going on. They will send you a voucher via email during the month of your birthday with a complimentary meal up to a $30 value. If you would like to participate sign up at http://www.benihana.com/email. They sang Happy Birthday to me, took our picture, and fed us fresh pineapple for dessert. The pineapple got me excited for our upcoming trip to Hawaii next month. I was happy to return home with Brock happily playing with grandma and her friend Dee.

I wore my first pair of shoes

Scott has been anxious to take Brock to Disneyland. He has been looking forward to getting a side profile picture done by the artist in Downtown Disney. He had one done when he was about the same age. It was pretty crowded today but we managed to ride the Carousel which the baby loved and then Pinocchio which he started to whimper towards the end. I think he was afraid. The baby loves to people watch and is becoming quite the flirt with the ladies. Today was his first time keeping on his shoes for a whole 4 hours. I think I finally found a pair that he can't get off in 15 seconds.

San Francisco Trip

We took the ferry over to go and see Alcatraz. This was my first tour and quite interesting. Scott already wants to go back to take a night tour. Sounds kind of spooky to me.

We decided to go take a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked to the half way point. I must be getting old. The height was making me nervous as you can feel the cars whiz right past you. The view was just amazing.

Scott pretending to be nervous. They actually had "crisis" phones through out the bridge to call for help.



On the way back home we decided to take the more scenic route. The California coastline is just majestic. I made Scott stop a few times so I could take pictures, eat, buy knick knacks. We ate dinner in Carpinteria at The Spot. We also stopped in Ventura to visit my friend Cheri' real quick. I was excited to go home and see Brock. When we picked him up it looked as if he didn't want to leave. I think I missed him more than he missed me. Overall we had a great trip but it went by way too fast.

It seems like the month of September just flew right by for our family. We planned a quick trip to San Francisco for a few days to celebrate my birthday. This was our first getaway without Brock. Grandma & Grandpa Parks thankfully watched him for us. It was so nice just to get away and sleep through the night.

Last home game to the Anaheim Angels

Scott is a huge Anaheim Angels fan which in turned has rubbed off on the whole family. We took the baby to the last home game of the season. We had two extra tickets so my brother Richard and nephew Blake came to join us for the festivities. Brock enjoyed eating Oreos with his cousin and you could really tell by the mess on his face. We had a fun time hanging out with the family.

The neighbor "Don" has been showing Brock how to make muscles. Here is a quick video clip of him.

Swimming Lessons

We thought it would be fun to sign Brock up for "Parent and Me" classes at Edison High. Since he loves the water we knew he would love taking classes. It was really cute and they would sing nursery rhymes to get the kids acclimated to the water. For most of the month of August we have been sick, but we managed to have a great time anyhow. Grandma Epi and Grandpa Richard came to watch him everyday.

Daddy holding Brock;he loves to "kick, kick, kick!"

Mommy helping get from one side to the other.
Brock now loves bubble baths and blowing bubbles in the tub. He really has no fear of water.

My husband can pull airplanes

Scott got recruited to participate in a fundraising event for The Special Olympics. Each team of 25 members pulled this 250,000 pound FedEx airplane. This event took place at the Long Beach Airport. His team only had 4 people show up, so they added him to the Redlands University team, loaded mostly of girls. I was hoping that he was not going to hurt himself. I think his little team raised about $800 and they came in 5th place. For Scott, it was really all about the BBQ after the event.Scott is 3rd from the front of the pull after the two young boys in red shirts.

Look how tall I am

Most days you can find Brock looking out our front door wanting to escape. Actually, he looks for our neighbors Don & Kelli to get home because he loves all the attention they give him. He is not walking just yet, only crawling around everywhere and standing for long periods of time.Brock loves all of his new "noisy" toys and loves to put them in his mouth.

At the doctor they put him on the "big boy" scale. It was too cute having him hold onto this mini scale handle. At his one year visit Brock weighed in at 30 lbs and 33 1/4 inches long (the size of a 2 year old)

Brock's First Cake

I made Brock's first cake. It was so much work but it was also so much fun to do. The picture is very forgiving of my mistakes. More pictures to come from his party...

Look who's 1 years old

Today (July 23rd), my sweet baby boy turned one. This past year has really gone by so fast. I am grateful for my family; they really mean everything to me. Brock is about 28 lbs and 33 inches (at least that's what he measured at his last visit a few months back). We will go and see his Pediatrician, Dr. Joe, next week to get his updated measurements. We took him to go get some pictures taken a few days ago. Of course I am biased, but I just melt when he smiles. I can't believe how grown up he looks in these pictures. We are planning a big celebration at my mother's home and pool, along with family and friends.