THE PARK POST

McKell had to pick what she thought was the best part of herself and write a poem about it for school. Here is the finished product:

Our little baby turned 5 years old yesterday and is not so little anymore. We can't believe how fast she has grown up. She is such a sweet girl, but tougher than nails thanks to her older brother. McKell decorated the house for her birthday. She loves to plan and throw parties and she is good at it. Sydney excited about her Polly Pocket present. When she received this High School Musical barbie set she said, "I wish Troy was part of the set because he's hot." I'm not sure where she got that from. I bought the tiniest birthday cake I could find because we always end up throwing half of it away or eating way too much. This was just the right amount. Here is Sydney digging in. This is a typical Sydney smile. I love it! Another look at McKell's decorating job I finally got a shot of Sydney with her teeth showing. She wanted a smiley pancake for breakfast and this was the best her Mom could do. I don't think she ate a bite of it because she was ...

This last weekend we woke up early in the morning and drove to Birmingham, AL to go to the temple. The drive is around 3 hours each way. We had really missed driving since our move out here (ha ha) and wanted to spend some quality time with the kids.:) Actually it wasn't too bad of a drive and the kids did pretty well. No one had a melt-down or asked "Are we there yet?" even once. We can't go to the Atlanta Temple, which is only about an hour and a half, because they are remodeling it for 18 months, so Birmingham is the next closest temple. We couldn't believe how small it was when we first pulled up. But once inside it doesn't really matter which temple you are in because they all are beautiful and peaceful. I think we appreciated being there because we really had to plan for it and prepare for the trip. McKell probably didn't enjoy her time as much sitting at the Stake Center for two hours tending Jackson and Syd (Paige stayed behind for dance). Ap...

One of the best things we have enjoyed about our house is the close proximity to the pool. It literally is like having a pool in our backyard without having to take care of it. When it is really humid here it feels so good to jump in and be refreshed. This is the view from our balcony. We love swimming at night. Here are Syd and McKell enjoying the water. This is the view of the back side of our house taken from the pool. Mike enjoying his book at the pool. A closer look at the back of our house.

These are the ladies I work with in Young Womens. We took the girls to the Riverwalk here in town to take photos. The people here are so friendly and welcoming. It has been easy to adjust. These are the young women in our ward. They are a small group, but they all get along well and are really sweet to each other. Paige is the only 8th grader in our ward. These are the Beehives (minus a couple). This is the group Nikki is over.

Yesterday while we were driving Paige to dance (a common occurence these days), Sydney was asking if she had to go to college. Jackson told her that she should go because that is where you find someone to marry. Sydney said, "You don't have to go to college to find someone to marry, Mom and Dad met in high school, even though you know Dad is bald." (They love to make fun of their dad being bald) Then Jackson said, "Well, I'm going to college for two reasons: to play football, and become a SWAT guy. The SWAT guys use the best guns and so you have to go to college for that. Actually, I'm probably going to play football in the NFL someday too." I love these little moments of conversation. They make my day!

We celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary on the 2nd of Sept. and had a little get away to a place called Callaway Gardens that is only about a half hour from our house. It is the coolest place. They have so many things to do there for free since we are military, and it is really beautiful. We left the kids with two 18 year old girls in our ward, so they had just as much fun as we did. This is called the Balloon Glow. We happened to be there over Labor Day Weekend when they have their hot air balloon festival. The night before they launch all of the balloons , they light them up around the lake. It was a pretty sight. This is a forest they've named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he died near here in his "little white house" that he lived in after serving as President. One of our favorite things to do is rent bikes and ride. They have trails that go all over the gardens , lake, and golf course. It was so fun. This day was especially good for Mike because...