"When There's Snow on the Trees, It's Time for Skis"

This quote is from Dad . . . and here's a self-portrait he took on Friday.

He had hoped to ski twelve times this season, and Friday was his twelfth visit to the slopes.  Love this picture, don't you?  He's pretty creative sometimes.

Here are a couple more shots from his day at Lookout Pass.

We love living in a spot where he has the choice of five different ski resorts so nearby.

P.S.  This picture of some of our trees was taken from our deck this morning; waking up to this on March 28 (happy one-month birthday to Calvin!) prompted me to create this post as it reminded me of Dad's quote, "When there's snow on the trees, it's time for skis."

Happy Easter!

This is one of my favorite entries in Dad's journal.  Don't you love his handwriting?  His journal is a treasure, for sure.

Finding Easter treasures around our house on Easter morning was as much fun for me as for all four of you. . . with each of you having your separate room to search--the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, or the music room.  Seems we always found a small treasure tucked in the piano bench or in a secret container in late summer or even nigh Christmas.

Welcome, Spring!

We're pretty happy that some of our daffodils finally bloomed--then it snowed yesterday for the first day of spring.  That's fine . . . maybe there's one more day of skiing ahead for Don Parker.

Life's Fleeting Moments

This picture of Lindsey and Calvin is so precious and peaceful.

Each Life That Touches Ours For Good

Yesterday morning I attended a funeral for a friend from church, and it's given me cause for reflection on how we touch one another's lives.  Lila Bryson was Daniel's primary teacher when he was four years old, and she attended his Court of Honor when he became an Eagle Scout at age 18. We've know her since we moved here.

As I was walking into the chapel, I noticed several books of pictures that were there for all to enjoy, but I didn't take the time to look through any of them because I had arrived just a few minutes before the service began.

When the service ended, I visited with a few of her family members and neighbors and ended up walking her youngest daughter who is from New York down to the Relief Society room where a meal was being served for the family.  Nicole Piercy caught my attention from the kitchen and asked if I had noticed how many of our family pictures were in Lila's scrapbooks.  She told me that her and Noel's wedding announcement was in one of those books as well as Janae's and Amelia's.  She walked down the foyer with me and found the scrapbooks of friends . . . and it was like looking at a rich history of her friends--and my friends.  What a treasure!  Thank you, Lila, for preserving these wonderful memories.

Meeting Calvin

So, this picture just arrived in my inbox from Anna, Lyndsey's sister, and can I admit that I teared up when I saw it . . . o.k., that I continue to tear up when I look at it? Whew! Are we ever grateful for this new addition to our family.

Don and I drove over to meet Calvin on Saturday.  Ben asked if Dad got choked up like he did when we put James into his arms.  He didn't that first time that we put Calvin into his arms, but he did the next morning when I was holding Calvin in the rocker and he was looking on . . . he has such a tender heart and such love for these grand-babies. What a couple of saps we are!  But we're sure loving this season of being grandparents. It's one of those experiences that you can't describe to someone else, kind of like Jake trying to describe his joy in becoming a dad. Words just cannot express the enormity of the joy.

Thanks so much, Anna, for sharing this photo with us.

We took our set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books for Jake and Lyndsey to read to Calvin. When they were dating, it was a fun discovery to learn that both of their mothers had read the Little House books aloud to them. . . so we thought it only appropriate that they have the set that Jake was read to from when he was little. We got the series started off right by Grandma Parker reading the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to Calvin first thing on Sunday morning.

Thanks, Jake and Lyndsey, for sharing this little slice of heaven with us and for making us feel so welcome and comfortable.

Calvin

Love this little guy from the top of his head to the tip of his toe!