Christmas Newsletter- 2011

Merry Christmas from the Parks

2011 started off pretty uneventful...as far as big events go.  However, life was filled with little "Aria" events every day.  We've found so much joy in watching her grow and learn. (How can people not want kids?)  Here’s a look into the happy lives of the Parks family:

Aria- She started walking along the couch and other such things in May, but was very cautious and didn't actually start walking by herself until the middle of October.  She turned a year old on September 3 and had a pretty good time eating her cupcake…but she takes after her Momma and loved the ice cream even more.  She's so much fun right now because she’s learning so fast (she wants to copy everything we do) and understands nearly everything we say to her.  She loves to throw things away in the trash and then clap for herself.   Her favorite words are “Uh-oh” and “No’(despite our efforts not to say it to her…she still learned it. Lucky for us, she seems to think it also means ‘yes’).  She loves to be outside, so we’ve spent a lot of time at the park playing and taking walks.  She also loves to read books... a LOT.

Shawna- One of my goals for the year & after being pregnant was to run a 5K.  Once spring got here I trained for a couple of months and then found one at the end of April I could do.  A couple of weeks before, without any training, Brad decided to do it with me.  It was so fun to do it together, even though our times were pathetic, at best.  As for our daily lives, I am still a stay-at-home Mom and love every minute of it.  Occasionally, I watch my 2 yr old nephew and for the last few months I've been picking up a couple of boys from daycare and taking them home for a sister in our Branch.  In light of all this, we bought a van in August.  Turns out, 3 carseats won't fit in the backseat of a Honda CR-V...so we upgraded to a Honda Odyssey.  I love it (8-Passengers! J).  Besides playing with Aria, cleaning house, cooking, and doing laundry, I love to read books and have recently joined a Book Club with some of the sisters in the Branch.  In October, I got released from the RS Presidency and called to be the Nursery Leader.   It's so much fun and I'm learning a lot about the next stage of Aria's life. 

Brad- is as busy as ever.  The end is finally in sight, though.  He has 3 semesters (1 ½ of which are internships) before he graduates and hopefully can find a job locally as a high school English teacher.  He enjoys being a student of literature, as always, but is starting to be ready to move on, and often feels the stress of later-degree classes. The most recent source of anxiety was a 16-page paper on the gender issues expressed in the dialogue of the Harry Potter  series…. Fun! Aside from school, he is still the Young Men’s President where he loves spending a lot of time with one of the best groups of young men the world has to offer, and working hard full time.  As you might imagine, we don't get to see him much.  But the time we do have all together is wonderful – for him, as well as us.

Well, that’s it for us this year. Merry Christmas and the best of wishes for next year!

Brad, Shawna & Aria